Afloat And Ashore

J >> James Fenimore Cooper >> Afloat And Ashore

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I looked at Marble with astonishment; the subject on which the Major
had spoken in pleasantry, rather than with any real design of carrying
his project into execution, was one that my old messmate regarded
seriously! I had noted the attention with which he listened to our
discourse, during breakfast, and the strong feeling with which he
spoke at the time, but had no notion of the cause of either. I knew
the man too well, not to understand, at once, that he was in sober
earnest, and had too much experience of his nature, not to foresee the
greatest difficulty in turning him from his purpose. I understood the
true motive to be professional mortification at all that occurred
since he had succeeded Captain Williams in command; for Marble was
much too honest and too manly, to think for a moment of concealing his
own misfortunes behind the mantle offered by my success.

"You have not thought of this matter sufficiently, my friend," I
answered, evasively, knowing the folly of attempting to laugh the
matter off--"when you have slept on it a night, you will see things
differently."

"I fancy not, Miles. Here is all I want, and just what I want. After
you have taken away everything that can be required for the vessels,
or desirable to the owners, there will be enough left to keep me a
dozen lives."

"It is not on account of food, that I speak--the island alone in its
fruits, fish and birds, to say nothing as to the seeds, and fowls, and
pigs, we could leave you, would be sufficient to keep fifty men; but,
think of the solitude, the living without object, the chances of
sickness--the horrible death that would follow to one unable to rise
and assist himself, and all the other miseries of being alone. Depend
on it, man was not created to live alone. Society is indispensable to
him, and--"

"I have thought of it all, and find it entirely to my taste. I tell
you, Miles, I should be exactly in my sphere, in this island, and that
as a hermit. I do not say I should not like _some_ company, if it
could be yourself, or Talcott, or the Major, or even Neb; but no
company is better than bad; and as for asking, or _allowing_ any
one to stay with me, it is out of the question. I did, at first, think
of keeping the Sandwich Islanders; but it would be bad faith, and they
would not be likely to remain quiet, after the ship had sailed. No, I
will remain alone. You will probably report the island when you get
home, and that will induce some vessel, which may be passing near, to
look for me, so I shall hear of you all, every four or five years."

"Gracious heaven! Marble, you cannot be serious in so mad a design?"

"Just look at my situation, Miles, and decide for yourself. I am
without a friend on earth--I mean nat'ral friend--I know what sort of
friend you are, and parting with you will be the toughest of all--but
I have not a relation on the wide earth--no property, no home no one
to wish to see me return, not even a cellar to lay my head in. To me
all places are alike, with the exception of this, which, having
discovered, I look upon as my own."

"You have a _country_, Marble; and that is the next thing to
family and home--overshadows all."

"Ay, and I'll have a country here. This will be America, having been
discovered by Americans, and in their possession. You will leave me
the buntin', and I'll show the stars and stripes of a 4th of July,
just as you will show 'em, in some other part of the world. I was born
Yankee, at least, and I'll die Yankee, I've sailed under that flag,
boy, ever since the year '77, and will not sail under another you may
depend on it."

"I never could justify myself to the laws for leaving a man behind me
in such a place."

"Then I'll run, and that will make all right. But, you know well
enough, boy, that leaving a captain is one thing, and leaving a man
another."

"And what shall I tell all your acquaintances, those who have sailed
with you so often and so long, has become of their old ship-mate?"

"Tell 'em that the man who was once _found_, is now _lost_,"
answered Marble, bitterly. "But I am not such a fool as to think
myself of so much importance as you seem to imagine. The only persons
who will consider the transaction of any interest will be the
newspaper gentry, and they will receive it only as _news_, and
thank you about half as much as they would for a murder, or a robbery,
or the poisoning of a mother and six little children."

"I think, after all, you would scarcely find the means of supporting
yourself," I added, looking round in affected doubt; for I felt, at
each instant, how likely my companion was to adhere to his notion, and
this from knowing him so well. "I doubt if the cocoa is healthy, all
the year round, and there must be seasons when the trees do not bear."

