Asiatic Breezes Part 37

"Then we are not likely to use the Maud again?" asked Scott.

"Certainly not in these localities, though we may put her in the water at Bombay, Calcutta, and perhaps some other ports," replied the commander. "If anything should happen to you, or to any of your s.h.i.+p's company, I should never forgive myself."

"I don't see that she will be of any use to us hereafter," suggested the discontented young navigator.

"I advised her purchase mainly for use in the Mediterranean; and she has certainly been very useful, adding very much to the pleasure of the party."

"If you cannot use her, I should think you would sell her," added Scott.

"Of whatever service she may have been, she seems to be played out, and is of no use at all now."

"You are nearer right, Captain Scott, than perhaps you suppose; and to be candid with you, I regard the Maud as very like an elephant on our hands."

"Then I hope you will sell her," replied the young man, with something like desperation in his manner. "For my part, I am entirely willing you should do so, sir."

"It is plainly impracticable to make any use of her in the next six months, except in harbor service, and we hardly need her for that,"

continued the commander. "I know that Louis and Morris do not wish to go to sea in her again; and I suppose Felix would prefer to be where his crony is."

"Cruising in the Maud is then decidedly a thing of the past," said Scott, with a feeble attempt to laugh.

"Then, if I should find an opportunity to sell the Maud at Aden, you will not be disappointed?" asked the captain, point-blank, looking earnestly into the face of the young sailor.

"If we are not to use her as we did before"--

"That is utterly impracticable in the waters of the Indian Ocean; for the perils I have suggested, to say nothing of typhoons and hurricanes,"

interposed the commander.

"Then I shall be perfectly satisfied to have her go," answered Scott.

"In the first typhoon or hurricane, and I expect to see such, we might be obliged to cut her loose, and launch her into the boiling waters to save the s.h.i.+p; for I find that she is too great a load to carry on our promenade deck, and we have no other place for her. We have had no storm to test the matter; if we had, she might have gone before this time. I have already spoken to Uncle Moses and Mr. Woolridge about the matter, and they not only consent, but insist, that the Maud be sold."

"I have nothing more to say, Captain Ringgold," said Scott rather stiffly.

Then he told the young man about the terrors of the mothers, the grave fears of Mr. Woolridge, who was a yachtsman, and was so confident that the little steamer would have to be cast into the sea, that Scott was somewhat mollified. He had made his reputation as a sailor, a navigator, a brave fellow, on board of her, and to lose the Maud seemed like destroying the ark which had brought him out of the floods of evil, and made a man of him.

The wise commander had evidently saved him from a life of iniquity, and the little steamer had been an effective agency in his hands in doing the work. He was absolutely clear that it was not prudent for the young navigators to sail the Maud over the Indian Ocean, and his conscience would not permit it to be done. He was afraid his decision might have a bad effect upon the young man, that it might even turn him from the paths of rect.i.tude in which he had trodden for many months; but he trusted to himself and the co-operation of the other three members of the "Big Four" to save him from any such disaster.

The barge and the first cutter were manned at the gangway, and the party went on sh.o.r.e, prepared by what the commander had said to them to understand what they were to see. Captain Ringgold was obliged to visit the Pa.r.s.ee merchants, while an army officer who had been presented to them showed them about the town. They found everything they could possibly desire at the shops (not stores on British territory). Louis procured the vehicles, and they all rode out to the fortifications, where they were greatly interested, especially in the water tanks, which have a capacity of nearly eight million gallons. The officer was exceedingly polite, not alone because the reputation of the wealth of the young millionaire had gone out before him, but because this is the rule with well-bred English people.

He was re-enforced by others, and the ladies had all the beaux they could manage; and Miss Blanche could have had all of them if she had not chosen to cling to Louis Belgrave. They were all invited to dinner in the cabin of the Guardian-Mother, and Mr. Sage was informed of the fact before he returned to the s.h.i.+p.

Before noon the Maud had been sold for four times the sum she had cost, to the Pa.r.s.ees, who wanted her very badly to ply between steamers and the sh.o.r.e in prosecuting their trade. Out of the price to be received was deducted that of the four guns and a liberal supply of ammunition of all descriptions.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV

THE SUSPICIOUS WHITE STEAMER AT ADEN

Captain Ringgold had sold the little steamer for four times what she had cost the owners, but still for less than her value, for she was an exceptionally strong and handsome craft. On the other hand, he had purchased the naval material for "a mere song;" for it was not available for a man-of-war in modern times, and not of the kind used in the naval or military forces of England.

The commander had been a young naval officer from the beginning of the War of the Rebellion, and had attained the grade of lieutenant, so that he was a judge of the material he bought. He examined everything very critically before a price was named. The guns had been procured for a native East-Indian prince; but the s.h.i.+p that brought them to the sh.o.r.es of his country was not permitted to land them. He was deposed about the time, probably on account of the attempt to bring these guns into his domain.

The captain of the sailing-s.h.i.+p could not collect even his freight money, and he was forced to carry them off with him when his cargo was completed. His consignee suggested to him that the Imam, or Sultan, of Muscat would purchase his war material, and be glad to get it, and he had sailed for that port; but among the rocks at the entrance to the Persian Gulf his bark had been wrecked. The guns and ammunition were saved, for they were the captain's private venture, and he had stored them between decks.

