A queer race; the story of a strange people

Front matter

10 CEN

UEER RACE

n * THE 5T0RY OF ★ * LL ★ A 5TRAHGE PEOPLE

Chapter I. Foul Play

The heat and burden of the day were over, and I had withdrawn to my own room to write my private letters and think over a few matters which required more consideration than I had yet been able to give them. My nerves were beginning to recover from the shock they had sustained by the loss of the Niobe, and the cyclone at Colon; nevertheless, the outlook was still dark, the claims arising out of these two disasters being exceedingly heavy, and to meet them would tax our resources to the utmost. Another big loss and we should be “ in. Queer Street.” The company would have to suspend payment and go into liquidation.

The worst of it was that, as touching the Niobe, I had rendered myself — in a moral sense — almost personally responsible. A brand-new ship, A1 at Lloyd's, owned by a firm of repute, commanded by a captain of character, and bound only to Havana — a mere summer trip — the risk seemed as light as well could be. I felt myself quite justified in granting a voyage policy of ten thousand pounds on the body of the ship, and covering her cargo for the same amount (without particular average). In fact, I thought that I had done an excellent stroke of business, and when one of the directors, an over-cautious old curmudgeon, with whom I had never been able to get

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on, suggested the expediency of reinsuring to the extent of a third or a half, I was very much amused, and did not hesitate to tell him so.

Now the laugh was on the other side — the scolding, rather, for at the last Board meeting I had got an awful wigging. All the directors — wondrouslv wise after the event, as directors are wont to be — could see how imprudently I had acted, and the very men who had chaffed old Slocum for his timidity were now the loudest in blaming my rashness.

Even if the company weathered the storm, it was about even betting that I should lose my berth.

As for the Colon affair, I was in no way blameworthy. Nobody can foresee a cyclone, and both actually and relatively we had been less severely hit than any of our competitors — quite hard enough, however, for our limited capital.

But the Niobe! So far as I could learn, she had not encountered so much as a gale of wind all the way out; yet sprung a leak, and went down in a calm sea off the coast of Cuba; all hands saved, all the cargo lost, except the master’s chronometer and sextant!

Queer — very queer! If the owners had been less honorable, and the captain less respectable, I should almost have suspected foul play. Yet even honorable people do strange things; while as for the captain, did not some great authority say that every man has his price? I had reason to believe, too, that both ship and cargo were heavily overinsured, and it was being whispered on ’Change that Barnes & Brandyman would make a deuced good thing by the loss of the Niobe. But what could Ido? The Niobe was not the first ship which had foundered in fair weather; and to dispute the claim on grounds that might expose me to an action for slander, and lay the company under suspicion of seeking a pretext to evade payment, would be both foolish and fatal. Everything seemed to be in order; Barnes & Brandyman were an honorable firm, and that day week we must either “ pay or burst.” J

Twenty thousand pounds!

A pleasant lookout! and a nice row there would be when I asked the Board to pass the check! As likely as not old Slocum would insist on suspending payment at

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once; for we had contingent liabilities in the shape of unclosed risks which might exceed the whole of our uncalled capital.

I had arrived at this point of my musings, when there came a knock at the door, followed by Slocum junior, a cheeky young rascal who, on the strength of being a volunteer and the son of a director, took liberties and gave himself airs.

“ Well?” I said, tartly; for he had bounced in without waiting for an invitation.

“ There's a man in the office wants to see you, and he refuses either to give his name or state his business; only he says it is very pressing and particular — the business, I mean, not the name.”

“ What sort of man is he?”

“ Seafaring; an Ancient Mariner sort of chap.”

“ A skipper?”

“Looks like an A. B., boatswain, cockswain, or cook, or something of that sort.”

“ Oh, I cannot be bothered with able-bodied seamen at this time of day. It is nearly five o'clock, and 1 have all my letters to write. He must state his business — or stay, he can see me to-morrow morning at ten o'clock.”

“All right, I'll tell him. But he's a stupid-looking old beggar; I don't think he will go away.”

In two minutes Slocum junior was back again; came in this time without even so much as knocking.

“The Ancient Mariner resolutely and not very respectfully refuses either to state his business or call to-morrow,” said the young fellow, jauntily. “ Does not care so

d d much whether you see him or not, but it will be

to your loss if you don’t.”

I felt very much disposed to send the Ancient Mariner to the deuce, but curiosity getting the better of dignity, I told Slocum to show him in.

“I thought that would fetch him!” muttered the young jackanapes, as he went out to execute my commission, which he did by going to the door and shouting, “ Come in!”

