CHAPTER I
A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND
"Now, look here, Nathaniel--"
"Drop that, Curtis, you know very well that I won't have it. I can'thelp having such a beast of a name, and why it was given me I have neverbeen able to make out, and if I had been consulted in the matter all thegodfathers and godmothers in the world wouldn't have persuaded me totake such a name. Nat I don't mind. I don't say that it is a name that Ishould choose; still, I can put up with that, but the other I won'thave. You have only just joined the ship, but if you ask the others theywill tell you that I have had at least half a dozen fights over thename, and it is an understood thing here that if anyone wants a row withme he has only got to call me Nathaniel, and there is no occasion forany more words after that."
The speaker was a pleasant-faced lad, between fifteen and sixteen, andhis words were half in jest half in earnest. He was a general favouriteamong his mess-mates on board H. M. frigate _Orpheus_. He was full oflife and fun, exceptionally good-tempered, and able to stand any amountof chaff and joking, and it was understood by his comrades that therewas but one point that it was unsafe to touch on, and that sore pointwas his name. It had been the choice of his godmother, a maiden aunt,who had in her earlier days had a disappointment. Nat had once closelyquestioned his father as to how he came by his name, and the latter hadreplied testily:
"Well, my boy, your Aunt Eliza, who is, you know, a very good woman--noone can doubt that--had a weakness. I never myself got at the rights ofthe matter. Anyhow, his name was Nathaniel. I don't think there was everany formal engagement between them. Her own idea is that he loved her,but that his parents forbade him to think of her; for that was at a timebefore her Aunt Lydia left all her money to her. Anyhow, he went abroad,and I don't think she ever heard of him again. I am inclined to think itwas an entire mistake on her part, and that the young fellow had neverhad the slightest fancy for her. However, that was the one romance ofher life, and she has clung to it like a limpet to a rock. At any ratewhen we asked her to be your godmother she said she would be so if wewould give you the name of Nathaniel. I own it is not a name that I likemyself; but when we raised an objection, she said that the name was verydear to her, and that if you took it she would certainly make you herheir, and more than hinted that if you had any other name she wouldleave her money to charitable purposes. Well, you see, as she is worththirty thousand pounds if she is worth a penny, your mother and I boththought it would be folly to allow the money to go out of the family forthe sake of a name, which after all is not such a bad name."
"I think it beastly, father, in the first place because it is long."
"Well, my boy, if you like we can shorten it to Nathan."
"Oh, that would be a hundred times worse! Nathan indeed! Nat is not sobad. If I had been christened Nat I should not have particularly mindedit. Why did you not propose that to aunt?"
His father shook his head. "That would never have done. To her he wasalways Nathaniel. Possibly if they had been married it might some dayhave become Nat, but, you see, it never got to that."
"Well, of course, father," the boy said with a sigh, "as the thing isdone it cannot be helped. And I don't say that aunt isn't a goodsort--first-rate in some things, for she has always tipped me wellwhenever she came here, and she says she is going to allow me fiftypounds a year directly I get my appointment as midshipman; but it iscertainly hard on me that she could not have fallen in love with someman with a decent name. Nathaniel is always getting me into rows. Why,the first two or three years I went to school I should say that I had afight over it once a month. Of course I have not had one lately, forsince I licked Smith major fellows are more careful. I expect it will bejust as bad in the navy."
So when he first joined Nat had found it, but now that he was nearlysixteen, and very strong and active, and with the experience of manypast combats, the name Nathaniel had been dropped. It was six monthssince the obnoxious Christian name had been used, as it was now by ayoung fellow of seventeen who had been transferred to the _Orpheus_ whenthe frigate to which he belonged was ordered home. He was tall andlanky, very particular about his dress, spoke in a drawling superciliousway, and had the knack of saying unpleasant things with an air ofinnocence. Supposing that Glover's name must be Nathaniel, he hadthought it smart so to address him, but although he guessed that itmight irritate him, he was unprepared for an explosion on the part of alad who was proverbially good-tempered.
"Dear me," he said, in assumed surprise, "I had no idea that youobjected so much to be called by your proper name! However, I will, ofcourse, in future use the abbreviation."
