“I think, however, that those soldier-officers might as well have let the poor birds alone,” he observed. “It is a cruel thing to shoot them, but I do not think any further harm will come of it.”
Still, neither Peter nor Willy were quite satisfied. “I’ll ask Mrs Rumbelow what she thinks about it,” said Willy. “She will soon get the opinion of the seamen, and I should not quite like to ask them myself.”
As soon as their watch was over, the two midshipmen went below, where they found Mrs Rumbelow seated on a chest, busily employed in darning her husband’s stockings, or in some other feminine occupation, as was her wont: Mrs Rumbelow’s fingers were never idle.
“Glad to see you, young gentlemen,” she said, looking up from her work. “Well, Mr Dicey, you don’t look like the same person you were before we reached the Cape; by the time you get home again they won’t know you.”
“If all goes well with us, perhaps not,” said Willy; “but Ensign Holt has gone and killed an albatross, and perhaps, as you know, that is a very dreadful thing to do. They say that evil is sure, in consequence, to come to the ship.”
Mrs Rumbelow looked at the faces of her two young visitors. “Do you think seriously that God rules the world in that fashion?” she asked, in a somewhat scornful tone. “Because a foolish young gentleman happens to kill a bird, will He who counts the hairs of our heads allow a number of His creatures, who have nothing to do with the matter, to suffer in consequence. Do not let such nonsense enter your heads, my dears.”
“We wanted you, Mrs Rumbelow, to inquire of the seamen what they think about the matter,” said Willy.
“I will do no such thing, and that’s my answer,” replied the sergeant’s wife; “harm may come to the ship, but it won’t be because of that, or anything of the sort.”
Just then Sergeant Rumbelow himself came up: in appearance he was very unlike his wife. Whereas she was tall and thin, he was comparatively short and broad; indeed, though of the regulation height, his width made him appear shorter than he really was; while his countenance, though burnt and tanned by southern suns and exposure to all sorts of weather, was fat and rubicund. He held his sides and laughed so heartily at the account his wife gave him of the questions which had been put to her, that Willy and Peter wished they had not mentioned the subject.
The wind was light and the ship made but little way for several days. Shafto, though only a mate, did duty as a lieutenant. Willy was in his watch; it was the middle watch. Willy enjoyed such opportunities of talking with his friend. The sea was perfectly smooth, there was only wind sufficient just to fill the sails, and the ship was making scarcely three knots through the water. Every now and then a splash was heard; some monster of the deep rose to the surface, and leaping forth, plunged back again into its native element. Strange sounds seemed to come from the far distance. A thick fog arose and shrouded the ship, so that nothing could be seen beyond the bowsprit.