The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson: The Dream Of X & Other Fantastic Visions (8 page)

The bo’sun arrived almost in the same instant, and Tommy Dodd would certainly have fared very badly but for the interference of the mate, who told him that he would deal with Tommy. Later, he gave orders privately to the bo’sun that he must ease up on the boy, or he, the mate, would have something to say in the matter.

Yet, in spite of the efforts of the first mate to keep Tommy out of serious trouble, the boy had several narrow escapes from real bodily injury, for the third mate and the bo’sun were by nature bullies, and the captain, though, as I have said, not a bad man, was very hasty-tempered and hard by nature, so that when all is said and done poor Tommy had a very rough and brutal time of it on the way out.

And hence, as I have hinted, Tommy’s plot to avenge himself and the others, for it must not be supposed that he had any monopoly when rough treatment was being handed out. And of the plot and its workings you will have chance to judge, as you read on.

As Tommy himself put it: “I make a spiffing girl when I’ve the right togs on. I’ve acted often at home. You’ll see if I don’t fool ’em all!”

From now until the “Lady Hannibal” reached Melbourne there were long and secret conferences in the ’prentices’ berth, or glory hole, during which the plan was fully matured. As James remarked:

“It should go off all right, you know. The skipper’s an awful old fool over any girl he can get to talk to him, an’ Tommy should be able to fetch him.”

“The old man’ll sure to want to kiss you, Tommy,” said one of the ’prentices in the other watch. “What’ll you do then?”

“I’ll smack his face for him, good an’ hard!” said Tommy, with gusto at the thought. “Guess I’ll get square with him. And I’ll fix the third mate, too. You’ll see!”

When Melbourne was reached the ’prentices clubbed their spare cash, and thereafter took to frequenting milliners’ and other shops dedicated to the daintying of woman.

At the conclusion of their purchases the whole six of the young rascals carted the bundles into the ’prentices’ berth, and, having locked the door and covered the ports, Master Tommy Dodd went through an elaborate “trying-on.”

At the end of his efforts, however, a queer silence possessed the glory hole; for Tommy, when finally dressed, from pretty shoes—which his slender feet and years allowed to be surprisingly small—to his mop of naturally curly, golden hair, made so dainty a girl that his fellow ’prentices felt all at once different towards him. He looked so like a girl. It was James who voiced the general feeling, when he said abruptly, “By George, youngster, you make a pretty girl!”

As James made the remark, there came a sharp rap on the berth door, and the voice of the third mate, demanding admittance. The lads looked from one to the other, in complete dismay; but Tommy perceived suddenly that the advent of the third mate might prove helpful, rather than otherwise; moreover, it was a good chance to test the efficiency of his disguise. And he whispered to the others to let the officer in quickly, before he began to suspect that something was up. This the lads now did, and the third mate burst in roughly, with a coarse remark, and looked suspiciously round. Then he saw the girl, standing demurely quiet by the table, and at sight of her quite extraordinary prettiness, he became suddenly so polite, that Tommy nearly burst out laughing. Instead, however, he took up his part in earnest, and looked at him with a primly disgusted look, that made the whole coarse bulk of the third mate abruptly realise itself, which cannot have been pleasant for him. Then Tommy turned to James, and said aloud, but in a nicely modulated voice:

“Well then, Mr. James, when you see my cousin, Mr. Dayrin, will you tell him, please, that his cousin, Jenny Dayrin, has been down to see him, and that I should like him to come up and spend a couple of days with us, if the captain will let him.”

The third mate, staring foolishly at this dainty girl of apparently near seventeen years, realised suddenly that she must be cousin to Tommy Dodd, though he had forgotten, until that moment, that the youth was properly named Dayrin. He made a resolve that as soon as Tommy came aboard, he would be nice with him. He hoped that Tommy would not blacken him to this pretty girl, who called the youngest ’prentice “cousin,” and had come down to invite him up, probably to some fine house. That was the worst of these beastly ’prentices, you never knew how to treat them, or where you had them, when you got into port—they had such swagger “people.”

