William John Hopkins

“ And Lydia had been sitting on that pile of lumber, as it dwindled from day to day, leaning forward, her chin in her hand, and with interest in her eyes; or she had fished from the string-piece of the wharf, and had caught, perhaps, three chogset an hour; or she had gone to the salt-works with Helena and the laughing baby; or she had been sailing with Helena in the little white schooner.
Helena came out of the cottage, the baby in one arm, and stopped beside Lydia Challis.
"Will you go sailing?" she asked shyly. "To the ends of the earth." ”

“ If I might regulate the matter, low tide should always fall at sunset or at dawn. Either is a fitting time, with the old earth at peace and its waters stilled or just waking. And at either time I may satisfy my soul with the unapproachable coloring of the Great Painter. The hot noon is no time for clamming. [7] Then the water glares in your eyes, the sun beats down upon your back. The mud is just mud that stinketh in the nostrils. But when I have the happiness to go clamming at sunset, I am wont to stand and gaze and muse, forgetting my errand until I am sunken to my ankles in the mud. ”

“ Sally smiled a pitiful little smile. "Why, I don't know, mother. Is anything the matter?"
"Something must be. A girl like you doesn't get so low-spirited for nothing. It has been going on for nearly a year now. What is it, Sally? Can't you tell me, dear?"
"I wish I could, mother. I wish I knew. If I knew, I would tell you. I don't. I only know that nothing seems to be worth while and that I can't care about anything. A pity, isn't it?" And Sally smiled again.
"Sally, don't! If you smile like that again you will make me cry." ”

“ The breeze had lightened, and the old ship lumbered along lazily, pitching slowly in the swells, and now and then throwing sheets of spray from her forefoot when a sea chanced to break with it. I could not see it, but I could hear it. I stood behind the steersman, and I forgot Batavia and Mr. Brown as I looked out astern over our slowly seething wake in a golden ocean, with crimson lights, and with shadows of dark green and blue in the seas which chased us. The crew were finishing the cleaning up of the ship with ashes from the try-works, and their noise sounded faintly behind me. ”

“ Truly, the digging of clams has its delights, and not all the rich are fitted to partake thereof. For how many of them see what lies before their eyes? How many of them see the colors the old sun spreads on the still water and the shining mud? A flat is a flat to them, a thing to be shunned; a thing that will spoil their white flannels and get their dresses all muddy. Not all of them are Old Goodwins. And the works of the Great Painter are not for such as these. But the colors were gone now, and the light, too, and I heard Eve sighing. ”

“ And the gaze of the sitters would pass beyond the men fishing, as it would pass beyond the nest of piles at the corner of the wharf, as being a thing familiar and of no moment, and it would linger on the surface of the harbor, where many small boats and a few larger ones swung at their moorings, and where the breeze ruffled the water and little waves danced in the sun; and it would soon pass to the opposite shore of the harbor, where many windmills turned above little square, weather-beaten roofs, pumping up water for the making of salt. ”

“ By the middle of September the beach is all mine; all mine through the autumn storms, with their winds so wild that I can scarcely stand up against them, and which often, in my pacing to and fro, have brought me to a halt or even forced me back a step; winds which whip the spray and the rain about me and tear at my coat and lash my face with wet sand. ”

“ Tidda and the Sands girl were picking their way among the great pebbles of the shore, Tidda with light feet skipping from pebble to pebble, the Sands girl going more cautiously and clumsily.
Eve sighed again. "We may as well follow. There is no knowing what they will be up to next."
So I rose and we turned to follow, and there was Elizabeth Radnor not ten steps away, smiling and regarding us with friendly eyes. As she drew near her eyes looked gray-green, not hazel, calm and humorous and knowing. Perhaps they are of the changeable kind. I have seen changeable eyes before. ”

“ That road had been unequaled for beauty, thirty years before. Sally had heard Patty speak of it often, mourning its loss. She, herself, had seen great stretches of that shore taken by the mills within the past ten years, and she had not known enough to speak or even to care. The people were mill-mad—or sleeping. Well—and Sally sighed—a haughty spirit before destruction; just before it, she hoped. A thousand times rather the few hardened sailor-men in their place than that horde everywhere. ”

