Rollo on the Atlantic

"And what did the sailor tell him?" asked Rollo.

"He told him," replied the surgeon, "that he thought there would be some in sight the next morning about sunrise. So the passenger got up early the next morning and took his seat on the deck, watching every where for whales, while the sailors on the forecastle, who had told the story to one another, were all laughing at him."

Rollo himself laughed at this story.

"These questions, after all, are not really so foolish as they seem," said the surgeon. "For instance, if a passenger asks about seeing whales, he means merely to inquire whether there are whales in that part of the ocean, and whether they are usually seen from the ships that pass along; and if so, how frequently, in ordinary cases, the sight of them may be expected. All this, rightly understood, is sensible and proper enough; but sailors are not great philosophers, and they generally see nothing in such inquiries but proofs of ridiculous simplicity and chances for them to make fun.

"You can tell just how it seems to them yourself, Rollo," continued the surgeon, "by imagining that some farmer's boys lived on a farm where sailors, who had never been in the country before, came by every day, and asked an endless series of ridiculous questions. For instance, on seeing a sheep, the sailor would ask what that was. The farmer's boys would tell him it was a sheep. The sailor would ask what it was for. The boys would say they kept sheep to shear them and get the wool. Then presently the sailor would see a cow, and would ask if that was a kind of sheep. The farmer's boys would say no; it was a cow. Then the sailor would ask if they sheared cows to get the wool. No, the boys would say; we milk cows. Then presently he would see a horse, and he would ask whether that was a cow or a sheep. They would say it was neither; it was a horse. Then the sailor would ask whether they kept horses to milk them or to shear them and so on forever."

Rollo laughed loud and long at these imaginary questionings. At last he said,—

"But I don't think we ask quite such foolish questions as these."

"They do not seem so foolish to you," replied the surgeon, "but they do to the sailors. The sailors, you see, know all the ropes and rigging of the ship, and every thing seen at sea, just as familiarly as boys who live in the country do sheep, and cows, and wagons, and other such objects seen about the farm; and the total ignorance in regard to them which landsmen betray, whenever they begin to ask questions on board, seems to the sailors extremely ridiculous and absurd. So they often make fun of the passengers who ask them, and put all sorts of jokes upon them. For instance, a passenger on board a packet ship once asked a sailor what time they would heave the log. 'The log,' said the sailor, 'they always heave the log at nine bells. When you hear nine bells strike, go aft, and you'll see them.' So the passenger watched and counted the bells every time they struck, all the morning, in the hopes to hear nine bells; whereas they never strike more than eight bells. It was as if a man had said, on land, that such or such a thing would happen at thirteen o'clock."

Rollo and Jennie laughed.

"So you must be careful," continued the surgeon, "what questions you ask of the officers and seamen about the ship; and you must be careful, too, what you believe in respect to the things they tell you. Perhaps it will be the truth they will tell you, and perhaps they will be only making fun of you. You may ask me, however, any thing you like. I will answer you honestly. I am at leisure, and can tell you as well as not. Besides, I like to talk with young persons like you. I have a boy at home myself of just about your rating."

"Where is your home?" asked Rollo.

"It is up on the North River," said the surgeon, "about one hundred miles from New York. And now I must go away, for it is almost eight bells, and that is dinner time. I shall see you again by and by. There's one thing more, though, that I must tell you before I go; and that is, that you had better not go to any strange places about the ship where you do not see the other passengers go. For instance, you must not go up upon the paddle boxes."

"No," said Rollo. "I saw a sign painted, saying that passengers were not allowed to go up on the paddle boxes."

"And you must not go forward among the sailors, or climb up upon the rigging," continued the surgeon.

"Why not?" asked Rollo.

"Because those parts of the ship are for the seamen alone, and for others like them, who have duties to perform on shipboard. What should you think," continued the surgeon, "if some one who had come to make a visit at your house were to go up stairs, looking about in all the chambers, or down into the kitchen, examining every thing there to see what he could find?"

