"Well, that may be so," replied Clare; "but I must say that my opinion is, you was both to blame, and I advise you to leave other men's wives alone, as no good never comes of it;" saying which Tom nodded to his friend and left his cabin.
"What a world this is," thought the acting boatswain. "I only call upon an old flame in a friendly sort of way, when I get into a row with her wooden-headed husband, and my motives are wrong understood by my chum. Now, had I gone in for a regular fashionable high and mighty first-class flirtation, and offered to elope with her, or some such thundering foolishness, no one would have said a word. 'Pon my soul, I believe the straiter one keeps the worser one's off. Well, never mind; in a few weeks this voyage will be over, and then I'll marry Mary Ann Ross, and settle down into a respectable member of society, for we single men always gets blamed when we're innocent."
CHAPTER XXVI.
A few days before the ship's departure for home, a rumour was circulated on board that some relatives of the commander were to embark as passengers, and the report was confirmed by the carpenters being directed to put up temporary sleeping accommodation in the captain's cabin for a lady and gentleman, their female servant, and two little girls.
The acting boatswain was delighted to hear that a lady was coming on board, thinking Captain Tortle would, under such circumstances, abstain from inflicting any severe punishment upon his crew, and he knew her presence would in many ways ameliorate the condition of the men. He also had some curiosity to see what sort of person the servant was; for it must be confessed that although Jerry had not forgotten A-tae, he was beginning to yearn after another affinity. We do not wish to imply by this that he desired to slight Mary Ann, although probably he did not feel particularly anxious to meet her. He knew that he had promised to make her his wife upon his return, so, thinking that without doubt she had waited for him, he was determined to keep his word; but he somewhat resented what he called her silence, never imagining it resulted from his own inattention, and objected to her having written to him in poetry, "as if she couldn't write him a letter, instead of sending that stuff." It was in this spirit he anticipated the arrival of the female servant, and he determined to enjoy his freedom while he could, thinking that once Mary Ann was Mrs. Thompson all such luxuries as affinities would be simply out of the question. Jerry was fast returning to his former general devotion to the fair sex, and, as Clare observed, "would require a deal of looking arter for the future."
About nine o'clock on the morning of departure, Captain Tortle proceeded on shore to fetch the party, and it being rather a boisterous day, the lady was afraid to venture in the gig, so the captain politely brought her off in the pinnace, a boatswain's chair being slung from the main yard, in which she was safely lifted on board without having to climb the gangway ladder.
Mr. Thompson was standing by the starboard companion when the boat arrived alongside, and although on the sick-list, he gave an eye to the rigging of the chair. Everything being adjusted, and the lady comfortably lashed in the apparatus, a boatswain's mate piped "hoist away," and in a few moments the chair rose from the pinnace, freighted with a lady in whose lap was seated a most beautiful little girl, who, instead of betraying fear at her novel position, laughed and kicked her feet about, only seeming concerned when she found herself safely landed upon the deck. The lady being released from the chair, it was again hoisted up and lowered into the boat alongside, from which it once more emerged, bearing a smart-looking French bonne, who was tightly clutching a blue-eyed baby; and although the latter did not cry, it evidently anything but enjoyed the hoisting process.