"You had better call me Glover," Nat replied sharply. "My friends cancall me Nat, but to other people I am Glover, and if you call me out ofthat name there will be squalls; so I warn you."
Curtis thought it was well not to pursue the subject further. He was nocoward, but he had the sense to see that as Nat was a favourite with theothers, while he was a new-comer, a fight, even if he were the victor,would not conduce to his popularity among his mess-mates. The presidentof the mess, a master's mate, a good-tempered fellow, who hatedquarrels, broke what would have been an awkward silence by saying:
"We seem to be out of luck altogether this trip; we have been out threeweeks and not fired a shot. It is especially hard, for we caught sightof that brigantine we have been in search of, and should have had her ifshe hadn't run into that channel where there was not water enough for usto follow her."
"Yes, that was rough upon us, and one hates to go back to Port Royalwithout a prize, after having taken so many that we have come to beconsidered the luckiest ship on the station," another said. "Still, thecruise is not over yet. I suppose by the way we are laying our course,Marston, we are going into Cape Francois?"
The mate nodded. "Yes; we want fresh meat, fruit, and water, and it isabout the pleasantest place among these islands. I have no doubt, too,that the captain hopes to get some news that may help him to find outwhere those piratical craft that are doing so much mischief have theirrendezvous. They are all so fast that unless in a strong breeze afrigate has no chance whatever of overhauling them; there is no doubtthat they are all of Spanish build, and in a light breeze they saillike witches. I believe our only chance of catching them is in findingthem at their head-quarters, wherever that may be, or by coming uponthem in a calm in a bay. In that case it would be a boat affair; and apretty sharp one I should think, for they all carry very strong crewsand are heavily armed, and as the scoundrels know that they fight withropes round their necks they would be awkward customers to tackle."
"Yes, if we happened to find them all together, I don't think thecaptain would risk sending in the boats. One at a time we could manage,but with three of them mounting about fifty guns between them, andcarrying, I should say, from two hundred to two hundred and fifty men,the odds would be very great, and the loss, even if we captured them, soheavy that I hardly think the captain would be justified in attemptingit. I should say that he would be more likely to get out all the boatsand tow the frigate into easy range. She would give a good account ofthe whole of them."
"Yes, there is no doubt about that; but even then we should only succeedif the bay was a very narrow one, for otherwise their boats wouldcertainly tow them faster than we could take the frigate along."
It was Glover who spoke last.
"I don't think myself that we shall ever catch them in the frigate. Itseems to me that the only chance will be to get hold of an oldmerchantman, put a strong crew on board and a dozen of our guns, andcruise about until one of them gets a sight of us and comes skimmingalong to capture us."
"Yes, that would be a good plan; but it has been tried several timeswith success, and I fancy the pirates would not fall into the trap.Besides, there is very little doubt that they have friends at all theseports, and get early information of any movements of our ships, andwould hear of what we were doing long before the disguised ship camenear them. It can hardly be chance, that it matters not which
way wecruise these fellows begin their work in another direction altogether.Now that we are here in this great bay, they are probably cruising offthe west of Cuba or down by Porto Rico or the Windward Islands. That isthe advantage that three or four craft working together have: they areable to keep spies in every port that our ships of war are likely to gointo, while a single vessel cannot afford such expenses."
"I don't think that the expenses, Low, would be heavy; the negroes woulddo it for next to nothing, and so would the mulattoes, simply becausethey hate the whites. I don't mean the best of the mulattoes, becausemany of them are gentlemen and good fellows; but the lower class areworse than the negroes, they are up to any devilment, and will doanything they can to injure a white man."
"Poor beggars, one can hardly blame them; they are neither one thing northe other! These old French planters are as aristocratic as theirnoblesse at home, and indeed many of them belong to noble families. Eventhe meanest white--and they are pretty mean some of them--looks downupon a mulatto, although the latter may have been educated in France andown great plantations. The negroes don't like them because of theirstrain of white blood. They are treated as if they were pariahs. Theirchildren may not go to school with the whites, they themselves may notsit down in a theatre or kneel at church next to them, they may not usethe same restaurants or hotels. No wonder they are discontented."