For his part, Tommy—as he explained to the others afterwards—had killed many birds with one stone. By the simple act of letting the third mate see him, as his supposed girl-cousin, he had slain at birth any suspicions which might afterwards have arisen at the likeness of the girl, Jenny, both in face and voice, to Tommy Dodd, the ’prentice. Further, he had insured a cessation of the third mate’s bullying all the time that they were in port. He had also provided means whereby he could receive invitations—from himself—to spend the day ashore; and these invitations could be easily extended to the rest of the berth; for, as the girl-cousin Jenny, Tommy Dodd felt that be could easily persuade the captain to grant such relaxations as those he now proposed to himself. Later, as he hoped, he would see other means of utilising this new and delightful power which he had created. In the meanwhile, the third mate—as Tommy had already grown to expect—was “toning down” to the others, and finally asked James, in a low voice, to introduce him to Miss Jenny. This was achieved, and the third mate laid himself out in a grotesque effort to make himself agreeable to pretty Miss Dayrin; finally offering to show her round the vessel, which offer was accepted with demure quietness.

The third mate took the supposed girl around the poop, where the skipper was enjoying a stroll before going ashore for the evening. Here, seeing the chance of becoming introduced to the captain in his new character, Tommy evinced a quite extraordinary interest in the wheel, during which the skipper—perceiving that the girl was exceedingly pretty—strolled up within hearing, and finally joined the third mate—much to that man’s disgust—in explaining the action of the steering-gear.

“Then this is the thing that makes the ship turn round?” said Tommy, in his clear voice, and pitching it a little near its ordinary compass, for the edification of the five other ’prentices, whose faces he saw craned round the edge of the port stairway, where it came up to the poop deck.

“Yes,” said the skipper, looking at her with approving eyes. “I can see you’re a clever young lady.”

Tommy was aware that the watching faces had suddenly disappeared, and that there were sounds of smothered laughter down on the main deck, as his five berthmates, scuttered—shaking with wicked joy—into the glory hole, there to enjoy to their hearts’ content the idea of their old “tough” of a captain telling his youngest ’prentice that he was a clever young lady—that same Tommy whom he had booted scientifically and indelicately but a few hours earlier.

Up on the poop, the skipper was still deep in explanations, which presently began to bore Tommy frightfully; so that he remembered suddenly that he must hurry home to tea. At this the skipper actually beamed, and, with a polite bow, asked the young lady whether he could not persuade her to honour his table with her presence. And Tommy consented so to do honour unto his captain, by condescending, for the first time, to eat some of the cabin delicacies. Truly, as Tommy thought, “this is all right, but”—as he remembered his toilet—I mustn’t eat too much.”

Meanwhile, the captain had called the steward up on the poop, and was busy laying the foundations for such a tea as Master Tommy had not eaten for many a long day. “And,” thought Tommy, as he harked, “I’ll get even with the steward before I’m done for all the gubbins he’s done us out of, and for all the short whacks of sugar, and for that time he sneaked to the skipper when we threw spuds at him.” And, indeed, for many another crime against the glory hole; for the steward was a disagreeable man, and the high spirits of the ’prentices’ berth, which culminated in the body of Tommy Dodd, had always excited his ire and spite. Therefore, was Tommy joyful in contemplation, the while that the skipper personally conducted the remainder of his tour round the ship, having told the disgusted third mate that he could go ashore any time he liked.

Presently they came to the glory hole, and the skipper indicated the interior of the berth through the open doorway.

“Where my young gentlemen live,” he said, adopting somewhat of a parental attitude to the youngsters who inhabited that gloomy but lively abode.

He was not aware yet that Tommy was claimed as cousin by the pretty girl at his side, but when this was explained to him he adopted an attitude that was even more indicative of kindliness and benevolence, which rose a wicked idea in Tommy’s mind.

“I should think you are a very kind captain to them,” he said, in the most girlish way possible. And the captain spared not of emphasis to insure this point being fixed in the mind of his newly-found girl friend, for he saw that along such lines lay the way to her liking and favour.

Tommy—the girl—stepped in over the washboard, and all the ’prentices rose and uncapped.

“What a quaint little place!” said Tommy, parodying a remark of his sister’s, which she had made when she came down in London to see the vessel in which her brother was to sail. “And do they sleep on all those shelves? How funny!” Then, as if the idea had come suddenly: “Oh, captain, couldn’t we have tea in here? We could all have it together; it would be so homely. And if my cousin comes back, he could join in with us.”

