This was all Peter wanted. He read the parable of the "Pharisee and Publican."
"Which of them do you like the best?" asked Peter.
"Can"t say I care for that proud chap who thought himself better than anybody else. I like t"other more, a good deal."
"Because he says, "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner"?" asked Peter.
"Ay," said Hixon, bending down his head. He had for some time ceased to ply his needle.
"Then do you know how G.o.d says He alone will be merciful?" Peter asked.
"No, "cept to them as be sorry for what they have done bad, and try to do better."
"Oh, no, no! G.o.d does not say that; Satan is always trying to make people believe it, because he well knows that if people try to make themselves better, trusting only in their own strength, they will fail.
G.o.d says that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. By faith ye are saved." And Peter, in his own simple way, went on to explain that Jesus Christ, by dying on the cross for our sins, has become our Saviour, and that if men will lovingly trust to Him, G.o.d will not punish them, but, on the contrary, will look on them as possessed of the righteousness of Christ.
"That"s wonderful," exclaimed old Hixon, after Peter had explained the truth in several ways to make him understand it. "I can hardly believe it; and yet I suppose if one chap deserved a thrashing from me, and a bigger one said, "Thrash me instead," and I did thrash him, and well too, I could not thrash the little one also."
Hixon continued silent for awhile and said nothing. He was evidently in deep thought, as though perplexed with something he was trying to make out, but could not understand.
"But I suppose a chap must not go and do what he likes after that?" said old Hixon at length, eagerly fixing his eyes on Peter.
"No. If he really loves Jesus, which he must do when he knows that Jesus suffered so much for his sake, and saved him from h.e.l.l, he will try and be like Him and serve Him, and turn away from and hate his sins," was Peter"s answer.
"For my part, I don"t feel as how I could ever be good, and give up swearing, and getting in a rage, or drunk, too, if the liquor came in my way. I could only cry out--loud enough, too, like the man you were reading about--"Lord, be merciful to me a sinner!" and I don"t think G.o.d would hear such a wicked chap as I have been," muttered the old man.
"The Bible says that Jesus Christ came into the world to save the worst of people as well as the best; "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." These are the words of Jesus Himself. G.o.d promises to hear all who come to Him. He says, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you; seek, and ye shall find.""
"I will try and ask Him for what He knows I want," said the old man.
"And, Peter, just do you pray for me, and if you see me growing sulky, come and speak to me those words you spoke just now, "Jesus loves you."
I don"t think I could stand hearing that and go on fighting against Him as I have been so long doing--though it"s wonderful! very wonderful!"
Peter did not fail to do as Hixon asked him. He seldom had occasion to repeat the blessed announcement. The old man got into the habit of saying to himself whenever he found his anger rising, "Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me," and his ill-feelings were subdued.
How blessed would be the result if all who read this, and many more, too, were to act like that rough old sailor.
CHAPTER SIX.
SAVED FROM THE WRECK.
With the exception of the gale spoken of in the last chapter, the _Primrose_ had enjoyed fine weather for the greater part of the pa.s.sage.
But dark, heavy clouds now rolled across the sky; the wind blew fiercely, and the seas rose up in mountainous billows, such as Peter had never before beheld. The wind, however, was fair, and with her after-sails furled, and closely-reefed topsails only set, the ship flew on before it. As Peter stood on deck he watched sea after sea rolling up astern and threatening to break on board, but with a loud roar, just as they reached her, their foaming summits came hissing down, and she glided up the side of a huge billow ahead. For an instant she seemed to hang on the top of the watery ridge, and then slid down into another valley, up the opposite side of which she climbed as before.
She had thus run for some distance when the wind dropped, and she lay rolling in the trough of the still heavy sea. The sky overhead was dark and lowering, a drizzling rain fell, and the air was oppressive. The captain and officers looked anxious. They had cause to be so, for suddenly the wind again rose, now blowing from one quarter, now from another, and all hands were kept on deck ready to brace round the yards as might be required. For several days no observation had been taken, and old Hixon told Peter that he feared the ship had been driven considerably out of her course.
"Will the captain soon be able to get an observation to steer the right way?" asked Peter.
"If the sky clears he may, but I have known it to remain like this for days and weeks together, and though Captain Hauslar is as good a seamen as I should wish to sail with, he may be out in his reckoning, and there are some ugly rocks and shoals to the eastward, which on a dark night it is a hard matter to see till one is right upon them," answered old Hixon.
