old harbour house stood about a mile from the harbour. it confronted the town which lay about one mile and a half off, right across a wide, romantic, heavily-wooded ravine. the banks of this gap sloped softly and pleasantly into a plain of meadows and two or three farms whose dyes of roof and cattle enriched the verdure; and down there ran a river singing in measures of music as it flowed into the harbour and mingled its bright water with the brine of the deep beyond.
above, on the placid slope of down close against old harbour town, hung a straggler building or two, lonely in importance, or consequential in some trifling pomp of land; at the point of cliff on old harbour house side, a low, pursy lighthouse wheezed at night a[pg 2] yellow gleam that was a home-greeting or god-speed to some five score fishermen who dredged in these and further waters; and on the brow confronting the lighthouse a venerable windmill revolved its vans against the sky.
it has been said that old harbour house stood. the house takes its place as a beauty of the past. on christmas eve 1832, fire reduced it to a few blackened walls. all through the long night the flames made a wild, grand show; sea and land were illuminated for leagues and leagues. out of the ashes of the beautiful building sprang that commonplace phoenix, the local poet, who celebrated the one tradition of old harbour town in a copy of rhymes, of which the first verse should be found imprinted on the title-page of this book.
the house, or at least the front of it, was built after a design by inigo jones. the pediment was perforated by a circular window glazed with a casement whose frame resembled the spokes of a ship's wheel. a variety of antique symbolism resembling the hideous sculptures which sometimes close the chapters in books of the seventeenth century, under-ran the eaves. the tall, narrow windows gleamed blackly amidst the skeletons of the winter, or the coloured embroidery of the[pg 3] summer creepers. the hall door was noble and hospitable in expanse. a carriage drive swept from it on either hand the oval lawn to a handsome gate whose supports were crowned by the arms of the actons on the one hand and the arms of a family into which one of the actons had married on the other hand.
one bright morning in april in that memorable year 1805, captain charles acton, r.n. (retired), stood on his lawn in front of the house watching a gardener who was at work at a flower-bed. he was a slightly-built but tall, very gentleman-like man, one of the last in a crowd to be picked out as a seafarer. he was pale, his nose aquiline, lips thin, and the expression of the mouth firm. he was dressed in a frill shirt, loose cravat of white cambric, red-striped waistcoat, long green coat with a high collar and small cuffs, tight breeches to the ankle buttoned to the middle of the thigh, and top-boots; a rather low-crowned, broad-brimmed hat sat somewhat cocked on his head. his hair was long, without powder, and tied a little way down the back in a sort of tail.
he was suddenly hailed from the gate by a loud, hearty voice.
"what cheer! how are ye, captain, how are ye this fine morning? have you heard the news?"
[pg 4]
the gate was thrust open and there entered rear-admiral sir william lawrence, a round-faced, bullet-headed seaman of the old type. he was dressed in a bottle-green coat, metal buttons, red waistcoat, knee breeches and stockings, shoes and large buckles; and being totally bald he wore a wig, perched at the back of which was a little round hat.
sir william again asked captain acton if he had heard the news.
"french landed?" enquired captain acton, as they strolled away from the flower-bed and paced the grass, in which the daisies were springing, in a quarterdeck walk, the admiral taking about one and a half rolling steps to captain acton's one.
"yes, the french have landed, but not just in the way they like. one of our frigates—i haven't got to hear her name—chased a french privateersman ashore five miles up the coast yesterday afternoon; after taking out of her ten thousand pounds in gold, which the beggars had sneaked from a british west indiaman off dungeness two or three nights before, they set her on fire. i had a mind this morning to ride over and view the wreck or what remains of her."
"lucy told me at breakfast this morning that on going to bed last night she noticed a faint tinge in the air as of the rising moon[pg 5] away to the eastward. 'twas the burning wreck, i presume?"
"no doubt. she'd light up a wide area."
