The Survivors of the Chancellor | Page 7

very intelligent, and has a lively imagination, and I am sometimes
tempted to hope that in contemplating the wonders of nature he forgets
his own infirmity."
"Yes, sir, of course he does," I assented.
"But," continued M. Letourneur, taking my hand, "al- though, perhaps,
HE may forget, I can never forget. Ah, sir, do you suppose that Andre
can ever forgive his parents for bringing him into the world a cripple?"
The remorse of the unhappy father was very distressing, and I was
about to say a few kind words of sympathy when Andre himself made
his appearance. M. Letourneur has- tened toward him and assisted him
up the few steep steps that led to the poop.
As soon as Andre was comfortably seated on one of the benches, and
his father had taken his place by his side, I joined them, and we fell into
conversation upon ordinary topics, discussing the various points of the
Chancellor, the probable length of the passage, and the different details
of our life on board. I find that M. Letourneur's estimate of Captain
Huntly's character very much coincides with my own, and that, like me,
he is impressed with the man's un- decided manner and sluggish
appearance. Like me, too, he has formed a very favorable opinion of
Robert Curtis, the mate, a man of about thirty years of age, of great
muscular power, with a frame and a will that seem ever ready for
action.
While we were still talking of him, Curtis himself came on deck, and as
I watched his movements I could not help being struck with his

physical development; his erect and easy carriage, his fearless glance
and slightly contracted brow all betoken a man of energy, thoroughly
endowed with the calmness and courage that are indispensable to the
true sailor. He seems a kind-hearted fellow, too, and is al- ways ready
to assist and amuse young Letourneur, who evi- dently enjoys his
company. After he had scanned the weather and examined the trim of
the sails, he joined our party and proceeded to give us some
information about those of our fellow-passengers with whom at present
we have made but slight acquaintance.
Mr. Kear, the American, who is accompanied by his wife, has made a
large fortune in the petroleum springs in the United States. He is a man
of about fifty, a most uninter- esting companion, being overwhelmed
with a sense of his own wealth and importance, and consequently
supremely indifferent to all around him. His hands are always in his
pockets, and the chink of money seems to follow him wherever he goes.
Vain and conceited, a fool as well as an egotist, he struts about like a
peacock showing its plumage, and to borrow the words of the
physiognomist Gratiolet, "il se flaire, il se savoure, il se goute." Why he
should have taken his passage on board a mere merchant vessel instead
of enjoying the luxuries of a transatlantic steamer, I am altogether at a
loss to explain.
The wife is an insignificant, insipid woman, of about forty years of age.
She never reads, never talks, and I believe I am not wrong in saying,
never thinks. She seems to look without seeing, and listen without
hearing, and her sole occupation consists in giving her orders to her
com- panion, Miss Herbey, a young English girl of about twenty.
Miss Herbey is extremely pretty. Her complexion is fair and her eyes
deep blue, while her pleasing countenance is altogether free from that
insignificance of feature which is not unfrequently alleged to be
characteristic of English beauty. Her mouth would be charming if she
ever smiled, but, exposed as she is to the ridiculous whims and fancies
of a capricious mistress, her lips rarely relax from their ordinary grave
expression. Yet, humiliating as her posi- tion must be, she never utters
a word of open complaint, but quietly and gracefully performs her
duties, accepting without a murmur the paltry salary which the
bumptious petroleum-merchant condescends to allow her.
The Manchester engineer, William Falsten, looks like a thorough

Englishman. He has the management of some extensive hydraulic
works in South Carolina, and is now on his way to Europe to obtain
some improved apparatus, and more especially to visit the mines
worked by centrifugal force, belonging to the firm of Messrs. Cail. He
is forty- five years of age, with all his interests so entirely absorbed by
his machinery that he seems to have neither a thought nor a care
beyond his mechanical calculations. Once let him engage you in
conversation, and there is no chance of escape; you have no help for it
but to listen as patiently as you can until he has completed the
explanation of his designs.
The last of our fellow-passengers, Mr.