“jacob, this is marables, who has charge of the polly barge,” said mr drummond, who had sent for me into his office, a few days after my arrival at his house. “marables,” continued my protector, addressing the man, “i have told you that this lad is bound ’prentice to the polly; i expect you will look after him, and treat him kindly. no blows or ill treatment. if he does not conduct himself well (but well i’m sure he will), let me know when you come back from your trip.”
during this speech i was scrutinising the outward man of my future controller. he was stout and well-built, inclining to corpulence, his features remarkably good, although his eyes were not large. his mouth was very small, and there was a good-natured smile on his lips as he answered, “i never treated a cat ill, master.”
“i believe not,” replied mr drummond; “but i am anxious that jacob should do well in the world, and therefore let you know that he will always have my protection, so long as he conducts himself properly.”
“we shall be very good friends, sir, i’ll answer for it, if i may judge from the cut of his jib,” replied marables, extending to me an immense hand, as broad as it was long.
after this introduction, mr drummond gave him some directions, and left us together.
“come and see the craft, boy,” said marables and i followed him to the barge, which was one of those fitted with a mast which lowered down and hauled up again, as required. she plied up and down the river as far as the nore, sometimes extending her voyage still farther: but that was only in the summer months. she had a large cabin abaft, and a cuddy forward. the cabin was locked, and i could not examine it.
“this will be your berth,” said marables, pointing to the cuddy-hatch forward; “you will have it all to yourself. the other man and i sleep abaft.”
“have you another man, then?”
“yes, i have, jacob,” replied he; and then muttering to himself, “i wish i had not—i wish the barge was only between us, jacob, or that you had not been sent on board,” continued he, gravely. “it would have been better—much better.” and he walked aft, whistling in a low tone, looking down sadly on the deck.
“is your cabin large?” inquired i, as he came forward.
“yes, large enough; but i cannot show it to you now—he has the key.”
“what, the other man under you?”
“yes,” replied marables, hastily. “i’ve been thinking, jacob, that you may as well remain on shore till we start. you can be of no use here.”
to this i had no objection; but i often went on board during the fortnight that the barge remained, and soon became very partial to marables. there was a kindness about him that won me, and i was distressed to perceive that he was often very melancholy. what surprised me most was to find that during the first week the cabin was constantly locked, and that marables had not the key; it appeared so strange that he, as master of the barge, should be locked out of his own cabin by his inferior.
one day i went early on board, and found not only the cabin doors open, but the other man belonging to her walking up and down the deck with marables. he was a well-looking, tall, active young man, apparently not thirty, with a general boldness of countenance strongly contrasted with a furtive glance of the eye. he had a sort of blue smock-frock over-all, and the trousers which appeared below were of a finer texture than those usually worn by people of his condition.
“this is the lad who is bound to the barge,” said marables. “jacob, this is fleming.”
“so, younker,” said fleming, after casting an inquiring eye upon me, “you are to sail with us, are you? it’s my opinion that your room would be better than your company. however, if you keep your eyes open, i’d advise you to keep your mouth shut. when i don’t like people’s company, i sometimes give them a hoist into the stream—so keep a sharp look out, my joker.”
not very well pleased with this address, i answered, “i thought marables had charge of the craft, and that i was to look to him for orders.”
“did you, indeed!” replied fleming, with a sneer. “i say, my lad, can you swim?”
“no, i can’t,” replied i—“i wish i could.”
“well, then, take my advice—learn to swim as fast as you can for i have a strong notion that one day or other i shall take you by the scruff of the neck, and send you to look after your father.”
“fleming! fleming! pray be quiet!” said marables, who had several times pulled him by the sleeve. “he’s only joking, jacob,” continued marables to me, as, indignant at the mention of my father’s death, i was walking away to the shore, over the other lighters.
“well,” replied i, turning round, “if i am to be tossed overboard, it’s just as well to let mr drummond know, that if i’m missing he may guess what’s become of me.”
