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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Charley Laurel, by W. H. G. Kingston
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Charley Laurel
+       A Story of Adventure by Sea and Land
+
+Author: W. H. G. Kingston
+
+Illustrator: Savile Lumley
+
+Release Date: May 15, 2007 [EBook #21458]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLEY LAUREL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+Charley Laurel, A Story of Adventure by Sea and Land, by W H G Kingston.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+Here Kingston gives us a story of a young boy who had been handed to a
+British seaman, Dick, at a place in the West Indies which had just been
+attacked by the British.  The boy's nurse, a coloured woman, had
+received a fatal wound.  The boy is brought up by Dick on board ship,
+but there are all sorts of misadventures, such as being cast away on a
+raft, being picked up by what turns out to be a pirate ship, escaping
+and then being rescued by a privateer.
+
+It is at this point that the story gets a bit serious.  Dick and Charley
+find themselves on an island in the South Pacific, having been captured
+by savage tribes, and being kept apart.  Charley plays a trick on his
+captors, which enables him to travel to where Dick is, and bring him
+back.  They escape from the island, and are picked up by a British ship.
+
+Charley is taken back to England, where the shipowner's family take a
+liking to him, and he is sent to a boarding school, where he does very
+well.  He is then sent back to sea by the kindly shipowner, in one of
+his vessels.  I will not tell you more than this, but there is a rather
+surprising end.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+CHARLEY LAUREL, A STORY OF ADVENTURE BY SEA AND LAND, BY W H G KINGSTON.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+VALUABLE BOOTY.
+
+A good many years ago, before, indeed, I can remember, His Majesty's
+Ship _Laurel_, a corvette of eighteen guns and a hundred and thirty men,
+commanded by Captain Blunt, formed one of the West India squadron.
+
+She, with another corvette, and a brig in company, came one fine morning
+off a beautiful island, then in possession of the French, although, as
+Dick Driver, from whom I got the particulars, said, properly belonged to
+England, at least, it once had.  Of course, therefore, it was their
+business to get it back again.  Dick could not recollect its name, nor
+the exact date of the occurrences I am describing, for, being no
+scholar, he was a very bad hand at recollecting dates; and as he could
+not write his own name, of course it was not to be expected that he
+would keep a journal, or remember very accurately all the places he had
+visited.
+
+The _Laurel_ and her consorts, having hoisted French colours, stood
+along the coast, which the captain and officers of the former ship
+narrowly examined with their glasses.
+
+At length the shades of evening drew on, and they came off a small town,
+situated on the shore of a bay, the entrance of which was guarded by a
+fort.  The _Laurel_ stood on, as if about to enter the bay, but the
+land-wind coming off the shore, she and the other two vessels stood away
+till they had got such a distance from the harbour that there was no
+chance of their being seen by the sharpest eyes, with the best of
+night-glasses, looking out for them.
+
+The ships having hove-to, the commanders of the other vessels came on
+board the _Laurel_, when Captain Blunt announced his intention of
+attacking the town, hoping to hold possession of it till another
+squadron, which had been destined for the purpose, had captured a more
+important place on the other side of the island.  The captain's plan was
+to send in the different boats of the squadron with a strong party of
+marines and blue-jackets, in three divisions, a couple of hours before
+daylight, as it was hoped at that time, the garrison of the fort being
+less on the alert than at an earlier hour, the boats might enter the bay
+unperceived.
+
+The first and largest division was instructed to take possession of the
+town; the second was to attack the fort; and the third to cut out any
+vessels found in the harbour, in case the other two should be compelled
+to retreat, so that, at all events, there might be something to show for
+the night's work.
+
+The boats' crews, and all who were fortunate enough, as they considered
+it, to be selected for the expedition, were soon busily employed in
+sharpening cutlasses, fitting fresh flints to their pistols, and making
+other preparations for the possible bloody work in which they were to be
+engaged.  Dick Driver, who belonged to the cutter's crew, was among the
+most active.  Dick was a short, strongly built, powerful fellow, with a
+broad, honest countenance, bright blue eyes, and fair bushy beard and
+whiskers,--a truer-hearted, braver seaman than Dick Driver never
+stepped.
+
+"If this here cutlass of mine does its duty, we'll thrash the Mounseers,
+and gain the King his own again," exclaimed Dick, as he applied his
+weapon to the grindstone, feeling that he was a host in himself; and so
+he was, provided no treacherous bullet found its way through his sturdy
+frame, when, alas, Dick's strength and courage would have availed him
+nothing.
+
+The boats at length collected round the _Laurel_; the oars were muffled;
+the officers were ordered to maintain a strict silence.  It was hoped
+that by getting in the rear of the fort it might be taken with a rush,
+while the larger party entered the town, and took by surprise any troops
+who might be stationed within it.
+
+The night was very dark, for clouds were in the sky, and the water was
+smooth.
+
+The first lieutenant of the _Laurel_, who commanded the expedition,
+leading in the gig, away the boats pulled, keeping close together, and
+looking as they glided along like some huge serpent creeping on his
+prey.  The entrance to the bay was gained without the boats being
+discovered.  They dashed on more rapidly than before.  In a few minutes
+they would be hard at work, the seamen slashing away with their
+cutlasses, and the marines firing, and pronging with their muskets and
+bayonets at their fellow-creatures.
+
+Strange that men should like such work.  Dick confessed he did, though
+he could not exactly say why.
+
+The officers did their duty admirably; the marines were landed, and the
+blue-jackets were springing on shore before a shot was fired from the
+town.
+
+Dick, who belonged to the first division, pushed on in that direction
+with his party, while the other two attended to their destined duty.
+The gates of the fort, however, being closed, the intended rush could
+not be accomplished; and it was evident from the rapid firing that some
+hot work was going on there.  Instead also of at once entering the town,
+the first party found their progress impeded by a somewhat numerous body
+of troops, who, quartered near at hand, turned out in time to defend it.
+The Frenchmen fought well, Dick acknowledged, though some had neither
+boots nor coats on, and many were destitute of other garments.  They
+were, however, driven back inch by inch, till some turned tail and fled;
+the rest soon afterwards doing the same, followed by the victors, who
+fired indiscriminately at every one they saw in front of them.  On such
+an occasion many of the unfortunate inhabitants were too likely to
+suffer, and many who had no arms in their hands, or had thrown them down
+and cried out for quarter, were shot before the officers could halt
+their men.
+
+Meeting with two streets forking in different directions, some in the
+darkness had followed one and some the other.  Flames were seen also
+bursting in the rear from houses set on fire either intentionally or by
+accident; while shouts and shrieks and cries arose in all directions.
+Altogether, the little town, which a few minutes before had been
+slumbering peacefully, was now the scene of havoc, terror, and
+confusion.
+
+As Dick, cutlass in hand, was making his way along the dark street, a
+piteous cry reached his ears, and looking down, he saw lying wounded on
+the ground a black woman, holding up to him a little white child.
+
+"Oh, save him! save him! or he will be killed!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Of course I will," answered Dick, tucking the child under his left arm;
+"and I'll help you into a house, where you may be safe."
+
+He was about to perform the humane act he proposed, when there was a
+cry, "The French are coming on in force--fall back, men! fall back!"
+
+Dick had only time to draw the poor woman on one side, when he was
+compelled, with his companions, rapidly to re-trace his steps.  Not
+knowing where to deposit the child in safety, he kept it under his arm;
+and though on most occasions he would have been in the rank nearest the
+foe, he now, according to orders, retreated as fast as he could.  Many
+of the other men had bundles of things they had picked up, but they were
+certainly not little children.
+
+The boats were reached at last, though not until a good many of the
+gallant jollies and several of the blue-jackets had been shot down by a
+large body of French troops, who had come in from the farther side of
+the town.  They were again, however, driven back far enough to allow the
+marines and sailors to embark.
+
+Dick, unhurt, had reached the barge, still carrying his burden, for he
+had not the heart to throw it down, and could not find any safe place to
+put it in.
+
+The fort had not been taken, but five merchantmen were captured and
+towed out of the harbour, in spite of the hot fire through which they
+had to pass.
+
+Captain Blunt was very angry on finding that the men had brought away
+plunder from the town; and they were ordered to deliver it up, that it
+might be sent back to the inhabitants, whom, as he said, he had no
+intention of injuring.
+
+Dick Driver, who among others had been seen to come aboard with a
+bundle, was ordered aft.
+
+"Please, sir," said Dick, as he presented himself, holding a fine child
+in his arms of about four years old, "it ain't any booty, but a lawful
+gift.  I was axed to take care of it, and I promised I would, and so I
+have."
+
+"I do believe it's a little girl," exclaimed the captain, examining the
+delicate features and somewhat feminine appearance of the child, which
+had long fair locks hanging down over its shoulders.
+
+"Lord bless you, no, sir!  If it had been a she I shouldn't have known
+what to do with her--but it's as fine a youngster as I ever set eyes
+upon, barring his curls: and we will soon dock them, seeing they will be
+in his way, and not suited for the smart little tarpaulin I am going to
+make for him."
+
+"What, my man, you don't expect to keep the child?" exclaimed the
+captain.  "We must send him on shore with the rest of the property
+brought away."
+
+"But, sir, he was given to me to look after by his dying mother,"
+exclaimed Dick, forgetting for the moment that the child was white, and
+that the woman who had given it to him was as black as his shoe.  "He is
+not like the rest of the booty, and if I may make so bold, I would like
+to keep him, and bring him up as one of the ship's company.  We are all
+agreed that we will take precious good care of him, and he will be a
+greater favourite among us than either Quacho, or Jocko, or the old goat
+that went overboard in the last gale, or the pig as was killed when we
+were short of fresh provisions.  Do, sir, let us keep him?  We wouldn't
+part with the little chap for all the prize-money we have made this
+cruise."
+
+Dick, in his anxiety to keep the child, had become desperate, and spoke
+with greater freedom than he would otherwise have ventured to do when
+addressing his captain.  "If he were to be sent ashore there's no one
+might own him," he continued; "then what would become of the poor little
+chap? he might be taken to the workhouse, or just brought up nohow."
+
+The captain, however, was not to be moved by all Dick's arguments.
+
+"You did very rightly, my man, in saving the child's life, and you
+deserve a reward," he observed; "but we cannot turn the ship into a
+nursery, and he must run his chance of finding his friends.  However, as
+you seem to have made a good nurse, you may take charge of him till we
+can send him away."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Dick, as he touched his hat, glad of even this
+short respite, and hoping that something might turn up to induce the
+captain to allow the child to remain on board.  "We will take good care
+of him--that we will; and if he has to go back to his friends, we will
+see that he is in proper trim, so that they won't be nohow ashamed of
+him."
+
+Dick, having thus delivered himself, swung his body round and hurried
+forward with light step, holding his young charge in his arms.
+
+The _Laurel_ and the other ships, with their prizes, were at this time
+standing away from the land.  The seamen grumbled not a little at having
+to give up their booty: they could not understand why the merchantmen
+should have been cut out, and they not allowed to keep what they had
+picked up on shore.
+
+An officer, who spoke French, now came from one of the prizes with some
+important information which he had obtained from a prisoner.  It was to
+the effect that three heavy French frigates were hourly expected off the
+coast.  Captain Blunt accordingly ordered a bright look-out to be kept
+for any strange sail.  In a short time three were descried standing
+along shore.  There could be no doubt that they were the enemy's
+frigates; and as the two corvettes and brig could not hope to cope with
+them, all sail was made to escape.  The enemy soon afterwards were seen
+crowding all sail in chase: the prizes were ordered by signal to
+separate and to make the best of their way to Jamaica, while the
+_Laurel_ and her consorts stood to the eastward, under all the canvas
+they could spread.  Before nightfall they had run their powerful foes
+out of sight.
+
+The next day a heavy gale sprang up, which increased to a hurricane.  A
+signal of distress was made by the unfortunate ten-gun brig, while the
+other sloop was evidently in a bad plight.
+
+During the night, the _Laurel_ having to run before the gale, lost sight
+of both of them.  The gale continuing longer than usual, ere it ceased
+she found herself in a the wide waters of the Atlantic, with all her
+boats washed away or stove in, her three top-masts gone, and besides
+other damages, a leak sprung, which kept the pumps going for the best
+part of each watch.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+THE LIFE-RAFT.
+
+The _Laurel_ had for some days been becalmed, and though every one on
+board, from the captain to the smallest powder-monkey, had been
+whistling for a breeze to carry her back to look after her prizes and
+consorts, no breeze came.
+
+Dick had been the busiest of the busy.  He now appeared, with no small
+pride in his countenance, leading by the hand a little boy dressed in a
+seaman's jacket and trowsers, his shirt-collar turned down, and a little
+tarpaulin hat stuck on the top of his curly head.  He went boldly aft,
+till he reached the captain, who, with several officers, was standing on
+the quarterdeck.
+
+"Touch your hat, Charley," said Dick.  Charley obeyed promptly with a
+true sailor's manner, showing that his guardian had, according to his
+own ideas, commenced his education, and had at all events taught him to
+be obedient.
+
+"Please, sir, this here little chap is Charley Laurel, as I brought
+aboard t'other night," began Dick.  "Some wanted to call him one name,
+some another.  We called him Charley, sir, after Mr Slings, the
+boatswain, who offered to stand godfather; and 'cause, as I may say, he
+belongs to all of us, we have given him the name of Laurel, after the
+old barky, if that's agreeable to you, sir."
+
+"I have no objection to any name you may give him," answered the
+captain; "but I warn you that we shall have before many weeks to restore
+him to his friends, when we shall find out his proper one, and I have no
+doubt they will be glad to reward you for the care you have taken of
+him."
+
+"I want no reward, sir, except perhaps a glass of grog to drink their
+healths, and small thanks we will give them if they take him from us.
+It will be hard to lose him as well as our other booty, especially when
+he takes to us so kindly.  To my mind, he will be much better off with
+us than among them niggers, who will just spoil him with sugar-cane and
+letting him have his own way.  Besides, sir, the black woman gave him to
+me, and unless you says so, we will not hand him over to them."
+
+Dick slapped his leg as he spoke, as a clencher to his assertion, and in
+his eagerness was going to use a strong expression, when, recollecting
+that he was on the quarterdeck, and to whom he was speaking, he stopped
+short.
+
+"Well, my man," said the captain, good-naturedly, not offended with
+Dick's freedom, "make the most of the little fellow while you have him,
+and we will see what to do with him by-and-by."
+
+There is an old saying which should never be forgotten, that "Man
+proposes, but God disposes."
+
+It was the hurricane season.  Captain Blunt had been doing his best to
+get the damages the ship had received repaired.  He was pacing the deck,
+and every now and then casting an anxious eye round the horizon, knowing
+well that the gallant little _Laurel_ was ill able to withstand either a
+gale or an enemy, by either of which she might be assailed, although,
+like a true sailor, he was ready to meet the one or the other with
+undaunted courage.
+
+The ocean was like a sheet of glass, and the hot sun struck down on the
+deck with tremendous force.  Those who could, sat in the shade, those
+who could not, as Dick observed, "had to grin and bear it, though it was
+not much odds where a man got to, it was hot everywhere."
+
+Now and then a covey of flying-fish might be seen skimming over the
+ocean, but they came out of the water to avoid the jaws of their
+persevering foes, the dolphins or bonitos, not because they liked it, or
+wished to exhibit their brilliant wings, but the wiser leviathans of the
+deep kept in the cooler regions below the surface.  Gradually a thin
+mist filled the atmosphere; it seemed to come from nowhere, but there it
+was, though the heat was in no way diminished by it, but rather
+increased.  Still the pumps had to be kept going, and the crew had to
+stand at them, whether in sunshine or shade, stripped to the waist, the
+perspiration running down from every pore.  No one grumbled, though
+"spell ho!" was oftener than usual cried, and numerous visits were paid
+to the water-cask by those who generally disdained the pure liquid
+unless mixed with rum.
+
+The captain's countenance wore an unwonted grave expression; the
+officers, too, looked serious, and their eyes were constantly turned
+round, now in one direction, now in the other.  Presently the captain
+shouted with startling energy--
+
+"All hands shorten sail! clew up! haul down!  Be smart, my lads!"
+
+The courses were quickly brailed up and furled, the fore-staysail alone
+being set.  A dark cloud was seen away to the south-west, gathering as
+it approached a vast assemblage of black masses which appeared to come
+out of space, advancing rapidly till they formed one dense column.
+
+The men were scarcely off the yards when a sheet of white foam came
+hissing over the hitherto calm surface of the ocean, followed by a
+deafening roar as wave after wave arose, each higher than its
+predecessor, and then the hurricane in all its irresistible might struck
+the sorely-battered ship.  Over she heeled before it, the fore-staysail
+with a loud report flew out of the bolt-ropes ere it had done its duty
+of paying off the ship's head.  Again and again the savage blast struck
+her side, pressing her still farther down, while the ever-increasing
+seas broke in foaming masses over her.  The captain gave the order to
+cut away the mizzen-mast, and set another staysail.  For a moment there
+was a lull, the ship rose, and her head feeling the wind, away she flew
+before the howling gale.  The carpenter sounded the well.  He had an
+alarming report to make to the captain--the water was gaining faster
+than ever on the ship.  Dick heard it.
+
+"To my mind the old barky will be going down," he said to himself.  "I
+must look after Master Charley, for if she does, it won't do to have the
+little chap going to Davy Jones' locker.  It is all very well for those
+as are bred to it, but, bless his young heart!  I must do what I can to
+keep him afloat."
+
+Dick was a man of action rather than words.  He immediately filled his
+capacious pockets with all the provisions he could lay hands on.  In the
+launch on deck he found a basket which had been brought on board with
+vegetables.  There were a number of broken spars and other fragments of
+wood, the remains of the boats which had been carried away.  He began to
+lash them firmly together in a mode which a seaman only could have
+accomplished; and in the centre of the raft he had thus formed he
+secured the basket, which had a lid to it.  One of the officers saw him,
+and told him to knock off.
+
+"Ay, ay!" he answered; but it was not a moment, he conceived, to stand
+on ceremony, and immediately again went on with his work.  The boatswain
+also set his eyes on him.
+
+"What are you about there, Dick?" he asked.  "Off with you to the pumps;
+it will be your spell directly."
+
+"I am building a raft for your godson, Mr Slings," answered Dick.  "You
+would not wish the pretty little chap to be drowned if there's a chance
+of saving him, and please Heaven, I will try and do it, though I am as
+ready as any on myself to stick to the old barky to the last."
+
+"Don't you be talking of the ship going down," exclaimed the boatswain,
+gruffly; "you will be making the rest chicken-hearted."
+
+"You know as well as I do, Mr Slings, that go down she will, before
+many hours are over, unless old `Harry Cane' takes himself off pretty
+smartly."
+
+Dick could not resist the sailor's common joke even at that moment.
+
+"I cannot say you nay, Dick," answered the boatswain; "but all this
+comes of having babies aboard; we must try and keep the ship above
+water, anyhow."
+
+The raft being completed, Dick got hold of a small beaker of water,
+which he secured to it; he also formed a paddle, and laid alongside of
+it a spar of considerable length.  Having finished his work, he slipped
+below, and brought up little Charley, with a bundle of bedding and a
+blanket.  The child greatly objected to go to bed in the basket, and
+still more so to be lashed in, as Dick was doing.  Dick knew that nobody
+would interfere with the child, but still he placed him as much out of
+sight as possible, just abaft the fore-mast.
+
+"You be good boy, Charley, and don't cry out," he said, trying to soothe
+him.  "There is a biscuit--chaw it, lad.  I have to take a spell at the
+pumps, and will be back directly."
+
+As soon as Dick could leave his work at the pumps, he hurried back to
+the child, and threw himself down to rest by his side.
+
+The ship flew on before the gale.  Every one, knowing that their lives
+depended on their exertions, laboured away with desperation: some were
+sent below to bale with buckets, which were passed up to others
+stationed on deck, but all their efforts, it appeared too likely, would
+be of no avail.  Still the water gained on them.  The only hope was that
+the hurricane might cease, and that a sail might be got under the ship's
+bottom.  Preparations were made for doing this as soon as it was
+practicable, but the wind blew harder and harder.  The main-mast had
+before been badly sprung, and during one of the fearful lurches the
+ill-fated ship made, down it came, crushing the launch, on which
+depended the only hope of saving the lives of some of them.  Dick rushed
+forward, fearing his little charge had suffered, but Charley still lay
+unhurt in his basket on the raft.  Suddenly there came a lull, and the
+hurricane ceased almost as rapidly as it had commenced: the sea,
+however, still tumbled and tossed about fiercely on either side, the
+ship lying helpless in the midst of the foaming waves.  The crew
+laboured as gallantly as before, though their stout arms were giving
+way, and many knew too well that all hope was nearly gone.  Some with
+the sharpest eyes were sent to the mast-head, to look out for any ship
+which might have approached before the calm came on; but as they cast
+their anxious eyes around the horizon, not a sail was to be seen rising
+out of the dark tumbling waters.
+
+Dick had gone again to the pumps.  "Spell ho!" he cried, for he had
+worked till he could work no longer.  He had just thrown himself down by
+the side of the raft when a fearful cry arose.
+
+"The ship is sinking! the ship is sinking!"
+
+Dick seated himself on the raft, with a spar in his hand which he had
+prepared.  Lower and lower the gallant ship sank.  Many of the crew were
+at the pumps; some were still below, some running to the forecastle,
+others aft.  Dick kept his post.  The water rushed in at the ports--the
+raft floated--a surge carried it overboard, Dick urging it by a shove
+which sent it far away from the ship's side.
+
+The _Laurel_ gave one plunge forward--her stern rose in the air--and
+down she glided beneath the tumultuous waters.  One fearful shriek arose
+of strong men in their agony.  Some few attempted to reach the raft, but
+they were drawn down in the vortex caused by the sinking ship.  Dick
+vigorously plied his paddle, and though tumbled and tossed fearfully
+about, he got far enough off to escape the danger of being drawn down
+with the rest.  Had he not had Charley to look after, he would have
+shared the fate of his shipmates, he thought; and so he would, I am
+sure.  Though he was himself frequently under water, and often almost
+washed off the little raft, the child, protected in the basket, remained
+nearly dry.  As Dick gazed back towards where the stout ship had lately
+floated, he could see a few struggling forms with arms outstretched, and
+hear their last cries for help ere they sank for aye, till that awful
+day when the sea shall give up its dead; and in a few minutes he and
+little Charley were the only living beings of all the gallant fellows
+who had formed the crew of the ill-fated _Laurel_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+DICK'S PRAYER.
+
+Night had come and passed away since the gallant _Laurel_ had sunk.  The
+sea had much gone down, and Dick, no longer compelled to hold on for his
+life, was able to open the basket and give Charley, who was crying out
+for his breakfast, some food.
+
+"Where de ship?" inquired Charley, in his imperfect English and little
+innocent fashion.  "Where we got to?  Why not give me hot tea?  Why give
+me wet biscuit?"
+
+"Don't ask questions, Charley," answered Dick.  "If I have a fancy for
+taking a cruise on this here raft, you should be content--you know I
+have charge of you; and if I didn't think it the best thing to be done,
+I wouldn't have brought you here."
+
+"All right," said Charley.  "More biscuit, please.  Now I sing song to
+you, Dick," and the little chap struck up the stave of a ditty which
+Dick had taught him, evidently feeling in no way alarmed at the fearful
+position in which he was placed.
+
+"I think, Charley, you should say your prayers," said Dick, who had
+taught the boy those he had himself learned in his childhood.  "Ask God
+to take care of you, Charley; for I am sure if He does not no one else
+will, either here or anywhere else.  He hears your prayers as well as
+big people's, so don't be afraid of asking Him for what you want; and
+just now I have a notion we want Him to send a ship this way to pick us
+up."
+
+Charley turned round, and kneeling up in his basket, lifted his small
+hands towards the blue sky, and asked the kind Father he believed dwelt
+there to take care of him and Dick, and send a ship to pick them up.
+
+Dick gazed affectionately at the child as he prayed.
+
+"That's done me good," he said to himself.  "I am sure He who lives up
+there will do what that innocent little cherub asks.  What He would say
+if a rough wild chap like me was to pray, is a different matter; and yet
+I mind that mother used to tell me He will hear any one who is sorry for
+what they have done amiss, and trust to His Son who died for sinners.
+But it's a hard matter to mind all the bad things a man like me has
+done, and I hope He ain't so over particular with respect to poor
+sailors."
+
+Dick at length, mustering courage, knelt by the side of the child, the
+calm sea allowing him to do so without the danger of falling off.  His
+prayer might not have been, as he expressed it, very ship-shape; the
+chief expression in it was, "Lord be merciful to me a sinner, and take
+care of little Charley here and me, if such a one as I am is worth
+looking after."
+
+At length Dick resumed his seat by the side of his charge.  The sun came
+down with intense heat, but he managed, by turning the raft round with
+his paddle, and lifting the lid of the basket, to shelter Charley from
+its burning rays.  The child sat up and looked about him, prattling away
+frequently in a lingo Dick could not understand: sometimes also he spoke
+a little English, which he seemed to have known before he came on board
+the _Laurel_, but since then he had picked up a good many words.  Dick
+now tried to amuse him and himself by teaching him more, and as the
+child learned rapidly whatever he heard, he already could sing--
+
+  "Cease, rude Boreas, blustering railer,
+  List ye landsmen all to me."
+
+and--
+
+  "One night it blew a hurricane,
+  The sea was mountains rolling,
+  When Barney Buntline turned his quid,
+  And cried to Billy Bowlin--"
+
+right through without a mistake.
+
+"Oh, look dere, dere! what dat rum fis?" he suddenly exclaimed, pointing
+to a short distance from the raft.
+
+Dick looked, and saw what a sailor dreads more than any human foe--the
+black triangular fin of a huge shark which was noiselessly gliding by,
+just beneath the surface, and turning its wicked eye towards Charley and
+himself.  A blow from the monster's tail or nose might easily upset the
+raft, when they to a certainty would become its prey.  Dick grasped his
+pole to do battle, should the creature come nearer, and he at once began
+beating the water on every side and shouting at the top of his voice.
+The shark, an arrant coward by nature, kept at a distance, but his dark
+fin could still be seen as he circled round and round the raft, waiting,
+Dick feared, for an opportunity to rush in and make an attack.
+
+"He shall pay for it with one of his eyes, if he does," said Dick to
+himself.
+
+"What for make all that noise?" asked Charley.
+
+"Why do you sing out `youngster' sometimes?" inquired Dick.  "Because
+you have a fancy for it, I've a notion, and so I have a fancy just now
+to shout away.  I mus'n't frighten the little chap," he muttered to
+himself.  "It won't do to tell him what Jack Shark is looking after."
+
+Thus Dick sat on till he thought by the position of the sun that it must
+be noon, when he gave Charley his dinner and cup of water--he himself
+eating but sparingly, for fear of diminishing his scanty store and
+depriving the child of food.
+
+"I can hold out much longer than he can," he said to himself, "and I
+must not let him get into bad case."
+
+Every now and then Dick stood up and gazed around the horizon, anxiously
+looking out for the signs of a breeze which might bring up some ship.
+The sun was again sinking beneath the ocean, which continued glass-like
+as before.  At length night crept over the world of waters, and the
+brilliant stars shone down from the dark sky, each one reflected clearly
+in the mirror-like deep.
+
+"What all those pretty things up dere?" asked Charley, waking suddenly
+from his first sleep; "get me some to play wid, Dick."
+
+"Just what I can't do, boy," answered Dick.  "All those are stars far
+away in the sky, and I have heard say they are worlds; but how they stop
+up is more than I can tell, except God keeps them there."
+
+"God do many things we can't," said Charley.  "But if I ask Him, would
+He give me some to play wid?"
+
+"No, Charley, He gives us what we want and what is good for us, but He
+chooses to keep those stars where they are, for He knows that if He sent
+one of them down they would only do us harm.  Now, Charley, don't be
+asking more questions; just lie down and go to sleep again," and Dick
+shut down the lid of the basket.
+
+Charley's questions, however, had set his mind at work, and as he gazed
+up in the sky he thought more than he had ever done before of those
+wondrous lights which he had always seen there, and yet had troubled
+himself so little about.  And then he was led to think of the God who
+made them and governs their courses, and many things he had heard in his
+boyhood came back to his mind.
+
+"Mother used to say He is a kind and loving God, and go I am sure He
+will take care of this little chap, and me, too, for his sake."
+
+Dick at length felt very sleepy.  He had been afraid to shut his eyes,
+for fear of the shark, but he could no longer prevent the drowsiness
+creeping over him: he lashed himself therefore to the raft, to escape
+the risk of falling off it, and placing his head on the basket, closed
+his weary eyelids.
+
+The bright beams of the great red sun rising above the horizon as they
+fell on his eyes awoke him, and on looking round he caught sight of the
+fin of the shark gliding by a few feet off.  The monster's eye was
+turned up towards him with a wicked leer, and he believed that in
+another instant the savage creature would have made a grab at the raft.
+His pole was brought into requisition, and the rapid blows he gave with
+it on the water soon made the monster keep at a respectful distance.  He
+would not shout out, for fear of waking Charley.
+
+The boy slept on for a couple of hours longer, and when he at length
+awoke, seemed none the worse for what he had gone through.  Dick had cut
+up some little bits of meat and biscuit, that he might not have to wait
+for breakfast after he awoke.  He had on the previous day carefully
+dried his clothes and bedding, and given him such food as he required--
+the child, indeed, could not have had a better nurse.
+
+Dick calculated that the store of provisions he had stowed away in the
+basket and his own pockets would last a week, and he hoped before the
+termination of that time to be picked up.  He, in reality, in
+consequence of anxiety, suffered more than the child: had he been alone,
+he probably would not have felt so much.
+
+The day passed away as before.  Occasionally sea-birds flew overhead,
+and huge fish were seen swimming by, or breaking the calm surface as
+they poked up their noses or leaped into the air.
+
+"Oh, Dick, Dick, what dat?" suddenly exclaimed Charley.  As he spoke, a
+dozen flying-fish, their wings glittering in the bright sun, leaped on
+to the raft, some tumbling into the child's basket.
+
+Dick quickly secured them, for though unwilling to feed the little boy
+with raw fish, they would, he knew, afford him an ample meal or two.
+Charley, however, begged to have some to play with, and was much
+surprised to find their beautiful wings quickly become dry, and that in
+a few seconds they were dead.
+
+Dick enjoyed a better supper than he had had since the hurricane began,
+and he always afterwards declared that those fish had kept his body and
+soul, when he would otherwise have been starved--although those he
+reserved for a meal on the following day required a keen appetite to
+munch up.
+
+Day after day Dick and his charge floated on the calm ocean.  He was
+becoming weaker than he had ever before been in his life, and yet he
+would take but a few drops of water from the beaker, and would not eat a
+particle of the food more than was necessary to keep the life in him, so
+fearful was he of not having enough for Charley.  Yet Dick had not been
+distinguished among his shipmates for any especial good qualities,
+except that he was looked upon as a good-natured, kind-hearted, jovial
+fellow, and brave as the bravest; yet so were many of the _Laurel's_
+gallant crew, now sleeping their last sleep beneath the ocean.
+
+The faithful fellow now often found himself dropping off to sleep when
+he wished to be awake--and afraid that on one of these occasions Charley
+might get out of his basket and tumble overboard, to make such an
+accident impossible, he tied him down by the legs in such a way as to
+allow the child to sit up when inclined, and look about him.
+
+Poor Dick, who was getting very weak, was lying down asleep with his
+head on the edge of the basket, when he heard Charley's voice sing out--
+
+"See, see--what dat?"
+
+Dick opened his eyes, and casting them in the direction the child
+pointed, caught sight of a large vessel under all sail running down
+before the wind, which she brought up with her.
+
+"A ship, Charley, a ship!" cried Dick.  "And we must do what we can to
+make her see us, or she may be passing by, and we shall be no better off
+than we are now."
+
+He instantly took off his shirt, which he fastened by its sleeves to the
+pole.  Holding it aloft as the ship drew near, with all his strength he
+waved it to and fro, shouting out in his anxiety, and not aware how low
+and hollow his voice sounded.  Charley shouted too, with his childish
+treble, though their united voices could not have reached by a long way
+as far as the ship was from them.  It seemed to Dick that she would pass
+at some distance: his heart sank.  Presently his eye brightened.
+
+"She has altered her course; she is standing this way," he cried out.
+"Charley, we shall be picked up!"
+
+"Then I thank God--He hear my prayer.  I ask ship come--ship do come,"
+said Charley.
+
+"You are right, boy--you are right!" cried Dick.  "And I was forgetting
+all about that prayer of yours."
+
+The tall ship glided rapidly over the ocean, the surface of which was
+now rippled with miniature wavelets as the freshening breeze swept
+across it.
+
+"To my eye, she is a foreign ship of war," observed Dick.  "But a friend
+in need is a friend indeed, and we may be thankful to be taken on board
+by her or any other craft.  Even if a `Mounseer' had offered to pick us
+up, I would not have refused."
+
+The ship approaching was hove-to, a boat being lowered from her, which,
+with rapid strokes, pulled towards the raft.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+THE PIRATE SHIP.
+
+Dick and the little boy were lifted off the raft, with the basket and
+cask, and placed in the stern of the boat.  The crew were swarthy
+fellows with red caps, and Dick at once saw that the uniform worn by the
+officers in command was neither English nor French.  They appeared to be
+talking gibberish, but such indeed were all foreign languages to him.
+He asked Charley if it was the French lingo.
+
+"Not know what they say," answered Charley.
+
+"I suppose, however, that they will give us something to eat and drink,"
+observed Dick.  "And so, whoever they may be, we shall be better off
+than on the raft."
+
+On getting alongside, Dick was hoisted on board, and one of the men
+carried Charley up in his arms.
