Afloat And Ashore

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Rounding the point, as we entered the river, the Wallingford eased-off
sheet, set a studding-sail and flying-top-sail, and began to breast
the Hudson, on her way towards its sources.

In 1803, the celebrated river we were navigating, though it had all
the natural features it possesses to-day, was by no means the same
picture of moving life. The steam-boat did not appear on its surface
until four years later; and the journeys up and down its waters, were
frequently a week in length. In that day, the passenger did not hurry
on board, just as a bell was disturbing the neighbourhood, hustling
his way through a rude throng of porters, cart-men, orange-women, and
news-boys, to save his distance by just a minute and a half, but his
luggage was often sent to the vessel the day before; he passed his
morning in saying adieu, and when he repaired to the vessel, it was
with gentleman-like leisure, often to pass hours on board previously
to sailing, and not unfrequently to hear the unwelcome tidings that
this event was deferred until the next day. How different, too, was
the passage, from one in a steam-boat! There was no jostling of each
other, no scrambling for places at table, no bolting of food, no
impertinence manifested, no swearing about missing the eastern or
southern boats, or Schenectady, or Saratoga, or Boston trains, on
account of a screw being loose, nor--any other unseemly manifestation
that anybody was in a hurry. On the contrary, wine and fruit were
provided, as if the travellers intended to enjoy themselves; and a
journey in that day was a _festa_. No more embarked than could be
accommodated; and the company being selected, the cabin was taken to
the exclusion of all unwelcome intruders. Now, the man who should
order a bottle of wine to be placed at the side of his plate, would be
stared at as a fool; and not without reason altogether, for, did it
escape the claws of his _convives_ and the waiters, he would
probably reach the end of his journey before he could drink it. In
1803, not only did the dinner pass in peace, and with gentleman-like
deliberation; not only were the cooler and the fruit taken on deck,
and the one sipped and the other eaten at leisure, in the course of an
afternoon, but in the course of many afternoons. Passages were
certainly made in twenty-four hours in the sloops; but these were the
exceptions, a week being much more likely to be the time passed in the
enjoyment of the beautiful scenery of the river. The vessel usually
got aground, once at least, and frequently several times in a trip;
and often a day, or two, were thus delightfully lost, giving the
stranger an opportunity of visiting the surrounding country. The
necessity of anchoring, with a foul wind, on every opposing tide, too,
increased these occasions, thus lending to the excursion something of
the character of an exploring expedition. No--no--a man would learn
more in one passage, up or down the Hudson, forty years since, than
can be obtained by a dozen at the present time. I have a true seaman's
dislike for a steam-boat, and sometimes wish they were struck out of
existence; though I know it is contrary to all the principles of
political economy, and opposed to what is called the march of
improvement. Of one thing, however, I feel quite certain; that these
inventions, coupled with the gregarious manner of living that has
sprung up in the large taverns, is, as one of our writers expresses
it, "doing _wonders_ for the manners of the people;" though, in
my view of the matter, the wonder is, that they have any left.

There might have been thirty sail in sight, when the Wallingford got
fairly into the river, some turning down on a young ebb, making their
fifteen or twenty miles in six hours, and others like ourselves,
stealing along against it, at about the same rate. Half a dozen of
these craft were quite near us, and the decks of most of those which
were steering north, had parties including ladies, evidently
proceeding to the "Springs." I desired Marble to sheer as close to
these different vessels as was convenient, having no other object in
view than amusement, and fancying it might aid in diverting the
thoughts of my sister from her own sorrows, to the faces and concerns
of others. The reader will have no difficulty in understanding, that
the Wallingford, constructed under the orders of an old sailor, and
for his own uses, was a fast vessel. In this particular she had but
one or two competitors on the river; packets belonging to Hudson,
Poughkeepsie and Sing-Sing. She was now only in fair ballast-trim, and
being admirably provided with sails, in the light wind we had, she
actually went four feet to most-of-the-other-vessels-in-sight's
three. My request to Marble--or, order, as he chose to call it--was
easily enough complied with, and we were soon coming up close on the
quarter of a sloop that had its decks crowded with passengers who
evidently belonged to the better class; while, on its forecastle were
several horses, and a carriage; customary accompaniments to such a
scene in that day.