“ So for some while we stood silent, and I saw the gold and the red fade from the clouds, and the clouds themselves were gone, deep banks of indigo, into the east. Then the western sky was grown violet and a green like the curl of a wave, till, overhead, it became the night. And I looked at Eve, and her look smote upon my heart, for it was troubled. But I might not say the thing I would; for shall a fisherman so speak to a governess to the Rich? Even a governess to the Rich may have her woes, it seems, and it is no fisherman’s part—
“Eve,” I said. ”

“ And the soft salt breeze blew in their faces, and it made a sound as it blew, and above their heads there was the measured tapping of a slack rope on the taut canvas, and from the bow the sound of water as it was pushed aside, and down by the lee scuppers the gentle hissing of breaking bubbles that passed swiftly astern. Lydia's eyes were fixed on the far horizon, on the hazy blue line of the islands, and the baby was fast asleep in Lydia's arm, and she smiled in her sleep. And Gotthard was sitting on the coaming of the galley hatch, and he gazed out ahead and leaned his elbows on his knees. ”

“ It made me think of the terns fishing off Ricketson’s Point in Padanaram: tacking slowly, beating to windward, the eyes above the coral-red bill, like a man at the masthead, keeping a bright lookout for fish; then coming down swiftly with the wind to the leeward side of their cruising ground to begin once more their slow beating against the wind. In just this way, when the ship has reached the windward edge of her cruising ground, she wears around, and comes down before it, to repeat the process until the old man has tired of it. ”

“ A sailing vessel is a living thing, and each has ways of her own. You feel her response to each movement of the wheel or each change of sail or trim of sheet, and that response is sometimes willing and sometimes unwilling. She is like a woman, responding instantly and gladly to a man who persuades her with sympathy and understanding, and doing her best; while to a man without true understanding of her she is reluctant and contrary and stubborn. I have no experience in vessels of size, but you can ask Captain Fergus. ”

“ But as it was a lovely summer day, the first really warm day of the summer, and as the birds were singing madly in the orchard as though they knew it was a very special occasion and one to be celebrated accordingly, and as the orchard was a very inviting place with a gentle breeze rustling the leaves of the apple trees, and as the view over the little valley was more attractive than the most beautiful interior of old houses, and as—well, without continuing the catalogue of reasons, the people gradually drifted outside, two at a time. ”

“ The projecting snout of the shark is the one sensitive place in his whole body. The struggles of this shark were terrific. He thrashed the water with his tail, sending up sheets of spray which drenched Hall and Miller on the cutting-stage; then the sea receded, and his tail thrashed the bare blubber with noises like explosions. The crew quickly gathered at the rail, laughing at Hall and Miller, and at the struggles of the shark. But his struggles were not fruitless, for they freed the spades from the body of the whale, and the shark slipped back into the sea. ”

“ I remembered me of a day, not two months back, that had been a driving drizzle of rain, and of a certain figure that had stood beneath a tree, and the water dripped from the rim of her wide felt hat, and shone upon her long coat. And that day, with all its wetness, had seemed as good a day as this, for she had smiled to see me coming along the shore, my face as black as the clouds, and not expecting to find her ”

“ The little white schooner was ready, with her mainsail up. Lydia took the wheel and the baby, while Helena went to help Gotthard. It all went like clockwork. Helena walked aft and sat down beside Lydia.
"I didn't suppose you knew so much about a boat."
"Or a baby," said Lydia. "You thought, I suppose, that I was one of those useless women who don't know how to do anything but scream and who have no interest in life. Well," she added slowly, "I hadn't an interest in life—until I found you at your salt-works, Helena. ”

“ The great surges thunder down upon the beach with a continuous roar, stirring up the sand and leaving their foam in mounds which stay but an instant, quivering, then are seized by the wind and are scattered and go racing off before it, so that the whole beach is white, It is glorious. I ride home with an exaltation of spirit. I could do great deeds.
Not that I do any. I don't. As I draw near home I get to thinking again of Betty Bethune, and the exaltation of spirit slips from me like an old cloak. ”

“ Sally shook her head slowly. "There's nothing the matter, Henrietta. I was only thinking what a lucky man Dick is."
The flush on Henrietta's face deepened. "Oh, do you think so, Sally?" she asked softly. "Do you really think so? I was a little bit afraid you didn't approve. And how about me? Don't you think I'm a lucky girl?"
"Very," answered Sally, smiling still. "Dick is everything that's good. He's the one best man for you. ”

