Shireen and her Friends Part 20

The owl kept his song till midnight, and a very dreary one it was!

But strangely enough, some may think it, yet it is nevertheless most true, wild pigeons built their nests in the pine trees, close to the wall in which the owls had theirs. These pigeons knew, though gamekeepers don't, that these owls lived on young rats and mice and not upon birds.

Squirrels used to run about the lawn with their long brown beautiful tails behind them, early in the morning; and they built in trees also.

Then there was a white-breasted weasel, that would often come quite close up to Lizzie and Tom, and stand on one end to look at what they were doing.

On this particular year, autumn lingered long on the hills and forests and fields all around the children's beautiful home. It was, Uncle Ben said, a real Indian summer, so soft and warm and mellow, that neither he nor the Colonel ever cared to be much indoors.

"Well," said Warlock, one afternoon out on the Colonel's lawn, while Lizzie and Tom sat at some distance making a garland of gowans for the dogs' necks, and the old sailor and soldier sat in their straw chairs, peacefully smoking and yarning--"Well, Shireen, although I have never been to sea myself, considering that the land and the lovely hills and woods are good enough for me, I dearly like to hear about it, so just heave round with your yarn, as Uncle Ben yonder says."

"Yes, with pleasure," said Shireen. "Let me see though, where did I leave off?"

"Why you left yourself sitting on the bulwark of the old _Venom_, catching flying fish."

Oh, yes, so I did, Warlock. My memory is just getting a little fickle now, while yours is supple and green. Well, the voyage south was continued, slowly though, because we kept in towards the green-wooded coast, you know, in order to hunt for slave-ships. And several times Tom Brandy and I had to be blown out of the gun with a fuze before the men could load it. I always knew what was going to happen when this took place, and ran aft right speedily and got down below to my master's bed; because do what I might, I could never reconcile myself to the noise of those terrible guns.

Master I could see, much to my joy, was getting better and stronger every day. But he often spoke to me about my mistress Beebee, and always said that he would, at all risks, prevent her from being sold to the Shah.

One day he went so far as to say, "Dear p.u.s.s.y Shireen, your mistress is much too good and too beautiful for a fellow like the Shah. Let him be content with the slaves he has. He is only a savage himself, at the best, and rather than he should have your sweet mistress, I will go back to Persia and carry her away."

My life on board the _Venom_ was now a most happy and pleasant one; but often and often, Warlock, I dreamt that I was back again in the land of the lion and the sun, in beautiful Persia, and that I was sitting as of old in the turret balcony, with my darling mistress. Then I would awake and find myself far away on the dark blue sea.

No, I should not say dark blue sea, because the Indian Ocean is more lovely far than turquoisine.

Tom Brandy and I would sit for hours on the bulwarks, which I used to call a fence, looking at the sea. The flying fish knew far better than to come on board the vessel during the day, but there always was something or other to be seen in the ocean. At times, especially on calm days, it would be a shoal of silvery whitebait. And such a shoal!

Oh, Tabby, it would have made your mouth water to look upon it. We could see first far ahead of us, a dark patch upon the bright blue water, and when we came nearer, that part of the sea would be all a-quiver, as if it were raining hard there and nowhere else. But soon the shoal opened out in all its beauty of silvery life and loveliness.

I'm not a post, only a Persian cat, else I could describe it better.

"Oh, rats!" cried Warlock, "never mind the poetry."

Another sight we used to see would be a shoal of dolphins.

"Chasing the whitebait, I suppose?" This from Warlock.

"I didn't say so, Warlock."

But very prettily they used to come along on the top of the water. They would be so far away at first that they looked like tiny black ticks on the horizon, but soon they were near enough to us, and we saw that they were monsters. Oh, a hundred times as large as you, Warlock, or all of us put together. They came up head first, and went down head first, just skylarking and playing and skipping like lambs on the leas. And the water all around them was lashed into foam. Wasn't I afraid, did you ask me, Vee-Vee? No, not a bit, because Tom told me they were as harmless as cows.

But, my children, there were creatures in that deep sea of turquoisine that were very far indeed from being harmless. These were the sharks.

There were always one or two down there that the doctor led. They used to know the doctor, and floated alongside the ship, while he threw down pieces of fat to them, and sometimes a ham bone.

