THE LAST OF THE PROSERPINE.

Waikato Times, Volume VI, Issue 317, 26 May 1874, Page 3

THE LAST OF THE PROSERPINE.

IN TWO PAKTS. — PART I. ■*„ to and fro, look.ng out from ti™ to t.™ ■o of the coming -teamer j and my rev ? ■of the pleasanteat. Would Alice lean to b ■id time and absence qr at nal J[ pßplant p B plant ,c ■lover, and some more eligible suitor nn» j rr ■lil.ip. of poverty; while, if Bbc bad , b^ J^ re ° c m.n to her father's commands, I felt assured ■ Mr Harman would never relent, or extend a helping Id to one who had defied his authority. A, matters ■d, a continued sojourn in America had become , d lataate ■tome: and although fully sensible that there is much ■th m the old proverb which condemns a .rolling stone 1 X determined on tempting fortune m that J^ °f the , Pi W here ncbes are amassed and health jeop. ard. atdmtb ■imps, greater rapidity than anywhere else. I had distant ■n^.on, m China, on whose aid I could m some degree I, and had obtained, for the outward voyage the tempo M post of supercargo on board a fine ship, the Star o : the ■ til, bound from New Orleans to California « nd ■ kit was ready. In one short week the clipper was to I, and my business up the river, such as it was, , bad been I ransacted. Some few hundred doUars I had conteired ■ save, and theec had b.en out at interest in * Vl «J°" r | Lk, the manager of which had invited me , to .spend a ■iple of days at his viUa near Grand Gulf, f d S 1 over, with tlie money safe m my pocket, to the landing Earf of the latter town, at the termination of my ' vwit. i m but to return to New Orleans, bid farewell to the *ew lid friends who dwelt in that city, and then leave America, ■rhaps for ever. , w/m iif |l had almost forgotten the presence of my not ovf-reput lie acquaintance? Captain Gregg, when ,l found mjjetf Iposite to him as I walked slowly to and fro, and observed fat h.s eyes were fixed on me with rather -a singular ex(ession. "It was early, as yet, in the day, but he bad cviIntly been drinking a good deal ; and, curiously enough Ec repeated doses of alcohol which b^ad wallowed femed to have at length produced the effect of rteadying Is nerves. His hand no longer shook, and the unwholesome lush an his bronzed cheek had passed away. I ' Going up nver, are you not ?' he asked abruptly. 1 L the steamer rounding the point yonder-the Empire ■y, by her colours-aline boat, and sure to have a band n board of her.' T . v ' No, 1 I answered ; 'my way lies down stream ; 1 tale he first steamer for New Orleans, and, if I am not mistaken, hey are signalling her now.' An exclamation of mingled oain and anger, half curse lalf moan, broke from Gregg's lips as I spoke, and then ht umped up from the log on which he had been seated and look one or two hasty .trides backwards and forwards on the ; ,,,av. 'No, no! hang it, no ! ' I heard bun mutter to nielf as he passed me. <If it had been any other living soul, I'd hare cared no more than for the empty shuck of a -cotton-pod, but this is too much to stand.' He g rew ca lmer after a moment or two, and then came up and laid 1 mu-cular brown hand on my sleeve. Mamwaring, he Hid, ' I'll take it kind of you if you will go back into the town to the hotel, or anywhere, and put off your sa. ing till the afternoon. The Sunflower comes by at about two, or j three at least, and ' . , , ' But why,' said I, interrupting his hesitating speech, am I to wait till then ; or what earthly benefit, Gregg, could I confer upon yourself by simply upsetting all my arrangeLents, and arriving several hours later than is necessary ? Iff you can give me any reason ' . r 'AW rejoined my nautical acquaintance, insensibly resuming his old quaint recklessness of manner and diction « that's just what I can't do. There's a saying I have heard among Texan trappers, that a nod's as good as a wink to a blind mustang.' . . -.i._,i i I I could not help laughing at having this scrap of ancestral philosophy piesented to me in transatlantic garb ; and as l I lonkMuplated Gregg, whoso momentary embarraasment ec-emed to be at an end, I conjectured that-unlw he were the agent of an opposition „ acket cou^ 1 f~™ objection to mv pursuing my southward journey by thchrst amiable boat was the mere whim of a 1 qno^oddenod bra n. Presently, up came the two steamers, almost Bimul * aneo "£; The upward bound boat, the Empire City, as Gregg had Opined, was the first to come snorting and splashing up to We landing-stage. A fine steamer she was; very full ot passengers, for in that season of sultry heat ™st of t he Upper Ten Thousand of the South are glad to take flight from New Orleans , and, with her snow-white awning and gay fiaga flaunting m the warm breeze, the lively music ot her Gorman