we arrived at sheerness the next morning, landed the bricks, which were for the government buildings, and returned in ballast to the wharf. my first inquiry was for the dominie; but he had not yet returned; and mr drummond further informed me that he had been obliged to send away his under-clerk and wished me to simply take his place until he could procure another. the lighter therefore took in her cargo, and sailed without me, which was of consequence, as my apprenticeship still went on. i now lived with mr drummond as one of his own family, and wanted for nothing. his continual kindness to me made me strive all i could to please him by diligence and attention, and i soon became very expert at accounts, and, as he said, very useful. the advantages to me, i hardly need observe were considerable, and i gained information every day. still, although i was glad to be of any use to mr drummond, the confinement at the desk was irksome, and i anxiously looked for the arrival of the new clerk to take my place and leave me free to join the lighter. mr drummond did not appear to me to be in any hurry; indeed, i believe that he would have retained me altogether, had he not perceived that i still wished to be on the river.
“at all events, jacob, i shall keep you here until you are master of your work; it will be useful to you hereafter,” he said to me one day; “and you do not gain much by sailing up and down the river.”
this was true; and i also derived much advantage from the evenings spent with mrs drummond, who was a very sensible good woman, and would make me read aloud to her and little sarah as they sat at their needle. i had no idea, until i was employed posting up the book, that mr drummond’s concern was so extensive, or that there was so much capital employed in the business. the dominie returned a few days after my arrival. when we met his nose had resumed its former appearance, and he never brought up the subject of the evening on board of the lighter. i saw him frequently, mostly on sundays after i had been to church with the family; and half-an-hour, at least, was certain to be dedicated to our reading together one of the classics.
as i was on shore several months, i became acquainted with many families, one or two of which were worth noticing. among the foremost was captain turnbull, at least such was his appellation until within the last two months previous to my making his acquaintance, when mr turnbull sent out his cards, george turnbull, esquire. the history of captain turnbull was as follows:— he had, with his twin brother, been hung up at the knocker, and afterwards had been educated at the foundling hospital; they had both been apprenticed to the sea; grown up thorough-bred, capital, seamen in the greenland fishery; rose to be mates then captains; had been very successful, owned part, then the whole of the ship, afterwards two or three ships; and had wound up with handsome fortunes. captain turnbull was a married man without a family; his wife, fine in person, vulgar in speech, a would-be fashionable lady, against which fashion captain t had for years pleaded poverty; but his brother, who had remained a bachelor, died, leaving him forty thousand pounds—a fact which could not be concealed. captain turnbull had not allowed his wife to be aware of the extent of his own fortune, more from a wish to live quietly and happily than from any motive of parsimony, for he was liberal to excess; but now he had no further excuse to plead, and mrs turnbull insisted upon fashion. the house they had lived in was given up, and a marine villa on the borders of the thames to a certain degree met the views of both parties; mrs turnbull anticipating dinners and fêtes, and the captain content to watch what was going on in the river, and amuse himself in a wherry. they had long been acquaintances of mr and mrs drummond; and captain turnbull’s character was such as always to command the respect of mr drummond, as he was an honest, friendly man. mrs turnbull had now set up her carriage, and she was, in her own opinion, a very great personage. she would have cut all her former acquaintance; but on that point the captain was inflexible, particularly as regarded the drummonds. as far as they were concerned, mrs turnbull gave way, mrs drummond being a lady-like woman, and mr drummond universally respected as a man of talent and information. captain, or rather, mr turnbull, was a constant visitor at our house, and very partial to me. he used to scold mr drummond for keeping me so close to my desk, and would often persuade him to give me a couple of hours’ run. when this was obtained, he would call a waterman, throw him a crown, and tell him to get out of his wherry as fast as he could. we then embarked, and amused ourselves pulling up and down the river, while mrs turnbull, dressed in the extremity of the fashion, rode out in the carriage and left her cards in every direction.
one day mr turnbull called upon the drummonds, and asked them to dine with him on the following saturday; they accepted the invitation. “by-the-by,” said he, “i got what my wife calls a remind in my pocket;” and he pulled out of his coat-pocket a large card, “with mr and mrs turnbull’s compliments,” etcetera, which card he had doubled in two by his sitting down upon it, shortly after he came in. mr turnbull straightened it again as well as he could, and laid it on the table. “and jacob,” said he, “you’ll come too. you don’t want a remind; but if you do, my wife will send you one.”
i replied, “that i wanted no remind for a good dinner.”