The doctor said those tigers of the ocean used to swallow whatever was thrown overboard, even if it were only an empty medicine bottle.

Sometimes they looked very lovingly at the doctor, and this officer would tell me they were asking him to throw over a cat for them to swallow. They said they had never eaten cat, but felt sure that it must taste very nice indeed.

But little did we think that one day we would be in danger of our lives from those awful monsters.

Only it wasn't by day, but by night, and a clear and beautiful night it was too, with the moon shining as brightly almost as it used to shine over the woods around my Persian home.

Tom and I had been sitting on the bulwarks as usual, expecting a flying fish to come on board. But they could see us too distinctly, so they kept away.

There was very little wind that night, just enough to fill the sails, and carry us along about five knots an hour.

It was a few minutes past midnight, and the watch had been changed, and stillness reigned everywhere. I think I must have fallen asleep and been dreaming, for I started in fright when one bell was struck loudly and clearly.

I started so that I missed my balance, and fell with a plash into the sea. Next moment Tom Brandy uttered a plaintive howl and dashed in after me. I am sure that the poor fellow had no idea of trying to save my life, he only wished to share my fate.

I heard a shout just after Tom came down. For a man in the watch, hearing the plash in the water, immediately concluded that someone had fallen in, and raised the alarm.

"Man overboard! Away, lifeboat's crew!"

The shout was taken up and repeated fore and aft, down below and on deck as well.

Then something came rushing down into the sea from the stern of the ship, and fell into the water with a strange hollow ring.

The officer of the watch had let go the lifebuoy, but so quickly that he had forgotten to light it. His neglect to do so probably saved our lives.

The lifebuoy is made of two empty copper b.a.l.l.s, with an arm of wood between. From this rises a short mast, on the top of which a beacon burns. Now had this been lit, Tom and I would have burned our paws when we scrambled up the little mast.

I never knew I could swim till then, but I can a.s.sure you, Warlock, it didn't take Tom Brandy and I long to reach that lifebuoy, and there we clung till the boat came.

It was not long, perhaps, till the boat did arrive, but to me it seemed like a hundred years, for the sea all around us appeared to be alive with awful sharks. Tom told me afterwards my eyes must have multiplied their numbers, and that there were only just the doctor's two tame ones.

Well, Warlock, tame or not tame, they wanted to tear Tom and me to pieces, and were terribly disappointed when the men took us on board and the boat went rushing back to the _Venom_ with us rescued p.u.s.s.ies.

When the captain heard of what he called the gallant rescue, he ordered the mainbrace to be spliced, and so the men all had a gla.s.s of grog for saving our lives.

But next day the seaman who had struck the bell which so startled me, informed the boatswain that he was positive both cats did not fall off the bulwarks, but that I only had missed my hold and tumbled into the sea. He looked quickly towards the bows he said, and for a second or two saw Tom Brandy there safe enough. Then he heard his cry, and saw him deliberately spring into the sea after me.

The boatswain told all this to the men and also to the officers, and after that Tom became indeed a hero on board the ship. My master spoke of presenting him with a handsome collar of solid silver. The armourer said if my master Edgar would let him have the silver, he would very soon make it and engrave it also; he received a large silver spoon, and so heartily did he work, that in less than a week Tom was wearing his collar.

But, children, continued Shireen thoughtfully, although Tom Brandy looked somewhat dignified in his silver collar, it is rather a risky ornament for a p.u.s.s.y to wear. For a cat friend of mine in the country being presented with a lovely morocco leather collar by his own mistress, who thought a great deal of him, disappeared soon after in the most mysterious way. A whole week pa.s.sed by and poor Clyde didn't appear. Then one day a boy rang the door bell, and asked to see Clyde's mistress. He thought he had found the missing cat he said.

"Where, my dear boy, where?" cried Mrs L--

"Up in a tree, far down in the wood, ma'am."

"And why didn't you bring him? I'll go with you, and we must get him, and I will pay you well."

"Can you climb trees?" she added.

"Like a squirrel," he said boldly.

The tree was soon found, and up swarmed the boy.

"It is Clyde right enough!" he shouted down; "but she's been and gone and hung herself."