Chapter VI. What Befell at the Queen's Ferry

by Robert Louis Stevenson

　　As soon as we came to the inn, Ransome led us up the stair to asmall room, with a bed in it, and heated like an oven by a greatfire of coal. At a table hard by the chimney, a tall, dark,sober-looking man sat writing. In spite of the heat of the room,he wore a thick sea-jacket, buttoned to the neck, and a tallhairy cap drawn down over his ears; yet I never saw any man, noteven a judge upon the bench, look cooler, or more studious andself-possessed, than this ship-captain.He got to his feet at once, and coming forward, offered his largehand to Ebenezer. "I am proud to see you, Mr. Balfour," said he,in a fine deep voice, "and glad that ye are here in time. Thewind's fair, and the tide upon the turn; we'll see the oldcoal-bucket burning on the Isle of May before to-night.""Captain Hoseason," returned my uncle, "you keep your room uncohot.""It's a habit I have, Mr. Balfour," said the skipper. "I'm acold-rife man by my nature; I have a cold blood, sir. There'sneither fur, nor flannel -- no, sir, nor hot rum, will warm upwhat they call the temperature. Sir, it's the same with most menthat have been carbonadoed, as they call it, in the tropic seas.""Well, well, captain," replied my uncle, "we must all be the waywe're made."But it chanced that this fancy of the captain's had a great sharein my misfortunes. For though I had promised myself not to letmy kinsman out of sight, I was both so impatient for a nearerlook of the sea, and so sickened by the closeness of the room,that when he told me to "run down-stairs and play myself awhile,"I was fool enough to take him at his word.Away I went, therefore, leaving the two men sitting down to abottle and a great mass of papers; and crossing the road in frontof the inn, walked down upon the beach. With the wind in thatquarter, only little wavelets, not much bigger than I had seenupon a lake, beat upon the shore. But the weeds were new to me-- some green, some brown and long, and some with little bladdersthat crackled between my fingers. Even so far up the firth, thesmell of the sea-water was exceedingly salt and stirring; theCovenant, besides, was beginning to shake out her sails, whichhung upon the yards in clusters; and the spirit of all that Ibeheld put me in thoughts of far voyages and foreign places.I looked, too, at the seamen with the skiff -- big brown fellows,some in shirts, some with jackets, some with colouredhandkerchiefs about their throats, one with a brace of pistolsstuck into his pockets, two or three with knotty bludgeons, andall with their case-knives. I passed the time of day with onethat looked less desperate than his fellows, and asked him of thesailing of the brig. He said they would get under way as soon asthe ebb set, and expressed his gladness to be out of a port wherethere were no taverns and fiddlers; but all with such horrifyingoaths, that I made haste to get away from him.This threw me back on Ransome, who seemed the least wicked ofthat gang, and who soon came out of the inn and ran to me, cryingfor a bowl of punch. I told him I would give him no such thing,for neither he nor I was of an age for such indulgences. "But aglass of ale you may have, and welcome," said I. He mopped andmowed at me, and called me names; but he was glad to get the ale,for all that; and presently we were set down at a table in thefront room of the inn, and both eating and drinking with a goodappetite.Here it occurred to me that, as the landlord was a man of thatcounty, I might do well to make a friend of him. I offered him ashare, as was much the custom in those days; but he was far toogreat a man to sit with such poor customers as Ransome andmyself, and he was leaving the room, when I called him back toask if he knew Mr. Rankeillor."Hoot, ay," says he, "and a very honest man. And, O, by-the-by,"says he, "was it you that came in with Ebenezer?" And when I hadtold him yes, "Ye'll be no friend of his?" he asked, meaning, inthe Scottish way, that I would be no relative.I told him no, none."I thought not," said he, "and yet ye have a kind of gliff[6] ofMr. Alexander."[6]Look.I said it seemed that Ebenezer was ill-seen in the country."Nae doubt," said the landlord. "He's a wicked auld man, andthere's many would like to see him girning in the tow[7]. JennetClouston and mony mair that he has harried out of house and hame.And yet he was ance a fine young fellow, too. But that wasbefore the sough[8] gaed abroad about Mr. Alexander, that waslike the death of him."[7]Rope.