On Board the Esmeralda Part 7

"My!" exclaimed Tom, "why, you're a regular brick, Martin. One would think you had planned it out all beforehand!"

"Just precisely what I did," I replied, chuckling at having kept my secret. "I have determined ever since last summer to run away to sea at the first opportunity I got; and when you suggested our blowing up Dr h.e.l.lyer, and making a regular Guy Fawkes of him, I, thought it would be too warm for us here afterwards, and that then would be the time to bolt. There is no use in our remaining now, to be starved first and expelled afterwards--with probably any number of 'pandies' given us to- morrow in addition."

"No," said Tom, agreeing with this pretty correct estimate of our present position and future prospects. "Dr h.e.l.lyer will whack that ruler of his into us in the morning, without fail--I could see it in his eye as he went out of the room, as well as from that grin he put on when he spoke. I dare say, besides, we won't be allowed a morsel to eat all day; we shall be kept here to watch the other fellows feeding--it's a brutal way of paying a chap out, isn't it?"

"Well, I'm not going to put up with it, for one," said I, decisively.

"You know, Tom, as soon as my uncle hears of my being expelled, prompted by Aunt Matilda, he will seize the chance of doing what he has long threatened, and 'wash his hands of me,' and then, why I will be in only just the same plight as if I take French leave of Dr h.e.l.lyer now!"

"My mother, though, will be grieved when she hears of this," put in Tom, as if hesitating what he should do.

"Nonsense, Tom," I replied--still exercising the influence I possessed over my chum for evil!--"I am certain that if she knew that the Doctor had treated you as he has done, starving you and keeping you here all night in the cold out of your bed, she wouldn't mind a bit your running away from the school along with me; especially when I'm going to take you where you'll get food and shelter."

This argument decided Tom at once. "All right," said he, in the usual jolly way in which he and I settled all our little differences. "I'll come, Martin. But it is getting late. Don't you think, too, we'd better look alive and start as soon as we can?"

"I was waiting till we heard the Doctor snoring," I replied. "Go and listen at the door; his room, you know, is on the other side of the landing, and you'll be able to tell in a minute whether he is asleep or not."

Tom did as I requested, stealing noiselessly across the room for the purpose, returning quickly with the news that our worthy preceptor was fast in the arms of Morpheus, judging by the stentorian sound of his deep breathing. Dr h.e.l.lyer had made a hearty dinner, in spite of our having upset his equanimity so unexpectedly. He had likewise disposed of an equally hearty tea; so he was now sleeping soundly--his peaceful slumbers doubtless soothed with sweet dreams in reference to the punishment he intended inflicting on us on the morrow, not thinking for a moment, unhappy dreamer, that the poor birds whom he had, as he imagined, effectually snared and purposed plucking, would by that time, if all went well with our plans, have flown far beyond reach of his nervous arm!

The master asleep, we had no fear of interruption from any one else, for the old woman took her repose in the back kitchen, out of earshot of anything happening in the front of the house, and Smiley and the Cobbler were probably snoring away as composedly as their chief in the dormitories above, of which they were in charge; so, Tom and I at once began operations for effecting our "strategic retreat" from the establishment.

The windows of the refectory opened on to a narrow balcony that ran along the front of the house; and these, having heavy wooden shutters, fastened by horizontal iron bars, latching into a catch, we had some little difficulty in opening the one we fixed on for making our exit by, the bar securing it being some height from the floor and quite beyond our reach.

However, as Tom magniloquently quoted, difficulties were only made for brave men--or boys--to surmount. By lifting one of the forms as quietly as we could close to the window, and standing on this, the two of us managed to raise the iron bar from the catch and let it swing down, although the hinges made a terrible creaking noise in the operation, which we thought would waken Dr h.e.l.lyer up. However, on going to the door to listen again, we heard him still snoring, so we then proceeded to unfasten the window, letting in the cold night air, that made us shiver as it blew into the room from the sea.

It was quite dark when we got outside into the balcony, although we could see a star or two faintly glimmering overhead; while away to the westward, across the common, the red light at the pier-head marking the entrance to the harbour was visible.

