The drifting of the Cavashaws

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I The Colonel Prepares a Surprise 9

II The Unexpected Guest 16

Chapter I. The Colonel Prepares A Surprise

“Colonel Cavashaw, sir!” sang out Captain Watterson from the bridge in his soft Southern accent, “ the launch is under way.” Then closing his marine glasses with a snap, he added : “ Madam

and the party are aboard, sir,” and turned to issue commands to his crew.

The Colonel rose and stretched himself with a yawn. “ Here they come, Carlton,” he said, noticing that I was awake. “ Better hide yourself, my boy ! ”

We had been dozing on the after-deck of the Colonel’s yacht Idyl, as she lay in New York Harbor awaiting the remainder of her passengers before 9 sailing for West Indian waters. I had given my consent to be a member of the party only the previous evening, and had passed the night on board at the earnest request of my host. The Colonel had taken dinner with me at the club for the purpose of letting me into his secret, and would hear of no excuses to his invitation.

“ Oh, come on ! ” he had insisted, when I demurred on the not unreasonable grounds of insufficient notice. “ It's a little surprise I’m preparing for mother and the girls. They’ll be delighted to see you. Throw some things into a bag and let’s get aboard to-night.”

“ But what about Briggs ? ” I said somewhat weakly. “ What will he have to say about my desertion ? ”

Horace Briggs was a mutual friend, and my partner in the firm of Carlton and Briggs, brokers; which estimable, though misguided, concern was about to pass into the hands of the receivers.

“ Briggs ! ” exclaimed the Colonel in well-feigned surprise. “ You don’t mean to tell me that you can be of any assistance to Briggs ? You had better get away before he thinks to tell you the extent of your liabilities.”

The Colonel Prepares a Surprise 11

It was popularly conceded that Briggs furnished the brains of the firm, while I had contributed the money. And in the latter particular, at least, the assumption was correct. But, as matters now stood, I realized that there was very little evidence of either of these equally valuable assets.

My capitulation to the Colonel soon followed.

Thus it was that I had deserted my post, fled my responsibilities, and now found myself on board the Idyl participating in the Colonel's “ little surprise ” to an extent quite beyond what I imagined — a fact of which I was not long to remain in ignorance.

The Colonel stood with his glasses trained upon the approaching launch, which was now within half a mile of us.

“Who's aboard?” I asked, joining him at the rail.

“Well, I can make out mother and Janet, and — oh, yes, there’s Sibyl behind mother’s big hat.” Then, after a pause : “ — and Lesears. You’ve met Val Lesears, haven’t you, Carlton?”

“ Lesears ! ” I exclaimed in surprise. And then, checking the question that instinctively came to my lips, I said: “Yes, I know Lesears slightly — only

12 The Drifting of the Cavashavvs

slightly though.” The fact was, that the little I did know about the man was not at all to his credit.

“ Well, he’s coming along with us/’ returned my host handing me the glasses. “ He’s a friend of the family’s, you know — that is, mother and Sibyl seem to like him well enough.”

I took the proffered glasses with an eagerness which I fear was somewhat excessive, and focused them upon the approaching launch and its occupants. These, I observed, consisted of Mrs. Cavashaw and her sister, Miss Janet Ashleigh, both elderly ladies, Sibyl Cavashaw, — a girl of nineteen — and Lesears. The two latter were seated together in the stern of the boat, Lesears holding the tiller, much to the apparent embarrassment of the chief officer who sat disconsolately in the bow. I could not refrain from smiling at this evidence of Lesears’ characteristic officiousness. But here my observations were cut short by the Colonel drawing me away from the rail.

“ Mother can recognize you a mile off, Carlton ! ” he said. “ You had better go below until they come aboard, or you’ll spoil the surprise I want to give them all.”

I complied with his request, promising not to

The Colonel Prepares a Surprise 13

reveal myself until he gave the signal, and betook myself to the saloon, where I selected a window which would command a view of the launch when it arrived at the ship’s side.