+
+Numerous questions were at once put to Dick, every one seeming anxious
+to know how he and the boy came to be on the raft.  He replied by
+pointing to his lips, and showing by other signs that he was hungry and
+thirsty.  When it was discovered that he was either too weak to speak,
+or that he did not understand their language, he was carried below and
+placed in a hammock, while the officers took charge of little Charley,
+who was soon at home among them.  A rough-looking fellow brought Dick a
+mess of some sort in basin, and a horn cup filled with stiff grog.  A
+sailor seldom refuses a glass of grog, and although water was what he
+then wanted, he drank the spirit off, and ate some of the food.  The
+effect of the grog was to send him into a sound sleep, from which he did
+not awake till the next day.  He felt by that time pretty strong, and,
+turning out, went on deck.  He found that he was on board a flush-decked
+ship-rigged vessel, heavily armed, with a numerous crew of dark-skinned
+savage-looking fellows, most of them wearing long knives or daggers in
+their belts.  He thought that perhaps they might be Spaniards or
+Portuguese, then the idea occurred to him that they were Algerines or
+Salee rovers, of whom he had heard.  However, seeing some of them with
+leaden crucifixes round their necks, he came to the conclusion that they
+were Spaniards.  Not one of them could speak a word of English, and Dick
+was ignorant of every language except his own.
+
+The ship lying becalmed, the crew seemed to take it very easily, some
+sitting down between the guns, amusing themselves with cards or dice,
+while others were asleep on the deck.  Going aft, and looking down the
+skylight, which was open, Dick saw that the officers were employed much
+as their men, only they were gambling with large gold pieces as stakes.
+
+"These may be honest gentlemen, or may be not," he thought to himself.
+"However, if they are kind to Charley, I don't mind what they are, and I
+suppose for his sake they won't make me walk the plank.  I wonder where
+the little chap can be," and he looked down the companion-hatch, though
+he did not venture to descend.
+
+The officer of the watch seemed to understand what he wanted, and going
+to the head of the companion-ladder, shouted out, "Pedro!" and some
+other words, and presently a black man appeared with Charley in his
+arms, and handed him over to Dick.
+
+"Much obliged to you, friend," said Dick; "he is a fine little chap,
+isn't he?"
+
+The black grinned and seemed to understand him, and patted the child on
+the head.
+
+"Well, Charley, my boy, have they treated you well?" asked Dick, as he
+took up the child and kissed him affectionately.
+
+Charley said that the gentlemen had been kind, and had given him all
+sorts of things to eat, and some strong stuff to drink, which made him
+sleep most of the time.
+
+Dick carried Charley to the only shady spot he could find unoccupied,
+and sat down with him on his knees.  Charley prattled away merrily, but
+he soon stopped and complained of a headache, and of the strong stuff
+the officers had given him to drink.  This made Dick suspect that they
+had been amusing themselves by trying to make the child tipsy.
+
+"It was a shame in them," exclaimed Dick, indignantly.  "You must stay
+by me, Charley.  I can't trust you out of my sight."
+
+Dick after this kept Charley by his side, and at night made him sleep in
+his hammock.
+
+Several days passed by, and the ship lay without movement on the smooth
+ocean.  A breeze at length springing up, the crew were all life and
+activity, with a look-out at each mast-head.  Towards noon a sail was
+espied, and all sail was made in chase.  She was a brig under English
+colours.  On the stranger being come up with, a gun was fired across her
+bows; and as she did not heave-to, a shot was sent crashing into her
+hull.  She then hauled down her colours.  The boats were manned and
+shoved off to her.  They quickly returned, laden almost to the water's
+edge.  The ship stood on again nearer to her, when the boats towed her
+alongside.  Her cargo, consisting of bales of merchandise, was
+transferred to the ship.
+
+"I thought so," said Dick, when he saw the proceedings.  "She is no
+better than she should be, and if it had not been for this little chap,
+I would rather have remained on the raft than have come aboard her.  I
+wonder what they will do with the crew."
+
+That matter was soon, to Dick's horror, settled.  One after the other he
+saw the poor fellows compelled to walk to the end of a long plank, when
+the inner end was lifted up and they were sent overboard.  The brig was
+set on fire, and the pirate, letting down the sheets, proceeded on her
+course.
+
+Some days after this, when Dick came on deck, he saw at a short distance
+a small island with a few cocoa-nut trees growing on it.  Several of the
+officers who were on deck were consulting together, every now and then
+casting a look at him and Charley.  At last one of them called him up
+and made him understand that they were well-disposed towards him, and
+that as they understood he had been the means of saving the life of the
+little child, they wished to treat him kindly--that otherwise he would
+have shared the fate of the brig's crew, if they had not left him on the
+raft to perish.  To show their regard, they intended to land him on the
+island, where he would find water and sufficient food to support life;
+though, if he wished it, they would take care of the child, to follow
+their noble profession.
+
+"Thank you for nothing," answered Dick.  "I would sooner heave the
+little chap overboard, to be munched up by a shark, than leave him with
+you; and as to quitting the ship without him, I will not do it; but if
+it please you to put him and me on shore, I'll go willingly enough, and
+trust to One better able to take care of us than you are."
+
+Though the pirates did not understand what Dick said, they comprehended
+that he was perfectly willing to be left on the island.  A boat was
+accordingly lowered, and numerous articles which the pirates had taken
+out of the brig, and were likely to prove useful to him, were put into
+her.  Charley ran up and shook hands with the officers, but hastened
+back immediately to Dick, for he was afraid of being left behind.  Poor
+little fellow, he felt grateful to them for their kindness, having no
+notion of the villains they were.
+
+Dick, taking him in one arm, descended the ship's side into the boat,
+which pulled away towards the land.  Numerous shoals and rocks
+surrounded the island, among which the boat threaded her way, and at
+length landed him and the boy, with the articles they had brought, on
+the sandy beach of a sheltered bay.
+
+Dick had no inclination to shake hands with the crew who had so lately
+murdered his countrymen, and probably very many people besides, nor did
+he feel at his ease till he saw the boat again pulling out towards the
+ship.  As soon as she had gone, Dick, who had held Charley in his arms,
+placed him on a rock, and examined the articles which had been sent with
+him.
+
+"I am much obliged to the villains, at all events," he said; "but can
+only wish them a better calling and a happier end than most of them are
+likely to meet with.  To be sure, they can afford to be generous, seeing
+that they stole the things and had more than they could use.  Here are
+some carpenter's tools, a saw and axe, a hammer and nails, and a piece
+of canvas that will do for a tent; a bale of cloth, and calico, and
+needles, and thread; here are fish-hooks and lines, and shoes; three
+casks of flour and rice, and some pots, and pans, and knives; and a
+decent-looking fowling-piece and powder and shot.  Well, if I hadn't
+seen what I did see, I should have taken them to be kind-hearted decent
+chaps, who, for some reason or other, didn't wish to keep me among them,
+and so had put me ashore, and wished to do their best to make me
+comfortable.  Ah, I have a notion how it is--the skipper, or one or
+other of them has got a little chap like this at home, and they have
+done it for his sake; and savage as their hearts may be, they didn't
+quite like keeping him on board their wicked-doing craft.  Yes, that's
+it; so if I have saved Charley's life, he has saved mine, though he
+doesn't know it, bless him!"
+
+Dick having finished his soliloquy, cut a pole from a tree growing near,
+and quickly rigged up a tent, beneath which he placed Charley out of the
+heat of the sun.  He then collected wood, of which there was an
+abundance on the beach, and soon had a fire burning, and next proceeded
+to cook some of the provisions for Charley and himself.  Not far off was
+a spring of water, which would afford him an abundant supply of that
+necessary of life.
+
+"We sha'n't be so badly off, Charley, after all," he said; "only I hope
+these fellows won't come back again, in case they may take it into their
+heads to carry you away."
+
+"I will not leave you, Dick," answered the boy, taking his hand and
+beginning to cry at the thought.
+
+"You sha'n't, Charley, you sha'n't," said Dick.  "We will move away to
+another part of the island, where they cannot find us; may be there is
+water elsewhere, that's what we shall want most.  There are plenty of
+cocoa-nuts, and I dare say other vegetables, and with the gun I shall be
+able to shoot birds, and with the hooks catch as many fish as we shall
+want.  We are better off than on the raft, anyhow."
+
+Dick having made up a bed with the cloth for Charley to sleep on, cut
+some grass for himself, and then prepared to pass the night.
+
+"You say your prayers, Charley," said Dick; "and mind you thank God for
+bringing us ashore in safety."
+
+Dick had a feeling that the little innocent boy could offer up his
+prayers more effectually than he himself could; but yet Dick did his
+best to pray in his own fashion, though he could seldom say more than,
+"I am a desperately wicked fellow; God be merciful to me, and, if He
+thinks fit, take care of me and make me better."
+
+He, however, taught Charley a much longer prayer than this, suitable, as
+he considered, to his condition.
+
+The rough sailor and the child having finished their devotions, lay down
+on their beds, and, fearless of evil, fell asleep.
+
+Next day after breakfast Dick, leading Charley by one hand and taking
+his gun in the other, set out to explore the island.  On reaching the
+top of the nearest height, which was of no great elevation, being a mass
+of barren rock thrown up by some convulsion of nature, he looked around
+him.  The island was of small size, a couple of miles perhaps in length
+and about a quarter as broad, with deep indentations, bays, or small
+gulfs.  The larger portion was barren, but here and there were spots
+overgrown with the richest vegetation of the tropics.  The shores were
+rocky, but in no part high, while around in every direction were seen
+extensive reefs, some rising above the water, others only to be
+distinguished by the line of foam which danced above them.
+
+"From the look of the place, ships are likely to give this a wide
+berth," observed Dick.  "However, we can manage to live here pretty
+comfortably, and may be some day or other we shall get off again, but
+how, is more than I can tell."
+
+On descending from the hill they reached a cocoa-nut grove.  Dick looked
+up at the nuts, now almost ripe, with a well-satisfied eye.
+
+"We will have some of those before long, and the milk will be good food
+for you, Charley," he observed.  "Ah, and we shall have some cabbages,
+too."  He pointed to some smaller palm-trees, the crown of which yields
+the cabbage, so prized in the tropics as one of the most delicious
+vegetables.
+
+Sometimes Dick carried Charley on his shoulders, sometimes he let him
+run alongside him, and he thus made his progress to the farther end of
+the island.  One part appeared very barren, low, and sandy, with wild
+rocks rising up on either side.
+
+"After all, this place may be our best hunting-ground," observed Dick,
+on discovering that it was the habitation of wild fowl, who came there
+to lay their eggs and rear their young.
+
+At length he reached the extreme end of the island.  Near it was a grove
+of cocoa-nut and other palms, a beautiful sandy bay, and what Dick was
+in search of, a spring of clear water which bubbled out of the rock.
+
+"We shall be better off here, and out of the way of those gentry if they
+return to the island, and I don't think they will come so far to look
+for us," said Dick.  "We will move up the stores, and after that I will
+build a hut; it will be more comfortable than the tent, especially in
+the hurricane season, and we can't tell how long we may have to stop."
+
+Dick having discovered that, by keeping partly inland and partly near
+the shore, a tolerably easy road existed from one end of the island to
+the other, he built a little hand-dray, in which, he conveyed the stores
+to the new location.  It occupied several days, but, as he said, time
+being their own, he had no need to be in a hurry.  He next put up a hut,
+for which the trees growing around and the planking from some
+unfortunate vessel dashed to pieces on the reefs afforded abundance of
+material, while the palm-leaves served for a thatch.  He could not also
+be long content without a boat.  Though not an expert ship-builder, he
+managed to knock together a contrivance in which he could venture out
+within the reefs in calm weather to fish with Charley.
+
+"We live like princes, my boy," he said, "but I wish somehow I was able
+to look after your education; though if we had books I could not make
+use of them, seeing I never learned to read."
+
+Charley replied that he was very happy without books, and he supposed
+when he grew up to be a big boy he should find the means of learning.
+
+"I don't know when that may be, though," observed Dick.  "We have been
+here now some months, and I have never yet caught sight of a sail.
+However, though I cannot give you learning, I can teach you religion,
+and I will try and recollect all I ever knew.  I can remember the ten
+commandments, or most of them, which I learned at school, and they will
+do to begin with, and as we go on, may be I shall brush up more."
+
+Dick was as good as his word, and at night frequently lay awake trying
+to recollect what he had known as a boy.  The task was often a hard one,
+but his desire to benefit his charge induced him to persevere, when
+probably he might otherwise have abandoned the attempt.
+
+Month after month passed away, and Dick and Charley continued to live
+their Robinson Crusoe style of life without interruption, and in happy
+ignorance of all that was going on in the world.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+AT DEATH'S DOOR.
+
+"How many years have we been here, Dick?" asked Charley.  "It seems to
+me a great many, for I was a very little fellow when you first took
+charge of me, and now I am a strong big chap."
+
+"Bring me the bundle of sticks and I will tell you," said Dick; "for I
+have not thought of reckoning lately, though I have kept the score as
+carefully as at first."  Charley went and brought several sticks tied
+together and notched all over.  Dick examined them.
+
+"It's three years to-day, according to my reckoning, since we were put
+on shore.  To my mind we ought to thank God, who has taken such care of
+us all this time.  I should not mind, however, getting away soon, for
+your sake.  It's time you should be having some book-learning.  I don't
+want you to grow into a poor ignorant fellow like me."
+
+"You are not ignorant, Dick," said Charley.  "You taught me all I know,
+and I have no greater fancy for books than you have."
+
+"But, Charley, I have another reason for wishing to get away," said
+Dick.  "You see our clothes are pretty nearly worn out, and I have only
+stuff enough to make one more suit for you and one for myself, and you
+will grow out of yours pretty fast, as you have done the others.  Then
+we may not always find provisions as plentiful as we have generally up
+to this time; birds don't come to the island as they did once, and I
+fancy that even the fish don't bite as freely along shore as they used
+to do.  I have been thinking of building a larger boat, so that we may
+go farther off.  That wreck which drove on the reef six months ago has
+given us plenty of stuff for timbers and planking, as well as canvas for
+sails, and now you are big enough to help me, I shall get on faster than
+when I built the small one."
+
+Charley replied that he should be glad to do whatever Dick wished, and
+would try to learn carpentering.  Dick accordingly set to work to build
+a large boat.  The undertaking was, however, more difficult than he had
+expected, and at last he had to abandon his design, and, instead, to try
+and enlarge the little punt, or the coracle rather, which he had
+constructed some time before.
+
+The two carpenters laboured away every day, when not engaged in shooting
+or fishing, or otherwise providing for their support.
+
+Dick had husbanded his ammunition, but even that was coming to an end,
+and though eggs were still to be found, he could not hope longer to
+shoot many birds, which had become wilder in consequence of hearing the
+report of his gun.
+
+Among the treasures sent on shore by the pirates was a small keg of
+tobacco.  Dick had used it pretty freely for the first year or two, but
+latterly, finding that it must also come to an end, he put himself on an
+allowance, and only smoked a pipe occasionally when his day's work was
+over, and he took his seat with Charley on the bench under the porch in
+front of their hut.  Charley had asked one day why he should not smoke
+too.
+
+"A very good thing for grown men like me," answered Dick, "but very bad
+for little boys.  When you have been at sea a dozen years or so, you may
+try if you like it.  If it was to do you good I would share my last plug
+with you--you know that, Charley."
+
+"Yes, indeed I do," was the answer, and Charley never again asked for
+tobacco.
+
+They were seated, as I was saying, within the porch one evening, when
+Dick, whose eyes were turned towards the boat, drawn up on the beach in
+the little bay in front of them, observed--
+
+"I have a fancy for taking a cruise farther out than we have been yet;
+we shall get bigger fish, and not lose so many lines and hooks.  I am
+afraid we shall soon have nothing else but fish to live upon, and though
+they are not bad food, yet, if there was to come a spell of foul
+weather, such as we have had now and then, we should not be able to get
+even them.  Now what I want is to catch a good quantity, that we may
+salt them down for a store, should there be nothing else to be got."
+
+Charley was well pleased with the thoughts of a longer cruise, and early
+in the morning, having carried down some cocoa-nuts and boiled roots,
+with a few eggs and fish, which they cooked over night, they launched
+their curiously-built boat.  She was, as Dick observed, a good one to
+run before a breeze, but where it came to sailing with the wind abeam,
+she was apt to go as fast to leeward as she did ahead.  He, however, had
+made three oars, two of which he pulled himself, while he had taught
+Charley to steer with the third.
+
+Though the wind blew off the land, it being light, Dick had no doubt he
+should easily be able to pull back again.  Having examined the reefs
+from a height in the neighbourhood, and easily making his way among
+them, he reached the outer circle.  Here he let down a big stone, to
+serve as an anchor, attached to a long rope; but he found the water
+deeper than he had expected, though, as the stone touched the bottom, he
+hoped that it would hold the boat.
+
+The lines had not been long over the side before Charley hooked a big
+fish, larger than he had ever before seen.  Dick helped him to haul it
+in, though, as he was so doing, it nearly broke away.  Dick caught two
+or three, then Charley got another bite; he was again obliged to cry out
+for Dick's assistance.  Dick saw that, from the size of the fish, skill
+would be required to capture it, and he continued playing it a
+considerable time, before he ventured to haul it up to the boat.  On
+getting it on board he found that the hook was twisted, and some more
+time was employed in putting on a new one.  Thus eager in and occupied
+with the sport, Dick did not observe that the boat was slowly drifting
+along the reef, away from the entrance, by which alone he could regain
+the shore.  The wind was also increasing, though as the sea was smooth
+he did not discover this.  At length, looking up, he observed the
+position of the boat, and on going to the bows, found that the cable was
+slack and the stone no longer at the end of it.  It had been cut
+through.  Quickly hauling in the cable and the fish-lines, and telling
+Charley to take the oar to steer, he began pulling hard to regain the
+passage through the reefs.  A strong current was, however, against him,
+as was the wind, which had shifted slightly, and though he exerted
+himself to the utmost, he could make no way.
+
+"I have been so long ashore that I have forgotten my seamanship, and
+have done a very lubberly thing," he said, as he tugged away.  All his
+efforts were of no avail to urge the heavy tub-like boat against the
+forces opposed to her.  She drifted farther and farther away from the
+land, and the farther she got the more she felt the influence of the
+breeze; while the sea also, though smooth near the land, began to tumble
+and toss in a way which made Dick feel more uncomfortable than he had
+ever before been in his life.  The wind at the time blew only a moderate
+gale, but he could not help acknowledging that the craft he had been so
+proud of was very ill able to contend with the heavy sea which was
+rapidly getting up.
+
+"There's no help for it, and I don't want the craft to capsize.  I must
+run before the breeze, and may be it will shift, and we shall be able to
+get back again--but if not! well, I won't think of that," said Dick, to
+himself.  "I must keep my own spirits up, for Charley's sake.  It will
+be hard, however, for the poor little chap to lose his life after being
+saved from the sinking ship and those villainous pirates.  For myself I
+don't care; I have well known ever since I came to sea that any day what
+happens to so many might happen to me."
+
+The heavy boat, though flat-bottomed, behaved better than might have
+been expected.  Dick, who had taken the helm, steered carefully, keeping
+right before the seas.  As he had not communicated his fears to Charley,
+the boy was delighted with the way in which she flew over the foaming
+waters.
+
+"I didn't think you were going to give me such a sail as this, Dick," he
+exclaimed.
+
+"No more did I, Charley," answered Dick.  "Maybe we shall not get back
+as soon as we wish, but the weather looks fine.  I hope we may, some day
+or other."
+
+Dick, however, was disappointed.  The wind continued to freshen, and he
+was compelled to stand on, fearing the risk of making another attempt to
+regain the shore.
+
+Night came on.  He told Charley to take some food; but he was too much
+occupied himself to eat.  He then, making the boy lie down near him,
+covered him up with a piece of canvas.
+
+All night long he sat steering his boat and praying that the wind might
+not further increase.  As day dawned he cast a hurried glance astern;
+the land was not to be seen.  He had no compass, and even should the
+wind change, he would have difficulty in regaining so small a spot.  He
+had not the heart to awake Charley, fearing that he would be frightened
+on finding himself out of sight of land.  At length, however, the boy
+got up and gazed about him with an astonished look.
+
+"Why, Dick, what has become of our island?" he exclaimed.  "You never
+told me you were going to leave it!"
+
+"I wish I had never done so," said Dick.  Charley saw that his friend
+looked anxious.
+
+"I don't know if we are in any danger; but if we are, remember, Dick,
+that God took care of us on the raft, and can just as well take care of
+us now.  That's what you have taught me; and so I will pray to Him, and
+I am sure He will hear me."
+
+"Do, Charley, do," said Dick; "and I'll mind the ship."
+
+All that day the boat ran on.  Charley insisted on bringing Dick some
+food, and putting it into his mouth, for he could not venture to leave
+the helm for an instant.  Charley himself seemed perfectly happy, for
+after getting accustomed to the movements of the boat, the confidence he
+had in his friend prevented him from thinking of danger.
+
+At length the wind began to fall, and the sea went down, and in a few
+hours a perfect calm came on.  The boat floated without movement.
+
+Dick determined, after he had had a few hours' sleep, to try and pull
+back.  He slept longer than he expected, and Charley, who sat watching
+by his side, would not awake him.  When at last he did open his eyes, it
+was nearly dark.  A thin mist spreading over the ocean and obscuring the
+stars, he had no means of ascertaining in what direction to pull.
+
+"I might be working away all night, and find that I had only gone
+farther from the island," he observed.  "You and I, Charley, will keep
+watch and watch.  You shall take one hour and I three; that will be
+about the proper proportion, seeing that I am about three times as old
+as you are, and want less sleep."  So the night passed by.
+
+At last the sun rose, his beams dispersed the mist, and Dick, seizing
+the oars, began to pull away lustily in the direction he supposed the
+island to be.  Suddenly a crack was heard--one of his oars had gone--he
+took the steering oar, but that in a few minutes went also.
+
+"It cannot be helped, Charley," he said.  "We must trust to Him who
+knows well how to take care of us."
+
+The boat lay motionless.  Hour after hour and day after day passed away.
+Dick, as he had before done, gave Charley the largest portion of
+provisions and water, he himself taking barely enough to support life.
+He felt, too, very sorrowful, thinking of the fate which he feared might
+be in store for the poor little boy, on whom he had bestowed all the
+love of his big and tender heart.
+
+As long as he had strength he stood up and gazed around, in the hopes of
+seeing a sail approaching.  At length he sat down, and felt that he
+should not be able to rise any more.  Charley brought him some water.
+
+"Drink it, Dick," he said; "it will do you good; I am not thirsty."
+
+Dick took a few drops; they revived him, and once more he rose to his
+feet, holding on by the mast.  As he turned his eye to the northward it
+fell on a sail; he gave a shout of joy, though his voice sounded hollow
+in his own ears.  "Charley," he said, "she is coming this way; pray to
+God she may not change her course."
+
+So eager was he that he forgot his weakness, and continued standing up,
+watching the vessel, which came on, bringing up the breeze.  He was now
+sure she would pass near where the boat lay.  On and on she came.
+
+"She is an English ship, by the cut of her sails!" he exclaimed.
+"Charley, my boy, we are saved.  I don't think I could have held out
+many hours longer, and you would not have been far after me."
+
+The stranger approached.  It was evident, from the way she was steering,
+that they were seen; still Dick could not help shouting out as loud as
+his weak voice would allow.  The stranger hove-to, and a boat was
+lowered.
+
+"I hope they are not pirates," said Charley, "like the others."
+
+"I hope not; but if they are we shall soon find out, and we can but ask
+them to put us ashore again; for depend on it they will know the
+whereabouts of our island."
+
+This was said while the boat was approaching.
+
+"What strange craft is that?" said the officer in command of the boat,
+examining Dick's wonderful specimen of naval architecture.
+
+Dick explained that he and the boy had been out fishing, and been blown
+off the island, of which they had been the sole occupants for some
+years.
+
+"We will hear more about it when we get you on board," said the officer,
+a fine-looking young man, in a kind voice, observing Dick's exhausted
+condition.
+
+With the assistance of the crew Dick was lifted into the boat, for he
+had scarcely strength remaining to move, though Charley scrambled on
+board by himself.  Dick heard from one of the crew, as the boat pulled
+towards the ship, that she was the _Dolphin_, Captain Podgers, bound
+round Cape Horn.
+
+"We've two petticoats aboard--the skipper's wife and daughter, so your
+youngster won't want for nurses to look after him," said the man who
+told Dick this.  "To my mind, however, he'll be best off with the young
+lady, for t'other's a curious one, and it will depend what humour she's
+in how she will treat him."
+
+The officer helped Charley up the side, and Dick was hoisted on deck
+after him.  When placed on his feet he sank down, unable to stand.
+
+"He is almost starved," said the doctor, who now appeared.  "Take him
+below, and I will attend to him.  But the youngster seems in good case."
+
+"Glad you say so, sir," murmured Dick.  "I could not let him want while
+there was food to be had, and I hope they'll be kind to him aboard, for
+his parents are gentlefolks, and he wasn't brought up to the hard life
+he's had to lead of late."  Dick said this that Charley might be treated
+with more consideration than might otherwise have been the case.  He was
+not disappointed; indeed, though roughly clad, the boy had the look and
+air of a young gentleman.
+
+The captain, a stout, burly man, and his wife, Mrs Podgers, a much
+stouter woman, already mentioned, now appeared from below, followed by a
+slight, fair, delicate-looking girl, who offered a strong contrast to
+her parents--if such could possibly be the relationship they bore to
+her.
+
+"Let me look at the little fellow," said Mrs Podgers, as she waddled to
+the gangway, where Charley was still standing near the third mate.  "He
+don't seem as if he had been starved; yet I was told that he and the man
+were a whole week in the boat without anything to eat.  But bring him
+into the cabin, Mr Falconer; I want to hear all about it."  Mrs
+Podgers, as she spoke, gave Charley a kiss, for which he seemed in no
+way grateful.  He showed less objection, however, to the same treatment
+from the young lady, and willingly followed her into the cabin, keeping
+close to her, and at a distance from the stout captain and his wife.
+Finding, however, that Mrs Podgers did not again attempt to kiss him,
+he became more reconciled to her, and did good justice, while sitting
+next to Miss Kitty, to the ample supper placed before him.
+
+Mrs Podgers, and more especially the young lady, listened with great
+interest to his account of his adventures, and he apparently made his
+way into the good graces of the elder personage.  "Well, Kitty," she
+said, "as he is too young to go and live among the men forward, and
+seems well-behaved, if you like to look after him, he may remain in the
+cabin, and you can teach him to read; which if he's the son of
+gentlefolks he ought to know how to do, and it will be an amusement to
+you, my dear."  Miss Kitty said she should be very happy to take care of
+the boy, and asked him if he wished to remain.
+
+"Yes, with you," he answered, looking up in her face, "but you'll let me
+go and see Dick whenever he wants me?"
+
+"Oh, yes, as often as you like," she answered; "and I am glad to find
+that you are grateful to one who seems to have devoted himself to you;
+for if we are not grateful to our earthly friends, we are still less
+likely to be grateful to our heavenly Friend."
+
+"I know whom you mean," said Charley, nodding to her.  "Dick has told me
+about Him; He took care of us all the time we were on the island and in
+the boat, and Dick has taught me to pray to Him every night and morning,
+and I shouldn't be happy if I didn't."
+
+"I am very, very glad to hear of that," observed Miss Kitty, pressing
+the boy's hand.  "We shall be friends, Charley."
+
+Honest Dick, who had meantime been placed in a hammock, hearing that
+Charley was in good hands, felt satisfied about him, though still he
+begged the doctor to let him have a look at the boy as soon as possible,
+to assure himself that he was all right.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+CAPTAIN PODGERS.
+
+The _Dolphin_ under all sail was making rapid progress to the southward.
+
+I have not hitherto mentioned the fact that I was the little Charley I
+have been speaking of; indeed, so indistinct is my recollection of the
+earlier events I have described, that had it not been for Dick, I could
+have known very little about them.  Dick soon recovered, and I was
+delighted when, on having made my way forward, I found myself again with
+him.  He scanned me all over, as if to ascertain whether any harm had
+come to me during our long separation.  I assured him that I was all
+right, and was loud in my praise of Miss Kitty, though I was less
+complimentary to Mrs Podgers and the captain.
+
+"They are not nice people," I observed; "drink nasty rum, quarrel and
+fight, and then kiss and hug; then quarrel and fight again."
+
+My description was a correct one.  Mrs Podgers, indeed, had come to sea
+sorely against her husband's will, simply because she would, and had
+brought Miss Kitty, who had just come from school, with her--to save the
+expense of keeping her at home.  Miss Kitty was evidently very unhappy,
+and did not at all like the life she had to lead.  She was as refined in
+appearance, manners, and feelings, as Mrs Podgers was coarse in all
+three; but the captain, though fat and addicted to rum-drinking in large
+quantities, and somewhat sulky in his cups, was not nearly as bad as his
+wife.  He was, moreover, greatly tried, both in the cabin by her, and on
+deck by his unruly crew: the latter was, indeed, about as rough a set of
+fellows as ever collected on board ship.  The first and second mates
+were not unfitted, by the ready use they made of their fists, to manage
+them, but the third mate, Edward Falconer, who had brought Dick and me
+on board, differed from them greatly.  He was refined in his appearance
+and manners, and gentle in his behaviour, though there was, at times, a
+look in his eye which showed that he was not lacking in spirit and
+daring.
+
+The _Dolphin_, besides being bound on a whaling cruise, was a "Letter of
+Marque," by which she had the right, without being considered a pirate,
+to take and plunder any of the enemy's ships she might fall in with; but
+when Mrs Podgers, with Miss Kitty, came on board, the crew, suspecting
+that the captain intended to confine himself to the more pacific of the
+two occupations, were very indignant, and a mutinous and discontented
+spirit arose among them.
+
+The captain never from the first took to me.
+
+"I am bothered enough with women, and don't want a brat in the cabin
+into the bargain," he growled out one day when angry with his wife.
+
+"Oh, but the little boy loves me so much," said Mrs Podgers, drawing me
+towards her.  "Don't you, Charley?"
+
+"No, I can't say I do," I answered; for Dick had charged me always to
+speak the truth.  "But I love Miss Kitty, that I do, for she is sweet
+and pretty, and that's what you know you are not;" and I broke away from
+her and ran up to the young lady.
+
+"Ungrateful little wretch!" exclaimed Mrs Podgers.  "Then out of the
+cabin you shall go, and live with your equals forward."
+
+"Yes, let him go at once," said the captain, "or you will be changing
+your mind."
+
+"Not likely, after what he has said to me," exclaimed Mrs Podgers.  "I
+would pull his ears, as he deserves, that I would."
+
+Poor Kitty looked very much frightened, and held me close to her.  "Oh,
+don't, Mrs Podgers, pray don't; the little boy did not intend to be
+naughty, and I will take care of him, and teach him better manners if
+you will let me."
+
+"No, Miss, I will do no such thing," answered Mrs Podgers, her anger in
+no way diminished.
+
+"Take him on deck at once, and tell the man who came with him to look
+after him.  If he goes overboard that's his own fault, not mine.  I
+would have been a mother to him, but I cannot stand ingratitude, and he
+has no claim on my sympathy and affections, as you have, Kitty my dear."
+
+Poor Kitty gave no responsive glance to this remark, but turned away her
+head, and taking me by the hand led me to the companion stair, whence we
+went up on deck.
+
+Mr Falconer, who was officer of the watch, stepped up as she appeared.
+She told him with tears in her eyes what had occurred.
+
+"It is what might be expected," he observed; "but let me entreat you not
+to be anxious about the little boy.  You shall see him as often as you
+wish, and I suspect that he will be as well off with the honest fellow
+who had charge of him as he would with those people in the cabin."
+
+I did not understand at the time that there was anything peculiar in his
+remarks, or that Miss Kitty seemed to place far more confidence in him
+than she did in captain and Mrs Podgers.  I only understood that I was
+to go back to Dick, and of that I should have been heartily glad, had
+not my satisfaction been mitigated by the idea that I should be thus
+separated from Miss Kitty, whose amiability and gentleness had greatly
+attracted me.
+
+"Well, Charley, we will look after you," said Dick, when I went forward.
+"There's a vacant berth next to mine, and I'll put your bedding in it.
+But I am afraid, boy, your manners won't be improved by your new
+shipmates."
+
+Dick was right, for while I was rapidly increasing my vocabulary of
+English words, I learned to use some of the expressions constantly
+issuing from the sailors' mouths, without knowing their meaning, or
+having any idea of their vileness.
+
+At length, one day, when seated in the forecastle with Dick, I uttered
+several in succession, highly pleased with my own proficiency.  Dick
+looked at me hard.
+
+"Charley, do you know those are very bad words you are saying?" he
+exclaimed; "I didn't think you knew such."
+
+"Why, Dick, I heard you say them yourself the other day," and I reminded
+him of several occasions on which he had uttered some of the words I had
+made use of.
+
+"Did I, Charley? are you sure of it?" he asked, evidently considering
+whether I had brought a true or false accusation against him.
+
+"Certain sure, Dick," I said.
+
+"Well, now, I am very sorry for that, and mind, Charley, though you hear
+other people say what is bad, or see them do what is bad, it is no
+reason that you should say or do the same; and for my part, Charley, I
+must clap a preventer-brace on my tongue, and bowse it taut, or those
+sort of words will, I know, be slipping out.  I mind that my good mother
+used to tell me that I must never take God's name in vain, and that's
+what I am afraid I have been doing, over and over again.  Remember,
+Charley, if I ever hear you, I'll punish you, and I'll try and break the
+men of it; it's a shame that they should set such a bad example to a
+little chap like you, though I am afraid it will be a hard job to stop
+them."
+
+Dick was as good as his word.  From that day forward I never heard him
+utter an oath, though several times a round one rose to his lips.  I at
+first was not so careful, but the rope's-ending he gave me made me
+recollect for the future.  The men cried shame when they saw him beating
+me, and were not a little astonished when he told them that it was their
+fault, and that of course if they swore the little chap would swear
+also.  After this, I really believe that several of them, rough as they
+were, restrained themselves when I was within hearing, though the
+greater number went on as before.
+
+Both on and after crossing the line the _Dolphin_ was frequently
+becalmed for several days at a time, which did not improve the captain's
+temper, nor that of the crew either.  The voyage therefore was greatly
+prolonged.  I was more with Miss Kitty than I had expected, for the
+captain and his wife very frequently, after indulging in potations long
+and deep, fell asleep in the cabin.  On such occasions she used to make
+her escape on deck.  She never seemed tired of watching the flying-fish
+skimming over the ocean, or the dolphins swimming by, or the sea-birds
+which passed in rapid flight overhead, or watching the magnificent
+frigate-bird as it soared on high, and then shot down into the ocean to
+grasp its finny prey.
