CHAPTER XX
ABOARD THE YACHT "HALLENA"
Before leaving Paris Colonel Harris was solicitous that his son Alfonsoshould accompany him to Rome, and Leo urged the artistic advantage of atrip to Italy, but Alfonso had attractions in Holland of which the fatherknew not. Leo, of course, had his suspicion, but did not wish to betrayhis friend, and so Alfonso returned to the Netherlands ostensibly tostudy art.
Before leaving New York it was frequently stated by Leo that when hereached Rome he hoped to be able to even up favors with Alfonso by aseries of visits among his relatives, the famous Colonna family. WhileLeo regretted seriously to lose this opportunity, he was quick to seethat the change of plans would leave him much in Lucille's company, thething that gave him most pleasure. Lucille before leaving Harrisville hada severe attack of the grip, and Mrs. Harris hoped the journey abroadwould prove beneficial to her health.
The ocean voyage had brought the roses back to her cheeks, but therailway trips, the over-work of sight-seeing, and especially theexcitement of the Paris wedding, had renewed frequent complaints of heartdifficulty, and at night Lucille was restless and failed to securesatisfactory sleep. Of course the mother was anxious, and was glad whenthe express arrived at Nice, on the Mediterranean. Fortunately this wasnot the fashionable season, so quiet quarters were secured overlookingthe terraced promenade, the small harbor open to the southeast, and thesmooth sea beyond. Here Mrs. Harris hoped that her daughter wouldspeedily recover her health.
Nice is charmingly situated in a small plain near the French frontier atthe foot of the triple-ridged mountains, which shelter the city on thenorth and east against northern winds, while the river Paglion boundsNice on the west. Far beyond stretch the snow-clad peaks of the MaritimeAlps.
In the cold season thousands of foreigners, especially the English, visitthis winter paradise. On the high background are Roman ruins and an oldcastle enclosed by bastioned walls; leading to two squares, one of whichis surrounded with porticoes, are streets embellished with theater,public library, baths, and handsome homes that are frescoed externally.In Nice the patriot Garibaldi first saw the light, and just above thetown on a sunny hillside lies buried the illustrious Gambetta.
Lucille was soon able to sit on the portico and watch the vessels in theharbor come and go, also parties of excursionists in pleasure boats, andwell dressed people in the shade of the great palms on the adjacentpromenade. Thus hours went pleasantly by while Leo often playeddelightfully on his guitar.
Few if any places in the world are like the Riviera where in wintermonths royalty and aristocracy gather. Here come the gay world of fashionand the delicate in health to beg of death a respite of a few more days.The physician in attendance upon Lucille advised much outdoor air, andfrequent coach rides along the shore were taken to Cannes, to Monaco, andMentone.
In the seaport town of Cannes, a bright gem set in groves of olives andoranges, Napoleon landed from Elba on the first of March, 1815. Thetri-color of France was again thrown to the breeze, and en route to ParisNapoleon received on every hand the renewed allegiance of officers andgarrisons. The French were wild with excitement, but Europe was filledwith amazement. Again France was conquered without the shedding of blood,a victory unparalleled in history.
Lucille particularly enjoyed the ride of eight miles east along thepeaceful Mediterranean, also the visit to Monaco, capital of theprincipality of its own name, with an area of about 34,000 acres. Monacois beautifully situated on a promontory in the sea, and has an attractivepalace and cultivated terraces. The ruling prince resides here six monthsand at Paris the other six months.
Monte Carlo is a veritable bit of paradise so far as nature and art canwork wonders. Around this famous gambling resort grow aloes, orangetrees, and tufted palms. Within the handsome casino weak humanity of allnationalities is allured by glittering promises of wealth. No wondera dozen or more suicides occur every month.
It was three o'clock on the sixth day of the stay at Nice, when ColonelHarris sitting on the porch of the hotel and using a marine glass,discovered to the southwest a tiny craft rapidly approaching Nice. Forthree days he had been anxiously watching and waiting for the arrival ofthe "Hallena," built at Harrisville for the son of his special friend Mr.Harry Hall.
Before leaving Paris, Harry Hall Jr. had invited the colonel's family tocoast along the Mediterranean in his new yacht. It was arranged that the"Hallena" should touch at Nice and take aboard the colonel's family.Young Mr. Hall was to rejoin his yacht at Gibraltar, and doubtless he wasnow aboard.
The colonel grew nervous as he observed the approach of the little boat.It had been agreed between Harris and Hall that the yacht would fly theUnion Jack at the bow, the national banner at the flag-staff, and astreamer bearing the yacht's name at the mast-head.