Tommy clapped his hands, as if in ecstasy at the thought, and looked up at the skipper, very nicely from under the longest lashes in the world—or so that elderly reprobate thought at the moment.

“I—er—well—er——” said the skipper confusedly, and with the beginnings of a little irritation, that somehow was held in check by the daintiness of Tommy’s attitude of request. “I—er—think the cabin will be nicer, Miss Jenny, don’t you?”

“Perhaps you’re right, captain,” said Tommy thoughtfully, with his head of golden curls a little on one side, pondering.

“More room, too,” added the skipper, brightening, as the danger seemed to be passing—“much more room.”

“Yea,” said Tommy, nodding and peering round at the gloomy little berth. “This is a pokey little place. Why don’t you make your young gentlemen live with you in the cabin, captain? Then the steward could look after them properly. And it would be so nice to have them all with you.”

James, away in the corner of the glory hole, nearly choked; whilst the captain turned to the doorway and got out on deck, hoping thus to change the conversation, which was becoming a practical difficulty for a sea captain troubled with paternal and benevolent instincts towards his “young gentlemen.”

“Tea’ll be gettin’ cold, Miss Jenny,” he said, and held out a large hand to help Tommy, which the boy took, to assist him over the washboard. Then the boy turned and looked back into the berth. “Come along, all of you!” he said. “The captain says it will be nicer to have tea in the cabin, as there will be more room there. Be quick, the tea’s getting cold! We’ll all have a jolly tea together! Come on, captain!”—this last to the distracted skipper, who had halted, as if suddenly frozen, at finding this innocent but startling interpretation put upon his attempts at evading having to join his authority to the girl’s suggestion to invite the whole berth to tea.

For their part, the five ’prentices stood as still and stupid as the skipper; but presently James terminated the suspense, by asking in so many words:

“Are we to come, sir?”

“Of course,” said Tommy, laughing happily. “Didn’t you hear the captain saying it would be nicer to have it in the cabin?”

But James still looked at the captain, who now saw that he could not possibly evade the invitation and still retain the high opinion which Miss Jenny had formed of him. He, therefore, with a fierce attempt to sound hearty, told the boys to follow, which they did, all more or less uneasy, because they understood perfectly the skipper’s attitude in the matter, yet all of them wordless with astonishment and admiration at the way in which Master Tommy Dodd was “carrying it off.”

As they all sat down round the cabin table, with the captain at the head, the steward finished setting out the additional tea-cups for the five lads. Tommy noticed the way in which he was doing it, and saw how to avenge the bitter disgust which was on the man’s disagreeable face.

“Oh, steward,” he cried out, in his clear voice, modulating the tone, so as to suggest only the astonishment of a daintily-nurtured girl, “you shouldn’t put your fingers in the cups. And your hands are dirty, you know!”

The captain turned in his chair, and saw that Miss Jenny was only too correct. He had never noticed these details before, but now they seemed rank and dreadful before this pretty girl. He grew ashamed, through the action of his servant, and turned on him, his voice making the cabin ring.

“Steward,” he roared, “go and wash yourself! Take all these cups, and bring clean ones! You’re only fit for hog-feedin’!”

Tommy Dodd had scored one victory over an enemy of the berth.

Throughout the meal, as befits a privileged person, he ate cake only. He took moderate bites and little sips, and remembered in time that rigid but nameless article which held his small and muscular waist so stiffly. Because he remembered, he stopped in time!

All the weeks that the vessel was in port Tommy had the most glorious time. He received numberless invitations from himself, alias Miss Jenny Dayrin, which the captain allowed him to accept; for he could refuse nothing to the girl, who often paid him a visit on those days when Tommy had been allowed to accept an invitation ashore. This coincidence alone being sufficient to insure Tommy’s never having a refusal of leave from the skipper. The berth also was invited on several occasions, much to the disgust of the third mate, who found himself excluded from such privileges; yet dared not vent his anger on Tommy, whom he suspected of having “told things” to the girl, lest, after all, he should be mistaken; for Miss Jenny took care not to drive him quite hopeless, but to utilise the situation to the best advantage, so as to punish the hulking brute as far as possible with the whip of jealousy, and yet to keep him hoping faintly, so that, in her more usual character as Tommy Dodd, she should have as free a time as possible from the bullying of that particular officer.