Voyages and Travels of Count Funnibos and Baron Stilkin Part 5

"That depends on the continuance of the breeze," answered the skipper.

"If it blows fair for a few hours more, we shall be up to the Helder before noon; but if it shifts ahead, or a calm comes on, I shall have the pleasure of your company for some time longer."

"With due respect to you, Captain Jan Dunck, I sincerely hope that the breeze will continue fair," said the Count, making a polite bow, as he had no wish to offend the skipper, but felt constrained to speak the truth. "It is not of you or your galiot that I'm tired, but of this fidgetty sea which rolls and tumbles her about so thoughtlessly, to say the best of it."

"But are you aware, Count," said the skipper, "that the Zuyder Zee can roll and tumble in no gentle fashion? For your sakes it is to be hoped that we shall not have a storm till you land safely in Amsterdam."

"Then I sincerely pray that the winds may be in a gentle mood," said the Count.

"And in the meantime, Captain Jan Dunck, I propose that we go down to breakfast," said the Baron, who had showed signs of impatience for some time past.

The Count and the Baron and the skipper sat down to breakfast. The two latter did ample justice to the good things placed before them; but the Count, after several heroic attempts to swallow a big sausage, had to confess that his appet.i.te had vanished, and that he thought that the fresh air on deck would restore it. He there found the one-eyed mariner steering.

"Oh tell me, brave sailor, when are we likely to get to the Helder?" he asked in a tone which showed that he was but ill at ease.

"If you open your eyes wide enough, you will see it right ahead,"

answered the one-eyed mariner. "That point of land out there, that's the Helder; we shall sail close to it, if the wind holds fair, and the tide does not sweep us out again. There's water enough there to float a seventy-four. On the other side is the island of Texel, and a very fine island it is for sheep; many thousands live on it; and if you wish to taste something excellent, I would advise you to obtain one of the green cheeses which are made from the milk of the sheep living on the island."

"I will tell the Baron, who thinks more of eating than I do," answered the Count. "But is that actually the Helder I see before me?"

"I told you it was," answered the one-eyed mariner, in a gruff tone, as if he did not like to have his word doubted.

This was indeed joyful news to the Count, who already began to feel his appet.i.te returning; and he could not resist the temptation of shouting through the skylight to the Baron, inviting him to come up and see the place.

"Sit quiet till you have finished your breakfast, there will be time enough then, and to spare," observed the skipper, who knew very well that the tide was running out, and that the galiot could not stem it for some time to come.

In half-an-hour after this the galiot began to move ahead, and arrived off a huge sea wall, two hundred feet from the foundation to the summit, and built of Norwegian granite, a work constructed to protect the land from the encroachments of the ocean. Beyond it could be seen the tops of the houses and the steeples of a large town. Sailing on, the galiot came off the town of Nieuwe Diep, and the tall masts and yards of a number of large ships could be distinguished in the Royal Dockyard inside the bank.

"We Dutchmen are proud of this place," observed the skipper. "Two hundred years ago a fierce naval battle was fought off here between the English and French, and our brave Admirals De Ruyter and Van Tromp, who gained the victory."

After the galiot had pa.s.sed Nieuwe Diep the wind shifted to the northward, and she ran on rapidly in smooth water till she came off Enkhuisen. Bounding that point she reached Hoorn, off which she brought up.

"The place is worth seeing," observed the skipper; "and you may spend an hour or two on sh.o.r.e while I transact some business. You will remember that it was once the capital of North Holland, but it is now what some people call a dead city, and you will acknowledge that it is very far from being a lively one; however, it has something to boast of. It was here that Captain Schouten was born--he who sailed with Le Maire and discovered the southern end of America, to which he, in consequence, gave the name of his birthplace. You have heard of Cape Horn, I suppose."

"Oh, yes; as to that, the Baron knows all about it," said the Count.

"We will follow your advice, Captain, and will be down on the quay again within the time you mention."

"Well, this is a dead city," said the Baron, as he and the Count walked through its ancient streets. "Everything about it seems to indicate that if it ever were alive it must have been a long time ago. What curious old houses, how quaint in form; many of them also are decorated with sculpture of all sorts, and, on my word, excessively well executed too."

"I should be very unwilling to pa.s.s many days here," remarked the Count, as pa.s.sing along street after street they scarcely met a creature, quadruped or biped. The houses seemed untenanted--not a voice, not a sound was heard; yet they were all clean, in good preservation, and well painted, mostly of a yellow colour with red roofs, many of them with gable ends, one story being smaller than the other, so that towards the summit they presented an outline of steps. There were also numerous gateways, some handsomely carved, but they led nowhere, and indeed no one was seen to go in or out at them.