I had not been so happy in a long time, as I felt at that
moment. Grace was better, as I fancied at least, and it was certain
she was more composed and less nervous than I had seen her since my
return; and this of itself was removing the weight of a mountain from
my heart. There was Lucy, too, her rounded cheek rosy with the
pleasure of the moment, full of health, and with eyes that never
turned on me that they did not beam with confidence and kindness--the
sincerest friendship, if not love--while every look, movement,
syllable or gesture that was directed towards Grace, betrayed how
strongly the hearts of these two precious creatures were still knit
together in sisterly affection. My guardian too seemed happier than he
had been since our conversation on the state of my own feelings
towards his daughter. He had made a condition, that we should all--the
doctor excepted--return to Clawbonny in time for service on the
ensuing Sunday, and he was then actually engaged in looking over an
old sermon for the occasion, though not a minute passed in which he
did not drop the manuscript to gaze about him, in deep enjoyment of
the landscape. The scene, moreover, was so full of repose, that even
the movements of the different vessels scarce changed its Sabbath-like
character. I repeat, that I had not felt so perfectly happy since I
held my last conversation with the Salem Witches, in The Duomo of
Firenze.

Marble was excessively delighted with the behaviour of the
Wallingford. The latter was a sloop somewhat smaller than common,
though her accommodations were particularly commodious, while she was
sparred on the scale of a flyer. Her greatest advantage in the way of
sailing, however, would have been no great recommendation to her on a
wind; for she was nearly start light, and might not have been able to
carry full sail in hard November weather, even on the Hudson--a river
on which serious accidents have been known to occur. There was little
danger in mid-summer, however; and we went gliding up on the quarter
of the Gull of Troy, without feeling concern of any sort.

"What sloop is that?" demanded the skipper of the Gull, as our
boom-end came within a fathom of his rail, our name being out of his
view.

"The Wallingford of Clawbonny, just out of port, bound up on a party
of pleasure."

Now, Clawbonny was not then, nor is it now, what might be called a
legal term. There was no such place known in law, beyond the right
which usage gives; and I heard a low laugh among the passengers of the
Gull, as they heard the homely appellation. This came from the
equivocal position my family occupied, midway between the gentry and
yeomanry of the State, as they both existed in 1803. Had I said the
sloop came from near Coldenham, it would have been all right; for
everybody who was then anybody in New York, knew who the Coldens were;
or Morrisania, the Morrises being people of mark; or twenty other
places on the river: but the Wallingfords were as little known as
Clawbonny, when you got fifteen or twenty miles from the spot where
they had so long lived. This is just the difference between obscurity
and notoriety. When the latter extends to an entire nation, it gives
an individual, or a family, the note that frees them entirely from the
imputation of existing under the first condition; and this note,
favourably diffused through Christendom, forms a reputation--transmitted
to posterity, it becomes fame. Unfortunately, neither we nor our place
had even reached the first simple step in this scale of renown; and
poor Clawbonny was laughed at, on account of something Dutch that was
probably supposed to exist in the sound--the Anglo-Saxon race having a
singular aptitude to turn up their nose's at everything but their own
possessions, and everybody but themselves. I looked at Lucy, with
sensitive quickness, to see how she received this sneer on my
birth-place; but, with her, it was so much a matter of course to think
well of everything connected with the spot, its name as well as its
more essential things, that I do not believe she perceived this little
sign of derision.

While the passengers of the Gull felt this disposition to smile, it
was very different with her skipper; his Dutch pilot, whose name was
Abrahamus Van Valtenberg, but who was more familiarly known as 'Brom
Folleck, for so the children of New Netherlands twisted their
cognomens in converting them into English;[*] the black cook, the
mulatto steward, and the "all hands," who were one man and a
boy. There had been generations of sloops which bore the name of
Watlingford, as Well as generations of men, at Clawbonny; and this
every river-man knew. In point of fact, we counted four generations of
men, and six of sloops. Now, none of these vessels was worthy of being
mentioned, but this which my father had caused to be built; but she
had a reputation that extended to everybody on the river. The effect
of all this was to induce the skipper of the Gull to raise his hat,
and to say--

"That, then, I suppose is Mr. Wallingford himself--you are welcome
back on the river; I remember the time well, when your respected
father would make that boat do anything but talk. Nothing but the new
paint, which is different from the last, prevented me from knowing the
sloop. Had I taken a look at her bows, this couldn't have happened."

