Chapter XXVIII · THE SHORE ANCHORAGE.

The day on which the good schooner Restless became their property was the last Captain Irwin’s party spent at Key West in the same aimless fashion as the six weeks previous had been passed.

On the following morning each one had quite as much as he or she could do, for according to the terms of the charter it was necessary the vessel should leave port at the earliest possible moment.

The captain had a variety of duties which could only be attended to by himself. To Jake was left the work of buying and putting aboard the provisions; Ben and Gertie were detailed to set the cabin to rights, help Chloe pack up such household goods as they owned, and look after their removal.

On the second day the task of loading the schooner was begun, and forty-eight hours later the Restless left the harbor bound north. Four sailors, one of whom was to act as mate, had been hired, and with such help as Jake and Ben could give, she had crew enough to handle her in any kind of weather.

Of course Chloe, Gertie and the cat were installed in one of the state-rooms; Captain Irwin occupied the second, while the mate had another, and it was supposed that Ben and the cook would divide the last between them, but Jake insisted on sleeping in the forecastle, even though he was a third owner of the vessel, giving the following as his reason:

“You see, I never have lived aft, an’ it’s hard work teachin’ old dogs new tricks. Then, agin, no matter if half the schooner was mine, I’m only the cook after all, an’ it don’t do for the captain of the galley to sling too much style.”

After that explanation no one attempted to dissuade him from his purpose. He did not think it out of place to visit the cabin very often during his leisure moments, nor did he forget his intention to “knock Chloe’s eye out” by a series of elaborate meals. It seemed as if each contained a greater variety of food than the one preceding, and before two days elapsed the old woman was willing to admit that he was skillful.

“He’s de fustest man I’se eber seen what was wuff his salt in a kitchen,” she said confidentially to Gertie. “He kin turn out what tastes mighty good, but bress yer heart, honey, it’s only kase he’s on de water. Wait till we fin’ dat home de captin tells ’bout, an’ den he won’t ’mount to scarcely nuffin’ at all side ob yer ole mammy.”

It was as if the Restless tried on this first voyage to convince her new owners that they had not been mistaken in regard to her speed. With strong, favoring winds she fairly flew over the water, and it is an actual fact, as Ben can prove by certain newspaper cuttings which he preserves very carefully, that she arrived at New York in two hours’ less time than was occupied by the mail steamer during the same week.

The passengers did not land immediately after the schooner reached the dock. They already looked upon her cabin as home, therefore it was decided that all should remain on board until after the cargo was discharged, when the captain would have plenty of time in which to make the necessary arrangements.

Before a week passed every detail had been settled regarding the “shore anchorage.” The old French lady with whom Captain Irwin was acquainted, Madame Servoise, was not only willing, but very happy to be installed as the superintendent of such a home as it was proposed to make, and at once set out to search for a dwelling, after which matters progressed finely.

A little cottage on the banks of the Hudson River, with a view of the water, such as would be pleasing to Captain Irwin, and a garden that gave Chloe visions of table luxuries grown under her own eyes, was the place selected. It was but a short walk from the school which Ben and Gertie were to attend, and to the castaways who had never before known what a real home was, it filled every requirement.

Chloe was allowed to fit up her own especial domain—the kitchen—as best pleased her, and never was a purchaser more captious than she when the culinary articles were selected.

“I’se gwine ter hab what’s mos’ needed,” she said privately to Gertie, “so’s I kin show dat wuffless Jake de meanin’ ob a good cook. ’Pears like he’s swelled all up kase we ate so much on de schooner, an’ yer ole aunty’s gwine ter fill him up full once, so’s he can’t talk ’bout his own vittles.”

She succeeded, as a matter of fact, for the first dinner in the new house was such an one as would have tempted the appetite of the daintiest epicure, and to the old woman’s great delight Jake did full justice to the meal.

“You ain’t a bad cook, aunty,” he said, when it was not possible for him to eat any more, “an’ I allow you can get up what’s good for a man’s stomach; but jest wait till I own half of the Restless instead of one-third. Then the whole cabin is to be turned into a galley, an’ I’ll have a chance to swing myself.”

Chloe made no reply. She knew the change in the schooner Jake spoke of would never be made and the amount of food he had eaten was sufficient praise.

If it were only possible to show you that home now, after it has been occupied all these years, you would acknowledge that there could be none more pleasant. Yet though such a long time has elapsed, that little cottage where the cat, which was once believed to be supernatural, is spending her declining days in comfort, save when an over-bold mouse causes some trouble, is one of the most delightful places at which to visit, and a guest is always eager to return.

Sometimes, when he is in a particularly good humor, Jake admits that he gets better meals ashore than on the Restless, and it is positive Captain Irwin looks forward impatiently to the days when he can remain permanently with his family in New York.