The “ Ancient Mariner sort of a chap ” came in accordingly. Though evidently in the seafaring profession, there was very little of the conventional sailor about him. He had neither hair on his face nor a quid in his cheeks;

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neither shivered his timbers nor hitched np his trousers. His manner was quiet and self-possessed, and his voice low (he had certainly not used the coarse expression attributed to him by Slocum); and albeit slightly grizzled, he did not look much above forty. The man had, moreover, a genial, good-humored countenance, the high color of which showed that he had lately voyaged in low latitudes, and his clear, wide-open blue eyes bespoke both honesty and courage.

Slocum junior lingered about the door as if he wanted to take part in the conversation.

“You may go, Mr. Slocum,” I said, severely; and muttering something which I did not catch, he went.

“That is right,” said the Ancient Mariner; “ my business is very private, and ” — glancing round — “I hope there's no possibility of anybody listening?”

“Hone. The door is thick, and fits close, and my desk is a long way frcm it. Besides, nobody could listen without being seen by all the clerks in the outer office. What can I do for you? Won't you sit down?”

“ Thank you kindly. I don't know as you can do much for me; but may be 1 can do something for you. You are Mr. Sidney Erie, underwriter of the Oriental and Occidental Marine Insurance Company, aren't you?”

“Iam. And you?”

“Thomas Bolsover, abled-bodied seaman, late a quarter-master aboard the Niobe.''

“You underwrote the Niobe, didn't von, for a biggish figure?”

“ I am sorry to say we did.”

“ And I am very sorry. But this must not go any further, Mr. Erie. I am only a common seafaring man, late a quarter-master aboard the Niobe, and I don't want to get myself into no trouble.”

“ I understand, Mr. Bolsover; and you may be sure that I shall do nothing to compromise you. What passes here will go no further without your permission.”

“ Well, I was going to say as I am sorry to say that the Niobe did not get fair play.”

“You mean that she got foul play?”

“Ido.”

“I feared as much. But. is it merely a case of suspicion, or do you know something?”

“ I know something. Leastways, if seeing is knowing, I do; but I cannot say as anybody told me anything.”

“ Seeing is better than hearing in a matter of this sort. What did you see?”

“ Well, we had a fine run across, made good weather ail the way out, and after touching at St. Thomas’, the course was shaped for Cuba. Later on it blew three parts of a gale of wind, but nothing at all to hurt; everything •was made snug, and it was over in a few hours. Well, the morning after, I was going below after my spell at the wheel in the second night-watch, when who should I see coming up out of the hold but the captain, with an auger in one hand and a lantern in the other. I said nothing, of course, and though when lie saw as I’d seeu him he looked a bit flustered, and slunk away to his cabin, I did not think much of it — just then. But when the bo’sun told me next day as we had sprung a leak, I began to put two and two together. Because the ship didn’t ought to have sprung a leak; she had done nothing to make her spring a leak. But it was not for me to say anything, and I held my tongue.”

“ But you kept your weather eye open, I suppose?”

“I tried. Well, she sprung a leak — leastways, they said she did — and the leak gained on us. The carpenter, he could do no good; so the pumps was rigged, and we pumped and pumped for nigh on a week, but the more we pumped the more water she seemed to make, and at last she got so low down that the captain said that, having done our duty by the ship, we must now look to ourselves. So the boats was got out, and the captain, who was the last to leave the deck, came into the dingey and ordered the others to shove off. They were on the starboard side, we on the port. He had hardly given the order when she gave a list to starboard that nearly bared her keel, lay for a moment on her beam-ends, and then Went bodily down. As she heeled over I saw a sight I shall never forget — four big holes in her hull, every one of ’em spouting water.”

“ Who was in the dingey besides yourself?”

“The captain, the carpenter, and another A. B.”

“ Did nobody else see the holes?”

“No. All the other boats was lying off on the starboard side of her/’

“ After that you went away?”

“ Yes; we were not more than fifty miles from the coast of Cuba, and we made land before morning.”

“ Who do you suppose were the captain’s confederates? T mean who, besides himself, do you think was concerned in this vile plot to sink the ship?”

“ The carpenter and the first officer.”

“ And the other sailor who was in the dingey with you — what has become of him?”

“ Alec Tobin? W 7 here he is just now I cannot say; but he shipped at Cuba aboard ahomew r ard-bound ship.”

“ Well, Mr. Bolsover, I am very much obliged for this information; it is very important. I said I would keep your secret, but I think I shall have to mention the matter to our directors. The information would be of no use to me else. However, that need not trouble you. You shall be protected, whatever comes.”

