The Adventures of Harry Richmond — Volume 2Meredith, George
General
The Adventures of Harry Richmond — Volume 2
Meredith, George
Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction
Captain Welsh soon conquered us. The latest meal we had eaten was on the
frosty common under the fir-trees. After a tremendous fast, with sea-
sickness supervening, the eggs and bacon, and pleasant benevolent-
smelling tea on the captain's table were things not to be resisted by two
healthy boys who had previously stripped and faced buckets of maddening
ice-cold salt-water, dashed at us by a jolly sailor. An open mind for
new impressions came with the warmth of our clothes. We ate, bearing
within us the souls of injured innocents; nevertheless, we were thankful,
and, to the captain's grace, a long one, we bowed heads decently. It was
a glorious breakfast, for which land and sea had prepared us in about
equal degrees: I confess, my feelings when I jumped out of the cabin were
almost those of one born afresh to life and understanding. Temple and I
took counsel. We agreed that sulking would be ridiculous, unmanly,
ungentlemanly. The captain had us fast, as if we were under a lion's
paw; he was evidently a well-meaning man, a fanatic deluded concerning
our characters: the barque Priscilla was bound for a German port, and
should arrive there in a few days,--why not run the voyage merrily since
we were treated with kindness? Neither the squire nor Temple's father
could complain of our conduct; we were simply victims of an error that
was assisting us to a knowledge of the world, a youth's proper ambition.
'And we're not going to be starved,' said Temple.
I smiled, thinking I perceived the reason why I had failed in my oration
over-night; so I determined that on no future occasion would I let pride
stand in the way of provender. Breakfast had completely transformed us
We held it due to ourselves that we should demand explanations from
Joseph Double, the mate, and then, after hearing him, furnish them with a
cordial alacrity to which we might have attached unlimited credence had
he not protested against our dreaming him to have supplied hot rum-and-
water on board, we wrote our names and addresses in the captain's log-
book, and immediately asked permission to go to the mast-head.
He laughed. Out of his cabin there was no smack of the preacher in him.
His men said he was a stout seaman, mad on the subject of grog and girls.
Why, it was on account of grog and girls that he was giving us this dish
of salt-water to purify us! Grog and girls! cried we. We vowed upon
our honour as gentlemen we had tasted grog for the first time in our
lives on board the Priscilla. How about the girls? they asked. We
informed them we knew none but girls who were ladies. Thereupon one
sailor nodded, one sent up a crow, one said the misfortune of the case
lay in all girls being such precious fine ladies; and one spoke in
dreadfully blank language, he accused us of treating the Priscilla as a
tavern for the entertainment of bad company, stating that he had helped
to row me and my associates from the shore to the ship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account