+
+Sometimes, however, I used to wonder what she could be looking at when
+Edward Falconer was by her side gazing with her over the ocean.  To be
+sure, there were the stars glittering above, or the moon with her path
+of silvery light cast across the vast expanse of water, and she and he
+seemed never tired of gazing at it.  Sometimes on such occasions she
+held me by her hand, and seemed always to wish to have me near her.  I
+at first was not able to understand what she and the young mate were
+talking about, but in time, as I learned more English, I perhaps
+comprehended more than they supposed.
+
+"I have been a wild, wayward, careless fellow, Kate," I heard Mr
+Falconer say one evening as he stood by Miss Kitty's side.  "Instead of
+remaining at college, and taking advantage of the opportunities I
+possessed of rising in the world, I spent all my means, and then, to the
+grief of an excellent father, shipped on board a merchantman as a sailor
+before the mast.  My knowledge of mathematics soon enabled me to become
+a better navigator than the captain himself, while I rapidly acquired a
+knowledge of seamanship, as from having been accustomed all my life to
+boating and yachting, I was at once perfectly at home.  I soon became a
+mate, but I spent all my pay, and was glad to ship on board the
+_Dolphin_, the first vessel I could find which had a vacant berth.  Had
+I known the character of the master and the officers with whom it was to
+be my lot to associate, I should certainly, as you may suppose, have
+avoided her.  I had already found, like the prodigal son, that I had dry
+husks alone to eat, and bitterly mourning my folly, had, even before the
+ship sailed, contemplated returning home on the first opportunity and
+seeking my father's forgiveness, when you came on board and I began to
+breathe a new existence."
+
+"You need not tell me more, Edward," said Kitty.  "I cannot bear the
+thoughts of having prevented you from doing what you considered right,
+and right it was, I am sure.  You must not think of me; oh, let me urge
+you to go home, and occupy the position which from your education and
+family you should properly enjoy, for surely your father will receive
+you thankfully, and forgive your offences.  As for me--humanly
+speaking--I am helpless; but I am not without hope--for I know in whom I
+trust.  Were I not confident that God watches over and takes care of all
+who have faith in that love which induced Him to give us the greatest
+gift He could bestow on perishing sinners, I should indeed be
+miserable."
+
+Much more was said which I did not hear.  Mr Falconer and Kitty took
+several turns on deck together, and I ran about near them.
+
+Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Mrs
+Podgers' head at the companion-hatch, as in an angry tone she summoned
+the young lady below.  The mate walked aft, and I scampered forward to
+rejoin Dick.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+THE FIRE.
+
+The _Dolphin_ being greatly in want of water, put into the Falkland
+Islands to obtain it, as well as beef, which the captain understood
+could be obtained for the trouble of catching the animals on whose backs
+it existed.
+
+The shore of the harbour in which we lay was rocky, but beyond it was a
+wide expanse of partly level, and partly undulating ground, reaching far
+away in the distance.
+
+Dick told me he would take me on shore to see some of the fun, he being
+one of the men appointed to shoot the cattle.
+
+Mounted Spaniards, or Indians, with their bolas and lassoes, would have
+killed them with perfect ease; but, armed as we were, with only heavy
+muskets which did not always go off, the chances were very great against
+the desired beef being obtained.  Just as we had shoved off, the
+captain, seeing me in the boat, ordered me back.  The men, however,
+having already begun to give way, pretended not to hear him, and we were
+soon beyond hailing distance of the ship.  In a short time we saw
+another boat following us.  After we had landed, who should step out of
+her but Miss Kitty and Mr Falconer; he had a gun on his shoulder, but
+had not intended coming till he found that she wanted to have a walk on
+shore.  Whether or not she had asked leave of Mrs Podgers, I do not
+know; she did not always consider that necessary when she had a fancy
+for doing anything.
+
+We pushed on some way inland, and though the herbage was high, it was
+not thick except in places where there were large tufts of tall
+tussock-grass, like waving plumes growing out of the earth, while the
+ground itself was tolerably smooth.  We went on till we reached a rocky
+knoll rising like an island amidst the sea of waving grass that
+surrounded it.  We climbed to the top, that we might discover where the
+cattle were to be found in greatest numbers.  As yet, a few only had
+been seen, which scampered off before a shot at them could be obtained.
+Three or four herds were discovered in the distance.  The mate, with
+half the men, agreed to go in one direction and to stalk them down,
+while Dick and the rest went in another.  Miss Kitty said she was tired,
+and that she would remain on the top of the rock with me till their
+return.  The mate begged to leave with her a flask of water and some
+biscuits, which he had brought, I suspect, on her account.  Not knowing
+what sort of scenery she might meet with, she had brought her
+sketch-book, for she was a well-educated girl, and understood music, and
+a number of other things besides.  She laughingly observed that a few
+strokes would quickly picture the surrounding scenery.  She amused
+herself with copying a huge tuft of the tussock-grass which grew near,
+and then made me stand and sit, now in one position, now in another,
+while she took my portrait.  Then telling me to play about near her, and
+to take care not to tumble off the rock, she sat down to meditate.  What
+her thoughts were about I cannot say, but she certainly very often
+looked in the direction Edward Falconer had gone.
+
+Several shots were heard from time to time.  They grew fainter and
+fainter, as if the cattle had headed off away from the harbour.
+
+The day wore on.  The sun was already sinking in the sky.
+
+"I wonder when they will come back?" she said once or twice.  "Can you
+see any one, Charley?"
+
+I looked, but could not distinguish any objects amid the expanse of
+grass.
+
+A dull booming sound of a ship's gun came from the direction of the
+harbour, then another and another.
+
+"That is, I suspect, to recall the boats," said Kitty to me.  "I could
+find my way there with you, Charley; but I don't like to leave this
+spot, lest those who have gone after the cattle on returning might
+wonder what has become of us."
+
+We waited some time longer--the sun set--the shades of evening drew on.
+Kitty became very anxious.  It was too late now to attempt alone to get
+back to the boats; and it was evident that we should have to spend the
+night on the knoll.  As there was plenty of tall grass around, I
+proposed that we should build a hut for ourselves, but, as we had no
+means of cutting it, we could not carry out my project.  Miss Kitty was,
+as before, casting an anxious gaze around, expecting each moment that
+some one would appear, when suddenly she exclaimed--
+
+"See, see, Charley!  What is that?"
+
+I looked in the direction she pointed, when I saw a dark line of smoke
+rising out of the plain, curling in wreaths as it ascended towards the
+sky.  It might have been mistaken for mist, had there not appeared below
+it a thin red line with sharp little forks darting upwards.
+
+"The grass is on fire!  Oh, what will become of them?" she exclaimed,
+seizing my hand, and gazing, with dread and horror in her countenance,
+at the advancing line of flame and smoke.  I did not suppose that we
+ourselves were in danger; but on looking round I observed the numerous
+tufts of grass which grew on every side among the rocks.
+
+One part of the mound was composed entirely of bare rock.  I pointed it
+out to my companion.  Though we should be almost suffocated with smoke,
+we might there escape the flames.  We hastened to it, and kneeling down,
+she prayed for protection for me, and for herself, and for Edward--I
+heard her mention the mate's name--and for the rest.
+
+I was not particularly frightened, because I did not see anything very
+terrible; only the red line of fire jumping and leaping playfully, and
+the wreaths of smoke, which looked very graceful as they curled round
+and round, till at length they formed a dark canopy which spread over
+the sky.
+
+"They may have been on the other side of the fire," I heard Kitty say;
+"but then he would have thought of me, and, I fear, have attempted to
+rush through the flames to my rescue, and Dick will not have forgotten
+you, Charley.  We must pray for them, my boy--we must pray for them."
+
+On came the wave of flame; the whole island from one end to the other
+seemed on fire.  Our communication with the harbour was well-nigh cut
+off.  Though the men in charge of the boats might have seen it
+approaching, they could not have come to our assistance.
+
+Happily, Kitty's dress was of a thick material, and so was mine, for the
+weather had been for some time cold, and Dick had made me a winter suit.
+Kitty saw clearly that the flames would surround the rock, and creep up
+its sides; and the open space on which we had taken refuge was fearfully
+small.  I fancied that I could hear the roaring and hissing of the
+flames, they were already so near, when a shout reached our ears.
+
+"They are coming! they are coming!" cried Kitty; "but oh, I fear the
+fire will overtake them before they can gain the rock.  I see them!  I
+see them!  It is dreadfully close!"  She gasped for breath.  Then she
+rose to her feet, and waved her white handkerchief, hoping that it might
+be distinguished through the gloom, for she in vain tried to cry out in
+answer to the shout we had heard.  The glare of the approaching fire
+fell on her figure.  At that moment a man dashed up the rock--it was
+Edward Falconer.  He could only utter, "You are safe, dearest!" and sank
+on the ground.  Kitty stooped down and tried to raise him, pouring some
+water from the flask into his mouth.  He speedily revived.  Three other
+men followed him--the first was Dick; he seized me in his arms, and gave
+me a hug and put me down on the rock, and then he and the rest dashed
+back towards the flames, and began with their guns to beat and trample
+down the surrounding grass.  The mate joined them, but the flames
+quickly reached the spot, and in a few minutes we were surrounded by a
+sea of fire.  Dick sheltered me in his arms, and Edward Falconer
+supported Kitty in the very centre of the rock, turning their backs to
+the scorching flames from which they attempted to shield us.  The smoke
+curled round our heads, and we had great difficulty in breathing.  I
+could not help crying out from the pain of suffocation, which made Dick
+almost distracted.  He first lifted me up above his head, that I might
+get more air; and when he could support me no longer, he threw a
+handkerchief over my face, and held me in his arms as a mother would her
+child.
+
+How long we stood thus I do not know; it seemed a very long time.  At
+length the fire had burned up all the grass around us, and the smoke
+grew less.  Still it was impossible to reach the harbour, and might be
+so for many hours to come.
+
+The whole party sat down on the rock, Miss Kitty inviting me to come to
+her, while Edward Falconer sat by her side.
+
+"As you like, Miss," said Dick; "but I would not give him up to any one
+else."
+
+"I hope the rest got off safe, as they were not far from the shore,"
+observed one of the men.  "But I say, Dick, I wonder what has become of
+the beasts you and Mr Falconer killed?"
+
+"They must be well roasted, at all events," answered Dick.  "The sun
+won't have been long up either before every bone will be picked clean by
+the galinasos and other birds."
+
+"It's mighty possible, I'm afraid, that two or three of our fellows have
+been caught.  It will be a cruel job if they are, for though a sailor
+lays it to his account to get drowned now and then, he doesn't expect to
+be frizzled into the bargain," observed Pat O'Riley.
+
+They went on joking for some time, notwithstanding the fearful scene
+they had gone through, and although even at that moment some of their
+shipmates might be lying scorched to death on the plain below them.  I,
+however, was soon asleep, with my head on Kitty's lap, and therefore
+cannot say what she and Edward Falconer talked about.  All I know is,
+that before I closed my eyes I saw him endeavouring to shield her from
+the wind, which blew sharply over the knoll.
+
+At daylight we set out, Edward and Dick insisting on carrying Kitty in a
+chair formed with their hands, while Pat O'Riley carried me on his
+shoulders.
+
+"Well, Miss Kitty, we had given you up for lost," exclaimed Mrs
+Podgers, who met us at the gangway.
+
+It struck me, young as I was, that her address did not show much
+maternal affection.
+
+"Had not Mr Falconer and some of the crew come to our rescue, the boy
+and I would have been probably burnt to death, but they bravely risked
+their lives to save ours," answered Kitty, firmly.
+
+A boat was sent back to look for the remainder of the men; some at
+length arrived, but three could not be found, though search was made for
+them in every direction.  Some thought that they had run away, others
+that they had been destroyed by the flames.  A portion of one ox only
+was brought on board, but the captain would not wait to obtain more, and
+having filled up the water-casks, the _Dolphin_ again sailed to go round
+Cape Horn.
+
+We had got very nearly up to the southern end of America, when we met a
+gale blowing directly against us, which sent us back far away to the
+eastward and southward.  The wind, however, again coming fair, we ran
+before it under all sail to make up for lost time.
+
+Finding Dick's berth empty one evening after it was dark, and not
+feeling inclined to sleep, I crept up on deck to be with him, as I had
+been accustomed to do in more genial latitudes.  I found him on the
+look-out on the forecastle.
+
+"What do you want to see?"  I asked, observing that he was peering into
+the darkness ahead.
+
+"Anything that happens to be in our way, Charley," he answered.  "An
+island, ship, or an iceberg; it would not be pleasant to run our
+jib-boom against either of the three."
+
+"What is that, then?"  I asked, my sharp eyes observing what I took to
+be a high white wall rising out of the sea.
+
+"Down with the helm!" shouted Dick at the top of his voice.  "An iceberg
+ahead!"
+
+"Brace up the yards!" cried the officer of the watch from aft.
+
+The mast-heads seemed almost to touch the lofty sides of a huge white
+mountain as we glided by it.
+
+"In another half-minute we should have been on the berg, if it hadn't
+been for you, Charley," said Dick, when we had rounded the mountain, and
+were leaving it on our quarter.  "I'll back your sharp eyes, after this,
+against all on board."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+JONAS WEBB.
+
+We were a long time regaining our lost ground.  I remember at length
+finding the ship gliding over huge glass-like billows, which came
+rolling slowly and majestically, as if moved upwards and onwards by some
+unseen power, with deep, broad valleys between them, into which the ship
+sinking, their sides alone bounded the view from her deck ahead and
+astern.  On the right rose however, above them, a high, rocky headland,
+which the third mate told Miss Kitty, as she stood on the deck gazing at
+the shore, was Cape Horn.
+
+"I could fancy it some giant demigod, the monarch of these watery
+realms," she observed.  "He looks serene and good-tempered at present;
+but how fearful must be these mighty waves when he is enraged, and
+fierce storms blow across them."
+
+"You are indeed right, Miss Kitty," he answered; "and for my part, on
+such occasions, I prefer giving his majesty a wide berth and keeping out
+of sight of his frown.  Provided the ship is sound, and the rigging well
+set up, we have little dread of these vast waves.  A short chopping sea
+is far more dangerous.  However, we shall soon be round the `Cape,' and
+then I hope for your sake we shall have fine weather and smooth water."
+
+She stood for some time holding on to a stanchion, gazing at the scene
+so strange to her eyes.
+
+The captain coming on deck to satisfy himself that all was going on
+properly, the mate stepped forward to attend to some duty.  As the
+former's rubicund visage disappeared beneath the companion-hatch, Mr
+Falconer returned aft.
+
+"I have been thinking, Edward, that I was wrong to give the reins to my
+fancy, as I did just now," said Kitty, in her sweet, artless way.  "I
+should have remembered that He who made the world governs the wide
+ocean--the tides and currents move at His command, and He it is who bids
+the waters be at rest, or sends the whirlwind sweeping over them.  I
+feel that it is wrong, even in poetry, to assign to beings of the
+imagination the power which alone belongs to Him.  Do you understand
+me?"
+
+"Yes, though I should not have thought you wrong," answered the young
+officer, gazing at her with admiration.  "But I do understand you, and I
+am sure that you are right.  God is a jealous God, and cannot of course
+admit of any detraction from His authority by the creatures He has
+formed.  I see that every form of idolatry, whether the idol be
+worshipped or not, must be offensive to Him--whether men assign His
+power to others, or attempt to approach Him in prayer through the
+mediation of saints or angels, when He has told them to draw near to the
+throne of grace according to the one way He has appointed."
+
+It may seem strange that I should have recollected this conversation.
+In truth, I did not, and it was not till many years afterwards that I
+was told of it.  Indeed, I may confess once for all, that had I not
+possessed the advantage of communicating with some of the principal
+actors, I should have been unable to describe many of the events which
+occurred at that period of my existence.  I remember, however, the
+captain, and his amiable consort, Mrs Podgers, and the snappish cruel
+way she spoke to sweet Miss Kitty and Edward Falconer.  She appeared,
+indeed, to detest him, and took every opportunity of showing her dislike
+by all sorts of petty annoyances.  He bore them all with wonderful
+equanimity, perhaps for Kitty's sake, perhaps because he despised their
+author.  Sometimes, when he came on deck after dining in the cabin, he
+would burst into a fit of laughter, as if enjoying a good joke, and
+would continue to smile when Kitty appeared with a look of vexation and
+pain on her countenance, supposing he must have been annoyed beyond
+endurance.
+
+We had just doubled the Cape, when another sail was seen crossing our
+course, now rising up against the clear sky, now sinking so low that
+only her upper canvas was visible.  We approached each other, when the
+stranger made a signal that she would send a boat aboard us.  We also
+hove-to, and began gracefully bowing away at each other, as if the ships
+were exchanging compliments.  A seaman with his bag stepped on board
+when the boat came alongside, and offered to remain, if the captain
+would receive him as a volunteer.  The mate who came in the boat, saying
+he was an experienced hand, and had been in the Pacific several years,
+the captain at once accepted his services.  We gave the mate the last
+news from England and several newspapers, and he, in return, offered to
+take any letters our people might have ready to send home.  In a short
+time we each filled, and stood on our respective courses.
+
+From what the mate had said, our captain was eager to have a talk with
+the new-comer, Jonas Webb by name.  The latter said he had gone out many
+years before in a South Sea whaler, and when on her homeward voyage he
+had exchanged into the ship he had just left, then outward-bound.  Both
+ships had been very successful in fishing and making prizes, and he had
+saved a great deal of money.  Not content with what he had got, he
+wished to make more.  He had been all along the coast, and knew every
+port.  Among other pieces of information, he told the captain that two
+South Sea whalers, captured by the Spaniards, lay in the Bay of
+Conception, and advised that they should be cut out, declaring that it
+might easily be done, as the harbour was unguarded by forts.  I don't
+think Captain Podgers was fond of fighting, but he was of money, and he
+believed that by getting hold of these two ships, he should make more
+than by catching a score of whales.
+
+After this, both fore and aft, the only talk was about the proposed
+undertaking.  Miss Kitty looked very grave, but though she knew the
+captain would take very good care to remain safe on board, she guessed
+that Edward Falconer would be sent on the expedition; and, though he
+made light of it, he had observed that Jonas Webb was wrong with regard
+to the place being unfortified.  Captain Podgers had got angry, and
+declared that the man, an experienced old sailor, who had just come from
+thence, must know more than a young fellow, as he was, could do.  Mrs
+Podgers, with a sneer, also remarked that perhaps he would rather not
+have any fighting, lest he might get a cut across his face, and spoil
+his beauty, or the smell of gunpowder would make him faint.
+
+I am sure that the third mate was as brave as steel, and did not think a
+bit about his good looks; but the sting, somehow or other, struck deeper
+than most of her venomed darts.
+
+Hoisting American colours, we stood in towards an island off the Bay of
+Conception.  Here heaving to, as night closed in, four of the boats were
+manned under charge of the three mates and the boatswain.  Jonas Webb
+and Dick went in Mr Falconer's boat.
+
+Those who remained on board anxiously watched for their return,
+expecting, as the night was light, to see them towing out their prizes.
+
+Some hours passed by, when the rattle of musketry and the boom of great
+guns came over the calm waters.
+
+"Why, that fellow Webb mast have deceived me!" exclaimed the captain,
+stamping about the deck in a state of agitation.  "Falconer was right.
+There will be more glory, as he will call it, than profit in the
+expedition.  Bah!  I cannot afford to lose men."
+
+Eager eyes were looking out for the expected ships.  They did not
+appear, but at last first one boat and then another was seen emerging
+from the gloom.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, what has become of the whalers?" exclaimed the
+captain, as the two first mates stepped on deck.
+
+"The Spaniards peppered us too hotly to enable us to tow them out, sir,
+and the wind afforded no help," was the answer.  "I am afraid Mr
+Falconer's boat, too, has got into a mess--he had taken one of the
+whalers, but would not leave his prize, though I suspect several of his
+men were killed or wounded."
+
+"Was Mr Falconer himself hit?" asked Mrs Podgers, who had come up to
+hear the news.
+
+"I cannot say, ma'am," answered the first mate.  "His boat must have
+been terribly mauled, and I am afraid that she must have been sunk, or
+that her crew must have been taken prisoners.  I cannot otherwise
+account for his not following us."
+
+I had hold of Miss Kitty's hand.  I felt it tremble; she seemed to be
+gasping for breath.
+
+"You should have gone back and looked for them," said the captain, who
+had judgment enough to know that the third mate was one of the best
+officers in the ship.
+
+"Oh! do, do so!" exclaimed Miss Kitty, scarcely aware of what she was
+saying.  "It was cowardly and cruel to leave them behind."
+
+"Not far wrong," growled the captain, who, if not brave himself, wished
+his subordinates to fight well--as has been the case with other leaders
+in higher positions.
+
+The mates were returning to their boats when the shout was raised that
+the fourth boat was appearing.  She came on slowly, as if with a
+crippled crew.  Kitty leaned against the bulwarks for support.
+
+"Send down slings; we have some wounded men here," said a voice which I
+recognised as Dick's.
+
+"Let the others go first," said another voice.  "They are more hurt than
+I am."
+
+Miss Kitty sprang to the gangway and looked over.  Three men were
+hoisted on board; one especially was terribly injured--it was Jonas
+Webb.  The last who appeared was Mr Falconer.
+
+"I am only wounded in the shoulder, though I am faint from loss of
+blood," he said, in a feeble voice.  He spoke so that Kitty might hear
+him.  "We should have got the prize with more help."
+
+Kitty ran to his side to assist him along the deck, not caring what Mrs
+Podgers or anybody else might say to her.  The exertion, however, was
+too much for him; and if Dick and another man had not held him up, he
+would have fallen, for Kitty's slight frame could scarcely have
+supported him.  He was taken to his cabin, and after the doctor had
+attended to the other men he allowed him to examine his wound.
+
+I have not before mentioned our doctor.  The men used to say he was only
+fit for making bread pills, and they, poor fellows, had better means of
+forming an opinion of his skill than I had.  After his visit, Mr
+Falconer would not let him dress his wound, though he did manage to get
+out the bullet.  It was dressed, however, and Kitty used to say that I
+was the doctor.  I know that I went every day into the cabin with her
+and Dick, and that we used to put lotions and plaster on his poor
+shoulder.  Mrs Podgers declared that it was very indelicate in her to
+do so, but Kitty replied that if women were on board ship, it was their
+duty to attend to the wounded.
+
+We visited the other men who were hurt, especially poor Jonas Webb; but
+Kitty confessed that his injuries were beyond her skill--indeed, it
+seemed wonderful that, mangled as he was, he should continue to live on.
+
+The miscarriage of the expedition was owing also to him.  Mr Falconer
+had gallantly carried the prize, got the Spaniards under hatches, and
+taken her in tow, when, on passing the batteries, Webb's pistol went
+off.  This drew the attention of the garrison to the boat, and they
+immediately opened a hot fire.  Webb was the first struck, and soon
+afterwards several of the other men were hit.  Mr Falconer, who had
+remained on deck, on this let himself down into the boat to assist in
+pulling, and, in spite of the hot fire, would have continued doing so,
+had not the Spaniards broken loose, and, getting hold of some muskets on
+board, began firing at the boat.  Mr Falconer, on being himself
+wounded, cut the painter, and the boat escaped without further injury.
+
+Dick was very angry with the other officers, and did not mind expressing
+his opinion of them.  I never saw him so put out.  He felt much for poor
+Webb, and I heard him declare that he was very doubtful about Mr
+Falconer's recovery.  If he died, what would become of poor Miss Kitty?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+A MINISTERING ANGEL.
+
+Mr Falconer did not die.  Kitty asked him to live for her sake, and I
+dare say he was glad to do so.  Dick and the doctor were out of hearing
+at the time, so that I don't know whether I ought to repeat it.
+
+She often, as she sat by his side, spoke very seriously to him, and used
+to read the Bible.  One day she asked whether he truly believed it to be
+God's word, and to contain His commands to man.  He said he did with all
+his heart, and that he had always done so.
+
+"Then," she asked, "how is it that you have not always lived according
+to its rules?"
+
+"First, because I did not read the book," he answered; "and, secondly,
+because I liked to follow my own will."
+
+"And preferred darkness to light, because your deeds were evil?  That is
+what the Bible says, Edward, and you believe that it is God's word,"
+said Kitty, in a firm voice.  "But can you now truly say, `I will arise
+and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned
+against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy
+son?'"
+
+She gazed with her bright blue eyes full upon him as she spoke, so
+innocent and free from guile.
+
+"Indeed, I truly can," he said.
+
+"Hear these words," she continued, turning rapidly over the leaves of
+the Bible she held before her.  "`God so loved the world that he gave
+his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not
+perish, but have everlasting life.'"
+
+"The faith, the belief, must be living, active, not a dead faith, and
+then how glorious the assurance, if we remember what everlasting life
+means--a certainty of eternal happiness, which no man can take away, and
+which makes the pains, and sufferings, and anxieties of this life as
+nothing.  I always think of those promises, Edward, whenever I am in
+trouble, and you know I very often am, and I remember that God says, `I
+will never leave thee nor forsake thee.'  That, and that alone, has
+enabled me to endure the dreadful life I have had to lead on board this
+ship, until I knew that you loved me.  But the being possessed of that
+knowledge, though it affords me unspeakable happiness, does not, I
+confess, make me more free from anxiety than I was before.  Then I knew
+that nothing could take away what I possessed, because it was treasured
+in my own heart; but now I cannot help feeling anxious on your account--
+exposed to numberless dangers as you are, and must be, in the horrid
+work such as I understand this ship is to be engaged in.  When that
+dreadful woman insisted on my accompanying her, I understood that the
+ship was to make an ordinary voyage, visiting interesting lands, trading
+with the natives, and catching whales.  Had I known the truth I would
+have resisted her authority, and gone out as a governess or into service
+as a nursery-maid, or done anything rather than have come on board.  But
+left an orphan and penniless, and under her guardianship, so she
+asserted, I thought it my duty to obey her.  I do not regret it now,"
+she added, quickly; "but I felt that you must have been surprised at
+finding me dependent on such a person as Mrs Podgers.  I have never
+told you my history--I will do so.  When, about ten years ago, my dear
+mother was dying, just as I was six years old, this woman was her nurse,
+and pretended to be warmly attached to her.  My father, Lieutenant
+Raglan, having married against the wishes of his family, they,
+considering that my mother, though highly educated and attractive, was
+inferior to him in birth and fortune, cast him off, and refused to hold
+any further communication with him.  Just before the time I speak of, he
+sailed for the East India station, and my dear mother being left at a
+distance from her own friends, who resided in the West Indies, she had
+no one of her own station, when her fatal illness attacked her, to whom
+she could confide me.  When, therefore, her nurse promised to watch over
+me with the tenderest care, and to see that I was educated in a way
+suitable to my father's position in society, and to restore me to him as
+soon as he returned, she thankfully left me and all the property she
+possessed under her charge.  Such is what her nurse, now Mrs Podgers,
+has always asserted.  Providentially, my mother had written to a lady,
+Mrs Henley, at whose school she herself had been educated, saying, that
+it was her express wish that I should be under her charge until I was
+sixteen, although I was to spend my holidays with nurse till my father's
+return.  I suspect, that at the last, my poor mother had some doubts
+about leaving so much in the power of a woman of inferior education; and
+I remember seeing her write a paper, which she got the respectable old
+landlord of the house and his son to witness, and it was to be sent, on
+her death, to my kind friend, Mrs Henley.  That paper, or one very like
+it, I afterwards saw my nurse destroy.
+
+"On my mother's death, I was sent to Mrs Henley, my nurse insisting
+that I should spend the holidays with her.  For the first year or two
+she was very kind, and I had nothing to complain of; but after she
+married Captain Podgers, her conduct changed very much, I suspect in
+consequence of her having taken to drinking.  I did not find this out at
+the time, though I thought her occasionally very odd.  She insisted that
+she was my guardian, and showed me my mother's handwriting to prove her
+authority; and I felt that it was my duty to obey her, though I lived in
+hopes that by my father's return I should be freed from her control.
+
+"Year after year passed by.  Then came the account of the capture and
+destruction of his ship and loss of many of her officers, though no
+information as to his fate could be obtained.  All I knew, to my grief,
+was that he did not return.  Still I have a hope amounting almost to
+confidence that he is alive.  The thought that I might possibly meet
+with him made me less unwilling than I should otherwise have been to
+obey Mrs Podgers' commands to accompany her on the voyage she was about
+to make.  Her sole motive, I suspect, in wishing me to go, was to save
+the expense of my continuing at school.  Still I wonder sometimes how I
+could have ventured on board, suspecting, as I had already done, the
+hypocritical character of the woman who had pretended to be so devoted
+to my mother and me."
+
+"You have, at all events, proved an inestimable blessing to me," said
+the young officer.  "Even when I first saw you, I could not believe that
+you were really the daughter of such people as the captain and his
+wife."
+
+I do not know that I had before thought much about the matter, but when
+I heard now, for the first time, that Miss Kitty was not related to the
+captain and his wife, I felt a sort of relief, and could not help
+exclaiming, "Oh, I am so glad!"  She smiled as she looked at me, but she
+made no reply either to mine or Mr Falconer's remark.  She gave us
+both, I have no doubt, credit for sincerity.
+
+Although our visits to the wounded mate occupied a good deal of our
+time--I say our visits, for I always accompanied Miss Kitty--we did not
+neglect the other wounded men.
+
+We went, indeed, to see poor Jonas Webb several times a day.  Sorely
+wounded as he was, he yet could listen to what Miss Kitty said to him,
+though he was too weak and suffering to utter more than a few words in
+reply.  She one day, finding him worse, asked him solemnly if he was
+prepared to meet his God.
+
+"What! do you think I am dying, young lady?" he groaned out, in a
+trembling voice.
+
+"The doctor says that he has never known any one wounded as badly as you
+are to recover," she said, in a gentle, but firm voice.
+
+"Oh, but I cannot die!" he murmured.  "I have made well-nigh five
+hundred pounds, and expected to double it in this cruise, and I cannot
+leave all that wealth.  I want to go home, to live at my ease and enjoy
+it."
+
+"You cannot take your wealth with you," she answered.
+
+Without saving more, she read from the Bible the account of the rich man
+and Lazarus.  She then went on to the visit of the wealthy young lawyer
+to Jesus, and paused at the reply of the Lord; she repeated the words,
+"How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.
+For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a
+rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
+
+"Now," she continued, "you have been trusting in the wealth which, with
+so much toil and danger, you have been collecting, to enjoy a life of
+ease and comfort on shore.  Suppose God said to you, `Thou fool, this
+night thy soul shall be required of thee!' as He does to many; can you
+face Him?"
+
+"But I don't see that I have been a bad man.  I have always borne a good
+character, and, except when the blood was up, and I have been fighting
+with the enemy, or when I have been on shore, may be for a spree, I have
+never done anything for which God could be angry with me."
+
+"God looks upon everything that we do, unless in accordance with His
+will, to be sinful.  He does not allow of small sins any more than great
+sins; they are hateful in His sight; and He shows us that we are by
+nature sinful and deserving of punishment, and that, as we owe Him
+everything, if we were to spend all our lives in doing only good, we
+should be but performing our duty, and still we should have no right in
+ourselves to claim admittance into the pure, and glorious, and happy
+heaven He has prepared for those alone who love Him.  He has so
+constituted our souls that they must live for ever, and must either be
+with Him in the place of happiness, or be cast into that of punishment.
+But, my friend, Jesus loves you and all sinners, and though God is so
+just that He cannot let sin go unpunished, yet Jesus undertook to be
+punished instead of you, and He died on the cross and shed His blood
+that you might go free of punishment.  If you will but trust in Him, and
+believe that He was so punished, and that, consequently, God no longer
+considers you worthy of punishment, but giving you, as it were, the
+holiness and righteousness which belong to Christ, will receive you into
+that holy heaven where none but the righteous can enter."
+
+The wounded man groaned and answered slowly, "I am afraid that I am a
+sinner, though I have been trying to make out that I am not one.  But I
+really have had a very hard life of it, and no good example set me, and
+shipmates around me cursing and swearing, and doing all that is bad; and
+so I hope if I do die, as you say I shall, that God won't keep me out of
+heaven."
+
+"Jesus Christ says, `There is only one way by which we can enter; there
+is but one door.'  `I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light.'  `He that
+believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is
+condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the
+only-begotten Son of God.'  Jesus also says, `He that heareth my word,
+and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not
+come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life;' and again,
+`Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.'  Jesus came
+not to call the righteous, or those who fancy themselves good enough to
+go to heaven, as you have been doing, but sinners, to repentance--those
+who know themselves to be sinners.  Think how pure and holy God is, and
+how different you are to Him, and yet you must be that holy as He is
+holy to enter heaven.  Christ, as I have told you, gives you His
+holiness if you trust to Him; and God says, `Though your sins be as
+scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
+they shall be as wool;' and, `As far as the east is from the west, so
+far will I put your sins from me.'  Believe what God says; that is the
+first thing you have to do.  Suppose Jesus was to come to you now, and,
+desperately wounded as you are, tell you to get up and walk; would you
+believe Him, or say that you could not?  He said that to many when He
+was on earth, and they took Him at His word, and found that He had
+healed them.  There was, among others, a man with a withered hand.  When
+He said, `Stretch forth thine hand,' the man did not say, `I cannot,'
+but stretched it forth immediately.  Just in the same way, when God
+says, `Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,' do
+believe on Him, and trust to Him to fulfil His promise.  God never
+deceives any one; all His words are fulfilled."
+
+Day by day the young girl spoke to the dying seaman, and, though
+witnessing scenes abhorrent to her feelings, influenced by God's grace,
+she overcame her repugnance, and faithfully continued to attend him.
+She had the satisfaction of hearing him cry, "Lord, be merciful to me a
+sinner!" and confess that he had a full hope of forgiveness, through the
+merits of Jesus alone.