“ When you are at anchor in harbor, and the darkness makes outlines dim, it is not difficult to imagine that Zanzibar is New Bedford—or that any place is any other place, as long as it has a harbor and a water front; especially if that other place shines like a star in your memory. I have got much pleasure, all my life, from giving my imagination free rein. It is a harmless diversion. I was doing so then, standing without motion by the main rigging, and I must have been but one of the shadows of rigging, and coils of rope hanging from belaying pins, and davits. ”

“ Helena was sitting upon the log in an attitude of dejection, her head in her hands, gazing down with sombre eyes at a row of tins ranged before her and pretending to be busy inspecting the filled tins. She had to keep busy.
She did not look up even after she had become aware of a silent presence, for she thought it was the old man with his barrow of salt. But he did not move, and after a long time she looked up, and it was not Barnet she saw standing at a little distance before her, but a young man, or the wreck of one, tall and bronzed, but lean and thin to emaciation. ”

“ And such a day maketh the soul of a man to rejoice—if he be in truth a man, and not a mere beast of burden—it maketh the soul of him to rejoice within him and his heart to sing; and of such as rejoice not in such a day, there is little hope.
And Eve and I came to the bank, where the pebbles shone in the sun—save some few that had been washed out in the storms of winter. Eve cried out at that, and set herself to find others, that she make the names whole again. ”

“ Dick Torrington has come in every afternoon since I hurt my foot, and, now that I can get about so well, he takes me for a walk. It's very slow business for him, of course, but he doesn't seem to mind, either. It's astonishing how many people don't seem to mind. Dick is very nice and kind and satisfying. He reminds me of you in many ways. He always treats me like a person,—as if I were as old as he is,—not as if I was only a little girl and of no consequence, as Everett Morton seems to think. Dick seems to like to take me out. ”

“ The noises of the life of the ship—not very loud at their worst, in such a case—are far behind you, and they come faintly to your ears, as if from another world. They do not seem real, as do the bubbling of the water under the bow, and the wash of it as it passes astern, and the faint noise of breaking seas, and the soft sound of the wind on the sails. ”

“ And once more the baby caught a glimpse of gold shining, and she clung to Lydia Challis's shoulder and pulled herself to her feet, and she snatched at the gleam of gold, and she got it, and she pulled forth the ring. And she pulled so suddenly and so hard that the slender gold chain was broken and the ring fell, and it bounded once upon the deck and rolled into the scuppers.
"Oh, baby!" Lydia cried. "My ring! What have you done!"
"I'll get it, Lydia," said Helena. And she went down upon one knee and retrieved the ring.
"Here it is, Lydia," she said, smiling. "It's not hurt at all." ”

“ And, having made the test, I hurried to the house.
“Eve,” I shouted—I must needs shout, with the spring rioting in my veins. “Eve, the spring is here!”
And Eve laughed—and came out a door at my elbow. “Why do you shout it so, Adam? Have I not known it this last month? For the song sparrows came long since, and the bluebirds, and it is weeks since I saw the first robin. And now the birds are coming fast. Why shout it? As well come in and shout that the sun is shining.”
“Truly that would be well done, too,” I answered, “for the sun shines as it has not shone these many months. ”

“ I heard quiet stirrings on the cabin ladder and down the booby-hatch, and I knew that the mates and boatsteerers would be on hand in a few seconds; and noises in the cabin told me that Captain Nelson would not be far behind. Mr. Snow’s attention had at last been attracted by a movement behind the mainmast—the man there was so scared that he could not keep still—and he raised his rifle. It was like shooting point-blank at the side of a barn. He might easily hit the man, who had not sense enough to keep behind the mast, but kept popping out. ”

“ What is a fisherman, that he should offer the little that he has to you? But I am well-to-do, Eve,—for a fisherman. You should never want—nor work. And if you might find it in your heart”—
“I will consider your offer, good fisherman,” she said, smiling. “I must consider. You have—I must tell you, [61] in justice, you have an even chance with that other. But I must consider.”
“So an honest fisherman, well-to-do, has an even chance with a rich rascal whom you do not love. That is a high price on honesty, Eve.”
“Yes,” she said, “but not too high. And now, Adam, be my good friend still.” ”