"I should think it was very strange," said Jennie.

"Certainly," said the surgeon, "and it is the same on board ship. There are certain parts of the ship, such as the cabins, the state rooms, and the quarter decks, which are appropriated to the passengers; and there are certain other parts, such as the forecastle, the bows, and the rigging, which are the domains of the seamen. It is true, that sometimes a passenger may go into these places without impropriety, as, for example, when he has some business there, or when he is specially invited; just as there may be circumstances which would render it proper for a gentleman to go into the kitchen, or into the garret, at a house where he is visiting. But those are exceptions to the general rules, and boys especially, both when visiting in houses and when they are passengers on board ships, should be very careful to keep in proper places."

"I am glad I did not go climbing up the rigging," said Rollo.

"Yes," replied the surgeon. "Once I knew a passenger go climbing up the shrouds on board an East Indiaman, and when he had got half way up to the main top, and began to be afraid to proceed, the sailors ran up after him, and, under pretence of helping him, they tied him there, hand and foot, with spun yarn."

"Ha!" said Rollo. "And what did he do?

"He begged them to let him down, but they would not. They said it was customary, whenever a landsman came up into the rigging, for him to pay for his footing by a treat to the sailors; and that they would let him down if he would give them a dollar for a treat."

"And did he give it to them," asked Rollo.

"Yes, he said he would," replied the surgeon "if they would untie one of his hands, so that he could get the dollar out of his pocket. So they untied one of his hands, and he gave them the dollar. Then they untied his other hand and his feet, and so let him go down."

"Why did not he call the captain?" asked Rollo.

"O, the captain would not have paid any attention to such a case," replied the surgeon. "If he had been on deck at the time he would have looked the other way, and would have pretended not to see what was going on; but he would really have been pleased. He would have considered the passenger as justly punished for climbing about where he had no business to go."

Rollo was greatly interested in this narrative. He thought what a narrow escape he had had in deciding that he would not attempt to climb up the shrouds, and he secretly determined that he would be very careful, not only while he was on board the steamer, but also on all other occasions, not to violate the proprieties of life by obtruding himself into places where he ought not to go.

The surgeon now went away, leaving Rollo and Jane on the settee together.

"I wish," said Rollo, "that I had asked him what he meant by heaving the log."

"No," said Jane, "you must not ask any questions."

"Yes," replied Rollo, "I may ask him questions. He said that I might ask any questions that I pleased of him."

"Well," said Jane, "then you must ask him the nest time you see him."

"I will," said Rollo. "And now let us go down into our state room and find Maria, and get ready to go to dinner."

"Well," said Jane, "only let me go first alone. I want to see if I cannot find my way to the state room alone."

Rollo acceded to this proposal, and he accordingly remained on the settee himself while Jane went down. Jane looked up toward him when she turned to go down the steep flight of stairs which led from the promenade deck, with a smile upon her countenance, which seemed to say, "You see I am right so far," and then, descending the steps,—holding on carefully all the time by the green rope,—she soon disappeared from view. Rollo waited a proper time, and then followed Jane. He found her safe upon the couch in her state room, with Maria seated by her side.

In a very few minutes after Rollo came into the state room eight bells struck, and so they all went out to dinner. At first, Jennie said that she did not wish to go. She did not wish for any dinner. In fact, Rollo perceived, in looking at her, that she was beginning to be a little pale. Maria told her, however, that she had better go and take some dinner.

"The rule at sea," said Maria, "always is, to go to the table if you possibly can."

So they all went out into the dining saloon through the long and narrow passages that have been already described. They were obliged to put their hands up to the sides of the passage ways, first to one side and then to the other, to support themselves, on account of the rolling of the ship, for there now began to be considerable motion. When they reached the saloon they staggered into their places, and there sat rocking gently to and fro on the long swell of the sea, and prepared to eat their dinner.