"Have no fear of that sort. I have my own fowling-piece, and you will
leave me a musket, or two, with some ammunition. Transient vessels,
now the island is known, will keep up the supply. There are two hens
setting, at this moment, and a third has actually hatched. Then one of
the men tells me there is a litter of pigs, near the mouth of the
bay. As for the hogs and the poultry, the shell-fish and berries will
keep them; but there are fifteen hogsheads of sugar on the beach,
besides thirty or forty more in the wreck, and all above water. There
are casks of beans and peas, the sea-stores of the French, besides
lots of other things. I can plant, and fish, and shoot, and make a
fence from the ropes of the wreck, and have a large garden, and all
that a man can want. Our own poultry, you know, has long been out; but
there is still a bushel of Indian-corn left, that was intended for
their feed. One quart of that, will make me a rich man, in such a
climate as this, and with soil like that on the flat between the two
groves. I own a chest of tools, and am, ship-fashion, both a tolerable
carpenter and blacksmith; and I do not see that I shall want for
anything. You _must_ leave half the things that are scattered
about, and so far from being a man to be pitied, I shall be a man to
be envied. Thousands of wretches in the greatest thoroughfares of
London, would gladly exchange their crowded streets and poverty, for
my solitude and abundance."

I began to think Marble was not in a state of mind to reason with, and
changed the subject. The day passed in recreation, as had been
intended; and next morning we set about filling up the schooner. We
struck in all the copper, all the English goods, and such portions of
the Frenchman's cargo as would be most valuable in America. Marble,
however, had announced to others his determination to remain behind,
to abandon the seas, and to turn hermit. As his first step, he gave
up the command of the Pretty Poll, and I was obliged to restore her,
again, to our old third-mate, who was every way competent to take care
of her. At the end of the week, the schooner was ready, and despairing
of getting Marble off in _her_, I ordered her to sail for home,
via Cape Horn; giving especial instructions not to attempt Magellan. I
wrote to the owners, furnishing an outline of all that had occurred,
and of my future plans, simply remarking that Mr. Marble had declined
acting out of motives of delicacy, since the re-capture of the ship;
and that, in future, their interests must remain in my care. With
these despatches the schooner sailed. Marble and I watched her until
her sails became a white speck on the ocean, after which she suddenly
disappeared.

As for the ship, she was all ready; and my only concern now was in
relation to Marble. I tried the influence of Major Merton; but,
unfortunately, that gentleman had already said too much in favour of
our friend's scheme, in ignorance of its effect, to gain much credit
when he turned round, and espoused the other side. The arguments of
Emily failed, also. In fact, it was not reason, but feeling that
governed Marble; and, in a bitter hour, he had determined to pass the
remainder of his days where he was. Finding all persuasion useless,
and the season approaching when the winds rendered it necessary to
sail, I was compelled to yield, or resort to force. The last I was
reluctant to think of; nor was I certain the men would have obeyed me
had I ordered them to use it. Marble had been their commander so long,
that he might, at any moment, have re-assumed the charge of the ship;
and it was not probable his orders would have been braved under any
circumstances that did not involve illegality, or guilt. After a
consultation with the Major, I found it necessary to yield to this
whim, though I did so with greater reluctance than I ever experienced
on any other occasion.

CHAPTER XX.

"Pass on relentless world! I grieve
No more for all that thou hast riven!
Pass on, in God's name--only leave
The things thou never yet hast given.--"
LUNT.

After every means had been uselessly exhausted to persuade Marble from
his design, it only remained to do all we could to make him
comfortable and secure. Of enemies, there was no danger, and care was
not necessary for defence. We got together, however, some of the
timber, planks and other materials, that were remaining at the
shipyard, and built him a cabin, that offered much better shelter
against the tropical storms that sometimes prevailed, than any tent
could yield. We made this cabin as wide as a plank is long, or twelve
feet, and some five or six feet longer. It was well sided and tightly
roofed, having three windows and a door. The lights of the wreck
supplied the first, and her cabin-door the last. We had hinges, and
everything that was necessary to keep things in their place. There was
no chimney required, fire being unnecessary for warmth in that
climate; but the French had brought their camboose from the wreck, and
this we placed under a proper covering at a short distance from the
hut, the strength of one man being insufficient to move it. We also
enclosed, by means of ropes, and posts made of the ribs of the wreck,
a plot of ground of two acres in extent, where the land was the
richest and unshaded, so as to prevent the pigs from injuring the
vegetables; and, poor Marble knowing little of gardening, I had a
melancholy pleasure in seeing the whole piece dug, or rather hoed up,
and sown and planted myself, before we sailed. We put in corn,
potatoes, peas, beans, lettuce, radishes, and several other things, of
which we found the seeds in the French garden. We took pains,
moreover, to transport from the wreck, many articles that it was
thought might prove of use, though they were too heavy for Marble to
handle. As there were near forty of us, all busy in this way for three
or four days, we effected a great deal, and may be said to have got
the island in order. I felt the same interest in the duty, that I
should in bestowing a child for life.

