Courage, True Hearts Part 16

And the pure and manly voice in which Talbot sang a verse of Dibdin's celebrated song, proved that, though this true sailor was over fifty, he was as hale and strong and hearty as many young fellows of twenty. Ay, and ten times more so, for at the present time thousands of lads ruin their health at schools--_and not from study either_.

"His form was of the manliest beauty; His heart was kind and soft; Faithful below he did his duty, And now he's gone aloft."

Talbot was going, and Duncan was seeing him across the gangway.

"Oh, by the by," he said, still retaining his old friend's hand, "I'm a perfect fool."

"No, no, Duncan; there are other folks' opinions to be taken on that subject."

"But I was actually going to let you away without even asking the name of your s.h.i.+p."

"Say our s.h.i.+p, my lad."

"Well, our s.h.i.+p."

"And you'd never guess her name, but your dear wee tot of a sister christened her, and the barque's name is the _Flora M'Vayne_."

"Well, I am pleased."

"To-night, then; six o'clock to a tick."

And away went the jolly skipper.

CHAPTER III.--BOUND FOR SOUTHERN SEAS OF ICE.

Frank and Duncan spent a very happy evening indeed with their friend Talbot.

Without the aid of wine either, which no one with youth on his side should require to make him gay. But I do not mind telling you that the old skipper himself had a drop of the "rosy" as he called it. And the "rosy" meant rum, aromatic, and of great age.

Well, there was quite a deal to talk about; they told each other their adventures, and they spoke also of their future prospects, and the cruise of the _Flora M'Vayne_.

"She will be furnished and fitted complete," the captain said. "We shall make sure enough of the sea elephants, but I'm going to tap a whale or two also, if I don't find elephants enough. And, bother me, Conal," he added, "I don't see any reason why you shouldn't write a book about our cruise."

It was long past ten before the merry little meeting broke up. This isn't late for land-lubbers, but with sailors it is different. "Early to bed when on sh.o.r.e" is their motto.

It was early in August--only the first week, in fact--when the boys and their captain found themselves back once more at Glenvoie. The colonel had expressed a wish to run down with them, but he had to defer it, owing to the surly way in which his liver a.s.serted itself.

They found everything very much in the same state as when they left it, only Florie was now fourteen, and far more demure.

It is Burns who says:

"In Heaven itself I'll ask nae mair, Than just a Highland welcome".

And a true Highland welcome they had. There were no tears shed except some of joy, which trickled over the somewhat pale cheeks of Mrs.

M'Vayne herself when she noted how manly her boys had grown.

Frank hadn't grown an inch. Nor did he want to. You do not require very tall or leggy men as sailors. But the young fellow's heart was in the right place, and he was even more full of genuine fun and humour than ever.

But if we talk about a Highland welcome, what shall I term that which poor Vike accorded to Duncan and Conal, and in a lesser degree to Frank.

Lucky it was that the meeting took place out-of-doors.

Had it been inside, this splendid Newfoundland would undoubtedly have knocked down tables, and demolished crockery in his mad glee.

As it was, he contented himself with knocking first Duncan and then Conal down, and licking their faces and hair as they lay, helpless, on their backs.

Then, laughing down both sides, as it seemed, with white teeth flas.h.i.+ng and hair afloat behind him, he set out for a circular spin by way of getting rid of his superfluous feelings. For the time being indeed he had really resolved himself into a kind of hairy hurricane or tornado.

But he gradually became calmer, and when he entered the house at last, where dinner was already laid, he threw himself down by Duncan's side with a sort of sixty-pounder sigh, as much as to say:

"I'm the happiest dog in Scotland, for I thought I'd never, never see my master again. And now that I have got him I mean to stick to him."

And he kept to that determination too, for nowhere would he sleep that night except in the boys' room.

All the dear old rambles over moorland and mountain and through the dark depths of the forest, were resumed next day, and kept up for over a week. I do not mean to describe these happy days, for soon indeed must we sail far, far away to wilder scenes, and our adventures will be more exciting than any that ever our heroes had in the romantic Highlands.

Florie was still Frank's innocent little sweetheart. So he told her, at all events, as he made her a present of a lovely locket with his own portrait in it and a copy also of hers.

Not that Frank was proud of his phiz. Oh, no; for in fact no one would have called him a real beauty, nor say his features were altogether regular.

But he had eyes that sparkled with the radiance of health, and his face changed in expression with almost every sentence he uttered.

He would have made an excellent actor. He had been told so more than once, and his answer was: "Well, I shall turn an actor when all the seas run dry".

And now having bidden farewell to Glenvoie, our heroes had to lie at Dundee for a whole week finis.h.i.+ng the fitting-out of the good s.h.i.+p _Flora M'Vayne_. It was really a tiresome time, for the constant arrivals of visitors to see the s.h.i.+p and the crew that were about to embark on so long and so perilous a voyage was incessant all day long.

n.o.body, therefore, was sorry to hear the last cheer that arose from an a.s.sembled mult.i.tude, although it was a right kindly one, and though prayers and blessings followed the barque.

That same evening they were far away from the eastern coast, for this was a lee sh.o.r.e, and they were wise to have a good offing before making direct for the south.

The barque might have been called somewhat clumsy, but nevertheless she carried a splendid spread of canvas, and sailed remarkably close to the wind.

Captain Talbot had told Duncan that he had made the _Flora M'Vayne_ as sweet as a nut, and certainly he had done so. No one to walk her decks could ever have guessed she had been a greasy, grimy blubber-hunter not so long ago.

Why, everything on deck looked as bright and as clean as a brand-new sovereign. The quarter-deck was as white as wheaten straw, the binnacle was an ornament, that would have looked excellently well in the best of drawing-rooms. The bra.s.s and hard-wood work were as bright as silver, every rope's end was coiled on deck, as if the barque had been an old-fas.h.i.+oned man-o'-war, and the men were all suitably dressed and tidy. The bo's'n was a most particular man, and, although some men chewed tobacco, to have expectorated anywhere on deck, would have been an offence for which a rope's-ending would be well merited.

The galley was of the newest type; so, too, was the donkey engine, and this would be used at sea when very far from land for the purpose of condensing water.

All told, the mustered crew were eight-and-thirty. The men forward had been picked by Talbot himself, and every one of them had been to the Arctic regions more than once.

They were therefore good ice-men, and neither frost nor cold was likely to have any terrors for them. Nor the great green waves of far southern lands, that somehow always sing in the frosty air as they sweep past a vessel's sides.