The dinner was very much like a dinner in a fine hotel on land, except that, as every thing was in motion, it required some care to prevent the glasses and plates from sliding about and spilling what they contained. Besides the ledges along the sides of the tables, there were also two running up and down in the middle of it, partitioning off the space where the various dishes were placed, in the centre, from the space along the sides where the plates, and knives, and forks, and tumblers of the several guests were laid. This arrangement served, in some measure, to keep every thing in its place; but notwithstanding this, there was a good deal of sliding and jingling among the glasses whenever an unusual sea came rolling along. In one case, a tumbler, which the person whom it belonged to had not properly secured, came sliding down toward him, while his hands were busy taking care of his soup plate; and when it came to the ledge which formed the edge of the table, the bottom of it was stopped, but the top went over, and poured all the water into the gentleman's lap. Upon this all the passengers around the place laughed very heartily.

"There, Rollo," said Jane, "you had better be careful, and not let your tumbler get upset."

"Why, it is nothing but water," replied Rollo. "It won't do any harm. I would as lief have a little water spilled on me as not."

"I should not care about the water so much," replied Jennie; "but I would not as lief have every body laughing at me as not."

This was a very important distinction, and Rollo concluded that it was, after all, better to be careful. He watched the movements of the other passengers when the seas came, and observed the precautions which they took to guard against such accidents, and by imitating these he soon became quite adroit. The dinner took a good deal of time, as there were many courses, all served with great regularity. First, there was soup; then fish of various kinds; then all sorts of roasted meats, such as beef, mutton, chickens, and ducks, with a great variety of vegetables. Then came puddings, pies, jellies, ice creams, and preserves; and, finally, a dessert of nuts, raisins, apples, almonds, and oranges. In fact, it was a very sumptuous dinner, and what was very remarkable, when at last it was ended, and the party rose from the table to go back to the cabin, Jennie said that she had a better appetite at the end of the dinner than she had had at the beginning.

Chapter VII.

Incidents

By the time that Rollo and Jennie had been two days at sea, they had become accustomed to their novel position, and they began to feel quite at home on board the ship. They formed acquaintance with several of the passengers, and they went to and fro about the cabins and decks, and visited their friends in their state rooms quite freely, sometimes alone and sometimes together. The sky was clear, and the water was comparatively smooth. It is true that there was a long swell upon the surface of the sea, which produced a continual, though gentle, rocking of the ship, that made many of the passengers sick and uncomfortable. Rollo and Jane, however, felt for the most part quite well. Sometimes, for a short period, one or the other of them looked pale, and seemed dispirited. At such times they would lie down upon the couch in their state room, or upon a sofa in one of the saloons, and remain quietly there an hour at a time. Jennie usually in such cases was accustomed to lie on the couch in her state room, on account of the seclusion of it; while Rollo, on the other hand, seemed to prefer the saloon. He, being a boy, did not care so much about the seclusion. On the contrary, it amused him to see the people going to and fro, and to watch the reflections of their forms in the mirrors about him. Sometimes, also, it would happen that there were two or more of the passengers seated near him and engaged in conversation, that it entertained him to hear; especially when it related, as it often did, to adventures and incidents that they had met with at sea on former voyages. It was necessary, however, that persons thus conversing should be seated very near, in order that Rollo should hear them; for the ship kept up a continual creaking in all its joints, from the rolling of the sea, which made it very difficult to hear what was said across the cabin.

The mirrors, however, and the reflections in them, produced the most singular illusions, and were a source of continual interest to Rollo's mind, as he lay upon the sofa surrounded by them. There were so many of these mirrors that the saloon, and all that pertained to it, were reflected a great many times, and thus produced the most wonderful effects. Long passages were seen running off in all directions, and cabin beyond cabin, in an endless perspective. So bright and distinct, too, were the reflections, that it was difficult to tell whether what you were looking at was real, or only an imaged reflection of it. Sometimes Rollo would see, apparently at a great distance, a man walking along among carved columns in some remote passage way, and then, in an instant, the man would pass directly by his sofa. He had been near all the time, and it was only some third or fourth reflection of him that Rollo had seen.

