Authors: James Fenimore Cooper
While Marble and I were wrangling on this very point, a little
incident occurred, which led to important consequences in the
end. Hackney-coaches, or any other public conveyance, short of
post-chaises and post-horses, are not admitted into the English
parks. But glass-coaches are; meaning by this term, which is never
used in America, hired carriages that do not go on the stands. We
encountered one of these glass-coaches in a very serious
difficulty. The horses had got frightened by means of a wheelbarrow,
aided probably by some bad management of the driver, and had actually
backed the hind-wheels of the vehicle into the water of the
canal. They would have soon had the whole carriage submerged, and have
followed it themselves, had it not been for the chief-mate and
myself. I thrust the wheelbarrow under one of the forward-wheels, just
in time to prevent the final catastrophe; while Marble grasped the
spoke with his iron gripe, and, together, he and the wheelbarrow made
a resistance that counterbalanced the backward tendency of the
team. There was no footman; and, springing to the door, I aided a
sickly-looking, elderly man—a female who might very well have been
his wife, and another that I took for his daughter—to escape. By my
agency all three were put on the dry land, without even wetting their
feet, though I fared worse myself. No sooner were they safe, than
Marble, who was up to his shoulders in the water, and who had made
prodigious efforts to maintain the balance of power, released his
hold, the wheelbarrow gave way at the same moment, and the whole
affair, coach and horses, had their will, and went, stern foremost,
overboard. One of the horses was saved, I believe, and the other
drowned; but, a crowd soon collecting, I paid little attention to what
was going on in the carriage, as soon as its cargo was discharged.
The gentleman we had saved, pressed my hand with fervour, and
Marble's, too; saying that we must not quit him—that we must go home
with him. To this we consented, readily enough, thinking we might
still be of use. As we all walked towards one of the more private
entrances of the Park, I had an opportunity of observing the people we
had served. They were very respectable in appearance; but I knew
enough of the world to see that they belonged to what is called the
middle class in England. I thought the man might be a soldier; while
the two females had an air of great respectability, though not in the
least of fashion. The girl appeared to be nearly as old as myself, and
was decidedly pretty. Here, then, was an adventure! I had saved the
life of a damsel of seventeen, and had only to fall in love, to become
the hero of a romance.
At the gate, the gentleman stopped a hackney-coach, put the females
in, and desired us to follow. But to this we would not consent, both
being wet, and Marble particularly so. After a short parley, he gave
us an address in Norfolk Street, Strand; and we promised to stop there
on our way back to the ship. Instead of following the carriage,
however, we made our way on foot into the Strand, where we found an
eating-house, turned in and eat a hearty dinner each, the chief-mate
resorting to some brandy in order to prevent his taking cold. On what
principle this is done, I cannot explain, though I know it is often
practised, and in all quarters of the world.
As soon as we had dined and dried ourselves, we went into Norfolk
street. We had been told to ask for Major Merton, and this we did. The
house was one of those plain lodging-houses, of which most of that
part of the town is composed: and we found the Major and his family in
the occupation of the first floor, a mark of gentility on which some
stress is laid in England. It was plain enough, however, to see that
these people were not rolling in that splendour, of which we had just
seen so much in the Park.
"I can trace the readiness and gallantry of the English tar in your
conduct," observed the Major, after he had given us both quite as warm
a reception as circumstances required, at the same time taking out his
pocket-book, and turning over some bank-notes. "I wish, for your
sakes, I was better able than I am to reward you for what you have
done; but twenty pounds is all I can now offer. At some other time,
circumstances may place it in my power to give further and better
proofs of my gratitude."