"It is hard on them," Glover said, "but one can't be surprised that thewhites do fight shy of them. Great numbers of them are brutes and nomistake, ready for any crime and up to any wickedness. There is lots ofgood in the niggers; they are merry fellows; and I must say for theseold French planters they use their slaves a great deal better than theyare as a rule treated by our planters in Jamaica. Of course there arebad masters everywhere, but if I were a slave I would certainly ratherbe under a French master than an English one, or, from what I haveheard, than an American."
"Very well, Glover, I will make a note of that, and if you evermisbehave yourself and we have to sell you, I will drop a line to thefirst luff how your preference lies."
Early the next morning the frigate dropped anchor at Cape Francois, thelargest and most important town in the island, with the exception of thecapital of the Spanish portion of San Domingo. The _Orpheus_ carried sixmidshipmen. Four of these had been ashore when on the previous occasionthe _Orpheus_ had entered the port. Nat Glover and Curtis were theexceptions, Curtis having at that time belonged to the frigate for but avery few weeks, and Nat having been in the first lieutenant's bad books,owing to a scrape into which he had got at the last port they hadtouched at. After breakfast they went up together to the firstlieutenant, whose name was Hill.
"Please, sir, if we are not wanted, can we have leave for the day?"
The lieutenant hesitated, and then said:
"Yes, I think the other four will be enough for the boats. You did notgo ashore last time you were here, I think, Mr. Glover," he added with aslight smile.
"No, sir."
"Very well, then, you can go, but don't get into any scrape."
"I will try not to, sir," Nat said demurely.
"Well, I hope your trial will be successful, Mr. Glover, for if not, Ican tell you that it will be a long time before you have leave again.These people don't understand that sort of thing."
"He is a nice lad," Mr. Hill said to the second lieutenant as the twomidshipmen walked away, "and when he has worked off those animal spiritsof his he will make a capital officer, but at present he is one of themost mischievous young monkeys I ever came across."
"He does not let them interfere with his duty," the other said. "He isthe smartest of our mids; he is well up in navigation, and has anyamount of pluck. You remember how he jumped overboard in Port Royal whena marine fell into the water, although the harbour was swarming withsharks. It was a near touch. Luckily we threw a bowline to him, and thetwo were hauled up together. A few seconds more and it would have beentoo late, for there was a shark within twenty feet of them."
"Yes, there is no doubt about his pluck, Playford, and indeed I partlyowe my life to him. When we captured that piratical brigantine nearSanta Lucia I boarded by the stern, and she had such a strong crew thatwe were being beaten back, and things looked very bad until he with thegig's crew swarmed in over the bow. Even then it was a very toughstruggle till they cut their way through the pirates and joined us, andwe went at them together, and that youngster fought like a young fiend.He was in the thick of it everywhere, and yet he was as cool as acucumber. Oh yes, he has the making of a very fine officer. Although Iam obliged to be sharp with him, there is not a shadow of harm in thelad, but he certainly has a genius for getting into scrapes."
The two midshipmen went ashore together. "I don't know what you aregoing to do, Curtis, but after I have walked through the place and had alook at it, I shall hire a horse and ride out into the country."
"It is too hot for riding," the other said. "Of course I shall see whatthere is to be seen, and then I shall look for a seat in some place inthe shade and eat fruit."
"Well, we may as well walk through the town together," Nat saidcheerfully. "From the look of the place I should fancy there was notmuch in it, and I know the fellows who went on shore before said thatthe town contained nothing but native huts, a few churches, and two orthree dozen old French houses."
Half an hour indeed sufficed to explore the place. When they separatedNat had no difficulty in hiring a horse. He had been accustomed, when inEngland, to ride a pony, and was therefore at home in the saddle; heproceeded at a leisurely pace along the road across the flat plain thatsurrounded Cape Francois. On either side were plantations,--sugar-caneand tobacco,--and he occasionally passed the abode of some wealthyplanter, surrounded by shady trees and gardens gorgeous with tropicalplants and flowers. He was going by one of these, half a mile from thetown, when he heard a loud scream, raised evidently by a woman inextreme pain or terror. He was just opposite the entrance, and,springing from his horse, he ran in.