After the ship had been knocking about for some days, the wind again came fair, though somewhat strong, and the captain, anxious to make up for the long delay, and hoping to escape all dangers, with the ship under moderate canvas steered to the eastward, ordering a bright look-out to be kept. The middle watch had been called, and the fresh look-outs, rubbing their eyes, had just gone to their posts. It was Hixon"s turn at the wheel. Peter, who was in the same watch, followed him aft, for the old man had undertaken to give him lessons in steering.
As he stood by his side he frequently quoted pa.s.sages of Scripture from his Bible, and sometimes, by the light of the binnacle lamp, he referred to the book, and read long portions.
Hixon having just received the course from the man he relieved had taken hold of the spokes, when there came a sharp cry from the look-out forward, of "Breakers ahead!" followed quickly by "Land! land!"
"Down with the helm!" shouted the officer of the watch. "All hands on deck; brace up the yards!"
Almost before the ship"s course could be altered, a fearful blow was felt, which made the masts quiver and the ship tremble from stem to stern--another and another followed. The sea dashed up wildly over her, throwing her on her beam ends; then came a fearful crash, and the tall masts fell over her side towards the dark rocks which rose close to her.
The captain and all below had rushed on deck. Awakened suddenly out of their sleep they stood aghast, expecting instant death. Some seemed to have lost their senses and cried wildly for help. The captain took his post by the companion-hatch, gazing around and considering what orders to issue.
Hixon, when he found that all hope of the ship moving off the rock was gone, quitted the helm, and seizing Peter dragged him to the weather bulwarks. The next instant loud shrieks were heard. A tremendous sea washing across the deck had carried several of the crew overboard, sweeping some away as it receded, and dashing others against the rocks.
The stern, which had been driven furthest in, afforded the most secure place. The captain shouted to the crew to come aft; some heard him, but the roaring of the breakers drowned his voice. Sea after sea struck the devoted ship, and the crashing sound which followed each blow showed that she was breaking up. Still the darkness was so great, and so fiercely did the waters rage between the ship and the sh.o.r.e, that destruction appeared to await any who might attempt to reach it.
Already the stern of the ship was quivering under the blows of the fierce seas.
"Hold on where you are, Peter," said Hixon; "I will try if there"s any way of getting on sh.o.r.e."
"But you may be washed off," said Peter.
"My life is worth little," said the old man, "I am not afraid to die now, and I may, if I succeed, help to save others."
Fastening a rope round his waist which he secured to a ring-bolt in the deck, he struggled to the side of the ship nearest the sh.o.r.e. Peter could no longer distinguish him.
The captain was standing still, undecided what to do, with the third-mate and five or six seamen who had succeeded in getting aft, when old Hixon was seen making his way along the deck from amid the ma.s.s of wreck which c.u.mbered it.
"The foot of the mainmast still hangs to the ship and the head rests on a rock," he said; "what is beyond I cannot tell, it may be water or it may be land, but the sea does not break over it; it is our only chance if we can manage to reach it."
"Well, lads, we had better follow old Hixon"s advice," said the captain.
"Those who wish it can go."
The mate and the other men hung back.
"Come, Peter," said Hixon, "you and I will set the example then. To my mind the ship won"t hold together many minutes longer; and if we succeed, as I think we shall, they will follow if there"s time. I"ll go sir," he cried to the captain, and grasping Peter, he led him along, holding on to the rope. They reached the mast, when Peter, keeping close to his companion, scrambled up it. Alone he felt that he might have been unable to succeed, but supported by his old friend he made his way along the mast, which all the time was swayed up and down by the movement of the ship. He feared lest it should be hurled from its position, and the rest might be unable to escape by it.
They gained a rugged rock of some extent, but the water washed round them and the spray occasionally flew over their heads. They were still at a distance from the mainland, but for the moment safer than on board the ship. They shouted as loud as they could to induce the rest to follow them. Every instant they feared that the mast would give way.
Again and again they shouted. At last they caught sight of some one moving along the mast. He reached them, and it proved to be Emery, the black steward.
"Are the rest coming?" asked Peter eagerly.
"Hope so; captain tell us to come first," was the answer; and soon afterwards Bill the cook made his way to the rock. They all shouted together to give notice of their safe pa.s.sage. At length several seamen were seen creeping along the mast, one after the other, as fast as they could move.
"The ship is breaking up fast!" said one of them; "and if the skipper don"t make haste he will be lost."
"Oh, I wish you had all come at once!" cried Peter. "I"ll go back and hasten him."
"No, no, boy; you will lose your life if you do!" said Hixon. "It"s his own fault if he delays."
"That is no reason why we should not try to get him to come," said Peter.