[Footnote *: A story is told of a Scotchman of the name of
Farquharson,--who settled among the High Dutch on the Mohawk, sometime
previously to the Revolution; where, unable to pronounce his name, the
worthy formers called him Feuerstein (pronounced Firestyne). The son
lived and died under this appellation; but the grandson, removing to a
part of the country where English alone was spoken, chose to anglisise
his name; and, by giving it a free translation, became Mr. Flint!]

This speech evidently gave me and my vessel an estimation with the
passengers of the Gull that neither had enjoyed the moment
before. There was some private conversation on the quarter-deck of the
other vessel, and, then, a highly respectable and gentleman-like
looking old man, came to the rail, bowed, and commenced a discourse.

"I have the pleasure of seeing Captain Wallingford, I believe," he
remarked, "with whom my friends, the Mertons, came passengers from
China. They have often expressed their sense of your civilities," he
continued, as I bowed in acquiescence, "and declare they should ever
wish to sail with you, were they again compelled to go to sea."

Now, this was viewing my relation to the Mertons in any point of view
but that in which I wished it to be viewed, or indeed was just. Still
it was natural; and the gentleman who spoke, a man of standing and
character, no doubt fancied he was, saying that which must prove
particularly acceptable to me; another proof how dangerous it is to
attempt to decide on other men's feelings or affairs. I could not
decline the discourse; and, while the Wallingford went slowly past the
Gull, I was compelled to endure the torment of hearing the Mertons
mentioned, again and again, in the hearing of Lucy and Grace; on the
nerves of the latter of whom I knew it must be a severe trial. At
length we got rid of this troublesome neighbour, though not until Lucy
and her father were recognised and spoken to by several of the ladies
in the other party. While my late guardian and his daughter were thus
engaged, I stole a glance at my sister. She was pale as death, and
seemed anxious to go below, whither I led her, most happily, I have
every reason to think, as things turned out.

When the Wallingford had left the Gull some little distance astern, I
returned to the deck, and Lucy went to take my place by the side of
Grace's berth. She reappeared, however; in a very few minutes, saying
that my sister felt an inclination to rest herself, and might fall
asleep. Feeble, almost, as an infant, these frequent slumbers had
become necessary, in a measure, to the patient's powers. Chloe coming
up soon after with a report that her young mistress seemed to be in a
doze, we all remained on deck, in order not to disturb her. In this
manner, half an hour passed, and we had drawn quite near to another
sloop that was going in the same direction with ourselves. At this
moment, Mr. Hardinge was deeply immersed in his sermon, and I
perceived that Lucy looked at him, from time to time, as if she
expected to catch his eye. I fancied something distressed her, and yet
it was not easy to imagine exactly what it could be.

"Do you not intend to go nearer the other sloop?" Lucy at length
inquired, alluding to the vessel that was almost in a line with us;
but to which I had ordered Neb to give a respectable berth.

"I thought the gossip of the last quite sufficient; but, if you like
these interviews, certainly."

Lucy seemed embarrassed; she coloured to her temples, paused a moment,
and then added, affecting to laugh--and it was so seldom Lucy affected
anything, but this time she _did_ affect to laugh--as she said--

"I _do_ wish to go near that sloop; though it is not exactly for
the reason you suppose."

I could see she was distressed, though it was not yet easy to imagine
the cause. Lucy's requests were laws to me, and Neb was ordered to
sheer down on the quarter of this second sloop, as we had done on that
of the first. As we drew near, her stern told us that she was called
the "Orpheus of Sing-Sing," a combination of names that proved some
wag had been connected with the christening. Her decks had also a
party of both sexes on them, though neither carriage nor horses. All
this time, Lucy stood quite near me, as if reluctant to move, and when
we were sufficiently near the sloop, she pressed still nearer to my
side, in the way in which her sex are apt to appeal to those of the
other who possess their confidence, when most feeling the necessity of
support.

"Now, Miles," she said, in an under tone, "_you_ must 'speak that
sloop,' as you call it; I can never hold a loud conversation of this
sort, in the presence of so many strangers."

"Very willingly, Lucy; though you will have the goodness to let me
know exactly what I am to say."

"Certainly--begin then, in your sailor fashion, and when that is done,
I will tell you what to add."

"Enough--Orpheus, there?" I called out, just raising my voice
sufficiently to be heard.

"Ay, ay,--what's wanted?" answered the skipper, taking a pipe from his
mouth, as he leaned with his back against his own tiller, in a way
that was just in accordance with the sleepy character of the scene.

I looked at Lucy, as much as to say, "what next?"