"i expect the frigate that chased her will be one of the western squadron," said captain acton. "how finely those ships are doing their work! since they've been sweeping these waters scarce a french picaroon dare put his nose out; when before, the seas swarmed like a tropic calm with bristling fins of sharks."
"you have to thank pellew for the idea of those squadrons," said sir william. "what a gallant fellow he is! whenever i hear his name i recall the story told of him when he was a midshipman. he was aboard the blonde. you remember pownoll?"
captain acton nodded.
"general burgoyne arrived alongside to ship for america. the yards were manned. the general climbed aboard, and looking aloft spied a youngster standing on his head on the main topsail yard-arm. 'it's only young pellew, one of my midshipmen,' says captain pownoll. 'but suppose he falls, sir?' said the general. 'why, sir,' answers pownoll, 'if he falls he'll sink under the ship's bottom and come up t'other side.'"
"yes. very characteristic. i rank pellew after nelson."
[pg 6]
"why, no, sir."
"who, then?"
"i consider cochrane possesses all the potentialities of nelson. then gallant old jervis"—the admiral interrupted himself and gazed with an arch leer at his companion.
"as you know, i have had the honour," said captain acton with slight sarcasm, "to serve under my lord st vincent when he was sir john jervis, i may claim to know him."
"oh yes, thoroughly—very thoroughly."
"i admit the gallantry of his action with the pegase. it was as brilliant as a hundred other actions between single ships, not one of which nevertheless brought the victor an earldom. what made jervis a lord? was it his own, or the genius of nelson? that manœuvre of the commodore on the 14th won the battle. we took four ships from the enemy, and two of them were captured by nelson. but i dislike st vincent for opinions which he is at no pains to disguise. he objects to the education of the poor."
"so do i, sir," said sir william.
"we'll not argue the point. st vincent objects to inoculation for small-pox because he says that that disease is intended by god to keep the population down."
sir william laughed.
"he objects to service clubs. he said to[pg 7] a friend of mine, 'take my advice and have nothing to do with them; they are one of the signs of the times of which i highly disapprove; these assemblies of army and navy may in time become dangerous to the government.' when he was commander-in-chief he strongly discouraged matrimony. he hated to have married officers in his fleet, for he said they were the first to run into port, and the last to come out of it. i do not wonder that they declined to drink his health at bath."
"i never heard of that," said sir william.
"it was in 1802; a naval dinner was given at bath—st vincent was first lord, i need not tell you—his health was proposed and refused to be drunk by many of the company. the party broke up in confusion; some toasted him in a bumper and left the room; others turned down their glasses and sat still. and you would rank this old gentleman next after nelson?"
"talking of nelson," said sir william, "have you heard the yarn that is told of tom cooke, the actor? he came on in the part of old barnwell, and when stabbed forgot the words, and would have died speechless. his murderer whispered with agitation, 'for heaven's sake, say something—anything,' on which tom, throwing up his little three-cornered [pg 8]hat, shouted in his thick lisp, 'nelson for ever!' and died amidst louder applause than was ever provoked by the finest strokes of garrick or siddons."
the story was to captain acton's taste, and he laughed with enjoyment.
"i should like," said the admiral, "to have met nelson. in all my going a-fishing i never fell in his way."
"well," said captain acton, "i may say of nelson as pope said of dryden: virgilium tantum vidi. i was on the hard when two naval officers came ashore. i was thinking of other matters, and scarcely observed them until they were abreast or a little past me. then my glance going to one i instantly perceived he was nelson. his companion, i believe, was troubridge. in the glimpse i got of nelson's face i was struck by its paleness and careworn appearance. he looked at least fifteen years older than his age. they passed rapidly out of sight. i cannot express the emotions which that one-armed little figure excited in me—st valentine's day, the nile, copenhagen!"
"and how much more?" cried the admiral, with a flush in his cheek, and with that expression of triumph and pride which lighted up the eyes of men in those days when they pronounced the magic name of nelson. "i[pg 9] should like, i should much like to meet him, to see him, to grasp his hand, for a minute only before my windlass is manned for the next world."
