Foxholme Hall, and Other Tales by William Henry Giles Kingston
That evening was thelast we saw of fine weather. It seemed sent us on purpose to show howpleasant the world could be, and to make us wish the more to remain init. On the morning following the one I have described, a dark mass ofclouds was seen gathering in the south-west, rising out of the sea, andevery instant growing denser and broader, as recruits from all quartersarrived; then, like some mighty host, which has been waiting the arrivalof its various divisions, onward it began its march towards us. As thedark body advanced, its movement became more rapid, and at last, as ifurged on by some irresistible impulse, it rushed forward in an impetuouscharge, covering the whole sky with its overwhelming masses. Thecaptain had been called on deck the moment the sky had assumed thisthreatening aspect, and he immediately ordered all the lighter sails tobe handed, the courses to be brailed up, and the ship to be kept on thestarboard tack, under her topsails. As yet there had been a perfectcalm, and the sails flapped idly against the masts, though the shiprolled heavily in the smooth ominous billows, which had been rising forsome hours past. Suddenly, the wind burst forth from the dark clouds,accompanied with rain and hail, and struck the ship on her broadside,while the forked lightning played round her on every side, as if eagerto make her feel its power. Like a reed bent before the wind, the stoutship yielded to the fierce blast. It howled in triumph over her. In aninstant, her gunwale was under water, and the waves washed up her decksand threatened to fill her hold. She was in as bad a position as a shipcan be placed in, and it seemed that every moment would he her last.Derick now showed that he was a good seaman, cool and fearless indanger.
"`Furl the mizzen-topsail,' he shouted out. `Up with her helm--brail upthe main-topsail--furl it--she'll not steer without it.' Themizzen-topsail and main-topsail were furled, the fore-topsail was backedagainst the mast, the fore-staysail and jib were set, but to no purpose.Still she lay like a log upon the waters with her broadside to thesea."
Story 13--CHAPTER TWO.
"I ought to have said that all this time Mrs Derick, who had refused tostay below, was on deck seated aft under the weather bulwarks, andlooking on less frightened perhaps than awe-struck at the wild scenebefore her. On finding that the ship still refused to wear, the captainsummoned the mates with some of the best hands aft, and gave them theorder to cut away the mizzen mast. With gleaming axes in our hands weset to work, the shrouds were severed, and after a few sharp strokes themast tottered and fell with a crash into the boiling sea. Thelooked-for effect was not produced--still the ship would not wear.Another mast must be sacrificed; no other remedy remained. Again wegave the fatal strokes which must reduce our ship to a wreck upon thewaters; over fell the tall mast with its spars and rigging, and a fewmore cuts served to sever it from the labouring hull. The effect wasinstantly perceptible--the ship righted, the helm was kept up, and awayshe flew before the howling tempest.
"Scarcely was she before the wind than the storm increased with tenfoldfury, the wind blew more fiercely, the thunder rolled more loudly, therain and hail came down in thicker torrents, the lightning flashed morevividly, while the waves rose on every side in black mountainous ridgescovered with curling crests of foam, which the wind sent in showers onour decks even when the water itself did not break over us.
"The foremast had hitherto stood secure, though weakened by the loss ofthe mainmast, but now as the tempest came down stronger on us, that tootottered, and went by the board, carrying the bowsprit with it. As thislast accident happened, the captain's wife shrieked with terror; it wasanswered by a shout of shrill laughter, so loud, so piercing, and sounnatural, that it made the heart of every one on board tremble. Itmight well do so, for as we looked over the side of the driving ship,what should we see right abreast of us, in a small skiff, gliding overthe frothy summits of the waves, but the very old woman who had utteredsuch dreadful curses at us as we were quitting Liverpool--Dame Kirby!There she sat in the stern sheets of the boat, steering by an oar withone hand, while the left bony arm was stretched out pointing derisivelyat us, and her countenance, as full of malignant revenge as is possiblefor any being possessing human features, was turned full upon us. Alarge sail was hoisted on the single mast, enough, one would havesupposed, to lift the light skiff right out of the water; but she sat ascomposedly as if she were floating on a lake on a summer's evening; herboat did not seem to ship a drop of water, nor ever to sink into thetrough of the sea, but it somehow or other went along on the summit ofevery wave.
"Every one on board saw the old woman, and knew her to be Dame Kirby.So did poor Mrs Derick; and after gazing at her wildly for some time,she could bear the dreadful sight no longer, and fell back in a swoon.Her husband ran to raise her, and as he supported her in his arms, heshouted out to the old woman to begone, and to be content with themischief she had already caused. Indeed, there was not a soul on boardwho did not believe that she had done all the damage we had suffered.The hag only laughed and jeered at him the more he stormed, and so madlyenraged did he become at her mockery, that I do believe had he not beenholding his wife in his arms, he would in his passion have flung himselfoverboard to get hold of her.
