CHAPTER VI
WHAT BEFELL AT THE QUEEN'S FERRY
As soon as we came to the inn, Ransome led us up the stair to a smallroom, with a bed in it, and heated like an oven by a great fire of coal.At a table hard by the chimney, a tall, dark, sober-looking man satwriting. In spite of the heat of the room, he wore a thick sea-jacket,buttoned to the neck, and a tall hairy cap drawn down over his ears; yetI never saw any man, not even a judge upon the bench, look cooler, ormore studious and self-possessed, than this ship-captain.
He got to his feet at once, and coming forward, offered his large handto Ebenezer. "I am proud to see you, Mr. Balfour," said he, in a finedeep voice, "and glad that ye are here in time. The wind's fair, and thetide upon the turn; we'll see the old coal-bucket burning on the Isle ofMay before to-night."
"Captain Hoseason," returned my uncle, "you keep your room unco hot."
"It's a habit I have, Mr. Balfour," said the skipper. "I'm a cold-rifeman by my nature; I have a cold blood, sir. There's neither fur,nor flannel--no, sir, nor hot rum, will warm up what they callthe temperature. Sir, it's the same with most men that have beencarbonadoed, as they call it, in the tropic seas."
"Well, well, captain," replied my uncle, "we must all be the way we'remade."
But it chanced that this fancy of the captain's had a great share in mymisfortunes. For though I had promised myself not to let my kinsman outof sight, I was both so impatient for a nearer look of the sea, andso sickened by the closeness of the room, that when he told me to "rundown-stairs and play myself awhile," I was fool enough to take him athis word.
Away I went, therefore, leaving the two men sitting down to a bottleand a great mass of papers; and crossing the road in front of the inn,walked down upon the beach. With the wind in that quarter, only littlewavelets, not much bigger than I had seen upon a lake, beat upon theshore. But the weeds were new to me--some green, some brown and long,and some with little bladders that crackled between my fingers. Even sofar up the firth, the smell of the sea-water was exceedingly salt andstirring; the Covenant, besides, was beginning to shake out her sails,which hung upon the yards in clusters; and the spirit of all that Ibeheld put me in thoughts of far voyages and foreign places.
I looked, too, at the seamen with the skiff--big brown fellows, some inshirts, some with jackets, some with coloured handkerchiefs about theirthroats, one with a brace of pistols stuck into his pockets, two orthree with knotty bludgeons, and all with their case-knives. I passedthe time of day with one that looked less desperate than his fellows,and asked him of the sailing of the brig. He said they would get underway as soon as the ebb set, and expressed his gladness to be out ofa port where there were no taverns and fiddlers; but all with suchhorrifying oaths, that I made haste to get away from him.
This threw me back on Ransome, who seemed the least wicked of that gang,and who soon came out of the inn and ran to me, crying for a bowl ofpunch. I told him I would give him no such thing, for neither he nor Iwas of an age for such indulgences. "But a glass of ale you may have,and welcome," said I. He mopped and mowed at me, and called me names;but he was glad to get the ale, for all that; and presently we wereset down at a table in the front room of the inn, and both eating anddrinking with a good appetite.
Here it occurred to me that, as the landlord was a man of that county,I might do well to make a friend of him. I offered him a share, as wasmuch the custom in those days; but he was far too great a man to sitwith such poor customers as Ransome and myself, and he was leaving theroom, when I called him back to ask if he knew Mr. Rankeillor.
"Hoot, ay," says he, "and a very honest man. And, O, by-the-by," sayshe, "was it you that came in with Ebenezer?" And when I had told himyes, "Ye'll be no friend of his?" he asked, meaning, in the Scottishway, that I would be no relative.
I told him no, none.
"I thought not," said he, "and yet ye have a kind of gliff* of Mr.Alexander."
* Look.
I said it seemed that Ebenezer was ill-seen in the country.
"Nae doubt," said the landlord. "He's a wicked auld man, and there'smany would like to see him girning in the tow*. Jennet Clouston and monymair that he has harried out of house and hame. And yet he was ancea fine young fellow, too. But that was before the sough** gaed abroadabout Mr. Alexander, that was like the death of him."
* Rope.
** Report.
"And what was it?" I asked.
"Ou, just that he had killed him," said the landlord. "Did ye never hearthat?"
"And what would he kill him for?" said I.