“ Captain Nelson was going over for a “gam.” Now a gam is nothing more nor less than a gossip: each gives the other what news he has, the gossip of home from the outbound captain, and from the inbound the gossip of whales and their ways, and news of whalers and captains that he has met, the number of barrels of oil that the George and Susan has taken, the accident to the Addison, the men that the Gosnold lost by a fighting whale on the Carroll grounds, and any other items of interest that he can remember. ”

“ For, I thought, here is one of the maids from the house of Goodwin the Rich—or perhaps the governess; yes, surely, the governess. The truly Rich may insist upon sweet voices in their governesses. And at last I turned and saw the governess sitting upon the bank, just where the sod broke off to the sand. And the light from the western sky shone upon her, the light from the sky that was all yellows and reds and would soon be turned to violet and green. ”

“ Where we were, the wind was nothing more than a light, variable air, mostly from the southwest; but the Battles was bringing with her a brisk breeze from the southeast. I ran below to get my glass—that load of junk—and hung it about my neck. When I got on deck again the Battles seemed to be hesitating, coming up slowly into the wind, her topsails shaking and her booms evidently swinging. It was as if she no longer felt the directing hand of any man; as if there was nobody at the helm, or she had lost her rudder. I thought it queer behavior, and so did Captain Nelson. ”

“ She smiled, a smile as sweet as her voice, but with a touch of sadness in it. The life of a governess to the Rich is not all a path of roses.
“Yes,” she said. “I came down to see the sun set, too. But why are you digging?”
“I was digging clams,” I answered gently. For I felt a sorrow for her sadness.
“Oh,” she said, “do you dig clams? Have you some clams in your basket? I should like to see some clams.”
Now, truly, that was an easy matter, that she should see some clams, for there they were in the basket. [12] And the sun was gone, so I lost none of his company if I would please the governess. ”

“ This was the sort of thing that disgusted me with whaling, and made it seem nothing more than a bloody, dirty business, which tended to brutalize the men who took part in it. A whale should be willing—determined—to fight for his life, if it was worth anything to him. A fight made it all worth while, and the better the fight the more worth while it seemed, to me, at any rate. The prospect of a good fight always did fill me with elation, in spite of myself. ”

“ But, I reflected, all married people are not as Eve and I; and we have been married but a few months—although it will be the same when the months are become years, I do believe. And Eve and her mother are two very different persons. So, as we sat, Eve sewed upon her doll’s dresses, unabashed; and Old Goodwin, if he noted it, and saw upon what her fingers were busy, gave no sign of his surprise—it is not easy to surprise him—but he seemed to find pleasure in the sight. ”

“ At last the Battles put her helm down, slacked off her sheets, backed one topsail, and hung there, almost near enough for us to heave a line aboard of her. No one on her hailed us, but some of her men were standing at the rail like wooden images, watching us, while others were going lazily aloft. By this time our whale had spouted his last spout, and lay quiet in the sea, with our irons still in him and our line fast to them. Mr. Baker’s men had their oars in the water, and his boat seemed to be drifting toward the Battles. I saw Mr. Wallet and another standing by the man at the wheel. ”

“ Possibly, even now, there is a whale, fairly old, swimming the seas somewhere, with an old rusty harpoon encysted in his shoulder, the remains of a frayed old line trailing from it, fringed with green or brown trailing weed along its whole length, encrusted with barnacles, and alive with little crabs and sea-horses. ”

“ Altogether, the Annie Battles would have been called at once powerful and able. That was the term that sprang at once to a sailor’s lips—an able boat, a very able boat. I heard it from many, and it was the first thing they said. I cannot think of any form of praise that I would rather have had if I had been her designer; it means so much, speed, seaworthiness, ability to carry sail with safety. It must have given Coffin, master, a great deal of sheer pleasure merely to contemplate his vessel, there was that beauty in her. ”

“ It was a beautiful harbor. It is a beautiful harbor now; but there seems to me to be something lacking, and less of that atmosphere of peace and serenity which I loved. Although there are still a few of the old square-riggers left there are many days and weeks together when not one of them is at the wharves, and I have not seen a vessel hove down in many years. It is no longer to be expected that, as one turns into Hamilton Street, there will appear the once familiar tracery of masts and yards hanging like a net before his eyes ”