Read Ebook: The Young Supercargo: A Story of the Merchant Marine by Drysdale William Copeland Charles Illustrator

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"That is, if I can," he added, smiling. "It is one good thing about the Catholics that they teach their young men Latin much more thoroughly than we learn it in our schools. The priests cannot only read and write it, but they can always converse in it fluently. But I think I can translate this for you; at any rate, I will write it out for you in English, for you probably could not remember it all."

He read it over first carefully, and then wrote the following translation:--

MOST REVEREND AND WELL BELOVED BROTHER: This will be presented to you by Mr. Christopher Silburn, a young American in whom I take an interest.

His father has been shipwrecked and has disappeared, and it is hoped that a sailor now in one of your New Zealand hospitals may prove to be the missing man.

I bespeak for my young friend your good offices in whatever manner may be fitting.

"Galotti--Galotti," Mr. Wright said, musingly, as he copied the signature; "why, there is a celebrated cardinal of that name. This can hardly be from Cardinal Galotti, I suppose?"

"Yes, sir," Vieve answered, swelling a little with pride in her brother; "that is the man. He is one of Kit's friends in Marseilles."

Such an astonishing statement had to be explained; and in answer to her pastor's questions she repeated the story of their meeting in the strange church as Kit had told it in his letter.

"I am remarkably glad to hear it," Mr. Wright said, when she finished. "Kit is a good boy, and sure to make good friends wherever he goes. But I imagine you have no idea what a powerful friend he has made this time. The cardinals hold the very highest position in the Catholic Church, next to the Pope himself. Such a letter as this from a cardinal to a bishop is almost equal to a royal command, and may be of the greatest use to you. Wait a minute; I think I can tell you something about Cardinal Galotti."

He turned to a bookcase and took down a volume, and in a few minutes continued:--

"Yes, Galotti is one of the most eminent of the cardinals, and may eventually be the Pope himself. All the cardinals are called ecclesiastical princes, you know; but Galotti is a temporal prince as well, being a prince of Italy. No wonder he seemed so much at ease in the little throne they arranged for him in that curious church. I don't believe in such things myself; but I am truly glad that Kit has made so powerful a friend."

Whether Vieve had anything to say to the girls at school about "Kit's friend the cardinal," would be hard to tell; but in a little over two weeks more she ran down the post-office hill so fast one morning that her mother knew she had some news, though there was no letter in her hand.

What she had was a little slip that one of the neighbors she met in the office had torn out of his New York newspaper for her. It was only one line of fine type, under the heading "Arrived Yesterday":

KIT LEAVES THE "NORTH CAPE."

"I shall be busy for five or six days getting out my cargo," he wrote home when his first rush on arrival was over; "but you can expect to see me by the beginning of next week. I have so many things to tell you; and I hope you will have news for me from Wellington."

He was to have more things to tell them when he got to Huntington than he then had any idea of; but he sent some messages and packages home by Harry Leonard, as before, and worked away at his cargo till the greater part of it was in the warehouse.

He had eight hundred boxes of soap among his other cases, for Marseilles is a great point for the manufacture of soaps; "and it's a pity they send so much of it away," he often said to himself, "when they're in such need of it over there." But his soap needed particular attention; and he had to make several trips to his employers' office to get directions concerning it. On his return from one of these trips he went into the cabin and found that there was a visitor in the Captain's room.

"Come in, Silburn," the Captain called through the open door. "Here's a friend of yours come to see you."

"Glad to see you again, Silburn," the purser puffed. "It's not so long since we cooled ourselves with ice cream in the ice-house down in Barbadoes; but I hear you've been seeing a good deal of the world since then."

"Oh, a few corners of it," Kit answered. "It's hard to find a better part of it than our own country, though."

"You're right there!" Mr. Clark acquiesced, bringing his hand down on his fat knee with a bang. "You're just right there, young man. But it's a good plan to see how the other fellows live, to make us appreciate our own advantages. I've not been seeing much of it lately, for my part; just going up and down, up and down, among those black rascals in the West Indies. I've had a great deal too much work to do; it's wearing me down to skin and bone."