Left to my own reflections I began to see the Colonel’s little joke in a new light. The manner in which he had mentioned Lesears as being a member of the party convinced me that he had his misgivings. Practical jokes were one of the Colonel’s weaknesses, to be sure; but had he sought to hide the real reason of his action, in thus smuggling me aboard, under cover of one of his well-known characteristics ? In short, was my presence on board the yacht designed as a polite though effective contretemps to the affairs of the two lovers? If so, the Colonel was more subtle than I had ever suspected.

And yet, granting my supposition to be correct, what was more natural than that I should be chosen for the purpose ? I had known the Cavashaws since childhood, when we were neighbors, and the Colonel had helped me to fly my kite upon the Berkshire hills. In those days, too, Sibyl had been my playmate, and I have since prided myself in the knowledge that I performed a most important role in her bringing-up. An orphan, the inmate of an institution, she had been adopted by the Colonel and his wife when but an infant. The circumstances surrounding the adoption I had never heard, nor was the subject ever alluded to in after years. Indeed, so carefully were the particulars guarded that, beyond the fact that she was an adopted child, Sibyl herself knew naught.

Thus had there been thrust into the lives of this unprolific couple all the responsibilities and mysteries which encompass childhood. My importance to the family had grown from that hour. Daily the little orphan became more and more my charge, until, at the age of thirteen, Sibyl left for boardingschool. On that memorable occasion we had parted like brother and sister.

But the five intervening years had wrought a big change in the Cavashaws’ adopted daughter. This I was able to discern in the momentary glimpse that I had caught of her through the Colonel’s glasses. And the change seemed the more wonderful as the Colonel still spoke of her as a child, and still referred to his wife as “ Mother,” a habit which he had acquired at the time of the adoption.

Sibyl was no longer the naive little girl that I had kissed good-bye at our last parting. Indeed, the

The Colonel Prepares a Surprise 15

very thought of this affectionate leave-taking filled me with a vague sense of uneasiness. I recollected how desultory our correspondence had become during the last two years ; and how, in Sibyl’s last letter which reached me on Christmas Day, she had accused me of being dictatorial. I had not found the courage to reply.

Altogether, looking at it in the light of these reflections, my presence on board the Idyl began to assume a most embarrassing aspect, made infinitely worse by the unexpected debut which I was about to make.

“ What a fool I am to be hiding down here ! ” I muttered, springing to my feet with the determination of going up on deck forthwith. But at that instant the sound of merry voices reached me through the open port, mingled with the commands of the Captain and the grating of the launch against the steamer’s side. Simultaneously I heard the Colonel’s boisterous greeting from the deck above, and realized that my chance of acting like a sane person had vanished.

Chapter II. The Unexpected Guest

I approached the window cautiously and peered out. It was evident, at once, that I had misjudged Lesears in at least one respect. And this discovery had the effect of making me feel that my conjecture as to the underlying cause of my invitation was, in all probability, absurd.

The Colonel’s guest had assumed charge of the launch for the very commendable, and equally apparent, reason that the chief officer was intoxicated to the degree of having to be assisted up the accommodation ladder. In a voice that could be heard throughout the vessel, Captain Watterson ordered the man below to his quarters, and then gallantly turned his attention to getting his passengers aboard. The incident, although somewhat disconcerting to the ladies, was soon forgotten, and no traces of the impending storm was discernible in the Captain’s affable demeanor.

Mrs. Cavashaw was the first to ascend the steps, followed by her sister ; Lesears assisting both ladies to the first landing, where stood Captain Watterson now wreathed in smiles. There was some little delay, to be sure, before Miss Ashleigh could be prevailed upon to part momentarily from a basket containing her pet Maltese cat, and a parcel in which was a caged canary.

“ No, George ! ” she called back to the Colonel, who had instructed the engineer of the launch to take charge of the articles. “ I wouldn’t have those dear creatures drowned for anything ! Give them to me, my good man.”

“ But, Janet,” persisted the Colonel in his most persuasive tones, “ both you and the dear creatures will be drowned, if you attempt to carry them up that ladder.”

“ Yes, ma’am,” chimed in the sailor. “ Couldn’t do it myself, ma’am.”

“ Then, how do you propose to get them on board, my man? ” was the quick rejoinder.