“ That is all I want, sir.”

“ And rewarded. In the meantime, take this ” — offering him a sovereign.

“ Not for me, thank you, sir. If I was to take money for my information it wouldn’t look right. You have only my word for this ’ere, and a man shouldn’t take pay for telling the truth.”

“You are an honest fellow, Bolsover — as honest as you look. If you won’t accept money, I must try to show my gratitude in some other way. It was very good of you to come to me. How did you happen to know my name, might I ask?”

“Oh, I have seen you afore, sir. You maybe remember breakfasting with Captain Peyton aboard the Diana one morning when she lay in the Huskisson Dock?”

“I remember it very well.”

“ Well, I was one of his crew, and heard him speak of vou afterward, and say as you knew f Lloyd’s Register ’ off by heart; and I heard Captain Deep, of the Niobe, tell the first officer one day as the ship was insured in the Oriental and Occidental, so it seemed sort of natural as ] should come to you.”

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“ lam glad you did. Yes, I know Captain Peyton very well. A man of the right sort, he is.”

“ And a first-rate sailor. He knows his business, he does. You were saying just now as you would like to do something for me. Well, I should like nothing better than to sail with him again; and if you would speak to him, he’d maybe give me a berth as bo’sun or quarter-master. I know a bo’suu’s duty as well as any man, sir.”

“ I’ll do that with pleasure, Bolsover, as soon as Captain Peyton comes home; and that won’t be long, I think, The Diana is sixty days out from Montevideo, and is pretty sure to be here by the end of the month. You had better leave me your address, and then I can communicate with you about that or the other matter.”

I handed him a pen, and he put down his address in a sprawling but sufficiently legible hand. As he bent his arm, his coat-sleeve (which was none of the longest) ran up a little, and hared his wrist, showing a strange device in blue ink: a ship in full sail, above which was tattooed a name, “ Santa Anna;” and below, a date, “ 1774.”

I should have liked to ask what it all meant, but as time was going on, and my letters were still to write, T refrained, little thinking how much the device portended nor how strangely the mystery which lay behind it was destined to affect my fortunes.

Then we "shook hands, and Bolsover went away and left me to my thoughts.

Chapter II

MR. BEANDYMAN.

I WAS right,' then; there had been foul play. Captain Deep had committed the crime of barratry, with the connivance, and doubtless at the instance, of the ship’s owners, Messrs. Barnes & Brandyman. There are a good many respectable people who would do even worse if they could make twenty thousand pounds thereby, this being the amount which Messrs. Barnes & Brandy man’s treachery was likely to bring them; for, as I have already observed, they 'had insured the Niobe and her cargo largely elsewhere; and, to give the firm their due, they did not do things by halves. They were not the sort of people i to commit a felony and run a serious risk for an old

song.

But the question that most concerned me was my own course of action. What should I do? It was obvious that I could not bring a charge of barratry against so intensely respectable a firm as Barnes & Brandy man without tiie most convincing proofs. But the only proof I could adduce was Bolsover’s statement, and as he was sure to be flatly contradicted by the captain, the mate, and the carpenter, that would not avail me much, even though I should find and produce Alec Tobin, the other sailor who had seen the holes in the Niobe’s hull.

Moreover, no insurance company, above all a company so weak and young as ours, would venture, save on the very strongest grounds; openly to dispute a claim and fight so strong a firm as Barnes & Brandyman; for failure would not only involve discredit, but increase the original loss by the cost of an expensive lawsuit.

All the same, I was determined net to let these people reap the reward of their villainy if I could possibly help it, and after a long cogitation I decided on a plan of campaign which I proceeded to put into execution at the next Board meeting. When the Niobe claim came up for discussion, I quietly observed, to the great amazement of the directors, that I did not think Barnes & Brandyman would insist on its payment. Of course I was overwhelmed by an avalanche of questions, to which I answered that for tiie moment I must keep mv own counsel, but that at the next meeting they should know everything, assuring them that in the meantime they might trust me to neither compromise the company’s reputation nor involve it in any further liability. With this they were content, probably because they guessed that I had found something out, and were ready to grasp at any chance, however remote, of keeping' the concern on its legs.

I am a pretty good draughtsman, and when I went home in the evening I drew a little sketch, which I made as graphic and as life-like as I could. It represented the hold of a ship, a man boring holes with a big auger, another man behind him holding a lantern; and, hovering above both, a grinning devil, in his hand a well-filled bag, on which was inscribed “ £20,000.” The first man

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■was Captain Deep, the second Mr. Brandyman, and both, I flatter myself, were rather striking portraits.

