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She had met the gale to the westward of Madeira, and after holding on as
long as possible, had also been compelled to scud. According to the report
of her officers, the Foam had run in much closer to the coast than
herself, and it was their opinion she was lost. Their own escape was owing
entirely to the wind's abating, for they had actually been within sight of
the land, though having received no injury, they had been able to haul off
in season.
Luckily, this ship was ballasted with fresh water, and Captain Truck
passed the night in negotiating a transfer of his steerage passengers,
under an apprehension that, in the crippled state of his own vessel, his
supplies might be exhausted before he could reach America. In the morning,
the offer of being put on board the store-ship was made to those who
chose to accept it, and all in the steerage, with most from the cabin,
profited by the occasion to exchange a dismasted vessel for one that was,
at least, full rigged. Provisions were transferred accordingly, and by
noon next day the stranger made sail on a wind, the sea being tolerably
smooth, and the breeze still ahead. In three hours she was out of sight to
the northward and westward, the Montauk holding her own dull course to the
southward, with the double view of striking the trades, or of reaching one
of the Cape de Verdes.
Chapter XV.
_Steph_.--His forward voice now is to speak well of his friend; his
backward voice is to utter foul speeches, and to detract.
Page 111
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The situation of the Montauk appeared more desolate than ever, after the
departure of so many of her passengers. So long as her decks were thronged
there was an air of life about her, that served to lessen disquietude, but
now that she was left by all in the steerage, and by so many in the
cabins, those who remained began to entertain livelier apprehensions of
the future. When the upper sails of the store-ship sunk as a speck in the
ocean, Mr. Effingham regretted that he, too, had not overcome his
reluctance to a crowded and inconvenient cabin, and gone on board her,
with his own party. Thirty years before he would have thought himself
fortunate in finding so good a ship, and accommodations so comfortable;
but habit and indulgence change all our opinions, and he had now thought
it next to impossible to place Eve and Mademoiselle Viefville in a
situation that was so common to those who travelled by sea at the
commencement of the century.
Most of the cabin passengers, as has just been stated, decided
differently, none remaining but the Effinghams and their party, Mr.
Sharp, Mr. Blunt, Sir George Templemore, Mr. Dodge, and Mr. Monday. Mr.
Effingham had been influenced by the superior comforts of the packet, and
his hopes that a speedy arrival at the islands would enable the ship to
refit, in time to reach America almost as soon as the dull-sailing vessel
which had just left them. Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt had both expressed a
determination to share his fortunes, which was indirectly saying that they
would share the fortunes of his daughter. John Effingham remained, as a
matter of course, though he had made a proposition to the stranger to tow
them into port, an arrangement that failed in consequence of the two
captains disagreeing as to the course proper to be steered, as well as to
a more serious obstacle in the way of compensation, the stranger throwing
out some pretty plain hints about salvage; and Mr. Monday staying from an
inveterate attachment to the steward's stores, more of which, he rightly
judged, would now fall to his share than formerly.
Sir George Templemore had gone on board the store-ship, and had given some
very clear demonstrations of an intention to transfer himself and the
thirty-six pair of breeches to that vessel; but on examining her comforts,
and particularly the confined place in which he should be compelled to
stow himself and his numerous curiosities, he was unequal to the
sacrifice. On the other hand, he knew an entire state-room would now fall
to his share, and this self-indulged and feeble-minded young man preferred
his immediate comfort, and the gratification of his besetting weakness, to
his safety.
As for Mr. Dodge, he had the American mania of hurry, and was one of the
first to propose a general swarming, as soon as it was known the stranger
could receive them. During the night, he had been actively employed in
fomenting a party to "resolve" that prudence required the Montauk should
be altogether abandoned, and even after this scheme failed, he had dwelt
eloquently in corners (Mr. Dodge was too meek, and too purely democratic,
ever to speak aloud, unless under the shadow of public opinion,) on the
propriety of Captain Truck's yielding his own judgment to that of the
majority. He might as well have scolded against the late gale, in the
expectation of out-railing the tempest, as to make such an attempt on the
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