"I tell you what," said R——, "and I tell you all plainly, if you fellows go ashore, and get into a row, and the police take you in charge; instead of defending you, as you fancy I will, I will appear against you, and assist the law in punishing you; and, what is more, if you are sent to prison, I will up stick, and leave you there."
"Thank you, my Lord," they murmured, and old Tom assisting in the thankful murmurs of Dick and George, kept reiterating till the sounds died away as he descended the fore-hatch.
"We warn't drunk, my Lord,—notottoll;" and Tom was the most notorious drunkard on board.
The story was simply this:—He and his two companions, after trudging over the town, sight-seeing, till past ten, found, to their dismay, on arriving at the outer gates, that they were closed. In self-defence, all three were compelled to take shelter for the night in some low cabaret, where, meeting with a few jovial Danes, unreluctant to shun the bout, they drank the night away. Feeling the weight of Danish grog aloft, Dick, a stalwart young fellow of six feet, lost his balance in stepping into the boat next morning, and, falling athwart the little dingy's gunwale, capsized it. Poor old Tom, out of the three, went like a 24-pounder to the bottom; but the transparency of the water allowed some bystanders to observe his carcass stretched out among the cockles as composedly as in his hammock, and to raise him, after the lapse of a short time, by applying a boat-hook to the hole of his breeches' pocket.
P—— returned at one, and told us, that he called at the guard-room, and, making the harbour-master his marshal and interpreter, had hunted up the officer so civil to us last night; and expressed our gratitude for the favour which we had received. To every one who travels inconveniences must occur, or else travelling loses half its excitement. I would rather remain all my days at home, my mind compressed within its narrow precincts, and never see the sunny South, or mingle, as I do, with people whose warm hearts are softer than the genial air they breathe, and feel, that extreme nobility of soul and sensitiveness of wrong are entwined with the purest simplicity of thought and manners, than lack the slight annoyances of a Scythian life. P—— gave us to understand that he had inquired about the gates; and all the information he could collect was, that no respect could be paid to our condition; and, if we remained on shore after ten, we should run the risk of being kept out of our beds all night. The plan suggested was to write to the Prince of Hesse, and, stating our position, beg that his Royal Highness would grant us permission to pass backward and forward at any hour. Reconsidering, however, the matter, we determined not to do so; but to call on our Consul, and, through him, represent the hardship of our case to the British Minister. This determination was adopted, and ordered to be carried into execution the following day, this one being the Sabbath. Is it not strange how Englishmen long to break through all restraint, and regard the laws of foreign countries as so many impediments in their path of pleasure?
As in England, many well-dressed people were walking about under the shade of the trees planted with great regularity along the ramparts of Fredrikshavn. We could hear children calling aloud, as soon as they caught sight of the yacht, decked out with all the elegance of her whitest ensign, and best Burgee "Engelskt! Engelskt!" with shrill tongues they cried; and, denoting with their little hands the object of delight, disturbed the stillness of the holy day.
The French customs are generally followed, I fancy, in this country; for to-day, being Sunday, more entertainment is to be met with in Copenhagen than on any other day of the week. The theatres are all open, and the casino, sacred by the royal presence of Christian, lures, with its sweet tones of operatic music, the prudish Englishman from thoughts of Paradise and the fourth commandment. Moses, Daniel, and the Chronicles are quite forgotten; and, putting Ecclesiastes in our pocket, we are going to the casino to-night.
"Do you know," suddenly said P——, as he closed a large chart of Norway, up and down the rivers of which he had been floating for some time on the tip of his pen-knife, "I met old C—— ashore, and he stuck to me like birdlime. He is a bore; I wonder who he is!"
Like a black cloud, you sometimes see on sultry summer days, moving sluggishly across the purely azure sky; so this remark of P—— overshadowed my mind with a misgiving feeling; and Horace's Ninth Satire, seizing my memory with prophetic tenacity, made me involuntarily mutter,—
"Ibam forte viâ sacrâ, sicut meus est mos,
Nescio quid meditans nugarum, et totus in illis;
Accurrit quidam notus mihi nomine tantum,
Arrep——"