"And what for, but just to get the place," said he.
"The place?" said I. "The Shaws?"
"Nae other place that I ken," said he.
"Ay, man?" said I. "Is that so? Was my--was Alexander the eldest son?"
"'Deed was he," said the landlord. "What else would he have killed himfor?"
And with that he went away, as he had been impatient to do from thebeginning.
Of course, I had guessed it a long while ago; but it is one thing toguess, another to know; and I sat stunned with my good fortune, andcould scarce grow to believe that the same poor lad who had trudged inthe dust from Ettrick Forest not two days ago, was now one of the richof the earth, and had a house and broad lands, and might mount his horsetomorrow. All these pleasant things, and a thousand others, crowded intomy mind, as I sat staring before me out of the inn window, and payingno heed to what I saw; only I remember that my eye lighted on CaptainHoseason down on the pier among his seamen, and speaking with someauthority. And presently he came marching back towards the house, withno mark of a sailor's clumsiness, but carrying his fine, tall figurewith a manly bearing, and still with the same sober, grave expression onhis face. I wondered if it was possible that Ransome's stories couldbe true, and half disbelieved them; they fitted so ill with the man'slooks. But indeed, he was neither so good as I supposed him, nor quiteso bad as Ransome did; for, in fact, he was two men, and left the betterone behind as soon as he set foot on board his vessel.
The next thing, I heard my uncle calling me, and found the pair in theroad together. It was the captain who addressed me, and that with an air(very flattering to a young lad) of grave equality.
"Sir," said he, "Mr. Balfour tells me great things of you; and for myown part, I like your looks. I wish I was for longer here, that we mightmake the better friends; but we'll make the most of what we have. Yeshall come on board my brig for half an hour, till the ebb sets, anddrink a bowl with me."
Now, I longed to see the inside of a ship more than words can tell; butI was not going to put myself in jeopardy, and I told him my uncle and Ihad an appointment with a lawyer.
"Ay, ay," said he, "he passed me word of that. But, ye see, the boat'llset ye ashore at the town pier, and that's but a penny stonecast fromRankeillor's house." And here he suddenly leaned down and whispered inmy ear: "Take care of the old tod;* he means mischief. Come aboard tillI can get a word with ye." And then, passing his arm through mine, hecontinued aloud, as he set off towards his boat: "But, come, what can Ibring ye from the Carolinas? Any friend of Mr. Balfour's can command.A roll of tobacco? Indian feather-work? a skin of a wild beast? a stonepipe? the mocking-bird that mews for all the world like a cat? thecardinal bird that is as red as blood?--take your pick and say yourpleasure."
* Fox.
By this time we were at the boat-side, and he was handing me in. I didnot dream of hanging back; I thought (the poor fool!) that I had founda good friend and helper, and I was rejoiced to see the ship. As soon aswe were all set in our places, the boat was thrust off from the pierand began to move over the waters: and what with my pleasure in this newmovement and my surprise at our low position, and the appearance of theshores, and the growing bigness of the brig as we drew near to it, Icould hardly understand what the captain said, and must have answeredhim at random.
As soon as we were alongside (where I sat fairly gaping at the ship'sheight, the strong humming of the tide
against its sides, and thepleasant cries of the seamen at their work) Hoseason, declaring that heand I must be the first aboard, ordered a tackle to be sent down fromthe main-yard. In this I was whipped into the air and set down again onthe deck, where the captain stood ready waiting for me, and instantlyslipped back his arm under mine. There I stood some while, a littledizzy with the unsteadiness of all around me, perhaps a little afraid,and yet vastly pleased with these strange sights; the captain meanwhilepointing out the strangest, and telling me their names and uses.
"But where is my uncle?" said I suddenly.
"Ay," said Hoseason, with a sudden grimness, "that's the point."
I felt I was lost. With all my strength, I plucked myself clear of himand ran to the bulwarks. Sure enough, there was the boat pulling for thetown, with my uncle sitting in the stern. I gave a piercing cry--"Help,help! Murder!"--so that both sides of the anchorage rang with it, andmy uncle turned round where he was sitting, and showed me a face full ofcruelty and terror.
It was the last I saw. Already strong hands had been plucking me backfrom the ship's side; and now a thunderbolt seemed to strike me; I saw agreat flash of fire, and fell senseless.