As the colonel again wiped the dust from his glasses, Lucille said,"Father, please let me try the glass, perhaps my eyes are better." WhileLucille eagerly looked toward the yacht, Leo watched every motion, as themention of young Hall's name in connection with his great wealth hadawakened jealousy in his heart.
Suddenly Lucille shouted, "There she is! I can see the stars and stripes;how welcome is the dear old flag, we see it abroad so rarely!"
"Hasten, Leo," said the colonel, "and ask the hotel proprietor to raisethe stars and stripes over his hotel."
Colonel Harris had promised Mr. Hall to do this, and so advise him wherethe Harris family were stopping. No sooner was the red, white, and bluegiven to the breeze above the hotel, than a puff of white smoke was seenon the yacht, and then came the report of a gun in response to Harris'sflag signal. Bills were paid at once, and the Harrises took carriage downto the landing. As the "Hallena" glided in between the piers, she was asgraceful as a swan, or as Leo expressed it, "as pretty as a pirate."
Harris himself when at home saw the yacht launched, and he was as proudof her behavior then as were the officers of the Harrisville ShipBuilding Company.
The yacht had now approached so near that Colonel Harris and Harry Hallsaluted each other, and in five minutes the Harris and Hall parties wereexchanging cordial greetings on the deck of the "Hallena." "CaptainHall," as Harry was known at sea, was very cordial to all. Colonel Harriswas glad again to meet some of his old Harrisville business friends.
Luke Henley and wife were of the Hall party. He was stout, resolute, andambitious; his wife womanly and well dressed. Henley early learned thatmoney was power. Combining what he fell heir to with his wife's fortune,and what he had made by bold ventures in the steel, ore, and coal trade,he was enabled to live in a fine villa, overlooking the water, and tocarry on an immense business on the inland lakes.
His business, however, was used as a cover to his real designs in life.Influential in the local politics of Harrisville he had experienced thekeen pleasure of wielding the silver sceptre of power, and he longed notonly to be the "power behind the throne," but to sit on the throne itselfand guide the Ship of State.
Major Williams also was one of the "Hallena" party. He was young,slender, and had a cheerful smile for everybody. He had climbed to thepresidency of the Harrisville Bank which had thousands of depositors, andwhich wielded a gigantic financial power.
It was decided not to start for Genoa till the next morning. Dinner wassoon announced and Captain Hall offered his arm to Lucille, whom heplaced at his right hand, and Mrs. Harris at his left. The dinner hourand part of the evening were spent in pleasant reminiscences of whateach had seen since leaving Harrisville. The marriage of George Ingramand Gertrude was also a suggestive topic, and many agreeable things werespoken. Captain Hall was present at the Paris wedding, and it was thestately beauty of Lucille more than all else that prompted him to invitethe Harrises to take the Mediterranean cruise.
Some of the mothers of fine daughters in Harrisville had exhausted theirwits in trying to entrap Harry Hall, who was impartially attentive toall, but was never known to pay marked attention to any young lady. ThatCaptain Hall should overlook the other women o
n the yacht, and placeLucille at his right hand was so marked that Major Williams after dinner,lighting his cigar, said, "Henley, why wouldn't Harry and Lucille make agood match?" "Lucille is a beautiful girl," was all Henley said, and asthe lights of Nice disappeared, the "Hallena" party retired for thenight.
An early breakfast was ordered as everybody wished to be early on deck towitness the yacht's departure for Genoa. As the "Hallena" responded toher helm, the United States consul at Nice hoisted and lowered the flagthrice, as a _bon voyage_ to the American yacht, and the consul queriedwhether the American statesman was yet born who was wise enough tointroduce and maintain such a national policy as would multiply hiscountry's commerce and flag on the sea. Patriotic Americans stopping atMonaco also responded with flag and gun, as the "Hallena" steamed swiftlyaway.
The sun had reached the zenith, when Captain Hall sighted Genoa, and hecalled Lucille to stand with him on the bridge. "Superb Genoa! Worthybirthplace of our Columbus," said Lucille.
"Yes," said Harry, "Genoa is older than Borne; she was the rival ofVenice, and the mother of colonies."
As the "Hallena" approached this strongly fortified city of northernItaly, the capacious harbor was a forest of masts, and a crazy-quilt offoreign flags, but not one ship was flying the stars and stripes, a factwhich saddened the hearts of the tourists. The "Hallena" steamed past thelighthouse and moles that protect the harbor, and all the guests ofCaptain Hall stood on the forward deck admiring the city with itspalaces, churches, white blocks, and picturesque villas that occupy landwhich gradually rises and recedes from the bay.