band r.nging blithely out, and the flutter of intishn and many-coloured silk on her hurricane deck, she looked a floating temple of pleasure. , , Tiie upwanl-bennd boat having taken in her wood and provisions, and such goods as were awaiting transmission towards the North, dashed merrily off ngain, the bubbling water spurting upwards like a fountain as her shnrp prow cut razor hke through the strong rush of the tawny river. Then, before the echoes of the lost air of Offenbach s had died away, I saw close to us the thin blue line of wood-smoke s that streamed behind the down-going steamer. She was * heavily laden, and deep in the water; but even with tlie advantage of the Mississippi current her progress was not very swift, and there was but few passengers visible, tnouuii this, during the hottest month of summer, was not surprisinrr in a boat going South. The steamer was gaudily painted, and was further embellished with a splendid figure-head, bright with gold-leaf and colour, and her funnels, and awnin<», and fla»s, were of the newest and most brilliant ; but J. thought that her engines worked slowly, and that there was something lumbering and clumsy in her way Ot getting through the water. 'Do you know that boat ? ' I asked of Gregg. 'The Proserpine,' ho replied, half sullenly, half defiantly, as I fancied. , a , . i • The Proserpine ! ' I answered incredulously. Surely not . Why, she was an old boat, worn out, and given up as incurable and useless. Who in his senses would have dragged her out of dock again, and furbished her up ? , It seems as bad as painting some venerable grandmother into the semblance of a girl of sixteen.' ... ' She belongs now to Harman Brothers, 1 said Gregg, witb his eyes fixed on the ground. . „ I I heard this announcement with the utmost surprise. Aly former employer's firm had been always averse to that wild came of speculation that reaches its apogee west ot tlie Atlantic. Safe, prudent traffickers, content with moderate cains, Harman brothers had prided themselves ou their avoidance of gambling investments and adventurous hazards They had held their own by adherance to their own old system, while colossal fortunes had grown and collapsed all around them. And now Mr Anthony Harman was if my informant spoke truly, the owner of bo rickety a craft as the superannuated Proserpine, and had freighted her with a heavy, aud no doubt a costly cargo. . ' I only hope,' saidl, half jokingly, ' that the oaptam does not match the boat ?' „ ' I command the Proierpinc,' retorted Gregg, with a B trango look in his haggard eyes, a strange ring in his hoarse VO i° stnrted as this declaration reached my ears. There was aometlung very odd about the whole transaction. Here , was a vessel which, to my knowledge, had been laid aside m unfit for service, pressed into activity once more, and bedizened like some antique bride whose Homton lace and c range blossoms contrast painfully with the wrinkles nnd gmried locks of the «carer. She was now the property, of all people, Ifarman Brothers' I was about to take mypassago in her and that in spite of the apparently motiveless dissuasion of (he >ory man who was to be her captain. The very fact that Paul, S o recently and disgracefully dismissed from bw uo»t as second mate of a China-bound merchantman, should Biiddenly be intrusted with so responsible a position as tuat of skipper of a Missisippi first class passenger steamer, neemed to me not the least surprising of this tissue ot incidents. To be sure, he had previously discharged the same chil-ea, but that was before his fatal habit of intemperance had pained so complete a mastery over him, and before his reputation as a reliable man had sunk so low. Mr Harman nmat have strangely altered, I bethought me, when ho intrusts valuable possessions to the care of Paul Mernon Gre™ and to the frail planks of the Proserpine I The boat now came panting up ; and as the bell rang, and the porters and stevadores, white and black, began to thrust out nlanks, over which the neat white kegs bearing the brand of some Northern manufacturer of biscuits .whiskey ov conserve of apples, the hams, sugar casks, and logs ' of woofl, might be carried on board, there was "omewhat more of bustle than had hitherto prevailed on the » om « wh »™y quay. I was in the act of stepping across the gangway when Gregg, who had followed me, touched me on the ■houlJer. •Mainwaring.'he said, very earnestly, I feel Inder soft towards the man who has ™g£££* vet ou a scampish never-tlo-weii line jr.*"- «• Send who hs, striven to save me from ram. . &ep oj «ro this shin Ask no questions, but wait for the next vessel , and ne/er blab, when it's over, that I adv,,ed you as I have done. ... — — — ■