"But she did not blame you for what you had done?"
"Oh no, William; she felt that I had done my duty towards my neighbour, and perhaps she felt in her own heart that I had returned good for evil; but she did not say so. The next day Mr. Masterman called upon us; he certainly looked very foolish and confused when he asked for his G.o.dson, whom he had so long neglected. My mother, who felt how useful he might be to me, received him very kindly; but I had been often told of his neglect of me and my mother, and of his supposed unfair conduct towards my father, and had taken a violent dislike to him; his advances towards me were therefore very coolly received. I felt glad that I had saved him; but although I could not exactly understand my own feelings at the time, I am ashamed to say that my pleasure was not derived from having done a good action, so much as indulging a feeling of revenge in having put one under an obligation who had treated me ill; this arose from my proud spirit, which my mother could not check. So you see, William, there was very little merit in what I had done, as, after I had done it, I indulged those feelings which I ought to have checked."
"I think I could not have helped feeling the same, Ready, under such circ.u.mstances," replied William.
"The impulse which induced me to act was good," replied Ready; "but the feeling which I indulged in afterwards took away the whole merit of the deed. I am stating what I believe to be the truth; and an old man like me can look upon the past without bias, but not without regret. Mr. Masterman made but a short visit; he told my mother that he would now take care of me and bring me up to the business of a ship-builder as soon as I was old enough to leave school, and that in the meantime he would pay all my expenses. My poor mother was very grateful, and shed tears of joy; and when Mr. Masterman went away, she embraced me, and said that now she was happy, as I should have a profession on sh.o.r.e and not go to sea. I must do justice to Mr. Masterman; he kept his word and sent money to my mother, so that she became quite cheerful and comfortable, and everyone congratulated her, and she used to fondle me, and say, it was all through me that she was relieved from her distress."
"How happy that must have made you, Ready!" said William.
"Yes, it did, but it made me also very proud. Strange to say, I could not conquer my dislike to Mr. Masterman; I had nourished the feeling too long. I could not bear that my mother should be under obligations to him, or that he should pay for my schooling; it hurt my foolish pride, young as I then was; and although my mother was happy, I was not. Besides, as I was put to a better school, and was obliged to remain with the other boys, I could no longer run about the wharfs, or go on board the vessels, as before. I did not see then, as I do now, that it was all for my good but I became discontented and unhappy, merely because I was obliged to pay attention to my learning, and could no longer have my own way. The master complained of me; and Mr. Masterman called and scolded me well. I became more disobedient, and then I was punished. This irritated me, and I made up my mind that I would run away to sea. You see, William, I was all in the wrong; and so will all boys be who think they know better than those who have charge of them; and now only see what I probably lost by my foolish conduct. I say probably, for no one can calculate or foresee what is to take place; but, as far as appearances went, I had every prospect of receiving a good education - of succeeding Mr. Masterman in his business, and, very probably, of inheriting his large fortune; so that I might have been at this time a rich and well-educated man, surrounded with all the comforts and luxuries of life; perhaps with an amiable wife and large family round me, to make me still happier, instead of being what I now am, a poor, worn-out old seaman upon a desert isle. I point this out to you, William, to show how one false and foolish step in the young may affect their whole prospects in life; and, instead of enabling them to sail down with the stream of prosperity, may leave them to struggle against the current of adversity, as has been the case with me."
"It is, indeed, a good lesson, Ready," said Mr. Seagrave.
"It is; not that I repine at my lot, even while I regret the errors that led to it. An all-wise and gracious G.o.d disposes of us as he thinks best; and I can now say with perfect sincerity, `Thy will, not mine, be done"."
"Your misfortunes have, however, proved an incalculable benefit to us, Ready," observed Mrs. Seagrave; "for had you not gone to sea, and been on board the ship when the crew deserted us, what would have become of us?"
"Well, madam, it is some comfort to think that a worn-out old seaman like myself has been of some use."
Chapter x.x.xII.