As this was said, the Major held two ten-pound notes towards Marble,
doubtless intending that I should receive one of them, as a fair
division of the spoils. Now, according to all theory, and the
established opinion of the Christian world, America is
the
avaricious country; the land, of all others, in which men are the most
greedy of gain; in which human beings respect gold more, and
themselves less, than in any other portion of this globe. I never
dispute anything that is settled by the common consent of my
fellow-creatures, for the simple reason that I know the decision must
be against me; so I will concede that money
is
the great end of
American life—that there is little else to live for, in the great
model republic. Politics have fallen into such hands, that office will
not even give social station; the people are omnipotent, it is true;
but, though they can make a governor, they cannot make gentlemen and
ladies; even kings are sometimes puzzled to do that; literature, arms,
arts, and fame of all sorts, are unattainable in their rewards, among
us as in other nations, leaving the puissant dollar in its undisturbed
ascendency; still, as a rule, twenty Europeans can be bought with two
ten-pound Bank of England notes, much easier than two Americans. I
leave others to explain the phenomenon; I only speak of the
fact
.
Marble listened to the Major's speech with great attention and
respect, fumbling in his pocket for his tobacco-box, the whole
time. The box was opened just as the Major ended, and even I began to
be afraid that the well-known cupidity of Kennebunk was about to give
way before the temptation, and the notes were to be stowed alongside
of the tobacco but I was mistaken. Deliberately helping himself to a
quid, the chief-mate shut the box again, and then he made his reply.
"Quite ginerous in you, Major," he said, "and all ship-shape and
right. I like to see things done just in that way. Put up the money;
we thank you as much as if we could take it, and that squares all
accounts. I would just mention, however, to prevent mistakes, as the
other idee might get us impressed, that this young man and I are both
born Americans—he from up the Hudson somewhere, and I from York city,
itself, though edicated down east."
"Americans!" resumed the Major, drawing himself up a little stiffly;
"then
you
, young man," turning to me, and holding out the
notes, of which he now seemed as anxious to be rid, as I had
previously fancied he was sorry to see go—"
you
will do me the
favour to accept of this small token of my gratitude."
"It is quite impossible, sir," I answered, respectfully. "We are not
exactly what we seem, and you are probably deceived by our
roundabouts; but we are the first and second officers of a
letter-of-marque."
At the word "officers," the Major drew back his hand, and hastily
apologised. He did not understand us even then, I could plainly see;
but he had sufficient sagacity to understand that his money would not
be accepted. We were invited to sit down, and the conversation
continued.
"Master Miles, there," resumed Marble, "has an estate, a place called
Clawbonny, somewhere up the Hudson; and he has no business to be
sailing about the world in jacket and trowsers, when he ought to be
studying law, or trying his hand at college. But as the old cock
crows, the young 'un l'arns; his father was a sailor before him, and I
suppose that's the reason on't."
This announcement of my position ashore did me no harm, and I could
see a change in the deportment of the whole family—not that it had
ever treated me haughtily, or even coldly; but it now regarded me as
more on a level with itself. We remained an hour with the Mertons, and
I promised to repeat the call before we sailed. This I did a dozen
times, at least; and the Major, finding, I suppose, that he had a
tolerably well-educated youth to deal with, was of great service in
putting me in a better way of seeing London. I went to both theatres
with the family, taking care to appear in a well-made suit of London
clothes, in which I made quite as respectable a figure as most of the
young men I saw in the streets. Even Emily smiled when she first saw
me in my long-togs, and I thought she blushed. She was a pretty
creature; gentle and mild in her ordinary deportment, but full of fire
and spirit at the bottom, as I could see by her light, blue, English
eye. Then she had been well-educated; and, in my young ignorance of
life, I fancied she knew more than any girl of seventeen I had ever
met with. Grace and Lucy were both clever, and had been carefully
taught by Mr. Hardinge; but the good divine could not give two girls,
in the provincial retirement of America, the cultivation and
accomplishments that were within the reach of even moderate means in
England. To me, Emily Merton seemed a marvel in the way of
attainments; and I often felt ashamed of myself, as I sat at her side,
listening to the natural and easy manner in which she alluded to
things, of which I then heard for the first time.