[8]Report."And what was it?" I asked."Ou, just that he had killed him," said the landlord. "Did yenever hear that?""And what would he kill him for?" said I."And what for, but just to get the place," said he."The place?" said I. "The Shaws?""Nae other place that I ken," said he."Ay, man?" said I. "Is that so? Was my -- was Alexander theeldest son?""'Deed was he," said the landlord. "What else would he havekilled him for?"And with that he went away, as he had been impatient to do fromthe beginning.Of course, I had guessed it a long while ago; but it is one thingto guess, another to know; and I sat stunned with my goodfortune, and could scarce grow to believe that the same poor ladwho had trudged in the dust from Ettrick Forest not two days ago,was now one of the rich of the earth, and had a house and broadlands, and might mount his horse tomorrow. All these pleasantthings, and a thousand others, crowded into my mind, as I satstaring before me out of the inn window, and paying no heed towhat I saw; only I remember that my eye lighted on CaptainHoseason down on the pier among his seamen, and speaking withsome authority. And presently he came marching back towards thehouse, with no mark of a sailor's clumsiness, but carrying hisfine, tall figure with a manly bearing, and still with the samesober, grave expression on his face. I wondered if it waspossible that Ransome's stories could be true, and halfdisbelieved them; they fitted so ill with the man's looks. Butindeed, he was neither so good as I supposed him, nor quite sobad as Ransome did; for, in fact, he was two men, and left thebetter one behind as soon as he set foot on board his vessel.The next thing, I heard my uncle calling me, and found the pairin the road together. It was the captain who addressed me, andthat with an air (very flattering to a young lad) of graveequality."Sir," said he, "Mr. Balfour tells me great things of you; andfor my own part, I like your looks. I wish I was for longerhere, that we might make the better friends; but we'll make themost of what we have. Ye shall come on board my brig for half anhour, till the ebb sets, and drink a bowl with me."Now, I longed to see the inside of a ship more than words cantell; but I was not going to put myself in jeopardy, and I toldhim my uncle and I had an appointment with a lawyer."Ay, ay," said he, "he passed me word of that. But, ye see, theboat'll set ye ashore at the town pier, and that's but a pennystonecast from Rankeillor's house." And here he suddenly leaneddown and whispered in my ear: "Take care of the old tod;[9] hemeans mischief. Come aboard till I can get a word with ye." Andthen, passing his arm through mine, he continued aloud, as he setoff towards his boat: "But, come, what can I bring ye from theCarolinas? Any friend of Mr. Balfour's can command. A roll oftobacco? Indian feather-work? a skin of a wild beast? a stonepipe? the mocking-bird that mews for all the world like a cat?the cardinal bird that is as red as blood? -- take your pick andsay your pleasure."[9] Fox.By this time we were at the boat-side, and he was handing me in.I did not dream of hanging back; I thought (the poor fool!) thatI had found a good friend and helper, and I was rejoiced to seethe ship. As soon as we were all set in our places, the boat wasthrust off from the pier and began to move over the waters: andwhat with my pleasure in this new movement and my surprise at ourlow position, and the appearance of the shores, and the growingbigness of the brig as we drew near to it, I could hardlyunderstand what the captain said, and must have answered him atrandom.As soon as we were alongside (where I sat fairly gaping at theship's height, the strong humming of the tide against its sides,and the pleasant cries of the seamen at their work) Hoseason,declaring that he and I must be the first aboard, ordered atackle to be sent down from the main-yard. In this I was whippedinto the air and set down again on the deck, where the captainstood ready waiting for me, and instantly slipped back his armunder mine. There I stood some while, a little dizzy with theunsteadiness of all around me, perhaps a little afraid, and yetvastly pleased with these strange sights; the captain meanwhilepointing out the strangest, and telling me their names and uses."But where is my uncle?" said I suddenly."Ay," said Hoseason, with a sudden grimness, "that's the point."I felt I was lost. With all my strength, I plucked myself clearof him and ran to the bulwarks. Sure enough, there was the boatpulling for the town, with my uncle sitting in the stern. I gavea piercing cry -- "Help, help! Murder!" -- so that both sides ofthe anchorage rang with it, and my uncle turned round where hewas sitting, and showed me a face full of cruelty and terror.It was the last I saw. Already strong hands had been plucking meback from the ship's side; and now a thunderbolt seemed to strikeme; I saw a great flash of fire, and fell senseless.