"who knows what lies before us?" said captain acton.
"little enough before me, sir," exclaimed sir william. "sailors dream of a cottage ashore, but when they come to it—i like my little perch: 'tis not old harbour house," says he, casting his eye over the building, "but i could wish the sea were within range of its windows. i was down in the harbour yesterday admiring the lines of your minorca. she lay upright on the mud, awash to her garboard strake about, and i liked her lines in the run, and believed i could see a hint to our shipwrights in the cleanness and beauty of her entry."
"she is a pretty example of the french form," said captain acton. "i think i told you she was built at bordeaux, from which port some elegant structures are sent afloat. but the french cannot approach the americans as shipbuilders. take that schooner of mine, the aurora—by the way, she is due here shortly. i wish she may not have been taken by the enemy."
"i admire your venture," said the admiral. "i believe if i could muster two or three[pg 10] thousand pounds i should be disposed to purchase a prize or two from the french, spanish, or yankees and follow your lead. good interest on money is hard to get. your ships do well for you, sir."
"i am quite satisfied," exclaimed captain acton complacently; "but, as you know, i was mainly actuated by the desire to promote the trade of this decaying place. the inheritance of this property," said he, sending his gaze over the wide grounds agreeably wooded afar by orchards whose boughs in a season's yield supplied cider enough to keep a parish merry through several generations, "brought with it urgent obligations. i could not view old harbour going to pieces without a resolution to do something that might serve to keep it together."
"you will add to your ships?" said sir william.
"i think not. the prospect must brighten before i increase my fleet. the war risks are stupendous. i never see one of my vessels quit her berth, but that i say to myself, 'when i next hear of you, you'll be at cadiz or dunkirk, or at the bottom of the sea.'"
sir william lawrence halted in the quarterdeck walk the two were taking upon that bright green oval lawn, and looked at the ocean which ran in a white line, pale and faint[pg 11] as ice at the horizon, betwixt the two points of the ravine crowned on the right by the lighthouse and on the left by a windmill; but the waters of the channel broadened down from their pearl-like margin into a delicate blue, which changed into dark green and brown as the sea shoaled into the land. the admiral seemed to find something to delight him in the prospect, and captain acton standing at his side viewed a scene, very familiar indeed to him, with pleasure, which increased with the attention he gave it.
indeed no piece of english landscape could have looked fairer on this fine april morning than old harbour town and its harbour, and little forefinger of pier; the windmill and the lighthouse resembled carvings, so delicately were their outlines traced against the silver blueness of the spring sky. in the harbour against the wharves were visible the mounting masts and yards of several craft with sails hanging loose to dry, and the water of the harbour was dotted with a few squab shapes of smacks and the figure of a moored brig-of-war.
the picture was tender and mellow with colour: the springing lights of the early growths of the young year, the venerable face of the cliff as it swept from the slope of down where the windmill was to the beach, the slow motion of violet shadows over green distances;[pg 12] and the impression of placid provincial life was heightened by the calm in the air which was scarcely vexed by the remote silver ringing of a chapel bell in high street, old harbour town.
"i often wish i was at sea again!" exclaimed sir william, as the two started afresh on their quarterdeck walk. "what a noble, open, hearty, soul-stirring life it is! what good fellows one meets, what brave ships, what splendid crews! it is my hourly regret that my son should be out of it. though i am his father, i say that this young man had in him—nay, he has in him—all the makings of a fine, dashing, even a great officer. but that devil drink—not that the vice is immoderate with him: but he takes too much; and when the fiend is in him, all that is weak in his nature appears, and he falls: drink—but not so as to justify the word drunkard—drink and gaming—these undid him. he was a favourite with all he sailed with, and yet, through his own accursed folly, he is forced to quit the navy under circumstances which would bring the moisture into my eyes if half a century of hard weather had not dried all the dampness out of them."
captain acton looked at his companion in silence, but with an expression of gentle concern.