On the ground, twenty yards from the gate, lay a girl. A huge hound hadhold of her shoulder, and was shaking her violently. Nat drew his dirkand gave a loud shout as he rushed forward. The hound loosed his hold ofthe girl and turned to meet him, and, springing upon him with a savagegrowl, threw him to the ground. Nat drove his dirk into the animal as hefell, and threw his left arm across his throat to prevent the dogseizing him there. A moment later the hound had seized it with a gripthat extracted a shout of pain from the midshipman. As he again buriedhis dirk in the hound's side, the dog shifted his hold from Nat'sforearm to his shoulder and shook him as if he had been a child.
Nat made no effort to free himself, for he knew that were he to uncoverhis throat for a moment the dog would seize him there. Though the painwas terrible he continued to deal stroke after stroke to the dog. One ofthese blows must have reached the heart, for suddenly its hold relaxedand it rolled over, just as half a dozen negroes armed with sticks camerushing out of the house. Nat tried to raise himself on his right arm,but the pain of the left was so great that he leant back againhalf-fainting. Presently he felt himself being lifted up and carriedalong; he heard a lady's voice giving directions, and then for a time heknew no more. When he came to himself he saw the ship's doctor leaningover him.
"What is the matter, doctor?" he asked.
"You are badly hurt, lad, and must lie perfectly quiet. Luckily themessenger who was sent to fetch a doctor, seeing Mr. Curtis and mewalking up the street, ran up to us and said that a young officer of ourship was hurt, and that he was sent in to fetch a doctor. He had, infact, already seen one, and was in the act of returning with him when hemet us. Of course I introduced myself to the French doctor as we camealong together, for we fortunately got hold of a trap directly, so thatno time was lost. The black boy who brought the message told me that youand a young lady had been bitten by a great hound belonging to hismaster, and that you had killed it. Now, my lad, I am going to cut offyour coat and look at your wounds. The Frenchman is attending to theyoung
lady."
"Mind how you touch my arm, doctor! it is broken somewhere between theelbow and the wrist; I heard it snap when the brute seized me. It threwme down, and I put my arm across over my throat, so as to prevent itfrom getting at that. It would have been all up with me if it hadgripped me there."
"That it would, Glover. I saw the dog lying on the grass as I came in.It is a big bloodhound; and your presence of mind undoubtedly saved yourlife."
By this time he had cut the jacket and shirt up to the neck. Nat saw hislips tighten as he caught sight of the wound on the shoulder.
"It is a bad bite, eh, doctor?"
"Yes, it has mangled the flesh badly. The dog seems to have shifted hishold several times."
"Yes, doctor, each time I stabbed him he gave a sort of start, and thencaught hold again and shook me furiously. After the first bite I did notseem to feel any pain. I suppose the limb was numbed."
"Very likely, lad. Now I must first of all see what damage was done tothe forearm. I am afraid I shall hurt you, but I will be as gentle as Ican."
Nat clenched his teeth and pressed his lips tightly together. Not asound was heard as the examination was being made, although the sweatthat started out on his forehead showed how intense was the pain.
"Both bones are broken," the surgeon said to his French colleague, whohad just entered the room and came up to the bedside. "The first thingto do is to extemporize some splints, and of course we shall want somestuff for bandages."
"I will get them made at once," the doctor replied. "Madame Demaine saidthat she put the whole house at my disposal."
He went out, and in a few minutes returned with some thin slips of woodeighteen inches long and a number of strips of sheeting sewn together.
"It is very fortunate," the surgeon said, "that the ends of the bonehave kept pretty fairly in their places instead of working through theflesh, which they might very well have done."
Very carefully the two surgeons bandaged the arm from the elbow to thefinger-tips.
"Now for the shoulder," the doctor said.
They first sponged the wounds and then began feeling the bones again,giving exquisite pain to Nat. Then they drew apart and consulted for twoor three minutes.
"This is a much worse business than the other," Dr. Bemish said when hereturned to the bedside; "the arm is broken near the shoulder, thecollar-bone is broken too, and the flesh is almost in a pulp."
"Don't say I must lose the arm, doctor," Nat said.
"Well, I hope not, Glover, but I can't say for certain. You see I amspeaking frankly to you, for I know that you have pluck. The injury tothe collar-bone is not in itself serious, but the other is a comminutedfracture."
