and now behold c. b. launched upon a totally new series of adventures, but still with that same quiet mind which accepted the events of each new day as being all ordained by god, and consequently fraught with blessing, no matter how hard it might be for him to see the benefit at the time. hitherto i have said nothing about his feelings with regard to those whom he so fondly loved and from whom he had of course heard no word. but when he left them both he and they had resigned themselves to a complete separation without any communication until god should please to reunite them again. letters never came to that isolated, self-contained little community, who indeed seldom had any interest outside of their own boundaries.
yet it must not be supposed that for one day, hardly for a waking hour, he ever forgot them. in his lonely vigils at the mast-head, or when by himself at night, he looked out over the wide expanse of sea, he always formed a mental picture of the peaceful happy home he had left, saw his mother and father and friends at their simple tasks, heard their united praises arising in the sweet evenings, imagined their discussions concerning his whereabouts, until he almost fancied himself among them in spirit, so vivid was his inner vision. and often it was with a physical pang that he came back to his present surroundings.
[pg 230]
it must not for a moment be supposed either that he felt great delight at leaving the ship, for he was in no way weary of his life on board. but he calmly awaited each development as being just the right thing for him, and indeed felt that in this latest move he was likely to be of more use than he had ever been before. besides, as i have before hinted, he and his fellow-islanders were passionately attached to the mother-country which they had never seen, and had consequently idealized almost out of all reasonable recognition. the nearest approach to realization of britain that they could get was found in a british man-o’-war, and when he stepped on board of the fame and saluted the invisible presence on the quarter deck, he felt strangely uplifted at the thought that he was privileged to sail in one of those wonderful vessels.
with greatest kindness and courtesy captain taber had been carried to a cabin specially prepared for him; everything that he could want as far as was in their power to supply it was at his disposal, and when c. b. had got him comfortably bestowed and his belongings all safely at hand he said—
“thank ye, dear fellow, now go and leave me to sleep, for i feel very tired, and you’ll be glad, i know, to see what’s going on about the deck, all so different to what you’ve been used to.” so c. b. slipped away and watched with a queer feeling of pride, as if he had a share in the great business, the ordered method of getting under weigh, the rapidity which characterized every evolution and the perfect discipline.
seaman-like his fingers itched to be helping, but he knew better than to interfere, and moreover everything was so utterly strange and new. not the least wonderful of his new surroundings to him was the steam engine. it is hard indeed for us to[pg 231] realize what it meant to this intelligent man, british to the back-bone, and in some directions well educated, but in others, notably in the appliances of civilization, as ignorant as any savage from the island homes of his maternal ancestors.
his gentle ways and pleasant speech soon made him a prime favourite, and though the lower deck was mightily puzzled at his strange dislike to grog and tobacco, they put it down simply to his want of acquaintance with those luxuries. anyhow they made a great pet of him, and listened to his simple stories of island life and whaling, interspersed as they were with loving reference to the fatherly care of god and the happiness of knowing him, with growing interest and appreciation. nor was this interest confined to the lower deck. the officers were just as keen, and though thoughtless and careless as so many sailors are who feel that religion enters officially into their lives at stated times, but need not be bothered about except then, they all admitted that this young man was to them a new type altogether outside their experience. some scoffed at the idea of his being genuine, saying that it was all put on for a certain purpose, and watched him keenly to detect hypocrisy. but it was impossible to maintain such an attitude towards him for long, in view of his perfect devotion to his charge and his absolute lack of pose.
he fell eagerly into his new role of nurse and valet, and the captain grew to lean on him more and more each day, to long for his pleasant words and to enjoy, in a measure that seemed to him amazing when he thought about it, the simple reading of the bible stories and the common-sense comment, often quaint beyond description, that c. b. indulged in. only it made the matter real and vivid to the mind[pg 232] of the listener as it had never been before, brought him face to face with the actors in the great world drama unfolded in that amazing series of stories, and above all made him wonder how it had been possible for him to live so long in ignorance, and with so much time on his hands, too, of the treasures contained within the covers of the ordinary little volume. for let them deny it who dare, the most talked of and the least intelligently read of any book in the world is the bible. and from the point of view of literature alone it does not deserve to be so treated.
