Newton Forster; Or, The Merchant Service. Фредерик Марриет
had he been enabled to continue in his profession, would in all probability have risen by his merit to its highest grades; but having served his time as midshipman, he received a desperate wound in “cutting out,” and shortly after obtained his promotion to the rank of lieutenant for his gallant conduct. His wound was of that severe description that he was obliged to quit the service, and, for a time, retire upon his half pay. For many years, he looked forward to the period when he could resume his career:—but in vain; the wound broke out again and again; fresh splinters of the bone continually worked out, and he was doomed to constant disappointment. At last it healed; but years of suffering had quenched the ardour of youth, and when he did apply for employment, his services had been forgotten. He received a cool negative, almost consonant to his wishes: and returned, without feeling mortified, to the cottage we have described, where he lived a secluded yet not an unhappy life. His wants were few, and his half pay more than adequate to supply them. A happy contemplative indolence, arising from a well cultivated mind, feeding rather upon its previous acquirements, than adding to its store—an equanimity of disposition, and a habit of rigid self-command—were the characteristics of Edward Forster; whom I shall now awaken, that we may proceed with our narrative.
“Well, I do declare, Mr. Forster, you have had a famous nap,” cried Mrs. Beazeley, in a tone of voice so loud as to put an immediate end to his slumber, as she entered his room with some hot water to assist him in that masculine operation, the diurnal painful return of which has been considered to be more than tantamount in suffering to the occasional ‘pleasing punishment which women bear,’ Although this cannot be proved until ladies are endowed with beards, (which Heaven forfend!) or some modern Tiresias shall appear to decide the point, the assertion appears to be borne out, if we reason by analogy from human life; where we find that it is not the heavy blow of sudden misfortune tripping the ladder of our ambition and laying us prostrate, which constitutes life’s intermittent “fitful fever;” but the thousand petty vexations of hourly occurrence.—We return to Mrs. Beazeley, who continued—“Why, it’s nine o’clock, Mr. Forster, and a nice fresh morning it is too, after last night’s tempest. And pray what did you hear and see, sir?” continued the old woman, opening the shutters, and admitting a blaze of sunshine, as if determined that at all events he should now both hear and see.
“I’ll tell you all, Mrs. Beazeley, when I am dressed. Let me have my breakfast as soon as you can, for I must be off again to the cove. I did not intend to have slept so late.”
“Why, what’s in the wind now, Mr. Forster?” said the old lady, borrowing one of his nautical phrases.
“If you wish to know, Mrs. Beazeley, the sooner you allow me to get out of bed, the sooner I shall be able to give you the information you require.”
“But what made you stay out so late, Mr. Forster?” continued the housekeeper, who seemed determined, if possible, to have a little information en attendant, to stay her appetite until her curiosity could obtain a more substantial repast.
“I am sorry to say, there was a vessel wrecked.”
“O dear! O dear! Any lives lost?”
“All, I am afraid, except one, and even that is doubtful.”
“O Lord! O Lord! Do, pray, Mr. Forster, tell me all about it.”
“As soon as I am dressed, Mrs. Beazeley,” replied Mr. Forster, making a movement indicative that he was about to “turn out,” whether or no, and which occasioned Mrs. Beazeley to make a hasty retreat.
In a few minutes Forster made his appearance in the parlour, where he found both the kettle and the housekeeper boiling with impatience. He commenced eating and narrating until the respective appetites of Mrs. Beazeley and himself were equally appeased, and then set off for the abode of Robertson, to ascertain the fate of the infant.
How different was the scene from that of the night before! The sea was still in commotion, and as the bright sun shone upon its agitated surface, gilding the summits of the waves, although there was majesty and beauty in the appearance, there was nought to excite terror. The atmosphere, purified by the warfare of the elements, was fresh and bracing. The short verdure which covered the promontory and hills adjacent, was of a more brilliant green, and seemed as if to bask in the sun after the cleansing it had received from the heavy rain; while the sheep (for the coast was one extended sheep-walk) studded the sides of the hills, their white fleeces in strong, yet beautiful contrast, with the deep verdure of nature. The smooth water of the cove, in opposition to the vexed billows of the unsheltered ocean; the murmuring of the light waves, running in long and gently curved lines to their repose upon the yellow sand; their surface occasionally rippled by the eddying breeze as it swept along; his own little skiff safe at her moorings, undulating with the swell; the sea-gulls, who but a few hours ago were screaming with dismay as they buffeted against the fury of the gale, now skimming on the waves, or balanced on the wing near to their inaccessible retreats; the carolling of the smaller birds on every side of him, produced a lightness of heart and quickened pulse, to which Edward Forster had latterly been a stranger.
He soon arrived at the cottage, where the sound of his footsteps brought out the fisherman and his wife, the latter bearing in her arms the little object of his solicitude.
“See, Mr. Forster,” said Jane, holding out the infant, “it’s quite well and hearty, and does nothing but smile. What a lovely babe it is!”
Forster looked at the child, who smiled, as if in gratitude; but his attention was called away by the Newfoundland dog, who fawned upon him, and after having received his caresses, squatted down upon the sand, which he beat with his tail as he looked wistfully in Forster’s face.
Forster took the child from the arms of its new mother. “Thou hast had a narrow escape, poor thing,” said he, and his countenance assumed a melancholy cast as the idea floated in his mind. “Who knows how many more perils may await thee? Who can say whether thou art to be restored to the arms of thy relatives, or be left an orphan to a sailor’s care? Whether it had not been better that the waves should have swallowed thee in thy purity, than thou shouldest be exposed to a heartless world of sorrow and of crime? But He who willed thee to be saved knows best for us who are in darkness;” and Forster kissed its brow, and returned it to the arms of Jane.
Having made a few arrangements with Robertson and his wife, in whose care he resolved at present to leave the child, Forster bent his steps towards the promontory, that he might ascertain if any part of the vessel remained. Stretching over the summit of the cliff, he perceived that several of the lower futtocks and timbers still hung together, and showed themselves above water. Anxious to obtain some clue to her identity, he prepared to descend by a winding and hazardous path which he had before surmounted. In a quarter of an hour he had gained a position close to the wreck; but, with the exception of the shattered remnant which was firmly wedged between the rocks, there was nothing to be seen; not a fragment of her masts and spars, or sails, not a relic of what was once life remained. The tide, which ran furiously round the promontory, had swept them all away, or the undertow of the deep water had buried every detached particle, to be delivered up again, “far, far at sea.” All that Forster could ascertain was, that the vessel was foreign built, and of large tonnage; but who were its unfortunate tenants, or what the cargo, of which she had been despoiled by the devouring waves, was not even to be surmised. The linen on the child was marked J de F; and this was the only clue which remained for its identity. For more than an hour did Forster remain fixed as a statue upon the rock, where he had taken his station with arms folded, while he contemplated the hoarse waves, dashing against the bends, or dividing as they poured themselves between the timbers of the vessel, and he sunk into deep and melancholy thought.
And where is the object exciting more serious reflection than a Wreck?
The pride and ingenuity of man humbled and overcome; the elements of the Lord occupying the fabric which had set them at defiance; tossing, tumbling, and dancing, as if in mockery at their success! The structure, but a few hours past, as perfect as human intellect could devise, towering with its proud canvass over space, and bearing man to greet his fellow-man, over the surface of death!—dashing the billow from her stem,