Marble, himself, was not much among us all this time. He rather
complained that I should leave him nothing to do, though I could see
he was touched by the interest we manifested in his welfare. The
French launch had been used as the means of conveyance between the
wreck and the beach, and we found it where it had been left by its
original owners, anchored to-leeward of the island, and abreast of the
ship. It was the last thing I meddled with and it was my care to put
it in such a state that, at need, it might be navigated across that
tranquil sea, to some other island, should Marble feel a desire to
abandon his solitude. The disposition I made of the boat was as
follows:--

The launch was large and coppered, and it carried two lug-sails. I had
both masts stepped, with the yards, sails, sheets, &c. prepared, and
put in their places; a stout rope was next carried round the entire
boat, outside, and a few inches below the gunwale, where it was
securely nailed. From this rope, led a number of lanyards, with eyes
turned into their ends. Through these eyes I rove a sort of
ridge-rope, leading it also through the eyes of several stancheons
that were firmly stepped on the thwarts. The effect, when the
ridge-rope was set up, was to give the boat the protection of this
waist-cloth, which inclined inboard, however, sufficiently to leave an
open passage between the two sides, of only about half the beam of the
boat. To the ridge-rope and lanyards, I had tarpaulins firmly
attached, tacking their lower edges strongly to the outer sides of the
boat. By this arrangement, when all was in its place, and properly
secured, a sea might break, or a wave slap against the boat, without
her taking in much water. It doubled her security in this particular,
more than answering the purposes of a half-deck and wash-board. It is
true, a very heavy wave might carry all away; but very heavy waves
would probably fill the boat, under any circumstances. Such a craft
could only find safety in her buoyancy; and we made her as safe as an
undecked vessel very well could be.

Marble watched me while I was superintending these changes in the
boat, with a good deal of interest; and one evening--I had announced
an intention to sail next morning, the Major and Emily having actually
gone on board--that evening, he got my arm, and led me away from the
spot, like a man who has urgent business. I could see that he was much
affected, and had strong hopes he intended to announce a change of
purpose. His hand actually trembled, the whole time it grasped my arm.

"God bless you! Miles--God bless you, dear boy!" he said, speaking
with difficulty, as soon as we were out of earshot from the
others. "If any being could make me pine for the world, it would be
such a friend as you. I could live on without father or mother,
brother or sister, ship or confidence of my owners, good name even,
were I sure of meeting such a lad as yourself in only every thousandth
man I fell in with. But, young as you are, you know how it is with
mankind; and no more need be said about it. All I ask now is, that you
will knock off with this 'making him comfortable,' as you call it, or
you'll leave me nothing to do for myself. I can fit out that boat as
well as e'er a man in the Crisis, I'd have you to know."

"I am well aware of that, my friend; but I am not so certain that you
_would._ In that boat, I am in hopes you will follow us out to
sea, and come on board again, and take your old place as master."

Marble shook his head, and I believe he saw by my manner that I had no
serious expectations of the sort I named. We walked some distance
farther, in silence, before he again spoke. Then he said suddenly, and
in a way to show how much his mind was troubled--

"Miles, my dear fellow, you must let me hear from you!"

"Hear from me! By what means, pray? You cannot expect the
Postmaster-General will make a mail-route between New York and this
island?"

"Poh! I'm getting old, and losing my memory. I was generalizing on
friendship, and the like of that, and the idee ran away with me. I
know, of course, when you are out of sight, that I shall be cut off
from the rest of the world--probably shall never see a human face
again. But what of that? My time cannot be long now, and I shall have
the fish, fowls and pigs to talk to. To tell you the truth, Miles.
Miss Merton gave me her own Bible yesterday, and, at my request, she
pointed out that part which gives the account about Moses in the
bulrushes, and I've just been looking it over: it is easy enough, now,
to understand why I was called Moses."

