CHAPTER IV

ABOARD THE S.S. MAJESTIC

Mrs. Harris was naturally a brave woman, but the telegram, and the sudden separation perhaps forever from her husband and Gertrude, unnerved her.

She sank back into an easy chair on the steamer, murmuring, "Why this terrible disappointment? Why did I not turn back with my husband? This is worse than death. Mr. Harris is in great trouble. Why did I not at once sacrifice all and share his misfortunes? How n.o.ble in Gertrude to go ash.o.r.e with her father. It is just like the child, for she is never happy except when she forgets self, and does for others."

Mrs. Harris sobbed as if her loved ones had been left in the tomb.

Lucille tenderly held her mother's hand, and spoke comforting words: "Cheer up, mother, all will yet be well. Father can now take Mr. Searles to Harrisville."

"To see what, child--men misled and on a strike and the mills all closed down! It means much trouble, and perhaps disaster for the Harrises."

"Oh, no, mother, all will soon be well. Let us go on the deck."

Alfonso led his mother, and Leo took Lucille up among the pa.s.sengers.

They were just in time to see the white cloud of fluttering handkerchiefs on the pier. Leo said that he could distinguish with his field-gla.s.s Colonel Harris and Gertrude, and tears again came into Mrs. Harris's eyes.

European steamers always leave on time, waiting for neither prince nor peasant. A carriage with foaming horses drove in upon the pier as the tug pulled the steamer out upon the Hudson. Its single occupant was an English government agent bearing a special message from the British emba.s.sador at Washington to Downing Street, London.

"Now what's to be done?" the British agent sharply inquired.

"Two pounds, sir, and we will put you and your luggage aboard," shouted an English sailor.

"Agreed," said the agent, and to the surprise of everybody on the pier, two robust sailors pulled as for their lives, and each won a sovereign, as they put the belated agent on board the "Majestic."

This race for a pa.s.sage caught the eye of Mrs. Harris. At first she thought that the little boat might contain her husband, but as the English agent came up the ship's ladder, she grasped Alfonso's arm, and said, "Here, my son, take my hand and help me quickly to the boat; I will go back to Mr. Harris."

"No! No!" said Alfonso, "Look, mother, the little boat is already returning to the dock." Later the purser brought to Mrs. Harris an envelope containing the steamer tickets and a purse of gold, which the colonel thoughtfully had sent by the English agent.

Mrs. Harris re-examined the envelope, and found the colonel's personal card which contained on the back a few words, hastily scribbled: "Cheer up everybody; glad four of our party are on board. Enjoy yourselves.

Gertrude sends love. Later we will join you in London perhaps. G.o.d bless you all. R.H."

Sunshine soon came back to Mrs. Harris's face, and she began to notice the people about her, and to realize that she was actually on shipboard.

Foreign travel had been the dream of her life; and she felt comforted to have Alfonso and Lucille beside her.

"Mrs. Harris," said Leo, "see the stately blocks that outline Broadway, the Western Union Telegraph Building, the Equitable Building, the granite offices of the Standard Oil Company, the Post Office, and the imposing Produce Exchange with its projecting galley-prows. Above its long series of beautiful arches of terra cotta rise a tall campanile and liberty pole from which floats the stars and stripes."

Leo's eyes kindled in brilliancy, and his voice quickened with patriotism, as he made reference to his adopted flag. "Lucille, behold our glorious flag that floats over America's greatest financial and commercial city. I love the stars and stripes quite as much as Italy's flag.

"Annually over thirty thousand vessels arrive and depart from this harbor. New York is America's great gateway for immigrants. In a single year nearly a half million land at Castle Garden. Sections of New York are known as Germany, Italy, China, Africa, and Judea. The Hebrews alone in the city number upwards of one hundred thousand, and have nearly fifty synagogues and as many millionaires. The trees, lawns, and promenades along the sea-wall, form the Battery Park. The settees are crowded with people enjoying the magnificent marine views before them."

Alfonso pointed to the Suspension or Brooklyn Bridge beneath which vessels were sailing on the East River. Its enormous cables looked like small ropes sustaining a vast traffic of cars, vehicles, and pedestrians.

To the right of the steamer's track on Bedloe's Island stands Bartholdi's "Liberty, Enlightening the World," the largest bronze statue on the globe. From a small guide book of New York, Lucille read aloud that the Bartholdi statue and its pedestal cost one million dollars; that the statue was presented by the French people to the people of the United States. The head of Liberty is higher than the tall steeple of Trinity Church, which is 300 feet high, or twice that of the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven ancient wonders.

"Look," said Lucille, "at the uplifted right hand holding an electric torch. How magnificently the statue stands facing the Narrows, the entrance from Europe, and how cordial the welcome to America which Liberty extends."

"Yes," said Leo, "if you wish to see Bartholdi's n.o.ble mother, observe the face of the statue. Bartholdi owed much to his mother's constant encouragement."

"How true it is," said Mrs. Harris, "that most great men have had splendid mothers."

Many on the deck thought of loved ones at home, of their country, and wondered if they would return again to America. This was true of many aboard who were now starting on their first ocean voyage, and their thoughts no doubt were akin to those that filled the minds of Columbus and his crew when they left Palos.

Craft of every kind kept clear of the giant "Majestic" as she plowed down the Narrows. Historic but worthless old forts are on either side, and far down into the lower bay the pilot guides the wonderful steamer. Sandy Hook lighthouse, the low sh.o.r.es, and purple mountains of New Jersey are left behind, as the "Majestic" is set on her course at full speed.

