Captain Branscome

“ Here Captain Brand, having regained some few faculties and energy, moved on beyond the church, till he came to the white coral headstone, where he stood still.
It was his last walk on deck or sand! Shading his still horror-stricken eyes by both hands, he glared to seaward.
“Ho, ho! there you are, my Yankee commodore, with that old brig under convoy, and that pretty schooner! Reminds me of my old ‘Centipede.’ Bueno! there are other ‘Centipedes,’ and I must begin the world anew. I am not old; here is my strong right arm yet; and who can stop me?” ”

“ For some time Brandon had watched the collecting clouds, but at length he turned away, and seemed to find a supreme fascination in the sand-bank. He stood at the stern of the ship, looking fixedly toward the rock, his arms folded, and his thoughts all absorbed in that one thing. A low railing ran round the quarter-deck. The helmsman stood in a sheltered place which rose only two feet above the deck. The captain stood by the companion-way, looking south at the storm; the mate was near the capstan, and all were intent and absorbed in their expectation of a sudden squall. ”

“ Your name is Conyngham,” he said.
“Now, somebody must have told you that,” returned Conyngham. “But it is my name, and I am captain of the armed cruiser the Surprise.”
“Which has been turned over to his Majesty’s Government with the other vessels that you piratically took off the coast of Holland,” replied the officer.
“Indeed?” was the reply, “That must be gratifying to his Majesty. But now, captain, won’t you take off your coat and have a game with me? It is a pleasant little occupation that two can play at better than one. I have little with me to wager but my shoe-buckles. ”

“ There may never be a captain whose crew can't sniff his misgivings. They scent it as a herd scents the menace far through the trees and over the ridges. A captain that does not know that he is on a foundering ship sometimes can take his men to tea and buttered toast twelve minutes before the disaster, but let him fret for a moment in the loneliness of his cabin, and in no time it affects the liver of a distant and sensitive seaman. Even as Flanagan reflected on the Foundling, viewing her as a filibuster, word arrived [Pg 145] that a winter of discontent had come to the stoke-room. ”

“ He didn’t deserve to be helped. Can I be expected to stop my ship every time a careless boy takes a notion to fall overboard?”
“When a human life is in jeopardy, Captain Brandon, our duty is to save it if we can. I don’t envy the man who at such a time can stop to inquire whether the danger is the result of carelessness or not.”
The supercargo spoke sternly, and the captain felt arraigned for his action, and this irritated him.
“I have to think of my ship,” he said.
“In what way would it have injured the ship, if you had lowered the boat for Harry?” ”

“ Jepson," ordered the commander, "will you go forward, and see how the bitts are standing up under the strain of that hawser? I don't want them to pull out, and they're none too strong. Lively now!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" dutifully answered the second mate, and he shuffled off along the deck, while Captain Brisco and the new arrival went below, being, apparently, on very friendly terms.
"And that is another queer part of it," mused Alice. "That new man is supposed to be a common sailor—he must be, as all the offices, from captain down, are filled. And yet Captain Brisco treats him as an equal. ”

“ A large shell had struck the foremast just below the lower top, exploded, and sent the upper part of the mast whirling overboard; the blast of flame and smoke and the sudden compression and expansion of the surrounding cushion of air threw every man on the bridge upon his back.
"Poor Bronson!" gasped the captain. "His problem in ethics is settled."
The men, little hurt, arose one by one and looked, some in time to see the hatch open in the approaching conning-tower, others when a man had clambered out. ”

“ Brandon paced the deck silently yet watchfully.
The good ship Java went out with a fine breeze, which continued for some days, until at last nothing could be seen but the wide ocean. In those few days Brandon had settled himself comfortably on board, and had learned pretty well the kind of life which he would have to lead for the next six months or so. The captain was a quiet, amiable sort of a person, without much force of character; the mate was more energetic and somewhat passionate; the crew consisted of the average order of men. ”