"But Moses did not think it necessary to go and live in a desert, or
on an uninhabited island, merely because he was found in those
bulrushes."

_"That_ Moses had no occasion to be ashamed of his parents. It
was fear, not shame, that sent him adrift. Nor did Moses ever let a
set of lubberly Frenchmen seize a fine, stout ship, like the Crisis,
with a good, able-bodied crew of forty men on board her."

"Come, Marble, you have too much sense to talk in this manner. It is,
fortunately, not too late to change your mind; and I will let it be
understood that you did so at my persuasion."

This was the commencement of a final effort on my part to induce my
friend to abandon his mad project. We conversed quite an hour, until I
had exhausted my breath, as well as my arguments, indeed; and all
without the least success. I pointed out to him the miserable plight
he must be in, in the event of illness; but it was an argument that
had no effect on a man who had never had even a headach in his
life. As for society, he cared not a straw for it when ashore, he
often boasted; and he could not yet appreciate the effects of total
solitude. Once or twice, remarks escaped him as if he thought it
possible I might one day return; but they were ventured in pleasantry,
rather than with any appearance of seriousness. I could see that the
self-devoted hermit had his misgivings, but I could obtain no verbal
concession from him to that effect. He was reminded that the ship must
positively sail next day, since it would not do to trifle with the
interests of the owners any longer.

"I know it, Miles," Marble answered, "and no more need be said on the
subject. Your people are through with their work, and here comes Neb
to report the boat ready to go off. I shall try my hand ashore
to-night, alone; in the morning, I suppose you would like to take an
old shipmate by the hand for the last time, and you will nat'rally
look for me at the water-side. Good-night! Before we part, however, I
may as well thank you for the supply of clothes I see you have put in
my hut. It was scarcely wanted, as I have enough needles and thread to
supply a slop-shop; and the old duck left by the French will keep me
in jackets and trowsers for the remainder of my days. Good-night, my
dear boy! God bless you--God bless you!"

It was nearly dark, but I could see that Marble's eyes looked moist,
and feel that his hand again trembled. I left him, not without the
hope that the solitude of this night, the first in which he had been
left by himself, would have the effect to lessen his desire to be a
hermit. When I turned in, it was understood that all hands were to be
called at daylight, and the ship unmoored.

Talcott came to call me, at the indicated moment. I had made him
chief-mate, and taken one of the Philadelphians for second officer; a
young man who had every requisite for the station, and one more than
was necessary, or a love of liquor. But, drunkards do tolerably well
on board a ship in which reasonable discipline is maintained. For that
matter, Neptune ought to be a profound moralist, as youths are very
generally sent to sea to cure most of the ethical flings. Talcott was
directed to unmoor, and heave short. As for myself, I got into a boat
and pulled ashore, with an intention of making a last and strong
appeal to Marble.

No one was visible on the island when we reached it. The pigs and
fowls were already in motion, however, and were gathering near the
door of the hut, where Marble was accustomed to feed them about that
hour; the fowls on _sugar_, principally. I proceeded to the door,
opened it, entered the place, and found it empty! Its late inmate was
then up, and abroad. He had probably passed a sleepless night, and
sought relief in the fresh air of the morning. I looked for him in the
adjacent grove, on the outer beach, and in most of his usual
haunts. He was nowhere visible. A little vexed at having so long a
walk before me, at a moment when we were so much pressed for time, I
was about to follow the grove to a distant part of the island, to a
spot that I knew Marble frequented a good deal, when moody; but my
steps were arrested by an accidental glance at the lagoon. I missed
the Frenchman's launch, or the boat I had: myself caused to be rigged
with so much care, the previous day, for the intended hermit's
especial advantage. This was a large boat; one that had been
constructed to weigh a heavy anchor; and I had left her, moored
between a grapnel and the shore, so securely, as to forbid the idea
she could have been moved, in so quiet a time, without the aid of
hands. Rushing to the water, I got into my own boat, and pulled
directly on board.