"It must not be supposed that the officers and crew were idle all thistime, for as soon as the foremast went we set to work to get up a jurymast on the stump of the foremast, to prevent the ship from broachingto; this, three men at the wheel had meantime the greatest difficulty inpreventing her doing. At length, after much labour, we got up a sparetopgallant mast, and set a topgallant sail on it, and all present dangerwas over. No sooner had we done this, than the witch uttered a loud`Ha, ha, ha,' which sounded like what one might suppose to be the croakof a frog in a merry mood, only a hundred times louder and shriller thanany frog ever croaked; and about she put her skiff, and away she wentright in the wind's eye, accompanied by a storm of lightning and rain,at the rate of not less than twenty knots an hour. When she haddisappeared, the poor lady began to come to herself again, and herhusband tried to persuade her that what she had seen was all fancy, andlaughed heartily at the idea of an old woman in a red cloak coming outinto the middle of the Atlantic in a skiff, which could not live amoment in such a sea as there was running.
"But she knew well enough all the time what she had seen, and nothing hecould say to the contrary could persuade her that some dreadful disasterwould not happen to them. I will do him the justice to say that, withall his faults, he was as brave a fellow as ever stepped, or he wouldnot have borne up as he did. Any one to look at him, or to hear him,would suppose that he had no more seen the old woman than if she hadnever existed, while all the time it was on his account especially thatshe thus haunted us.
"Where we should have got to, I don't know, at the rate we were driving,but the next day the wind shifted right round again to the north-east,and sent us back as fast as we came till we were off the city of Rio deJaneiro, in the Brazils.
"We managed to steer into that magnificent harbour, and as we were inevident distress we were allowed to remain and refit; but the Portuguesein those days were not a bit wiser than their Spanish neighbours, andwould allow no foreign trader to come into their ports.
"The harbour of Rio is a magnificent expanse of water, and the countrywould be the finest in the world in the hands of any of the northernnations of Europe; but the Portuguese did not know how to take advantageof the blessings given them by Heaven, either at home or in thecolonies, and except in the neighbourhood of Rio itself, the greaterportion of the Brazils was uncultivated. It is, however, a verypleasant place to visit, and our captain, leaving the ship in charge ofthe first mate, took his wife on shore, where, among the delightfulorange groves and gardens, she soon recovered from the shock her spiritshad received from the events I have described.
"We remained here for several weeks refitting the ship, for thePortuguese carpenters and riggers, though they did their work well, gotthrough it very slowly, and though our owners suffered by the delay, wehad no reason to complain. At last the ship was all ataunto and readyfor sea. As Captain Derick with his prett
y wife on his arm came down onthe quay before going on board, he stopped to admire the appearance ofthe _Chameleon_. He pointed out her beauties with satisfaction as shelay in all her pride a short distance from the shore, looking as ifnothing had ever hurt her.
"`There she is, my love, as stout and brave a ship as ever sailed thesalt ocean,' he exclaimed. `We may bid defiance to the old woman, ifshe ever thinks fit to come near us again. Not that I believe one wasreally seen--it was fancy, my love, fancy, the work of the imagination,that often plays strange freaks. I was wrong to allude to the subject.'He spoke hurriedly, and afterwards broke into a laugh, for fear hiswife should suspect he and the rest of us really had seen the witch.They came on board, the anchor was run up cheerily to the bows, thesails were loosened, and with a fine northerly breeze we stood out ofthe harbour, and kept away once more on our course. We
"`Furl the mizzen-topsail,' he shouted out. `Up with her helm--brail upthe main-topsail--furl it--she'll not steer without it.' Themizzen-topsail and main-topsail were furled, the fore-topsail was backedagainst the mast, the fore-staysail and jib were set, but to no purpose.Still she lay like a log upon the waters with her broadside to thesea."
Story 13--CHAPTER TWO.
"I ought to have said that all this time Mrs Derick, who had refused tostay below, was on deck seated aft under the weather bulwarks, andlooking on less frightened perhaps than awe-struck at the wild scenebefore her. On finding that the ship still refused to wear, the captainsummoned the mates with some of the best hands aft, and gave them theorder to cut away the mizzen mast. With gleaming axes in our hands weset to work, the shrouds were severed, and after a few sharp strokes themast tottered and fell with a crash into the boiling sea. Thelooked-for effect was not produced--still the ship would not wear.Another mast must be sacrificed; no other remedy remained. Again wegave the fatal strokes which must reduce our ship to a wreck upon thewaters; over fell the tall mast with its spars and rigging, and a fewmore cuts served to sever it from the labouring hull. The effect wasinstantly perceptible--the ship righted, the helm was kept up, and awayshe flew before the howling tempest.
"Scarcely was she before the wind than the storm increased with tenfoldfury, the wind blew more fiercely, the thunder rolled more loudly, therain and hail came down in thicker torrents, the lightning flashed morevividly, while the waves rose on every side in black mountainous ridgescovered with curling crests of foam, which the wind sent in showers onour decks even when the water itself did not break over us.