On the afternoon of the second day of Rollo's voyage, just before eight bells, which would be the time for dinner, as Rollo was lying on a sofa in the saloon, feeling very miserably, and extremely disinclined to speak or to move, two young men came along, talking in a loud and somewhat noisy manner. They stopped opposite to him, and one of them began punching Rollo with the curved head of his cane, saying,—

"Well, Rollo, what's the matter with you? Sick? O, get up, boy, and drive about. Don't lie moping here like a landlubber. Get up, and go and eat some dinner. It is almost eight bells."

Rollo wished very much that these visitors would leave him alone. He made very little reply to them, only saying that he did not wish for any dinner. In fact, he felt sure that, if he were to go to the table, he could not eat any thing.

The men, after laughing at him, and punching him, and teasing him a little longer, went away.

A few minutes after this, Maria and Jennie came into the saloon. They were ready to go to dinner, and so they came into the saloon to wait there till the gong should sound. When they saw Rollo lying upon the sofa, they went up to him, but did not speak. Rollo opened his eyes and looked at them. Maria smiled, but still did not speak. Rollo smiled in return, though somewhat faintly, and then shut his eyes again. Then Maria led Jennie away, gently.

"You see," said Maria to Jennie, when they had gone out of Rollo's hearing, "he feels a little sick, and when persons feel seasick they do not like to talk. I am going to get him a bowl of broth."

"Well," said Jennie, "let me go and ask him if he would like some."

"No," said Maria. "If you were to ask him, he would say no. He would think that he could not eat it; and yet, if I bring it to him, without saying any thing about it, when he tastes it perhaps he will like it. In fact, when people are sick, it is always better not to ask them too much about what they would like. It is better to consider what we think they would like, and bring it to them, without saying any thing about it beforehand."

So saying, Maria rang the saloon bell. The chambermaid came in answer to the summons. Maria then sent the chambermaid to the dining saloon to bring a bowl of chicken broth to her. The chambermaid went out, and presently returned, bringing the broth, just as the gong was sounding for dinner. Maria carried the broth to Rollo.

When she offered it to him, Rollo thought at first that he should not be able to take but two or three spoonfuls of it, but on tasting it he found that he liked it very much. He ate it all, and, as he lay down again upon his sofa, he said that he felt a great deal better.

Maria then told him that he might lie still there as long as he pleased; adding, that she and Jennie were going to dinner. Maria and Jennie then went away, leaving Rollo alone again.

Rollo felt so much better for the broth that he had taken, that pretty soon he rose from his recumbent position, and began to sit up. Presently he said to himself, "How much better I do feel. I believe I will go and get some dinner."

So he rose from the sofa, and began to stagger along toward the door of the saloon. He found, however, that after all he felt somewhat giddy and light headed; and he concluded, therefore, that, instead of going to dinner, he would go up on deck and see how the wind was. He accordingly turned to the staircase which led up to the main deck, and steadying himself by the hand rail as he ascended the steps, he went up.

At the head of the stairs was a passage way, and at the end of the passage way there was a space upon the deck, which was half enclosed; it being shut in by an awning on the windy side, and open on the other. This place was often resorted to by passengers who were sick, and who wished for more fresh air than they could have below. There was a row of settees on one side of this space, and, at the time that Rollo came up there, there was a lady lying on one of these settees, apparently in a very forlorn condition. She looked very pale, and her eyes were shut. She was lying upon a mattress, which had been put upon the settee for her, and was covered up with blankets and shawls.

A gentleman, who seemed to be her husband, was standing before her, attempting to persuade her to get up. He did this, however, as Rollo thought, in rather a rough and heartless manner.

"O, get up! get up!" said he. "You never will be well if you lie here. Come, go with me and get some dinner."

The lady said, in a mournful tone, that she could not get up, and that she had no appetite for dinner.

"Well," said her husband, "I am going."

"I wish you could tell me something about Hilbert," said the lady. "I feel very anxious about him. I am afraid that he will get into some trouble. He is so careless."