“ We gazed astern as if we were looking our last on the land of our birth, and did not leave the deck till its faint blue mountains had sunk beneath the horizon. In consequence of what we had heard from the governor, we got our guns and small arms in order, to be ready for the supposed pirates, should we fall in with them, while a sharp look-out was kept, that we might not be taken unawares. Captain Frankland was too brave and experienced a man to be afraid of taking necessary precautions on all occasions. ”

“ Aft were Captain Frankland, with one of the mates and Gerard and I, taking observations of the sun,—an employment in which, as I began to understand it, I felt great interest. It struck me that, as far as I saw, Captain Frankland took very little concern about the ship. He seldom spoke a word to any of the crew, and only occasionally on points of duty while on deck, to the mates. I soon found, however, that no man could more effectually exert himself, when his exertions were required. ”

“ The captain paid no more attention to him, and Bronson climbed the ladder that led up the mast to the lower top.
It is an axiom in the world's navies that no man may live through an action in a fighting-top, and Bronson, aloft with the dead, could not but have been impressed by the sight of the fall of the lower Russian ship's foremasts, tops, guns, dead men and living, and the small signal-yard to which, even as the mast crashed down, small flags were ascending. But the ship went on, a man now exposed on her forward bridge waving a wigwag back and forth until abreast of the Argyll. ”

“ In his rage he might have gone to any lengths if Captain Brant had not run down the bridge stairs and flung him aside.
"Get to your duty," commanded the little atomy in his quavering treble. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself for handling a lady so. A little more velvet glove, and not quite so much iron hand till it's wanted, on this ship, if you please, my son."
Catching the wicked wink at the tail of his chief's eye, the mate sheered off in seeming self-abasement, and left the involuntary "stewardess" face to face with Brant. ”

“ As both craft moved off on their respective courses Captain Benson saw a little white handkerchief fluttering at the freighter's stern rail. As long as it could be visible over the waters that handkerchief fluttered. "I guess the little Russian must have tied her handkerchief there," observed Eph, dryly, and Captain Jack smiled; while Jacob Farnum turned to whisper to the inventor:
"Dave, our youthful captain has the greatest respect in the world for a woman, but he'll never be made a fool of by one of the wrong kind." ”

“ We know our rights. There's our iron, and it's got the name of our boat branded in it—the Scud—you can see if you light a match," for it was now dark.
"Hum! When did you strike it?" asked the captain, amid a silence, for, as an old whaling master and one of the most influential residents of Harbor View, the captain was universally respected.
"We were going along just outside the Shark's Teeth reef day 'fore yesterday," spoke Jack Kett, "when our lookout spied the whale. We keep a couple of irons aboard for sharks, dogfish and the like, and it didn't take long to sink one in this critter. ”

“ Becky Lowe fell fainting into James’s arms. Lettice, with pale face and imploring [Pg 112] eyes, clung close to Tyler Baldwin. “What will they do?” she whispered. “Shall you have to fight?”
“It would do little good, and so I think the captain will conclude. In such a case discretion is the better part of valor. The captain, for the sake of all concerned, will probably submit with the best grace he can summon. We are not prepared for a battle.” ”

“ I know not what arguments he used; but they were effectual with my mother, for she gave consent to his plans, and I was shortly after bound apprentice to Captain John Brannon, of the ship “Hope,” trading between Dublin and New Orleans.
“The sea is the place for you, my lad,” said Mr Leary, after the indenture had been signed, binding me to Captain Brannon. “Aboard of a ship, you will learn to conduct yourself in a proper manner, and treat your superiors with respect. You are going to a school, where you will be taught something—whether you are willing to learn it, or not.” ”

“ Farnum's own eyes as he snatched up a cap, bidding his own party a hasty good-bye ere he ran from the office.
"There goes a good-natured man," laughed Lieutenant Danvers.
"A big-hearted one, you mean, sir," corrected Captain Jack Benson. "He's a man with a heart bigger than any torpedo craft he could possibly build and launch."
"I wish him all luck," said the naval officer, heartily. "And that crowd, and also the poor seafaring men that put out in the like of the 'Mary Bond.'"
The crowd had gone from the office building, now, following Mr. Farnum and his volunteers down to the little harbor. ”