+
+Two of the other men, though apparently not so severely injured as Webb,
+owing to the ignorance of the surgeon, sank from their wounds.  They
+died as they had lived, hardening their hearts against the Saviour's
+love.
+
+Had Miss Kitty not been very firm, Mrs Podgers would have prevented her
+from attending the mate or the other wounded men.
+
+Mr Falconer, though for some time confined to his cabin, was at length
+able to get on deck.
+
+"Glad to see you about again," said the captain, as he appeared, in his
+usual gruff but not unkind tone.  "When I brought the ladies aboard, I
+didn't think that they'd prove so useful in looking after the sick;
+though I doubt if she," and he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder
+at his wife, "has troubled you much with her attentions."
+
+Before the mate could speak, Mrs Podgers waddled up to him.  "Well, Mr
+Falconer, you've found your way out of your cabin at last," she said, in
+her nasty wheezy tone.  "I should have thought that when an officer was
+only slightly hurt, as you were, he might have managed to return to his
+duty before this."
+
+The mate said nothing, but the remark made Miss Kitty very angry.  I
+should have said, that as Mrs Podgers would not allow me on the
+quarterdeck, the appearance of the bows in her bonnet above the
+companion-hatch was the signal for me to escape among my friends
+forward; and that it was from Dick, who was at the helm, I afterwards
+heard of the unpleasant remarks made by that most unattractive of
+females.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+WHALING AND FIGHTING.
+
+The _Dolphin_, after her first ill-success at privateering, stood away
+from the coast towards a part of the ocean where it was expected that
+whales would be found.  Look-outs were at the mast-head.
+
+I was sitting with Dick forward, for as Mrs Podgers was sunning herself
+on deck, I was keeping out of her way.  Miss Kitty was reading, and Mr
+Falconer was pacing up and down, as officer of the watch, taking care
+not to approach her till Mrs Podgers should dive below.  Most of the
+crew were knitting and splicing, spinning yarns, or performing other
+work, of which there is always plenty to be done on board ship, while
+some few of them were lying lazily about, doing nothing.
+
+I have not before mentioned a personage who was dubbed the officer of
+marines, Lieutenant Pyke.  His figure was tall and thin, as the
+captain's was short and broad, and though their noses were much of the
+same colour, being as red as strong potations and hot suns could
+possibly make them, Lieutenant Pyke's was enormously long.  He was now
+engaged in drilling twelve of the most ruffianly and ill-conditioned of
+the crew, whom he called his jollies.  They were of various heights and
+dimensions, and though they wore red coats and belts, knee-breeches and
+gaiters, and carried muskets, they were, as Dick, who held them in
+supreme contempt, declared, "as unlike sodgers as they could well be."
+Lieutenant Pyke, however, was proud of them, and boasted that they would
+follow him to the cannon's mouth, whenever he led the way.
+
+"Likely enough they will," observed Dick, "because, you see, there's
+little chance of the lieutenant ever getting there."
+
+He had for some time been drilling these troops of his, as he also
+occasionally designated the fellows, making them march up and down, and
+pointing every now and then to an imaginary enemy, whom he ordered them
+to charge and annihilate, when there came a shout from aloft, "There she
+blows!"  In a moment all the crew jumped to their feet.  Our stout
+captain tumbled up from below, crying out, "Where away!" and four boats
+being lowered and manned, off they pulled, led by Mr Falconer in the
+direction in which the look-out pointed.  We could see, about a quarter
+of a mile from the ship, a huge hump projecting three feet out of the
+water, while from the fore part of the monster's enormous head arose at
+the end of every ten seconds a white jet of foam.
+
+"There again! there again!" shouted the crew.  Away dashed the boats at
+full speed.
+
+"His spoutings are nearly out," said Dick.
+
+"He is going down," cried others.
+
+Again a spout rose, and we could see the small, as it is called, of his
+back rise preparatory to his descent.
+
+"His tail will be up directly," said Dick, "and they will lose him, I
+fear;" but at that moment Mr Falconer's boat dashing on, as he stood up
+in the boat with his glistening harpoon raised above his head, away it
+flew with unerring force, and was buried in the side of the huge animal.
+A loud cheer rose from the men in the boats and those on deck, and the
+whale, hitherto so quiet, began to strike the water with his vast tail,
+aiming with desperate blows at his advancing enemies.  Now his enormous
+bottle-nose-shaped head rose in the air--now we saw his flukes lashing
+the water, his body writhing with the agony of the wound the sharp iron
+had inflicted.  The water around him was soon beaten into a mass of
+foam, while the noise made by his tail was almost deafening.
+
+Kitty stood eagerly watching the scene, and looking somewhat pale, for
+it seemed as if the boat could scarcely escape some of those desperate
+blows dealt around.
+
+I had felt very anxious about my friend.
+
+"Never fear," said Dick; "he knows what he is about.  See, it's `stern
+all.'"
+
+The boat backed out of the way; the monster's tail rose for an instant
+and disappeared.
+
+"He has sounded," cried Dick.
+
+Away ran the line.  An oar was held up in the boat.
+
+"That means that the line has run out," said Dick.
+
+The nearest boat dashed up, and a fresh line was bent on.  That soon
+came to an end, and another, and yet another was joined to it.
+
+"He has eight hundred fathoms out by this time," shouted Dick, "and if
+he does not come up soon, he will be lost.  But no, it's `haul in the
+slack;' he is rising; they are coiling away the line in the tubs."
+
+Directly afterwards the blunt nose of the animal rose from the sea, and
+a spout was projected high into the air.  Mr Falconer's boat was being
+hauled rapidly towards it.  A long lance with which he was armed was
+quickly buried in the side of the huge creature, going deep down into a
+vital part.  The other boats gathered round it, from each a lance was
+darted forth, the whale rolling over and over in his agony, and coiling
+the rope round him, when suddenly, with open jaws, he darted at one of
+the boats, and then attacked another.  Kitty shrieked out with fear, for
+it was Mr Falconer's boat which was overtaken, and was seen, shattered
+to fragments, flying into the air, while the other was capsized; and now
+the whale went so swiftly along the surface, that it seemed he must
+after all escape.  Two of the boats were not yet fastened, and, without
+stopping to help the men in the water, away they dashed in chase of the
+whale.  Impeded by the shattered boat he was dragging after him, and by
+several drogues fastened to the lines, he was soon overtaken, when
+another harpoon and several more lances were darted into his body.
+Still unconquered, away the animal again went, and up rose his tail: he
+was attempting to sound, but this his increasing weakness prevented him
+from doing.  Then he stopped, and his vast frame began to writhe and
+twist about in every possible way, beating the surrounding sea into
+foam, and dyeing it with his blood.  The boats backed out of his way.
+The captain had sent another boat to the assistance of the men in the
+water, when it was seen that the one upset was righted, and that the
+people belonging to the shattered boat had been taken on board her.  She
+soon joined those which were fast to the whale, and when the monster at
+length lay motionless on the water, assisted them in towing it up to the
+ship.
+
+Kitty could scarcely conceal her joy when she saw Mr Falconer steering
+one of the boats.  I shouted with satisfaction.
+
+The whale was soon alongside, and the operation of cutting off the
+blubber, hoisting it on board, and boiling it down in huge caldrons
+placed on tripods, commenced.
+
+As night came on, the fires lighted under the pots shed a bright glare
+across the deck on the rigging and on the men at work.  I thought them
+wild and savage-looking enough before, but they now appeared more like
+beings of the lower world than men of flesh and blood.
+
+"I have no fancy for this sort of work," observed Dick, who was a
+thorough man-of-war's man.  "The decks won't be fit to tread on for
+another week."
+
+However, we had the decks dirtied in the same way many a time for
+several weeks after that, being very successful in catching whales.
+
+At last the fighting part of the crew, who were not accustomed to
+whaling, began to grumble, and wished to return to the coast, to carry
+on the privateering, or, as Dick called it, the pirating work, which
+they looked upon as the chief object of the voyage.
+
+Lieutenant Pyke was especially urgent about the matter, and proposed
+that a descent should be made on some of the towns, which he and his
+brave troops, he asserted, could capture without difficulty.
+
+On reaching the coast, we brought up in a small bay with a town on its
+shore.
+
+We had not been long at anchor, when in the evening a boat came off,
+manned by natives, with three Spaniards in her.  The captain received
+them very politely, and introduced them to his wife and Kitty.  They
+seemed highly pleased, and said they had come to trade, taking the
+_Dolphin_ to be a smuggler, many English vessels visiting the coast for
+the purpose of landing goods free of the high duties imposed on them by
+the Spanish Government.  As many pieces of cloth and cotton as could be
+found were shown to them as samples.  The captain told them that if they
+would return on board with their dollars, the goods should be ready for
+them.
+
+Mr Falconer, when he heard of the shameful trick which it was proposed
+to play the unfortunate Spaniards, was very indignant, and I believe
+would have warned them if he could.  The captain, hearing what he had
+said, backed by Lieutenant Pyke and one of the other officers, declared
+that he would shoot him through the head if he did any such thing.
+
+During the night, two boats came off with our former visitors and four
+others, all bringing a large supply of dollars.  On going down below,
+great was their dismay on finding that they were prisoners, and that,
+when released, they would have to leave their money behind them and go
+without the goods.
+
+In the morning, another boat appeared with two more merchants, who were
+treated in the same way.  Altogether, ten thousand dollars were thus
+stolen from the Spaniards.
+
+"They are breaking the laws of their country," observed Dick to me, "and
+they deserve punishment.  For my part, I don't like this way of doing
+things; but if Mr Pyke is as good as his word, and was to land with his
+marines and attack the town, it would be more ship-shape and
+honourable."
+
+I mention the circumstance to show the abomination of the privateering
+system, but people generally did not see it in the same light in those
+days.
+
+A suspicious sail appearing in the offing, the Spaniards were allowed to
+go on shore, though Lieutenant Pyke declared that if he had his way they
+should all have been made to pay a heavy ransom first.  The anchor was
+hove up, and we stood out to sea.  We were becalmed during the day,
+while still at a distance from the stranger.  As evening approached, a
+breeze springing up, she neared us, with a black flag flying from her
+peak.  From the cut of her sail and the appearance of her hull, she was
+an English vessel, fully as large, if not larger, than the _Dolphin_;
+but there could be no doubt of her character--she was a pirate.  The
+drum beat to quarters, and preparations were made to give her a warm
+reception.  Mrs Podgers and Kitty were sent down into the cockpit,
+where they might be out of harm's way.  It was by this time nearly dark,
+but still the stranger could be seen gliding towards us through the
+thickening gloom.  Dick took me up and carried me to them, in spite of
+my entreaties to be allowed to see the fun.
+
+"It will be no fun, Charley, if yonder scoundrels do as they intend, and
+try to take the ship," he remarked.  "At all events, there will be some
+desperate fighting, and a shot may carry your head off, my boy--so below
+you must go, whether you like it or not."
+
+Kitty took my hand and drew me towards her as soon as I appeared,
+thankful that I was not to be exposed to danger.
+
+"I should think the little brat might be made useful, sitting on an
+ammunition tub," exclaimed Mrs Podgers.  "Why should he be more petted
+than the other boys?"
+
+"No, no!" cried Kitty, holding me fast.  "He is younger than they are,
+and it would be cruel to let him run the risk of being hurt."
+
+We waited for some time, no one speaking; for Mrs Podgers was too much
+frightened, and Kitty too anxious, to do so.  At length there came the
+dull sound of a gun fired from the other vessel, followed by louder,
+clearer reports of several discharged by the _Dolphin_.  The enemy
+replied with a still greater number, and several broadsides were soon
+afterwards rapidly exchanged between the combatants.  The firing now
+ceased.  We waited almost breathless to hear it begin again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+ATTACK ON THE SPANISH HIDALGO.
+
+As no wounded men had been brought below, we trusted that the _Dolphin_
+was having the best of it.  At last I begged Kitty to let me go on deck
+and ascertain how matters were going on.
+
+"No, no, Charley," she answered.  "They may again begin firing;" but I
+saw that she was very anxious herself to learn the state of affairs.
+
+"I will be back again in a minute," I said, and was just escaping from
+her, when once more the thundering sound of big guns, with the rattle of
+musketry, broke the silence, and she caught me and held me fast.
+
+The firing went on with redoubled vigour, and cries and shouts reached
+our ears.  The alarm of Mrs Podgers increased.
+
+"O dear, O dear!" she cried out, wringing her hands.  "If Podgers was to
+be hit, what would become of me?"
+
+Once more there was a cessation of the firing.
+
+"Do let me run up, Kitty," I said.  "Some of those we care for may be
+wounded, and the rest too busy to bring them below."
+
+I knew my argument would prevail.  "Let him go," said Mrs Podgers.  "I
+do so want to know how the captain is."
+
+I broke from her and climbed up the ladder.  I was as active as a
+monkey, and quickly reached the deck.  The fighting lanterns which hung
+against the bulwarks shed their light across it, and showed me several
+human forms stretched out motionless.  The crew, stripped to their
+waists, were at the guns, while the officers stood about here and there
+among them.  I caught sight of the captain's stout figure, but I looked
+in vain for Mr Falconer.  I ran forward in hopes of finding him.  I had
+got nearly to the forecastle when the matches were applied to the guns,
+and as they were discharged a shower of shot came hissing across the
+deck.
+
+I made my way amidst the shower of shot and bullets and falling blocks,
+and the horrible din of battle, to the forecastle, where, to my great
+joy, I saw Mr Falconer directing the foremost guns.  Dick at the same
+moment caught sight of me.
+
+"Charley," he exclaimed, "what business have you here?  Go back, boy,
+and tell the ladies we are all right, and will make the pirate sheer off
+before long, if we don't take her."
+
+I hurried below with the satisfactory intelligence.  Miss Kitty kissed
+me when I told her I had seen Mr Falconer, and I was somewhat afraid
+that Mrs Podgers would bestow the same reward upon me when I said that
+the captain was unhurt.
+
+"I wish he would make haste and sink the ship which has frightened us so
+much," she observed.  "It is a shame that those sort of people should be
+allowed to live."
+
+Mrs Podgers did not consider that the Spaniards would probably have
+said the same of us.
+
+We heard our ship fire several broadsides in rapid succession; then all
+was silent.
+
+Supposing that the fight was over, I persuaded Miss Kitty again to allow
+me to run on deck.  Reaching it, I caught sight, a short distance off,
+of the tall masts and sails of the enemy's ship.
+
+At that moment loud cheers burst from the throats of our crew.
+Gradually the dark sails of our antagonist appeared to be sinking, and
+wild shrieks and cries came across the waters towards us.  Lower and
+lower the sails sank, and in another minute the spot occupied by the
+pirate was vacant--she had disappeared beneath the waves.  No boat was
+sent to help the drowning wretches.  Mr Falconer proposed going to
+their assistance.
+
+"No, no!" exclaimed the captain; "they would have robbed us or sent us
+to the bottom; they don't deserve our pity."
+
+"But they are fellow-creatures, and we should try and save their lives,"
+exclaimed the mate.
+
+"You are too tender-hearted, Falconer; you should not have joined a
+privateer," was the answer; and the _Dolphin_ glided rapidly away from
+the spot where her foe had gone down.
+
+The surgeon was meantime busy with the wounded men, while five who had
+been killed were with little ceremony hove overboard.  Mrs Podgers and
+Kitty returned to the cabin.  The latter, as before, endeavoured to
+alleviate the sufferings of the wounded men, and often visited them,
+attended by Mr Falconer and me, notwithstanding the scoldings she daily
+got from Mrs Podgers for so doing.
+
+After this, we again stood in for the coast, capturing several Spanish
+merchant vessels.
+
+Mr Pyke declared that he wanted to find an enemy more worthy of his and
+his troops' prowess than he had hitherto encountered.
+
+"We will give you a chance," said the captain.  "I have discovered from
+some of the prisoners that there is a town on the shores of a bay not
+far off, which is unprotected by forts.  We may easily make ourselves
+masters of the place, and shall probably find in it a good store of
+wealth.  But we must be quick about the business, or some troops
+stationed at no great distance may be down upon us and interfere with
+our proceedings."
+
+"You may depend upon me for doing my part," answered the lieutenant,
+drawing himself up.
+
+We made the land early in the day, but hove-to till night, when it was
+hoped the inhabitants might be taken by surprise.  The weather was fine,
+and the entrance to the harbour broad and safe.  We waited till past
+midnight, and then stood in and came to an anchor.  Four boats were
+ordered to be got ready; Lieutenant Pyke and his marines went in one of
+them, the others were commanded by the sea officers, with a party of
+blue-jackets.
+
+I had heard the men talking of what they were going to do, and I thought
+that I should very much like to see the fun.  I knew, however, that
+neither Dick nor Miss Kitty would approve of my going, and that Mr
+Falconer was also unlikely to take me, should I ask him to do so.  The
+last boat which left the ship was commanded by the boatswain, a rough
+but good-natured man, with whom I had become somewhat of a favourite.  I
+watched my opportunity, and slipped in directly after him, and the men,
+thinking that he intended I should go, allowed me to stow myself away in
+the bow before he saw me, the darkness favouring my design.  The boats
+shoved off, and away we pulled, with muffled oars, towards the shore.
+
+We landed just outside the town, among wild rocks.  No lights were
+moving about the place, only here and there a few glimmering from the
+windows.  Lieutenant Pyke drew up his marines; the other officers
+arranged their men in a compact body, I following the rear.
+
+Daylight broke.  When all was ready, the first mate ordered us to
+advance, and, stepping lightly over the ground, we made a rush into the
+town.  There were no gates to stop us and no sentinels on the watch.  A
+sort of town-hall and a church were first entered, and everything they
+contained, images, silver candlesticks, crucifixes, incense-pans,
+chalices, and several bags of money, with some silver-mounted guns and
+pistols, were taken possession of before the inhabitants were awake.  We
+then attacked a large house in which lights were still burning, and
+where it was supposed the commandant of the place resided.  The door
+yielded to the blows of the marines' muskets, and rushing into a
+good-sized hall, we saw seated at the end of a long table a thin, tall
+hidalgo, and on either side of him a fat priest, with two or three other
+personages.  The table was covered with rich plate and numerous flagons
+and wine-flasks.  The party gazed at us with open mouths and staring
+eyes, but were far too tipsy to utter anything beyond a few expressions
+of surprise and dismay.
+
+The commandant, rising, tried to draw his sword, but could not find the
+hilt, and tumbled back into his big armchair; while the fat friars,
+whose first impulse had been to make their escape, rolled over on the
+ground, upsetting the hidalgo's chair in their struggles, when all three
+began kicking and striking out, believing each other to be foes.  The
+rest of the party at once yielded themselves as prisoners.  Our men,
+bursting into loud fits of laughter, let the trio fight on for some
+time, till our commander, fearing, should we delay longer, that the
+inhabitants would make their escape, or perhaps assemble and attack us,
+ordered them to be lifted up and carried off, with their arms bound
+behind them.  It was no easy matter to do this, for the friars were so
+heavy that it required three stout men to each to set them on their
+legs.
+
+While a party was left to guard them, the rest proceeded to break into
+the other houses.
+
+The inhabitants, now aroused from their slumbers by the hubbub, put
+their heads, with their nightcaps on, out of the windows in all
+directions, but quickly withdrew them, uttering loud shrieks and
+exclamations of dismay and surprise.  After a little time Dick caught
+sight of me.
+
+"Charley," he cried out, "what has brought you here?"
+
+"I wanted to see the fun, Dick.  I hope you are not angry."
+
+"But I am, though, Charley," he answered; "and though, to my mind, it's
+dirty work attacking sleeping people, who have never done us any harm,
+we may have some fighting yet, and you may get knocked on the head.
+Stick by me, however, and I'll look after you, though you don't deserve
+it."
+
+I felt ashamed of myself, and took good care to do as Dick told me.
+
+He, with about half the number of our party, now proceeded to one side
+of the town, while the other marched to the farther end, three or four
+armed men entering any of the large houses which appeared likely to
+contain booty worth carrying off.  My party had accompanied the marines
+under Lieutenant Pyke, who was shouting out "he only wished he could see
+a foe worthy of his steel."  As we went along, we came to a small
+square, at the other side of which a band of some twenty persons
+appeared, others coming up in the distance.  I am not sure that all had
+arms, though they presented a somewhat military aspect.  Our commander
+ordered the marines to charge them.
+
+"On, lads, on!" cried the lieutenant, waving his sword, but he did not
+move very fast.  The Spaniards, however, seeing the invaders coming, ran
+off as fast as their legs would carry them, when the lieutenant doubled
+his speed, waving his sword still more vehemently, and shouting out:
+"On, brave lads!  Death or victory!"  By the time he got across the
+square, no foe was to be seen, and after looking round the corner to
+ascertain that they had not reassembled, he marched back his men in
+triumph.
+
+In a short time every house had been ransacked, and, with our booty and
+prisoners, we returned to the boats and regained the ship, not a shot
+having been fired nor a life lost.
+
+The commandant having agreed to pay five thousand dollars as his own
+ransom and that of his companions, one of the fat friars was sent on
+shore to collect the money, having orders to return by noon.  He shook
+his head, and declared that this was impossible.
+
+"It might take four or five days, perhaps a week, to collect such a
+sum."
+
+"Very well," said the captain at last.  "By sunset, if the ransom is not
+brought on board, we shall have a fine bonfire out there," and he
+pointed to the town.
+
+"Arra' now, captain, you may as well cook and eat us at once, for sorrow
+a dollar have ye left us, and all the crucifixes, and candlesticks, and
+beautiful images, which we might have pledged for the money, stowed away
+in your hold!" exclaimed the fat friar, betraying his Hibernian origin,
+and that he had understood every word which had been spoken.
+
+"Are you an Irishman, and living among these foreigners, and pretending
+to be one of them?" cried the captain.  "If I had known that, I would
+have clapped on another thousand dollars to your ransom."
+
+"Sure, captain, dear, it would have been more charitable to have taken
+them off," observed the jovial friar.  "However, just be after giving me
+four days, and ye shall resave the dollars all bright and beautiful,
+though not a quarter of one could all the blessed saints together
+collect in the whole of our unfortunate town and the circumjacent
+country."
+
+The friar's eye twinkled as he spoke.  At last he proposed paying even a
+larger sum, provided that the captain would prolong the time to five
+days for its collection.  Captain Podgers, eager to get more money, and
+not suspecting treachery, agreed to the proposal, and Fra Patricio,
+chuckling in his sleeve, prepared to take his departure.
+
+"Captain, dear," he said, turning round with a comical look as he
+reached the gangway, "ye haven't got a bottle of potheen, the raal
+cratur, have ye?  It would just be after comforting me in my trouble."
+
+A bottle of Irish whiskey being handed to the friar, he tucked it away
+in his sleeve, and his boat pulled off towards the shore.
+
+Mr Falconer, who understood Spanish, shortly after this informed the
+captain that he had discovered, from the prisoners' conversation, that
+the object of Friar Patrick in asking for more time to collect the
+ransom, was that troops might be sent for to protect the town.  The
+captain replied that he would hang his prisoners if any such trick was
+played.
+
+We remained two days longer, and no news came from the Irish friar.
+
+Our prisoners were well supplied with eatables and drinkables and
+tobacco, and appeared perfectly happy, talking freely among themselves,
+as they sat at table and smoked their cigarettes.  Mr Falconer, though
+unwilling to be an eavesdropper, could not help hearing what they said,
+and as he had prudently not let them discover that he knew Spanish, they
+did not suspect that he understood what they said.  He was sitting
+writing in his own cabin, which opened on the gun-room, when he heard
+one of them remark that, in a couple of days, at furthest, the tables
+would be turned, and that those who were now their masters would be
+prisoners, or hung up at the yard-arms of their frigate.
+
+"Which, pirates as they are, will be their just fate," observed another.
+On this, the rest of the party laughed grimly.
+
+"The ladies we cannot hang, though."
+
+"No; they can be sent to a nunnery, or perhaps you, Seignor Commandant,
+who are a bachelor, would wish to wed the fat widow."
+
+Some remarks were made about Miss Kitty, which Mr Falconer did not
+repeat.
+
+"How soon can the two frigates be here?" inquired another.
+
+"In two days, or three at most," was the answer.  "But we shall be in no
+slight danger.  I wish we could escape before then."
+
+"No fear about that," answered one of the former speakers.  "The
+Englishmen won't attempt to fight against so overpowering a force, and
+will, depend on it, haul down their flag as soon as they see the two
+frigates enter the harbour."
+
+This idea seemed to make the whole party very merry.
+
+Mr Falconer, after sitting quiet for some time, went on deck, and
+informed the captain of all he had heard.
+
+Captain Podgers was not a little put out by the information he received.
+He was very unwilling to lose his dollars, but if he remained in
+harbour, he might lose his ship, and his own life into the bargain; for
+Mr Falconer did not fail to repeat the threat of the Spaniards, to have
+him hung up at the yard-arm as a pirate.  He vowed that he should be
+ready to fight one Spanish frigate, but two were more than even the
+_Dolphin_ could venture to tackle.
+
+After pacing the deck two or three times, he summoned the officers into
+the cabin; and it was finally settled that the other fat friar should be
+at once sent on shore, with orders to make his appearance next day at
+noon at the landing-place, with all the dollars that had been collected,
+and should the amount not be sufficient, he was to warn the inhabitants
+that their town would be set on fire.  That the _Dolphin_ might run no
+risk of being entrapped, she was at once to put to sea, while the boats
+alone were to go in the following day and bring off the ransom.
+
+The Spaniards were very much alarmed when they saw preparations going on
+for making sail.
+
+Fortunately, a Spanish merchant among our prisoners spoke a little
+English, so that Mr Falconer had not to betray to them his knowledge of
+their language.  The fat friar shrugged his shoulders when he heard what
+he was to do.  He seemed, however, not a little pleased to get out of
+the clutches of the terrible privateersman.  As soon as he had been
+landed, the _Dolphin's_ anchor was hove up, and the land breeze still
+blowing, we sailed out of the harbour.
+
+We were standing on and off the island during the night.  It was a calm
+and beautiful one.  I had gone on deck to be near Dick, which I
+frequently did during his watch, when, the moon shining brightly from
+behind some light fleecy clouds which floated over the sky, we caught
+sight of an object gliding over the glittering waters.  As it
+approached, Dick pronounced it to be a raft, with a small square sail
+set, and soon afterwards we distinguished two figures on it.  He hailed.
+There came, in reply, a faint cry across the water.  Directly
+afterwards the sail was lowered.  Mr Falconer, who was officer of the
+watch, ordered the ship to be hove-to and a boat lowered, which quickly
+towed the raft and its occupants alongside.  The men were hoisted on
+deck, for they were too weak to climb up by themselves.  Dick and I, who
+had good reason to feel for them, hurried to the gangway.  Dick, without
+asking questions, filled a cup of water and brought it to them; they
+both drank eagerly.
+
+Mr Falconer while by his orders a couple of hammocks were being got
+ready for them, inquired who they were and whence they had come.  One,
+who appeared the least exhausted, answered that they had been ten days
+at sea, and for the three last they had been without food or water, with
+the exception of half a biscuit apiece, and that they were the survivors
+of six who had embarked on the raft.
+
+"I am the second mate of the _Juno_, armed whaler," continued the
+speaker.  "Our crew mutinied, murdered the captain and several of the
+other officers; but the third mate and I, with four men who refused to
+join them, were turned adrift on this wretched raft, with but a scanty
+allowance of water and provisions, which the mutineers gave us,
+asserting that it was enough to support us till we could reach the
+shore.  Calms and light winds prevailed, and we were almost abandoning
+hope, when, this afternoon, we made the land, though I doubt if we
+should have survived had we not fallen in with you."
+
+Mr Falconer treated the two mates with great kindness, and did his best
+to make them comfortable, not doubting the truth of their story.  They
+had farther added, that as soon as they had been sent off from the side
+of the ship, the mutineers hoisted the black flag, with three cheers,
+announcing that they intended to turn pirates and attack ships of all
+nations.
+
+From their account, there remained no doubt that the _Juno_ was the ship
+which had lately engaged the _Dolphin_, and met with so awful, though
+well-deserved a fate.  They also told us that the _Juno_ had been about
+to enter a harbour a short distance off, when two men-of-war were seen,
+with their lower masts only standing, that several boats had been sent
+out in chase of the ship, but, a breeze springing up, she had escaped.
+
+This confirmed what Mr Falconer had heard from the Spaniards, and made
+the captain thankful that he had listened to his advice.
+
+The next day we stood in to the mouth of the harbour, when the boats
+were sent on shore, each carrying half a dozen torches.  Our prisoners
+were in a great fright on seeing this, saying that the friars would very
+probably be unable to collect the money, and earnestly urging that we
+would remain two or three days longer at anchor before setting fire to
+the town.
+
+"We are not to be so caught, seignors," answered the captain, laughing
+grimly.  "If your friends bring the dollars, well and good; if not, we
+will make a bonfire which will light the two frigates you expect into
+the harbour."
+
+Away the boats pulled, one only being left alongside, in which the
+governor and his companions were ordered to seat themselves.  We waited
+anxiously for some time, when wreaths of smoke were seen to ascend from
+various parts of the town, and the whole place was shortly in a blaze.
+The captain considered himself very humane, when he allowed his
+prisoners, after having been stripped of nearly every particle of
+clothing, to be put on shore on the nearest point.  This he did to
+revenge himself for the loss of the expected dollars, which he knew, on
+seeing the town set on fire, had not been obtained.
+
+Scarcely had the boats returned and been hoisted up, when two large
+ships were seen steering for the entrance of the harbour.  Every stitch
+of canvas the _Dolphin_ could carry was set.  The strangers, on seeing
+her, made all sail in chase, and, from the way that they overhauled her,
+there appeared but little prospect of her escape.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+MR. NEWTON.
+
+The frigates continued to gain on the _Dolphin_.  Captain Podgers was in
+a great state of agitation, dreading the punishment which the Spaniards
+would justly inflict on us for the injuries we had done them, especially
+when they found on board the articles we had carried away from the
+church.  "If there was only one of them, I would fight her gladly, and,
+big as she is, we would beat her, too," exclaimed the captain, as he
+paced the deck, eyeing the enemy through his spy-glass; and, to do him
+justice, he was a brave man and not a bad sailor, although he had few
+other good qualities.
+
+Miss Kitty looked very pale, not from fear of herself, but she dreaded
+the danger to which those on deck would be exposed.
+
+The wind increased and the sea got up: still we carried on, though our
+masts and spars bent and cracked.  The sails were wetted--hammocks were
+slung, and men with shot got into them--indeed, every device was used to
+increase the speed of the ship.  After a time, we appeared to be holding
+our own, if not drawing a little ahead of the enemy.
+
+As evening approached, the wind dropped, and we could see the sails of
+the frigates hanging against the masts.  Ours soon afterwards collapsed,
+and we lay perfectly becalmed.  Some of the men forward expressed their
+opinion that the Spaniards would attack as with their boats.
+
+"Little fear of that," said Dick; "they know us too well to wish to come
+to close quarters.  We should have a much better chance of taking them,
+if we were to try it.  I don't know if the captain will think of doing
+that."
+
+Darkness now came down upon us and shut out the enemy from sight.  The
+captain might have expected an attack to be made on us by the frigates'
+boats, for he ordered a bright look-out to be kept.  Boarding-netting
+was triced up; the men wore their cutlasses at their sides and pistols
+in their belts, and pikes were placed ready for use.
+
+Miss Kitty had come on deck, and, seeing me at a little distance, called
+me to her.
+
+"If there is to be more of that dreadful work, you must come and stay
+with me, Charley, as before," she said.  "I cannot let you risk your
+young life; you must promise me now."
+
+I did so, though unwillingly.
+
+"When will this fearful fighting end?" she said, sighing.  "Though men
+seem to delight in it, I am sure that it is against all Divine laws, and
+brings misery and suffering to both parties."
+
+"I hope that we shall escape fighting this time," I observed; "for Dick
+says that he is sure the Spaniards will not attack us.  Perhaps before
+the morning we shall be able to get away from them."
+
+No one turned in that night, and the crew were kept at their quarters,
+to be ready for a sudden attack.
+
+When the sun rose out of the ocean, his beams fell on the tails of our
+foes, throwing a ruddy glow on the calm waters, which shone like a plain
+of molten gold.  Eager eyes were looking out for a breeze.  Should it
+come from the direction of our foes, they would have every chance of
+catching us; but if ahead, we should have the advantage of them, and
+thus be able to slip out of their way.
+
+Several hours passed by.  We were still the same distance as before from
+the enemy.
+
+I was on the forecastle with Dick, when I caught sight of a slight
+ripple which played over the surface.  I pointed it out to my companion.
+
+"All right, Charley," he said.  "Those catspaws are a good sign.
+There's another and another."
+
+Presently the sails gave a flap.  In a moment every one was in activity:
+the yards were braced sharp up, the royals filled, then the
+topgallantsails and topsails bulged out, and away we glided.  Looking
+astern, we saw that the Spaniards still remained becalmed.  The
+captain's ruddy countenance beamed with satisfaction at the hopes of
+carrying off his booty in safety.
+
+"We shall give the Dons the `good-bye,'" he shouted out to his wife
+below.
+
+Kitty quickly came on deck, and I saw how thankful she felt.
+
+Gradually our enemies' sails sank beneath the horizon, and at length we
+had the satisfaction of losing sight of them altogether.  Still the
+captain observed, that as they would guess the course we had taken, they
+might be after us; and until two days had passed by, he did not feel
+altogether secure.
+
+We now steered back to the whaling-ground, where we remained for a
+couple of months, half filling the ship with oil.
+
+After this we touched at two of the Society Islands.  At one of them we
+saw, as we came to an anchor at some little distance from the beach,
+beneath a grove of cocoa-nut trees, a neat white cottage built in the
+English style, with two larger edifices near it, and Dick remarked that
+one of them looked very like a chapel.  The numerous natives, who came
+off in their canoes, bringing fruits, and vegetables, and fish, were
+dressed in shirts and trousers, and all behaved in a quiet, orderly way.
+Two or three of those who came on board spoke English.
+
+"Why, what has come over you people?  You are very different sort of
+fellows to what you were a few years ago, when I was here," observed the
+captain.