“pooh! nonsense!” said fleming, immediately altering his manner, and coming to me where i stood in the barge next to them. “give us your hand, my boy; i was only trying what stuff you were made of. come, shake hands; i wasn’t in earnest.”
i took the proffered hand, and went on shore. “nevertheless,” thought i, “i’ll learn to swim; for i rather think he was in earnest.” and i took my first lesson that day; and by dint of practice soon acquired that very necessary art. had it not been for the threat of fleming, i probably should not have thought of it; but it occurred to me that i might tumble, even if i were not thrown overboard, and that a knowledge of swimming would do no harm.
the day before the barge was to proceed down the river to sheerness, with a cargo of bricks, i called upon my worthy old master, dominie dobiensis.
“salve puer!” cried the old man, who was sitting in his study. “verily, jacob, thou art come in good time. i am at leisure, and will give thee a lesson. sit down, my child.”
the dominie opened the aeneid of virgil, and commenced forthwith. i was fortunate enough to please him with my off-hand translation; and as he closed the book, i told him that i had called to bid him farewell, as we started at daylight the next morning.
“jacob,” said he, “thou hast profited well by the lessons which i have bestowed upon thee: now take heed of that advice which i am now about to offer to thee. there are many who will tell thee that thy knowledge is of no use, for what avail can the latin tongue be to a boy on board of a lighter. others may think that i have done wrong thus to instruct thee, as thy knowledge may render thee vain—nil exactius eruditiusque est—or discontented with thy situation in life. such is too often the case, i grant; but it is because education is not as general as it ought to be. were all educated, the superiority acquired or presumed upon by education would be lost, and the nation would not only be wiser but happier. it would judge more rightly, would not condemn the measures of its rulers, which at present it cannot understand, and would not be led away by the clamour and misrepresentation of the disaffected. but i must not digress, as time is short. jacob, i feel that thou wilt not be spoilt by the knowledge instilled into thee; but mark me, parade it not, for it will be vanity, and make thee enemies. cultivate thyself as much as thou canst, but in due season—thy duties to thy employer must be first attended to—but treasure up what thou hast, and lay up more when thou canst. consider it as hidden wealth, which may hereafter be advantageously employed. thou art now but an apprentice in a barge; but what mayest thou not be, jacob, if thou art diligent—if thou fear god, and be honest? i will now call to my mind some examples to stimulate thee in thy career.”
here the dominie brought forward about forty or fifty instances from history, in which people from nothing had risen to the highest rank and consideration; but although i listened to them very attentively, the reader will probably not regret the omission of the dominie’s catalogue. having concluded, the dominie gave me a latin testament, the whole duty of man, and his blessing. the matron added to them a large slice of seed-cake and by the time that i had returned to mr drummond’s, both the dominie’s precepts and the matron’s considerate addition had been well digested.
it was six o’clock the next morning that we cast off our fastenings and pulled into the stream. the day was lovely, the sun had risen above the trees, which feathered their boughs down on the sloping lawns in front of the many beautiful retreats of the nobility and gentry which border the river; and the lamp of day poured a flood of light upon the smooth and rapidly ebbing river. the heavy dew which had fallen during the night studded the sides of the barge, and glittered like necklaces of diamonds; the mist and the fog had ascended, except here and there, where it partially concealed the landscape; boats laden with the produce of the market-gardens in the vicinity were hastening down with the tide to supply the metropolis; the watermen were in their wherries, cleaning and mopping them out, ready for their fares; the smoke of the chimneys ascended in a straight line to heaven; and the distant chirping of the birds in the trees added to the hilarity and lightness of heart with which i now commenced my career as an apprentice.
