Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 06
General
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 06
Scottish Borders (Scotland) -- Fiction
The weather continued rough, and the wind contrary, and we suffered much
for a few days from the pitching of the vessel. We were still confined
to the hold by the captain's orders; yet we had no other cause of
complaint, for the mate supplied all our wants in abundance. The
captain, who had continued very ill from the wound in his foot, at
length fevered, and his life was in danger; at his request, the lady
left the hold and waited upon him. He begged forgiveness for the insult
he had offered her; we were all allowed the freedom of the vessel; and
she continued to nurse and watch over him with all that care and
assiduity that belong to women. After a tedious passage of nine weeks,
we arrived off Baltimore, in the State of Maryland; the captain, who
recovered, being still very lame, though able to come upon deck. As soon
as we cast anchor off the mouth of the harbour (for we did not enter) a
message was sent to the town by the captain; and, on the following day,
a regular market was held upon our deck, when we were put up to sale,
and knocked down by an auctioneer to the highest bidder. William and
Peter brought large sums, being expert tradesmen, and their time of
service was short, compared with the rest. The others, like myself, were
fit only for field work, and our time, to make up the sum of forty
pounds, which we averaged, was three years. We all thought the captain
would have given the injured lady her liberty, and a present, for her
care of him; but avarice was his ruling passion, and stifled gratitude.
He had paid her unprincipled husband a large sum for his victim, and was
determined to reimburse himself. All the favour he conferred upon her
was, that he did not dispose of her with the same regardlessness as to
who was the purchaser, but kept her on board several days, while he made
inquiries as to an eligible situation. Those who knew him gave him
little credit for his endeavours, and did not scruple to say that he was
as anxious to drive a good bargain for himself as to find a good master
for her. Whatever was his motive, it turned out very fortunate for her,
as I heard afterwards; for a rich shipowner of the city, whose wife had
died a few months before, satisfied the captain's cupidity, and took
her to his house as a governess to his children, three of whom were
daughters. Before I left Maryland, I heard that she had learned, through
the English papers, which her master regularly got, by one or other of
the many vessels that traded to this port, that her unprincipled husband
had been condemned and executed for robbing his aunt of a large sum of
money, and forging an order upon her banker, not many weeks after we had
left Scotland. Many years afterwards, I learned, in Edinburgh, from
William, who had returned, after a long stay in Baltimore, with a
considerable sum of money, and had commenced builder, that before he
left the city, she had married her master, and was as wealthy and happy
as any lady in the province.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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