The Life of a Celebrated Buccaneer

  CHAPTER XVI.

  There was a lively discussion going on now on board the old Ship ofState about the state of things in general. As to whether trade reallywas depressed at home, and as to whether the Buccaneer's relations wereall as they should be abroad.

  The Port watch, who wanted to get charge of the old ship, swore thatthings were at sixes and sevens. Their part of the press gang took ofcourse the same view, while the Starboard watch, headed by Dogvane,declared with great zeal and certainty that things were never better.

  There was discontent even amongst the Starboard, or Dogvane's watch,some of the hands, namely, the carpenter, the butcher, and the cook,and, of course, the carpenter's mate, thinking that the old ship was outof date, and much too slow for the times. The carpenter was for alteringher, and for cutting adrift the old hulk alongside. The cook was forbreaking the old ship up, and for building an entirely new one on linesof his own. The new craft, he declared, would be a rapid sailer, veryeasily managed and cheaply worked. These ideas grew and took root, andwere productive of certain fruit, as will be hereafter shown.

  When the captain of the Port watch drew the Buccaneer's attention to thegeneral, as he said, unsatisfactory state of things, old Dogvane shutone eye--not his weather one--that was always open. "It does youcredit," he said, "it does you credit; but bless you, my master isn'tgoing to be taken in, in that way. It is a trick, sir; just a partytrick," he said, turning to the Buccaneer, who with his cox'sn wasstanding on the quarter-deck, wondering, as was his custom, whom he wasto believe.

  The Port watch now began to abuse old Dogvane, and many of the longshore hands freely damned him; but quite as many blessed him, and wereready to crown him with laurels; but he was called by the Port watch adouble-dealing, sly, foxy, old fellow, who would commit any crime frompitch-and-toss to manslaughter, though not a soul had ever seen himindulging in either of these games.

  The carpenter declared that the Buccaneer's people were doing a rattlingtrade in boots, shoes, and watches, while woollen stuffs were all up.What a carpenter could know about such things it would be difficult tosay. Had it been nails, or screws, it would have been quite a differentthing; but on board the old ship a want of knowledge never kept a tonguequiet. Indeed, under the system of a square man for a round hole, howcould it be otherwise?

  There was a lengthy and animated discussion on the matter, which RandomJack, of whom mention has been made, took advantage of to scud up aloftto the look-out tub. The shaking of the rigging woke up the man on duty,who, from a matter of habit, sung out "All's well."

  Random Jack declared it was nothing of the sort, and he accused thelook-out man of being asleep. Then the middy hailed the deck. "Belowthere!" he cried, "I see clouds in the East." This was a safe thing tosay, for there were always clouds there of some sort. He added, "Dustand smoke show there is a heavy storm there. I see, too, a city inflames, and people are being massacred."

  The Buccaneer turned upon old Dogvane, the captain of the watch on duty,and asked him what all this meant. Dogvane was not in the least takenaback, no good sailor ever is, so he said, "I cannot believe, sir, thatanything is going on in the East that should not be, because we have noofficial information on the subject." It was a well known fact, that inthe Buccaneer's island, his official information was about the last thatwas ever received. People often wondered what kind of an animal carriedhis mail bags. Some said it must be a mule, or perhaps an ass.

  Dogvane, to reassure his master, hailed the mast-head, and asked thelook-out man how the old ship was heading. This was the usual way ofasking for information. The man on duty in the tub immediately placedhis official eye to the telescope, while he firmly closed the other, andanswered that the distant horizon was quite clear. Then he added, "Somepeople are so precious sharp that they stand a chance of cuttingthemselves." This sarcasm was levelled at Random Jack, but he treated itwith a contempt that was peculiar to him.

  When the little middy reached the deck he had a pretty tale to tell; butthe cook said it was a parcel of lies, that the other watch couldscarcely be believed on their oath, and this depravity very muchdistressed him; for Pepper was an upright, and an honest man. BillyCheeks said that the young Tory Bantam, as he called him, was a deal toofond of crowing, and that if he came within striking distance of his flyflapper, he would take his meals standing for some considerable time.The Ojabberaways on board were highly delighted at the prospect of arow, for nothing they liked better than a free fight, and they werealways ready to join in any devilment that would cause the old gentlemanannoyance.

  Dogvane, seeing how things were going, delivered himself of one of thosespeeches, for which he was celebrated. Having hitched up his trousersfore and aft, like the good sailor that he was, he said:

  "All this stir, sir, is about nothing. As I said before it is just atrick of the other side to shift watches. Clouds in the East? Of coursethere are. It is the very place we generally look for them. I amcreditably informed that all our relations are for the most partfriendly, and taking into consideration how interfering and meddlesomerelations usually are, this must be considered highly satisfactory. Athome the bright sun of prosperity shines over all the land, while thesongs of a contented people rise up in a grand chorus to heaven." Thecook hearing this winked at the butcher, upon whose placid featuresthere was a smile of approval and self-satisfaction; but the goodimpression left by the above beautiful language upon the mind of theBuccaneer, was slightly clouded by a parting shot on the part of thecaptain of the Port watch, who knew as well as Dogvane how to arousehis master's suspicion. It could always be done by drawing attention towhat were said to be the ambitious designs of some old rival. Then ourBuccaneer from a state of indolent indifference, would often fly to theopposite extreme and suffer something in the nature of a panic, underthe influence of which he would for the time being storm and rave. If hecould, he would make a scapegoat of some one. Perhaps he would kick hiswatch on duty over the ship's side, and think to put all things straightby lavishing his money upon every conceivable object. The fury of thestorm being over, he would again sink into his usual happy-go-luckystate, and rest quietly until some one stirred him up again. As somerusty old weathercock will not condescend to move for anything less thana gale of wind, so it took a panic to rouse up this wealthy andeasy-going old gentleman.