“no, i dare say not, my boy; but recollect that you come an hour or two before the dinner-hour, to help me; there’s so much fuss with one thing or another, that i’m left in the lurch; and as for trusting the keys of the spirit-room to that long-togged rascal of a butler, i’ll see him harpoon’d first; so do you come and help me, jacob.”
this having been promised, he asked mr drummond to lend me for an hour or so, as he wished to take a row up the river. this was also consented to; we embarked and pulled away for kew bridge. mr turnbull was as good a hand at a yarn as old tom, and many were the adventures he narrated to me of what had taken place during the vicissitudes of his life, more especially when he was employed in the greenland fishery. he related an accident that morning, which particularly bore upon the marvellous, although i do not believe that he was at all guilty of indulging in a traveller’s licence.
“jacob,” said he, “i recollect once when i was very near eaten alive by foxes, and that in a very singular manner. i was then mate of a greenland ship. we had been on the fishing ground for three months, and had twelve fish on board. finding we were doing well, we fixed our ice-anchors upon a very large iceberg, drifting up and down with it, and taking fish as we fell in with them. one morning we had just cast loose the carcass of a fish which we had cut up, when the man in the crow’s nest, on the look-out for another ‘fall,’ cried out that a large polar bear and her cub were swimming over to the iceberg, against the side of which, and about half-a-mile from us, the carcass of a whale was beating. as we had nothing to do, seven of us immediately started in chase we had intended to have gone after the foxes, which had gathered there also in hundreds, to prey upon the dead whale. it was then quite calm: we soon came up with the bear, who at first was for making off; but as the cub could not get on over the rough ice as well as the old one, she at last turned round to bay. we shot the cub to make sure of her, and it did make sure of the dam not leaving us till either she or we perished in the conflict. i never shall forget her moaning over the cub, as it lay bleeding on the ice, while we fired bullet after bullet into her. at last she turned round, gave a roar and a gnashing snarl, which you might have heard a mile, and, with her eyes flashing fire, darted upon us. we received her in a body, all close together, with our lances to her breast; but she was so large and strong, that she beat us all back, and two of us fell; fortunately the others held their ground, and as she was then on end, three bullets were put into her chest, which brought her down. i never saw so large a beast in my life. i don’t wish to make her out larger than she really was, but i have seen many a bullock at smithfield which would not weigh two-thirds of her. after that, we had some trouble in despatching her; and while we were so employed, the wind blew up in gusts from the northward, and the snow fell heavy. the men were for returning to the ship immediately, which certainly was the wisest thing for us all to do; but i thought that the snowstorm would blow over in a short time, and not wishing to lose so fine a skin, resolved to remain and flay the beast; for i knew that if left there a few hours, as the foxes could not get hold of the carcass of the whale, which had not grounded, they would soon finish the bear and the cub, and the skins be worth nothing. well, the other men went back to the ship, and as it was, the snow-storm came on so thick that they lost their way, and would never have found her, if it was not that the bell was kept tolling for a guide to them. i soon found that i had done a very foolish thing; instead of the storm blowing over, the snow came down thicker and thicker; and before i had taken a quarter of the skin off, i was becoming cold and numbed, and then i was unable to regain the ship, and with every prospect of being frozen to death before the storm was over. at last, i knew what was my only chance. i had flayed all the belly of the bear, but had not cut her open. i ripped her up, tore out all her inside, and then contrived to get into her body, where i lay, and, having closed up the entrance hole, was warm and comfortable, for the animal heat had not yet been extinguished. this manoeuvre, no doubt, saved my life: and i have heard that the french soldiers did the same in their unfortunate russian campaign, killing their horses and getting inside to protect themselves from the dreadful weather. well, jacob, i had not lain more than half-an-hour, when i knew by sundry jerks and tugs at my newly invented hurricane-house that the foxes were busy—and so they were sure, enough. there must have been hundreds of them, for they were at work in all directions, and some pushed their