Like most watering-places in the "dead season," everybody went to bed early in the terrace; so that, although it could have been barely ten o'clock, not a light was to be seen from the windows of the neighbouring houses.

"Just the night for a burglary!" said Tom with a sn.i.g.g.e.r, on our cautiously looking round us to see if the coast was clear.

"Yes," I chimed in, joyously, "only, we are going to burgle out, instead of breaking in;" and we then both had a hearty chuckle at this little joke.

Still, no time was to be lost, now that we had got so far. The next thing, therefore, to do, was to descend the balcony; and, here, my happily-thought-of rope ladder came in handily to deliver us from durance vile.

Knotting it securely to the top rail of the bal.u.s.trade, I gave it a strong tug or two to test its strength, making the balcony shake and tremble with the strain.

"Do you think it will bear our weight?" asked Tom, anxiously, noticing me do this and feeling the vibratory movement.

"Bear our weight, you shrimp," I rejoined, "why, it would hold forty of us, and Dr h.e.l.lyer too!"

At this we both sn.i.g.g.e.red again, suppressing our merriment, however, for fear of being overheard; and then, drawing-to the shutter inside as close as I could, so that it should not show too plainly the fact of its being unbarred, and closing the window itself, which was a much easier task, we prepared to slide down to the pavement below.

"I had better go first," I said to Tom, "I'm the heaviest; so, if I reach the ground all right, there'll be no fear of the rope giving way with you."

Tom argued the point, considering that the question was one of honour, like that of leading a forlorn hope; but, on my saying that I had planned the enterprise and thereby was ent.i.tled by right to be the first to venture down, quite apart from the fact of my supplying the rope, he yielded gracefully. Thereupon, without any more fuss, I got over the railings of the balcony, and holding on tightly to the frail cord with both hands, letting my legs drop, and then obtaining a grip below with my ankles, I allowed myself to slide down below, checking the rapidity of my descent by the knots I had previously placed there, a foot or so apart, for this especial purpose.

I swayed round a bit, but the rope held firmly; and in a few seconds I was standing on the steps below, waiting for Tom to join me.

He came down much easier than I did, from the fact of my holding the other end of our improvised ladder, thus preventing it from twirling him about in the same way as it had treated me, causing me almost to feel giddy.

As soon as he stood beside me I coiled up the end of the cord, flinging it back with a dexterous heave, in the way my sailor friend had taught me, over the balcony again, so that the end of it might not be seen hanging down, and so betray us too soon should any pa.s.ser-by notice it.

"Come on, Tom," I then said, "a long good-bye to the Doctor's, my boy, the blessed place shall never see me again, if I can help it! Let us make for the quay now, and get on board the brig if we can--that is, unless it be too late, in which case we must hide somewhere till the morning."

"All right," he replied; and the two of us at once started off at a jog- trot up the terrace and along the road that led into the town.

We were successful so far, but we were almost captured on the threshold of victory through an unforeseen contingency; for, just as we turned round the corner of the terrace by the country inn, or "hotel," which I had noticed on my way from the station when I first arrived at the place with Grimes, the cantankerous old railway porter escorting me to the school, who should we meet point-blank but that identical worthy!

He was evidently going home to bed having just been turned out of the inn, which was shutting up for the night. He had, apparently, spent a most enjoyable evening, for he seemed in good spirits--or, rather, perhaps had a pretty good amount of spirits or beer in him--as he reeled somewhat in his gait, and, although it was Sunday, was trying in his cracked falsetto voice to chant a Baccha.n.a.lian ditty a.s.sertive of the fact that he wouldn't "go home till morning!"

But, in despite of being tipsy, he recognised us both instantly. He was in the habit of coming constantly to and from the station to Dr h.e.l.lyer's with parcels, and was, besides, frequently employed by the Doctor in odd jobs about the house, consequently he was perfectly familiar with our faces--especially mine, which he had never forgotten since that little altercation I had with him on my first introduction.

I believe the old fellow bore me a grudge for having spoken to him so peremptorily on that occasion, which even my present of sixpence had not been able to obliterate.

