Rattlin the Reefer Part 29

"Try--you ask me," said she, looking at me with a fondness not quite so maternal as I could wish.

"Bella, dearest, will you marry me?"

"For true?"

"For true."

"Tanky, Ma.s.sa Rattlin, dear, tanky; you make me very happy; but, for true, no. Were you older more fifteen year, or me more fifteen year younger, perhaps--but tank ye much for de comblement. Now go, and tell buckra doctor."

So, as I could not reward my kind physician with my hand, which, by-the-by, I should not have offered had I not been certain of refusal, I was obliged to force upon her as splendid a trinket as I could purchase, for a keepsake, and gave my sable nurses a handful of bits each. Bits of what? say the uninitiated.

I don't know whether I have described this fever case very nosologically, but, very truly I know I have.

CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR.

A NEW CHARACTER INTRODUCED, WHO CLAIMETH OLD ACQUAINTANCEs.h.i.+P--NOT VERY HONEST BY HIS OWN ACCOUNT, WHICH GIVETH HIM MORE THE APPEARANCE OF HONESTY THAN HE DESERVETH--HE PROVETH TO BE A STEWARD NOT INCLINED TO HIDE HIS TALENT IN A NAPKIN.

During all the time that these West Indian events had been occurring, that is, nearly three years, I had no other communication with England than regularly and repeatedly sending there various pieces of paper thus headed, "This, my first of exchange, my second and third not paid;" or for variety's sake, "This, my second of exchange, my first and third,"

etcetera; or, to be more various still, "This, my third, my first and second,"--all of which received more attention than their strange phraseology seemed to ent.i.tle them to.

But I must now introduce a new character; one that attended me for years, like an evil shadow, nor left me until the "beginning of the end."

The s.h.i.+p had been hove down, the wound in her forefoot healed, that is to say, the huge rent stopped up; and we were beginning to get water and stores on board, and I was walking on the quay of the dockyard, when I was civilly accosted by a man having the appearance of a captain's steward. He was pale and handsome, with small white hands; and, if not actually genteel in his deportment, had that metropolitan refinement of look that indicated contact with genteel society. Though dressed in the blue jacket and white duck trousers of the sailor's Sunday best, at a glance you would p.r.o.nounce him to be no seaman. Before he spoke to me, he had looked attentively at several other mids.h.i.+pmen, some belonging to my own s.h.i.+p, others, young gentlemen who were on sh.o.r.e on dockyard duty.

At length, after a scrutiny sufficient to make me rather angry, he took off his hat very respectfully, and said:

"Have I the honour of speaking to Mr Ralph Rattlin?"

"You have: well, my man?"

"Ah, sir, you forget me, and no wonder. My name, sir, is Daunton-- Joshua Daunton."

"Never heard the name before in my life."

"Oh yes, you have, sir, begging your pardon, very often indeed. Why, you used to call me Jossey; little Jossey, come here you little vagabond, and let me ride you pick-aback."

"The devil I did!"

"Why, Mr Rattlin, I was your f.a.g at Mr Roots' school."

Now I knew this to be a lie; for, under that very respectable pedagogue, and in that very respectable seminary, as the reader well knows, I was the _f.a.gged_, and not the f.a.gger.

"Now, really, Joshua Daunton," said I, "I am inclined to think that you may be Joshua, the little vagabond, still; for, upon my honour, I remember nothing about you. Seeing there were so many hundred boys under Mr Roots, my schoolfellow you might have been; but may I be vexed, if ever I f.a.gged you or any one else! Now, my good man, prove to me that you have been my schoolfellow first, and then let me know what I can do for you afterwards, for I suppose that you have some favour to ask, or some motive in seeking me."

"I have, indeed," he replied, with a peculiar intonation of voice, that might have been construed in many ways. He then proceeded to give me many details of the school at Islington, which convinced me, if there he had never been, he had conversed with some one who had. Still, he evaded all my attempts at cross-examination, with a skill which gave me a much higher opinion of his intellect than of his honesty. With the utmost efforts of my recollection, I could not call him to mind, and I bluntly told him so. I then bade him tell me who he was and what he wanted.

