The name of this personage who thus made love to his vessel, was
Wilhelm Barentz. He was a young man, apparently not thirty years of
age, of diminutive stature and delicate proportions. His face was
handsome, but womanish. His movements were rapid and restless, and
there was that appearance in his eye which would have warranted the
supposition that he was a little flighty, even if his conduct had not
fully proved the fact. No sooner were the ecstacies of the captain over than Philip
introduced himself to him, and informed him of his appointment. "Oh! you are the first mate of the _Vrow Katerina_. Sir, you are a very
fortunate man. Next to being captain of her, first mate is the most
enviable situation in the world." "Certainly not on account of her beauty," observed Philip; "she may
have many other good qualities." "Not on account of her beauty! Why, sir, I say (as my father has said
before me, and it was his Vrow before it was mine) that she is the
handsomest vessel in the world. At present you cannot judge; and
besides being the handsomest vessel, she has every good quality under
the sun." "I am glad to hear it, sir," replied Philip; "it proves that one
should never judge by appearances. But is she not very old?" "Old! not more than twenty-eight years--just in her prime. Stop, my
dear sir, till you see her dancing on the waters, and then you will do
nothing all day but discourse with me upon her excellence, and I have
no doubt that we shall have a very happy time together." "Provided the subject be not exhausted," replied Philip. "That it never will be, on my part: and, allow me to observe, Mr
Vanderdecken, that any officer who finds fault with the _Vrow
Katerina_ quarrels with me. I am her knight, and I have already fought
three men in her defence,--I trust, I shall not have to fight a
fourth." Philip smiled: he thought that she was not worth fighting for; but
he acted upon the suggestion, and, from that time forward, he never
ventured to express an opinion against the beautiful _Vrow Katerina_. The crew were soon complete, the vessel rigged, her sails bent,
and she was anchored in the stream, surrounded by the other ships
composing the fleet about to be despatched. The cargo was then
received on board, and, as soon as her hold was full, there came, to
Philip's great vexation, an order to receive on board 150 soldiers and
other passengers, many of whom were accompanied by their wives and
families. Philip worked hard, for the captain did nothing but praise
the vessel, and, at last, they had embarked everything, and the fleet
was ready to sail. It was now time to part with Amine, who had remained at the hostelry,
and to whom Philip had dedicated every spare moment that he could
obtain. The fleet was expected to sail in two days, and it was
decided, that on the morrow they should part. Amine was cool and
collected. She felt convinced that she should see her husband again,
and with that feeling, she embraced him as they separated on the
beach, and he stepped into the boat in which he was to be pulled on
board. "Yes," thought Amine, as she watched the form of her husband, as the
distance between them increased--"yes, I know that we shall meet
again. It is not this voyage which is to be fatal to you or me; but I
have a dark foreboding that the next, in which I shall join you, will
separate us for ever--in which way, I know not--but it is destined. The priests talk of free-will. Is it free-will which takes him away
from me? Would he not rather remain on shore with me? Yes. But he is
not permitted, for he must fulfil his destiny. Free-will! Why, if it
were not destiny it were tyranny. I feel, and have felt, as if these
priests are my enemies; but why I know not: they are both good men,
and the creed they teach is good. Good-will and charity, love to all,
forgiveness of injuries, not judging others. All this is good; and yet
my heart whispers to me that--but the boat is alongside, and Philip
is climbing up the vessel. Farewell, farewell, my dearest husband. I
would I were a man! No, no! 'tis better as it is." Amine watched till she could no longer perceive Philip, and then
walked slowly to the hostelry. The next day, when she arose, she found
that the fleet had sailed at daylight, and the channel, which had been
so crowded with vessels, was now untenanted. "He is gone," muttered Amine; "now for many months of patient, calm
enduring,--I cannot say of living, for I exist but in his presence." Chapter XVI


We must leave Amine to her solitude, and follow the fortunes of
Philip. The fleet had sailed with a flowing sheet, and bore gallantly
down the Zuyder Zee; but they had not been under way an hour before
the _Vrow Katerina_ was left a mile or two astern. Mynheer Barentz
found fault with the setting and trimming of the sails, and with the
man at the helm, who was repeatedly changed; in short, with everything
but his dear _Vrow Katerina_: but all would not do; she still dropped
astern, and proved to be the worst-sailing vessel in the fleet. "Mynheer Vanderdecken," said he, at last, "the _Vrow_, as my father
used to say, is not so very _fast before_ the wind. Vessels that are
good on a wind seldom are: but this I will say, that, in every other
point of sailing, there is no other vessel in the fleet equal to the
_Vrow Katerina_." "Besides," observed Philip, who perceived how anxious his captain was
on the subject, "we are heavily laden, and have so many troops on
deck." The fleet cleared the sands and were then close-hauled, when the _Vrow
Katerina_ proved to sail even more slowly than before. "When we are so _very_ close-hauled," observed Mynheer Barentz, "the
_Vrow_ does not do so well; but a point free, and then you will see
how she will show her stern to the whole fleet. She is a fine vessel,
Mynheer Vanderdecken, is she not?" "A very fine, roomy vessel," replied Philip, which was all that, in
conscience, he could say. The fleet sailed on, sometimes on a wind, sometimes free, but let the
point of sailing be what it might, the _Vrow Katerina_ was invariably
astern, and the fleet had to heave-to at sunset to enable her to keep
company; still, the captain continued to declare that the point of
sailing on which they happened to be, was the only point in which the
_Vrow Katerina_ was deficient. Unfortunately, the vessel had other
points quite as bad as her sailing; she was crank, leaky, and did not
answer the helm well: but Mynheer Barentz was not to be convinced. He
adored his ship, and, like all men desperately in love, he could
see no fault in his mistress. But others were not so blind, and the
admiral, finding the voyage so much delayed by the bad sailing of one
vessel, determined to leave her to find her way by herself so soon
as they had passed the Cape.