Chapter XLIV

In which Mr Vanslyperken meets with a double defeat.

It was late in the evening of the day after Smallbones had been so satisfactorily disposed of that the cutter arrived at Portsmouth; but from daylight until the time that the cutter anchored, there was no small confusion and bustle on board of the Yungfrau.  When Vanslyperken’s cabin door was found to be locked, it was determined that Smallbones should not appear as a supernatural visitant that night, but wait till the one following; consequently the parties retired to bed, and Smallbones, who found the heat between decks very oppressive, had crept up the ladder and taken a berth in the small boat that he might sleep cool and comfortable, intending to be down below again long before Mr Vanslyperken was up; but, as the reader knows, Mr Vanslyperken was up before him, and the consequence was that Smallbones went down into the sea instead of the lower deck as he had intended.

The next morning it was soon ascertained that Smallbones was not to be found, and the ship’s company were in a state of dismay.  The boat, as soon as Smallbones had been turned out, had resumed her upright position, and one of the men when busy washing the decks, had made fast the gripe again, which he supposed had been cast off by accident when the ropes had been coiled up for washing, Smallbones not being at that time missed.  When, therefore, the decks had been searched everywhere and the lad was discovered not to be in the ship, the suspicion was very great.  No one had seen him go aft to sleep in the boat.  The man who was at the wheel stated that Mr Vanslyperken had sent him down for a glass of grog, and had taken the helm for the time; but this proved nothing.  His disappearance was a mystery not to be unravelled.  An appeal to Mr Vanslyperken was, of course, impossible, for he did not know that the lad was on board.  The whole day was spent in surmises and suppositions; but things all ended in the simple fact, that somehow or another Smallbones had fallen overboard, and there was an end of the poor fellow.

So soon as the cutter was at anchor, Mr Vanslyperken hastened to perform his official duties, and anxious to learn how Smallbones had contrived to escape the clutches of his mother, bent his steps towards the half-way houses.  He arrived at the door of his mother’s room, and knocked as usual, but there was no reply.  It was now the latter end of July, and although it was past seven o’clock it was full daylight.  Vanslyperken knocked again and again.  His mother must be out, he thought; and if so, she always took the key with her.  He had nothing to do but to wait for her return.  The passage and staircase was dark, but there was a broad light in the room from the casement, and this light streamed from under the door of the room.  A shade crossing the light attracted Vanslyperken’s attention, and to while away the tediousness of waiting he was curious to see what it was; he knelt down, looked under the door, and perceived the key which Smallbones had placed there; he inserted his finger and drew it forth, imagining that his mother had slid it beneath till her return.