The Three Lieutenants Part 7

The hint was taken, and some of the oldsters pulling out theirs got them filled likewise, supposing that it was the custom of the country for the guests to carry off the remains of a feast. Coffee was brought in, and a stroll through the grounds was then proposed. The object of the young gentlemen's visit to the sh.o.r.e came out in the course of the evening.

"You must stay here, then, till the time you have appointed, and I will show you a much shorter cut to the sh.o.r.e than by the high road," said mine host.

Higson gladly accepted his offer. Tea and further refreshments were found on the table on their return from the garden, and then one of the younger ladies went to the piano, and another took a harp, and a third a guitar, and the young officers who could sing were asked to do so, which of course they did, Paddy Desmond especially having a capital voice.

Thus the evening pa.s.sed pleasantly away, till it was nearly ten o'clock.

"I had no idea there were such capital houses of public entertainment as yours in the island," said Higson, highly pleased with mine host, who had been very attentive to him. "Whatever Englishmen undertake, however, they always beat the natives hollow, and now just tell me what's to pay?"

"I am amply repaid by having had the pleasure of entertaining you,"

answered mine host, laughing. "I must not let you go away under a mistake. The ladies you have seen are my mother and wife, and our sisters and two cousins staying with us. You may have heard my name as one of the princ.i.p.al shippers from the island, and when you come across my brand in the old country you will be able to say a good word for it."

"That I will, sir; but I must beg ten thousand pardons for my stupidity, and that of my shipmates. We ought to have found you out at first-- couldn't understand it, I confess."

Mr--soon set Higson and the rest at their ease, and thanks and farewells being uttered, under the guidance of the former they commenced their journey through orange groves and vineyards down the hill.

Senhora Lobo's washing establishment was soon reached, and there stood before her house a long line of bags and bundles, the former containing clothes, the latter tablecloths, sheets, and towels, each weighing twenty or thirty pounds. As time would be lost by sending to the boat for men the young gentlemen agreed to carry their property between them.

Their new friend at once declared his intention of a.s.sisting. How to fist the bundles was the question. One could be easily carried on the back; but on counting them it was found that each person must carry two.

After due discussion it was decided that the only way to do this was to fasten the bags or bundles two and two together, by the strings of the bags or the corners of the bundles, and to sling them thus over their shoulders, one hanging before and one behind. The two younger midshipmen got the lightest for their share, old Higson manfully taking the largest, and saying that he would bring up the rear. Their new friend led to show them the way. There was a high gate near the bottom of the path, but that was sure to be open. Off started the strange procession amid shouts of laughter, to which Senhora Lobo and her hand-maidens added their share. "Adios, adios, senh.o.r.es!" they shrieked, clapping their hands and bending almost double in their ecstasies. The shouts of the merry damsels could be heard long after they had been lost to sight, as the not less jovial young gentlemen descended the hill. At first the path was tolerably even, but gradually it became steeper and steeper, and the bundles seemed to grow heavier and heavier, and the night darker and darker. They could see that they were pa.s.sing though a vineyard, formed on terraces, built upon the hillside. The a.s.sistant surgeon, who followed next their friend, had slackened his speed, allowing the latter to get ahead of him. Suddenly the medico lost sight of his guide, when stumbling he let his bags slip off his shoulders, and was obliged to stop a minute to adjust them, bringing everybody else behind him to a halt. Then to make up for lost time he pushed on at greater speed than before. He heard their guide cry out something, but what it was he could not tell. "Make haste you in the rear," he exclaimed, but scarcely were the words out of his mouth than he found himself going headforemost from the top of a high wall, when he began to roll over and over, down a steep declivity. He was not alone, for one after the other came his companions, the darkness preventing those behind from discovering what had happened, Higson being the last, till the whole party were rolling away down the hill, struggling and kicking with the bags round their necks, some well-nigh strangled by the cords which held them together.

"Och, it's kilt I am entirely!" exclaimed Paddy Desmond, who was the first to find his voice. "Where are we after going to? Is the say below us, does any one know?"

"Can't some of you fellows ahead stop yourselves?" sung out Higson, who came thundering along with his big bundles about his neck; but the ground had just been cleared, not a root or branch offered a holdfast, and his weight giving a fresh impetus to the rest away they all went again over another terrace wall, shrieks and shouts and groans proceeding from those whose throats were not too tightly pressed by the cords to allow them utterance. Their cries quickly brought their friend to their a.s.sistance, when a level spot having fortunately been reached, with his aid, after some hauling and twisting, they were at length got on their legs, and their bundles and bags being replaced on their shoulders they proceeded in the same order as before. One or two groaned, occasionally, from the weight of their burdens or from the pain of their bruises, but most of the party trudged on, laughing heartily at their adventure.