in consequence largely of the novelty of the position to the passengers and the interest felt in them by the crew, the passage of the fame to yokohama, though rather long in point of time, was felt to be short by all, so much so that a distinct sense of disappointment was felt by all as the time for parting drew near. the sick man, though the object of devoted attention by the ship’s doctor, fully justified that gentleman’s prediction by making little or no progress. he could not be said to be any worse, but his strength would not come back, and he had many hours of severe pain internally. but his appetite was fairly good and his spirits had recovered their normal serenity. he had become very much attached to the ship where he had been so kindly welcomed, and endeavoured to express his gratitude, but his genial hosts pooh-poohed the idea of his being under any sort of obligation to them; they said that his company had been a boon conferred upon them, and that they had learned more of little understood sea-ways since he and c. b. had been with them than they had ever dreamed of being possible.
and so they parted with the best of good will on[pg 233] both sides, and a certain definite effect of goodness impressed upon all hands by their contact with c. b., which none of them were ever able to forget quite as long as they lived. very gently and tenderly the helpless skipper was conveyed ashore, and to the best hotel in the city, there to await the coming out of the steamer that sailed between hong kong, yokohama, and san francisco. the american consul had been apprised of captain taber’s coming, and paid him an early visit of condolence and comfort, promising to do all in his power to aid him, and to convey to captain silchester his most cordial thanks for the timely help rendered to his suffering countryman.
c. b. was full of wonderment at the new and strange scenes around him, but saw little of them, for nothing would persuade him to leave his friend for more than a few minutes at a time. he did not lightly construe the terms of his service, and when ordered with playful vehemence by the skipper to go away and leave him to himself for a few hours he never went beyond an easy call. but he got a great deal of interest in observing the quaint manners of the japanese, who seemed to him to be almost denizens of another world to that which he had hitherto known. their courtesy, cleanliness and ability appealed to him very much, but he wondered with painful intensity how they could be apparently so happy and good without knowing anything of god. and then he had an interview with a clerical gentleman belonging to the established church, who was on his travels round the world, and being an inmate of the hotel called upon the captain.
the latter introduced c. b. as his friend as well as personal attendant, and mr. vinter, the clergyman, made the almost unpardonable mistake of treating[pg 234] our hero as if he was an ignorant kanaka, that is without a touch of kindliness or sympathy as of a being infinitely high and wise, but without love, to another very low and foolish. c. b. not being at all sensitive and full of reverence for the man of god as he thought him, began to talk freely upon the things of god as he had never been able to do since he left his home, where they were in everybody’s mouth as the most frequent topic. to his utter amazement and to the captain’s indignation the clergyman listened for a while with a gradually contracting brow, and presently said severely—
“you should be less fluent and more reverent about holy things. you cannot understand them, it is not possible that you should. you must learn to leave such discussion as you have ventured to indulge in to those who like myself are set apart as chosen ministers of the gospel.”
had it not been so sad it would have been ludicrous to see the open-mouthed stare of utter amazement with which c. b. regarded his new mentor. for what he now heard from the mouth of a man whom he was ready to regard as directly commissioned by god was to the effect that the whole teaching of his life had been wrong. he dimly felt that this man wished him to understand that so far from a close acquaintance with and an intimate knowledge of god and the things of his kingdom being right and according to his will, it was necessary to regard him as unapproachable except through a certain specially ordained class, and that the sweet familiarity with jesus which he had always been taught and had understood from his testament to be the end and the aim of the saviour’s teaching was irreverent and wrong.
