Old Gold Part 6

"Only came one at a time, sir, and they'd no shoes on."

"Well, what did they say?" cried Brace.

"Like to hear, gentlemen?"

"Of course," cried Brace.

"They're good trusty lads, gentlemen, but, like all British sailors, a bit plain-spoken. P'raps Sir Humphrey here mightn't like it, though I answer for 'em that they meant no harm."

Brace looked merrily at his brother as if asking a question.

"Oh, yes, speak out, captain," he said.

"Well, gentlemen, they all agreed that they thought Mr Brace here would turn out a regular trump as it would be a treat to follow."

"Come, that's a good character," cried Brace; "eh, Free?"

"The poor fellows don't know you yet, Brace, my boy," said Sir Humphrey drily.

"Oh, my chaps aren't far wrong, sir," cried the captain, smiling.

"Well, what did they say about me?" asked Sir Humphrey.

The captain's eyes twinkled, and he c.o.c.ked one of his eyes at Brace; but he did not speak.

"Was their report so very bad?" said the young man.

"Yes, sir; pretty tough," replied the captain.

"Never mind," said Sir Humphrey, "so long as it was honest. What did they say, captain?"

"Said they didn't quite know what to make of you, sir; but they all agreed that you looked a bit hard in the mouth, and bull-doggy--that's what they called it. The first mate said, too, that he quite agreed with them, for he could see that if ever it came to a fight with any of the natives, two-foots or four-foots, you'd never flinch."

"I hope not," said Sir Humphrey; "but I also hope we may never be put to the test."

"But--"

The captain stopped.

"Oh, there's a _but_," said Brace merrily. "It would have been quite a decent character if it had not been for that _but_."

"What was the _but_, captain?" asked Sir Humphrey.

"He couldn't say how you'd come up to the scratch if it was trouble with the long twisters that swarm up the rivers and in the damp forests of these parts."

"Snakes?" suggested Brace.

"That's right, sir: boa constructors, as the showman said they was called, because they constructed so many pleasing images with their serpentile forms."

"Well," said Sir Humphrey, "to be perfectly frank, I don't know myself how I should behave under such circ.u.mstances, for I have a perfect dread of serpents of all kinds. The poisonous ones are a horror to me."

"Or anyone else, sir," growled the captain. "I'd rather have a set-to with one of the tigers here."

"Tigers!" cried Brace; "there are no tigers in the New World."

"They call 'em tigers here, sir, though they've got spots instead of stripes. Jaggers I suppose is the proper name. Fierce beasts they are too. But poisonous snakes--ugh! They give me the creeps. But there, these things always get away from you if they can."

"Let us change the subject," said Sir Humphrey; "I am quite satisfied with your men's judgment, Captain Banes, and I daresay we shall become very good friends."

"Of course, sir," said the bluff man addressed. "I'll answer for them, as I told them I'd answer for you two gents. By the way, I hear the Yankee chap wants to charter a vessel for some such a voyage as you gentlemen mean to make."

"Yes," said Sir Humphrey; and the brothers related their interviews of the morning.

"Want'll have to be his master," said the captain, who had listened, smiling grimly during the narration. "I don't see myself going on such a trip with him. I took a dislike to that chap as soon as I saw him.

Well, I wish him luck. Then if it's all the same to you, gentlemen, I'll have your stores on board a bit late in the afternoon when the sun's getting lower, and--Well, now! look at that. Think he heard what I said?"

"I hope not," said Sir Humphrey quietly. "It's as well not to excite people's dislike by making remarks about their appearance before them."

"Right, sir," said the captain. "That's one for me."

"I beg your pardon, Captain Banes," cried Sir Humphrey earnestly. "I did not mean to--"

"It's all right, sir; I deserved it," said the captain bluffly, "and I hope now he didn't hear. Poor beggar! It is his nature to. Now, gentlemen, what do you say to coming and having a look over your cabin and berths? All being well, they'll be your quarters for many a long month to come."

"By all means," they cried, and started for the brig at once.

CHAPTER FOUR.

ABOARD THE "JASON."

"Sits like a duck, don't she, gentlemen?" said the captain proudly, as they approached the riverside. "I don't say but what you may find faster boats, but I do say you won't find a better-built or better-proportioned brig afloat. Look at her."

The captain had good cause to be proud of his vessel, and he showed his pride by having her in particularly trim order, while his crew of a dozen men were smart, good-looking young fellows, as trim as their vessel, and very different from the ordinary run of merchant seamen, being quite the stamp of the smart, active, healthy-looking Jacks of Her Majesty's Fleet.

Everything was smartly done, beginning with the manning and rowing ash.o.r.e of the captain's boat, while as the little party ran alongside and stepped on deck the crew were gathered together ready to salute the brothers with a cheer.

"Why, captain," said Sir Humphrey, after a sharp glance of satisfaction around him, "you surprise me. The 'Jason' looks more like a yacht than a merchant brig."

"No, no, no, no, no, sir," said the captain, in a remonstrant tone; "as clean and smart, p'raps; but there isn't the show. Look here, though,"

he continued, nodding to one of the brothers and taking the other by the edge of his coat, "things happen rum sometimes, don't they?"

"Certainly," said Sir Humphrey, smiling at the skipper's mysterious way of taking them into his confidence. "With regard to what? Has anything happened rum, as you call it?"

"To be sure it has," said the skipper, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up his eyes. "You want a boat suitable for going up rivers, don't you?"

"Certainly," said Sir Humphrey, "and I seem to have found her."