On landing, the officials were very courteous, and gave Captain Hall andhis party no trouble when it was learned that that "Hallena" broughttravelers only. The Genoese are very proud of their city and its pasthistory, and they are courteous to Americans, especially so since theColumbian World's Fair.
The tourists found the streets in the older part of Genoa narrow, seldommore than ten feet wide, with lofty buildings on either side. But in thenew portions, especially on the wide Strada Nuova and the Strada Balbi,the palaces and edifices present fine architecture.
Nearly a day was spent in driving about Genoa with its flower-crownedterraces. It was after five o'clock when the party stood before the noblestatue of Columbus recently dedicated in a prominent square filled withpalms and flowering shrubs, and near the principal railway station. Herethe statue welcomes the coming and speeds the parting guest. Its designis admirable. Surmounting a short shaft is Columbus leaning upon ananchor, and pointing with his right hand to the figure of America; belowhim are discerned encircling the shaft ornaments symbolic of Columbus'slittle fleet, while other statues represent science, religion, courage,and geography; between them are scenes in bass-relief of his adventurouscareer.
Dinner was taken aboard the yacht as it steamed away from Genoa. Theflowers that Harry had bought for Lucille's stateroom she thoughtfullyplaced on the table, and with the porcelain they added artistic effect.The day's experiences were reviewed, and, as the appetizing courseswere served, the conversation drifted back to the World's Columbian Fairwhich all had attended. Many of the wonders of the "White City" wererecounted, and Henley in his off-hand manner repeated a complimentwhich was paid by a cultivated Parisian who visited the Fair. TheFrenchman said that at the last Paris Exposition, he saw immense andunsightly structures, such as one might expect to find in far-offChicago, but that at the Columbian World's Fair, he beheld buildingssuch as his own artistic Paris and France should have furnished; that theColumbian Fair was an artistic triumph that had never been paralleledexcept in the days of imperial Rome by her grand temples, palaces,arches, bridges, and statues.
"The Parisian is right, and he pays America a most deserved compliment.Never was so elegant a panorama enrolled as at Chicago," respondedColonel Harris.
"You are correct, Colonel," said Captain Hall, "the triumph of ourExposition was largely due to the masterly supervision which evokeduniformity of design and harmonious groupings by employing only thoseof our architects, sculptors, painters, and landscape gardeners, whopossessed the highest skill."
Leo ventured to add that the "White City" seemed to him dream-like andthat under the magical influence of Columbus, as patron-saint, allnationality, creed, and sex, were harmoniously blended in ideal beautyand grandeur.
Lucille, who had just sipped the last of her chocolate, also boretestimony, and Harry watched her admiringly as she said, "At times,especially in the evening, when thousands of incandescent lights outlinedthe Court of Honor with its golden Goddess of the Republic and thefacades, turrets, and domes, it seemed to some of us as if we had steppedout upon a neighboring planet, where civilization and art had beenpurified, or that the veil was lifted and we were gazing upon theglories of the New Jerusalem."
The ladies now sought the deck of the "Hallena," and were soon followedby the gentlemen, who smoked their fragrant Havanas, enjoying everymoment's vacation from business anxieties at home. The yacht, like aslender greyhound, in charge of the first officer was swiftly runningtowards the Isle of Elba, en route to Naples. The stars never shone morebrilliantly in the Italian sky, and land breezes were mingling their richodors with the salt sea air.
The spell of Columbus's great discovery stirred the soul of Harry Hall.Holding his half-smoked cigar, he repeated the familiar couplet,
"Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn."
"Strange that four centuries go by before even Genoa erects his monument,which we have admired to-day; though monuments to the memory of Columbushave been erected in many cities, yet, how tardy the world was toappreciate the value of Columbus's discovery, a third of the land of theglobe. How pitiful the last days of Columbus, who, old and ill, returningin 1504 from his fourth voyage to the new world, found his patronessIsabella dying, and Ferdinand heartless. With no money to pay his bills,Columbus died May 20th, 1505, in poor quarters at Valladolid, his lastwords being, 'Into thy hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit.' It is nownatural perhaps that many cities should claim his birth and his bones."
"Yes," said Lucille, "how encouraging some of the world's kind epitaphswould be if they were only spoken before death came. Two hemispheres noweagerly study the inspiring story of Columbus's faith, courage,perseverance, and success."