[pg 13]
"he must go to the dogs," continued the admiral, "if he lingers on in this neighbourhood. he can get nothing to do here, and idleness brings with it the temptation of drink. i hear of him at 'the swan.' there he meets lieutenant tupman, and they grow merry together, god wot! over recollections. i wish he had tupman's berth: a cabbage garden and a cottage and a pig-sty, and a gun-brig that is never ready. i wonder the admiralty keep up this farce of gun-brigs stationed on the coast to guard against what they are never prepared for."
"i have heard mr lawrence highly spoken of. when i was last in london i met pettigrew of the circe, and he was telling me of a cutting-out affair in which your son was engaged in the west indies—antigua, i think. nothing could have been more gallant than his conduct."
"he could have done well," sighed the old admiral. "a few evenings ago i was waited upon by mr greyquill, a sleek and dingy little man whom i do not love the sight of. such a visit must be an intrusion. i was sitting in the open window smoking my pipe, when he pushed the gate and sneaked up the path in his land-stealing way, but before he could fetch the door i hailed him: 'hallo, mr greyquill,' says i, 'pray, what business[pg 14] brings you on this visit?' but in my heart i knew devilish well what he called about. he steps on to the grass over against my window, and with a low congee says, 'i am sorry, sir william, to intrude upon you, sir, but i can obtain no satisfaction from your son, and at the same time i have no desire to go to extremities.' 'you'll not help your case by threatening me, mr greyquill,' said i. 'but look how the case stands, sir,' he cries, 'your son has had three hundred pounds from me.' 'no, sir,' i said. 'well, sir, he owes me three hundred pounds.' 'for how much advanced?' said i. 'for two hundred in good cash,' he answered. i looked the old rogue full in the eye, and said, 'you should be a rich man, sir.' 'i want my money, sir william,' says he. 'i trusted your son as an officer and a gentleman, and as the son of an officer and a gentleman——' 'hold, sir,' i shouted, losing my temper. 'what right had you to trust me as an officer and a gentleman when you never gave me your confidence? did you drop a hint to me that you were advancing money to my son? do you suppose if i had known the truth, that i would have suffered you to accept my credit as a stake in these ignoble transactions?' 'well, sir william, i want my money,' said the old rascal, 'and must get it, though i[pg 15] hope not to be driven into extremities. is mr lawrence in?' 'no, sir,' says i. 'good afternoon!' and i got up and left the window."
"this man greyquill has managed to clap the thumb-screw of debt upon the hands of a pretty good few in our district," said captain acton. "but what's the use of locking up a man who owes you money? leave him at large and you stand to be repaid; but flinging a man into a debtor's gaol, not because he won't pay, but because he can't pay, seems to me folly as monstrous as locking up a man because being unable to obtain work his wife and children come upon the parish. look at the cost you put the country to on this account! there is the expense of the maintenance of the man in gaol, and there is the expense of the maintenance of the wife and children on the parish. now, by leaving the man at large you give him the chance of obtaining a day's work."
"i hope old greyquill will not go to extremes," exclaimed the admiral, with a flush in his face. "it is dishonour enough to be in his debt, but to be imprisoned! there is no good in his looking to me for repayment."
"i don't think he'll trouble your son in that way. he may be a shylock, but he is not one of those money scriveners who demand your money or your flesh. at least, i should say[pg 16] not. i only know the man to nod to. of what use would a pound of your son's flesh be to him? i believe, sir, that mr lawrence is not so immoderate in his love of the glass but that he might be entrusted with the care of a ship?"
"no, sir; 'tis gambling not drinking that is his weakness. but he has drunk and still drinks more than he should. yet i have little doubt if he could find himself in a situation of trust, knowing now the hardships and difficulties of life, and the almost insuperable obstacles to a man's advancement when by his own folly he has ruined his professional career, that he would keep a stern watch over his appetite for drink. he has considerable powers of mind, an uncommon degree of spirit and resolution when he chooses to exert those qualities; and i say, with the assurance of his profound sensibility to his present melancholy condition, that he might be safely trusted to discharge any duties he may have the good luck to be called upon to execute."
