Raftmates: A Story of the Great River Page 16

  CHAPTER XV.

  "CAP'N COD," SABELLA, AND THE _WHATNOT_.

  In order to explain the presence beside that tow-head of the queercraft on board which Winn had found shelter, and of its severaloccupants, who were making such kindly efforts to relieve his distress,it is necessary to take a twenty-year glance backward. At that timeAleck Fifield, a Yankee jack-of-all-trades, who had been by turns aschool-teacher, sailor, mechanic, boat-builder, and several otherthings as well, found himself employed as stage-carpenter in a Bostontheatre. He had always been possessed of artistic tastes, though theyhad never carried him beyond sign-painting, and of dramatic longings,which had thus far been satisfied with a diligent reading ofShakespeare and attending the theatre at every opportunity. Now, beingregularly connected with the stage, both these tastes expanded, untilthrough one of them he blossomed into a very passable scene-painter.Through the other he overwhelmed himself with despair, and convulsed anaudience with laughter, by appearing once, and once only, as CaptainThomas Codringhampton in the popular sea drama of "Blue Billows." Hisfailure as an actor was so dismal and complete as to be notorious.Unkind comparisons of other bad acting with that of Cap'n Cod becamestock jokes in every theatre of the country. From that day the stagename clung to him; and though it galled at first, the passage of timesoothed the wound, until finally Aleck Fifield became proud of thename. As he grew older, it represented to him the fame for which hehad longed when young. When the war broke out and he became one of thebravest defenders of the Union, he was everywhere known as "Cap'n Cod."After the war, in which he managed to lose a leg, he went to Iowa tolive with his only relative, a widowed niece, who had but one child, alittle girl.

  Between this child, Sabella, and the white-haired veteran, who couldtell more tales than a fairy-book, and construct more toys than SantaClaus ever dreamed of, there sprang up an affection that could not havebeen stronger had they been father and daughter. On one side it wasbased upon boundless love and admiration, and on the other uponadmiration and boundless love. When Sabella went to school, theCaptain's business kept him within sight of the school-house; and whenschool was out, the little girl was nowhere happier than in hiscompany. For her sake he was the friend of her friends, and among thechildren of Dubuque no one was so popular as Cap'n Cod. They did notlive in the city, but on a small farm a few miles from it, and thisCap'n Cod was supposed to manage. Farming was, however, the oneoccupation for which he had no taste, and but for his capable niece theannual crops would not have paid the expense of raising them.

  When Sabella was twelve years old and rapidly developing into beautifulgirlhood, her mother died, leaving her and her little property to theunrestricted guardianship of Cap'n Cod. Now matters went from bad toworse so far as the farm was concerned, until, to save it from thehammer, it was deemed best to rent it to a more practical farmer thanthe child's devoted guardian.

  This gave Cap'n Cod the opportunity and an excuse for carrying out acherished scheme that, but for the opposition of his niece, he wouldhave put into operation long before. It was the painting of apanorama, the building of a boat to hold it, and thus equipped, tofloat away down the great river in search of fame and fortune. NowSabella must of course be included in the plan; for not only did sheand Cap'n Cod consider it impossible to get along without each other,but the latter declared that such a bit of travel would be the verybest kind of an education for his grand-niece.

  This scheme had been in the old man's mind for so long that thepanorama, worked on at odd moments for more than two years, was nearlyfinished at the time of his niece's death. With his own savings, andlargely by his own labor, he now built his boat, the _Whatnot_. Whenshe was completed, his money was gone. But what of that? Was he notprepared to realize a fortune? He knew that it would shortly betheirs, and Sabella's faith was strong as his. She never for a momentdoubted that her dear guardian was the artist he claimed to be, or thatthe panorama he had painted was the most perfect thing of its kind everseen. So she was as enthusiastic concerning the project as the old manhimself, and eagerly aided in his preparations to the full extent ofher ability. There was but one point on which they disagreed. WhenCap'n Cod had exhausted his own resources, and the motive power of the_Whatnot_ still remained unprovided, Sabella begged that he would drawsome of her money from the bank and use it, but this the old man firmlydeclined to do.