The bleating of the kids woke them the next morning earlier than usual. The weather was again fine, and the sun shining brightly, and Ready turned out Nanny and her progeny. They had an excellent breakfast of fried fish, and then Mr. Seagrave, Ready, and William went out to their work: the two first took down the tents, and spread the canvas on the ground, that it might be well dried, while William went in pursuit of the fowls, which had not been seen for a day or two. After half-an-hour"s search in the cocoa-nut grove, he heard the c.o.c.k crow, and soon afterwards found them all. He threw them some split peas, which he had brought with him. They were hungry enough and followed him home to the house, where he left them and went to join Ready and his father.
"William," said Ready, "I think, now that we have spread out the tents, we will, if Mr. Seagrave approves, all set to at once and knock up a fowl-house; it won"t be more than a day"s job, and then the creatures will have a home. There are four very thick cocoa-nut trees close to the house; we will build it under them; it will be a good job over." Mr. Seagrave a.s.sented, and they set immediately to work. There were many thin poles left, the tops of the cocoa-nut trees which had been cut down to build the house; these they nailed to the trunks of the four trees, so as to make a square, and then they ran up rafters for a pitched roof.
"Now, sir, this is only rough work; we will first put up a perch or two for them, and then close in the side, and thatch the roof with cocoa-nut branches; but there"s Juno taking in the dinner, so we"ll finish it afterwards."
After their meal the work was renewed; Mr. Seagrave collected the branches while William and Ready worked upon the sides and roof, and before the evening closed in, the fowl-house was complete. William enticed the fowls down to it with some more split peas, and then walked away.
"Now, sir, the creatures will soon find their way in; and by and by, when I have time, I"ll make a door to the entrance."
"And now," said William, "I think we had better roll up the canvas of the tents; we have had a splendid day, and may not be so fortunate to-morrow."
"Very true; we will get them housed, and stow them away under the bed-places; there is plenty of room." By the time that they had folded up the canvas, and William had brought in Nanny and the kids, the sun had set, and they went into the house. Ready was requested to go on with his history, which he did as follows:-- "I said last night that I determined to run away from school and go to sea, but I did not tell you how I managed it. I had no chance of getting out of the school unperceived, except after the boys were all put to bed. The room that I slept in was at the top of the house - the doors I knew were all locked; but there was a trap-door which led out on the roof, fastened by a bolt inside, and a ladder leading up to it; and I determined that I would make my escape by that way. As soon as all the other boys were fast asleep, I arose and dressed myself very quietly, and then left the room.
"The moon shone bright, which was lucky for me, and I gained the trap-door without any noise. I had some difficulty in forcing it up, as it was heavy for a boy of my age; but I contrived to do so at last, and gained the roof of the house. I then began looking about me, to see how I was to get to the ground, and after walking to and fro several times, I decided that I could slip down by a large water-pipe; it was so far detached from the bricks, that I could get my small fingers round it. I climbed over the parapet, and, clinging to the pipe firmly with my hands and knees, I slid down, and arrived at the bottom in safety."
"It"s a wonder you did not break your neck, Ready," observed Mrs. Seagrave.
"It was, indeed, ma"am. As soon as I was landed in the flowerbed, which was below, I hastened to the iron gates at the entrance, and soon climbed up and got to the other side into the road. I started as fast as I could towards the port, and when I arrived at the wharf, I perceived that a vessel had her topsails loose, and meant to take advantage of the ebb-tide which had just made; the men were singing `Yo heave yo", getting the anchor up; and as I stood watching, almost making up my mind that I would swim off to her, I perceived that a man pushed off in her jolly-boat, and was sculling to a post a little higher up, where a hawser had been made fast; I ran round, and arrived there before he had cast off the rope; without saying a word, I jumped into the boat.
"`What do you want, youngster?" said the seaman.
"`I want to go to sea," said I, breathless; `take me on board - pray do."
"`Well," said he, `I heard the captain say he wanted an apprentice, and so you may come."