+
+"We were then heathen savages; we are now Christian men," was the
+answer.  "There is our chapel, and there is our school-house; in yonder
+cottage lives our good pastor, the missionary, Mr Newton, and he will
+be very glad to receive any who like to visit him."
+
+"I have no fancy for those sort of fellows," growled the captain; "they
+spoil trade, and prevent our men enjoying their freedom on shore."
+
+Kitty, however, on hearing the account given by the natives, expressed
+her wish to go and pay a visit to the missionary, and Mr Falconer
+offered to convey her on shore.  The captain could not refuse his
+request for a boat, though he granted it with an ill grace.  Dick was
+ordered to get one ready.  Kitty desired to take me with her, and we
+were soon walking up a neat pathway towards the cottage.
+
+How beautiful and quiet it looked--everything seemed smiling around.
+
+A gentleman, whom we at once guessed was Mr Newton, appeared at the
+garden-gate, and cordially invited us into his house.  Before entering,
+we were joined by his wife, a sweet-looking young woman.  I thought
+that, next to Kitty, she was the most perfect being in the world: for
+almost since I could recollect, I had seen no other females, except the
+wild natives of the islands we had visited, besides Mrs Podgers.  To
+her she certainly was a very great contrast.
+
+On entering, Kitty was placed on a sofa by our hostess, who removed her
+bonnet and shawl, and spoke in the sweetest and kindest manner to her.
+To my surprise, Kitty suddenly burst out crying.
+
+Mr Newton asked her what was the matter.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, "how peaceful and happy all around appears!  Oh,
+how I should like to remain here!"
+
+Kitty then told her how she was situated.  Mrs Newton replied that she
+should be very glad to receive her, and that she hoped she would assist
+in the work she was engaged in.
+
+"Indeed, I would pray that I might be able to do so," said Kitty.
+
+Mr Falconer looked agitated--a struggle was going on in his heart.
+
+"I have engaged to serve on board yonder ship--my duty forbids me to
+quit her," he said, in a husky voice.  "Yet you will be far, far better
+off here, and freer from danger, than on board."
+
+"We must not deceive you," said Mr Newton.  "Although the natives
+around us are Christians, there are still many savage heathens in the
+island, and many more in the neighbouring islands, and we are liable to
+be attacked by them.  It is our duty to be here, but we are not
+altogether free from danger."
+
+"I should be thankful to leave Miss Kitty in a place of safety," said
+Mr Falconer, "but that information alters the advice I might have
+given."
+
+"I will continue on board, and share the dangers the ship may have to go
+through," exclaimed Kitty, suddenly.  "I am, however, deeply grateful
+for the kind offer you, my friends, have made to me; and do not suppose
+that it is because I fear to run the risk you speak of, but," and she
+looked up at Mr Falconer, "I have another reason, which I must ask you
+not to press me to name."
+
+I do not know whether the missionary and his wife suspected what that
+reason was, but they did not again urge Miss Kitty to stay with them.
+
+She and I, however, spent the three days the ship remained in the
+harbour at the missionary's house, and they were the happiest I could
+ever remember.
+
+How rough and profane appeared my shipmates when I returned on board.
+Kitty, too, evidently felt the difference between the quiet abode she
+had left and the cabin of the _Dolphin_.
+
+The _Dolphin_ had been several months at sea, and during the time five
+or six more whales had been caught, when we touched at the Sandwich
+Islands, where we took on board ten natives, to assist in navigating
+her.  We had also put into the Gallipagos, to refit.  They are the most
+dreary group of islands I have ever visited, dark rocks rising up
+everywhere round their coasts, with wild black beaches, and huge
+tortoises, with legs resembling those of elephants, and serpent-like
+heads, and long lizard-like guanas crawling over them.  As no water was
+to be procured there, we sailed northward till we came in sight of a
+beautiful island, with hills rising here and there into the blue sky,
+covered with the richest tropical vegetation.
+
+Directly after, we brought up in a sheltered bay.  A number of large
+canoes came off to us, filled with natives, the skins of the older
+chiefs almost black, from the elaborate tattoo marks with which they
+were covered.  Those of the younger people were, however, of a light
+brown hue, the skins of some indeed being quite fair.  The heads of the
+chiefs were decorated with crowns made of long feathers; they wore long
+loose cloaks of native cloth over their shoulders, and carried in their
+hands elaborately carved clubs.
+
+The captain, through one of the Sandwich Islanders who could talk
+English, told them that his object in coming to this island was to get a
+supply of water, and to cut some spars to make yards for the ship.  They
+replied in a friendly way that he was welcome to do as he wished, and
+that they would show him the trees likely to suit his purpose.
+
+A number of them were parading the deck, examining everything they saw.
+When Kitty appeared, they gazed at her with astonishment, she being the
+first white woman they had probably ever seen.  All the people appeared
+to be very friendly, and anxious to induce our men to go on shore in
+order to trade, but there being plenty of work on board, the captain
+would not allow this.  At night the natives took their departure,
+promising to return the next day.
+
+The following morning, several canoes came round the ship, and the
+captain proposed landing, to select the trees which he wished to have
+out down.  Mr Falconer asked Miss Kitty whether she would like to go on
+shore.  She answered that she did not like the appearance of the
+natives, and that, though they might profess to be very friendly, she
+did not trust them, but that she should be very glad to take a sail in
+the bay, and to make some sketches of the island from the water, and
+especially of some picturesque rocks which we had passed when entering.
+The mate gladly undertook to do as she wished, and ordered a boat, with
+four of the steadiest men in the ship, who were always ready to obey
+him, to be got ready.
+
+As they expected to be away for some hours, he put some water and
+provisions into the boat.  The steward, not knowing this, had filled a
+basket, which he also lowered down to the crew.  Mr Falconer had
+intended that Dick should go, but the first mate had directed him to do
+some work, which kept him occupied, and had told me to attend on him.  I
+knew that Miss Kitty would gladly have me with her, and felt
+disappointed when I saw the boat sail away down the harbour.  The
+natives seemed to take little notice of the boat's departure, probably
+they thought she had gone for a short distance only, and would soon
+return.
+
+The captain, with the carpenter and his mates, and a boat's crew, now
+went on shore.  Dick and I were at work on the bowsprit, I sitting by
+him, holding the rope-yarn and grease-pot.  As soon as the captain was
+gone, the natives began to invite our men on shore, and several of them,
+declaring that it was very hard that they should be kept on board,
+slipped into the canoes, and allowed the savages to carry them off.
+Others followed their example.  The officers shouted to them to return,
+but their orders were not attended to.  More canoes now came off, full
+of savages, who, as they got alongside, clambered on board, till the
+deck was crowded with them, so that the crew who remained at their duty
+could scarcely move about.  The first mate, seeing this, ordered the
+natives back into their canoes.  I had, while the mate was issuing his
+orders, turned my glance aft, when, at that moment, he cried out to
+Lieutenant Pyke, who was below, to get his men under arms, and then
+signed to the natives crowding the deck to return to their canoes.
+Thinking, apparently, to make the savages understand him better, he
+incautiously gave a shove to one of the chiefs who was standing near
+him.  The savage, uttering a fearful cry, whirled round his heavy club
+and struck the poor mate dead on the deck.  It was a signal to his
+followers.  In an instant every club was upraised and aimed at the head
+of the nearest seaman.
+
+Dick, hearing the savages shout, looked up from his work, and seeing
+what was taking place, laid hold of me by the collar and dragged me
+along to the jib-boom end, whence we witnessed the dreadful scene
+enacted on deck.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+IN THE CLUTCHES OF THE CHIEF.
+
+The crew of the _Dolphin_, though numerous and well accustomed to the
+use of arms, being thus taken unawares, were almost helpless.  The
+sharp-edged war-clubs of the natives came crashing down upon their
+heads, as they ran here and there in search of weapons to defend
+themselves.  Lieutenant Pyke was struck dead the instant he appeared at
+the companion-hatch.  The second mate was treated in the same way, while
+the boatswain, with a few men who gathered round him, made a desperate
+attempt to defend himself; but he and his party were overpowered by
+numbers, and cut down, after they had killed several of the natives.
+Some of our men jumped down below, but were followed by the savages.
+Whether they were killed, or whether any escaped, we could not tell.  A
+few ran up the rigging, where the natives appeared afraid to follow
+them.
+
+In a few minutes, besides Dick and me, not a white man whom we could
+see, except those aloft, remained alive.  The natives now began dancing
+frantically about the deck, whirling their clubs over their heads, and
+shouting at the top of their voices for joy of their victory.  They
+either did not observe Dick and me, or knowing that we must at length
+come in, did not think us worth their notice.  I felt almost overpowered
+with horror.  In spite of that, however, I thought of dear Miss Kitty,
+dreading that she and Mr Falconer, with those in the boat, would, on
+their return, have to share the terrible fate of our other companions;
+while I fully expected Dick and I would soon be summoned off to be
+killed.
+
+What had become of Mrs Podgers, and those who had been below at the
+moment of the attack, we could not tell.
+
+"Oh, Dick, what are we to do?"  I exclaimed, trembling with fear.
+
+"We must trust to God, Charley," he answered.  "He will take care of us,
+though how that is to be, is more than I can say.  I can only hope that
+the savages, fierce as they are, will not have the heart to kill a
+little boy like you; and it can matter little what becomes of an old
+fellow, such as I am.  Say your prayers, Charley, though you cannot
+kneel down.  That does not matter."
+
+The savages all this time continued dancing on the deck, as if they
+would beat it in, shouting at the top of their voices, and flourishing
+their war-clubs, looking more like a gang of demons let loose than human
+beings.
+
+"It will be bad enough for us, Charley, even though the natives don't
+kill and eat us, but my mind is most troubled about poor Miss Kitty.
+What will become of her, if they get hold of the boat? and there's no
+chance that I can see of her escaping."
+
+"I was thinking of her, too," I said, "and Mr Falconer.  The savages
+will murder him and the boat's crew, as they have the rest.  Oh, Dick!
+I cannot stand it.  I wish they would kill me at once!"
+
+I felt, as I spoke, like the hapless bird fascinated by the glance of
+the serpent, and could scarcely restrain myself from clambering on board
+and rushing among the savages.
+
+"Hold fast, Charley," said Dick.  "I wish I had not said what I did--you
+have got your best days before you.  If the savages wanted to kill us,
+they would have done so before now.  See, they are growing calmer, and
+are talking together; they, perhaps, will be satisfied with gaining
+possession of the ship, and all the plunder in her, and won't kill those
+who make no resistance."
+
+Soon after Dick had said this, a tall chief with a high plume of
+feathers on his head, and his almost white skin only slightly tattooed,
+advanced to the heel of the bowsprit, and, looking towards Dick and me,
+shouted out some words, and beckoned us to come in.
+
+"What shall we do, Dick?"  I asked.  "Will he kill me, do you think?"
+
+"There's no help for it, Charley," answered Dick.  "But don't be afraid;
+he shall kill me before he hurts you.  Just get round and keep close
+behind me, and I will ask him to take care of you; he does not look as
+savage as the rest."
+
+I followed Dick, though I confess my alarm was so great that I could
+scarcely hold on.  As we got to the inner end of the bowsprit, I
+observed that the chief placed his bloodstained club against the
+bulwarks; he then lifted up both his hands, to show that they held no
+weapon.  Dick, therefore, advanced more boldly, and getting on deck,
+still keeping me behind him, confronted the chief.
+
+"I make bold to ask you to let this little chap go free, Mr Savage,"
+said Dick, pointing to me.  "He has never done you no harm, and never
+will.  It cannot do you any good if you kill him, and he is so thin, he
+would make but a poor meal, if you want to eat him."
+
+Although the chief could not have understood a word that Dick said, he
+seemed to comprehend his meaning, and, putting his hand on his head and
+mine, he signified that we were his property, and that he would take
+care of us.  He even smiled when he looked at me, and seemed to inquire
+whether I was Dick's son, so Dick fancied; for he replied, "He is all
+the same as my child, and if you hurt him, it will be the worse for
+you."  Our friend then called up two other men, who appeared to belong
+to him as a sort of bodyguard, and then charged them to take care of us,
+while he went aft and spoke to the other chiefs.
+
+Meantime the natives had begun to hoist up the goods from the hold, and
+to load their canoes with them, our new friend being apparently engaged
+in securing his share of the booty.  Dick and I were thus left on the
+forecastle, and could observe what was going on.  We often turned our
+eyes towards the mouth of the harbour, dreading to see the boat return.
+And yet, what could become of her, with no friendly port near, should
+she not come back?
+
+A considerable time having passed, the young chief's canoe came round
+under the bows, and he made signs to us to lower ourselves into her.
+Just before I did so, I cast my eyes once more seaward, and there I
+caught sight of a boat's sail.  Mr Falconer and Kitty were returning,
+unsuspicious of the dreadful circumstances which had occurred.  How I
+wished that I could go off and warn them.
+
+We had scarcely thought about the captain and the rest of the men on
+shore.  If they had escaped, we need not have much apprehension about
+ourselves; but if they had been put to death, we, I still dreaded, on
+reaching the shore might meet with the same fate.
+
+"What can we do, Dick, to let Miss Kitty and the mate know their
+danger?"  I asked.  "If they come up the harbour, there will be no
+chance for them."
+
+"We can do nothing, Charley," he answered.  "They are in God's hands, as
+we are, and we must trust to Him to take care of us all."
+
+The young chief now made another sign to Dick and me to get into the
+canoe, so we lowered ourselves down, and went up to where the chief was
+standing.  His canoe, like many others around, was of considerable
+length, fully forty feet, though not more than a foot and a half wide,
+and of about the same depth.  She was kept from upsetting by outriggers
+projecting from the bow, middle, and stern, with a long piece of light
+wood secured to the extremity of each.  On the upper part of the stem,
+which projected about two feet, was a carved head of some animal; while
+the after part also projected six feet or more beyond the actual stern,
+something like the shape of a Dutch skate.  The paddles were neatly made
+of a hard black wood, highly polished, with slender handles, and the
+blades of an oval form.  I afterwards examined the canoe, and found that
+it was composed of many pieces of the bread-fruit tree, cut into planks
+and sewed together with the fibres of the outside shell of the
+cocoa-nut.  The seams were covered inside and out with strips of bamboo
+sewed to the edge of each plank, to keep in a stuffing of cocoa-nut
+fibre.  The keel consisted of one piece, which ran the whole length, and
+was hollowed out in the form of a canoe, being, indeed, the foundation
+of the vessel.  Three pieces of thick plank, placed as partitions,
+divided the interior into four parts, and served for timbers to keep her
+from separating or closing together.  She had also a mat sail, broad at
+the top, and narrowing to a point at the foot.
+
+The chief told as to sit down, and directed his crew to paddle towards
+the shore.  This they did, accompanied by several other canoes, which
+were apparently under his command.
+
+We frequently turned our eyes towards the boat, but the wind was scant
+and light, and she made but little progress up the harbour.  Probably
+Miss Kitty and the mate were in no hurry to return on board.  The men
+who had escaped up the rigging were still there; but whether the
+captain's wife and those who had fled below had survived the massacre we
+could not tell.  The ship was still crowded with savages, who were
+busily employed carrying up what they could find below and had strength
+to remove.  The oil-casks must, however, have been beyond their power to
+lift, though Dick observed that they would be sure to try and get hold
+of the iron hoops, and be rather astonished when the oil burst out over
+them.
+
+Our captor directed his course towards a small inner bay, on the shores
+of which were several huts, where we concluded that he lived.  Though
+some of his men cast savage glances at us, and looked as if they would
+like to knock out our brains, we were not ill-treated, nor was anything
+taken from us.
+
+On landing, we were allowed to remain by ourselves while the crews of
+the canoes were busy in unloading them as fast as they could.
+
+There was close at hand, forming one side of the little bay, a high
+rock, whence Dick thought that we could get a good sight of the whole
+harbour.  We set off, and, unnoticed by the busy natives, made our way
+to the top of it.  We were not disappointed in our expectations, and
+from it could see both the ship and the boat.  The latter had made but
+little way, and, finding the wind against her, had lowered her sail and
+taken to the oars.  More canoes were collecting alongside, and we
+concluded that the chief and his followers were going to return for a
+further supply of booty.  We were allowed to remain on the rocks, the
+natives probably knowing that we could not make our escape.
+
+The wind after a time freshened a little, and the boat was drawing
+nearer.  As we were looking towards her, a loud report reached our ears,
+and, turning our eyes towards the ship, we saw the masts and deck rising
+upwards, surrounded by a dense smoke, and a thick mass of the shattered
+fragments of numberless articles, mingled with the boom-boats,
+companion-hatch, caboose, and human beings mangled and torn.  For a few
+seconds they seemed to hang in the air, and then were scattered far and
+wide around the ship.  The masts falling into the water, crushed several
+of the canoes alongside, and the shrieks and cries of the natives, who
+had escaped with life, while they paddled away in dismay, came over the
+waters towards us.
+
+Dick and I held our breath, and I saw horror depicted in his
+countenance.
+
+"Though the savages deserve what they have got, it may be the worse for
+us," he muttered.  "They will now knock us on the head, to a certainty."
+
+I made no reply, but I feared that what Dick said would prove true.
+
+Flames now burst out from the ship, and several guns which were loaded
+went off, sending their shot flying among the natives, and creating
+still further dismay.
+
+So absorbed were we for some minutes in watching the ship, that we had
+almost forgotten the boat.  Again looking towards her, I saw that her
+sail was hoisted, and that she was running before the wind towards the
+harbour's mouth.
+
+"Mr Falconer guesses what has happened; I am sure of that," said Dick,
+"and he would rather trust to carrying Miss Kitty off into the wide
+ocean than to the mercy of the savages, though I am afraid they will
+have a hard time of it, even if they get clear."
+
+"Oh, Dick!"  I cried out, "see, there are some of the savages after
+them, and they may be overtaken."
+
+Such, indeed, was the case.  Several canoes which at the time of the
+explosion had been at a distance from the ship, watching, apparently,
+the approaching boat, on seeing her standing seaward, began to paddle
+after her.  Though they had no sails, they glided rapidly over the
+water, and there seemed but little probability that our friends would
+effect their escape.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+MOTAKEE.
+
+So absorbed were Dick and I in watching the boat with Miss Kitty on
+board and the savages pursuing them, that we did not think of ourselves
+or the fate which too probably awaited us.  The savages paddled with
+might and main, resolved, it seemed, to revenge on our friends the
+destruction which had overtaken so many of their people.  They were
+gaining rapidly on the boat, though her crew were pulling hard at the
+oars.  I felt inclined to cry with agitation as I thought of what Miss
+Kitty would have to endure, when the boat's sail filled out, and a
+freshening breeze carried her along faster than she had hitherto been
+moving.  The wind still further increased.  Away she shot ahead,
+distancing her pursuers.  She gained the harbour's mouth, and, steering
+out to sea, ran on till her white sail appeared a mere speck in the
+horizon; while the savages, disappointed of their prey, paddled back
+towards the shore.
+
+Meantime the ill-fated _Dolphin_ continued burning, and was now in
+flames fore and aft, the savages having been too much alarmed to make
+any attempt to extinguish the fire.  The men who had been aloft had
+clung to the mast when it fell, though we could scarcely hope that they
+had escaped uninjured.  We saw, however, that several of them were still
+hanging on to it, while it floated free of the burning ship.  The
+natives, on discovering them, approached the mast, and dragged them into
+their canoes.  What they intended to do with them we could not tell, but
+we feared that they would murder them, as we supposed they also would
+us.
+
+The young chief who had taken possession of us had not reached the ship
+when she blew up, and we now saw him and his people landing in the
+little bay above which we were seated.  We had made no attempt to
+conceal ourselves.  He beckoned to us to come down.
+
+"We must put a bold face on the matter," said Dick, taking my hand.
+"Cheer up, Charley.  I don't think he intends to hurt you; and if he
+kills me, remember, do your best to escape, and don't turn into a
+savage, as they are sure to try and make you, and cover you all over
+with tattoo marks."
+
+"Oh, they must not kill you, Dick; they sha'n't kill you!"  I cried out.
+"I will let them kill me first."
+
+I felt, indeed, that I would much rather be put to death than see my
+kind friend murdered before my eyes.
+
+Dick, leading me by the hand, approached the chief, whose club I
+expected every moment to see upraised to strike us dead.  Instead of
+doing so, however, looking at me kindly, he took me by the hand and made
+a speech to Dick, which we, of course, could not understand, but which,
+from its tone, relieved us somewhat from our apprehensions.  I
+afterwards discovered that it was to the effect that he had promised to
+befriend us; and knowing that the destruction of the ship and the death
+of his people was not owing to as, that would not alter his purpose.
+
+"Thank you kindly, sir," said Dick, touching his hat sailor-fashion.
+"If you will treat this boy well, it's all I care for.  I speak him
+fair, Charley, for your sake," he said to me, "and by the cut of his
+jib, I think he will be as good as his word."
+
+The chief, whose name we found was Motakee, or "The good-looking one,"
+now addressed his people, who had been casting somewhat threatening
+glances at us, and, I suspect, had we been left to their tender mercies,
+would very soon have knocked us on the head.  Our new friend having
+appointed several of his people to guard us, told us to follow him along
+the shore.  After going a short distance, we reached another much larger
+beach, on which a number of canoes were drawn up and a large concourse
+of people assembled.  We looked about for the captain and our shipmates,
+who had at first landed.  On going a little farther, what was our horror
+to see the greater number of them lying dead on the shore, with their
+heads so battered that we could scarcely recognise them.  We knew the
+captain, however, by his figure and dress; we had, therefore, too much
+reason to suppose that we were the only survivors of the _Dolphin's_
+crew, with the exception of those who had escaped in the boat and the
+men who had been saved on the mast.  We saw the latter alive in some of
+the canoes still afloat.  Whether the captain had been killed before the
+destruction of the ship, we could not at first ascertain, but I believe
+he and the rest were murdered after the accident.
+
+The chief held a long consultation, while Dick and I stood at a little
+distance watching them, uncertain what was to be our fate.
+
+"Cheer up, Charley," said Dick.  "I would fight for you as long as
+there's life in me, if it would be of any use; but I don't think,
+savages as they are, that they will have the heart to kill you; and as
+for me, as I said before, they may do as they like, though I wish I was
+sure they would not eat me afterwards."
+
+"Oh, Dick, Dick!"  I cried out, "don't think of anything so horrid!  I
+will ask the young chief not to hurt you, and I will tell him he had
+better kill me first."
+
+Just then the consultation came to an end, and Motakee, coming up to us,
+made signs that we need not be afraid, and that he would protect us.
+
+I afterwards found, when I came to know their language, that he had told
+the other chiefs that on seeing me he had been reminded of a little boy
+he had lost, and that he had saved Dick on my account, supposing that he
+was my father, or, at all events, my friend.
+
+Six men, one of whom was a Sandwich Islander, named Tui, who had been
+saved on the mast, were now brought on shore.  As we watched them, we
+fully believed that the savages would put them to death, as they had the
+other poor fellows.  Tui, however, stepped forward and addressed the
+natives in a language which they appeared to comprehend.  They again
+consulted together, the unhappy men standing apart, uncertain whether
+they might not at any moment find the clubs of the savages crashing
+through their brains.  Trusting to Motakee's protection, I felt inclined
+to rush forward and plead for them, but Dick held me back.
+
+"You will do no good, Charley," he said, "and one of those savages may
+in a moment give you a tap with his club, and kill you, as an idle boy
+does a fly."
+
+The five poor fellows stood collected together, looking pale as death,
+but they were as brave as any of the men on board.  Among them I
+recognised Tom Clode, the armourer, and Mat Davis, the carpenter's mate.
+
+The discussion seemed to last a very long time.  Tui was listened to
+attentively, as he every now and then put in a word.  At length five of
+the principal chiefs rose from their mats, and, stepping forward, each
+put his hand on one of the men.  At first I thought they were going to
+kill them, as they led them away; but Tui, coming up, told us that they
+were only going to be taken as slaves.  Another old chief now advanced
+and put his hand on Dick's shoulder.
+
+"He going take you for slave," said Tui.
+
+"I have no wish to be idle, but I would rather have chosen a master with
+a better-looking mug of his own," observed Dick.  "I hope the old
+gentleman lives not far from your friend, Charley; for I can't stand
+being separated from you."
+
+I burst into tears as Dick said this, when Motakee, coming up, tried, in
+a gentle way, to soothe me.
+
+"He is a good young fellow, that he is," cried Dick; "and as you are
+likely to be well off with him, it's little odds what happens to me."
+
+Motakee, finding that my tears continued to flow, endeavoured to
+persuade the old chief, Toobo Cava, to allow Dick to continue with him.
+This, however, he refused, and replied that he might rather allow me to
+accompany Dick.  Tui told us what was said.
+
+"I would like to have you, Charley," said Dick, "but you will be much
+better off with Motakee, and, indeed, I doubt if he would let you come,
+however much you may wish it."
+
+Dick was right; for after another long palaver, Motakee took me by the
+hand, while old Toobo Cava led off Dick.
+
+"Keep up your spirits, Charley, and don't forget the lessons I have
+taught you; say your prayers, and be a good boy," cried Dick, looking
+back towards me.  "We will manage to see each other, or these talking
+fellows are cleverer than I take them to be."
+
+Motakee, accompanied by his people, conducted me back to the bay where
+we had landed, and thence to his house, which was situated in a valley
+but a short distance from the shore.  It stood on a platform of large
+stones, nearly twelve feet above the ground, and was fully thirty feet
+in length, though considerably narrower.  The back of the house was
+fourteen feet in height, the roof sloping down towards the front, which
+was scarcely more than five feet high, but the walls were of a uniform
+height all round, thus the farther part of the house between them and
+the roof was entirely open.  The front part, into which we first entered
+by a very small door, had a floor composed of the rough stones of the
+platform, but the inner part, separated from it by a partition, was
+covered with fine mats.  At one end was the bed-place, which consisted
+of two horizontal poles, about a foot from the ground, with matting
+stretched between them.  On this the chief and his family reclined,
+resting their heads on one of the poles, which served as a pillow, while
+their feet extended towards the other.  Around the walls, which were
+also composed of matting, were hung numerous weapons, spears, clubs,
+axes, slings, and stilts, on which I found that the people were very
+fond of walking.
+
+These stilts are elaborately carved poles, with carved figures towards
+the lower end, on the heads of which the feet rest.  The chief took down
+a pair, and, to amuse me, mounted on them, and ran over the ground with
+great rapidity, now standing on one leg, now on the other, and twirling
+round and performing all sorts of extraordinary feats.  He having set
+the example, others followed it, till nearly all the men and the boys in
+the village turned out on stilts, and began chasing each other over the
+rough ground, as much at home as if they were treading it with their
+feet, instead of being mounted high above it.
+
+The sports being over, Motakee led me to the farther end of the village,
+where there was a sort of temple.  In front of the temple were a number
+of little buildings a couple of feet high, on each of which stood a
+carved figure, surrounded with shells, and feathers, and whales' teeth.
+He and his people sat down before them, and bowed, and uttered certain
+words, and then bowed again, leading me to suppose that they were
+performing some religious ceremony.
+
+Having finished his prayers, if such all this bowing and muttering words
+could be intended for, the chief conducted me back to his house.  Here
+he introduced me to his wife, pretty-looking young woman, of a bright
+brown colour, clothed in somewhat scanty garments, composed of cloth,
+manufactured from the paper-mulberry tree.  She received me very kindly,
+and we sat down to a supper consisting of fish, and various roots, and
+other vegetables and fruits.
+
+I had till now been under the dreadful impression that the people were
+cannibals; but there was nothing in the repast set before me which made
+me unwilling to partake of it.  On the contrary, as I was very hungry, I
+set to with a will, and the people standing round seemed pleased at
+seeing me eat with so good an appetite.
+
+Several days passed by; the chief and his wife seemed to consider that I
+had taken the place of their lost child, and treated me as such with
+much kindness.  I had, however, neither seen nor heard anything of Dick,
+and I gave Motakee to understand that I wished to go out and look for
+him, to which he, by signs, replied that it would be dangerous for me to
+wander about by myself, as the people of other tribes might kill me, and
+that I must remain quietly where I was.
+
+I remembered Dick's plan of keeping time when we were in our solitary
+island, and I cut a stick, on which I marked the days of the week.  I
+did not forget either his parting advice to me, and every night and
+morning I knelt down and said my prayers.  The natives understood what I
+was about, and never interrupted me, and treated me with more respect
+than even some of the men did on board the _Dolphin_.
+
+At the end of a couple of months I saw that something unusual was taking
+place in the village.  The men were polishing up their arms, and the
+women were engaged in making baskets and cooking provisions.  This led
+me to suppose that an expedition of some sort was about to take place.
+
+Motakee called me to him one day, and told me by signs that he was going
+away, and that he would place me under charge of some one who would take
+good care of me during his absence.  I told him that I should be very
+sorry to be parted from him, and asked him to let me go, hoping that by
+some means I might hear of Dick.  He shook his head, and told me that as
+danger would have to be encountered, I was too young as yet, but that
+when I grew older, he would teach me the use of the native weapons, and
+allow me to accompany him to war.  He then led me to another house,
+somewhat smaller than his own, in which the principal inmate was an old
+woman.  Though Moola--that was her name--was very old and dry and
+withered, from the expression of her countenance and the way in which he
+treated her, I was led to suppose that she was Motakee's mother.  Such,
+indeed, was the case.  She spoke kindly to me, and I had no reason to
+fear that I should be ill-treated.
+
+After this Motakee led out his people, all armed with clubs, and
+hatchets, and spears; the heads of the principal men being decorated
+with plumes of feathers, but, with the exception of cloths round their
+waists, entirely destitute of clothing.  From this I knew that they were
+about to proceed on some warlike expedition, and, though they felt
+confident of success, I could not help remembering that they might be
+defeated; and should they be so, what would become of me?  Again I asked
+the chief if he could give me any information about Dick?  My heart sank
+within me; for, from the reply he made, he led me to suppose that some
+accident had happened to my faithful friend.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+MOOLA.
+
+Old Moola kept a watchful eye on me, as if she divined my intention of
+trying to make my escape to go in search of Dick on the first
+opportunity which might occur.
+
+I concluded that if the warriors were away he would be less carefully
+looked after than usual, and would try to find me; for I was very sure
+that he was as anxious about me as I was about him.
+
+There were a good many other boys in the village, and I used to play
+with them, and did my best to excel them in all their sports.  I found,
+after some practice, that I could walk on stilts as well as they could.
+I induced them to run races, and I very frequently came off the victor.
+They had an advantage, from being more lightly clad than I was, that is
+to say, while I wore my shirt and trousers, they had no clothing
+whatever.
+
+The women, meantime, were employed in their usual domestic occupations,
+in making cloth by beating out the bark of the paper-mulberry tree, and
+manufacturing mats and baskets.  I afterwards observed that they were
+always employed in such occupations, while the men, when at home,
+cultivated the fields, and caught fish with nets and fish-hooks, the
+latter formed of mother-of-pearl, as also with bone, and wooden
+harpoons.  Besides the articles I have mentioned, they make calabashes
+from gourds, and kava-cups formed of the cocoa-nut, as also cradles for
+their children, hollowed out of a log with great neatness.  They also
+use small chests, which are in like manner hollowed out of solid pieces
+of wood, with covers to them, and wooden bowls and stands, on which
+various objects are hung out of the way of the rats.  Those animals are
+great pests, and to preserve their more valuable articles, the natives
+suspend them in baskets from the roofs of their houses, by lines passing
+through the bottoms of inverted calabashes, so that, should the
+creatures reach the polished surface of the calabashes, they slip off on
+to the ground, without being able to climb beneath them.
+
+Moola's house was furnished with all the articles I have mentioned,
+supplied to her by the people of her tribe, who looked up to her with
+great respect.  As I was under her charge, and was moreover regarded in
+the light of a chief's son, no one interfered with me, or questioned
+what I thought fit to do.  This was a great advantage, and I hoped would
+enable me to carry out my plan.  Besides my amusements on shore, I soon
+learned to swim and to paddle a canoe, and other boys and I used
+frequently to go out in the bay.  It occurred to me that, by gradually
+extending our excursions, I might be able to get along the shore to some
+distance, and there land and make my way into the interior.  To do this,
+however, I found that I should require two or more companions, and they
+might not be disposed to assist me.  I became expert in fishing with the
+line and hooks and in spearing fish, but I could not manage to dive in
+the way the natives did.  Some of them, with a hoop-net in one hand, and
+a stick in the other, would dart down into the deep water among the
+coral, and with the stick drive the fish hidden among its recesses into
+the net.  This operation was not unattended with danger.  Sharks were
+constantly prowling about, to snap up a person unprepared for their
+attacks; and one day, a young man who, according to custom, wore his
+hair loose, was caught by it among the coral, and, unable to extricate
+himself, was drowned before his companions could go to his assistance.
+When the sea rolled in a heavy surf on the shore, it was common
+amusement for boys, and even for girls, to paddle out on little rafts,
+mounting to the top of the surf, and if the raft was upset, which
+frequently happened, they would dive under the sea, and come up again on
+the other side.
+
+Besides these amusements, in which I took a part, I tried to learn some
+of the arts practised by the natives.  I never found the time hang
+heavily on my hands, still I was continually thinking how I could manage
+to find Dick.  After considering the matter, I abandoned the idea of
+making the attempt by water, and resolved to try and escape by land.
+Fearing that the warriors would return, I determined to put it into
+execution without delay.  I had secreted as much food in the pockets of
+my jacket as they could hold, and, late in the day, I challenged my
+companions to a race on stilts across the country, pointing to a rock
+which projected from the hillside at some distance.  They laughed at me
+when they saw me dressed in my jacket, declaring that I should have no
+chance, and willingly agreed to give me a short start, believing that,
+encumbered as I was, they could easily come up with me.  Old Moola, not
+suspecting my intentions, came out from her hut, and promised to reward
+the victor.  We took our places, and away we started.  I exerted myself
+to the utmost to keep ahead of my competitors, and found, as I had
+hoped, that I was at first gaining on them rapidly, although they in the
+end, I have no doubt, would have overtaken me.  As soon as I felt sure
+that I was well out of sight, hidden by a ridge over which I had passed,
+I turned off to the right, and ran on along the valley, where the even
+ground allowed me to continue at a good speed.  I then, turning into a
+wood, jumped off my stilts, and, having concealed them among the hushes,
+continued my flight on foot.  I went on and on, avoiding cultivated land
+or any huts where I might meet with inhabitants, till the increasing
+darkness compelled me to stop.  I had no dread of wild beasts or
+venomous snakes, as I knew the island was free from them.  I could
+therefore lie down on the dry grass, and recover my strength without
+fear; and I hoped that the other boys would make their way to the goal,
+and not think of looking for me till the darkness prevented them from
+doing so.