i was forward, looking down the river, when marables called me to take the helm, while they went to breakfast. he commenced giving me instructions; but i cut them short by proving to him that i knew the river as well as he did. pleased at the information, he joined fleming, who was preparing the breakfast in the cabin, and i was left on the deck by myself. there, as we glided by every object which for years i had not seen, but which was immediately recognised and welcomed as an old friend, with what rapidity did former scenes connected with them flash into my memory! there was the inn at the water-side, where my father used to replenish the stone bottle; it was just where the barge now was that i had hooked and pulled up the largest chub i had ever caught. now i arrived at the spot where we had ran foul of another craft; and my father, with his pipe in his mouth and his “take it coolly,” which so exasperated the other parties, stood as alive before me. here—yes, it was here—exactly here—where we anchored on that fatal night when i was left an orphan—it was here that my father disappeared; and as i looked down at the water, i almost thought i could perceive it again close over him, as it eddied by: and it was here that the black smoke—the whole scene came fresh to my memory, my eyes filled with tears, and, for a little while, i could not see to steer. but i soon recovered myself; the freshness of the air, the bright sky overhead, the busy scene before me, and the necessity of attending to my duty, chased away my painful remembrances; and when i had passed the spot i was again cheerful and content.
in half-an-hour i had shot putney bridge, and was sweeping clear of the shallows on the reach below, when marables and fleming came up. “how!” exclaimed marables; “have we passed the bridge? why did you not call us?”
“i have shot it without help many and many a time,” replied i, “when i was but ten years old. why should i call you from your breakfast? but the tides are high now, and the stream rapid; you had better get a sweep out on the bow, or we may tail on the bank.”
“well!” replied fleming, with astonishment; “i had no idea that he would have been any help to us; but so much the better.” he then spoke in a low tone to marables.
marables shook his head. “don’t try it fleming, it will never do.”
“so you said once about yourself,” replied fleming, laughing.
“i did—i did!” replied marables, clenching both his hands, which at the time were crossed on his breast, with a look of painful emotion; “but i say again, don’t try it; nay, i say more, you shall not.”
“shall not?” replied fleming, haughtily.
“yes,” replied marables, coolly; “i say shall not, and i’ll stand by my words. now, jacob, give me the helm, and get your breakfast.”
i gave up the helm to marables, and was about to enter the cabin, when fleming caught me by the arm, and slewed me round. “i say, my joker, we may just as well begin as we leave off. understand me, that into that cabin you never enter; and understand further, that if ever i find you in that cabin, by day or night, i’ll break every bone in your body. your berth is forward; and as for your meals, you may either take them down there or you may eat them on deck.”
from what i had already witnessed, i knew that for some reason or other, fleming had the control over marables; nevertheless i replied, “if mr marables says it is to be so, well and good; but he has charge of this barge.” marables made no reply; he coloured up, seemed very much annoyed, and then looked up to the sky.
“you’ll find,” continued fleming, addressing me in a low voice, “that i command here—so be wise. perhaps the day may come when you may walk in and out the cabin as you please, but that depends upon yourself. by-and-by, when we know more of each other—”
“never, fleming, never!” interrupted marables, in a firm and loud tone. “it shall not be.”
fleming muttered what i could not hear, and going into the cabin, brought me out my breakfast which i despatched with good appetite; and soon afterwards i offered to take the helm; which offer was accepted by marables, who retired to the cabin with fleming, where i heard them converse for a long while in a low tone.
the tide was about three-quarters ebb when the barge arrived abreast of millbank. marables came on deck, and taking the helm, desired me to go forward and see the anchor clear for letting go.
“anchor clear!” said i. “why, we have a good hour more before we meet the flood.”
“i know that, jacob, as well as you do; but we shall not go farther to-night. be smart, and see all clear.”
whether fleming thought that it was necessary to blind me, or whether it was true that they were only obeying their orders, he said to marables in my hearing, “will you go on shore and give the letters to mr drummond’s correspondent, or shall i go for you?”
“you had better go,” replied marables, carelessly; and shortly after they went to dinner in the cabin, fleming bringing me mine out on deck.
the flood tide now made, and we rode to the stream. having nothing to do, and marables as well as fleming appearing to avoid me, i brought the dominie’s latin testament, and amused myself with reading it. about a quarter of an hour before dusk, fleming made his appearance to go on shore. he was genteelly, i may say fashionably, dressed in a suit of black, with a white neckcloth. at first i did not recognise him, so surprised was i at his alteration; and my thoughts, as soon as my surprise was over, naturally turned upon the singularity of a man who worked in a barge under another now assuming the dress and appearance of a gentleman. marables hauled up the little skiff which lay astern. fleming jumped in and shoved off. i watched him till i perceived him land at the stairs, and then turned round to marables: “i can’t understand all this,” observed i.