"He sculled the boat back again to the vessel, and I climbed up her side.
"`Who are you?" said the captain.
"I told him that I wanted to go to sea.
"`You are too little and too young."
"`No, I am not," replied I.
"`Why, do you think that you dare go aloft?"
"`I"ll show you," replied I; and I ran up the rigging like a cat, and went out at the topgallant yard-arm.
"When I came down, the captain said, `Well, I think you"ll make a sharp seaman by and by; so I"ll take you, and, as soon as I get to London, I"ll bind you apprentice."
"The ship, which was a collier, was soon out of port, and before the day had dawned I found myself on the wide ocean, which was hereafter to be my home.
"As soon as the hurry and confusion were over, I was examined by the captain, who appeared to me to be a very rough, harsh man; indeed, before the day was over I almost repented of the step which I had taken, and when I sat down cold and wet upon some old sail at night, the thoughts of my mother, and what distress I should occasion her, for the first time rushed into my mind, and I wept bitterly; but it was too late then. I have often thought, Mr. Seagrave, that the life of hardship which I have since gone through has been a judgment on me for my cruelty to my mother, in leaving her the way I did. It broke her heart; a poor return, William, for all her care and kindness! G.o.d forgive me!"
Old Ready left off for some little time, and the remainder of the party kept silence. Then he said - "I"ll leave off now, if you please: I don"t feel inclined to go on; my heart is full when I recall that foolish and wicked deed of mine."
Chapter x.x.xIII.
The next morning was fine, and as soon as breakfast was over, they took the wheels down to the turtle-pond, and Ready having speared one of the largest by means of a pike with a barb to it, which he had made on purpose, they hauled it on sh.o.r.e, slung it under the wheels, and took it up to the house. Having killed the turtle, and cut it up, Juno, under the directions of Ready, chose such portions as were required for the soup; and when the pot was on the fire, Ready, Mr. Seagrave, and William set off with the cross-cut saw and hatchets, to commence felling the cocoa-nut trees for the building of the outhouse, which was to hold their stores, as soon as they could be brought round from the other side of the island.
"I mean this to be our place of refuge in case of danger, sir," observed Ready; "and therefore I have selected this thick part of the wood, as it is not very far from the house, and by cutting the path to it in a zigzag, it will be quite hidden from sight; and we must make the path just wide enough to allow the wheels to pa.s.s, and stump up the roots of the trees which we are obliged to cut down, otherwise the stumps would attract attention."
"I agree with you, Ready," replied Mr. Seagrave; "there is no saying what may happen."
"You see, sir, it is often the custom for the natives, in this part of the world, to come in their canoes from one island to another, merely to get cocoa-nuts. I can"t say that the other islands near us are inhabited, but still it is probable, and we cannot tell what the character of the people may be. I tell you this, but we had better not say a word to Mrs. Seagrave, as it may distress her."
Mr. Seagrave agreed, and Ready continued: "We are now near the spot, sir. You see, when we have got over this hill, where the trees are so very thick, the fall in the ground will a.s.sist in the concealment of the building. I should say we are very near right where we now stand."
"How far are we now from the house? We must not be too distant."
"I reckon we are not 150 yards in a straight line, although the road will, by its turning, make it double the distance."
"Then I think this spot will do very well."
"I"ll just mark out the trees which are to stand, Mr. Seagrave, and those which are to be cut down, so as to leave about four feet of stump standing."
As soon as they had planned the building, the axes and saw were in full use, and tree after tree fell one upon the other. They worked hard till dinner-time, and were not sorry at the prospect of sitting down to a rich mess of turtle-soup.
"My dear William, and you too, Mr. Seagrave, how very warm you are!" said Mrs. Seagrave; "you must not work so hard."
"Cutting down trees is very warm work, mother," replied William, "and hard work will never hurt any one, especially when he dines off turtle-soup. Why, Tommy, what"s the matter with you?"