"i think i told you, sir william," said captain acton, after a short interval passed in reflection, "that the minorca is in want of a captain."
"yes, i remember. the master died in the homeward passage, and the ship was[pg 17] brought to port by the mate, to whom i suppose you intend to give the command."
"well, he is a respectable though a very illiterate man, and i had half made up my mind to offer him the berth. but i am affected by your trouble. i should be glad to be of service to your son. whilst we have talked i have been thinking, and if he is prepared to accept the position i am quite willing that he should take the minorca out and home from the west indies this voyage on the terms i am in the habit of giving—twelve pounds a month and a commission on the earnings of the voyage."
the admiral stopped short and looked at his companion with a face that was warm, and with eyes that were dim with an emotion of gratitude that was almost the conqueror of his manhood. he extended his arm in silence, and the two officers clasped hands.
"acton, you are good—this is indeed kind of you," said the admiral after a moment or two of silence. "it would be a great weight lifted from my spirits to know that my son is shoved clear of the mischief of the idleness of this place, and that he is once more honourably employed. for, sir," said the old gentleman in a hearty, almost rapturous way, "to be in charge of such a ship as the minorca is to hold a command as honourable, if not as exalted, as[pg 18] any afloat. i do thank you, sir. he will be most deeply obliged to you."
the two gentlemen released hands and continued their walk.
"of course," said captain acton, "he is well up in navigation?"
"you will find him fully qualified in that, and in all else. a smarter seaman never trod shipboard."
"i like the idea," said captain acton, "of a naval officer being in charge of my vessel. the men of the merchant service are a very rough lot. many of the masters and mates can scarcely read or write. they grope their way about by dead reckoning. they so little understand the treatment of men that their crews consider themselves as good as they, particularly when they bring the sailors aft, and hob-and-nob with the rum cask lifted through the hatch and broached in the cabin, till half the company lie motionless in drink, and the rest are fighting and running about mad. two things the navy teaches us: discipline and the art of it."
at this point the couple turned in their walk and confronted the house, at the hall door of which, in the act of descending the broad flight of steps, was a young lady putting on a glove, attended by a little terrier, who at sight of the gentlemen bounded along[pg 19] the grass and barked with fury up at the admiral's face.
this young lady was lucy, the only child of captain acton, one of the most charming, indeed one of the most beautiful girls of her time. the scene of garden and flower-beds quaintly shaped, and the backing of the noble, mellow, gleaming building with its pediment and symbolic carvings, was enchantingly in keeping with the figure and appearance of the girl, who by the magic of her looks and attire instantly transformed it into a picture charged with the colours of youth and health and a sweet and delicate spirit of life. her apparel was prettily of the time: a straw hat, the brim projecting a little over the forehead and seated somewhat on one side, a plain light blue gown and long yellow silk gloves. the gown was without waist and bound under the bosom by a girdle. her hair this day was dressed in tresses which hung around the face—not curls, but tender shadings of hair, as though the effect had been contrived by the fingers of the wind; but some curls reposed on her neck. her eyes were unusually large, of a dark brown and full of liquid light. the eyelids were somewhat heavy, and looked the heavier because of their rich furniture of eyelash. the eyelashes indeed suggested at first sight that she doctored her eyes, as do actresses[pg 20] and others; but a brief inspection satisfied the beholder that all was nature transparent, artless, and lovely. a conspicuous charm in lucy acton was her colour: her cheeks always wore a natural bloom or glow; this, as in the case of her eyes, might have been suspected as the effect of art, but she blushed so readily, even sometimes on any effort of speech, the damask of her blood so wrought in her cheek on any impulse of mood or humour, that it was quickly seen the mantling glow was a charm of nature's own gift. no girl could have been more natural, and few more beautiful than lucy acton. had she lived half a century earlier she would have been one of the toasts of the nation.
she was twenty-three years of age, and it will be readily supposed had been sought in marriage by more than one ardent swain. but she had kept her heart whole: nothing in breeches and stockings and long cut-away coat and salutations adopted from the most approved parisian styles had touched the passions of lucy acton. she was like emma as painted by miss austen: she loved her home, she adored her father, she was perfectly well satisfied with her present state of being, she could not conceive anything in a man that was worth marrying for, and being well, she meant to leave well alone.