"Hillo, why the gate is locked--never knew that before!" they heard their guide exclaim. "Never mind, we can easily climb it." Saying this he threw his bags over, and climbing to the top safely dropped down on the other side. The rest of the party, with one exception, followed his example. When Higson came to the gate it looked so contemptibly easy that he determined to climb it with his bundles on his back. Telling Tom, who was next him, to go on, he mounted to the top, when just as he had got over his foot slipped, and down he came, having his body on the outer side and his huge bundles still on the inner, his neck being held fast by the cord which fastened them together. A deep groan escaped him. It might have been the last he would ever have uttered, but fortunately Tom heard it, and turning back discovered what had happened.

"Help! help!" he shouted; "here's old Higson hanging himself."

His shout brought the rest to the rescue, accompanied by d.i.c.k Needham, who had come up from the boat to see after them. While a couple of the oldsters climbed to the top of the gate d.i.c.k raised the old mate with his shoulders, and after much pulling and hauling his neck was cleared from the noose, when he would have fallen to the ground had not d.i.c.k caught him.

"I'm much afeered Mr Higson's gone," exclaimed d.i.c.k, as he placed his burden gently down.

"Dead! why he was kicking tremendously just now," cried Tom, much concerned, for he had a real regard for his messmate.

"I'm afeered so," repeated d.i.c.k, with a sigh.

"Let me see," said McTavish, the a.s.sistant-surgeon, and stooping down he undid Higson's handkerchief and rubbed away at his throat, feeling carefully round it. "Neck not dislocated, as I feared; he's all right, and will come round presently," he said, the announcement giving infinite relief to those who stood around.

As McTavish had predicted, Higson soon recovered; and as d.i.c.k was there to carry his bundles the adventurers were once more _en route_ to the boat. All hands were warm in their expressions of thanks to their hospitable entertainer.

"You'll not forget 'mine host' of the country venda," he said, laughing, as he shook hands for the last time. They gave him three cheers, as the boat shoved off and pulled away for the frigate.

Higson had been silent, while the rest were talking, as if brooding over something; at length he exclaimed, "I say, Rogers, I'll not have you call me old Higson--they were the last words I heard."

"Then you didn't hear me call the other fellows to your a.s.sistance,"

answered Tom promptly. "If I hadn't you wouldn't have been sitting up and talking now. It wouldn't have been pleasant for your friends to have seen a paragraph in the papers, 'John Higson, mate of HMS _Plantagenet_, was hung on the --'"

"Avast there," cried Higson, "or I'll break your head, you--"

"He really was the means of saving your life," said McTavish.

"Then I'm obliged to you, Rogers, and you may call me old Higson as often as you like, provided you do me an equal service every time."

The next morning the frigate stood out of the Bay of Funchal on her way to the West Indies.

CHAPTER FOUR.

THE FRIGATE AT TRINIDAD--MAGNIFICENT SCENERY--MIDSHIPMEN ON Sh.o.r.e-- PURCHASE A SPIDER-MONKEY, AND TAKE A RIDE WITH HIM INTO THE COUNTRY-- ADAIR MEETS SOME RELATIVES--HE AND JACK NEARLY LOSE THEIR HEARTS, BUT DON'T--COLONEL O'REGAN AND HIS DAUGHTER STELLA--A COUNTRY-HOUSE--VISIT TO A COFFEE PLANTATION--THE COLONEL'S SCHEMES--THE COLONEL AND HIS DAUGHTER EMBARK ON BOARD THE PLANTAGENET--THE DRAGON'S MOUTH--THE FRIGATE IN DANGER.

The mists of the early morning hung over the ocean, but not with sufficient density to obscure altogether the outline of the land, as her Majesty's frigate _Plantagenet_ was entering the Boca Navios, or ship channel, one of the Dragon's Mouths which lead from the north into the Gulf of Paria, between the island of Trinidad and the mainland of South America. Captain Hemming stood, speaking-trumpet in hand, conning the ship; the crew were at their stations; hands in the chains, ever and anon, as they hove the lead, in deep, sonorous voices shouting out the depth of water; every one was on the alert, for the currents were uncertain and the wind baffling. As the sun rose the silvery mist seemed to be drawn up like a curtain, exposing a magnificent spectacle; islands of fantastic shapes rising from the calm, blue water, clothed to their summits with mighty trees, of varied hues, growing out of the crevices of the rocks. Here, lofty cliffs; there, some deep bay, with plantations and cottages beyond; or a shady valley, the fit abode of peace and contentment, as Adair, who was just then in a sentimental mood, observed; now in a wilder, more open spot were seen the huts of a whaling establishment; and then, further on, open glades and gra.s.sy enclosures; while on the port side towered up to the clear, bright sky the lofty ridge-like mountains of Trinidad itself. The breeze freshening, at length the handsome capital of the island, Port of Spain, on the sh.o.r.es of its wide bay, opened out to view; its broad streets running at right angles to each other, and thus allowing every air from the water to blow freely through them. On the other side of the town could be seen the Savannah, a park-like enclosure bordered by pretty villas, with a panorama of superb hills clothed with vegetation, forming the background of the picture; between which, extending right across the island, was discerned the entrance to the fertile valley of Diego Martin; while across the gulf on the mainland rose the majestic mountains of c.u.mana. Leave was given to all not required on board to go on sh.o.r.e. The captain went to call on the governor, the officers to amuse themselves, according to their respective tastes.