“ Have ’em hauled up, ma’am.”

“ Hauled up, indeed — the idea! You shall do no such thing ! ” retorted the indignant lady. “ George, I will not have my pets hauled up ! ”

“ Oh, he can carry them up, one at a time,” explained her ingenious brother-in-law. “ If he’s careful, I’ve no doubt he can manage it all right.”

Thus, Miss Ashleigh was finally persuaded to mount the steps, which she did very gingerly, calling back numerous instructions as to how the respective articles were to be held, in order to insure the greatest possible comfort to the occupants.

Sibyl next placed her neat little foot upon the ladder, revealing a comely ankle as she lifted her skirts daintily in order to avoid contact with the damp steps. She half turned toward Lesears as she did so, and both laughed at some remark which passed. At that instant her foot slipped upon the wet wood and she fell backwards.

I never have seen anything more neatly executed than the way in which Lesears caught the slender figure in its fall. His arm shot out and passed around the girl’s waist, and for some seconds he supported her full weight. Although standing upon the seat of an unsteady boat, he maintained his balance perfectly; and during the few moments in which Sibyl remained in his arms, there passed between them a glance in which something more than mere gratitude and admiration was written.

This much I had witnessed through the saloon window, as it was all the happening of an instant. But I was soon hurrying to the deck, anxious to learn whether Miss Cavashaw had sustained any injury.

At the head of the companionway I was met by the Colonel who was a few feet in advance of the rest of the party.

“ Why, mother, look who’s here ! ” he cried, playing his part admirably. “ Who’d ever have thought that Charlie Carlton would become a stowaway!” And immediately I was in the midst of the astonished group.

“ Charles Edgar Carlton ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Cavashaw, throwing up her hands in genuine dismay. “ Where ever did you come from?” And then, before my indignation at the Colonel’s treatment could find expression in more than a stiff bow, she added sympathetically : “ You poor boy ! How did you escape from that horrid man, Briggs? I have always said that he was simply after your money. It just serves him right if you have left him to his wicked ways ! ”

I caught a look of keen enjoyment in the Colonel’s face while his wife was speaking. Sibyl and

Lesears, very fortunately, were behind me. I felt that I looked, and was, a fool.

“ Madam,” I said, speaking with cool deliberation, “ I am not escaping from Mr. Briggs. Last evening I dined with your huband, and ”

“ Ah ! so he did, so he did — now I remember ! ” piped in the Colonel. “Such a dinner, too, my dear! Well, well; who’d have suspected that it would result in giving us Carlton’s charming company on the cruise? My! but it was a time ”

“ George ! ” ejaculated his wife, in the tone that a mother would use to reprove her son ; — • “ George!”

But the Colonel’s sense of humor was not to be thus rebuffed, and turning me about he presented me to the rest of the company with befitting witticisms.

Sibyl gave me a cold little hand which trembled perceptibly, and caused me to start as I touched it. Her greeting was, perhaps, even colder than her hand, but I did not realize this at the time. I thought only that the poor girl was suffering intensely from the shock of her recent narrow escape, and in my solicitude I hastened to express my fears.

The next moment I regretted having done so.

“ You appear to have witnessed the incident, Mr. Carlton,” she said in a tone of mild surprise and, I thought, of slight contempt.

I had greeted her as “ Sibyl ” a few moments before.

“ Yes,” I stammered in confusion, “ I did. I was hurrying to the deck to ascertain whether you had been injured, when I met you all coming down.”

She made no response to this exceedingly lame confession ; and, in the momentary silence which ensued, I noticed that Lesears and the Colonel had returned to the deck, while the two elder ladies had withdrawn to their staterooms.

“ Sibyl,” I said earnestly, “ — Miss Cavashaw, then, if you prefer it, — I realize that I owe you an explanation, but I will not detain you with it now. You should rest, and be perfectly quiet after the severe shock to which you have been subjected.”

I spoke with genuine feeling, for it seemed as though the girl was upon the verge of collapse. Indeed, I instinctively stepped toward her to offer my support. But she quickly retreated from me.