Kit and the Captain were inclined to laugh at this, considering the purser's hearty appearance; but his face was as solemn as a judge's.

"The work seems to agree with you pretty well, sir," Kit suggested.

"No, it don't!" the purser declared, giving his knee another sounding slap. "That's a mistake; work don't agree with anybody, in spite of all the twaddle about it. I don't believe in work. My theory is that nobody should have to work at all. Every man should have an income of at least five thousand dollars a year, and live on his money. The trouble is things are not arranged right, and some of us get left. No, work is all humbug."

It was impossible to tell from the purser's round face whether he was joking or not. He certainly was a hard worker himself.

For a few moments Kit hardly knew how to reply. Mr. Clark had been jesting, he was sure, in talking about his dislike of work; and he was still jesting. Kit thought, when he first spoke of Kit's working for him. But there was no joke about such an offer as he had just made. That was sober earnest, and required an answer.

"Yes, Captain Griffith has told me all about that," Mr. Clark answered, "and that need not be any objection. It is quite right that you should do everything possible for your father. But it is not such a long voyage to New Zealand in these days of steam, and I could put some one in your place while you were gone. Besides, it takes money for such a trip, and you would get the money much faster as my assistant than you can make it as a supercargo."

"Yes, sir, that is true," Kit said; "I thought of that at once. And it is very kind in you to make me such a liberal offer. But can you let me have a little time to think of it in, Mr. Clark? Say a week or ten days? I have always had a sort of horror of changing about from one place to another, and should not like to do it without consulting Captain Griffith and my mother."

"Take a week and welcome to think it over in, my lad," the purser answered. "I can't say more than a week, because I must have some one before I start on the next voyage. But you can do a heap of thinking in a week, if you set about it. And I hope you will make up your mind to go with me. I think it will be to your advantage and mine too."

After the purser was gone Kit had to look after his soap-boxes; but as soon as they were attended to he returned to the cabin and had a serious talk with Captain Griffith.

"And the one hundred dollars a month is a great object," he continued. "It is really large pay, considering that you would live on the ship and would have hardly any expenses. You would have to wear the company's uniform, of course, and keep well dressed on account of the passengers; but that does not amount to much. And you would likely become one of their pursers in time, if you gave satisfaction. Much as I should dislike to lose you, it is only fair for me to say that I think it is a very fine offer. I don't see how you can do anything but accept it."

To add to the unsettled state of Kit's mind, the next day brought him a letter from Vieve saying that they had heard from the consul at Wellington. But she did not say whether the man in the hospital had proved to be their father or not. This he looked upon as a bad sign, for if there had been good news, she would have been in a hurry to tell it. So with this matter to be discussed, and his Marseilles experiences to be related, and his new offer to be considered and decided upon, he felt as if a week at home would hardly be half long enough.

There was so much to be done at home that Kit laid out a programme on his way to Bridgeport. The letter from New Zealand he thought the most important matter, and that should be considered first. Then the offer from Mr. Clark. He had pretty much made up his mind that that ought to be accepted; but if his mother opposed it he was ready to give it up. Then after all the business was done he could tell about his second voyage to Europe. This time he caught the stage to Huntington, and so saved himself a long walk.

"Why, you folks have grown so grand here I'm almost afraid to go in," he laughed, looking up at the freshly painted house as his mother and Vieve ran out to the gate to meet him.

"Oh, I'm glad you think so!" Vieve answered, taking possession of the side opposite her mother. "I thought maybe we would seem too poor and common for you, since you've taken to travelling about with cardinals. But I know more about your cardinal now than you do, Mr. Supercargo, for Mr. Wright has translated his letter for me, and told me all about him."

They were all too full of the New Zealand letter to let that stand long; and before Kit had been in the house many minutes he asked for it. When they gave it to him he read it carefully, then read it again, and thought over it for a few minutes without speaking.

"Well, it is not as bad as I feared," he said, at length. "When Vieve wrote that you had received the letter, without saying what was in it, I thought there must be such bad news that you did not want to tell me. But this is only more delay. What little news there is in it is good news, for they seem to have found the scar, though they are not sure about it, and the teeth correspond with father's. It looks more hopeful than ever, only we must wait till we can hear again. And the photograph ought to settle the question, when that comes. I will write to the consul again, and give him all the particulars we can all think of."

