CHAPTER II.

An adventure of a goose and a gander, with what happened thereupon to Robin Day.

SUCH a creature was I, as wretched and as hopeless, when the business of my master carried him, one summer's day, to a certain great town in New Jersey, situated upon a river, where we cast anchor in the morning; and I, without troubling myself with any thoughts of shore, which it was seldom my lot to visit, fell to work at my vocation in preparing my master's dinner; in the course of which, I had occasion to murder a venerable old gander that had been squalling in the coop, in expectation of his fate, for the last two days. This execution being over, and not without five or six hearty cuffs, which my patron gave me for performing it bunglingly, I sneaked away to the bows, where, perched upon the bowsprit, I began, in the process of plucking the animal, to distribute a shower of feathers over the tide.

This operation, as it chanced, attracted the attention of a knot of schoolboys who were playing, some of them on a wharf hard by, while three or four others were busking about in a batteau, to which they had helped themselves; and, whether it was that there was something more than usual of the ludicrous given to my employment by my un

couth appearance, or that the urchins were ripe for mischief, they forthwith began to salute me with at battery, first, of jokes and sarcasms; to which they afterwards added an occasional volley of pebbles and oyster-shells. This was a proceeding that caused me no surprise, for I had been too much accustomed to unkindness all my days to expect any thing else; and, I may also add, that such was the indifference to bodily pain into which I had been beaten, and so stupefied within me were all the ordinary instincts of self preservation, that although I was once or twice hit by the missiles cast at me, and in danger of faring still worse, I neither removed from my perch, nor intermitted a moment in my task.

My insensibility, or want of courage, as it doubtless appeared, gave additional edge to the malice of my persecutors; and those who were in the batteau, having taken in a sufficient supply of small shotthat is to say, of the pebbles and shells as aforesaid -ventured to push into the stream, for the purpose of attacking me nearer at hand, which they did with infinite zeal and intrepidity; and one little fellow of ten years old, that seemned the greatest imp of all, the most voluble in railing and the most energetic in attack, succeeded in planting upon the top of my forehead the ragged edge of an oyster-shell, by which I was cut to the bone, and my face in a moment covered with blood. This, indeed, stung me to resentment, for the anguish of the wound was very great; but so sluggish were the movements of all my passions that I had scarce proceeded to a greater length in the expression of my rage than by turning a haggard look of reproach upon the assailant, when an accident happened which changed the currrent of my feelings. The little reprobate who had immortalized himself by so capital a shot, had

given such energy and strength to the cast, that he lost his balance, pitched forward, and at the very moment I looked down upon him, plumped, with a dismal shriek, into the river, which was deep, and the current strong. It was evident, the little dog could not swim; and such was the terror which the catastrophe caused among his companions, that they lost the only oar they had in the boat, and were incapable of rendering him any assistance.

In the meanwhile, the hero of the scene, whose disaster I regarded with sentiments of complacency and approbation, as being nothing more than he deserved for the unprovoked injury he had done me, sunk to the bottom, whence in a moment he came whirling and gasping to the surface, and was swept by the tide against the sloop's cable, which he attempted to seize, but without success; for though he had hold of it for an instant, he was not able to maintain his grasp. In this state of the adventure, the little fellow was immediately under me where I sat on the bowsprit; and as the tide swept him from the cable, he looked up to me with a countenance of such terror, and agony, and despair, mingled with imploring entreaty-though being on the point of strangling, he was neither able to speak nor to cry out-that I was suddenly struck with feelings of compassion. They were the first human emotions, I believe, that had entered my bosom for years. And such was the strength of them that, before I knew what I was doing, I dropped into the river-gander and all-to save the poor little rascal from drowning.、

Such a feat did not appear to me either very difficult or dangerous, for I could swim like a duck, and had had extraordinary experience in the art of saving life in the water; not, indeed, that I had ever VOL. I.-3

performed such service for any body but myself; but, in my own case, I had almost daily occasion; for nothing was more common than for Skipper Duck to take me by the nape of the neck and toss me overboard, even when on the open sea; though the mate always threw me a rope to help me on board again, except when we were becalmed, or at anchor; in which cases, he left me to take care of myself. In the present instance, however, as it proved, the exploit was not destined to be performed without difficulty; for dropping down with more hurry than forecast, right before the stem, and with a force that carried me pretty deep into the water, I was swept under the shallop's bottom, which, in the effort to rise to the surface, I managed to strike with my head, with a violence that would undoubtedly have finished me, had not that noble excrescence been in those days of unusual thickness. The shock was, however, sufficient to stun and confound the small quantity of wits I possessed, and to such a degree that I lost my hold of the gander, which, up to this moment, I had clutched with instinctive care; besides which, I was swept, before I had time to recover myself, along the whole of the sloop's bottom; and this being pretty well studded with barnacles, young oysters, and the heads of old nails, I had the satisfaction of enjoying as complete and thorough a keelhauling as was ever administered to any vagabond whatever, my jacket, shirt, and back being scratched all to pieces. Of this, however, as well as of the loss of the gander, I was for a time quite unconscious, being confused by the shock my head had suffered; and the moment I succeeded in passing the rudder, and reaching the surface, I had all my thoughts engaged in rescuing the boy, who had now sunk two or three times, and was, I doubted not,

sinking for the last time; for he was quite insensible, when it was my good fortune to reach and seize him by the collar.

The batteau had, by this time, been borne by the tide against a projecting wharf, whither I easily swam with my charge; and then giving him up to his companions, who had now, by dint of yelling, brought several men to their assistance, I took to my heels, hoping to regain the sloop before Captain Duck, who had gone ashore, should return and discover my absence. My only way of getting on board was that in which I had departed, namely, by swimming; and to this I betook me, by running a little up the stream, and then leaping again into the river.

My haste, however, was vain; the worthy skipper reaching the vessel an instant before myself; and when, having clambered up by the hawser and bobstay, I succeeded in jumping on deck, I—who was in such a pickle, what with my clothes torn to shreds, and dripping with water, and the blood trickling down my face, as the reader cannot conceive-found myself confronted with my tyrant face to face. He gave me a horrible stare of surprise, took one step forward so as to bring me within reach of his arm, and exclaimed,

"You draggle-tailed tadpole! where have you been?"-which question he accompanied with a cuff on the right cheek that tossed me full a fathom to the larboard.

"Please, sir," said I, in as much terror as my stupidity was capable of,-" overboard, sir."

"Overboard, you son of a tinker's cowbell!" cried my master giving me a cuff with the other hand, that sent me just as far starboard; "what have you been doing overboard?"

Please, sir, saving boy's life, sir," returned un