Lying at one of the wharves was a ship of moderate size, evidently fast getting ready for sea. The cargo had all been stowed[64] away, and, notwithstanding the confusion, it was easy even for a landsman to see that the ship was about ready for departure.
The ship was the Bouncing Betsey, commanded by Captain Nathaniel Brace. As to the peculiar name of the vessel, I can give no information whether or not there was a real Bouncing Betsey after whom it was named. The probability however is, that it was a purely ideal name, the sound and alliterative character of which had commended it to the one upon whom rested the selection of a name.
A few words now about Captain Brace, with whom we shall become better acquainted by and by.
He was a short, stout, broad-shouldered man. He was no fresh-water captain, but from the age of thirteen had been tossing about on the ocean. It is my privilege to know many sea captains who do honor to their calling, high-toned, gentlemanly, and intelligent men; not learned in books, but possessing a wide range of general information. I am sorry to say that Captain Brace[65] was not a man of this class. He had little education beyond what was required by his profession, and was utterly lacking in refinement and courtesy. He was not an amiable man, but rough, stormy, exacting, and dictatorial. The crew under his command he looked upon as so many machines, whose duty it was to obey him with scrupulous exactness, whatever might be the nature of his requisitions. When he got into one of his fits of passion, he would stamp and rave, kicking and striking this way and that with the most reckless disregard of human lives and human feelings. In fact, he was one of those pests of the merchant service, an unfeeling tyrant, who did all in his power to degrade the profession which he had adopted, and add to the hardships which lie in the path of the sailor.
The employers of Captain Brace were far from being aware of the extent to which he carried the severity of his discipline; brutality, indeed, would be the more appropriate word. They supposed him to be a strict commander, who liked to preserve a proper[66] subordination in those under his command, and this they were disposed to commend rather than to complain of, more especially as the captain was master of his profession, and had usually made quick and profitable voyages. This, as may be supposed, was enough to cover a great many defects in the eyes of those whose pecuniary interest he subserved, even if the captain had not been shrewd enough to conceal his more disagreeable traits when on shore, under an affectation of bluff frankness.
There was a time when there were many captains in the service no better than the one we have just sketched, but both in the naval and merchant service there has undoubtedly been a great improvement within a few years.
Without dwelling further on the personal characteristics of Captain Brace, with whom we shall have abundant opportunity to become acquainted, since we purpose going to sea with him on his approaching voyage, we introduce him pacing the deck of his vessel with a short black pipe in his mouth, on the very morning he intends to sail.
[67]
"Where is Mr. Randall? has he come on board?" he inquired, turning to the second mate.
"No, sir; I have not seen him this morning," was the reply.
"When he comes on board tell him I wish to see him immediately."
"Very well, sir."
The captain went to his cabin, and about five minutes later the individual after whom he inquired came aboard. We recognize in him an old acquaintance; no other than the nocturnal visitor who excited such fearful apprehensions in the mind of old Peter Manson the miser.
"Where is Captain Brace, Mr. Bigelow?" he inquired of the second mate.
"In the cabin, Mr. Randall. He wishes to see you."
"And I wish to see him, so we can suit each other's convenience. How long since did he ask for me?"
"Only two or three minutes. He has just gone below."
"Then he hasn't had long to wait."
[68]
With these words he hastened to the cabin, where he found the captain waiting for him.
The subject on which the captain wished to see his first mate was purely of a professional and technical character, and will not be likely to interest the reader, and so will be passed over.
When this preliminary matter was disposed of, Randall, with a little hesitation, remarked: "I have a little favor to ask of you, Captain Brace."
"Very well, sir; let me know what it is, and if I can conveniently grant it I will."
"The boy who had engaged to go with us has backed out, having heard some ridiculous stories about your severity and——"
The captain's brow grew dark with anger as he said:
"The young rascal! I should like to overhaul him! I'd show him what it is to see service!"
There is very little doubt that the captain would have kept his word.
Randall took care not to inform his superior officer that he had privately communicated to[69] the mother of the boy intelligence of his severity, not from any motives of humanity, but simply because his going would have interfered with his own plans in respect to Charlie.
"We shall not have much time to hunt up a boy if we sail at three o'clock," said the captain. "I don't see but we must go without one."
"I think I can supply you with one, Captain Brace."
"Ha! who is it?"
"It's a nephew of mine, and the favor I spoke of was that you should take him in place of the boy we have missed of."
"Humph!" said the captain, "there is one objection I have to taking relations of the officers. You are expected to be tender of them, and not order them about as roughly as the rest."
"There won't be any trouble of that sort in this case, Captain Brace, you may be very sure," said the mate. "Although the boy is my nephew I don't feel any very extraordinary affection for him."
[70]
"I should think not," said the captain, with a grim smile, "from your efforts to get him a place on board this ship. You're not any more gentle with boys than I am."
"The fact is, Captain Brace," said Randall, with a smile which evinced a thorough understanding of the captain's meaning; "the fact is, the boy is unruly, and they can't do much for him at home, and I thought it might be well for him to try a voyage or two, for the benefit of his health!"
The mate smiled, and as it was such a joke as the captain could appreciate, he smiled too.
"Very well, Mr. Randall; if such are your views I have no objection to his coming on board."
"I had fears," continued the mate, "that his unruly temper would interfere with his usefulness at home. I felt pretty sure we could soon cure him of that."
"Kill or cure, that is my motto," said the captain.
"Sometimes both," thought Randall, remembering one boy in a previous voyage[71] who had languished and died under the cruel treatment he experienced on board.
"Does the boy know he is to go with us?" inquired the captain.
"Bless you, no; not he! He'd make a fuss if he did."
"How do you intend to get him on board, then?"
"I shall invite him to come and see the vessel, and when he is down below I can take care that he stays there till we are fairly at sea."
"A good plan. What is the youngster's name, Mr. Randall?"
"Jack Randall; named after me."
"Humph! hope he'll do credit to the name," said the captain, grimly. "I leave in your hands all the steps necessary to securing him. Remember, if you please, that we shall sail at three."
"I will be on board before that time, sir, and bring my nephew with me."
"Very well, sir."
Of course the reader has conjectured that the Jack Randall, the mate's nephew, spoken[72] of above, is no other than our young hero, Charlie Codman.
Poor boy! little does he dream of the plot that is being formed against him.