On reaching the ship, a muster of all hands was ordered. The result
proved that everybody was present, and at duty. It followed that
Marble, alone, had carried the boat out of the lagoon. The men who had
had the anchor-watches during the past night, were questioned on the
subject; but no one had seen or heard anything of a movement in the
launch. Mr. Talcott was told to continue his duty, while I went aloft
myself, to look at the offing. I was soon in the main-top-mast
cross-trees, where a view was commanded of the whole island, a few
covers excepted, of all the water within the reef, and of a wide range
without. Nowhere was the boat or Marble to be seen. It was barely
possible that he had concealed himself behind the wreck, though I did
not see how even this could be done, unless he had taken the
precaution to strike the launch's masts.

By this time, our last anchor was aweigh, and the ship was clear of
the bottom. The top-sails had been hoisted before I went aloft, and
everything was now ready for filling away. Too anxious to go on deck,
under such circumstances, and a lofty position being the best for
ascertaining the presence of rocks, I determined to remain where I
was, and conn the ship through the passes, in my own person. An order
was accordingly given to set the jib, and to swing the head-yards, and
get the spanker on the ship. In a minute, the Crisis was again in
motion, moving steadily towards the inlet. As the lagoon was not
entirely free from danger, coral rocks rising in places quite near the
surface of the water, I was obliged to be attentive to the pilot's
duty, until we got into the outer bay, when this particular danger in
a great measure disappeared. I could then look about me with more
freedom. Though we so far changed our position, as respected the
wreck, as to open new views of it, no launch was to be seen behind
it. By the time the ship reached the passage through the reef, I had
little hope of finding it there.

We had got to be too familiar with the channels, to have any
difficulty in taking the ship through them; and we were soon fairly to
windward of the reef. Our course, however, lay to leeward; and we
passed round the southern side of the rocks, under the same easy
canvass, until we got abreast, and within half a cable's length of the
wreck. To aid my own eyes, I had called up Talcott and Neb; but
neither of us could obtain the least glimpse of the launch. Nothing
was to be seen about the wreck; though I took the precaution to send a
boat to it. All was useless. Marble had gone out to sea, quite alone,
in the Frenchman's launch; and, though twenty pairs of eyes were now
aloft, no one could even fancy that he saw anything in the offing,
that resembled a boat.

Talcott and myself had a private interview on the subject of Marble's
probable course. My mate was of opinion, that our friend had made the
best of his way for some of the inhabited islands, unwilling to remain
here, when it came to the pinch, and yet ashamed to rejoin us. I could
hardly believe this; in such a case, I thought he would have waited
until we had sailed; when he might have left the island also, and
nobody been the wiser. To this Talcott answered that Marble probably
feared our importunities; possibly, compulsion. It seemed singular to
me, that a man who regretted his hasty decision, should adopt such a
course; and yet I was at a loss to explain the matter much more to my
own satisfaction. Nevertheless, there was no remedy. We were as much
in the dark as it was possible to be with a knowledge of the
circumstance that the bird had flown.

We hovered around the reef for several hours, most of which time I
passed in the cross-trees, and some of it on the royal-yard. Once, I
thought I saw a small speck on the ocean, dead to windward, that
resembled a boat's sail; but there were so many birds flying about,
and glancing beneath the sun's rays, that I was reluctantly compelled
to admit it was probably one of them. At meridian, therefore, I gave
the order to square away, and to make sail on our course. This was
done with the greatest reluctance, however, and not without a good
deal of vaciliation of purpose. The ship moved away from the land
rapidly, and by two o'clock, the line of cocoa-nut trees that fringed
the horizon astern, sunk entirely beneath the rolling margin of our
view. From that moment, I abandoned the expectation of ever seeing
Moses Marble again, though the occurrence left all of us sad, for
several days.

Major Merton and his daughter were on the poop, nearly the whole of
this morning. Neither interfered in the least; for the old soldier was
too familiar with discipline to venture an opinion concerning the
management of the ship. When we met at dinner, however, the
conversation naturally turned on the disappearance of our old friend.

"It is a thousand pities that pride should have prevented Marble from
acknowledging his mistake," observed the Major, "and thus kept him
from getting a safe passage to Canton, where he might have left you,
and joined another ship had he thought it necessary."