Old Gold Part 18

"Of course--of course," cried the American. "Hear, Mr Skipper?"

"Oh, yes, I hear," said the captain.

"Then that is settled," said Sir Humphrey. "Mr Briscoe, I trust that in the future we shall be better friends."

"No fear of that, sir," said the American quietly. "Sir Humphrey, you're a gentleman. Mr Brace, you're another. It's going to be acts now, not words. I only say thankye, and I want you and your plucky young brother to believe me when I say you shan't repent your bargain a bit."

"I believe I shall not, sir," said Sir Humphrey gravely.

"As for you, Captain Banes," continued the new member of the expedition, "I'm going to show you that I'm not such a ruffian as you think. And now, gentlemen, as I haven't had a wink of sleep for two nights, I'm going to ask the skipper to let me have a berth and to give orders for my man here to be furnished with a bunk. I've kept it up, gentlemen, as long as I could, but now I'm dead-beat. I've been asleep in my legs for long enough. Now it has crept up from my waist to my chest, and it's attacking my head. In another ten minutes I shall be insensible, and when I shall wake again is more than I know, so I'll say at once: Thank you all--all round, and good night."

A little difficulty arose as to a berth; but this was soon solved by the second mate giving up his in favour of a mattress upon the cabin floor, and the brothers were left alone with the captain, who preserved an ominous silence, till Brace spoke half-laughingly:

"You don't like the new arrangement, captain?"

There was a grunt. Then:

"Put that and that together, squire, would you if you were in command of this brig?"

"Certainly not," said Brace quickly; "but I shouldn't have put the poor fellows ash.o.r.e."

The captain mumbled a little, and by the light of the swinging lanthorn Brace caught a gleam of white teeth, and knew that he was laughing.

"That was what he'd call bunk.u.m, and we call bounce, squire. Of course I shouldn't have put him ash.o.r.e. But I felt as if I meant to when I said it."

"Then you are not so very much dissatisfied, captain?" said Sir Humphrey.

"Yes, I am, sir, for I don't like to be bested. No man does, especially by one of these clever 'Merican chaps. For they are clever, there's no getting over that."

"I don't like that either," said Sir Humphrey; "but it's evident that this man is an enthusiast in travel and natural history."

"Oh, yes, sir; but why don't he go and enthoose in somebody else's vessel? I'm afraid you've been cutting us out an awkward job to get on with that customer."

"I hope not," said Sir Humphrey. "He promises very fairly."

"Yes, sir, but will he perform? You see, if he was an Englishman he might, but I never knew an American yet who liked to play second fiddle in anything. But there, sir, you're chief, and I don't see how, short of going back again to set him ash.o.r.e, you could have done anything else."

"Thank you, captain," said Sir Humphrey. "I did what I thought was best under the circ.u.mstances."

"You did, sir. Squire here--Mr Brace--thought I was going to turn rusty, I suppose."

"I did," said Brace.

"Yes, but I wasn't. I blaze up a bit when I'm put out, gentlemen, but I soon settle down into a steady warm glow, and keep within the bars."

"Then there's an end of an awkward episode, captain," said Sir Humphrey.

"I was afraid at one time that we were going to have a tragedy."

"So was I, sir," said the captain sharply. "It's a mercy that ugly-looking yellow monkey of a chap was not smothered in that cask. My word! he must be a plucky fellow!"

"Or too stupid to have grasped the danger," said Brace.

The captain nodded.

"Well, you gentlemen," he said, "I'm going to stop on deck till we're a few miles farther off the sh.o.r.e; so I shall keep Mr Dellow company till it's Lynton's watch, and then I shall turn in. Good night, gentlemen, good night."

"Good night," said the brothers in a breath.

"If you hear it come on to blow before morning, you needn't be surprised, for I think we're going to have a bit of wind. Young Uncle Sam was right about sending a boat ash.o.r.e with him. She'd never have made the sh.o.r.e, nor the brig again."

Brace looked sharply round, trying to pierce the darkness, but in vain.

CHAPTER NINE.

THE MIGHTY RIVER.

Before morning the "Jason" was pitching and tossing in a heavy sea which had risen very suddenly, and for the next week, whenever the brothers cared to face the rain, wind, and spray, they found Captain Banes on deck looking very grim and anxious and evidently in no humour for entering into conversation.

The officers and crew too looked worn and hara.s.sed with hard work and the buffeting they had received; but it was evident that they took it all as a matter of course, and were perfectly confident about the ability of the brig to weather a far worse storm.

It was quite bad enough, and prolonged till the pitching of the vessel became very wearisome; but there was one thing which always met the eyes of the brothers when they went on deck, and that was the figure of Briscoe tucked up in the best shelter he could find, beneath bulwark or behind deckhouse, clad in glistening black waterproof; and smoking a big cigar.

He always saw the brothers as soon as they appeared on deck, and if they nodded to him he was quick to respond, but he never forced his company upon them; and it was so too in the cabin, for he was quiet and un.o.btrusive, speaking readily when spoken to, but only to subside at once when the conversation flagged.

"What has become of his inquisitive organ, Brace?"

"That's what I was thinking: he seems quite a different man."

The storm was over at last, and one morning, as the brig was running due west under a full press of sail, it suddenly struck Brace that the water over the side was not so clear as it had been an hour before when he was leaning over the bulwark gazing down into the crystalline depths, trying to make out fish, and wondering how it was that, though there must be millions upon millions in the ocean through which they were sailing, he could not see one.

"We must be getting into water that has been churned up by the storm,"

thought Brace; but just then the second mate came up and he referred to him.

"Water not so clear?" he said. "No wonder; we're right off the mouths of the Amazon now."

"So far south?"

"Yes, and running right in. Before long the water, instead of being like this--a bit thick--will be quite muddy, and this time to-morrow we shall be bidding good-bye to the sea, I suppose, for some time to come."

Lynton's words were quite right, for the next day, after a most satisfactory run, Brace stood gazing over the bows of the brig at the thick muddy water that was churned up, and finding it hard to believe that he was sailing up the mouth of a river; for, look which way he would, nothing was to be seen but water, while when he tried his gla.s.s it was with no better success.

But at last the land was to be made out on the starboard bow, or rather what was said to be land, a long, low, hazy something on the distant horizon.

A couple of days later there was land plain enough on both sides of the brig, and they commenced a long, dismal progress up stream, of a monotonous kind that was wearisome in the extreme.

As time went on, though, there was a change, and that was followed by plenty of variety in the shape of huge trees, with all their branches and leaves tolerably fresh, floating seaward, just as they had fallen from the bank after the mighty stream had undermined them. In one case there were land birds flitting about the few boughs that appeared above the water, but generally they were gulls s.n.a.t.c.hing at the small fish attracted by the floating object.