The Pilot and his Wife

Chapter 5

The party, meanwhile, that had left the ship, were passing the night

with old Jacob on Torungen. They had tried first to beat out to the

larger island, but the sea had risen, darkness had set in, and it had

soon become evident that it was no longer pleasure-sailing for a boat

with ladies in it. They had determined, therefore, rather than go about

for home, and lose the whole sporting expedition, which was to have

lasted for two or three days, to spend the night on Little Torungen and

see what the morning would do for them.

Great was old Jacob's astonishment, it may readily be supposed, when

there came in the late evening a knocking at the door, and he saw by the

light from the hearth no less than six grand folk come streaming in,

with two ladies amongst them. He shaded his eyes with his hand, and

looked at them in mute amazement.

As for Elizabeth, if it had been a train of fairies that had suddenly

appeared, they could not have occasioned her more terror and curiosity.

It was getting near bedtime, and she had been sitting half-asleep over

the fire, and perhaps her suddenly awakened excitement lent a more than

usual animation and attraction to a pair of eyes and a face that would

nowhere have passed unnoticed; for Carl Beck, who was at the head of the

party, seemed positively fascinated, and could not take his eyes off

her, until, reddening with confusion, she instinctively stretched out

her hand for her bodice, that lay beside her on the bench.

"Good evening, Jacob, old boy," cried Carl, in the frank, off-hand

manner that became him so well, going up to the old fellow, and laying

his hand cordially on his shoulder. "I'm afraid we shall be very

troublesome to you, such a large party; but we want you to let us stay

here till morning, till we see if the weather moderates a bit. We

daren't go driving out in the dark to Great Torungen, on account of

these women folk that we have on board,"--and he pointed, jokingly, to

his sister and her friend.

"I see you have to deal with womankind too, so you know what it is."

The old man was apparently not insensible to this genial way of dealing

with him. He rose from his seat and made room at the fire, begging that

they would put up with what accommodation he had to offer, and telling

Elizabeth at the same time to go out for more wood.

While the party gathered round the fire, and made themselves as

comfortable as they could, Carl Beck was outside with the boatmen,

seeing about having the provisions brought up. He came in again with

Elizabeth, also with an armful of wood. Throwing it down, laughing, he

cried--

"Now for a 'bowl,' as our friends the Swedes have it. But first, out

with the food."

There was no scarcity of eatables, which were discussed amid a running

fire of conversation upon every kind of topic; and then came the "bowl,"

a composition of various strong and spicy ingredients, of which Carl had

the secret, and which finally was lighted, and ladled into the glasses

whilst the blue flame was burning.

Carl Beck was the life of the party; and very well he looked as he sat

there astride over the bench, with his glass in his hand, and his

officer's jacket with its anchor-buttons thrown open, and sang first one

and then another of the rollicking drinking-songs that were then in

vogue, the others joining in the chorus. He gave them, then, a cheery

sailor-song, which brought in its train a series of anecdotes from the

recent war.

Old Jacob, under the influence of the prevailing good-fellowship and the

good cheer, had become uncommonly lively for him, and would even put in

a word now and then. But every attempt to make him tell a story himself

failed. Only when the action at the Heather Islands came up for

discussion for a while did he come out with a bit of a yarn, as he

called it.

"Yes," he said, putting carefully down the glass that was handed to him,

"it was a great battle, was that. The country lost a fine ship there,

and many a brave lad to boot. But God's curse hangs over the man that

piloted the Englishman in to the Sand Islands--although none here, while

he was alive, knew his name. It was said he soon after made an end of

himself through remorse, like Judas Iscariot. However that may be, at

the mouth of the channel there is a flat sunk rock that a man in his

sea-boots can stand on at low water, and there they see him on moonlight

nights making piteous signs for help, until the water at last comes over

his head, and he disappears. God help the man that'll row out to

him--it's always foul weather when he is to be seen."

"Have you ever seen him yourself, Jacob?" asked Carl Beck.

"I'll not say that I have, and I'll not say that I haven't. But I know

that the last time I was off those islands, we had such tremendous

weather that we thought ourselves lucky in making any port at all."

For a while every one was busied with the thoughts which Jacob's recital

had suggested, and there was a solemn pause, which was broken by Carl

Beck's striking up another song to keep off sleep:--

He repeated the last couplet with a gay inclination of his glass to the

ladies, who were sitting now tired and huddled together on the bench,

and over their heads to Elizabeth, who was standing in the background,

awake enough for both of them. The light from the fire fell upon his

handsome brown face, with the raven black curly hair, and the dark eyes

that it was said he had inherited from his recently deceased mother, who

was from Brest; and with his flow of animal spirits, that sufficed for

the whole party almost, he certainly was as manly and handsome a lad as

you would wish to meet.

The wind by this time had gone down considerably; and, as day was

breaking, the whole party were in the boat once more and enjoying a

quiet sleep as they sailed. It was long, though, before Elizabeth could

get out of her thoughts the handsome young officer who had sat there by

the fire. And many a time would she conjure up his form on the bench

again--particularly as he looked when he held up his glass and glanced

over to her while he sang--