The bottom of the bark was pounded and ground off, and the cargo in the hold was a total loss; but an English steamer had taken off the s.h.i.+p's company and the naval goods, and carried them to Aden. The unfortunate captain sold them for the most he could get to the Pa.r.s.ee merchants, who had kept them for years before they found a purchaser. They got their money back, and they were satisfied.

As soon as the commander finished his business with the merchants he hastened to join the party, who were still exploring the town. It contains about twenty thousand inhabitants, and everything was as Arabian as in the desert. He found his pa.s.sengers just starting for a ride of about five miles; and, after he had been introduced to the officers, he went with them.

"Goodness gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom, as they were getting into the carriages, "what is the matter with that man?"

"Nothing is the matter with him, madam," replied an officer, laughing at the manner of the excellent woman.

"Why, I thought he had a hornets' nest on the top of his head," she added.

"He has nothing but his hair there."

"It would be just the thing for a mop."

"That is a Soumali Indian, and you will see a plenty of them," the officer explained. "In fact, you will find every sort of people here.

These Soumalis are great dandies; for you see they dye their hair in red or yellow, and I suppose they think they are handsome. Probably you don't think so."

"I'm sure I don't. Why, the fellow has no clothes on but a sheet wrapped around him, and don't even cover his chest with that!"

"That's his fas.h.i.+on; and if you dressed him up like one of those Sepoys he would not feel easy. They have some fine horses and carriages here."

The vehicles had to stop presently when they met a caravan of camels, which had long since ceased to be a novelty to the tourists. They were driven, the officer said, by the real Bedouins of the desert, and by men of all shades of color, from jet-black to pale copper hue. The donkeys were not a strange sight; but when a couple of ostriches pa.s.sed along the street, the visitors were all eyes. They were seven feet high; and they could capture a fly, if they would take such small game, off the ceiling of a room eight feet high. They were tame, and like the monkeys, gazelles, parrots, and other birds on the verandas, were kept as pets.

There were pretty little gardens along the roads; for the volcanic soil, when dug up and fertilized, makes productive land. There were plenty of rocks; but wherever there was a cleft or a seam, there was a growth of something green. Thirty or forty miles back in the country, there are green valleys and rippling streams. Abundant crops are raised within ten miles of the town, and the garrison and the people of the town are plentifully supplied with fruit and vegetables.

The officers showed the party through the fortifications, some of which strongly reminded them of Gibraltar. Our friends were greatly pleased with Aden, and especially with the attentions of the officers, who are to some extent shut out from social relations. The commander added the Pa.r.s.ee merchants and Mr. Gaskill to the number of invited guests, and entered warmly into the spirit of the affair. Mr. Sage had replenished his stores from the market, and he was in good condition to meet the requirements of the occasion.

After a lunch at the Hotel de l'Europe, Captain Ringgold left the company to return on board of the s.h.i.+p, where the war material had already been sent. The tourists found the town very like an English city, and after Egypt and the isthmus they enjoyed the contrast. The first cutter was waiting for him, and he went to the pier.

More than once during the forenoon he had obtained a view of the white steamer anch.o.r.ed in the roads, and he had inquired in regard to her, but had been able to obtain no very definite information concerning her. She was a steam-yacht of about the size of the Guardian-Mother, as nearly as he could judge, painted white, and she looked like a very beautiful vessel.

Captain Ringgold had inquired in regard to her of the merchants. Had they seen the owner who was making the cruise in her? They had. He was a man thirty or thirty-two, with a fine black beard, and a lady had said he was a remarkably handsome man. His informant thought he was a foreigner, though he spoke English as fluently as the officers of the garrison. He was dressed in the latest style of European garments when he came on sh.o.r.e, and the Pa.r.s.ee had been unable to form an opinion in regard to his nationality.

The carpenter of the Guardian-Mother had constructed something like a magazine in the hold of the s.h.i.+p for the ammunition which had been taken on board before she sailed. It was large enough for the new supply, though some further precautions were taken for the safety of the contents. The four twenty-four pounders were placed, two forward and two aft, the former on the forecastle, and the latter in the s.p.a.ce on deck abaft the boudoir.

The guns were mounted on naval carriages, and portholes were to be prepared on the pa.s.sage to India. The two twelve-pounders were to remain on the top-gallant forecastle, where they had always been; though they had been used on the Fourth of July, and for saluting purposes only, except in the Archipelago, where they had done more serious work, and had doubtless saved Miss Blanche and Louis from capture.

The commander sincerely hoped there would never be an occasion to make use of either the old or the new guns, for he was eminently a man of peace; but he was prepared to defend his s.h.i.+p, either from pirates, belligerent natives, or Captain Mazagan when he had recovered from his wound. Probably he would not have thought of such a thing as increasing his means of defence if Mazagan had not followed the s.h.i.+p as far as Suez.

After he had looked over the white steam-yacht which lay beyond the British steamer as well as he could, and gathered all the information in regard to her and her commander, he could not help thinking of the last threats of Mazagan. He had been a.s.sured that Ali-Noury Pacha was as vindictive as ever, and that he had long before ordered a new steamer to be built for him. Did the white steam-yacht belong to him?

Mazagan, evidently for the want of care, had irritated his wound, and gone to the hospital at Suez. He could learn nothing in regard to him there; but it was entirely impossible that he could have come to Aden, for no steamer had pa.s.sed the Guardian-Mother on her pa.s.sage. The white steamer had no doubt come through the ca.n.a.l before her.