“ You do not owe me anything,” she said disdainfully. “ If you chose to hide your presence until we came on board, it does not concern me. But if you are bent upon apologizing to some one, let it be to Mr. Lesears, for it was I who invited him, and I made no mention of any other guest.”

With this last thrust of sarcasm she turned and left the saloon, tottering rather than walking; while I stood helpless to render her any assistance, knowing that my offer would meet with indignant refusal.

I think that if the yacht had not already been under way, I should have reconsidered my decision to be one of the party. Not that I attached any blame to Sibyl. I felt that it was the sequel of events, rather than merely my unexpected appearance, that had led to her unfriendly attitude towards me. If she had not entirely misinterpreted my letters during the five preceding years, she would not so unjustly have misconstrued my presence aboard the yacht now. Nor did I feel that Colonel Cavashaw was to blame for the unpleasant turn my affairs had taken. It is true that I was the victim of one of the Colonel’s practical jokes. But the joke, in itself, was innocent enough, and had there not been any previous misunderstanding between Sibyl and myself, nothing like my present predicament could have resulted.

The fault was clearly mine, in not having foreseen the certain and unhappy consequences of making a joke of my unexpected appearance. Indeed, the matter was one that called for the most delicate and skillful handling, in view of my unfavorable standing in Sibyl’s estimation. Her letter accusing me of being dictatorial, whether merited or unmerited, had remained unanswered for almost ten months; and suddenly to thrust myself upon her in this absurd fashion, was truly unjustifiable. I should have taken Colonel Cavashaw into my confidence and warned him of this.

It was now too late, however, to think of aught but redeeming myself in Sibyl’s favor. I felt that I had received a well-chosen, and thoroughly merited, rebuke; and I determined not to attempt to justify my action, but, if possible, to live it down. My acceptance of Lesears as Sibyl’s fiance, and therefore entitled to first consideration in all that concerned that young lady, appeared to be the primary step in this direction, and I determined to conduct myself accordingly.

Chapter III. Val Lesears

I found the Colonel and Lesears on deck, and joined them in their walk. We had passed through the Narrows, and were headed for the open sea by way of the Ambrose Channel. Already the yacht felt a gentle swell, which, with the stiffening breeze, gave promise of becoming more definite in character when we rounded the Hook.

The Colonel, who was a veritable old salt, and never so happy as when, from the deck of his yacht, he watched her breasting the clear blue waters of the Atlantic and drank in the briny air — the Colonel was delighted with the aspect of things.

“ Carlton, my boy,” he exclaimed, hooking my arm as I emerged upon deck, “ we’ll have need of our sea-legs upon this voyage, so our friend here tells me. And I think you said that you were born at sea, eh, Lesears, — or a born sailor, was it? ”

“ Both,” returned that worthy gentleman, turn-

Val Lesears in g aloft a nautical eye (which, by the way, was a monocled one) and surveying the heavens critically. “ I tell you, Cavashaw, there’s mighty few sailors who have lived to yarn about the kind of weather that I’ve been through. Why, I was born in a blessed typhoon ! Somewhere between Bombay and Suez, it was. Don’t know exactly, you see, as I wasn’t taking observations those days. Blowing like the devil when I dropped in, — and it’ll be blowing like the devil when I drop out, according to a clairvoyant.”

And, strangely enough, in this particular, whether by chance or by genuine psychical perception, the clairvoyant had foreshadowed his future correctly.

“ All of which means that you can navigate a ship like a skipper, eh, Lesears ? ” I added pleasantly.

“ Rather ! And a deuced lot better than most skippers I’ve known. Shouldn’t mind trying my hand against the old man up there ; ” with a significant nod in the direction of the bridge.

“ I’ve a right good mind to take you at your word ! ” exclaimed the Colonel, who had been touched in a very sensitive spot by this reference to his skipper. “If Watterson wasn’t such a strict disciplinarian, I’d have you on the bridge with him this noon ! ”

Lesears adjusted his eye-glass with a series of remarkable facial contortions, and surveyed the Colonel in astonishment.