“ The idea!" cried Madame Barbançon, indignantly.
"'Every one to his taste,' as you remarked a moment ago," answered the veteran. "I like our old sea songs very much better. A man knows what he is singing about when he sings them."
And in a voice as powerful as it was discordant, the old captain began to sing:
"Monsieur!" exclaimed Madame Barbançon, interrupting her employer, with a highly incensed and prudish air, for she knew the end of the ditty, "you forget there are ladies present."
"Is that so?" demanded the veteran, straining his neck to see outside of the arbour. ”

“ Captain Brisbane had by this time landed with his boat’s crew; but learning from Captain Wood of the Latona, that the Hatslar had called for quarter, he pushed off from the shore with 4 or 5 men, and got on board in time to haul down the enemy’s colours with his own hands [8] . The boats of the squadron were now ordered to land, and Fort Amsterdam was instantly taken possession of without resistance, although the garrison consisted of 275 regular troops. The Commodore was the first person who scaled the walls, and on this occasion also struck the Dutch flag. ”

“ No orders whatever had been given to attack the island; but, having by means of the pilots taken on board at Aruba, perfectly ascertained the situation of the place, Captain Brisbane formed a plan for carrying it by a coup-de-main; and imparting his intention to the respective Captains under him, with a zeal for the service which would have done honor to the character of a Nelson, taking the sole responsibility of the act upon himself, he led his ships into the harbour, passing the formidable line of sea batteries by which its entrance was protected, and came to an anchor. ”

“ But I am not prejudiced, and I like fair play."
The old doctor replied: "Well, you have not lost much; and, if the rules of this ship are so stringent I suppose we must submit."
The captain afterwards came to Barnum and apologized for the rude manner in which he had carried out the rules of the ship. Barnum was not at the time a teetotaler, and the two men "washed down" their differences in a bottle of champagne, and were excellent friends from that moment. ”

“ It would be difficult to describe the subtle brotherhood of men that was here established on the seas. No one said that it was so. No one mentioned it. But it dwelt in the boat, and each man felt it warm him. They were a captain, an oiler, a cook, and a correspondent, and they were friends, friends in a more curiously iron-bound degree than may be common. The hurt captain, lying against the water-jar in the bow, spoke always in a low voice and calmly, but he could never command a more ready and swiftly obedient crew than the motley three of the dingey. ”

“ I had to take my watch with the rest of the crew. One morning, some ten days after leaving Bristowe, the captain came on deck at two bells and ordered me to the mizzen cross-trees to keep a sharp lookout, at the same time sending Dilly to the fore cross-trees. It was his practice, I had learned, to give a money bounty to the first man who sighted an enemy if the discovery resulted in a capture, and I was eager to win the prize, not more for its own sake than as a means of standing well with the captain. ”

“ It doesn't matter if it's dirty. Every second counts now. Get the wagon."
"Right away!" cried the old sailor, who did a general clamming and fish business. He hurried off in the direction of his store and stable, impressed by the words and energetic actions of the Racer boys. "Hi there, Bob!" the captain called to his son, whom he saw approaching. "Bring Dolly an' the rig here as quick as you can! Frank an' Andy Racer went out an' brought back a dead motor boat—leastways I mean a fellow that was nearly killed in one. Bring up the rig jest as she is! Lively!" ”

“ They were the old seaman and Edward Barnett, the village landlady's eccentric nephew.
'A plague upon my awkward riding,' said the seaman, 'we are too late! They have taken him, and that rascal too with him! Fool that he was to place any confidence in such a hound.'
'He had been kind to Tom's mother,' said Edward, 'and he supposed that gratitude.'
'Bah!' said the sailor; 'when you have buffeted as many of the storms of life as I have, you will learn that gratitude is rarely found on earth—least of all in such a brutified nature as that fellow's. But why do I blame him? ”