"I cannot stand this," said the Count. "Let us go back to the port."

Here a certain amount of trade was going on. Hoorn is engaged largely in the curing of herrings; some vessels also were building, and it was evident from the number of cheeses stacked up ready for exportation that it must carry on a considerable commerce in that article. Floors above floors were piled with round red cannon-b.a.l.l.s, emitting an odour powerful if not pleasant.

"After all, Hoorn is not so dead as I supposed," observed the Baron.

Finding the skipper they embarked.

"You intend, I hope, to land us at Amsterdam to-night," said the Count to the skipper.

"Don't think there's the slightest chance of it," was the answer. "The wind has fallen, it will be stark calm in a few minutes; for what I can see it will be a calm all the night through and to-morrow also."

"Then I propose that we go to dinner," said the Baron. "I hope that it will be ready soon."

"Dinner is it you want?" exclaimed the skipper. "What, did you not dine at Hoorn?"

"Certainly not," said the Baron. "We were employed in seeing the town.

We fully expected that you would have had dinner ready on our return on board. What has become of all the provisions you shipped, may I ask?"

"I landed them at Hoorn, where I took my own dinner," answered the skipper. "You must manage to rough it on bread and cheese. There's not much bread, but you may eat as much cheese as you like."

"This is abominable treatment, Captain Jan Dunck," exclaimed the Baron.

"I insist that you obtain provisions at the first place you can reach, or else that you land us where we can obtain them. I am sure the Count agrees with me."

"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed the skipper. "Who do you think is master of this ship? Did you ever hear the old song?

"Mynheer Jan Dunck, Though he never got drunk, Sipped brandy and water gaily; He quenched his thirst With a quart of the first, And a pint of the latter daily.

"That's just what I have been doing, although I'm as sober as a judge.

I am ready for anything. You want to be landed, do you? Suppose I put you on sh.o.r.e on the island of Marken? It is not far off, and my boat will carry you there. What then will you say for yourselves? It is your own doing, remember."

"This treatment is abominable," exclaimed the Baron. "I appeal to your crew for their a.s.sistance, and ask them if they will stand by and see your pa.s.sengers insulted in this fashion."

"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed the skipper. "Hoist the boat out. We will soon see if my crew dare to disobey me. Pieter, there, be smart about it."

The one-eyed mariner started up and eyed the Count and the Baron with his single blinker, making a grimace as much as to say he could not help it. He and the mate and the small ship's boy soon got the boat into the water.

"Step in," cried the skipper. "You said you wanted to be put on sh.o.r.e, and I am going to put you on sh.o.r.e. Pieter, you're to row. If you want your dinners you'll embark, if not you'll go without them."

"And are you going too, Captain Jan Dunck?" asked the Baron.

"Certainly, it is my intention," answered the skipper, and the Count and the Baron, with their valises, got into the boat.

"Look after the vessel," shouted the skipper to the mate and small ship's boy, as he stepped into the boat and seated himself in the stern sheets, with the Count on one side and the Baron on the other and Pieter pulling. As there was not a breath of wind the water was perfectly smooth. The Baron's hunger increased, the Count also had regained his appet.i.te, and they were eager to reach the sh.o.r.e in the hopes of getting a dinner. The skipper said nothing, but looked very glum. At last the island appeared ahead, with a few huts on it and a tiny church in the midst, but it was green and pleasant to look at.

"That does not look like a place where we can get dinner," observed the Baron, eyeing it doubtfully.

"And he does not intend to give you any dinner either," whispered the one-eyed mariner, whose good-will the Count and Baron had evidently won.

"Take my advice, tell him to go up and obtain provisions, and say that you will eat them on board."

"What's that your talking about?" exclaimed the skipper. "Silence there, forward!"

The one-eyed mariner rowed slower and slower, and managed to carry on the conversation alternately with the Count and the Baron. Suddenly the skipper, who had been partly dozing, though he had managed to steer the boat, aroused himself. "Pull faster, Pieter," he shouted out: "I have heard what you have been talking about, and will pay you off."

"I was merely giving the gentlemen good advice, Captain," answered Pieter. "And there's one thing I have to say to you; if you can get provisions at Marken, you had better do so in a hurry, for there's a storm brewing, and it will be upon us before long. The mate and the boy won't be able to manage the galiot alone, and she to a certainty will be wrecked."

"A storm brewing, is there?" cried the Captain. "Well, then, the sooner we land at Marken the better. Pull away, Pieter, pull away."

Pieter did pull, and in a short time the beach was reached. An old fisherman, with a pipe in his mouth and a red cap on his head, came down to see what the strangers wanted, as the Count and Baron stepped on sh.o.r.e.