He saw us now without doubt, as we pa.s.sed by hurriedly, close to one of the street lamps which shone down full upon us; and, alert in a moment, he hailed us at once.

"Hullo, you young vaggybones," he screeched out with a hiccup; "where be ye off ter now, hey?"

We made no answer to this, only quickening our pace; and he staggered after us waveringly, wheezing out in broken accents, "I knows you, Master Bantam, I does, and you Tom Larkyns; and I'll tell the Doctor, I will, sure--sure--sure-ly."

But, unawed by this threat, we still went on at our jog-trot until we were well out of his sight, when, retracing our steps again, we watched at a safe distance to see what he would do. We were soon relieved, however, from any anxiety of his giving the alarm, for, although he attempted to take the turning leading down to the school, his legs, which had only been educated up to the point of taking him home and nowhere else after leaving the inn, must have refused to convey him in this new direction, for we could see him presently clinging to the lamp- post that had betrayed us, having a parley with the mutinous members-- the upshot being that he abandoned any design he might have formed of going there and then to Dr h.e.l.lyer, postponing his statement as to what he had seen of us, as we could make out from his muttered speech, "till marn-ing," and mingling his determination with the refrain of the ditty he had been previously warbling.

This was a lucky ending to what might otherwise have been a sad mischance, if Dr h.e.l.lyer had been at once made acquainted with our flight; so, devoutly thankful for our escape, we resumed our onward jog- trot towards the quay, which we reached safely shortly afterwards, without further incident or accident by the way.

After being out in the open air a little while, the evening did not seem nearly so dark as we had thought when first peering out from the window of the refectory before making our final exit from the school. Our eyes, probably, became more accustomed to the half-light; but whether or no this was the case, we managed to get down to the harbour as comfortably as if going there in broad day.

The brig which I had been on board of on many previous occasions, the _Saucy Sall_, of South Shields, was lying alongside the jetty in her old berth, with a plank leading up to the gangway; and, seeing a light in the fo'c's'le, I mounted up to her deck, telling Tom to follow me, making my way forwards towards the glimmer.

All the hands were ash.o.r.e, carousing with their friends, with the exception of one man, who was reading a sc.r.a.p of newspaper by the light of a sputtering dip candle stuck into a ship's lantern. He looked rather surprised at receiving a visit from me at such a time of night; but, on my telling him the circ.u.mstances of our case, he made us both welcome. Not only this, he brought out some sc.r.a.ps of bread and meat which he had stored up in a mess-tin, most likely for his breakfast, urging on us to "fire away," as we were heartily free to it, and regretting that was all he had with which to satisfy our hunger.

This man's name was Jorrocks, and he was the first seafaring acquaintance I had made when I had timidly crept down to the quay two years before during the summer vacation; thus, we were now old friends, so to speak. He told us, after we had polished the mess-tin clean, that the brig was going to sail in the morning, for Newcastle, with the tide, which would "make," he thought, soon after sunrise.

"Why, that'll be the very thing for us," I exclaimed. "Nothing can be better!"

But Jorrocks shook his head.

"I don't know how the skipper'd like it," he said doubtingly.

"Oh, bother him," interposed Tom; "can't you hide us somewhere till the vessel gets out to sea; and then, he'll have to put up with our presence whether he likes it or not?"

"What, hide you down below, my kiddies!" said the man, laughing. "Why, he'll larrup the life out of you with a rope's-end when he finds you aboard. I tell you what, he a'most murdered the last stowaway we had coming out of Shields two years ago!"

"Never mind that," I put in here; "we'll have to grin and bear it, and take monkey's allowance if he cuts up rough. All we want to do now is to get away from here; for, no matter how your captain may treat us, Dr h.e.l.lyer would serve us out worse if he caught us again! Do help us, Jorrocks, like a good fellow! Stow us away in the hold, or somewhere, until we are out of port."

Our united entreaties at last prevailed, Jorrocks consenting finally to conceal us on board the brig, although not until after much persuasion.

"Mind, though, you ain't going to split on who helped yer?" he provisoed.

"No, Jorrocks, we pledge our words to that," Tom and I chorused.