+
+I slept soundly, and soon after I awoke the first streaks of dawn
+appeared in the sky.  Having taken a little food, and drank some water
+from a rivulet which flowed by, I proceeded onwards, intending to lie in
+wait near the first village I should come to, in the hopes that one or
+other of the captive Englishmen might be there, and might give me
+information about Dick, should he himself not appear.
+
+I went on for some way, keeping myself concealed as much as possible
+among the trees, till I saw several native huts before me, just on the
+borders of a wood.  Making my way through the wood, I discovered a tree
+which I could climb.  I managed, not without difficulty, to get up it,
+and, when near the top, concealed by the leafy boughs, I could survey
+all that went on in the village below me.  The people at length began to
+come out of their huts, but I saw only women, or old men and boys,
+showing that the fighting part of the population had not returned.  In
+vain I watched for Dick, or one of the other white men.  Disappointed at
+not seeing them, I descended from my perch, afraid that some of the
+people might come into the wood and discover me.  Hurrying on, I had got
+to no great distance, when I heard voices from among the trees behind
+me, showing that, had I not escaped when I did, I should have been found
+out.
+
+I could by this time speak the native language quite well enough to make
+myself understood, and I resolved, should I meet any one, to go up and
+speak with confidence, as if I had full right to be at liberty.
+
+In a short time I reached another village.  Here I watched as before,
+but though several natives were moving about, none of my shipmates were
+to be seen, and the dreadful idea occurred to me that they had all been
+murdered.  My heart sank, still I determined to continue my search.
+
+The direct path from village to village was very much shorter than the
+road I was compelled to take, as I had to make wide circuits to avoid
+observation.  I was now at a considerable distance from Motakee's
+village, and I hoped, even should I be seen by any of the natives, there
+was not much risk of being sent back.  This made me less cautious than
+before.  Feeling thirsty, I had gone to a bright spring which gushed out
+of a rock, to drink, when, on looking up, I saw a young girl with
+several gourds, which she had brought to fill with water.  She cast an
+astonished glance at me, and inquired where I had come from.  I told her
+at once that I knew from her looks she was kind, and could only wish to
+do me good; that I had belonged to the ship which had been taken by her
+people, and that I was in search of my guardian.  "I have not mistaken
+you," I added; "you will help me, if you can?"
+
+She looked pleased, and replied that she could feel for me, away from my
+country and friends, and that she certainly would not betray me.  She
+added that she had heard that there was an Englishman living in the next
+village, kept a prisoner by an old chief who ruled there, who was very
+stern and cruel, and made him work very hard, and that he had become
+very ill.
+
+"The chief himself has gone away to fight, and you will have less
+difficulty in seeing your countryman than would have been the case had
+he been at home."
+
+I thanked the young girl very much for her information, and she having
+pointed out the road I was to take, I proceeded on my journey.  I went
+on till I came to the village.  I could easily distinguish the chief's
+house, which was considerably larger than that of the other natives.
+Some short distance from it was a small hut.  It was built in a
+different fashion to that of the natives, and not so neatly put
+together.  On one side was a garden, apparently lately formed, and
+carefully cultivated.  It struck me at once that it must be the work of
+an Englishman.  I concealed myself, as before, so that I could watch the
+proceedings of the inhabitants.  After a time, I saw a woman, with a
+basket in her hand, approach the hut: she looked cautiously round, to
+ascertain, apparently, that no one was watching her, and then went in.
+She was old, and far from comely, but, even at the distance she was from
+me, her countenance looked kind and gentle.  She soon came out again,
+looking about as before, and hurrying away.  I observed that her basket
+was empty.  This convinced me that she had been to take provisions to
+the inmate of the hut, whoever he might be.  I determined to ascertain
+this.
+
+"May I come in," I asked, in the native language.
+
+"Who's there?" was the reply, in English.
+
+I knew the voice; it was Dick's.
+
+He lay on a bed formed of dry grass and mats; I hurried up to him.
+
+"I have found you at last, my dear, dear Dick!"  I exclaimed.
+
+"Charley, is it you, yourself?  Then you are not dead," he cried out.
+"I was told you were, and it well-nigh broke my heart.  I shall get well
+now though.  Where have you been? what have you been about?"
+
+I soon told him, and how I had managed to elude my captors.  He
+expressed his delight that I had not been ill-treated, as he had been.
+
+"That old chief is a regular tyrant; he made me work for him till I
+could work no longer, and then would have let me die of starvation, if a
+good woman had not, at the risk of her life, brought me food.  Bless
+them! they are all alike, black and white, when a fellow is in trouble,
+however bad they may be in other respects.  Things were not so bad at
+first.  Tui, who lives not far off, came over with Mat Davis, and helped
+me to put up this hut; or otherwise, as far as my old master was
+concerned, I should have had to sleep out of doors.  He, however, would
+not let them come again, and I have had to look out for myself.  The
+only pleasant thing that has happened to me was seeing Toobo Cava go off
+to the war, but he will be back again soon, I fear, and then the hard
+work will begin once more.  But you must not stay here, Charley; I don't
+know what he would do if he caught you, though it will be a sore grief
+to me to have you separated from me."
+
+I told Dick that I was determined at all hazards to stay with him.
+
+"We will argue the point, Charley," said Dick.
+
+He at last allowed me to remain till the following day.  He had been so
+well supplied with food, that he was able to give me as much as I
+required.  I spent half the night sitting up talking to him, and had the
+satisfaction of seeing that my visit was doing him good, his complaint
+being more the result of anxiety and ill-treatment than anything else.
+
+"I scarcely know what to advise you to do, Charley," he said.  "If you
+are caught here, you may be hardly dealt with, and yet I don't like to
+tell you to leave me; though, as you say the people you have been living
+with have treated you well, it will be best for you to make your way
+back to them."
+
+"Come what will, I am not going to run away and leave you while you are
+sick and helpless," I answered.  "God will take care of me if I ask Him;
+you have often told me that, and so I will say my prayers and go to
+sleep."
+
+I did so, and coiled myself away on a heap of grass by Dick's side.
+
+The next morning we were awoken by hearing a great noise in the village.
+We found that we had both overslept ourselves.  Dick went to the door
+of the hut, to ascertain the cause of the hubbub, telling me to keep
+concealed under the mats.  After some time he came back.
+
+"I guessed how it is," he said; "the fighting men have returned from the
+war, but, as far as I can discover, the old chief is not among them.  He
+has, I suspect, been knocked on the head, and serve him right too.  They
+are mourning for him, it seems, and it will be as well to keep out of
+their way, lest they take it into their heads to sacrifice us to his
+ghost, as I know is the fashion among these savages."
+
+Dick spoke quite coolly, but our danger was great.  He again told me to
+keep snug under the mats, and I saw him walking up and down the hut,
+evidently very unhappy.  "I don't care for myself," I heard him say.
+"Poor dear Charley, I wish that he was out of the scrape.  Well, well;
+we have been saved before, and we may be saved again.  It's a great
+thing to know that God looks after us poor fellows better than we can
+look after ourselves."  While he was speaking, the noise increased.
+Never did I hear such savage shrieks, cries, and howls.
+
+"The people are cutting themselves with knives, and flints, and
+spear-heads, to show their grief for their dead chief," observed Dick,
+after he had taken another look outside the hut.  He sat down, and
+seemed considering what he should do.  After some time, I heard a
+footstep approaching the hut, and the old woman I had before seen
+entered.
+
+She looked very anxious, and told Dick he must get out of the way, and
+hide himself for some days, when he would be safe.  Dick thanked her
+warmly.
+
+"You have been kind to me, and you will be kind, I know, to my son; and
+if you will hide us away together I shall be happy."
+
+Dick then told me to come forward.  The old woman looked very much
+surprised at seeing me, and on hearing that I had been taken care of by
+Motakee, advised me to go back at once to him, and to take Dick along
+with me.  There was no time to be lost.  Having ascertained that the
+coast was clear, she told us to hurry off into the wood, and to make our
+way as fast as we could to Motakee's village, promising, if she could,
+to put her people on a wrong scent, should they think of pursuing us.
+
+We did as she had advised.  We had not, however, got far into the wood,
+when, as we were making our way along the hillside, as I looked back
+through an opening in the trees, I saw a number of people advancing
+towards the hut, shrieking, and shouting, and flourishing their weapons.
+There could be little doubt that their intention was to get hold of
+Dick.  We hurried on, and did not stop till we were far away beyond the
+sound of their voices.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+DICK AND CHARLEY REUNITED.
+
+The natives in the villages were so busy celebrating their victory, or
+mourning for their slain warriors, that Dick and I escaped observation
+and reached the spot where I had left my stilts.
+
+"Now, Dick," said I, mounting on them, "come along; you shall hide near
+the village, and I will go boldly into it, as if I had been taking only
+a longer walk than usual.  Then, as Motakee will be glad to see me back,
+I will tell him that the other old chief, Toobo Cava, is dead, and you
+ought to be set at liberty, and ask him to protect you.  If he says he
+cannot, you must make your escape, and I'll follow; but if he says yes,
+we will live together happily till we can get away from this savage
+country."
+
+Dick agreed to my plan.  As we got near the village, I left him, hid
+away in the wood, and stalked forward on my stilts.
+
+I saw Motakee haranguing the people, and recounting his exploits, so I
+at once advanced and saluted him, as if I had no reason to be ashamed of
+anything I had done.  He did not look angry, but told me he was happy to
+see me.  The boys shouted, and asked where I had been.
+
+"I told you I should beat you," I answered; "and I took a somewhat
+longer run than any of you, I've a notion.  When shall you be ready for
+another race?"
+
+"We will beat you next time, though," they cried out, not putting any
+further inconvenient questions to me.
+
+My appearance had somewhat disturbed the usual formality of the meeting,
+and the chief, having commanded silence, went on with his speech.
+
+As soon as it was over, I descended from my stilts, and begged him to
+grant the petition I had to make.  I praised Dick as he had deserved,
+and told the chief all he had done for me; and, to my great joy, he
+replied that he would protect him, as, his owner being dead, no one else
+could claim his services.
+
+On this I hurried off and brought in Dick, who was well received by the
+people.  I afterwards told the chief the trick I had played, at which he
+was very much amused.
+
+Dick at once set to work to make himself useful, and soon gained
+Motakee's confidence, so that he allowed us both to roam about as we
+chose.
+
+The victory gained by our friends over the Typees, the tribe they had
+attacked, had put them in excellent humour.  They had burned down their
+villages, destroyed their fruit trees, and carried off their canoes.
+The slaughter had been, we were sorry to hear, considerable on both
+sides; for the Typees possessed several strong forts, formed of large
+stones and huge pieces of timber.  These had been taken by assault, when
+all within had been put to the sword.  Dick said he was surprised that
+savages could construct such strong works, for it would have proved a
+tough job, even to English sailors, to take some of those he had seen.
+
+Months and months passed by, and yet no vessel had come near the island,
+in which we might make our escape.  The people had got, we suspected, a
+bad name; for the _Dolphin_ was not the only vessel, we found, they had
+cut off, while they had attempted unsuccessfully to capture several
+others.  Our only hope was that a man-of-war would come in, which might
+carry us off by force, should the natives refuse to give us up.
+
+The chief, who had adopted me as his son, seemed determined not to let
+me go, and I found that I was narrowly watched wherever I wandered.
+
+Dick managed, at length, to communicate with some of the other men;
+though one or two were content to remain among the natives, having
+married and adopted their customs: the rest expressed an earnest wish to
+escape.
+
+A tremendous storm having occurred, when it seemed as if the whole
+island would be carried away by the fury of the waves, the wreck of the
+_Dolphin_ was cast up on the beach.
+
+Dick told me that Mat Davis had long been thinking of building a vessel,
+and that the carpenter's tools having been among the first things
+landed, he hoped, if he could get hold of them, to be able to build a
+craft which would convey us to the coast of South America.  He had
+persuaded the chiefs, that if they could have such a vessel as he
+described, they might not only overpower all the neighbouring tribes,
+but sail in quest of foreign lands, which they might conquer.  The
+chiefs listened eagerly to this proposal, and promised to assist him in
+carrying out his undertaking.
+
+Mat Davis, who was a clever fellow, was the chief architect.  Assisted
+by the armourer, a forge was put up for the ironwork, and he set the
+natives to cut down trees and hew out timbers and planks.  Others were
+employed in rope-making and in manufacturing fine matting for the sails,
+as all the _Dolphin's_ canvas had been burnt.  Dick and I were allowed
+to lend a hand, but as, with the exception of Davis and Clode, all were
+unskilled, the work proceeded but slowly.  The hopes of escaping
+encouraged the Englishmen, and the thoughts of the victories they were
+to win induced the natives to labour on.
+
+Dick had followed his own plan of notching the days on sticks, several
+of which he had tied up in a bundle.  By his calculation we had been two
+years among the savages, and I could now speak their language perfectly
+well.  Our clothes were worn out, and I had to dress like the natives.
+The chief told me, when I grew older, that I must be tattooed, an
+operation for which I had no fancy, and I hoped to make my escape before
+he should insist on my undergoing it.
+
+The vessel was at last built, and ready to be launched.  She was a
+schooner of about forty tons, and capable of carrying sixty or eighty
+men.  The natives declared that none of their island canoes would be
+able to contend with her.  It took some time to rig her, and to obtain
+suitable provisions and casks for holding water.
+
+I don't know whether Motakee suspected the design of the Englishmen; but
+when I spoke of taking a cruise in her, he replied that he would not
+expose me to the dangers she might encounter, and I found that I was
+more narrowly watched than ever.
+
+Dick came back one day, looking very much out of spirits.
+
+"The other men have formed a plan for escaping, but I cannot agree to
+it," he said.  "They intend to let as many natives as choose to come on
+board, and, as soon as they are out of sight of land, to rise upon them
+and heave them overboard, so that their provisions and water should not
+be exhausted, should they have to make a long voyage.  And another thing
+is, Charley, I won't go without you."
+
+Motakee had not entered into the views of his countrymen with regard to
+the vessel the Englishmen were building: he either suspected their
+design or believed that she would not prove as successful in attacking
+their foes as the rest supposed.  When I asked his leave to go on board,
+he took me by the arm and whispered--
+
+"I know your tricks; you should not have told me how you managed to get
+away and join your friend.  No, no; I shall shut you up till the vessel
+has sailed."
+
+He was as good as his word, and from that day I was not allowed to leave
+the hut without the company of one of his most trusted followers.  He
+allowed Dick, however, to go about as he chose, apparently caring but
+little whether or not he made his escape.
+
+Dick had been absent for three days.  I could not believe that he had
+gone without me, and yet I felt very anxious about him.  On the fourth
+day he returned.
+
+"They have gone, Charley," he exclaimed; "all our people and thirty
+natives.  I stopped to the last, trying to persuade them to give up
+their wicked plan; but they answered that the natives had murdered our
+friends and burned our ship, and that they had a right to treat them as
+they chose.  I said that I was sure we ought not to return evil for
+evil, and that they might have found some other way of making their
+escape, and that no good could possibly come of what they were about.
+They abused me, and asked me if I was going to betray them, and that if
+I would not come with them, I must take the consequences, as the natives
+were sure to murder us, as soon as they discovered what had become of
+their countrymen.  Even now I think I was wrong in not warning Motakee,
+for I consented to evil, though I would not join in it."
+
+When Motakee found that the schooner had sailed, he allowed me to go
+about as usual, and treated Dick with far more respect than before.
+Dick, indeed, soon became his right-hand man, or councillor, and the
+people looked up to him as the person next to the chief, in consequence.
+
+Some days after this it came on to blow very hard, and the sea beat with
+tremendous fury on the rocky coast.  Dick and I wished to have a sight
+of the huge breakers outside the harbour.  We went along the shore for
+some distance, to a part exposed to the whole sweep of the ocean.  As we
+were looking along it, Dick exclaimed that he saw a vessel on the rocks.
+We made our way as near as we could get to the spot.
+
+"Charley, I am afraid that is the schooner," Dick exclaimed; "but there
+is not a living being on board."
+
+We crept on still closer to the little vessel.  We shouted loudly, lest
+any one might have been washed on shore, but no reply came to our cries.
+
+"I am afraid every one has been washed away," he observed.  "If the
+natives had been on board, they are such first-rate swimmers that some
+of them would have managed to reach the land."
+
+We looked about in every direction, but could discover no boats on the
+beach nor any sign of a living man.
+
+"It's too likely that our people did as they intended, and having got
+rid of the natives, were themselves caught in the hurricane and driven
+back here; but we shall never know, I suspect, what has happened."
+
+After spending a considerable time in searching about, being unable to
+get nearer the wreck, we returned home.  We told Motakee what we had
+seen; but, of course, did not mention our suspicions.
+
+"I knew that the voyage would work us no good, to your people or mine,"
+he observed; "and I am very glad you did not sail in the vessel."
+
+We were, indeed, thankful that we had not.
+
+Next day, when the hurricane was over, we went back with some of the
+natives to examine the wreck; but, on getting on board, we could find
+nothing to explain the mystery.  Dick's opinion was that the crew had
+been on deck, and were washed overboard before the vessel struck, some
+time after they had disposed of the unfortunate natives in the way they
+had proposed.
+
+I have not spoken of the various events which had taken place since we
+came to the island.  Several times Motakee had gone out to fight his
+enemies, and had invariably returned victorious.
+
+At length another expedition was talked of against a powerful tribe at
+some distance.  He told Dick he must prepare to accompany him.  I begged
+that I might go, too.
+
+"No, Charley; you must stay at home," answered Dick.  "I have no wish to
+go and fight other savages in a quarrel in which I have no concern, and
+I would not go if I could stay away without offending the chief.  I
+don't want to kill any of the fellows, and I don't wish to be killed
+either."
+
+The warriors were preparing to take their departure, when, early in the
+morning, as I was looking out over the sea, I caught sight of a ship
+approaching the island.  I watched her eagerly, and when, at length, I
+felt sure she was standing towards the harbour, I ran back to tell Dick.
+The natives had been so busy in preparing their weapons, that they had
+not observed her.  Fortunately, no one saw me.
+
+"Now is our chance, then," exclaimed Dick.  "Come along, Charley: we
+will jump into a canoe, and maybe we shall get away from the shore
+before the savages miss us."
+
+Without a moment's delay we hurried down to the beach, taking some
+paddles out of a canoe-hut on our way.  We launched a canoe, which we
+found hauled up on the shore, and paddled with might and main out to
+sea.  The water was smooth, and, though the wind was against us, we made
+good progress.  The ship came on.  We were alongside.  Ropes were
+hove-to us, and, making the canoe fast, we scrambled up on deck.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+ESCAPE FROM THE ISLAND.
+
+"Some savages come on board, sir," I heard the mate sing out to the
+captain, a fine-looking man, who was standing near the wheel; "an old
+and a young one."
+
+"No, please you, sir," said Dick, stepping aft.  "We are not savages,
+but unfortunate Englishmen.  We have had a hard job to make our escape
+from the savages, though, and if you will take my advice, sir, you will
+not go into that harbour; for if you do, you will run a chance of being
+treated as our ship was."
+
+"How is that, my man?" asked the captain; and Dick thereupon told him
+the way in which the _Dolphin_ had been cut off, and how all had been
+kept prisoners for upwards of two years by the natives.
+
+"I thank you for the warning, my friend," said the captain, "and we will
+be on our guard against treachery.  I think, however, that if we show
+that we are well armed and on the watch, we need not fear them.  We are
+in want of water, wood, and vegetables, and by letting the natives
+understand that we will pay fairly for them, we shall, I hope, obtain
+what we require."
+
+"As to that, sir, Charley Laurel and I can talk well enough to them; and
+we will take good care to tell them that they must play no tricks."
+
+"You may be of much service to me, then," said the captain, "and I shall
+be glad to carry you and Charley Laurel, as you call him, to any place
+we touch at where you may wish to land."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Dick; "but we can both work our passage, and
+though it is better than two years since I was afloat, I don't think I
+am less handy than before."
+
+The ship, which we found to be the _Phoebe_, Captain Renton, having
+brought up in the bay, a number of canoes came off to her.  The captain
+told me and Dick to say to them that he could allow no one on board.
+The natives looked much surprised at seeing us on the deck, and they of
+course guessing that we had told the captain what had happened to the
+_Dolphin_, some of them paddled back again in a great fright, supposing
+that he had come to punish them for what they had done.  By the
+captain's directions we told them not to be alarmed; that he wished to
+be friends with them; and that if they behaved well, they would be
+treated as friends.
+
+In a short time Motakee came off.  When we told Captain Renton who he
+was, he was invited on deck.  He seemed greatly concerned at the thought
+of losing me, and asked me reproachfully how, after being treated as a
+son, I could think of deserting him.  I assured him that I was very
+grateful for all his kindness, but that I wished to go back to live
+among people of my own colour and habits, and that otherwise I would
+gladly have remained with him.  He soon made himself at home on board,
+and when invited into the cabin behaved with great propriety, and told
+me to express to the captain his regret for the massacre of the
+_Dolphin's_ crew.
+
+He put off his expedition on account of the arrival of the _Phoebe_, and
+while she remained in harbour he was constantly on board, and used every
+exertion to obtain what the captain wanted.
+
+I at last parted from him with real regret, though Dick would not let me
+venture on shore, lest he might show his affection for me by keeping me
+a prisoner.
+
+Captain Renton was a very different sort of person to poor Captain
+Podgers.  We had prayers every evening in his cabin, and he would allow
+none of the officers to use abusive language towards the men, while he
+maintained strict discipline on board.
+
+He proposed cruising for some time for whales in those latitudes, and
+then sailing south, to touch at one of the Society Islands.
+
+The day after we sailed, the captain called me into his cabin.
+
+"I have heard your history, my lad, from your friend, Dick Driver, and I
+find that you have had no advantages of education, while I am afraid
+that you are very ignorant of gospel truth, without which all education
+is of no avail in God's sight."
+
+"As I have not seen a book since I was on board the _Dolphin_, I suspect
+that I should prove a bad hand at reading, sir," I answered: "but I have
+not forgotten what Miss Kitty told me about the love of Jesus to sinful
+man; how He willingly offered Himself up to be punished instead of us,
+that all who believe on Him may be free, and be able to go to God as
+children go to an affectionate father, and ask Him for all they want;
+and that when we die we may be sure that we shall be taken to live with
+Him in great joy and happiness for ever and ever."
+
+"Ah, my dear boy," exclaimed the captain, his eye brightening with
+pleasure, "you already know then the most important truths I can tell
+you.  And do you indeed believe that Jesus died for you, and is your
+Saviour, and loves you, and watches over you, and sends His Holy Spirit
+to help you to love Him, and serve Him, and to keep you out of
+temptation?"
+
+"Yes, indeed I do, sir," I answered.  "I pray to God through Him every
+night and morning, and I believe that He has preserved me from the many
+dangers I have gone through."
+
+Though I have not mentioned it, I had often talked with Dick of all Miss
+Kitty had taught me, and the knowledge of God's love more than anything
+else had supported us; and I am very sure that Dick felt as I did,
+though he might not have been able to explain himself so clearly.  I had
+made great progress indeed under Miss Kitty's instruction; thus,
+although for some time I at first found it difficult to read the New
+Testament, which the captain put into my hands, I gradually regained the
+knowledge I had lost.
+
+The kind captain, after the conversation I have mentioned, invited me
+into the cabin every day, and took great pains in instructing me in
+reading and writing.  Until I could do so myself, he read a portion of
+God's Word, which he explained to me in a very simple and clear manner.
+I did my utmost to learn, as I was now of an age to be ashamed of my
+ignorance, especially when I found that the two ship's boys read and
+wrote far better than I did.  Every moment that I was off duty I was at
+my studies, and when Dick found what progress I made, he declared his
+intention of setting to work to learn to read himself.  I did my best to
+help him, and the captain kindly lent him some books that he might
+instruct himself.  In about four months I could read with perfect ease
+and write very fairly, besides having gained some knowledge of
+arithmetic and geography.  As to history, I found I had a very confused
+knowledge, and jumbled events together in a curious way.
+
+I had not forgotten dear Miss Kitty, and I often talked about her, and
+wondered whether she and the mate had made their escape.  Dick always
+said that he thought they had, as Mr Falconer was a good navigator, and
+that they were very likely to have fallen in with some whaler, as he was
+sure to have steered his course over the ground most frequented by them.
+
+At length, after sailing for some time south, and passing several
+islands, we sighted one at which the captain said he intended to touch,
+as the natives were Christians, and they could supply all his wants on
+equitable terms, without the risk of treachery, which he must run at the
+heathen islands.  As we drew near I recognised the scenery, and on
+asking Dick, he told me it was the very island at which the _Dolphin_
+had touched when Miss Kitty and Mr Falconer had gone on shore to the
+house of the missionary.
+
+As soon as the anchor was down, the captain ordered a boat to be
+lowered, and told me that I might accompany him.
+
+Mr Newton, the missionary, who knew Captain Renton, came down to the
+landing-place to welcome him, and conduct him up to his house.  I
+followed, but as he did not recognise me, I felt unwilling to address
+him.  They entered the house together.
+
+"Come in, my lad," said Mr Newton, seeing me standing outside.  "You
+are heartily welcome."
+
+I followed the captain into the sitting-room, where I saw two ladies.
+One, whom I guessed was Mrs Newton, came forward to greet him as an old
+acquaintance; the other rose, and as she did so and turned her face
+towards me, my heart leaped with joy, for there I saw Miss Kitty,
+looking as bright and blooming as ever.
+
+"Miss Kitty!"  I exclaimed; "is it you? is it you?"
+
+The first moment she did not know me, for I was greatly changed.  She
+took both my hands, and looking into my face, she said--
+
+"Charley, Charley Laurel, are you indeed alive and well?  I had greatly
+feared that you were lost.  And has honest Dick too escaped?"
+
+She made me sit down by her side, and I rapidly told her all that had
+occurred.
+
+"And how did you escape, Miss Kitty?"  I asked; "we were fearfully
+anxious about you."
+
+"You had reason to be so," she answered.  "Mr Falconer had expressed
+some fears that the natives might prove treacherous while we were away
+in the boats, and, on our return, he was remarking that he must try and
+induce the captain to keep a strict watch on board, and to allow only a
+few natives at a time on deck, when, through his glass, he observed that
+the ship was surrounded by canoes, and that the natives in great numbers
+were clambering on board.  Still we sailed on, when we saw a dreadful
+explosion, and shortly afterwards several canoes came paddling after us.
+Mr Falconer pointed them out to the men, who agreed with him that the
+ship had been taken by the savages, and that by some accident they had
+blown her up.  He immediately put the boat about, exclaiming to me, `For
+your sake we will do our best to escape!'  The wind increased: we were
+standing out into the open ocean.  Had it not been on my account Mr
+Falconer would, I am sure, have gone back at all risks to ascertain the
+fate of those on board.  The fact, however, of the canoes following us,
+showed the hostile intentions of the natives, and the men declared that
+even had I not been in the boat they would not have run their heads into
+danger for no purpose.
+
+"As the wind increased we lost sight of the canoes, which were unable to
+contend with the heavy sea to which the boat was now exposed.
+
+"The prospect before us was a fearful one, but the alternative of
+returning to the shore was worse.  Still we could rely on the protecting
+care of our heavenly Father, in whom we both trusted.  We had but a
+small supply of food and water, which, with the greatest economy, could
+only last us three days.  Mr Falconer, however, encouraged the men by
+telling them that he hoped, before the end of that time, to make an
+island, marked as uninhabited on the chart, where we might obtain water
+and provisions.
+
+"Happily the wind, though continuing fair, did not increase, and,
+exactly at the time Mr Falconer expected, the island appeared in sight,
+when the last drop of water had been exhausted.  Coasting around the
+island, we found a small harbour, which we entered.  A grove of
+cocoa-nut trees greeted our sight, fringing the shore, and near them was
+a spring of fresh water.  Mr Falconer shot several birds, and having
+fishing-hooks and lines, the men quickly caught a supply of fish.  They
+then put up a hut for me, where I could enjoy that rest I so much
+required.  At night, also, a number of turtle were observed landing on
+the sandy beach to lay their eggs, and we thus had no longer any fear of
+suffering from starvation.
+
+"So well satisfied were the men with the island, that they proposed
+remaining, rather than venture again to sea.  Mr Falconer inquired my
+wishes.  I knew that I could implicitly trust him.  Months would perhaps
+pass before any ship might appear.  I begged that, if the men would be
+persuaded to go, we might continue our voyage.  They agreed at length to
+do as he wished.
+
+"Besides the casks, a number of cocoa-nuts were filled with water;
+birds, and fish, and turtle, were salted, and four live turtle and a
+number of cocoa-nuts were taken on board.  Thus amply supplied with
+provisions, we again set sail.
+
+"We had been a week at sea, when a vessel was seen, hove-to in the
+distance.  We steered for her.  Her boats were away in chase of a whale.
+We received a kind welcome on board the ship, which was the _Harmony_,
+from Captain Landon and his wife, who were Christian people.  My
+satisfaction was very great when I found that the captain intended
+touching at this island, to refit his ship before proceeding to other
+fishing-grounds.  The second mate had died, and he offered Mr Falconer
+the berth.  He gladly accepted it.  At the end of three weeks I had the
+happiness of finding myself with these kind friends.
+
+"I knew how Mr Falconer felt when he told me that he must continue on
+board the _Harmony_, though he trusted on his arrival in England to be
+able to obtain the command of a ship in which he might return here.
+Since then no letter from him has reached me, nor have I received any
+tidings of him.  Still I feel perfect confidence that he is faithful and
+true, and that he will return as soon as he can find the means of doing
+so."
+
+I felt very sorry when I heard the latter part of Miss Kitty's
+narrative; for while I fully agreed with her that Mr Falconer would
+return if he could, I feared that, had he not lost his life, he might
+have been wrecked or taken prisoner, or detained somewhere by illness.
+
+As Mr Newton afterwards observed to me, he had never seen any woman who
+was so thoroughly sustained under a great trial by her confidence in the
+man to whom she had given her heart, and her perfect trust that all was
+ordered by God for the best.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+ON STILTS.
+
+I felt very sorry at the thought of leaving Miss Kitty, and would gladly
+have remained with her and Mr and Mrs Newton, but Dick would not hear
+of my doing so; and Captain Renton insisted that I should return home
+with him, and go to school and obtain that instruction which I certainly
+greatly required.
+
+"We will take good care of the young lady, Charley," said Mr Newton;
+"and should you meet with Mr Falconer, tell him that she is still as
+well cared for as at first."
+
+Once more the _Phoebe_ was at sea.  Captain Renton gave me a berth in
+his cabin, and took so much pains to instruct me, that before the voyage
+was over I had made good progress in various branches of knowledge.
+
+"Why, Charley," said Dick, who was proud of the information I displayed,
+"you have become quite a scholar.  Should not be surprised to hear of
+your bearing up to be a judge, or a bishop, or a big-wig of some sort."
+
+"No, no, Dick," I answered; "my only wish is to be a sailor, though I
+own I should like to be a captain some day or other, though, of course,
+I must study to become that."
+
+"No fear of you, if you go on as you have begun," remarked Dick, gazing
+approvingly at me.
+
+We were about the latitude of Madeira, when one morning we sighted a
+ship standing to the south'ard.  As the day drew on, just as we were
+close to her, it fell calm, and she made a signal that she would send
+letters on board us to carry home.  A boat put off from her, and came
+alongside.  The second mate of the ship came on deck with the letters.
+
+"Captain Falconer, of the _Harmony_, begs that you will post these on
+your arrival in England," he said, presenting them to Captain Renton, by
+whose side I was standing.
+
+"Captain Falconer!"  I exclaimed, turning eagerly to my captain.  "May I
+go on board and see him, sir?  I cannot help thinking that he was the
+mate of the _Dolphin_, who saved that young lady from the savages."
+
+Captain Renton at once ordered a boat to be lowered, to carry me on
+board the _Harmony_, letting Dick accompany me.  Dick, who pulled the
+stroke-oar, gave way with a will, for he felt as eager as I was about
+the matter.  We were soon alongside, and without waiting for the mate,
+who commanded the boat, I scrambled on board, followed by Dick.  There,
+to my great delight, I saw Mr Falconer.  He did not recognise me, as
+without ceremony I hurried aft, but when he saw Dick, he started, and
+then looked inquiringly at me.
+
+"What, are you Dick Driver?" he exclaimed, as Dick, not forgetting his
+manners, touched his hat to him.
+
+"Yes, sir.  I am myself, and I am right glad to see you alive and well;
+and this is Charley Laurel, who, may be, you remember."
+
+"Indeed I do," said Mr Falconer, shaking me warmly by the hand, and
+inviting us down in his cabin.  "I feared that you had been both killed
+by the savages."
+
+I briefly narrated how we had escaped, and when I told him that we had
+visited Mr Newton, and left Miss Kitty well, only a few months before,
+I judged by the agitation and interest he showed that she had not
+misplaced her confidence in him.
+
+"I am bound out to the South Seas, where I have hitherto in vain
+attempted to go," he observed.  "As soon as I reached England, I
+obtained a berth on board a ship bound for the Pacific, but she was
+unhappily wrecked not far from Cape Horn.  I, with some of the crew who
+had reached the land, was taken off by a homeward-bound ship, in which I
+returned to England.  I should immediately have again sailed, but
+hearing that my father was ill, I went to visit him.  I had the
+happiness of being reconciled to him before he died, when I found myself
+the possessor of a small fortune.  It is not, however, sufficient to
+enable me to live without a profession, and through the recommendation
+of the late captain of the _Harmony_, which her owners were about to
+send again to the Pacific, I obtained command of her, and trust before
+long of again having the happiness of seeing Miss Raglan."