“ By Jove, Cavashaw ! ” he exclaimed, “ you don’t mean to tell me that you can’t do as you jolly well please on your own yacht? ”

“ Not if it interferes with Watterson,” replied our host with a decisive shake of the head. “ Watterson’s one of the old school — a regular sea-dog when it comes to exercising his authority. Like a bomb at times, liable to explode any moment, eh, Carlton?”

This reference to his skipper’s explosive tendencies was one of the Colonel’s favorite reminiscences, and recalled to my mind the one occasion on which I had been so unfortunate as to cross the Captain’s purposes. I smiled at the recollection, and nodded my acquiescence.

“ Um — you don’t say ! Really you surprise me ! ” drawled Lesears. “ A regular bombastic-devil-maycare-modern-buccaneer-no-end, eh ? I know the breed, by Jove, thick as flies out East. Fires a beastly lot of nautical slang at one, with perhaps a

Val Lesears sprinkling of really bad oaths. Well, I’ll handle him for you — trust me, Cavashaw! If he’s the sea-dog that you say he is, he ougHt to have instinct enough to know that he can’t scare me that way.”

At this moment the Captain himself stepped out of the companionway immediately behind Lesears, and taking the Colonel to one side, conversed earnestly with him in a low tone. He gave no indication of having overheard what was said, but as Lesears stood within a couple of feet of the companionway, it could hardly be supposed that the remark had escaped him. From the few words which were distinguishable, I judged that the subject of conversation was the delinquent mate.

Lesears and I walked to the after-deck, leaving the two men free to talk. It was evident that my companion was in no way disturbed by the unfortunate incident, and realizing that he had quite a wrong impression of our host’s attitude toward his master mariner, I sought to give him timely warning to this effect. The result, however, only proved that Lesears was, in every way, what I had judged him to be ; and I took an early opportunity of going below, under pretext of wishing to write a few letters to send ashore with the pilot.

In the seclusion of my stateroom I tried to arrive at a logical explanation of both Lesears’ invitation and my own, but failed utterly. One result of my reasoning, however, was the conviction that the Colonel knew as much about Lesears as I did, and possibly more, and that for some good reason he sought to hide this knowledge not only from his family and me, but even from Lesears himself. What this reason was, I could not conceive, but I had little doubt that before the end of the voyage a solution would present itself.

Chapter IV. Three Days’ Rain

Sibyl was really ill as a result of her experience while boarding the yacht; and it was not until the afternoon of the third day at sea that she left her cabin, and gave three jaded men the enlivenment of her company. Wet weather with a raw north wind had kept us below since the day of our departure, seriously taxing the dispositions of at least two of the company — Lesears and myself.

Colonel Cavashaw was the only one who found sufficient occupation for both mind and body during these two miserable days. All his time and tact were needed to preserve peace between the Captain and his mate. And to further this much desired condition, a ban was placed upon all liquor aboard the yacht, to the end that Mr. Swenaldi, the mate, might find it impossible to become intoxicated for the third time ; he having no sooner recovered from his first inebriety, than he embarked upon a second one.

The two elderly ladies fretted much at the enforced confinement between decks, but finally settled down to needlework, abandoning me, despite my wiles of dominoes and cards, to the unfortunate fate of having to entertain Lesears. This I made a conscientious effort to do, realizing that it was, in a way, incumbent upon me. But I failed utterly.

I spent hours in my stateroom reading, and finally conceived the idea of keeping a diary, or “ ship’s log” as I termed it. In pursuit of material, and the better to keep in touch with events, I would frequent every part of the yacht, from forecastle to saloon galley. This contact with the crew furnished me with a rare knowledge of what transpired inter se, and awakened me to facts hitherto undreamt of. Indeed, it ultimately led to a disclosure of no small importance.

Grog, I found, was the one topic of the forecastle. Without grog no work could be expected of the men. And as that life-giving commodity had come under the ban, the spirit of the crew was not far from being mutinous.