"And that letter from the cardinal," Mrs. Silburn suggested. "It seems he is a very great man, and the letter is to the Bishop of New Zealand--a Catholic of course, but I wouldn't mind what he was if he could help us. This is a nice time of life for a God-fearing Protestant woman to begin talking about cardinals and bishops; but wouldn't it be as well to send that letter on and ask the bishop to help us?"

Kit asked to see the translation before he gave any opinion about it, for he did not yet know what was in the letter.

"I am inclined to think it would be better to save this for another purpose," he said, after he had read it. "I have never said so before, but I have often thought, and the same thing must have occurred to you, that I may have to go on to New Zealand. It is a long journey, but any of us would go further than that, further than the end of the world, to have father with us again. If I should go there, this letter would be a very valuable thing to take with me, and I think it ought to be kept for that. The only thing is to have some reasonable certainty that the man in the hospital is really father. With any good evidence of that, even very slight evidence, I should go over there at once."

"Yes," Mrs. Silburn answered, with tears in her eyes; "I have often thought of that, Kit. And I knew of course that you would think of it. If we can get any reasonable evidence that that may be your father, I think you ought to go. It will take all the money we can borrow on this little place, and leave us badly in debt again, but we must not stop for that. All the money in the world is nothing compared with having your father back again."

"Oh, we are not as badly off as all that!" Kit said. Never in his life before had he felt so proud of being able to earn money. "You don't know how easily we sea-faring fellows can get about the world. I think maybe I can get a job for one round voyage on some vessel bound for Australia or New Zealand, even if I have to work only for my passage. Then the only expense will be paying father's fare home. Captain Griffith would help me to get such a job, I know; and I have another friend now who would help me to it, I am sure. You see I have some more news for you, though I didn't intend to tell you till to-morrow."

Then he told of his offer of one hundred dollars a month from the Quebec Steamship Company, and how he had consulted Captain Griffith, and how the Captain had advised him to accept it; and explained that he thought very favorably of it himself, but waited to hear what his mother thought.

"A hundred dollars a month!" Vieve cried, throwing her arms about her brother's neck and nearly choking him. "You? Just for writing out those paper things on a ship? That's twelve hundred dollars a year! why, Mr. Wright don't get more than a thousand, I'm sure, and the parsonage; but then you'll have a sort of parsonage too--at least the ship to live in."

"Ah! but Mr. Wright don't travel about with cardinals!" Kit laughed. "That makes all the difference in the world. What do you think of it, mother? It is an important matter, and you are the one to decide it."

"No, we have got beyond that, Kit," Mrs. Silburn answered, as well as her demonstrations of pleasure would allow. "You are the one to decide questions for us, not we for you. As far as I can see I should think you would not hesitate at all about it. But you know all the circumstances better than I do. You must decide for yourself."

There was a little feast in the Silburn cottage that evening to celebrate Kit's improved prospects. That was what it meant when he beckoned Vieve into the hall and slipped some money into her hand, and told her, after making her purchases, to go to Harry Leonard's and invite him to come over. Not very much of a feast; if she had had a purseful of gold to spend she could not have bought the materials for a banquet in the little shops of Huntington, at such short notice; but what she found in her hurried trip answered every purpose.

"Now don't you be making eyes at Harry Leonard, miss!" Kit warned her, when she returned with the provisions, and began by unloading a fat chicken and some bunches of Malaga grapes. "I know you used to be very fond of him."

"At Harry Leonard!" Vieve retorted, assuming her grandest air. "Humph! I guess when I have a beau , he'll be nothing short of a cardinal."

"Then you'll die an old maid," Kit laughed; "don't you know that cardinals are Catholic priests, and never marry?"

"Why, I don't know what we'll do without him on board, Mrs. Silburn!" he exclaimed. "It will be like a different ship. It will make a great change for me, I tell you. No more good times on shore now for the cabin boy, I suppose. The Captain thinks I'm too young and giddy to go ashore alone in strange ports, though I'm not; but he was always satisfied when I was with Kit."

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