+
+"I am sure, sir, she will be very glad to see you," I could not help
+saying; and I told him that none of his letters had been received.
+
+Captain Falconer kept me on board all day, and nearly the whole time was
+spent by him in asking me questions, and hearing all I could tell him
+about Miss Kitty.  In the evening, he sent me and Dick back to the
+_Phoebe_ in one of the _Harmony's_ boats.
+
+Next morning a westerly breeze sprang up, and the two ships stood on
+their respective courses.
+
+After this we had a quick run to England, and, arriving in the Thames,
+Captain Renton took me with him to the owners, Messrs. Dear and Ashe, to
+whom he gave an account of my adventures.  Mr Dear, the head of the
+firm, was a mild-looking pleasant old gentleman.  He called me into his
+room, and asked me a number of questions, and then desired Captain
+Renton to send Dick Driver next day up to the office.
+
+"If you can spare the lad, I will take him home with me, as Mrs Dear
+will like to see him," he observed.
+
+"I intended to have taken you to my house, Charley," said Captain
+Renton, as he wished me good-bye, "but I am sure it will be to your
+advantage to accept Mr Dear's invitation."
+
+In the afternoon, I drove out with Mr Dear to his country house, in the
+neighbourhood of London.  It appeared to me a perfect palace.  I had
+never before since I could recollect been in any house larger than Mr
+Newton's cottage.
+
+Mrs Dear, a very kind lady, soon made me feel perfectly at home.
+
+"We are much interested in you, Charley," she said, "and Mr Dear will
+do his best to discover your relations in the West Indies.  In the mean
+time we think you will benefit by going to school."
+
+I was very sorry to leave Captain Renton, but said I was ready to do
+whatever she and Mr Dear thought best.
+
+The next evening, when Mr Dear returned, he said that he could not
+ascertain from Dick Driver the name of the island from which I had been
+taken away.  At the same time he observed: "I conclude that I shall be
+able to learn at the Admiralty what place it was the _Laurel_ and her
+consorts attacked."
+
+I spent a couple of weeks with my new friends before they found a school
+to which I could be sent.  Captain Renton, accompanied by Dick, came out
+to see me.  Dick had agreed to sail again in the _Phoebe_, and promised
+that, on his return, he would not fail to pay me a visit.  He looked
+very downcast.
+
+"We have been together for the best part of ten years, Charley," he
+said, as he wrung my hand, "and if I did not know it was for your good,
+I could not bear the thoughts of parting from you; but you are in kind
+hands, and I know it's better for you to remain on shore, and I am not
+one to stand in your way--I love you too well for that."
+
+The next day Mr Dear drove me down to a large school at Hammersmith.  I
+was introduced to the master, Mr Rushton, a tall gentleman with white
+hair, who looked very well able to keep a number of boys in order, and
+Mr Dear gave him a brief account of my history.
+
+"The lad will do very well," he said, patting me on the head.  "I have
+boys from all parts of the world, and he will soon find himself at home
+among them."
+
+As soon as Mr Dear had gone, Mr Rushton, taking me by the hand, led me
+into the playground, where upwards of a hundred boys were rushing about,
+engaged in all sorts of games.  He shouted "Fenwick," and a boy of my
+own age came up.  He told the boy that he wished him to look after me,
+and teach me the ways of the school.  Having done this, he re-entered
+the house.
+
+As soon as the master was gone, I found myself surrounded by a number of
+boys, who, having examined me from head to foot, began asking me
+questions.
+
+Though I was ignorant of all their games, and had scarcely heard of
+cricket and football, yet I knew a number of things which they did not.
+
+"Who is your father?" asked one fellow.
+
+"I don't know," I replied.
+
+"Who is your mother?" inquired another.
+
+I gave the same answer, whereon there was a general laugh.
+
+"Have you many brothers and sisters?"
+
+"I don't know," I again said.
+
+"Where were you born?"
+
+"That's more than I can tell you," I answered, quite quietly, and so I
+went on.
+
+"I don't think you have got much out of me," I said, at last.  "And now
+I want to know who among you can box the compass?  Can any of you put a
+ship about?  Can some one describe the Marquesas? or tell me where
+Tahiti and the Sandwich Islands are to be found?"
+
+To none of these or similar questions did I receive any replies.
+
+"Now I find that I have not got much out of you, either," I observed,
+"so we are pretty equal.  Now, you might have answered my questions,
+though no one, as far as I know, could have answered those you put to
+me."
+
+"The young fellow has got his wits about him," observed one of the big
+boys; and the others at once seemed inclined to treat me with far more
+respect than at first.
+
+"Now," said I, gaining courage, "I have spent most of my life at sea,
+where we don't play the games you have on shore, but if any of you will
+teach me, I shall be very glad to learn them; and perhaps I may show you
+how to do a number of things you know nothing about."
+
+From that day forward I was never bothered by having questions put to
+me.  I soon managed to get hold of a piece of rope, which had lashed up
+one of the boy's boxes, and began to initiate several who wished to
+learn into the mysteries of knotting and splicing.  Before long a
+carpenter came to do some work, and I got him to make me a pair of
+stilts.  Several of the bigger boys ordered others.  I would not use
+mine till the rest came home.  Many then tried to walk about on them.
+
+"Who are going to try their stilts?"  I asked.
+
+"We want to see you, Laurel, walk on yours," was the answer.
+
+"No, no; you mount on yours first," I said; and most of them tried to
+get up, each with the help of two or three fellows who stood round to
+support them.  I then brought out mine.
+
+"Shall we help you?" inquired three or four of the boys, who by this
+time were my chief friends and supporters.
+
+"Thank you," I said, laughing; while the others who were looking on
+expected to see me bungle as the rest had been doing.  My friends
+collected round me and prepared to help me up.  I did not undeceive
+them, but suddenly jumping on one side I sprang into my stilts.
+
+"Who's for a race?"  I cried out.  "Come along; let us start fair."
+
+We were at one end of the playground, and I began to move backwards and
+forwards, and in and out among the other fellows.  They seemed satisfied
+that I was not going to do much better than they were.  Several who had
+by this time managed to balance themselves, now formed a line.
+
+"Away you go," cried one of the big boys, who expected to see me and the
+rest tumble down on our noses.
+
+Off we started.  In an instant I felt as much at home as I had been when
+making my escape from Motakee's village, and, as might be supposed, away
+I went.  First one of the boys tumbled down, then another, and another,
+while I kept ahead, and, reaching the end of the playground, turned back
+again, to find all my competitors rubbing their arms and knees, only two
+or three having the courage to make an attempt to stand up again on
+their stilts.
+
+"I don't want to laugh at you," I said, as I came back and stalked in
+and out among them, looking down with a complacent air from my lofty
+elevation.  "I ought to have told you, perhaps, that I have had some
+experience in walking on stilts, though, as I had not used them for many
+months, I did not wish to boast beforehand.  You will do as well as I
+can in time."
+
+"I should think you must have had experience," cried out two or three of
+the big fellows; "and probably you can do a good many more things.  We
+shall be on the watch not to be taken in again."
+
+Stilt-walking soon became the rage, though I continued to be far
+superior to all my companions.  They looked up to me in consequence with
+even greater respect than before, and I found my position in the school
+as satisfactory as I could desire.  I was able, consequently, to take
+the part of many of the weaker or less courageous boys who were bullied
+by the rest.  Among others, there was a delicate boy called Henri de
+Villereine, and who, because he spoke with a foreign accent, was
+nicknamed Frenchy.  Though a year or two my senior, he was not nearly so
+strong, and was ill able to defend himself against much smaller boys.
+He seemed a gentle, well-disposed boy, and when others, on my first
+going to school, had attacked me, he had always stood aloof.  Though I
+had not had much conversation with him, I could not bear to see him
+bullied.
+
+One day, when two or three fellows had set upon him, I rushed up to his
+assistance, and, without saying a word, knocked over his assailants one
+after the other.  He gratefully thanked me, and said he was afraid that,
+as soon as my back was turned, the fellows would set on him again.
+
+After this no one ventured to attack Henri de Villereine, and I was the
+means of rendering his life at school far pleasanter, poor fellow! than
+it had been before.  He showed his gratitude by every means in his
+power, and as I liked him for his many amiable qualities, we became fast
+friends.
+
+However, I have not space to give an account of my schoolboy days.  I
+applied myself diligently to my studies, and while I believe that I was
+liked by the boys, I gained credit with the masters, and rose rapidly
+towards the head of the school.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+DICK'S LESSON NOT LOST.
+
+I had been three years at school, and was now almost a man in
+appearance.  Henri had gone to the island of Saint Lucia in the West
+Indies, where his family resided.  I was sorry to lose him, as there was
+no boy in the school I liked so much.  He had made me promise to come
+and see him should I ever be able to do so.  This seemed not impossible,
+as I had not lost my affection for the sea, and Mr Dear had promised to
+send me in one of his ships, should I wish to follow it as a profession.
+I had, indeed, thought of no other.
+
+He had made all the inquiries he could to discover my friends, but
+hitherto unsuccessfully.
+
+I had spent my holidays at his house, when he and his wife treated me as
+kindly as if I had been their son.
+
+The midsummer holidays were approaching.  We had a large cricket-field
+just opposite the house, where one evening we were playing.  I had
+become as good a cricketer as any of the big boys, though I never cared
+very much for that or any other game which seemed to lead to no result.
+I liked it, as it gave exercise to the body, just as I like chess
+because it requires mental exertion.  My side was in, and I had just
+given up my bat, having been caught out, when, as I was going to throw
+myself down on the grass, I saw a sailor-like looking man enter the
+field.  He looked about for some time.  I went towards him and inquired
+what he wanted.
+
+"Can you tell me, sir, if young Charley Laurel is at this school, and
+whereabouts I can find him?" he said, addressing me as a stranger.
+
+The moment he spoke my heart leaped into my mouth, for I recognised my
+faithful friend and protector, Dick Driver.  I could scarcely resist
+throwing my arms round his neck, as I should have done when a little
+boy, but the fancy seized me to try whether he would find out who I was
+when I spoke.
+
+"Charley Laurel, the young monkey.  You don't suppose a big fellow like
+me would take the trouble to be looking after such a little jackanapes;
+but if you care for him, I shall be happy to try and find him out for
+you."
+
+"Care for him?  I should think I do: he has never been out of my head
+all these years I have been away from home.  I brought him up, I may
+say, since he was no higher than my knee, and I love him as if he had
+been my own son."
+
+I had led Dick, as he was speaking, to a shady spot under some tall
+trees on one side of the field, away from the rest of the fellows.
+
+"I am sure you do, Dick; and Charley would be an ungrateful fellow if he
+did not love you from the bottom of his heart," I answered.
+
+Dick looked hard at me as I spoke, then grasping my hands, which I held
+out, he exclaimed:
+
+"Why, as I live, you are Charley yourself!  My dear, dear boy, what has
+come over my eyes, that I should not have known you? and yet, to be sure
+you are grown into a fine big fellow."
+
+I assured Dick that I had known him at once, and begged his pardon for
+the trick I had played him.
+
+We sat down on the grass, and, as may be supposed, had a long yarn
+together.
+
+Dick, as I knew, had sailed again in the _Phoebe_ another voyage to the
+Pacific, and had only just returned.
+
+"To my mind, Charley, it's high time that you should go to sea, if you
+are going at all, or you will never get rid of your land ways--not that
+I have any fear of you now.  The _Phoebe_ is going into dock to receive
+a thorough repair, and I have promised Captain Renton to rejoin him as
+soon as she is ready for sea; and I feel sure, if you apply to the
+owners, they will appoint you.  I set my heart on having you with me,
+and, to tell you the truth, I should not be happy without you.  So just
+you ask them, and they will not say `nay.'"
+
+I told Dick there was nothing I so much wished, and promised at once to
+write and ask Mr Dear.  Dick was greatly pleased.
+
+"The matter is settled then, Charley, and I hope, before many months are
+over, we shall be in blue water together again, and I shall be teaching
+you many of the things which I am afraid all your schooling must have
+made you forget."  As it was a half-holiday, I was able to spend several
+hours with Dick.  We were at length discovered.  The boys gathered round
+us, inquiring who Dick was; and on hearing that he was an old sailor,
+begged him to spin them some of his yarns.  Dick indulged them to their
+hearts' content, and, among other things, narrated some of the early
+events of my life.  At last he was obliged to take his departure, that
+he might catch the evening coach for London.
+
+When the school broke up, I returned to Mr Dear's.  He at once
+questioned me as to my inclinations about a profession; and when I told
+him that I wished to go to sea, he replied, to my great joy, that he
+would make arrangements for my sailing in the _Phoebe_.
+
+I spent several weeks at his house, before she was ready for sea,
+employing my time, at his suggestion, in studying navigation.
+
+On going up to town one day, I found Captain Renton at the office.  He
+cordially welcomed me, and assured Mr Dear that he would do his best to
+make a sailor of me, and to fit me for my duties as an officer.
+
+The _Phoebe_ was, I found, bound out to Sydney, New South Wales.  As she
+was by this time nearly ready for sea, Mr Dear thought it best that I
+should go on board at once and commence my duties.  I found that Dick
+had already joined.
+
+"I hope, Charley, you have not forgotten what you knew before you went
+to school," he observed.  "I have been mortally afraid that the
+book-learning would drive your seamanship out of your head."
+
+"I hope not," I answered; "I feel myself perfectly at home already, but
+I shall be able to judge better when I get to sea."
+
+When Captain Renton left the ship that evening, I thought he looked very
+pale; and the next day the first mate, Mr Gibbs, received a message to
+say that he was too ill to come on board.  Several days passed.  We then
+heard that he was unable to proceed on the voyage, and had given up the
+command to a Captain Slack, who made his appearance the next morning.
+
+"I don't like his name," observed Dick to me, "but he may be a very good
+man for all that: still, to my eye, he is very different to Captain
+Renton, but we shall find out all about him by-and-by."
+
+At length the _Phoebe_ went out of dock down to Gravesend.  Some of her
+passengers had already come on board, the rest here joined us.
+
+We soon found when we got into blue water that Captain Slack was, as
+Dick feared, a very different sort of person from Captain Renton.  We
+had no services on a Sunday, no prayers in the cabin; and, though he had
+appeared quiet enough in harbour, he now swore at the men and abused the
+officers if anything went wrong.  Had Mr Dear known the sort of man he
+was, I feel sure that he would not have given him the command of the
+ship.  The passengers seemed very indifferent to his conduct, as long as
+he did not abuse them, and that he took very good care not to do.
+
+"Charley, I hope you have not forgotten to say your prayers," said Dick
+to me, one day.  "The more ungodly people are around us, the more need
+there seems to me that we should pray to be led aright, and kept from
+joining in their wickedness.  You have got your Bible with you, I hope."
+
+I had, but I had to confess that I had not once looked into it.
+
+"I have not sailed so many years with good Captain Renton, without
+learning his ways, and as I want to be guided by the Bible, I am very
+sure that I must read it every day.  Sometimes I find it a difficult
+job, but I don't mind the other men laughing and jeering at me, as they
+are fond of doing; neither, Charley, will you, if you are wise.  It is
+better to fear God, than poor helpless beings like ourselves.  That's
+what I always say to myself when the others begin to jeer at me."
+
+I promised Dick that I would do as he advised, and that very day when I
+went to my berth, on the half-deck, I got out my Bible and began to read
+it.  I remembered what Captain Renton often said to me, that I must not
+read it like a common book, but that I must earnestly pray to be
+enlightened by God's Holy Spirit while I read it, to understand its
+truths.  I did so, and I then saw that I was an utterly lost sinner,
+and, as far as my own merits were concerned, had no right to claim
+admittance into heaven.  But then I saw also, that by trusting to the
+merits of Christ, and to His perfect and complete sacrifice offered up
+for me, my sins were washed away, and that God would receive me and
+welcome me as a dear son; and that at any moment, should I be called out
+of the world, I should be sure of eternal happiness.  I also learned
+another glorious truth, namely, that Christ the great High Priest, who
+has entered into the Holy of Holies, is now at the right hand of God,
+and having taken my flesh upon Him, knows all my infirmities, and can be
+touched by them, having been tempted as I am, and thus acts as my
+mediator, my intercessor, my advocate; thus washing me daily, hourly,
+every moment, with His blood, from the sins which I commit.  Yet I know
+that every sin grieves and offends Him, and I strive with the aid of His
+Holy Spirit to resist sin, to refrain from sin, and I sorrow heartily
+for the sins of which I know I am guilty.  Yet I live in a constant
+sense of His boundless love and mercy.  I do so now, I did so then.
+This gave me a contentment and joy I had never known before, and I no
+longer feared any danger, nor felt cast down by the annoyances which my
+ungodly shipmates were continually endeavouring to give me.
+
+This knowledge, however, did not come all at once, and many weeks passed
+by before I attained to that happy condition which I am sure all
+Christians ought to enjoy.  I at length spoke to Dick on the subject.
+
+"Of course, Charley," he said, "it's a poor religion to my mind if a man
+does not take God at His word and believe what He says; and He tells us
+that all who believe on His Son have passed from death unto life, have
+entered the kingdom of heaven, and are heirs of eternal happiness.  It
+seems to me all clear sailing when we know that, though Satan is always
+trying to place rocks and quicksands in our way, but when we have got
+the true Pilot aboard, we are sure to keep clear of them, for He can
+make no mistake.  That makes me happy and contented, and afraid of
+nothing except that I should forget to pray for that help, which, if I
+pray, is sure to be sent me."
+
+Dick and I, knowing that we were not to keep our light under a bushel,
+as we had the opportunities, spoke to others, and by degrees several of
+the crew joined us to read the Bible and pray together.
+
+The captain heard of our proceedings, and, declaring that he would have
+no prayers or psalm-singers on board, Dick was summoned aft to answer
+for his conduct.
+
+"I only do what Captain Renton did, sir," he answered, quietly; "and if
+I neglect my duty, I do not ask to be treated with more favour than
+others."
+
+"Just take care what you are about then," answered the captain; "my eye
+will be upon you."
+
+Dick touched his hat respectfully, and without saying anything went
+forward.
+
+I was soon afterwards called up.
+
+"I should have expected, Mr Laurel, that you would have known better
+than to try and upset the discipline of the ship," he observed, in a
+sarcastic tone.  "How can you expect the men to obey me if you try and
+make them suppose that they are better than I am?"
+
+"I am not attempting to do so, Captain Slack," I answered, quietly.
+"The more I read the Bible, the more clearly I see that it is the duty
+of Christians to obey those set in authority over them; and I am very
+sure that those of the crew who follow its precepts will become more
+obedient seamen and more anxious to do their duty than heretofore."
+
+"As to that, I am a better judge than a youngster who has only just left
+school," he observed; "and I warn you, as I warned your friend, to take
+care of what you are about."
+
+As we were only doing what his predecessor had encouraged, the captain
+did not dare to prohibit our meetings, and Dick and I continued as
+before to read our Bibles, and to induce all we could to listen.  The
+third mate and one of the midshipmen, as well as several of the seamen
+and passengers, joined us, though the rest seemed more than ever
+determined to reject the truth, and to go on in their old ways.
+
+As we neared Sydney, the captain resumed his shore-going manners, and
+did his best to make himself agreeable to the passengers.
+
+On a fine morning, soon after daybreak, we entered the magnificent
+harbour of Port Jackson.  As soon as the passengers had landed and the
+cargo was discharged, we had to turn to and prepare the ship for sea, so
+I had little opportunity of visiting the place.  As we had orders to
+clean up the cabins, we knew that we were to take passengers home; and
+having received a cargo of wool, "Blue Peter" was hoisted, as a sign
+that we were ready to sail.  Several passengers immediately came on
+board: among the last was a gentleman, who, by his dress, I knew to be a
+missionary or clergyman, and two ladies who accompanied him.  No sooner
+had the younger lady stepped on deck than I felt sure she was my old
+friend Miss Kitty.  I ran eagerly up to her.  Her surprise was even
+greater than mine, for she did not recollect me.  Her companions were
+Mr and Mrs Newton.  They all expressed their pleasure at seeing me,
+and told me that they had come to Sydney, on their way to England.
+
+Miss Kitty looked very sad.  I was afraid of asking about Captain
+Falconer, fearing that something painful might have occurred connected
+with him.  I waited, hoping to hear his name mentioned.  At length I
+made the inquiry of Mr Newton.
+
+"He has paid us two visits, and is still in these seas, though hoping
+soon to return home," he answered.  "He is as much attached as ever to
+our friend, but he is wisely anxious to secure the comforts of a home
+before he marries; and though she would not have refused to become his
+wife, had he pressed her, still, believing that her father is alive, and
+may return home, she wishes first to obtain his sanction."
+
+With a favourable breeze, the _Phoebe_ soon ran the coast of Australia
+out of sight.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+OVERBOARD.
+
+We had been some weeks at sea.  Captain Slack showed his evil
+disposition by throwing every impediment in the way of Mr Newton when
+he attempted to hold a service on board.  He could not, however, prevent
+him from having prayers in his own cabin, to which I and Dick, and those
+who were willing to come, were invited.  Among them was a half-caste
+lad, called Bill Gennill, of a not over-prepossessing countenance, to
+whom I had spoken.  While others scoffed, he listened, and had before we
+reached Sydney gladly accepted the truth.  This exposed him to the
+sneers, and often to the ill-treatment, of his messmates, though Dick
+and I did our best to protect him.  He expressed his gratitude, and,
+opposing gentleness to brutality, showed every day more and more
+earnestness.  Mr Newton encouraged him to persevere.  Miss Kitty often
+spoke kindly to him, and frequently brought up her Bible, and read such
+portions as he could best understand.
+
+"I think that Bill understands the fundamental truths of the gospel,"
+she said to me: "that being all sinners by nature, and outcasts from
+God, and become again His dear children by simple faith in the glorious
+fact that Christ died, and was punished instead of us, and that our debt
+to God being thus paid, our sins are blotted out of His remembrance, and
+that we being clothed with the righteousness of Christ, we can approach
+boldly the throne of grace, and are made heirs with Him of that kingdom
+which He has gone before to prepare for us.  He knows, too, that, being
+possessed of these privileges, we are called on by the aid of the Holy
+Spirit to try and imitate Christ, to live pure and blameless lives, to
+make His name known to others, and do all the good we can to our
+fellow-creatures, especially to those of the household of faith.  I am
+thankful to find, Charley, that you, too, know these truths, and are not
+ashamed of Christ."
+
+"I have not understood them many months, though I ought to have known
+them long ago," I answered.  "Now that I do know them, I feel that
+nothing is so disgraceful to a Christian as to be ashamed of confessing
+the Master he serves, and therefore it is that Satan is always
+endeavouring to make us conceal our belief in the presence of our
+fellow-men.  I feel how necessary it is to pray for grace for those who
+do not really acknowledge Christ, although they would be very angry if
+told that they were not Christians."
+
+"I found that to be the case in Sydney," said Miss Kitty, "although
+during the time I spent with Mr and Mrs Newton it was a difficulty I
+did not experience.  The poor heathens among whom I lived were sincere;
+they had discovered the worthlessness of their own idols, and felt their
+sinfulness, and, consequently, heard with joy the simple plan of
+salvation which God in His mercy has prepared for man.  In Sydney, I
+found people so well satisfied with their forms and ceremonies, their
+attendance at their churches and chapels, and their almsgiving and moral
+conduct, that they stared when I spoke of the love of Jesus, which
+brought Him down from heaven to suffer for man, and of the utter
+inability of man to save himself; they apparently believing that they
+themselves were doing the work which was to merit salvation, making the
+sacrifice of Christ of no effect.  This, it appears to me, is the belief
+of a large number of nominal Christians, while a still larger number
+live on from day to day without giving a thought to the future, or
+caring whether they are to pass it in glory, or to be cast out for ever
+from the presence of God.  I cannot bear to think that those I know
+should be existing in so dangerous a state without trying to make the
+truth known to them, and urging them to accept salvation while the day
+of grace lasts."
+
+I mention this conversation, because it so exactly describes my own
+feelings, and the state of the greater number of people I have since
+met.
+
+"How earnestly I pray that my dear father may have accepted the truth,"
+continued Miss Kitty.  "I had almost despaired of again seeing him, when
+a sailor, who had been wrecked in the Pacific, made his way to our
+island.  While conversing with the poor man, who was dying, he told me
+that he had been on board an outward-bound ship which had picked up an
+English officer, who had made his escape from a French prison; and I was
+certain, from the name and from the description he gave me, that the
+officer must have been my father.  The ship touched nowhere till she was
+wrecked on some rocks in the Southern Ocean, between the Mauritius and
+Australia.  My father was among those who escaped.  They were rescued by
+a South Sea whaler, which my informant quitted to join another ship,
+leaving him on board.  Where my father was going to he could not tell,
+but concluded that he intended returning home.  Even should he have done
+so, he would have been unable to hear of me, and this makes me anxious
+in the extreme to return home, to try and find him out."
+
+I sympathised with Miss Kitty when she gave me this account, and told
+her how glad I should be to assist her in the search.
+
+Some days after this, one of those furious gales which occasionally blow
+over the usually calm waters of the Pacific came on, and we unexpectedly
+made an island not marked in the charts, to avoid which our course was
+being altered, when a squall laid the ship almost on her beam-ends.
+Throwing off my jacket, that my arms might be perfectly unfettered, I
+sprang aloft with others yet further to shorten sail, when the
+main-topmast and the yard on which I hung were carried away.  The next
+moment I found myself struggling amid the foaming waters.  The ship flew
+on.  To heave-to or lower a boat I knew was impossible.  I gave myself
+up for lost: still I struck out with the instinct of self-preservation.
+The seas dancing wildly around circumscribed my view, and I could only
+just see the masts of the ship as she receded from me.  Several other
+poor fellows I knew had been hove into the sea off the yard with me.
+Though dressed only in a light shirt and trousers, I was nearly
+exhausted.  Had I retained my jacket, I believe that I should have been
+unable to keep myself afloat.  Just then a shout reached my ears, and I
+saw Bill seated astride a piece of timber, not far from me.  With my
+remaining strength I made towards it, and he, seizing me by the shirt,
+hauled me up, and made me fast with some rope attached to the spar.
+
+"Glad to find you, Charley," he said.  "I saw the timber, when I thought
+there was no hope, and got on to it.  Now we must trust that the ship
+will come back to pick us up, or that the wind will drive us to the
+shore, otherwise we shall be badly off."
+
+I thought so too; but having escaped immediate death so wonderfully, I
+could not help hoping that further means would be sent us for preserving
+our lives.
+
+"We must trust in God," I answered.  "It is a happy thing for you and
+me, Bill, that we are ready to go into His presence, knowing that He
+will receive us as loved children."
+
+"Ah, yes, Master Charley, that's what I have been thinking," said Bill.
+"I knew you were on the yard, and the moment I was in the water I prayed
+that He would save you as well as me, and you see He has done so."
+
+We, however, could talk but little; indeed, what we said was uttered in
+disjointed sentences; for the foaming sea kept tossing the log on which
+we sat up and down, so that we could with difficulty hold on to it.  The
+sea-birds kept wildly screaming over our heads, while nothing could be
+seen around us but the foaming, troubled waters.  In vain we looked out
+for the ship.  Evening was coming on, and the gloom increased.  Had it
+not been for the rope, we could not have maintained our hold of the log.
+Each time after a sea had swept over us I looked up, hoping to discover
+the ship, but she was nowhere visible, and even had she been near, the
+increased darkness would have shut her out from our sight.
+
+Hour after hour passed by, and, faint and exhausted, I felt that I could
+not hold on much longer.  Poor Bill seemed in even a worse condition.  I
+could hear his voice every now and then, amid the roaring of the waters,
+uttering a prayer, and I joined him in my heart.  At last I fell into a
+state of almost insensibility, and I knew not how the hours went by.
+Again I aroused myself, and it seemed to me that the night must have
+well-nigh passed by.  At length the roaring sound of the waters
+increased: it was that of a heavy surf breaking on the shore.  Daylight
+appeared.  As the log rose to the summit of the sea, I caught sight of a
+rocky coast close at hand.  In a few minutes more the log might be cast
+on it, but the danger we ran was greater than ever, for if turned over
+and over by the surf, we might be crushed beneath it.  I cast off the
+lashings which bound me, holding on instead tightly to the ropes, and
+urging Bill to do the same.  He did not appear to comprehend me.  I
+stretched out my hand to assist him, and had just succeeded in casting
+loose the rope which held him, when a foaming sea took me, and I was
+carried forward in its embrace towards the shore.  What happened to my
+companion I could not see, for I lost all consciousness.  Confused by
+the roaring and hissing of the waters in my ears, it appeared to me that
+I was lifted up and down, and swept backwards and forwards; then I felt
+my hands and feet touching the shore.  I struggled on.  Another sea came
+hissing up; I dug my hands into the sand ere it passed away.  Exhausted,
+I could exert myself no further.  Had another sea overtaken me, it would
+have carried me helplessly off.
+
+How long I thus remained I know not, when I felt my head lifted from the
+ground, and opening my eyes, I saw an old man with long hair and beard,
+and a benignant expression of countenance, bending over me.  Taking me
+in his arms, he carried me some way from the water, and then again
+placed me on the ground, unable to proceed farther.
+
+"How came you here, lad?" he asked, when he saw that I had sufficiently
+recovered to speak.  "Has your ship been cast away?"
+
+I told him how I had been carried overboard, and inquired whether my
+companion had been saved.
+
+"I have seen no one," he said.  "Indeed, I only just now came down to
+the spot to bathe, as it is one of the few places on the shore free from
+rocks; but I will search for him as soon as you are more recovered."
+
+I begged him to go at once, assuring him that I already felt better.
+
+"I must give you some food first," he said, hurrying away.  He brought
+some fish and yams, which much restored my strength; but when I tried to
+get up and accompany him, I was unable to walk.
+
+He went off with a long pole and a rope in his hand, telling me that I
+might rest without anxiety, as there were neither savages nor wild
+beasts in the island to injure me.
+
+The warm sun soon dried my clothes, and, creeping under the shade of a
+rock, I fell asleep.  I was awoke by hearing voices, and to my great
+joy, on looking up, I saw the old man, accompanied by Bill, who told me
+that he had clung to the timber, which had been drifted some way along
+the shore into a sheltered bay, where it had grounded.  Thence he had
+scrambled over the rocks, and after searching in vain for me, had sat
+down in deep grief, under the idea that I had been lost.
+
+Assisted by Bill, the old man led me to his hut, built against the side
+of rock at the foot of a high hill.  Here he placed before us some more
+food.
+
+"I cannot but welcome you, my lads," he said; "for I have spent three
+weary years in solitude since I was wrecked off this island, I being the
+sole survivor of a whole ship's company.  Though I have constantly been
+on the look-out since then, not a sail has come near enough to see my
+signals--the flag I have hoisted by day, and the beacons I have kept
+burning at night.  When I caught sight of your ship yesterday, I was in
+hopes that she was approaching; but when the gale came on I knew she
+could only do so with great peril, and was thankful when I saw her
+weather the island."
+
+I was glad to know from this that the _Phoebe_ had escaped.
+
+I knew by the tone of voice and manners of the old man that he was a
+gentleman, and, from his expressions, I guessed that he was a naval
+officer; but I felt a delicacy in putting questions to him, though I was
+anxious to learn who he was.
+
+"We must not eat the bread of idleness," I said, when the meal was over.
+"Is there no work you would wish us to do?"
+
+"All you can do now, my lads, is to lie down and rest," he answered,
+smiling.  "When you are recovered, you will have to put up a hut for
+yourselves, and to cultivate some ground, as perhaps you may have to
+remain here as long as I have done."
+
+"We must not go to sleep without thanking God for His great mercy to
+us," said Bill.
+
+I felt rebuked.  Without hesitation, I knelt down with my companion near
+a heap of dried grass and matting, which our host had prepared for us.
+He looked on, slightly astonished, but I heard him utter "Amen" at the
+end of my prayer.
+
+Worn out with fatigue, we slept on till nearly daybreak the following
+morning.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+REUNION.
+
+During the first few weeks we were on the island, Bill and I built
+ourselves a comfortable hut, and planted a plot of ground with roots and
+seeds given to us by our host, several boxes of which, he said, had
+fortunately been washed on shore from the wreck.  Great had been my
+astonishment to find who he was.  I had been narrating my previous
+adventures.  When I came to give him an account of Miss Kitty, I saw
+that he was deeply interested.  He asked me question upon question.  I
+told him of her belief that her father was still alive, and of her
+resolution not to marry till his return home.
+
+"Then, dear boy, I pray more than ever that we may make our escape ere
+long, for I am her long missing father, Lieutenant Raglan.  Misfortune
+has pursued me for many years, but I shall be recompensed by finding my
+child all you describe her."
+
+I had not expected to find her father so old a man, but I discovered
+that care and anxiety had whitened his hair and furrowed his cheeks, and
+that he was not nearly so advanced in years as he had at first appeared.
+
+But I must be brief in my account of our stay on the island.  I have
+not, indeed, many incidents to describe.  We employed our time in
+fishing, searching for birds' egg and turtle eggs, and trapping birds.
+We also found a raft, on which we hoped to be able to push off to any
+vessel which might at length approach the coast.
+
+I did not forget Miss Kitty's earnest wish that her father should be
+brought to a knowledge of the Truth.  This encouraged me to speak to
+him.  I then expressed my regret that we had no Bible, observing what
+comfort it would have afforded us, how impossible it is without it for
+man to know God's laws, and, consequently, to obey them.
+
+"But surely, my young friend, men lead very moral and good lives without
+reading the Bible."
+
+"They owe their knowledge of what is good and moral to the Bible alone,
+sir," I answered.  "They get it secondhand, it is true, just as they get
+their knowledge of God from the Bible, although they may never look into
+it.  Without the Bible we should still be worshipping blocks of stone,
+or creeping things, or the sun and stars.  Without it man would never
+have discovered what God is, or how He desires to be worshipped."