"What is comminuted, doctor?"
"It means that the bone is splintered, lad. Still, there is no reasonwhy it should not heal again; you have a strong constitution, and Natureworks wonders."
For the next half-hour the two surgeons were at work picking out thefragments of bone, getting the ends together, and bandaging the arm andshoulder. Nat fainted under the pain within the first few minutes, anddid not recover until the surgeons had completed their work. Then hislips were wetted with brandy and a few drops of brandy and water werepoured down his throat. In a minute or two he opened his eyes.
"It is all over now, lad." He lay for sometime without speaking, andthen whispered, "How is the girl?"
"Her shoulder is broken," Dr. Bemish replied. "I have not seen her; butthe doctor says that it is a comparatively simple case."
"How was it the dog came to bite her?"
"She was a stranger to it. She is not the daughter of your hostess. Itseems her father's plantation is some twelve miles away; he drove her inand left her here with Madame Demaine, who is his sister, while he wentinto town on business. Madame's own daughter was away, and the girlsauntered down into the garden, when the hound, not knowing her, sprangupon her, and I have not the least doubt would have killed her had younot arrived."
"Are you going to take me on board, doctor?"
"Not at present, Glover; you need absolute quiet, and if the frigate gotinto a heavy sea it might undo all our work, and in that case therewould be little hope of saving your arm. Madame Demaine told the Frenchdoctor that she would nurse you as if you were her own child, and thateverything was to be done to make you comfortable. The house is cool,and your wound will have a much better chance of getting well here thanin our sick-bay. She wanted to come in to thank you, but I said that,now we had dressed your arm, it was better that you should have nothingto disturb or excite you. When the girl's father returns--and I have nodoubt he will do so soon, for as yet, though half-a-dozen boys have beensent down to the town, they have not been able to find him--he must onno account come in to see you at present. Here is a tumbler of freshlime-juice and water. Doctor Lepel will remain here all night and seethat you have everything that you require."
The tumbler was held to Nat's lips, and he drained it to the bottom. Thedrink was iced, and seemed to him the most delicious that he had evertasted.
"I shall come ashore again to see you in the morning. Dr. Lepel will goback with me now, and make up a soothing draught for you both. Rememberthat above all things it is essential for you to lie quiet. He will putbandages round your body, and fasten the ends to the bedstead so as toprevent you from turning in your sleep."
"All right, sir; I can assure you that I have no intention of moving. Myarm does not hurt me much now, and I would not set it off aching againfor any money."
"It is a rum thing," Nat thought to himself, "that I should always begetting into some scrape or other when I go ashore. This is the worst ofall by a long way."
A negro girl presently came in noiselessly and placed a small table onthe right-hand side of the bed. She then brought in a large jug of thesame drink that Nat had before taken, and some oranges and limes bothpeeled and cut up into small pieces.
"It is lucky it was not the right arm," Nat said to himself. "I supposeone can do without the left pretty well when one gets accustomed to it,though it would be rather awkward going aloft."
In an hour Dr. Lepel returned, and gave him the draught.
"Now try and go to sleep," he said in broken English. "I shall lie downon that sofa, and if you wake up be sure and call me. I am a lightsleeper."
"Had you not better stay with the young lady?"
"She will have her mother and her aunt with her, so she will do verywell. I hope that you will soon go to sleep."
It was but a few minutes before Nat dozed off. Beyond a numbed feelinghis arm was not hurting him very much. Once or twice during the night hewoke and took a drink. A slight stir in the room aroused him, and to hissurprise he found that the sun was already up. The doctor was feelinghis pulse, a negro girl was fanning him, and a lady stood at the foot ofthe bed looking at him pitifully.
"Do you speak French, monsieur?" she asked.
"A little," he replied, for he had learned French while at school, andsince the frigate had been among the West Indian islands he had studiedit for a couple of hours a day, as it was the language that was spokenin all the French islands and might be useful to him if put in charge ofa prize.
"Have you slept well?" she asked.
"Very well."
"Does your arm hurt you very much now?"
"It hurts a bit, ma'am, but nothing to make any fuss about."