and then, to his great relief, the helpless skipper[pg 235] came to his rescue, saying with clear and energetic voice—
“forgive me, mr. vinter, if i seem rude, and allow me the privilege of a man with one foot in the grave. i’ve learned more of god in a few months’ acquaintance with this dear man than in all the rest of my life. you gentlemen talk about god mostly too in language that a plain man can’t understand, this man lives him, has done ever since he came aboard my ship. i’d rather have him with me, as far as the education of my soul is concerned, than all the priests and clergy in the world. and you call him irreverent! but so i s’pose you would have done peter an’ james an’ john, an’ as for paul, well there!”
mr. vinter made no reply, but rose with majestic gesture as of one who finds the air polluted and passed out, nor did they ever see him again. but the captain said cheerily—
“git your bible, christmas, and read me that beautiful story again, beginning with ‘then drew near all the publicans and sinners for to hear him?’ i bet they did. they recognized the real thing same as i do, they’d had enough of pharisees same as i have. and then people will be foolish enough to wonder why the gospel don’t spread among the heathen! why a man like that might easily make heathen, he’d certainly never make a christian, he doesn’t know how to begin. go on with your reading, dear boy.”
and in the comfort of the reading and the fellowship of his friend c. b. felt the wound that had been made in his soul by that foolish and injudicious man heal over. but he often returned to the subject and asked many questions of the skipper concerning the ways of the religious folk in america, and whether[pg 236] it was really true that the great bulk of the people could be so foolish as to deny themselves so great a pleasure as he had always found it, and those whom he had grown up with, but was at last compelled to admit that it must be so though it was a profound mystery to him.
happy man, knowing nothing of the thousand allurements of the civilized world, its mad rush after fortune and no less mad lavishing of its gettings upon things of no value. happy in the coarse shirt and trousers, bare headed and shoeless, but well nourished and healthy, how could he understand the myriad artificial cravings that shut out from the soul all desire for true happiness, or how in his perfect faith in the love of god and his creation could he realize the awful fear of eternal punishment that prompted men into excesses of religiousness in order to escape from what they felt was the inevitable due of their misdeeds. not knowing how great had been his privileges he was entirely unable to comprehend the difficulties of highly civilized man in matters of religion, and so was an ever fresh source of interest to the crippled man dependent upon him, who felt that he had never had leisure to think upon these things until now.
but gradually and unconsciously, as was his wont, he had endeared himself to all with whom he had come in contact in service at the hotel, so that when the big steamer arrived and the summons came for them to go aboard he had quite an ovation, all the little yellow men and women crowded around him in their gentle courteous fashion to wish him “sayonara” and to offer him tiny souvenirs of their affection for the big kindly simple man who was so unlike any other stranger they had yet seen. in his modesty and utter absence of [pg 237]self-consciousness he wondered much at his popularity, the real reason of it never occurring to him, for he had formed no friendships, had gone scarcely anywhere, feeling that his duty was always to be within hail of his beloved skipper.
and so in leaving he had no regrets, but cheerfully and hopefully assisted to carry captain taber on board of the golden gate, where by the influence of the consul a special cabin had been reserved for the pair and all sorts of privileges arranged for also. she had a great many passengers going eastward to the pacific coast, wealthy folks travelling for pleasure, keen business men intent on making money, adventurers, but all apparently flush of money and eager for excitement. amid this motley throng c. b. secured a good place on deck for his patient’s long chair, a point wherefrom the wonderful panorama unfolded as the ship steered seawards could be fully enjoyed. here c. b., standing by the skipper’s side, guarded him from inquisitive intrusion and kept him amused by the quaint and original comments he made upon the novel scene.
but very soon, in spite of c. b.’s earnest efforts, the captain’s chair was the centre of a sympathizing and wondering group of americans, who, having learned the skeleton of his sad story, were keen in their desire to help in any way they could a countryman whom they dimly suspected of being a hero, and that alone is sufficient with the most hero-worshipping people in the world to have made them flock to him. at last their attentions became so importunate and the questions so incessant that captain taber, holding up his attenuated hand for silence, said—
“ladies and gentlemen, as you may see, i am not equal to the strain of satisfying your legitimate[pg 238] curiosity, for i’m weaker than i care to admit even to myself. but if you’ll let my friend here, who, in spite of his dusky complexion, hasn’t got any of the nigger about him, but is a sure enough englishman of the purest stock, tell you the story just as it happened, i can enjoy it as well as you. an’ i guess that he knows a good deal more about it than i do anyhow.”