"Ask him if Mrs. Drewett is on board his sloop--_Mrs._ Andrew
Drewett, not _Mr._--The old lady, I mean," added the dear girl,
blushing to the eyes.

I was so confounded--I might almost add appalled, that it was with
great difficulty I suppressed an exclamation. Command myself, I did,
however, and observing that the skipper was curiously awaiting my next
question, I put it.

"Is _Mrs_. Andrew Drewett among your passengers, sir?" I
inquired with a cold distinctness.

My neighbour nodded his head, and spoke to some of his passengers,
most of whom were on the main-deck, seated on chairs, and concealed
from us, as yet, by the Wallingford's main-sail, her boom being guyed
out on the side next the Orpheus, with its end just clear of her
quarter.

"She is, and wishes to know who makes the inquiry?" returned the
Sing-Sing skipper, in the singsong manner in which ordinary folk
repeat what is dictated.

"Say that Miss Hardinge has a message to Mrs. Drewett from
Mrs. Ogilvie, who is on board that other sloop," added Lucy, in a low,
and, as I thought, tremulous tone.

I was nearly choked; but made out to communicate the fact, as
directed. In an instant I heard the foot of one who leaped on the
Orpheus's quarter-deck, and then Andrew Drewett appeared, hat in hand,
a face all smiles, eyes that told his tale as plain as any tongue
could have uttered it, and such salutations as denoted the most
perfect intimacy. Lucy took my arm involuntarily, and I could feel
that she trembled. The two vessels were now so near, and everything
around us was so tranquil, that by Lucy's advancing to the
Wallingford's quarter-deck, and Drewett's coming to the taffrail of
the Orpheus, it was easy to converse without any unseemly raising of
the voice. All that had been said between me and the skipper, indeed,
had been said on a key but little higher than common. By the change in
Lucy's position, I could no longer see her face; but I knew it was
suffused, and that she was far from being as composed and collected as
was usual with her demeanour. All this was death to my recent
happiness, though I could not abstain from watching what now passed,
with the vigilance of jealousy.

"Good-morning," Lucy commenced, and the words were uttered in a tone
that I thought bespoke great familiarity, if not confidence; "will you
have the goodness to tell your mother that Mrs. Ogilvie begs she will
not leave Albany until after her arrival. The other sloop,
Mrs. Ogilvie thinks, cannot be more than an hour or two after you, and
she is very desirous of making a common party to--ah! there comes
Mrs. Drewett," said Lucy, hastily interrupting herself, "and I can
deliver my message, myself."

Mrs. Drewett coming aft at this instant, Lucy certainly did turn to
her, and communicated a message, which it seems the lady in the Gull
had earnestly requested her to deliver in passing.

"And now," returned Mrs. Drewett, when Lucy had ceased, first civilly
saluting me, "and now, my dear Lucy, we have something for you. So
sudden was your departure, on the receipt of that naughty letter," my
letter, summoning the dear girl to the bed-side of her friend, was
meant, "that you left your work-box behind you, and, as I knew it
contained many notes besides bank-notes, I would not allow it to be
separated from me, until we met. Here it is; in what manner shall we
contrive to get it into your hands?"

Lucy started, and I could see that she both felt and looked
anxious. As I afterwards learned, she had been passing a day at
Mrs. Drewett's villa, which joined her own, both standing on the rocks
quite near to that spot which a mawkish set among us is trying to
twist from plain homely, up-and-down, old fashioned Hell Gate, into
the exquisite and lackadaisical corruption of _Hurl_ Gate--Heaven
save the mark! What puny piece of folly and affectation will they
attempt next?--but Lucy was paying this visit when she received my
letter, and it appears such was her haste to get to Grace, that she
quitted the house immediately, leaving behind her a small work-box,
_unlocked_, and in it various papers that she did not wish
read. Of course, one of Lucy's sentiments and tone, could hardly
suspect a lady, and Mrs. Drewett was strictly that, of rummaging her
box or of reading her notes and letters; but one is never easy when
such things can be supposed to be in the way of impertinent
eyes. There are maids as well as mistresses, and I could see, in a
moment, that she wished the box was again in her own possession. Under
the circumstances, therefore, I felt it was time to interfere.

"If your sloop will round-to, Mr. Drewett," I remarked, receiving a
cold salutation from the gentleman, in return for my own bow, the
first sign of recognition that had passed between us, "I will
round-to, myself, and send a boat for the box."