Henley said, "Captain Hall, you are young yet, but by the time you reachmy age you will have little use for the sentiment young people so oftenindulge in. When New York tries her hand with expositions she willdoubtless deal with facts. The truth is, Columbus was human like therest of us, and followed in the wake of others for his own personalaggrandizement. He was not the first man to discover America. TheNorsemen antedated him by five centuries."
"What if the Norsemen did first discover America?" said Colonel Harris."The discoveries of the vikings were not utilized by civilization. It isheld by the courts that a patent is valid only in the name of theinventor who first gives the invention a useful introduction. Columbus'sdiscovery was fortunately made at a time when civilization was able withmen and money to follow up and appropriate its advantages."
"The true discoverer of America," said Henley, "I believe to be JeanCousin, a sea captain of Dieppe, France, who crossed the Atlantic andsailed into the Amazon River in 1488, four years before Columbus reachedSan Salvador. Then Spain, Portugal, the States of the Church, Ferdinand,Isabella, and Columbus attempted to rob Cousin of his bold adventure. Inbrief these are the facts: Jean Cousin was an able and scientificnavigator. In 1487 his skill so contributed in securing a naval victoryfor the French over the English that the reward for his personal valorwas the gift of an armed ship from the merchants of Dieppe, who expectedhim to go forth in search of new discoveries.[A]
[Footnote A: _The True Discovery of America._ Captain R.N. Gambier._Fortnightly Review_, January 1, 1894.]
"In January, 1488, Cousin sailed west out into the Atlantic, and south,for two months with Vincent Pinzon a practical sailor, second in command.He sailed up the Amazon River, secured strange
birds, feathers, spices,and unknown woods, and returned to the coast of Africa for a cargo ofivory, oil, skins, and gold dust. Pinzon quarreled with the natives,fired upon them, and seized some of their goods, so that they fled andwould not come back to him. He thus lost a valuable return cargo. AtDieppe the merchants were enraged; Pinzon was tried by court martial forimperilling the trade of Africa, and banished from French soil. Hethirsted for revenge and went back to Palos to tell his brothers Alonzoand Martin, shipowners, of the mighty Amazon; often they speculated as tothe vast lands which the Amazon drained.
"Columbus, discouraged, ridiculed, and begging his way, started out tomeet at Huelva his brother-in-law and secure promised help, so that hecould visit France. Suddenly he changed his route, stopped at the littleconvent La Rabida, met Juan Perez, who knew Queen Isabella, and Fernandezthe priest, the latter a close friend of the three Pinzon brothers.Columbus got what he wanted at court, returned to Palos, and with thePinzon brothers sailed west, with Vincent Pinzon, Cousin's shipmate, aspilot. The conclusion that Jean Cousin, and not Columbus first discoveredAmerica, seems irresistible. Pope Alexander VI., by Papal bull, hadalready divided all the new discoveries made, between Catholic Spain andPortugal. Dieppe and France were in the Pope's black books. What chanceof recognition had Cousin against Columbus, the protege of this Pope?"
"You seem to win your case," said Major Williams, "what romance inhistory will be left us? William Tell is now a myth, and Washington'slittle hatchet story is no more."
Lucille quieted Leo with a smile, cigars were thrown overboard, the lighton the Isle of Elba was visible, and all retired for the night, while thealert yacht, like a whirring night-hawk, flew on towards Naples.
On the yacht "Hallena" early to bed and early to rise was an unwrittenlaw. By six o'clock next morning, breakfast had been served, and thetourists were on deck with glasses, each anxious to discover objects ofinterest. During the night busy Leghorn on the coast, and Pisa, andFlorence up the Arno, were left behind. Leo was proud of sunny andartistic Italy and he much desired that Lucille should see at Pisa thefamous white marble leaning tower, with its beautiful spiral colonnades;its noble cathedral and baptistry, the latter famous for its wonderfulecho, and the celebrated cemetery made of earth brought from the HolyLand. At Florence she should see the stupendous Duomo, with theBrunelleschi dome that excited the emulation of Michael Angelo; thebronze gates of Ghiberti, "worthy to be the gates of paradise," and thechoice collections of art in the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi Galleryconnected by Porte Vecchio. But Leo contented himself with the thoughtthat when the yacht episode was over, and Harry Hall had passed out ofsight, he could then take Lucille over Italy to enjoy a thousand-and-oneworks of art, including masterpieces by such artists as Michael Angelo,Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Guido, and others.
Lucille had studied art in Boston, and she was fond of Leo because hepassionately loved art and could assist her. She began to comprehend whatAristotle meant when he defined art as "the reason of the thing, withoutthe matter," or Emerson, "the conscious utterance of thought, by speech,or action, to any end."