“ I’ll tell yer ’ow it is, guv’nor,” said one of them in a sudden tone of confidence, after I had donated a handful of cigars with the suggestion that they

Three Days’ Rain might help to overcome his prodigious thirst. “ Me and Bill ’ere, and Joe Turner as is over yonder scrubbin’ decks, we ain’t no Yankee lugs. Beggin’ yer pardon, sir, but no offense meant. We’re as good a set of British tars as ever spliced ’emp. Not as I’m sayin’ aught agin Spike there. ’E’s only a lad, an’ rum ain’t good for ’im any’ow. But wot we says, me, Bill, and Joe, is that we’ll quit if we don’t get the grub as is ’lowed by the British law. Ain’t that right, Bill?”

“ Sure t’ing, Boss ! ” vouched Bill, in as good a Bowery accent as one could find on the East Side.

“But,” I protested, “ I thought that the complaint was about the rum.”

“ Bless yer ’art, guv’nor, so it is ! That’s the only grub we cares about. It’s bread and meat and cheese to us, with greens thrown in. Our constitootions demand it, mate ! I’ve seen as ’ale and ’arty a man as ever yer slapped yer eyes on, wither-up-like and die in a week for want of it. An’ mind yer, sir, we ain’t got nothin’ agin the Cap’n, nor agin the Colonel, bless ’is ’art ! It’s that there foreign bloke as they ships fer mate, an’ who don’t know as much about navigation as that there cat. ’E comes aboard with a list on ’im like a brig in a typhoon, an’ swears an' ’oilers all night for more rum — Matie, it womd ’ave brought the tears to yer eyes ter ’ave seen us poor lads give ’im the last drop we ’ad, just to keep ’im quiet-like, so as ’e wouldn’t disturb the ladies wot were aboard. Ain’t that right, Bill? An’ then wot ’appens ? Why, Cap’n orders that no more rum be ’anded out all th’ voyage ! That’s wot we ’ears ; an’ not a d — d drop we’ve ’ad since. An’ as if that’s not ’ard enough on us poor honest seamen, we sees th’ mate guzzling it by th’ pint from th’ saloon.”

“What’s that?” I exclaimed. “You say that you saw the mate take liquor from the saloon? ”

“ Well no, guv’nor, not exactly take it, yer know. But th’ gent as wears one of them port-lights in ’is eye, ’e gives th’ mate all ’e wants of it; don’t ’e, Bill?”

“ Sure ! ” averred the Bowery gentleman contemptuously. “ I seed der guy hand der mate a pint not more ’an five minutes back. He’s wid ’im now, chewing der rag about something mighty important. They’re as thick as flies. Say! ” he added with a knowing wink, “ It was dat guy wot got der mate full before he come aboard. He was hollering fer him all night ; ain’t dat right, Sam ? ”

“ Gospel ! ” quoth Sam, rolling his quid up into a

Three Days’ Rain convenient corner of his mouth, preparatory to furnishing further enlightenment.

But I had no desire to hear the Colonel’s guest discussed by these men, and, promising to do what I could for them, I turned on my heel to go. But, whether fearing the consequences of being overconfidential, or with a genuine desire to give me timely warning, the man came after me and touched my arm.

“ Beggin’ yer pardon, guv’nor,” he said with a furtive glance around him, and speaking from behind his hand, “ me and Bill wouldn’t speak ’ard of a friend of yourn. Wot we says is ‘ friends is friends.’ But that there foreign bloke, ’e ain’t no friend of yourn. We ’eard enough for that ”

“ That’s all right ! ” I interrupted. “ I understand. What you have said shall not be repeated.” And, thereupon, I returned to my stateroom with ample material for the ship’s log, and food for meditation to boot.

I had no reason to doubt the sailor’s story with regard to Lesears ; indeed, it fitted in so well with what I knew of the man that it did not even surprise me. I had always known him to possess an inordinate fondness for carousing; and if I had incurred his enmity, the fact caused me no apprehensions. It was not strange, in the circumstances, that Lesears had no great liking for me and, I confess, the antipathy was reciprocated. Nor did I consider that it was at all incumbent upon me to inform my host of what I had heard. He would doubtless discover the cause of the mate’s habitual drunkenness soon enough, if he did not already suspect it. The inconceivable feature of the whole affair was that the Colonel, knowing Lesears as he undoubtedly did, had sanctioned his invitation. There was some hidden reason, some mysterious underlying cause, of which I, at least, was entirely ignorant.