"O, no," said her husband. "Don't disturb yourself about him. He's safe enough somewhere, I dare say."

So saying, the gentleman went away.

Rollo immediately conceived the idea of performing for this lady the kind service which Maria had so successfully performed for him. So, without speaking to her at all, he went immediately down into the cabin again, and thence followed the long passages which led to the dining saloon, until he came to the door of it. He looked in, and saw that the people were all seated at the table, eating their dinners. He went to one of the waiters, and asked him if he would bring him a bowl of chicken broth, to carry to a lady who was sick.

The waiter said that he would do so, and immediately went to get the broth. When he came back with it, he said to Rollo,—

"You had better let me take it to the lady."

"No," said Rollo, "I can take it myself. I know exactly where she is."

So Rollo took the bowl, and began to carry it along. He did this without much difficulty, for it was not by any means full. Bowls of broth intended to be carried about ship at sea are never entirely full.

When, finally, he came to the place where the lady was lying on the settee, he stood there a moment holding the bowl in his hand, without speaking, as he thought the lady was asleep; for her eyes were shut. In a moment, however, she opened her eyes. Rollo then said to her,—

"Would not you like a bowl of broth, lady? I have brought some for you."

The lady gazed at Rollo a moment with a sort of bewildered look, and then, raising herself up upon the settee, she took the broth, and began to eat it with the spoon. At first, she seemed to take it cautiously and with doubt; but presently, finding that she liked it, she took spoonful after spoonful with evident pleasure. Rollo was extremely delighted at the success of his experiment. The lady said nothing to him all the time, though she looked up at him repeatedly with a very earnest gaze while she was taking the broth. At length she finished it, and then gave Rollo back the bowl, saying, as she did it,—

"Did my husband send you with that bowl of broth to me?"

"No," said Rollo, "I brought it myself."

"And what put it into your head to do that?" added the lady.

"Why, Maria brought some to me when I was sick," replied Rollo, "and it did me good; and so I thought it would do you good."

The lady looked at him a moment more with an earnest gaze, and then lay down again, and shut her eyes.

Presently she opened them a moment, and said,—

"Do you know my son Hilbert?"

"I have seen a boy about the ship," said Rollo, "not quite so big as I am. Is that he?"

"With a blue jacket?" said the lady.

"Yes," said Rollo, "and a bow and arrows."

"That's he," said the lady. "If you will go and find out where he is, and ask him to come to me, you will do me a great deal of good."

Rollo had seen this boy several times in different places about the ship; but as he seemed to be rather rude and boisterous in his manners, and very forward and free withal in his intercourse with the passengers who chanced to speak to him from time to time, Rollo had not felt much disposed to form an acquaintance with him. The boy had a bow and arrows, with which he had often amused himself in shooting about the decks. He did this with so little consideration, that at last, one of the officers of the ship told him that he must not shoot any more in those parts of the ship where the ladies were, but that he must go forward, among the sailors, if he wished to practise archery. So the boy went forward, and from that time he spent most of his time on the forward deck among the sailors, and in the midst of the ropes and the rigging.

Rollo now went in pursuit of him, and after looking for him in many places, both before and aft, he finally went down into the dining saloon, and there he found Hilbert seated at the table, eating dinner, with his father. His bows and arrows were on the seat by his side.

Rollo went up to the place where Hilbert was sitting, and in a timid and cautious manner informed him that his mother wished to see him.

"My mother!" repeated Hilbert, looking up surprised.

"Yes," replied Rollo; "she asked me to tell you. But I suppose that she can wait until you have finished your dinner."

"O, no," said Hilbert, "I can't go at all. Go tell her I can't come."

Rollo was greatly astonished at receiving such a message as this from a boy to his mother.

"Hilbert," said his father, in a very stern and threatening manner, "go to your mother directly."

"No," said Hilbert, in a sort of begging and whining tone. "No. If I do, she'll make me stay there all the afternoon."

"No matter for that," said his father; "go directly."