the young ladies, who, as most people who have been in the united states know, are the usual arbiters in such cases, guessed “it would be perfectly lovely,” and with national promptitude settled themselves around at once and looked expectantly at c. b. he looked somewhat imploringly at the skipper, who only beamed on him and replied—
“part o’ your duties ye know, christmas, an’ i guess i don’t know anybody better qualified to perform ’em.”
that was quite sufficient for c. b., who, having seated himself by the skipper’s side, commenced the story at the point where he had returned to work. he had not been speaking a minute before he had everybody spellbound, for like so many other simple-minded unselfish men he had a natural gift of plain effective speech, not oratorical or rhetorical, but what the americans call heart to heart talk.
for upwards of an hour he held the company almost breathless, and when at last he ceased with the simple remark “and so through the goodness of god we are thus far on our long journey,” there was a long breath and then an irrepressible burst of applause. many of the ladies made no attempt to hide the fact that they had to wipe their eyes, and it would have been hard to say which of the two in their estimation was the greater hero, the skipper[pg 239] or c. b. and then the skipper brought matters to a climax by saying—
“you’ve heard the story, ladies and gentleman, beautifully told as i knew it would be, but far too favourable to me, in spots. as soon as i’m fit i’ll tell you the parts ’at he’s left out, and a few more things that you oughter know about him. meantime let me say before god and this company that i believe the hull earth don’t contain a better man, a better christian, with all that i’ve learned lately that means, than my dear friend christmas bounty adams.”
even this short speech, because it was delivered with rather more energy than usual, exhausted the enfeebled man, and he lay back in his chair breathless. c. b. immediately attended to him, looking round imploringly at the onlookers, who, taking the hint, at once melted away. but they carried away with them material enough for conversation to last them the passage apparently, the human interest in it entirely eclipsing that of the usual travel talk. but it must be admitted that the chief object of interest was c. b.; in the absence of accurate information concerning him the ladies formulated all sorts of fantastic theories, the excitement rising almost to fever heat during the luncheon hour.
at last, when the captain had been conveyed below, one of the girls, the only daughter of an immensely wealthy american, who was travelling with her mother and father, came up to c. b. who was resting himself, looking over the rail at the swiftly receding coast line. with that sweet insouciance which is the most charming feature of the american girl, she said—
“say, mr. christmas, or is it mr. adams? we’re all just afire to hear the rest of that story of yours.[pg 240] we don’t want to trouble that poor captain, it would be too cruel to expect him to talk, but won’t you take pity on us and tell us your beautiful story?”
c. b. gazed down into the eager face with its big brown eyes and saw no vulgar curiosity there.
so after a moment or so of hesitation he replied, “miss——”
“oh, may stewart’s my name,” she hastily remarked.
“thank you, miss stewart,” he gravely interpolated and went on: “my dear mother always taught me to try and please people who didn’t want me to do anything wrong, and i am sure you don’t want me to do anything wrong. so i’ll tell you my story as far as i can, on the understanding that i’m free to leave off at any moment my captain wants me, for he is a sacred helpless charge.”
“that’s agreed on the instant,” she replied, “and i’ll bring the crowd along right now. i’m real glad, and i think it’s awfully good of you, for i do hate to be kept waiting for something that i feel i ought to know.”
