Percival Keene Part 47

"So good, sir, that the only regret I have in leaving the schooner is, that I cannot take him with me. He is my right-hand man and I owe much to him, and it will be a sore blow to him as well as to me."

"I see, you want him made boatswain of your brig--that's it."

"I a.s.sure you, admiral, I should be most grateful if you would have that kindness."

"I am always ready to promote a good man; your recommending him, and his severe wound, are sufficient. He shall be your boatswain, Keene."

"You are very kind, sir," replied I. "I hope I shall do justice to your patronage."

"I've no fear of that, Keene, and I know that a man, to work well, should, as far as he can, choose his own tools. Mr Dott is waiting now, and as soon as he has his acting order, I will send him in to you."

About ten minutes afterwards Mr Tommy Dott made his appearance; he extended his hand to me, saying, in a haw-haw way, "Keene, my dear fellow, I'm glad to see you." He certainly did look two or three inches taller, for he walked almost on tiptoe.

"Glad to see you, Tommy," said I; "well, what's the news?"

"Nothing, I believe, except what you have brought. I hear you had a bit of a brush, and got winged."

"Even so, Tommy," replied I, pointing to my wounded leg. "The admiral has kindly asked me to stay here until I'm better."

"I dine with him to-day," replied Tommy; "but as for staying here, I should think that rather a bore. By the bye, Keene, what sort of a craft is that Diligente brig which the Naiad and you took?"

"A very fine craft, Tommy: sails as well as the Firefly."

"Oh, you, of course, swear by your own vessel; and there's nothing like the schooner--that's natural enough; now, I must say, I prefer something a little larger, and, therefore, I'm not sorry that I have my commission for the new brig."

"Indeed! Tommy; I wish you joy," replied I.

"Thank ye, Keene," replied Tommy, very dignified. "I wonder," said he, "what sort of a skipper we shall have. There's the first lieutenant of the Naiad has a good chance. I saw him: a very sharp sort of gentleman, and carries his head remarkably high; but that won't do for me. I'll not allow any captain to play tricks in a ship that I'm aboard of. I know the rules and regulations of the service as well as any one, and that the captain shall see, if he attempts to go beyond his tether."

"Now, Tommy," replied I, "you know, that although you talk so big, if you had been appointed a lieutenant into a ship commanded by Lord de Versely, you would have been as much afraid of him as a lieutenant as you used to be as a midshipman."

"Lord de Versely," replied Tommy, who felt the truth of what I said: "he's a peculiar sort of man."

"Take my word for it, Tommy, you'll find all captains peculiar to one point; which is, that they expect respectful behaviour, and not cavilling, from their officers; and our service is so peculiar, that it is absolutely necessary that the officers should set this example to the men."

"Yes; that may be very well; but who knows but the captain of the brig may be some young fellow, who has seen no more service than myself-- perhaps, not been to sea so long?"

"That is no reason that you should not obey his orders; indeed, if not experienced, you ought to do all you can to support him."

"Well, if he was to ask my advice, indeed--"

"But he may not require your advice, Tommy, he may prefer deciding for himself. Now, the first lieutenant of the Naiad is a great Tartar, and I'm certain, if he is your captain, that, on the first word, he would have you under an arrest. There's an old saying, Tommy, 'It's folly to kick against tenpenny nails;' and that every officer does who kicks against his superior. I can a.s.sure you, Tommy, that if ever I am a captain, my officers shall obey me implicitly. I will have no cavilling at my orders. I will always treat them as gentlemen, and support their authority, as they ought to support mine; but captain of my own ship I would be, and I suspect that it would go hard with any officer who ventured to dispute my rights."

"Well, I dare say you will be a martinet, or rather that you are one now, as you command a schooner. However, as I never intend to sail with you, that's nothing to me. I'm sure, from what has pa.s.sed, that you and I should have a row before we were a week on board; for I'm not to be played with."

"Well, Tommy, I'm very glad we have had this explanation; for now we both know what to expect. I am resolved to be captain, you to resist my authority."

"No, no, I don't say that--I only say that I won't be played with--I won't be trifled with."

"Tommy, I will neither play nor trifle with you; nor will you ever play or trifle with me. We have done that as midshipmen; in our new relative situations it is not to be thought of for a moment. Read this." I handed him my appointment as commander of the Diligente: Tommy cast his eyes over it, and at once saw that his promotion did not prevent his getting into sc.r.a.pes, as usual.

"You a commander! you captain of the Diligente! Why, I came to sea before you."

"I know you did, Tommy; but, although you have been in the service longer, you have not seen quite so much service as I have. At all events, I'm now your captain. I flatter myself I shall make a very tolerable one; and what is more, I have an idea that you will make a very good lieutenant, as soon as the vanity, with which you have been puffed up since your receiving your promotion, will have settled down a little, and that you will find it much pleasanter to be on good terms with your captain than to be eternally in hot water, especially with one who, you know, is not a person to be played with."

Tommy looked very confused; he said nothing, but kept his eyes on my commission, which he still held in his hand. I had no idea that Tommy Dott's being ignorant of my being captain of the brig would have occasioned such a conversation as this. I only wished to amuse myself with him, and surprise him at the last. Tommy perceived that he had made a mess of it, and he stammered out some explanation as he returned me the commission; and I replied: "The fact is, Dott, you were merely cutting a caper upon your new promotion; you never meant what you said; it was all talk. You always have been very obedient to proper authority since I have known you, and I am sure that you always will; so let's say no more about it. I wish you joy upon your promotion, and, what's more, I'm very glad that we are to sail together." Saying this, I held out my hand, which Tommy took very readily, and we then began to talk on other subjects.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

I had written to Cross, informing him of my promotion, and his being appointed to the Diligente.