"Boatswain!"
"Here, master: what cheer?"
"Good: speak to the mariners; fall to 't
Yarely, or we run ourselves aground: bestir, bestir."
Tempest.
As Captain Williams wished to show me some favour for the manner in
which I had taken care of the brig, he allowed me as much time ashore
as I asked for. I might never see London again; and, understanding I
had fallen into good company, he threw no obstacle in the way of my
profiting by it. So careful was he, indeed, as to get one of the
consul's clerks to ascertain who the Mertons were, lest I should
become the dupe of the thousands of specious rogues with which London
abounds. The report was favourable, giving us to understand that the
Major had been much employed in the West Indies, where he still held a
moderately lucrative, semi-military appointment, being then in England
to settle certain long and vexatious accounts, as well as to take
Emily, his only child, from school. He was expected to return to the
old, or some other post, in the course of a few months. A portion of
this I gleaned from Emily herself, and it was all very fairly
corroborated by the account of the consul's clerk. There was no doubt
that the Mertons were persons of respectable position; without having
any claims, however, to be placed very high. From the Major, moreover,
I learned he had some American connexions, his father having married
in Boston.
For my part, I had quite as much reason to rejoice at the chance which
threw me in the way of the Mertons, as they had. If I was instrumental
in saving their lives, as was undeniably the case, they taught me more
of the world, in the ordinary social sense of the phrase, than I had
learned in all my previous life. I make no pretensions to having seen
London society; that lay far beyond the reach of Major Merton himself,
who was born the son of a merchant, when merchants occupied a much
lower position in the English social scale than they do to-day, and
had to look to a patron for most of his own advancement. But, he was a
gentleman; maintained the notions, sentiments, and habits of the
caste; and was properly conscious of my having saved his life when it
was in great jeopardy. As for Emily Merton, she got to converse with
me with the freedom of a friend; and very pleasant it was to hear
pretty thoughts expressed in pretty language, and from pretty lips. I
could perceive that she thought me a little rustic and provincial; but
I had not been all the way to Canton to be brow-beaten by a cockney
girl, however clever and handsome. On the whole—and I say it without
vanity, at this late day—I think the impression left behind me, among
these good people, was favourable. Perhaps Clawbonny was not without
its influence; but, when I paid my last visit, even Emily looked
sorrowful, and her mother was pleased to say they should all miss me
much. The Major made me promise to hunt him up, should I ever be in
Jamaica, or Bombay; for one of which places he expected to sail
himself, with his wife and daughter, in the course of a few months. I
knew he had had one appointment, thought he might receive another, and
hoped everything would turn out for the best.
The Crisis sailed on her day; and she went to sea from the Downs, a
week later, with a smacking southerly wind. Our Philadelphians turned
out a noble set of fellows; and we had the happiness of beating an
English sloop-of-war, just as we got clear of the channel, in a fair
trial of speed. To lessen our pride a little, a two-decker that was
going to the Mediterranean, treated us exactly in the same manner,
only three days later. What made this last affair more mortifying, was
the fact that Marble had just satisfied himself, and all hands, that,
a sloop-of-war being the fastest description of vessel, and we having
got the better of one of them, it might be fairly inferred we could
outsail the whole British navy. I endeavoured to console him, by
reminding him that "the race was not always to the swift." He growled
out some sort of an answer, denouncing all sayings, and desiring to
know out of what book I had picked up that nonsense.
I have no intention of dwelling on every little incident that occurred
on the long road we were now travelling. We touched at Madeira, and
landed an English family that went there for the benefit of an
invalid; got some fruit, fresh meat and vegetables, and sailed
again. Our next stopping-place was Rio, whither we went for letters
from home, the captain being taught to expect them. The ship's letters
were received, and they were filled with eulogiums on our good
conduct, having been written after the arrival of
la Dame de
Nantes;
but great was my disappointment on finding there was not
even a scrawl for myself.