sharp noses into the opening where i had crept in; but i contrived to get out my knife and saw their noses across whenever they touched me, otherwise i should have been eaten up in a very short time. there were so many of them, and they were so ravenous, that they soon got through the bear’s thick skin, and were tearing away at the flesh. now i was not so much afraid of their eating me, as i thought that if i jumped up and discovered myself they would have all fled. no saying, though; two or three hundred ravenous devils take courage when together; but i was afraid that they would devour my covering from the weather, and then i should perish with the cold; and i was also afraid of having pieces nipped out of me, which would of course oblige me to quit my retreat. at last daylight was made through the upper part of the carcass, and i was only protected by the ribs of the animal, between which every now and then their noses dived and nipped my sealskin jacket. i was just thinking of shouting to frighten them away, when i heard the report of half-a-dozen muskets, and some of the bullets struck the carcass, but fortunately did not hit me. i immediately halloed as loud as i could, and the men, hearing me, ceased firing. they had fired at the foxes, little thinking that i was inside of the bear. i crawled out; the storm was over, and the men of the ship had come back to look for me. my brother, who was also a mate on board of the vessel, who had not been with the first party, had joined them in the search, but with little hopes of finding me alive. he hugged me in his arms, covered as i was with blood, as soon as he saw me. he’s dead now, poor fellow—that’s the story, jacob.”
“thank you, sir,” replied i; but perceiving that the memory of his brother affected him, i did not speak again for a few minutes. we then resumed our conversation, and pulling back with the tide, landed at the wharf.
on the day of the dinner party i went up to mr turnbull’s at three o’clock as he had proposed. i found the house in a bustle; mr and mrs turnbull, with the butler and footman, in the dining-room, debating as to the propriety of this and that being placed here and there, both servants giving their opinion, and arguing on a footing of equality, contradicting and insisting, mr turnbull occasionally throwing in a word, and each time snubbed by his wife, although the servants dare not take any liberty with him. “do, pray, mr turnbull, leave hus to settle these matters. get hup your wine; that is your department. leave the room, mr turnbull, hif you please. mortimer and i know what we are about, without your hinterference.”
“oh! by the lord, i don’t wish to interfere; but i wish you and your servants not to be squabbling, that’s all. if they gave me half the cheek—”
“do, pray, mr turnbull, leave the room, and allow me to regulate my own ’ousehold.”
“come, jacob, we’ll go down into the cellar,” said mr turnbull; and accordingly we went.
i assisted mr turnbull in his department as much as i could, but he grumbled very much. “i can’t bear all this nonsense, all this finery and foolery. everything comes up cold, everything is out of reach. the table’s so long, and so covered with uneatables, that my wife is hardly within hail and, by jingo, with her the servants are masters. not with me, at all events; for if they spoke to me as they do to mrs turnbull, i would kick them out of the house. however, jacob, there’s no help for it. all one asks for is quiet; and i must put up with all this sometimes, or i should have no quiet from one year’s end to another. when a woman will have her way, there’s no stopping her: you know the old verse—
“a man’s a fool who strives by force or skill
to stem the torrent of a woman’s will;
for if she will, she will, you may depend on’t,
and if she won’t, she won’t—and there’s an end on’t.
“now let’s go up into my room, and we will chat while i wash my hands.”
as soon as mr turnbull was dressed, we went down into the drawing-room, which was crowded with tables loaded with every variety of ornamental articles. “now this is what my wife calls fashionable. one might as well be steering through an ice-floe as try to come to an anchor here without running foul of something. it’s hard-a-port or hard-a-starboard every minute; and if your coat-tail jibes, away goes something, and whatever it is that smashes, mrs t always swears it was the most valuable thing in the room. i’m like a bull in a china-shop. one comfort is, that i never come in here except when there’s company. indeed, i’m not allowed, thank god. sit on a chair, jacob, one of those spider-like french things, for my wife won’t allow blacks, as she calls them, to come to an anchor upon her sky-blue silk sofas. how stupid to have furniture that one’s not to make use of! give me comfort but it appears that’s not to be bought for money.”