The next morning I called at Barnes & Brandyman's office and asked to see Mr. Brandyman; for though not the head of the Arm, he was its guiding spirit and presiding genius. A pleasant-spoken, portly, fresh-complexioned, middle-aged gentleman, it seemed the most natural thing in the world that he should wear mutton-chop whiskers and a white waistcoat, sport a big bunch of seals, be an important man in the town, and a shining light at the Rodney Street Chapel (as I understood he was).

He gave me a cordial greeting, and after inquiring, with much seeming interest, as to my own health and that of my mother, ho asked how the Oriental and Occidental was getting on.”

“ As well as can be expected for a new company,” I answered, cautiously and vaguely.

“You find the Niobe papers all in order, I hope?”

“ Oh, yes; the papers ” — emphasis on “ papers ” — “ appear to be quite in order.”

“That is all right then. When shall we send round for our check? It is a large amount to be out of. Walkers settled yesterday, and the other companies will settle to-day, I believe. All the same, there is no hurry, and if it would be more convenient next week ”

“ You can send round for the check whenever you like, Mr. Brandyman, but ” — here I paused a moment — “I am by no means sure that you will get it.”

“ What for, I should like to know?” firing up.

“ Look at this, and you will see what for.

And with that I whipped out the sketch and laid it before him.

He looked at it curiously, but when its meaning dawned on his mind (as it did very quickly) his countenance changed as if he had seen a Gorgon's head. His high color gave place to a death-like pallor, the paper dropped from his trembling hand, and there was a hoarse gurgle in his throat which made me fear that he was going to have a fit.

“ You seem faint, Mr. Brandyman; drink this, and you will feel better,” I said, filling a tumbler of water from a carafe that stood on the table.

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“ Thank you,” he gasped. “’Tis a sudden faintness. It must be the heat of the room, I think. A — a curious sketch this! Where — where did you get it?”

“I drew it, Mr. Brandyman — from information I received .”

“ Really!” — looking at it again; “ I did not think you were so clever, Mr. Erie, and — and — what can I do for you, Mr. Erie?”

“ Nothing at all. Only, with your permission, I should just like to give you a hint.”

“ Of course — certainly — I am sure — yes — what is it?” returned Mr. Brandyman, a little incoherently.

“Well, if I were you, I would not send round for that check. We are a young company, and don’t want litigation; but ”

“I will think about it, Mr. Erie. I will speak to my partner, and think about it. And this sketch — you can, perhaps, leave it with me. I should not like — I mean I should like to keep it, if you will let me. It is so very curious.”

“By all means. Keep it as a memento of our interview, Mr. Brandyman — and of the Niobe.”

And then I bade him good-bye, and returned to the office in the full assurance that the twenty thousand pound check would never be sent for. True, I had no evidence of the barratry worth mentioning — from a legal point of view — but conscience makes cowards of us all. Mr. Brandyman gauged our knowledge of the facts by his own fears. He believed, too, though I had not said so, that we should resist payment of the claim; and as I could well see, he dreaded the scandal of a lawsuit, involving a criminal charge, as much as we dreaded litigation and heavy law expenses.

The Board fully approved of what I had done, and I received many compliments on my smartness. Iliad saved the Oriental and Occidental from serious danger, and given it a . new chance of life; which is another way of saying that I had saved the directors a good deal of money, for as all were shareholders, the failure of the company would have brought them both loss and discredit.

A few days later Tom Bolsover called at the office to tell me (what I knew already) that the Dir hud arrived in the Mersey, and to remind me of my promise.

This was quite a work of supererogation on his part. I was not likely to forget either his services or my promise. and I renewed my offer of a handsome reward; but he would accept nothing more valuable than a pound of cavendish tobacco and a box of Havana cigars.

Shortly afterward I saw Captain Peyton and asked him, as a favor to me, to grant Bolsover’s request if he possibly could.

Well,” he said, smiling, “ Fll do my best. Crazy Tom is a thorough seaman; and, yes — I dare say I can.”

“ Crazy Tom!” I exclaimed, in surprise. “ Why crazy? I never met a saner man in my life.”

“ Oh, he is sane enough except on one point, and what is more, lie’s honest. A good many folks call him ‘ Honest Tom.’ It was only on my ship they called him crazy. I expect that is why he left me; and he maybe thinks that if I make him boatswain he will escape being chaffed.”

“ But why on earth did your people call the poor fellow crazy, and what did they chaff him about?”