This proposal drew all eyes towards the skipper, who was still leaning
against his tiller, smoking for life or death. I was not favourably
received, extorting a grunt in reply, that any one could understand
denoted dissent. The pipe was slowly removed, and the private opinion
of this personage was pretty openly expressed, in his Dutchified
dialect.

"If a body coult get a wint for der askin', dis might do very well,"
he said; "but nobody rounts-to mit a fair wind."

I have always remarked that they who have used a dialect different
from the common forms of speech in their youth, and come afterwards to
correct it, by intercourse with the world, usually fall back into
their early infirmities in moments of trial, perplexity, or
anger. This is easily explained. Habit has become a sort of nature, in
their childhood, and it is when most tried that we are the most
natural. Then, this skipper, an Albany--or Al_bon_ny man, as he
would probably have styled himself, had got down the river as far as
Sing-Sing, and had acquired a tolerable English; but, being now
disturbed, he fell back upon his original mode of speaking, the
certain proof that he would never give in. I saw at once the
hopelessness of attempting to persuade one of his school, and had
begun to devise some other scheme for getting the box on board, when
to my surprise, and not a little to my concern, I saw Andrew Drewett,
first taking the box from his mother, step upon the end of our
main-boom, and move along the spar with the evident intention to walk
as far as our deck and deliver Lucy her property with his own
hands. The whole thing occurred so suddenly, that there was no time
for remonstrance. Young gentlemen who are thoroughly in love, are not
often discreet in matters connected with their devotion to their
mistresses. I presume Drewett saw the boom placed so favourably as to
tempt him, and he fancied it would be a thing to mention to carry a
lady her work-box across a bridge that was of so precarious a
footing. Had the spar lain on the ground, it would certainly have been
no exploit at all to for any young man to walk its length, carrying
his arms full of work-boxes; but it was a very different matter when
the same feat had to be performed on a sloop's boom in its place,
suspended over the water, with the sail set, and the vessel in
motion. This Drewett soon discovered, for, advancing a step or two, he
grasped the topping-lift, which luckily for him happened to be taut,
for a support. All this occurred before there was time for
remonstrance, or even for thought. At the same instant Neb, in
obedience to a sign previously given by me, had put the helm down a
little, and the boom-end was already twenty feet from the quarter-deck
of the Orpheus.

Of course, all the women screamed, or exclaimed, on some key or
other. Poor Mrs. Drewett hid her face, and began to moan her son as
lost. I did not dare look at Lucy, who remained quiet as to voice,
after the first involuntary exclamation, and as immovable as a
statue. Luckily her face was from me. As Drewett was evidently
discomposed, I thought it best, however, to devise something not only
for his relief, but for that of Lucy's box, which was in quite as much
jeopardy as the young man, himself; more so, indeed, if the latter
could swim. I was on the point of calling out to Drewett to hold on,
and I would cause the boom-end to reach over the Orpheus's main-deck,
after which he might easily drop down among his friends, when Neb,
finding some one to take the helm, suddenly stood at my side.

"He drop dat box, sartain, Masser Mile," half-whispered the negro; "he
leg begin to shake already, and he won'erful skear'd!"

"I would not have that happen for a good deal--can you save it, Neb?"

"Sartain, sir. Only hab to run out on 'e boom and bring it in, and gib
it Miss Lucy; she mighty partic'lar about dat werry box, Masser Mile,
as I see a hundrer time, and more too."

"Well, lay out, boy, and bring it in,--and look to your footing, Neb."

This was all Neb wanted. The fellow had feet shaped a good deal like
any other aquatic bird, with the essential difference, however, that
no small part of his foundation had been laid abaft the perpendicular
of the tendon Achilles, and, being without shoes, he could nearly
encircle a small spar in his grasp. Often and often had I seen Neb run
out on a top-sail-yard, the ship pitching heavily, catching at the
lift; and it was a mere trifle after that, to run out on a spar as
large as the Wallingford's main-boom. A tolerably distinctive scream
from Chloe, first apprised me that the negro was in motion. Looking in
that direction, I saw him walking steadily along the boom,
notwithstanding Drewett's loud remonstrances, and declarations that he
wanted no assistance, until he reached the spot where the young
gentleman stood grasping the lift, with his legs submitting to more
tremour than was convenient. Neb now grinned, looked as amiable as
possible, held out his hand, and revealed the object of his visit.