[pg 21]
where did she get those wonderful eyes? from her mother, who in her day had been a celebrated irish actress; kitty o'hara, famed in such parts as sir harry wildair, the fair penitent, and ophelia. captain acton, when lieutenant and stationed at kingston, had seen mrs kitty o'hara as "ophelia" at the dublin theatre, and before she had been on the stage five minutes he lost his heart to her. the beautiful and accomplished actress was living with her mother, a noble-looking old gentlewoman who claimed to possess the blood of irish kings. acton made love and offered marriage, and was accepted. he had little more than his pay to live upon; nevertheless he refused to allow his wife to return to the stage. he was a sailor, and must by reason of his vocation be often long absent from home, and he declined to subject his beautiful young wife to the temptations of the stage. he might also have been influenced by the case of sheridan after his marriage with miss linley, and sometimes quoted dr samuel johnson's comment on sheridan's decision: "he resolved wisely and nobly to be sure. he is a brave man. would not a gentleman be disgraced by having his wife singing publicly for hire? no, sir, there can be no doubt here."
"down, ma'am! cease your clatter!" cried[pg 22] captain acton to the terrier, whilst the admiral saluted the young lady with a bow as full of homage as he would have conceded to royalty. "where are you bound to?"
"i am going to old harbour town to do a little shopping," answered lucy, smiling at the admiral and showing her milk-white teeth, the whiter for the red of her lips and the bloom on her cheeks. "can i do anything for you, papa?"
"no, my dear."
"can i be of service to you, sir william?" said the girl, picking up her dog to silence it.
"you do me service enough by suffering me to see you, madam," replied the gallant old sailor. "brighter lights and fresher colours seem to attend you. your grounds, sir, have grown gayer since your charming daughter made her appearance."
"i know nobody who turns his compliments so prettily as you, sir william," exclaimed lucy. "do you know, sir," said she, addressing her father, "that bates (the butler) just now told me there was a fire at sea last night."
"no, on the shore, miss," said the admiral. "a french corsair was chased ashore about five miles up and burnt."
"i saw the light from my bedroom window,"[pg 23] said lucy. "who chased the frenchman? lieutenant tupman?"
"he! more likely he was chasing one of his pigs, if indeed he was not in bed, sound under the influence of flip. as those brigs are not useful, and as they are not ornamental, why is the nation put to the cost of maintaining them? had my son received tupman's berth—oh, ma'am, i must tell you of a noble, generous deed of kindness your excellent, large-hearted father has been good enough to do me and mr lawrence. he has promised him the command of the minorca."
lucy looked at her father with an expression of surprise that vanished from her fine dramatic eyes in an instant.
"i am very pleased to hear it," she said. "i am sure mr lawrence will be glad to get away from old harbour town. he has visited many parts of the globe, and to be limited to two streets, and such streets as high street and lower street with their little shops and tame and commonplace interests, must be such a trial to a man of spirit, as every day can but make more and more a punishment."
"it gives me great pleasure to serve my old friend," said captain acton. "mr lawrence is an officer with a career full of gallant things; i have no doubt he is a[pg 24] capable navigator. will you ask him to call upon me this evening?"
"at what hour?"
"eight o'clock will suit me very well."
"he shall wait upon you at the stroke, sir."
"good-bye, sir william," said lucy, and in silence the two gentlemen watched her walk to the gate and pass out.
