“Truly, if it be not for trade, there is little in common between the mariners of the brigantine and Alderman Van Beverout.”
“The greater the necessity thou shouldst end this silly joke, and restore his niece. I am not sure the affair can be at all settled with either of these hot-headed young men, though I should even offer to throw in a few thousands more, by way of make-weight. When female reputation gets a bad name in the market, ’tis harder to dispose of than falling stock; and your young lords of manors and commanders of cruisers have stomachs like usurers; no per centage will satisfy them; it must be all, or nothing! There was no such foolery in the days of thy worthy father! The honest trafficker brought his cutter into port, with as innocent a look as a mill-boat. We had our discourses on the qualities of his wares, when here was his price, and there was my gold. Odd or even! It was all a chance which had the best of the bargain. I was a thriving man in those days, Master Seadrift; but thy spirit seems the spirit of extortion itself!”
There was momentarily contempt on the lip of the handsome smuggler, but it disappeared in an expression of evident and painful sadness.
“Thou hast softened my heart, ere now, most liberal burgher,” he answered, “by these allusions to my parent; and many is the doubloon that I have paid for his eulogies.”
“I speak as disinterestedly as a parson preaches! What is a trifle of gold between friends? Yes, there was happiness in trade during the time of thy predecessor. He had a comely and a deceptive craft, that might be likened to an untrimmed racer. There was motion in it, at need, and yet it had the air of a leisurely Amsterdammer. I have known an Exchequer cruiser hail him, and ask the news of the famous free-trader, with as little suspicion as he would have in speaking the Lord High Admiral! There were no fooleries in his time; no unseemly hussies stuck under his bowsprit, to put an honest man out of countenance; no high-fliers in sail and paint; no singing and luting–but all was rational and gainful barter. Then, he was a man to ballast his boat with something valuable. I have known him throw in fifty ankers of gin, without a farthing for freight, when a bargain has been struck for the finer articles–ay, and finish by landing them in England, for a small premium, when the gift was made!”
“He deserves thy praise, grateful Alderman; but to what conclusion does this opening tend?”
“Well, if more gold must pass between us,” continued the reluctant Myndert, “we shall not waste time in counting it; though, Heaven knows, Master Seadrift, thou hast already drained me dry. Losses have fallen heavy on me, of late. There is a gelding, dead, that fifty Holland ducats will not replace on the boom-key of Rotterdam, to say nothing of freight and charges, which come particularly heavy–”
“Speak to thy offer!” interrupted the other, who evidently wished to shorten the interview.
“Restore the girl, and take five-and-twenty thin pieces.”
“Half-price for a Flemish gelding! La Belle would blush, with honest pride, did she know her value in the market!”
“Extortion and bowels of compassion! Let it be a hundred, and no further words between us.”
“Harkee, Mr. Van Beverout; that I sometimes trespass on the Queen’s earnings, is not to be denied, and least of all to you; for I like neither this manner of ruling a nation by deputy, nor the principle which says that one bit of earth is to make laws for another. ’Tis not my humor, Sir, to wear an English cotton when my taste is for the Florentine; nor to swallow beer, when I more relish the delicate wines of Gascony. Beyond this, thou knowest I do not trifle, even with fancied rights; and had I fifty of thy nieces, sacks of ducats should not purchase one!”
The Alderman stared, in a manner that might have induced a spectator to believe he was listening to an incomprehensible proposition. Still his companion spoke with a warmth that gave him no small reason to believe he uttered no more than he felt, and, inexplicable as it might prove, that he valued treasure less than feeling.
“Obstinacy and extravagance!” muttered Myndert; “what use can a troublesome girl be to one of thy habits? If thou hast deluded–”
“I have deluded none. The brigantine is not an Algerine, to ask and take ransom.”
“Then let it submit to what I believe it is yet a stranger. If thou hast not enticed my niece away, by, Heaven knows, a most vain delusion! let the vessel be searched. This will make the minds of the young men tranquil, and keep the treaty open between us, and the value of the article fixed in the market.”
“Freely:–but mark! If certain bales containing worthless furs of martens and beavers, with other articles of thy colony trade, should discover the character of my correspondents, I stand exonerated of all breach of faith.”
“There is prudence in that.–Yes, there must be no impertinent eyes peeping into bales and packages. Well, I see, Master Seadrift, the impossibility of immediately coming to an understanding; and therefore I will quit thy vessel, for truly a merchant of reputation should have no unnecessary connexion with one so suspected.”
The free-trader smiled, partly in scorn and yet much in sadness, and passed his fingers over the strings of the guitar.
“Show this worthy burgher to his friends, Zephyr,” he said; and, bowing to the Alderman, he dismissed him in a manner that betrayed a singular compound of feeling. One quick to discover the traces of human passion, might have fancied, that regret, and even sorrow, were powerfully blended with the natural or assumed recklessness of the smuggler’s air and language.
CHAPTER XVI.
“This will prove a brave kingdom to me;
Where I shall have my music, for nothing!”
During the time past in the secret conference of the cabin, Ludlow and the Patroon were held in discourse on the quarter-deck, by the hero of the India-shawl. The dialogue was professional, as Van Staats maintained his ancient reputation for taciturnity. The appearance of Myndert, thoughtful, disappointed, and most evidently perplexed, caused the ideas of all to take a new direction. It is probable that the burgher believed he had not yet bid enough to tempt the free-trader to restore his niece; for, by his air, it was apparent his mind was far from being satisfied that she was not in the vessel. Still, when questioned by his companions concerning the result of his interview with the free-trader, for reasons best understood by himself, he was fain to answer evasively.
“Of one thing rest satisfied,” he said; “the misconception in this affair will yet be explained, and Alida Barbérie return unfettered, and with a character as free from blemish as the credit of the Van Stoppers of Holland. The fanciful-looking person in the cabin denies that my niece is here, and I am inclined to think the balance of truth is on his side. I confess, if one could just look into the cabins, without the trouble of rummaging lockers and cargo, the statement would give more satisfaction; but–hem– gentlemen, we must take the assertion on credit, for want of more sufficient security.
Ludlow looked at the cloud above the mouth of the Raritan, and his lip curled in a haughty smile.
“Let the wind hold here, at east,” he said, “and we shall act our pleasure, with both lockers and cabins.”
“Hist! the worthy Master Tiller may overhear this threat–and, after all, I do not know whether prudence does not tell us, to let the brigantine depart.”
“Mr. Alderman Van Beverout,” rejoined the Captain, whose cheek had reddened to a glow, “my duty must not be gauged by your affection for your niece. Though content that Alida Barbérie should quit the country, like an article of vulgar commerce, the commander of this vessel must get a passport of Her Majesty’s cruiser, ere she again enter the high sea.”
“Wilt say as much to the sea-green lady?” asked the mariner of the shawl, suddenly appearing at his elbow.
The question was so unexpected and so strange, that it caused an involuntary start; but, recovering his recollection on the instant, the young sailor haughtily replied–
“Or to any other monster thou canst conjure!”
“We will take you at the word. There is no more certain method of knowing the past or the future, the quarter of the heavens from which the winds are to come, or the season of the hurricanes, than by putting a question to our mistress. She who knows so much of hidden matters, may tell us what you wish to know. We will have her called, by the usual summons.”
Thus saying, the mariner of the shawl gravely quitted his guests, and descended into the inferior cabins of the vessel. It was but a moment, before there arose sounds from some secret though not distant quarter of the brigantine, that caused, in some measure, both surprise and pleasure to Ludlow and the Patroon. Their companion had his motives for being insensible to either of these emotions.