The talents of Norris as interpreter were called into requisition; indeed, he had a good opportunity of practising his Spanish and Portuguese as well as French, the white population being composed of a mixture of most of the nations of Europe. The young gentlemen were wandering about, as midshipmen are wont to do, in a strange town; now stopping to buy fruit in the market-place, now entering a shop to look for something they did not exactly know what; now popping their heads in at a church-door, when they caught sight of a short, broad-faced, yellow-skinned Carib with a monkey perched on his head, one on each shoulder, and a fourth nestling in his arms, standing at the corner of a street.

"Hurra!" cried Tom, "here's the chance we have long been wishing for.

Come along, Norris, and try to make the monkey-merchant understand that we are ready to treat for one of his happy family."

"For combien sixpenny pieces voulez-vous sell us one of those rum chapsos, mon amis?" said Norris, with perfect confidence, as if expecting an answer. Though the Carib knew no more French than did the midshipman, guessing what was wanted, he made the three monkeys on his head and shoulders jump down to the ground to exhibit themselves.

Having gone through their performances, at a word they sprang back into their former positions, the most active being a long-tailed, long-armed creature, with a body like a lath, who had the post of honour on the Indian's head.

"That's the fellow for us," cried Tom, clapping his hands. "I don't think old Scrofton will ever acknowledge that he had his origin in such a spider-like animal."

"No, but he may be after saying that we are descended from some such creature, if he catches us skylarking aloft," observed Gerald.

"He'll not venture on such an impertinence," answered Tom. "I vote we have him."

Though there were some dissentient voices, the majority were in favour of the spider-monkey. A dollar was asked, a high price for a monkey, considering that hundreds are caught in the woods to be cooked for dinner; but then, as the Carib tried to explain, this one was civilised, and his education had cost something, though he could neither read nor write at present; but he might do so, if the young gentlemen would take the trouble of teaching him. The Indian's arguments prevailed. A dollar was quickly collected, Tom paying twice as much as any one else, that he might have a proportionate interest in the beast; and Master Spider, as he was forthwith called, became the midshipmen's monkey.

Poor Master Spider, he little knew the fate awaiting him. Now he was theirs, the question was what to do with him till they returned on board. Should they take him with them into the country, he would to a certainty be off among his native woods, they agreed. They modestly requested several shop-keepers in the neighbourhood to take charge of him, but all declined the trust. They bought, however, of a saddler a chain and strap to a.s.sist in securing their captive. At first they were going to put the strap round the monkey's neck; but the Carib hinted that if they did, Master Spider would be throttled, and so it was fastened round his loins, he ungratefully giving Paddy Desmond, who performed the operation, a severe bite in return.

"Ye baste, what do ye mane by that?" exclaimed Paddy, in a voice which made Master Spider spring back as far as his chain would allow to the top of a saddle, where he sat vehemently jabbering away, as if offering a full explanation of his conduct, amid the laughter of the rest of the party. Norris proposed hiring a sitting-room for him at an inn; but a somewhat high price being asked for the accommodation, it was at length determined to take him with them now that he could not escape, each one agreeing to carry him by turns.

"But you fellows are not going to walk about all day, I hope. I vote we have a ride," exclaimed Norris.

The proposal was agreed to. Six procured steeds--rather sorry jades; for the sagacious owners, having some experience of the way naval officers are apt to ride, would not bring out their best horses, but the midshipmen did not care about that. They tossed up who was first to have charge of Spider. Paddy Desmond won, and away they started.

"Look out that you don't run foul of any of the great Dons of the island, or lose your way," shouted their messmates.

"No fear," answered Tom; "we've got Spider as a pilot."

Spider did show the way in a vengeance, for Desmond's horse finding a strange creature clinging to its mane, dashed off at headlong speed through the streets and round the Savannah, followed by the rest, shouting and laughing, till the foot of the mountains was reached. Then up they went, not by the high road, but by a rough pathway, which led they did not know where. That, however, was of small consequence; it must take them to some place or other, and they had little doubt of finding their way back. On they pushed, scrambling along regardless of the hot sun, the dust, the flies, and other stinging creatures, laughing and shouting, and belabouring each other's steeds, Gerald, as at first, with Spider before him, bravely keeping the lead. They had not been un.o.bserved, for Lieutenants Rogers and Adair were riding leisurely along the road round the Savannah as they pa.s.sed at some distance.

"There goes my young hopeful of a nephew," exclaimed Adair. "I must look sharper after the lad than _I_ have done when he gets on sh.o.r.e, or he'll come to grief, and my good sister, his mother, who doats on him, will break her heart."

"I must keep a taut hand on Tom, too, for whom I feel myself responsible," observed Jack. "I was glad to have him on board the frigate, but I did not reflect on the anxiety he would cause me."

"Mercifully Providence watches over midshipmen, or the race would soon become extinct, and there would be no such promising young officers as you and I to be found," said Adair. "There go a number more of them.

Happy fellows! Well, it was not so long since we were like them, Jack."