It has been a number of years since the Sea Queen started out on her last voyage, and Ben and Gertie are now so far embarked on the sea of life that she wears a pretty diamond ring on her forefinger, apparently thinking it very precious, for it was presented by the young mate of the Restless.

Perhaps it would be well to look back for a moment to the time when Captain Irwin’s “family” first began housekeeping, for there were one or two incidents which occurred shortly afterward that may be interesting.

When the Restless arrived in port at the end of the second voyage after she was owned by those who spent so many days on Content Key, Captain Irwin made it his business to search for Chloe’s Moses, and after some difficulty succeeded in finding him at a hotel on Broadway, where he was employed as waiter.

Of course Moses was delighted to hear from his mother, whom he had believed to be dead, and quite naturally he took advantage of the first opportunity to call upon her.

Prepared in advance for the visit, Chloe sat in the kitchen with her turban twisted a trifle tighter than usual, and her fat face fairly glistening with motherly affection.

Mrs. Servoise was at the window when Moses came up the stoop, and, just for an instant, she might perhaps have thought her visitor was a fragment of some dyspeptic rainbow. The most conspicuous portions of his costume were the shirt-front, collar and cuffs, bedecked with colored illustrations of horseshoes, jockeys’ caps, whips and spurs. A red and blue neck-tie, with broad bars of yellow, hung out over the black, white and green checks on his clothes, and a small cane with a very large handle lent a general finish to the whole.

Ben and Gertie were almost as much interested in this meeting between mother and son as the old woman herself, and the former admitted the gorgeous youth while the latter followed the others to the very door of the kitchen.

Chloe started to her feet as the boy entered, but instead of folding him to her bosom as the watchers in the hall-way anticipated, she retreated toward the stove in real or simulated fear.

“G’way, g’way from h’yar!” she cried, waving her hands nervously. “Wha’ you fool nigger doin’ in dis house?”

“Why, don’t you know me, mammy? Has I growed so fine dat you fail to dismember yer own chile?”

“G’way, g’way; don’ come one inch furder, or I’ll scald you, suah! My Mose wasn’t no sich jumpin’-jack as you is; he was a ’spectable nigger when he lef’ his ole mammy.”

Ben and Gertie were nearly convulsed with mirth at the tableau presented just at this moment. In the corner stood old Chloe with both black hands held in front of her to keep the gorgeous apparition at a respectful distance, and in the center of the room, his mouth wide open with astonishment, stood Moses, gazing at his mother as if fearing her senses had suddenly taken their leave.

“You’se wrong, mammy, you’se wrong. I’se de same Mose what sent fur you to come up Norf, an’ I’se gettin’ erlong right smart.”

“My boy sent for me,” Chloe said, speaking slowly and with considerable dignity, “an’ I’se done gone got pretty nigh dead gettin’ here; but it wasn’t fur sich a hollyhock as you is dat I dragged my pore ole bones ober de sea. G’way, I tells yer, an’ ef you see my Mose when he’s ’specterable, sen’ him up here ter me.”

It was useless for Moses to insist that his position in society demanded a faultless costume, and all in vain did he plead with her to “be sensible.” She positively refused to recognize him until he “looked decent,” and not until he presented himself in less gorgeous array would she even treat him with civility.

And the old woman conquered, for on the following evening he called again dressed according to her ideas of good taste, and received as affectionate a greeting as the most loving child could have desired. To-day he is general assistant on board the Restless, and both Jake and Ben give Chloe glowing reports of his industry and good character.

Nothing was heard regarding Dr. Harlan for nearly two years after the law had given to Gertie a guardian, and then Captain Irwin brought from Key West reliable information of his death. During that time he had remained in the City of Mexico selling his nostrums, when not wholly intoxicated, and while trying to extract a tooth for an unwilling patient, but succeeding only in breaking the man’s jaw, he was killed.

It would be affectation to say that Gertie mourned for him. Her earliest memories were of his cruelty to her mother, and later came personal fear, after which the knowledge that he was dead could not but be a relief.

And now a final word.

Next fall Ben takes command of the Restless, Captain Irwin believing it is time for him to retire from active life; the little schooner has earned a comfortable competency for her owners, and both he and Jake will live on shore the remainder of their days. Chloe is also to resign in favor of a younger cook; her time of labor is well nigh spent, and, as Jake says, the old people will have nothing to do but watch for the arrival of the fruiter.

Ben is to be her captain when she goes again to Key West for a cargo, and with him will be Mrs. Clark, for whom Chloe is to officiate the last time in the kitchen when she makes the wedding cake. It is safe to assume that the young captain will be both happy and prosperous, and never forget that his wife as well as his fortune came from that one attempt to catch a turtle, which resulted in five people becoming the most intimate of friends when they could no longer be called castaways.