  "No, Sabella," he would say; "what is mine is yours; but what is yoursis your own, and it would be as bad as stealing for me to touch it."

  "But it is mine," the girl would argue; "and if I want to give it toyou, more than I want to do anything else with it, I don't see why youshouldn't let me."

  "No, dear," her guardian would reply. "It is not yours. It is onlyheld in trust for you until you become of age, by which time you willhave many other uses for money besides gratifying an old man's whim."

  "But you will pay it back long before then."

  "I might, and then again I might not. There is nothing more uncertainthan the things we think we are sure of."

  Then the girl would throw her arms about his neck and exclaim, "Oh, youdear old stupid! How horridly honest you are! and what a beautifulworld this would be if everybody in it was just like you."

  "Yes, my dear; Stupidity and Honesty are apt to be comrades, andundoubtedly they would make a beautiful world if left to themselves;but it would be frightfully dull. Now don't you worry your prettyhead about the mule, for we can drift with the current until we havegiven two or three exhibitions, and so made money enough to buy one.Then, having earned him, how much more shall we enjoy him than if hewere only a borrowed mule?"

  Cap'n Cod would have preferred a steamboat to one propelled bymule-power, but the expenses of machinery and an engineer were toogreat to be considered. He made the _Whatnot_ look as much like asteamboat as he could, and even proposed ornamenting her with animitation chimney as soon as he could afford such a luxury. He alsohoped soon to be able to engage some active young fellow as deck handand general assistant. In the mean time the _Whatnot's_ crew consistedof himself, Sabella, and Solon, an old negro who had been cook of themess to which Cap'n Cod had belonged in the army, and who had followedhis fortunes ever since.

  As nearly every one in Dubuque who was at all interested in such thingshad seen the panorama during its painting and construction, and asCap'n Cod's dramatic reputation was well known there, he deemed itadvisable to give the first exhibitions of his show in some smaller andless critical places. He called it a "show," because, even at theoutset, it contained two attractions besides the panorama, and he hopedin the course of time to add still others.

  Those already on hand were a monkey and a hand-organ, both of whichwere much greater rarities in the Mississippi Valley at that time thanthey are now. They formerly belonged to an Italian, who, sick,penniless, and friendless, had sunk exhausted by the road-side a fewmiles from Dubuque. Several persons passed him without heeding hisfeeble appeals for aid before Cap'n Cod happened along and discoveredhim. The old soldier at once engaged a team, carried the dyingstranger home, and there, with Sabella's pitying aid, cared for himuntil the end, which came a few days later. During these last days hismonkey was the man's inseparable companion. It cuddled beside him inbed, and answered his feeble terms of endearment with volublechatterings. With his latest breath the dying stranger consigned hishelpless pet to the same pitying care that had helped him over thebitterest of all human journeys. He said, "Monka, Don Bolossi, youkeep-a him alway."

  So Don Bolossi, Americanized to "Don Blossom," transferred all hisaffections to Sabella, and with the hand-organ, for which no claimantcould be found, was added to the attractions of "Cap'n Cod's GreatPanoramic Show."

  One of the Captain's last bits of work in Dubuque was to build a skifffor Sheriff Riley, and with the money thus earned to defray immediateexpenses, the _Whatnot_ started on her voyage down the river at sunriseof the very morning on which Winn Caspar unconsciously drifted pastDubuque in that very skiff. Bein
g deeper in the water, the show-boatdrifted somewhat faster than the skiff, and so had nearly caught upwith it by the time the tow-head was reached. Here Cap'n Coddetermined to tie up for the night, as he did not wish to stop at atown until his final preparations for an exhibition were made.

  Among these was the painting of a life-sized representation of DonBlossom hanging by his tail from the limb of a tree, which was to bedisplayed on the outside of the boat as an advertisement. This was thelabor upon which the Captain was engaged when Winn Caspar discoveredthe _Whatnot_. Sabella had undertaken to hold the restless littlemodel from which the white-headed artist was painting, and the peals oflaughter that attracted Winn's attention were called forth by theabsurdities of this situation.