“i don’t suppose you can,” replied marables: “but still i could explain it if you will promise me faithfully not to say a word about it.”
“i will make that promise if you satisfy me that all is right,” answered i.
“as to all being right, jacob, that’s as may be; but if i prove to you that there is no harm done to our master, i suppose you will keep the secret. however, i must not allow you to think worse of it than it really is; no, i’ll trust to your good nature. you wouldn’t harm me, jacob?” marables then told me that fleming had once been well-to-do in the world, and during the long illness and subsequent death of marables’ wife, had lent him money; that fleming had been very imprudent, and had run up a great many debts, and that the bailiffs were after him. on this emergency he had applied to marables to help him, and that, in consequence, he had received him on board of the barge, where they never would think of looking for him; that fleming had friends, and contrived to go on shore at night to see them, and get what assistance he could from them in money: in the meantime his relations were trying what they could do to arrange with his creditors. “now,” said marables, after this narration, “how could i help assisting one who has been so kind to me? and what harm does it do mr drummond? if fleming can’t do his work, or won’t, when we unload, he pays another man himself; so mr drummond is not hurt by it.”
“that may be all true,” replied i; “but i cannot imagine why i am not to enter the cabin, and why he orders about here as master.”
“why, you see, jacob, i owe him money, and he allows me so much per week for the cabin, by which means i pay it off. do you understand now?”
“yes, i understand what you have said,” replied i.
“well, then, jacob, i hope you’ll say nothing about it. it would only harm me, and do no good.”
“that depends upon fleming’s behaviour towards me,” replied i. “i will not be bullied and made uncomfortable by him, depend upon it; he has no business on board the barge, that’s clear, and i am bound ’prentice to her. i don’t wish to hurt you; and as i suppose fleming won’t be long on board, i shall say nothing unless he treats me ill.”
marables then left me, and i reflected upon what he had said. it appeared all very probable; but still i was not satisfied. i resolved to watch narrowly, and if anything occurred which excited more suspicions, to inform mr drummond upon our return. shortly afterwards marables came out again, and told me i might go to bed, and he would keep the deck till fleming’s return. i assented, and went down to the cuddy; but i did not much like this permission. it appeared to me as if he wanted to get rid of me, and i laid awake, turning over in my mind all that i had heard and seen. about two o’clock in the morning i heard the sound of oars, and the skiff strike the side of the barge. i did not go up, but i put my head up the scuttle to see what was going on. it was broad moonlight, and almost as clear as day. fleming threw up the painter of the skiff to marables, and, as he held it, lifted out of the boat a blue bag, apparently well filled. the contents jingled as it was landed on the deck. he then put out a yellow silk handkerchief full of something else, and having gained the deck, marables walked aft with the painter in his hand until the skiff had dropped astern, where he made it fast, and returned to fleming, who stood close to the blue bag. i heard fleming ask marables, in a low voice, if i were in bed, and an answer given in the affirmative. i dropped my head immediately, that i might not be discovered, and turned into my bed-place. i was restless for a long while; thought upon thought, surmise upon surmise, conjecture upon conjecture, and doubt upon doubt, occupied my brain, until at last i went fast asleep—so fast, that i did not wake until summoned by fleming. i rose, and when i came on deck found that the anchor had been weighed more than two hours, and that we were past all the bridges. “why, jacob, my man, you’ve had a famous nap,” said fleming, with apparent good humour; “now go aft, and get your breakfast, it has been waiting for you this half-hour.” by the manner of fleming i took it for granted that marables had acquainted him with our conversation, and, indeed, from that time, during our whole trip, fleming treated me with kindness and familiarity. the veto had not, however, been taken off the cabin, which i never attempted to enter.