I had been a fortnight with the admiral when the Naiad arrived with the prizes in company, and, my wound being now cured, I took leave of the admiral, and went down, that I might superintend the fitting out of my new vessel. As there were supernumerary men expected out of England, the admiral, at my suggestion, allowed me to turn over the crew of the Firefly to form the nucleus of my ship's company, and made up my complement from his own ship.

In two months I was ready for sea, and most anxious to be off. The admiral perceived my impatience, but, as there was no other vessel in the harbour, he would not let me go until another arrived, to be at his disposal in case of emergency. The weariness of so long remaining in harbour was, however, a little relieved by a circ.u.mstance which took place, and which probably will make my readers imagine that my propensity for playing tricks was not quite eradicated.

I lodged at a sort of hotel, kept by a mulatto woman of the name of Crissobella, as the negroes termed her, originally Christobela. She was of Spanish blood by the father's side, and had come down from the Havannah. She was very portly; very proud and dignified in her carriage, and demanded as much attention from her lodgers as a lady would who had received us as her guests, so that, to gain and retain admittance into her hostelry, it was necessary not only to pay a large bill, but compliments to an equal amount. She was very rich, possessed numerous slaves, and was perfectly independent of keeping an hotel. I believed she preferred to have something for her slaves and herself to do, and moreover, probably, she felt that if she retired she should be thought a person of no consequence, whereas in her present position she received a great deal of attention. One thing was certain, that if those who lodged and boarded with her were very polite, and, on their return from any other place, brought her small presents, she was very indifferent as to their paying their bill; nay, to those who were her favourites, her purse was open, and a handful of doubloons was freely tendered, if required.

The living was the same as at a boarding-house. Breakfast was ready in the large hall by nine o'clock, and remained there until every one had come down at their own hour. Dinner was always ready at five o'clock, and then Crissobella presided at the table. She admitted civilians, army officers, and navy, down to midshipmen; but warrant officers and captains of merchant vessels were considered too low. On the whole, it was a very pleasant establishment, as the private rooms were well furnished, the slaves numerous, and the attendance very good.

Considering the price of most eatables on that island, it could not be considered as very dear, although the wines, etcetera, made up a formidable bill at the end of the month.

This kind of exclusiveness on the part of Signora Crissobella made the hotel quite the fashion, and certainly it was by far the best in the town. The inmates of it at this time were besides me Lieut. Thomas Dott and Lieut. William Maxwell, both appointed to the Diligente; three or four young civilians, on mercantile speculations from New York; three midshipmen, who had been left behind on account of fever, and who were promising fair, by the life they were now leading, to be very soon sent to the hospital again; and one or two planters from the other islands.

The latter and I were very well behaved, but the civilians were noisy, drinking and smoking from morning till night. The midshipmen were equally troublesome; and as for the new-made lieutenants, they were so authoritative and so disagreeable, and gave themselves such consequential airs, that Mammy Crissobella, as the slaves called her, was quite indignant--she had never had such a disorderly set in her house.

She complained to me, and I spoke to them, but that was of little use.

I had no power over the young merchants, and the three midshipmen did not belong to my ship. As for my lieutenants, I could not say much at their giving themselves airs at an hotel where they paid for what they had. It was not an offence that a captain could remonstrate upon. I therefore merely said, that Mammy Crissobella could not have them in her house if they did not leave off their treatment of the slaves, and if they continued to give her so much trouble and annoyance. At last our hostess would stand their behaviour no longer, and ordered them all to leave the hotel, sending in their bills; but they all were unanimous in declaring that they would not go, and it was not very easy to use force on such occasions. I tried all I could to make matters right, but my efforts were of little avail. At last Mammy Crissobella became quite furious. She did not make any alteration in the meals, as that would be punishing all of us; but she refused wine and spirits; this they did not care for, as they sent for it elsewhere by their own servants, and there was nothing but noise and confusion all day along. Mammy often came to appeal to me, and wished to go to the governor, but I persuaded her not to do so; and the mutiny continued, and every day there was nothing but altercation at the meals.

"So help me G.o.d, gemmen, you no gemmen. You make wish me dead, dat you do. I tak obeah water some day. I not live like this," said Mammy Crissobella. "I take pepper-pot--I kill myself."

"Pray don't do that," replied Tommy Dott; "we shall be put to the expense of mourning."

"And I shall weep my eyes out," continued one of the mercantile gentlemen.

"Weep your eyes out--is that all? I shall blow my brains out," said another.

"And I will lie down on your grave and die," said the third.

"Dat all very well, gemmen; you say dat and laugh--but I no slave.

'Pose I not get you out my house, I ab _vengeance_, now I tell you, so look to that. Yes," continued Mammy Crissobella, striking the table with her fist, "I ab revenge."

"I have been thinking," said one of the mids, "what I shall do if Mammy Crissobella takes pepper-pot; I shall marry Leila, and keep the hotel.

Mammy, you'll leave me the plate and furniture."

Leila was the head female slave--a very well-featured young mulatto girl, and a great favourite, as she was always laughing, always in good humour, and very kind and attentive. At this remark Leila laughed, and Mammy Crissobella, who observed her showing her white teeth, "You laugh, you huzzy: what you laugh for, Leila? Get away--get out of room. I give you nice flogging, by-by. You dare laugh--you take side against me, you n.i.g.g.e.r."

I must here observe that Mammy Crissobella had been closeted with me for some time previous to this scene, and that Leila and the two planters were in the secret; this was, of course, unknown, and the hostess's anger appeared now to be extended towards me and the two planters, with whom she had been on good terms.