"You must ask for anything that you want," she said. "I have told offtwo of my negro girls to wait upon you. Of course they both speakFrench."
Half an hour later Dr. Bemish arrived.
"You are going on very well, Glover," he said after feeling the lad'spulse and putting his hand on his forehead. "At present you have nofever. You cannot expect to get through without some, but I hardlyexpected to find you so comfortable this morning. The captain told me tosay that he would come and see you to-day, and I can assure you thatthere is not one among your mess-mates who is not deeply sorry at whathas happened, although they all feel proud of your pluck in fi
ghtingthat great hound with nothing but a dirk."
"They are useless sort of things, doctor, and I cannot think why theygive them to us; but it was a far better weapon yesterday than a swordwould have been."
"Yes, it was. The room is nice and cool, isn't it?"
"Wonderfully cool, sir. I was wondering about it before you came in, forit is a great deal cooler than it is on board."
"There are four great pans full of ice in the room, and they have got upmatting before each of the windows, and are keeping it soaked withwater."
"That is very good of them, doctor. Please thank Madame Demaine for me.She was in here this morning--at least I suppose it was she--and shedid not bother me with thanks, which was a great comfort. You are notgoing to take these bandages off and put them on again, I hope?"
"Oh, no. We may loosen them a little when inflammation sets in, which itis sure to do sooner or later."
Captain Crosbie came to see Nat that afternoon.
"Well, my lad," he said cheerfully, "I see that you have fallen intogood hands, and I am sure that everything that is possible will be donefor you. I was talking to the girl's mother and aunt before I came in.Their gratitude to you is quite touching, and they are lamenting thatDr. Bemish has given the strictest orders that they are not to sayanything more about it. And now I must not stay and talk; the doctorgave me only two minutes to be in the room with you. I don't knowwhether the frigate is likely to put in here again soon, but I will takecare to let you know from time to time what we are doing and where weare likely to be, so that you can rejoin when the doctor here gives youleave; but mind, you are not to dream of attempting it until he does so,and you must be a discontented spirit indeed if you are not willing tostay for a time in such surroundings. Good-bye, lad! I sincerely trustthat it will not be very long before you rejoin us, and I can assure youof a hearty welcome from officers and men."
Three days later, fever set in, but, thanks to the coolness of the roomand to the bandages being constantly moistened with iced water, itpassed away in the course of a week. For two or three days Nat waslight-headed, but he woke one morning feeling strangely weak. It wassome minutes before he could remember where he was or how he had gotthere, but a sharp twinge in his arm brought the facts home to him.
"Thank God that you are better, my brave boy," a voice said in French,as a cool hand was placed on his forehead; and turning his head Nat sawa lady standing by his bedside. She was not the one whom he had seenbefore; tears were streaming down her cheeks, and, evidently unable tospeak, she hurried from the room, and a minute later Doctor Lepelentered.
"Madame Duchesne has given me the good news that you are better," hesaid. "I had just driven up to the door when she ran down."
"Have I been very bad, doctor?"
"Well, you have been pretty bad, my lad, and have been light-headed forthe past three or four days, and I did not for a moment expect that youwould come round so soon. You must have a magnificent constitution, formost men, even if they recovered at all from such terrible wounds as youhave had, would probably have been three or four times as long beforethe fever had run its course."
"And how is the young lady?"
"She is going on well, and I intended to give permission for her to becarried home in a hammock to-day, but when I spoke of it yesterday toher mother, she said that nothing would induce her to go until you wereout of danger. She or Madame Demaine have not left your bedside for thepast week, and next to your own good constitution you owe your rapidrecovery to their care. I have no doubt that she will go home now, andyou are to be moved to Monsieur Duchesne's house as soon as you arestrong enough. It lies up among the hills, and the change and cooler airwill do you good."
"I have not felt it hot here, doctor, thanks to the care that they havetaken in keeping the room cool. I hope now that there is no fear of mylosing my arm?"
"No; I think that I can promise you that. In a day or two I shallre-bandage it, and I shall then be able to see how the wounds aregetting on; but there can be no doubt that they are doing well, or youwould never have shaken off the fever so soon as you have done."
"Of course the _Orpheus_ has sailed, doctor?"