"I am the only son of an honest p.a.w.nbroker of Sh.o.r.editch. He was tolerably rich, and determined to give me a good education. He sent me to Mr Roots' school. It was there that I had the happiness of being honoured by your friends.h.i.+p. Now, sir, you perceive that, though I am not so tall as you by some inches, I am at least seven or eight years older. Shortly after, you left school to go to another at Stickenham.

I also left, with my education, as my father fondly supposed, finished.

Sir, I turned out bad. I confess it with shame--I was a rascal. My father turned me out of doors. I have had several ups and downs in the world since, and I am now steward on board of the _London_, the West Indiaman that arrived here the day before yesterday."

"Very well, Joshua; but how came you to know that I went to school at Stickenham?"

"Because, in my tramping about the country, I saw you with the other young gentlemen in the playground on the common."

"Hum! but how, in the name of all that is curious, came you to know that I was here at Port Royal dockyard, and a young gentleman belonging to the _Eos_?"

"Oh! very naturally, sir. About two years ago, I pa.s.sed again over the same common with my a.s.sociates. I could not resist the wish to see if you were still in the playground. I did not see you among the rest, and I made bold to inquire of one of the elder boys where you were. He told me the name of the s.h.i.+p, and of your captain. The first thing on coming into the harbour that struck my eye was your very frigate alongside the dockyard. I got leave to come on sh.o.r.e, and I knew you directly that I saw you."

"But why examine so many before you spoke to me? However, I have no reason to be suspicious, for time makes great changes. Now, what shall I do for you?"

"Give me your protection, and as much of your friendliness as is compatible with our different stations."

"But, Daunton, according to your own words, you have been a sad fellow.

Before I extend to you what you require, I ought to know what you really have done. You spoke of tramping--have you been a tramper--a gipsy?"

"I have."

"Have you ever committed theft?"

"Only in a small way."

"Ah! and swindled--only in a small way, of course?"

"The temptations were great."

"Where will this fellow stop?" thought I; "let us see, however, how far he will go;" and then, giving utterance to my thoughts, I continued, "The step between swindling and forgery is but very short," and I paused--for even I had not the confidence to ask him, "Are you a forger?"

"Very," was the short, dry answer. I was astonished. Perhaps he will confess to the commission of murder.

"Oh! as you were just saying to yourself, we are the mere pa.s.sive tools of fate--we are drawn on, in spite of ourselves. If a man comes in our way, why, you know, in self-defence--hey?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"A little p.r.i.c.k under the ribs in a quiet way. The wanderings and jerkings of the angry hand will happen. You understand me?"

"Too well, I am afraid, sir. I have never yet shed man's blood--I never will. Perhaps, sir, you would not depend upon my virtue for this--you may upon my cowardice. I tremble--I sicken at the sight of blood. I have endeavoured to win your confidence by candour--I have not succeeded. May I be permitted to wish you a good day?"

"Stop, Daunton; this is a singular encounter, and a still more singular conference. As an old schoolfellow, you ask me to give you my protection. The protection of a reefer is, in itself, something laughable; and then, as an inducement, you confess to me that you are a villain, only in guilt just short of murder. Perhaps, by this bravado sort of confession, you have endeavoured to give me a worse impression of your character than it really deserves, that you might give me the better opinion of your sincerity. Is it not so?"

"In a great measure, it is."

"I thought so. Now let me tell you, Daunton, that that very circ.u.mstance makes me afraid of you. But, still, I will not cast aside the appeal of an old schoolfellow. What can I do for you?"

"Give me the protection afforded me by a man-of-war, by taking me as your servant."

"Utterly impossible! I can press you directly, or give the hint to any of the many men-of-war here to do so. But the rules of the service do not permit a mids.h.i.+pman to have a separate servant. Do you wish to enter?"