"Tommy and I are at variance," replied Mrs. Seagrave. "I had my thimble this morning, and had commenced my sewing, when I was called out by Juno, and Caroline went with me, and Tommy was left in the house. When I came back I found him outside, and on going back to my work, there was no thimble to be found; I asked him if he had touched it, and his answer was that he would look for it. He did look, and said he could not find it; I have asked him several times if he took it away, and his only answer is that he will find it by and by."
"Tommy, did you take the thimble?" said Mr. Seagrave, gravely.
"I"ll find it by and by, papa."
"That"s not an answer. Did you take the thimble?"
"I"ll find it by and by, papa," said Tommy, whimpering.
"That"s all the answer he will give me," said Mrs. Seagrave.
"Well, then, he shall have no dinner till the thimble makes its appearance," replied Mr. Seagrave.
Master Tommy began to cry at this intelligence. Juno appeared with the turtle-soup; and Tommy cried louder when they had said grace and commenced their dinner. They were all very hungry, and William sent his plate for another portion, which he had not commenced long before he put his finger in his mouth and pulled out something.
"Why, mother, here"s the thimble in my soup," cried William.
"No wonder he said he would find it by and by," said Ready, smiling; "he meant to have fished it up, I suppose, from what was left of the soup after dinner. Well, Mrs. Seagrave, I don"t mean to say that Tommy is a good boy, but still, although be would not tell where the thimble was, he has not told a falsehood about it."
"No, he has not," replied William. "I think, now that the thimble is found, if he begs pardon, papa will forgive him."
"Tommy, come here," said Mr. Seagrave. "Tell me why you put that thimble into the soup?"
"I wanted to taste the soup. I wanted to fill the thimble; the soup burnt my fingers, and I let the thimble drop in."
"Well, a thimbleful wasn"t much, at all events," observed Ready. "And why didn"t you tell your mamma where the thimble was?"
"I was afraid mamma throw all the soup away, and then I get none for dinner."
"Oh! that was it, was it? Well, sir, I said you should have no dinner till the thimble was found, so, as it is found, you may have your dinner; but if you ever refuse to answer a question again, I shall punish you more severely."
Tommy was glad the lecture was over, and more glad to get his turtle-soup; he finished one plate, and, as he asked for another, he said, "Tommy won"t put thimble in again; put tin pot in next time."
After dinner they went to their work again, and did not come in again till sunset.
"The clouds are gathering fast, sir," observed Ready; "we shall have rain to-night."
"I fear we shall; but we must expect it now, Ready."
"Yes, sir; and by and by we shall have it for days together."
"Ready," said Mrs. Seagrave, "if you are not too tired, perhaps you will go on with your history."
"Certainly, ma"am, if you wish it," replied Ready. "When I left off, I was on board of the collier, bound to London. We had a very fair wind, and a quick pa.s.sage. I was very sick until we arrived in the Nore, and then I recovered, and, as you may suppose, was astonished at the busy scene, and the quant.i.ty of vessels which were going up and down the river. But I did not like my captain; he was very severe and brutal to the men; and the apprentice who was on board told me to run away, and get into another vessel, and not to bind myself apprentice to this captain, or I should be beat all day long, and be treated as bad as he was. I knew this was the case, as the captain kicked and cuffed him twenty times a day. The men said that he did not do so to me, for fear I should refuse to be his apprentice; but that, as soon as my indentures were signed, he would treat me in the same way.
"Well, I made up my mind that I would not remain in the collier; and, as the captain had gone on sh.o.r.e, I had plenty of time to look about me. There was a large ship, which was ready to sail, lying in the stream; I spoke to two boys who were at the stairs in her boat, and they told me that they were very comfortable on board, and that the captain wanted two or three apprentices. I went on board with them, and offered myself. The captain asked me a great many questions, and I told him the truth, and why I did not like to remain in the collier. He agreed to take me; and I went on sh.o.r.e with him, signed my indentures, and received from him a sufficient supply of clothes; and, two days afterwards, we sailed for Bombay and China."