"Yes. She put to sea a week ago. I have a letter here that the captaingave me to hand to you when you were fit to read it. I should not openit now if I were you. You are very weak, and sleep is the best medicinefor you. Now, drink a little of this fresh lime-juice. I have no doubtthat you will doze off again."
Almost before the door closed on the doctor Nat was asleep. A fortnightlater he was able to get up and sit in an easy-chair.
"How long shall I have to keep these bandages on, doctor?"
"I should say in another fortnight or so you might take them off theforearm, for the bones seem to have knit there, but it would be betterthat you should wear them for another month or six weeks. There wouldindeed be no use in taking them off earlier, for the bandages on theshoulder and the fracture below it cannot be removed for some time, andyou will have to carry your arm in a sling for another three months. Ido not mean that you may not move your arm before that, indeed it isdesirable that you should do so, but the action must be quiet andsimple, and done methodically, and the sling will be necessary at othertimes to prevent sudden jerks."
"But I shall be able to go away and join my ship before that, surely?"
"Yes, if the arm goes on as well as at present you may be able to do soin a month's time; only you will have to be very careful. You mustremember that a fall, or even a lurch against the rail, or a slip ingoing down below, or anything of that kind, might very well undo ourwork, for it must be some time before the newly-formed bone is as strongas the old. As I told you the other day, your arm will be some twoinches shorter than it was."
"That won't matter a rap," Nat said.
That afternoon Nat had to submit to what he had dreaded. The doctor hadpronounced that he was now quite convalescent, and that there was nofear whatever of a relapse, and Monsieur and Madame Duchesne thereforecame over to see him. He had seen the latter but once, and then only fora minute, for she found herself unable to observe the condition on whichalone the doctor had allowed her to enter, namely, to repress allemotion. Madame Demaine came in with them. Since her niece had beentaken away, she had spent much of her time in Nat's room, talkingquietly to him about his English home or his ship, and sometimes readingaloud to him, but studiously avoiding any allusion to the accident.Monsieur Duchesne was a man of some thirty-five years of age, his wifewas about five years younger, and they were an exceptionally handsomecouple of the best French type. Madame Duchesne pressed forward beforethe others, and to Nat's embarrassment bent over him and kissed him.
"You cannot tell how we have longed for this time to come," she said."It seemed so cold and ungrateful that for a whole month we should havesaid no word of thanks to you for saving our darling's life, but thedoctor would not allow it. He said that the smallest excitement mightbring on the fever again, so we have been obliged to abstain. Now he hasgiven us leave to come, and now we have come, what can we say to you?Ah, monsieur, it was our only child that you saved, the joy of ourlives! Think of the grief into which we should have been plunged by herloss, and you can then imagine the depth of our gratitude to you."
While she was speaking her husband had taken Nat's right hand andpressed it silently. There were tears in his eyes, and his lips quiveredwith emotion.
"Pray do not say anything more about it, madam," Nat said. "Of course Iam very glad to have saved your daughter's life, but anyone else wouldhave done the same. You don't suppose that anyone could stand by and seea girl mauled by a dog without rushing forward to save her, even if hehad had no arm of any kind, while I had my dirk, which was about as gooda weapon for that sort of thing as one could want. Why, Harpur, ouryoungest middy, who is only fourteen, would have done it. Of course Ihave had a good deal of pain, but I would have borne twice as much forthe sake of the pleasure I feel in having saved your daughter's life,and I am sure that I have had a very n
ice time of it since I have begunto get better. Madame Demaine has been awfully good to me. If she hadbeen my own mother she could not have been kinder. I felt quite ashamedof being so much trouble to her, and of being fanned and petted as if Ihad been a sick girl. And how is your daughter getting on? The doctorgave me a very good account of her, but you know one can't always quitebelieve doctors; they like to say pleasant things to you so as not toupset you."
"She is getting on very well indeed. Of course she has her arm in asling still, but she is going about the house, and is quite merry andbright again. She wanted to come over with us to-day, but Dr. Lepelwould not have it. He said that a sudden jolt over a stone might do agood deal of mischief. However, it will not be long before she sees you,for we have got leave to have you carried over early next week."