The gong for the one o'clock lunch was sounded, and Alfonso, glad of the change, as his mother seemed unhappy, led the way below. Colonel Harris, when he bought the tickets, had arranged that his family should sit at the captain's table. As Alfonso entered the saloon, the steward conducted him and his friends to their seats. The captain's seat was unoccupied as he was busy on deck. The grand dining-room of the "Majestic" is amidships on the main deck. At the three long tables and sixteen short side tables, three hundred persons can be accommodated.

The sea was smooth, so every chair was taken. The scene was an animating one and interesting to study. A single voyage will not suffice to reveal the heart histories and ambitions of three hundred cosmopolitan pa.s.sengers. Everybody was talking at the same time; all had much to say about the experiences in reaching and boarding the steamer. Everybody was looking at everybody, and each wondered who the others might be.

So many new faces which are to be studies for the voyage, arrested the attention of Mrs. Harris. Her appet.i.te was not good, so she ate little, but closely watched the exhilarating scenes about her. Many wives had their husbands by their sides, and this pained her, but she resolved to keep brave and to make the most of her opportunities. Lucille and the young men were so interested in the pretty faces all about them, that they had little time for an English luncheon, and most of their eating was a make-believe.

Amidship the movement of the boat is reduced to a minimum, and in fair weather it is difficult to realize that you are out upon the ocean. Each pa.s.senger at the table is furnished with a revolving chair.

Choice flowers, the gifts of loving friends left behind, were on every table, and their fragrance converted the dining-saloon into a large conservatory. The Corinthian columns were fluted and embossed, the walls and ceiling were in tints of ivory and gold; the artistic panels abounded in groups of Tritons and nymphs; the ports were fitted with stained gla.s.s shutters, emblazoned with the arms of cities and states in Europe and America. Behind the gla.s.s were electric lights, so that the designs were visible both night and day.

Surmounting this richly appointed saloon was a dome of artistic creation, its stained gla.s.s of soft tints, which sparkled in the warm sunlight and shed a kaleidoscope of color and design over the merry company of pa.s.sengers. Mirrors and the gentle rolling of the steamer multiplied and enlarged the gorgeous colorings and perplexing designs.

In the midst of this new life aboard ship, so novel and so beautiful, Mrs. Harris's heart would have been happy had her over-worked husband and Gertrude sat beside her at the table. Very little of this life is enjoyed without the unwelcomed flies that spoil the precious ointment.

After the lunch Alfonso and his friends had time to examine a little further the great steamer that was to float them to the Old World. When his party hurriedly entered the dining-saloon, the grand staircase was entirely overlooked. How wide and roomy it was, and how beautifully carved and finished, especially the bal.u.s.trade and newel posts, the whole being built of selected white oak, which mellows with age, and will a.s.sume a richer hue like the wainscoting in the famous old English abbeys and manor houses.

Again the Harris party was on deck, final words hastily written were in the steamer's mail bag, and a sailor stood ready to pa.s.s it over the ship's side to the pilot's little boat, waiting for orders to cut loose from the "Majestic."

The engines slacked their speed, the pilot bade the officers good-bye, and accompanied the mail bag to his trusted schooner. No. 66 was painted in black full length on the pilot's big white sail. All the pa.s.senger steamers which enter or leave New York must take these brave and alert pilots as guides in and out the ever-changing harbor channels.

The gong in the engine-rooms again signaled "full speed" and the live, escaping steam was turned through the triple-expansion engines, and the "Majestic" gathered her full strength for a powerful effort, a record-breaking pa.s.sage to Queenstown.

The life on board the transatlantic ferry is decidedly English, and Mrs.

Harris closely studied the courtesies and requirements. She soon came to like the ship's discipline and matter-of-fact customs. The young people, some newly married, and some new acquaintances like Leo and Lucille, had moved their steamer chairs on the deck, that they might watch the return of the pilot's boat.

Loving letters were read, the leaves of latest magazines were cut, and many words were exchanged before the big "66" disappeared entirely with the sun that set in gold and purple over the low New England sh.o.r.es.

Quite apart from the young people sat Mrs. Harris and Alfonso. They talked earnestly about the ill-timed strike of the millmen at home. "Why did the men strike at the very time when father wanted his mills to glow with activity?" queried Mrs. Harris.

"Oh, mother," said Alfonso, "that is part of labor's stock in trade. Some labor organizations argue that the 'end justifies the means.' Our men were probably kept advised of father's plans, and strikes often are timed so as to put capital at the greatest disadvantage, and force, if possible, a speedy surrender to labor's demands. 'Like begets like,'

mother, so the college professor told us when he lectured on Darwin. It was Darwin, I think, who emphasized this fundamental principle in nature.

"See, mother, how this labor agitation works. Labor organizations multiply and become aggressive, and so capital organizes in self-defense.

One day our professor told the cla.s.s that he much preferred citizenship in a government controlled by intelligent capital, to the insecurity and uncertainty of ignorant labor in power. The professor inclined to think that the British form of government rested on a more lasting basis than that of republics.

"Usually the more of values a person possesses, the more anxious he is for stable government. Labor has little capital, and so often becomes venturesome, and is willing to stake all on the throw of a die. But labor in the presence of open hungry mouths can ill afford to take such chances. Labor with its little or no surplus should act reasonably, and on the side of conservatism, or wives and little ones suffer."

Mrs. Harris listened to her son's comments on capital and labor, but the independence of her race a.s.serted itself and she said with emphasis, "Alfonso, I hope Mr. Harris will insist on his rights at Harrisville."

"Very likely he will, mother, as he is that kind of a man, and the New England independence that is born in him is sure to a.s.sert itself."

For a few moments neither mother nor son spoke. Suddenly both were awakened from their reveries by the call for dinner. The waters were still smooth, and the ocean breezes had sharpened appet.i.tes, so the grand staircase was crowded with a happy throng, most of whom were eager for their first dinner aboard ship. The Harrises were delighted to find Captain Morgan already at the table.