"But you wrote to your mother, Ready, did you not?" said William.
"Yes, I did; for the captain desired me to do so, and he put a few lines at the bottom to comfort her; but, unfortunately, the letter, which was sent on sh.o.r.e by the cook, never arrived. Whether he dropped it, or forgot it till after the ship sailed, and then tore it up, I do not know; but, as I found out afterwards, it never did get to her hands."
"It was not your fault that the letter did not arrive safe," said Mrs. Seagrave.
"No, madam, that was not my fault; the fault had been committed before."
"Don"t dwell any more upon that portion of your history, Ready; but tell us what took place after you sailed for the East Indies."
"Be it so, if you please. I certainly was very smart and active for my age, and soon became a great favourite on board, especially with the lady pa.s.sengers, because I was such a little fellow. We arrived safely at Bombay, where our pa.s.sengers went on sh.o.r.e, and in three weeks afterwards we sailed down the straits for China. It was war time, and we were very often chased by French privateers; but as we had a good crew and plenty of guns, none of them ventured to attack us, and we got safe to Macao, where we unloaded our cargo and took in teas. We had to wait some time for a convoy, and then sailed for England. When we were off the Isle of France, the convoy was dispersed in a gale; and three days afterwards, a French frigate bore down upon us, and after exchanging a few broadsides, we were compelled to haul down our colours. A lieutenant was sent on board with forty men to take charge of us, for we were a very rich prize to them. The captain and most of the crew were taken on board of the frigate, but ten Lascars and the boys were left in the Indiaman, to a.s.sist in taking her into the Isle of France, which was at that time in the hands of the French. I thought it hard that I was to go to prison at twelve years old; but I did not care much about it, and very soon I was as gay and merry as ever. We had made the island, and were on a wind beating up to the port, when a vessel was seen to windward, and although I could not understand what the Frenchmen said, I perceived that they were in a great fl.u.s.ter and very busy with their spy-gla.s.ses, and Jack Romer, one of my brother "prentices who had been three years at sea, said to me, `I don"t think we"ll go to prison after all, Ready, for that vessel is an English man-of-war, if I"m not mistaken." At last she came down within three miles of us, and hoisted English colours and fired a gun. The Frenchmen put the ship before the wind, but it was of no use; the man-of-war came up with us very fast, and then the Frenchmen began to pack up their clothes, together with all the other things which they had collected out of the property of our captain and crew; a shot was fired which went clean over our heads, and then they left the helm, and Jack Romer went to it, and, with my help, hove the ship up in the wind; a boat came on board and took possession, and so there was one escape, at all events.
"They sent a midshipman as prize-master on board of the vessel, and left all us, who had been taken prisoners by the French, in the vessel, to help to work her into port, as the captain did not wish to part with any more men of his own than was necessary. We soon made sail for England, quite delighted at having escaped a French prison, but, after all, we only exchanged it for a Dutch one."
"How do you mean?"
"I mean that, two days afterwards, as we were rounding the Cape, another French vessel bore down upon us, and captured us. This time we did not find any friend in need, and were taken into Table Bay; for at that time the Cape of Good Hope was in the possession of the Dutch, who, as well as the French, were at war with England."
"How very unfortunate you were, Ready!" said Mrs. Seagrave.
"Yes, madam, we were, and I can"t say much in favour of a Dutch prison. However, I was very young at that time, and did not care much - I had a light heart."
Chapter x.x.xIV.
A heavy storm came on soon after they had retired to rest; the lightning was so vivid that its flashes penetrated through the c.h.i.n.ks of the door and windows, and the thunder burst upon them with a noise which prevented them obtaining any sleep. The children cried and trembled as they lay in the arms of Mrs. Seagrave and Juno, who were almost as much alarmed themselves.
"This is very awful," said Mr. Seagrave to Ready, for they had both risen from their beds.
"It is indeed, sir; I never knew a more terrible storm than this."
"Merciful Heaven!" exclaimed Mr. Seagrave.