"The foremast had hitherto stood secure, though weakened by the loss ofthe mainmast, but now as the tempest came down stronger on us, that tootottered, and went by the board, carrying the bowsprit with it. As thislast accident happened, the captain's wife shrieked with terror; it wasanswered by a shout of shrill laughter, so loud, so piercing, and sounnatural, that it made the heart of every one on board tremble. Itmight well do so, for as we looked over the side of the driving ship,what should we see right abreast of us, in a small skiff, gliding overthe frothy summits of the waves, but the very old woman who had utteredsuch dreadful curses at us as we were quitting Liverpool--Dame Kirby!There she sat in the stern sheets of the boat, steering by an oar withone hand, while the left bony arm was stretched out pointing derisivelyat us, and her countenance, as full of malignant revenge as is possiblefor any being possessing human features, was turned full upon us. Alarge sail was hoisted on the single mast, enough, one would havesupposed, to lift the light skiff right out of the water; but she sat ascomposedly as if she were floating on a lake on a summer's evening; herboat did not seem to ship a drop of water, nor ever to sink into thetrough of the sea, but it somehow or other went along on the summit ofevery wave.
"Every one on board saw the old woman, and knew her to be Dame Kirby.So did poor Mrs Derick; and after gazing at her wildly for some time,she could bear the dreadful sight no longer, and fell back in a swoon.Her husband ran to raise her, and as he supported her in his arms, heshouted out to the old woman to begone, and to be content with themischief she had already caused. Indeed, there was not a soul on boardwho did not believe that she had done all the damage we had suffered.The hag only laughed and jeered at him the more he stormed, and so madlyenraged did he become at her mockery, that I do believe had he not beenholding his wife in his arms, he would in his passion have flung himselfoverboard to get hold of her.
"It must not be supposed that the officers and crew were idle all thistime, for as soon as the foremast went we set to work to get up a jurymast on the stump of the foremast, to prevent the ship from broachingto; this, three men at the wheel had meantime the greatest difficulty inpreventing her doing. At length, after much labour, we got up a sparetopgallant mast, and set a topgallant sail on it, and all present dangerwas over. No sooner had we done this, than the witch uttered a loud`Ha, ha, ha,' which sounded like what one might suppose to be the croakof a frog in a merry mood, only a hundred times louder and shriller thanany frog ever croaked; and about she put her skiff, and away she wentright in the wind's eye, accompanied by a storm of lightning and rain,at the rate of not less than twenty knots an hour. When she haddisappeared, the poor lady began to come to herself again, and herhusband tried to persuade her that what she had seen was all fancy, andlaughed heartily at the idea of an old woman in a red cloak coming outinto the middle of the Atlantic in a skiff, which could not live amoment in such a sea as there was running.
"But she knew well enough all the time what she had seen, and nothing hecould say to the contrary could persuade her that some dreadful disasterwould not happen to them. I will do him the justice to say that, withall his faults, he was as brave a fellow as ever stepped, or he wouldnot have borne up as he did. Any one to look at him, or to hear him,would suppose that he had no more seen the old woman than if she hadnever existed, while all the time it was on his account especially thatshe thus haunted us.
"Where we should have got to, I don't know, at the rate we were driving,but the next day the wind shifted right round again to the north-east,and sent us back as fast as we came till we were off the city of Rio deJaneiro, in the Brazils.
"We managed to steer into that magnificent harbour, and as we were inevident distress we were allowed to remain and refit; but the Portuguesein those days were not a bit wiser than their Spanish neighbours, andwould allow no foreign trader to come into their ports.
"The harbour of Rio is a magnificent expanse of water, and the countrywould be the finest in the world in the hands of any of the northernnations of Europe; but the Portuguese did not know how to take advantageof the blessings given them by Heaven, either at home or in thecolonies, and except in the neighbourhood of Rio itself, the greaterportion of the Brazils was uncultivated. It is, however, a verypleasant place to visit, and our captain, leaving the ship in charge ofthe first mate, took his wife on shore, where, among the delightfulorange groves and gardens, she soon recovered from the shock her spiritshad received from the events I have described.
"We remained here for several weeks refitting the ship, for thePortuguese carpenters and riggers, though they did their work well, gotthrough it very slowly, and though our owners suffered by the delay, wehad no reason to complain. At last the ship was all ataunto and readyfor sea. As Captain Derick with his prett
"`There she is, my love, as stout and brave a ship as ever sailed thesalt ocean,' he exclaimed. `We may bid defiance to the old woman, ifshe ever thinks fit to come near us again. Not that I believe one wasreally seen--it was fancy, my love, fancy, the work of the imagination,that often plays strange freaks. I was wrong to allude to the subject.'He spoke hurriedly, and afterwards broke into a laugh, for fear hiswife should suspect he and the rest of us really had seen the witch.They came on board, the anchor was run up cheerily to the bows, thesails were loosened, and with a fine northerly breeze we stood out ofthe harbour, and kept away once more on our course. We