“one moment, miss stewart,” said c. b., holding up a restraining hand. “if you’ve been weaving a mighty romance out of my story and making me its hero you’ll be gravely disappointed. all right, i’m ready whenever you are.”
away fled the young lady, while c. b. took the opportunity of visiting his patient’s airy cabin to make sure that he was sleeping soundly and that everything about him was comfortable. then he returned to the promenade deck, where such had been the energy of miss stewart that practically every passenger in the ship was present with the exception of half a dozen inveterate poker players who, i believe, would keep on at the monotonous[pg 241] business if the first notes of the last trump were ringing in their ears. as soon as miss stewart saw c. b. she sprang impetuously towards him, dragged him through the crowd to an elevated seat she had got the quartermaster to prepare for him, and having seen him comfortably installed, sat down on deck by the side of her mother and waited for him to begin.
you all know the story, but of course as he told it much of the interest attaching to his doings evaporated because he would not say i did this or i did that, a modesty which he shared with many far less estimable men. but he did tell them all he could put into words about his lovely island home, his origin, the pursuits of the islanders and their happiness under the simple gospel of love. he told this with a manly simple eloquence which captivated his hearers and made even the most cynical and case-hardened of them feel that here was an idyllic state of things which was unknown to their cheap and feverish philosophies wrongly so called. and when at last he finished, so great was the interest that many questions were put to him by the elder men and women, all of which he answered with ease or owned that he didn’t know. how long this would have gone on only those who know the insatiable avidity of americans in acquiring information upon some new topic could imagine, but happily for c. b. there suddenly appeared on the scene a japanese waiter with the news that the captain was awake. and immediately c. b. slipped away.
thenceforward this quiet unassuming child of nature was the idol of the ship. “guess it’s a complete rest-cure to be near him,” was the verdict of one sallow owner of about a million dollars, who was fascinated by c. b. to such an extent that he[pg 242] forswore poker, and courted every chance to get a few words with a man whom he felt had the true secret of happiness. “now,” said this keen business man, “ef this chap was advertising himself or startin’ a new religion, i’d be on to him in once, bigger ’n a elevator. but he ain’t, ’s far ’s he knows he’s the most ornery cuss there is around. ’n ’s far ’s i know he’s about the newest breed o’ man there is, an’ i’d like t’ get the recipe for a few more like him.”
but the girls gave c. b. the most trouble. it was hard to convince them that he was not the descendant of some dusky island potentate. that he was but the offspring of a common english seaman and some nameless kanaka woman two or three generations back seemed impossible for them to believe, for they were never tired of descanting upon the stately grace of his form and the perfect unstudied beauty of his language. secretly too they were all piqued by the fact that he paid none of them any special attention, was only gravely polite in a perfectly general sense. to the men though who sought him out and talked with him he was extremely open and genial, telling them frankly that he felt honoured by their condescension, until one day the captain, hearing him speak like this took him to task about it.
“christmas,” he said, “they’s such a thing as bein’ too humble, makin’ yerself too cheap. you’ve no call to be so humble to these men. i ain’t got nothing to say against any of ’em, but i should say they ain’t one of ’em that’s fit to shine the boots of a good man like you are. why, they don’t talk of nothin’ else, mornin’ noon or night, ’cept they’re talkin’ t’ you, but dollars and cents, how to pile ’em up as fast as they kin no matter by what method. money’s their god, christmas, and his worship means some practices that you’d shudder at. no,[pg 243] keep yer head up, my friend, you’ll never git too big fer your boots i’m sure, for i declare you’re the equal of any and the superior of most men in this world.” and the excited man sank back in his chair exhausted, while c. b. gently reproved him for thus exerting himself, and as soon as he was rested again told him quaintly how bashful he felt before the girls, especially miss stewart, who continually sought his company.
“how should i behave to them?” he inquired, at which the captain laughed and replied—
“ah, there i can’t give ye no advice, except to be mighty careful not to fall in love with one of ’em. i guess you wouldn’t want no lessons in humility if once you did that. for companionable as all these folks seem to be and eager to make a fuss of ye, if once you lifted your eyes to one of their women folk so as to desire her for a wife, they wouldn’t have words enough t’ cuss ye in, an’ they’re pretty glib as a rule.”
“well, captain,” said c. b., “there’ll be no occasion. i am not at all likely to fall in love, as you call it, until i get back to norfolk island again, and certainly not while i have the happy privilege of taking care of you, god bless you.”