“ Well, he has a fad; tells a yarn about a lost galleon, with a lot of treasure on board, and not only swears it is true, but believes the galleon is still afloat, and that one day or another he’ll find her.”

“ And why shouldn’t she be still afloat?”

“ Well, seeing that, from his account, it’s more than a century since she disappeared, it is not very likely, I think ! The idea is perfectly ridiculous ami absurd — crazy, in fact,” said Captain Peyton, who was a bluff, matter-offact north-countryman. *'• But all this is second-hand. Tom never spoke to me about it in his life, and he lias been so unmercifully chaffed that I fancy he does not like to speak about it. I daresay, though, he would tell you the yarn if you have any curiosity on the subject.”

“ Well, I rather think I should like to hear the story of the lost galleon; for, if not true, it is pretty sure to be interesting, and that’s the main point in a story, after all. Se non e vero, e ben trovato, you know.”

However, I did not hear Tom’s yarn just then, nor until several things had happened which I little expected. Captain Peyton got fresh sailing orders sooner than he anticipated, and made Bolsover happy by engaging him

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as boatswain; and the latter was so much occupied that he had barely time to call and say 4 4 good-bye ” the day before the Diana was towed out to sea. I did not see him again for several months, in circumstances which I shall presently relate.

Chapter III. Nil Despekandum

And now I think it is time I told how it came to pass that, at an age when most young men of my years have only just left college or begun business, I was a professional underwriter, and virtually the manager of the Oriental and Occidental Insurance Company.

My father was a merchant, and for many years a partner in the house of Waterhouse, Watkins, Erie & Co., who traded principally with the West Indies and South America, though being very catholic in their commercial ideas, they would have shipped coals to Newcastle, or warming-pans to Madagascar, if they had been sure about their reimbursement, and could have seen a trifling profit on the venture.

My father, who was the traveling member of the firm, went about a good deal 4 4 drumming ” for fresh business, and at one period of his life spent several years at Maracaibo, in Venezuela — a fact which accounts for my having been born there. Now, anybody who goes to Maracaibo as surely gets a touch of yellow fever as anybody who stays a winter in London gets a taste of yellow fog. It is a matter of course, and new-comers make their arrangements accordingly. My parents underwent the ordeal the year before I came into the world, which circumstance was supposed to confer on me a complete immunity from this terrible pest of the tropics. 1 was acclimatized by the mere fact of my birth.

I cannot say that I esteemed the privilege very highly, for I had not the most remote intention of returning to Maracaibo, which from all accounts is a pestiferous, mosquito-haunted pandemonium.

My poor father used to say that whatever else he might leave me, he should at least leave me free from all fear of Yellow Jack.

As it turned out, he left me little else. After his re-

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turn from foreign climes he settled down in Liverpool, took a big house in Abercrombie Square, entertained largely, and lived expensively. When 1 was about sixteen, and a pupil at Uppingham School, my father (who had been a free liver) died suddenly of apoplexy, and an investigation of his affairs resulted in the painful discovery that, after payment of his liabilities, the residue of his estate would only provide my mother and myself with an income of something less than two hundred a year. So we had to give up our fine house in Abercrombie Square and go into lodgings, and I left Uppingham and began to earn my own living — literally, for after I was seventeen 1 did not cost my mother a penny.

The calling I took up was not of my own choosing. Had my father lived a little longer, or left us better off, I should have gone into the army. 1 did subsequently join the volunteers, and alter serving for a while in the artillery, became first lieutenant and then captain in a rifle regiment. In the circumstances, however, I was glad to accept the offer of Mr. Oombie, of the firm of Combie, Nelson & Co., ship and insurance brokers, to take me into his office and push me forward, “ if I showed myselL smart,” as he was sure I would.

I justified his confidence, and he kept his word. Although I would much rather have been a soldier, I had sense enough to give my mind to the insurance business, and in a comparatively short time I became familiar with all the intricacies of general average and particular average, the draughting of policies, and the rest; and if I did not, as Captain Peyton had told Tom Bolsover, know ‘ Lloyd's Register 9 off by heart, there was not a sea-going ship belonging to the port of Liverpool whose age, classification, and character (which meant, in many instances, the character of her owners) I could not tell without referring to the book.

The partners often consulted me as to the premiums they ought to charge, and the risks which it was prudent for them to take; they gave me a salary which made my mother and myself very comfortable, and had I been patient and waited a few years, I should doubtless have become a member of the firm. But I was ambitious; and when the newly constituted Oriental and Occidental Marine Insurance Company invited me to become their