+
+And I then went on, as well as I was able, to speak of God's love to
+man, which induced Him to form His plan of salvation so exactly suited
+to man's wants.
+
+"I am sure, sir," I continued, "God, who formed this beautiful world and
+filled it with wonders, cannot have left us without a revelation of
+Himself, and nowhere else but in the Bible can we find that revelation."
+
+I happily recollected many important passages from the Scriptures, which
+I quoted.
+
+The old officer said he would think over the subject, and I left him in
+his hut, evidently meditating seriously on it.  Day after day he
+introduced it, and now seemed only to take pleasure in talking of it.
+He was surprised to find how much Bill knew, and how clearly he could
+explain himself.
+
+When people have absorbing subjects of conversation the time passes
+rapidly by.
+
+I was one day seated with my new friend in the hut, when Bill rushed in,
+exclaiming:
+
+"A sail in sight! a sail in sight!  She is standing this way!"
+
+We hurried to the top of the hill above the hut.  A large ship was
+approaching the island.  The wind was off shore, the sea calm.  We
+hoisted the flag, and then hastily collecting some provisions, put them
+on our raft, and shoved off, determined to run every risk rather than
+allow her to pass us.  It might have been a hard matter to get back if
+we failed to intercept her.  We had brought a long pole with a flag at
+the end, to attract her attention.  We exerted all our strength to
+paddle off.  The wind was light, but in our favour.  On she stood, as if
+intending to give the island a wide berth.  We had got a considerable
+distance from the land.  Mr Raglan moved the flag to and fro.
+
+"We are seen, we are seen!" he exclaimed, as the ship altered her course
+directly for us.  In a short time she hove-to; a boat was lowered and
+pulled up to us.  We sprang into her.  Questions were eagerly asked as
+to who we were.
+
+"And what ship is yours?" inquired Mr Raglan.
+
+"The _Harmony_, Captain Falconer," was the answer.
+
+I rejoiced to hear this.
+
+We were quickly on deck, and welcomed cordially as strangers by Captain
+Falconer, who did not recognise me.  I lost no time, however, in making
+myself known, and in telling him who Mr Raglan was.  I need not say how
+great was his satisfaction on receiving this information.  He bestowed
+all the care and attention he possibly could on the old officer, and
+treated him as a son would a father.
+
+I had not, while on the island, mentioned Captain Falconer's name to Mr
+Raglan, who had, therefore, no idea that he was his daughter's affianced
+husband.
+
+"I consider your friend one of the finest officers of the merchant
+service I ever met," he said to me, one day.  "A noble fellow.  I can
+never be grateful enough for the attention he shows me."
+
+The _Harmony_ was homeward-bound.
+
+As there was no one to do the duty of third mate, Captain Falconer gave
+me the berth, and much gratified me by saying how well pleased he was
+with the way I performed my work.  The discipline of the ship was
+excellent, favourably contrasting with that of the _Phoebe_.  Captain
+Falconer, following the example of her former commander, had prayers
+every morning and evening in his cabin, and a regular service for the
+men on Sundays, while he had a supply of excellent books for their
+instruction.
+
+Mr Raglan was always ready to enter into conversation on religious
+subjects with the captain, and from the day we got on board he became a
+diligent reader of the Bible.
+
+We had a quick passage to England.  As soon as we reached the Thames,
+Captain Falconer gave me leave to go on shore, that I might visit my
+kind friend Mr Dear, who would, I knew, be under the belief that I had
+been lost.
+
+Mr Raglan accompanied me, as I hoped that Mr Dear would be able to
+inform him where his daughter was residing.  He had left his office when
+we arrived, and we therefore took a coach and drove to his residence.
+We were shown by the servant into the drawing-room, while she went to
+call her master, who was in the garden.  The window was open, and we saw
+him walking along a path, accompanied by two ladies.  He soon came into
+the drawing-room.
+
+"Oh, my dear Laurel!" he exclaimed, in a voice broken by agitation, as
+he took my hands.  "You are as one risen from the dead; we had given you
+up as lost.  My wife will, indeed, be rejoiced to see you; and there is
+another lady here who will be glad to find that you are in the land of
+the living.  Poor girl, when we heard her history we invited her to stay
+here, and positively refused to let her leave us."
+
+He said this before he appeared to notice Mr Raglan.  I felt somewhat
+embarrassed as to what to do, but I thought it best to introduce him
+before Mrs Dear and Miss Kitty came in.
+
+I scarcely knew what effect the sudden announcement that his daughter
+was actually in his sight might have on the old officer.  I resolved, in
+the first instance, simply to tell Mr Dear that his unknown visitor was
+a naval officer, who, having been shipwrecked, had come home in the
+_Harmony_, and then to get him to leave the room with me, that I might
+consult him in private.  I did as I intended.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, sir," exclaimed Mr Dear.  "Pray be seated
+on this sofa, and excuse me: my young friend here has a word or two to
+say to me.  Come along, Charley," and we left the room.
+
+As soon as we were in the passage I told him who the officer was.
+
+"Bless me!" he cried out, "that is extraordinary.  I am, indeed,
+delighted.  Will you go back and tell him that you hope his daughter
+will soon be with him, and then slip out again, and we will prepare Miss
+Kitty.  I want your assistance, for I am afraid I shall be letting the
+truth out too soon."
+
+I felt somewhat nervous, but I managed to break the news to my friend,
+and then, hurrying out.  I joined Mr Dear in the garden.  We found the
+ladies seated in an arbour at the further end.  Miss Kitty, knowing me
+at once, uttered a cry of surprise, and ran forward with outstretched
+hands to meet me.
+
+"I do not believe in ghosts," she said, "or I might have supposed that I
+saw yours.  How did you escape?"
+
+"What, is this Charley Laurel?" cried Mrs Dear, giving me a kind
+welcome, before I could answer Miss Kitty's question, which she herself
+repeated.
+
+I soon told them, and this gave me an opportunity of mentioning the
+shipwrecked officer who had saved my life.  I went on describing him,
+keeping my eyes fixed on Miss Kitty's face, till she exclaimed suddenly:
+
+"Oh, Charley, tell me; is he not my father?  And you say he came home
+with you?"
+
+"Yes," I answered; "and he is even now waiting to see you."
+
+"Oh, take me to him! take me to him!" she cried out.
+
+Mr and Mrs Dear accompanied her to the house, and, leading her to the
+drawing-room door, left her with her long-lost parent.
+
+I need scarcely say that Captain Falconer next day made his appearance
+at the house, and before he went away Mr Raglan gladly accepted him as
+a son-in-law.
+
+I was glad to find that Captain Renton was again to take command of the
+_Phoebe_, though I should have preferred sailing with Captain Falconer.
+He, however, it had been arranged, in consequence of his marriage,
+should remain on shore for a year or two, to superintend the fitting out
+of Messrs. Dear and Ashe's ships.
+
+I made two voyages in the _Phoebe_, and returned on the last as her
+first mate.  So high a character did Captain Renton give me, that my
+employers promised me the command of a ship they were about to despatch
+to the West Indies.  I passed the short time I was able to spend on
+shore in visiting Mr Dear and Captain and Mrs Falconer, with whom
+Captain Raglan, for I was glad to find he was promoted, resided.
+
+My ship, the _Ellen_, was at length ready for sea.  I felt as proud as I
+suppose most young officers do, when they first assume the command of a
+fine vessel; and as I surveyed the _Ellen_, I was satisfied that she was
+all I could desire.
+
+"You need not be jealous of Falconer," said Mr Dear, who accompanied me
+on board.  "You have now got a wife of your own, and I hope she will
+prove true and faithful."
+
+Being allowed three mates, I offered the berth of third mate to Dick,
+who, though no navigator, was as good a seaman as I could desire to have
+under me.
+
+"I am obliged to you, Captain Laurel, but I am afraid I ha'n't make much
+of a hand of the quadrant, or managing those chronometer affairs," he
+answered, modestly; "though I know the stars pretty well, and can dot
+down what is wanted in the log."
+
+"I won't trouble you about that," I said; "you can manage the men, which
+is more important.  We have a rough lot, I fear."
+
+Dick without farther ado accepted the appointment.
+
+We were bound, in the first instance, for Barbadoes, but expected to
+visit other islands on our return.  We had a fine run across the
+Atlantic.  Though at first I felt a little strange, sitting in dignified
+solitude in my cabin, I soon got accustomed to it.
+
+The first and second mates were sensible fellows, and learned to esteem
+Dick for his excellent qualities.  He managed the men admirably, and got
+more work out of them than they could, so that all things went smoothly.
+He did not abuse them for swearing or coarse language, but, by bringing
+out his Bible, he got them to listen; and then, pointing to God's Word,
+asked them whether such and such things could be right in His sight.
+Thus by degrees they were induced to give up a habit which had become
+with most of them a second nature.
+
+We had just made the north end of the Caribbean Islands soon after
+daylight, and were going about, to beat up to our port, as the wind was
+against us, when the look-out at the mast-head caught sight of a large
+ship which appeared to be on shore on a reef.  Her sails were furled,
+and she was heeling over greatly.  I accordingly stood on, to render her
+any assistance she might require.  As we drew near her, we saw that she
+was, indeed, hard and fast, while a heavy sea broke on the reef and
+threatened her with destruction.  Through my glass I could see that the
+crew were employed in lowering the yards, probably for the purpose of
+building a raft.  I, ordering the first mate to stand off the land,
+lowered two boats.  I took the command of one, and Dick of the other,
+and we pulled towards the wreck.  The tide was rising, and as we got
+near we saw that the breakers were dashing with increasing fury against
+the ship.  A boat crowded with people had got away on the lee side
+towards the land, and another, attempting to follow her example, was
+swamped, and we feared that all the people in her were lost.  To
+approach on the weather side was impossible.  I therefore directed Dick
+to follow me, and pulled away to the south'ard, hoping to get round it,
+as I did not believe that it extended many miles in that direction.  We
+had, however, a long pull, and by the time we got into comparatively
+smooth water, having passed round the southern end of the reef, I was
+afraid that the fate of those on board must be sealed.  When we again
+made out the ship, I feared that my worst anticipations had been
+fulfilled, for the sea broke completely over her.  Her masts were gone
+and her upper works washed away.  I got as near as I could, but could
+distinguish no human being on board.  Her crew must either have been
+carried away by the sea, or made their escape in the boats, or on the
+raft they were forming, if, as I doubted, they had had time to finish
+it.  Away to the westward rose a rocky island, which, from its
+appearance, I guessed was uninhabited, and I thought that in all
+probability any who had escaped would attempt to effect a landing on it.
+As in their hurry they were not likely to have carried either
+provisions or water, I determined to pull to the island, to relieve any
+of the people who might have reached it.  As we drew near, I saw that
+the sea was breaking heavily on the weather shore, but I had no doubt of
+being able to land on the lee side.  We had a long pull before us; but
+the men exerted themselves, and I still hoped to get back to the ship
+before night closed in.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+EMILIE.
+
+On landing on the lee side of the island, I climbed to a high point near
+at hand, whence I could take a glance over the sea to the westward, but
+could discover no sign of either raft or boats, and therefore concluded
+that they must have been cast on the weather side; and if so, from the
+heavy surf which broke against it, I feared few could have scaped it.
+
+However, with Dick and several of the men, I pushed across, carrying
+ropes and boat-hooks and some of the oars, to try and save any who might
+be clinging to the neighbouring rocks.  We had not got far when I heard
+a voice hailing, and we caught sight of a man on the top of a rock in
+the centre of the island, waving to us.  "Make haste! make haste!" he
+shouted, "or you will be too late."  The stranger hurried down the rock,
+and we followed him.
+
+In a few minutes we again caught sight of the sea on the east side of
+the island.  As we were climbing over the rough ground, I saw that a
+reef extended some distance from the mainland, with wild rocks rising
+out of it above the foaming waters.  Midway between them and the land
+was a large boat, surrounded by people, some on the reef, others
+clinging to the boat; while several were at that moment being carried
+away by the sea, which, sweeping round the rocks, beat with violence
+against the shattered boat.  The men with frantic efforts were
+attempting to drag her up farther on the reef, as the only hope of
+saving their lives.  Now one poor fellow, now another, was washed away,
+as the sea swept round over the reef with ever-increasing force.  We
+were hurrying down the rocks, when I saw just below us a young lady, for
+I could not doubt, from her appearance, that she was such.  She had been
+gazing at the dreadful spectacle, and apparently unable to witness it
+longer, she sank on the rock, pressing her hand on her eyes, to shut it
+out.  At this moment we were joined by the stranger who had called to
+us.
+
+"I caught sight of your boat coming towards the island, and was hurrying
+across, to entreat you to try what you could do to assist our friends,"
+he said.  "Help is at hand, Emilie; they may still be saved," he
+exclaimed, as he made his way to where the young lady was seated.
+
+We got as close to the people as the sea would allow us.
+
+"Hold on to the rope," cried Dick, securing the end round his waist.  "I
+will swim out, and make it fast to the boat."
+
+Fearlessly he plunged into the boiling surf, but was soon carried down
+far below the boat, and we hauled him back, not without great risk of
+his being dashed against the rocks.
+
+"I will try it again, and start higher up the shore," he exclaimed,
+still undaunted.
+
+"Let me go," cried the young stranger; "they are my friends, and I ought
+to run the risk."
+
+"If I cannot manage it, you shall go the next time," answered Dick, once
+more plunging into the water.
+
+He swam on directly across the boiling current, which swept him down
+towards the boat.  He had very nearly gained a footing on the rocks,
+when once more he was carried down, and we hauled him back, utterly
+exhausted.  His bravery had encouraged the rest of the men, several of
+whom begged that I would allow them to make the attempt.
+
+"I said that I would go next," exclaimed the young stranger, fastening
+the rope round his waist, and, before I could stop him, he plunged into
+the water.  He buffeted the waves bravely, but his strength was not
+equal to the undertaking.  I trusted that, notwithstanding his light
+figure and delicate appearance, he would succeed.  Every moment was
+precious, for one after the other the people were being carried away
+before our eyes, without our having the means of saving them.  He had
+already got a footing on the reef.  Just as some of the men were making
+their way towards him, and he had nearly got up to the boat, a sea
+lifted him off his feet, and he and those who were near him were swept
+away.  My men and I hauled in the rope, but, unable to guide himself, he
+was dashed with violence against the rocks, and when we drew him on
+shore, he was almost insensible.
+
+"Oh, my poor, poor brother!" exclaimed the young lady, who knelt down by
+his side.  "Can nothing be done for him?"
+
+"He will, I trust, recover," I said, "though I fear he is greatly
+injured.  But we must make another attempt to help the poor people on
+the rock."
+
+"Oh, do so, brave men!" she said, looking up with an imploring glance,
+her thoughts being evidently divided between her brother and those he
+had attempted to rescue.
+
+Dick was preparing again to make the attempt.  This time he fastened two
+oars under his arms, with a boat-hook lashed across them, and, supported
+by this simple sort of catamaran, he at length, by great exertions,
+reached the rocks, and secured the rope to the bow of the boat, round
+which the survivors were clinging.  Among them were two females.
+Securing one of them to himself by means of a spare piece of rope, and
+pushing back some of the men, who were attempting to reach the shore by
+the rope, he began to make his way along it, resting on the oars.  Every
+instant I dreaded to see him and his burden carried away, but he landed
+in safety, and we placed the almost senseless lady by the side of her
+friends.
+
+We had fortunately brought a second coil of lighter rope.  As I saw that
+Dick was exhausted I determined to go myself, and, making the rope fast
+round my waist, I hauled myself across, as Dick had done, though, from
+the difficulty I had to hold on, I judged of the danger he had gone
+through.
+
+As the tide was still rising, I knew that the boat and all clinging to
+her must shortly be washed off the rock.
+
+The youngest female was still safe.  I secured her to my back, following
+Dick's example, and began hauling myself across, though every moment I
+expected to be washed away.  As soon as she landed, she threw herself
+into the arms of the young lady whom we had first seen, and, from their
+likeness, I judged that they were sisters.  I was about to return, when
+I saw one of the men making his way across by the rope, and that others
+were preparing to follow, not waiting for the assistance which the oars
+might afford them.
+
+"Oh, my father, my father, is he not coming!" exclaimed the young lady I
+had brought on shore.
+
+I had observed among the people on the rock a gentleman who had
+committed the young lady to my charge.
+
+"I will try and save him!"  I exclaimed.
+
+At that moment loud shrieks were heard, for the sea had lifted the boat
+and swept her and all clinging to her off the rock.  The rope still
+held, and my men hauled on it with right good-will.  The other rope was
+still round my waist.  I plunged into the water, and swam towards the
+boat.  I caught sight of the gentleman just at the moment that he had
+been forced from his hold.  In another instant he would have been
+carried away, when, grasping him tightly, I shouted to my men to haul me
+in.  Almost exhausted, I was drawn on shore with the person I had
+rescued.  Of the rest, three were thrown on the rocks, one of whom was
+carried away before he could make good his footing, while the remainder
+were swept out to sea.  Besides the two we had first seen, only eight
+were saved.  The sorrow exhibited by the ladies and the old gentleman
+when they saw how severely injured the young man had been in his effort
+to help them, made me suppose that they were relatives.
+
+"Oh, Henri, Henri!" they murmured, bending over him.
+
+Their accent and the last words they uttered showed me that they were
+French.
+
+The young man opened his eyes and tried to smile, as if to reassure
+them.
+
+"I am not so very much hurt," he answered, in a low voice.
+
+Just then I was sure I knew the expression of his countenance; his eyes,
+too, glanced at my face.
+
+"Are you not Frenchy?"  I asked, "My old friend Henri de Villereine?"
+
+"Yes, Charley.  I thought I knew you," he answered.  "Thank you, thank
+you, for what you have done!"
+
+His companions looked at me with surprise.  "I am an old schoolfellow,"
+I said; "and I am doubly thankful that I have been the means of helping
+those belonging to him."
+
+There was, however, no time for conversation or explanation beyond this.
+Having formed two rough litters with our oars and ropes, we placed my
+old schoolfellow on one and the elder lady on the other, while I and the
+other gentleman assisting the young ladies, we proceeded back to the
+boats.  The provisions we had brought somewhat restored all the party.
+
+The evening was approaching, and when I looked out for the ship I could
+but just distinguish her topsails above the horizon.  We had a long pull
+before us, and I feared we should not reach her before dark, and, if so,
+we might have to spend the night tossed about on the stormy sea.  I
+cheered my men, and they did their utmost.  Dick had taken the seamen in
+his boat, and I had the passengers in mine.  They were much cast down at
+the loss of their companions and the horrors they had gone through.
+
+I found that the young lady who had at first landed was Henri's sister;
+the other I had saved was Sophie, his cousin; and the old lady and
+gentleman her father and mother.  Thus the whole of one family had been
+saved, but several other passengers, men, and women, and children on
+board, had lost their lives.
+
+They belonged, they told me, to the island of Saint Lucia, and were on
+their way to pay a visit to England, which neither of the young ladies
+had seen.
+
+Emilie was an intelligent, interesting-looking girl, and appeared much
+attached to her brother, by whose side she sat, trying to support him in
+as comfortable a position as could be arranged in the stern-sheets.  I
+was, however, more struck by the gentle and sweet look of Sophie, whose
+features also were decidedly prettier than those of her cousin, though
+few girls under the circumstances could have looked attractive; and it
+may seem strange that I should have thought about the matter, but I had
+saved her life, and naturally felt an interest in her.  Henri, I
+observed every now and then, gazed at her when he could lift up his
+head, but she turned away her eyes, as if unwilling to meet his, and
+then he sank back with a sigh.
+
+While we pulled southward inside the reef, although the sea was somewhat
+heavy, it was much smoother than outside, and I feared that we might
+have some difficulty in getting our passengers on board.  I had
+fortunately brought a musket and powder-flask, with some blue lights,
+from the ship.  The sun set before we reached the southern end of the
+reef, and we had barely light sufficient to steer with any degree of
+safety round it.  At length, however, I judged that I might venture to
+do so, and we commenced our pull out to sea.  The waves broke with a
+loud roar on the rocks close to us, and I could distinguish the surf
+rising up like a white wall as we made our way to the westward.  I was
+thankful when I saw it well over the quarter.  My men exerted themselves
+bravely.  As soon as we had got to a sufficient distance from the reef,
+I fired the musket and let off a blue light.  There was no answer from
+the ship.  We pulled out still farther, and in half an hour made another
+signal.  My relief was great when, about as I judged a mile away, a blue
+light burst forth from the ship, showing clearly her rigging and sails
+as she bore down towards us.
+
+Scarcely an expression of anxiety or alarm had escaped my new friends,
+although to them the foaming seas, as we made our way over them that
+dark night, must have appeared truly terrible.
+
+In a short time the ship appeared like a phantom moving over the ocean.
+I let off another blue light, to show our position.  She hove-to, and we
+pulled up under her lee.  As we approached, I ordered a chair to be
+slung, to hoist our passengers on board.  The operation would be a
+dangerous one.
+
+By the time we were alongside the chair was ready, with lanterns let
+down on either side of it.  The old lady was first sent up, and then his
+sister and cousin entreated that Henri might go.  I secured him in the
+chair, for he had not strength to hold on.  He groaned as I did so, the
+boat all the time rising and falling, and there was a risk that, before
+he could be hoisted clear of her, she might be lifted up and strike the
+chair.  This risk, indeed, was run by all the party.  I was anxious to
+get the old gentleman to take his seat next, as I knew that I could with
+greater ease carry the lighter forms of the young ladies up in my arms.
+Henri was lifted on deck, and then, almost by main force, I placed
+Monsieur de Villereine in the chair.  As soon as I saw him swinging well
+out of the way of the boat, taking Sophie round the waist, and telling
+my coxswain to follow with her cousin, I sprang up the side.  It was
+well that I did so, for at that moment, a sea surging round almost stove
+in the boat and half filled her with water; but the men were ready, and,
+hooking on, the falls were let down, and the boat was hoisted up in time
+to save her being completely knocked to pieces.  The party in Dick's
+boat took but a short time in getting on board, and she also was quickly
+hoisted up.
+
+While the ship stood off the land, I went down to the cabin to attend to
+my passengers.
+
+I fortunately had plenty of berths.  The steward set to work to get them
+ready, and the cook meantime was busy in preparing hot soup and
+arrowroot, and other things which he thought might conduce to the
+comfort of my unexpected guests.  Having served in passenger ships, I
+was at no loss what to do, and the mates and I turning out our
+wardrobes, supplied clothing which might serve while that of the party
+was washed in fresh water and dried.
+
+The night was stormy, and I was obliged constantly to be on deck, but
+whenever I went below, I visited poor Henri, who was suffering much.  I
+did all I could to relieve him, and directed my steward, who was a
+trustworthy man, to remain by his side during my absence.
+
+The next day the weather moderated, and I was thankful to find the rest
+of the party greatly recovered.  They all expressed their gratitude to
+me for the attention I paid to their relative.
+
+"You forget," I answered, "that he is an old schoolfellow, and that I
+have the greatest satisfaction possible in being of service to him."
+
+"Ah, you must be the friend then of whom he has often spoken to us, who
+was so kind to him at school," observed Emilie.  "We have so longed to
+see you, to return the kindness you showed him when he was a boy, and we
+hope to do so, as he said you promised to pay us a visit should you ever
+come to the West Indies."
+
+I replied that I should be very glad to avail myself of the invitation
+he had given me, could I manage to do go, but that I feared my duty
+would not allow me to leave the ship on that voyage.
+
+Henri appeared to get much better during the day.  While I sat by him,
+he repeated the invitation his sister had given me, and entreated me to
+visit them, saying, his father and mother, he was sure, would be most
+anxious to see me.
+
+None of the rest of the party suffered much from the exposure and alarm
+to which they had been subjected.
+
+Within a week we were safely at anchor in Carlisle Bay, on the shore of
+which, Bridgetown, the capital of the beautiful island of Barbadoes, is
+situated.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+A HURRICANE.
+
+As soon as the anchor was dropped and the sails furled, I conveyed my
+passengers on shore, that I might see them comfortably lodged as soon as
+possible.  I had offered to supply them with funds, but Monsieur de
+Villereine, thanking me cordially, assured me that he was well known to
+several merchants in Bridgetown, and that he should have no difficulty
+in obtaining money.
+
+"I should be very thankful, however, if you could convey us to Saint
+Lucia, as we should prefer sailing in your ship to any other," he
+observed; "and as I am well known to your consignees, I may, perhaps,
+arrange the matter with them."  I of course replied that I should be
+truly glad if this could be done, though I could not venture on my own
+responsibility to go there.
+
+"Oh, but my uncle will easily manage it," observed Emilie, "so we will
+consider it settled.  I should not like to trust my dear brother on
+board any other ship."
+
+Sophie seemed inclined to speak, but hesitated: though the glance she
+gave me, I fancied, showed that she hoped I would not decline.
+
+"Oh, you must come, Laurel," said Henri.  "My father will, I am sure, be
+glad to pay any expenses of extra insurance and that sort of thing, so
+that the interest of your owners will not suffer."
+
+Having seen my friends lodged at a comfortable hotel, I had to return on
+board to attend to my duties connected with the ship.
+
+I lost no time in discharging my cargo, and was not sorry to find that
+there would be some delay before the sugar and other produce I was to
+receive in return would be ready.
+
+I of course visited my friends every day, to see how poor Henri was
+getting on, and spent as much time with him as I could.  They insisted
+as regularly on my remaining to dine and spend the evening.  Every day
+that I saw the young ladies, I liked them better, and confessed to
+myself that I had begun to feel more than an ordinary interest for
+Sophie.  Her eyes brightened when I entered, and her manner towards me
+was so gentle and so confiding, that I could not help fancying that the
+feelings I had for her were returned.  Then I began to ask myself the
+question, Have I, with the precarious profession I have to depend on,
+without a name or family, with only one friend able to assist me, any
+right to attempt to win the affections of a young girl accustomed to all
+the luxuries of a rich planter's establishment? or is it indeed likely
+that her father would allow her to marry a person situated as I am?
+These and similar thoughts occupied my mind; and I determined, the next
+time I went to the house, to be very cautious in my manner, and, only
+paying such attentions to her and her cousin as common courtesy
+demanded, to devote myself rather to her uncle and aunt, or to Henri,
+who had now sufficiently recovered to be able to join the party in the
+drawing-room.
+
+The next day, however, when I went to call on the merchants to whom the
+_Ellen_ was consigned, they inquired whether I should have any objection
+to carry Monsieur de Villereine and his family to Saint Lucia.
+
+"He has made the necessary arrangements with us, so that, if the ship is
+ready, you can sail the day after to-morrow."
+
+I tried to look unconcerned, and replied that I should be very glad to
+do anything to accommodate them.
+
+"We will consider the matter settled then," was the answer; "you can get
+ready for sea."
+
+I own that I had had my cabins burnished up, and had procured a new
+dinner and tea service, while I directed the mates to get the ship in as
+trim order as possible.  As soon as the cargo was discharged, the
+painters had been busy in all directions about her; while Dick, who
+suspected the truth, got the decks holy-stoned and scrubbed till they
+looked almost as white as snow.
+
+All things were ready by the day I had been directed to sail, and early
+in the forenoon I went on shore to escort my passengers on board.  They
+too were in very different guise to that when they came on board after
+their shipwreck.  Sophie looked more sweet and lovely than ever, in the
+light costume which the heat of the climate required, while Emilie was
+cheerful and full of conversation, doing her utmost to keep up her
+brother's spirits.  I was sorry to see less improvement in him than I
+had hoped.  He looked pale and ill, though he declared that he had
+recovered from the injuries he had received when dashed against the
+rocks.
+
+The weather was fine, and I did not expect to be long in running across
+to Saint Lucia, which is one of the nearest islands in the Caribbean Sea
+to Barbadoes.  The wind, however, headed us soon after we got clear of
+the land, and a few hours afterwards it fell a dead calm, and we lay
+immovable on the glass-like sea.  I cannot say that for my own sake I
+specially regretted this, though, knowing the wishes of my friends, I
+felt anxious to make the shortest possible passage.
+
+I had an awning rigged, so that the ladies could spend the day on deck,
+where they sat busy with their needles; for, unlike the Creoles
+generally, they were evidently good housewives.
+
+"As you may suppose, Captain Laurel, having lost all our things, we have
+plenty of work before us to make fresh ones," observed Emilie, laughing.
+"Though as we intended to get rigged out, as you would call it, in
+Paris, fortunately our loss was not so severe as it would have been on
+our homeward voyage.  Ah, but I am wrong to talk so lightly, when I
+speak of that terrible event.  Still, you understand, that we fancy we
+can make our own things better than anybody else can make them for us,
+and therefore you must not expect to find us sitting, like other young
+ladies, with our hands before us."
+
+Sophie, however, was not so diligent as her cousin, and did not object
+to come to the side of the ship, and watch the strange creatures of the
+deep as they swam or floated by.  When night came on, and the stars
+shone forth from the clear sky, each reflected in the deep as in a
+mirror, she stood with me while I told her their names.  I was scarcely
+aware how time had passed by, when I heard Monsieur de Villereine's
+voice summoning his niece, and telling her that it was time for her to
+retire to her cabin.
+
+I was never addicted to whistling for a wind, and certainly should not
+have done so on that occasion.  A breeze, however, came at last, and the
+_Ellen_ gliding swiftly over the calm sea, we came in sight of that most
+beautiful and picturesque island of Saint Lucia.
+
+Two lofty heights of a sugar-loaf form, shooting up from the sea, and
+feathered from base to summit with the richest foliage, were the first
+objects which attracted our attention.  Beyond these rose a range of
+mountains, running north and south through the island, and broken into
+the most fantastic shapes.  As we sailed along the shore, having the
+mountains still as the background, here and there appeared the most
+lovely little caves and bays, fringed with luxuriant cane-fields, and
+enlivened by the neatly laid-out mansions of the planters; while
+numerous fishing and passage boats, with their long light masts and
+lateen sails, were gliding over the calm waters.
+
+"I used to tell you, Laurel, that our island was one of the most
+beautiful in the world--don't you think so?" said Henri, as, while
+standing near his sister and cousin, I was watching the shore, and every
+now and then addressing them.
+
+"Indeed it is.  I am not surprised that you are so fond of it, and,
+could I leave the sea, I should be content to spend my days there," I
+answered, speaking as I felt.
+
+"Oh, do," exclaimed Henri.  "Come and turn planter; we can give you
+plenty of occupation, and my health as been so bad lately, that I should
+be glad if you could take my place."
+
+"I am afraid that, having lived so little on shore, I should make but a
+poor farmer," I answered, laughing.
+
+Sophie looked up at me, and remarked: "The difficulties to be overcome
+are not very great, I suspect, and I am sure you would soon learn all
+that is necessary."
+
+"The proposal is indeed a tempting one," I answered; "and yet I love the
+sea, and should be sorry to abandon it."
+
+"Oh, you can take an occasional trip to England," observed Henri.  "Have
+a ship of your own, and just make a voyage when you get tired of the
+shore."
+
+Our conversation was interrupted by a shift of wind, which compelled me
+to issue orders for trimming sails.
+
+The steward then announced luncheon, and I remained some time on deck
+after my passengers had gone below.
+
+I had observed Dick, who did not often trouble himself about scenery,
+watching the coast with more than usual interest.
+
+"Do you know, captain," he said, coming up to me, "I have a notion that
+I have seen this island before.  The look of the coast is very like that
+we sailed along when I was aboard the _Laurel_, before I picked you up.
+I shall be able to tell better when we come off the harbour, for then I
+think I should be sure to know the place again.  It will be strange if
+it should turn out that I am right in my idea, and if so, I would advise
+you to make inquiries, and learn if any of the families on shore about
+that time lost a little boy in the way you were lost.  Maybe, as the
+newspapers say, you will hear of something to your advantage; and if you
+don't, why you won't be worse off than you are now, and you may be very
+sure that as long as Dick Driver lives, you have got a friend who will
+stick to you, blow high or blow low."
+
+"I am sure you will, Dick," I answered.  "Though perhaps, as many years
+have passed by since you were last on these seas, you may be mistaken as
+to the island."
+
+Yet, although I said this, I could not help allowing strange hopes and
+fears to agitate my bosom.  I might discover my parents, or they might
+be dead, and their successors might be unwilling to acknowledge a
+stranger coming among them.  I could scarcely calm myself sufficiently
+to go into the cabin.  I determined, however, to say nothing about
+Dick's remarks, but to try and overcome all the hopes which I found
+rising within me.  I apologised for being late to luncheon, on the plea
+of being detained on deck by duty, and did my best to perform the
+honours of the table and try to converse in my usual manner.  The ladies
+were eager to know when I thought we should get in.
+
+"The wind is so light that I do not expect to enter the harbour till
+to-morrow morning," I replied.  "I cannot pretend to regret this, as I
+know my stay will be very short, and it will defer the time when I must
+bid you farewell."
+
+Sophie looked up at me, and a shade of sadness passed over her sweet
+countenance.  I could not be mistaken.  I interpreted her feelings by my
+own, and just then I would have given a great deal to have had a proper
+excuse for remaining at Saint Lucia.
+
+Night came on, and the _Ellen_ floated calmly on the moonlit sea.
+Emilie had insisted on Henri going below, afraid of his being exposed to
+the night-air: indeed, the trying cough from which he suffered showed
+how necessary it was that all care should be taken of him.
+
+Sophie still lingered on deck.  I invited her to come to the side and
+watch the moonbeams playing on the waters.
+
+"I know what sailors have to go through," she observed, "but yet I fancy
+the enjoyments of a night like this must almost recompense them for the
+tempest and rough seas they have to endure."
+
+"We get so well accustomed to both one and the other.  Though
+acknowledging the beauty of the ocean under all its various phases,
+whether sleeping as now under the beams of the pale moon, or glowing in
+the rays of the ruddy sun, we value them less, I fear, than those who
+only occasionally venture on the world of waters," I remarked.
+
+"Oh, but I am sure I could never look with indifference on such a scene
+as this," said Sophie, "and should be content to make voyage after
+voyage to witness it."
+
+However, I do not feel disposed to say what else we talked about.  I was
+young, and said what I certainly did not intend to say.  I told Sophie
+that I loved her, and would never marry any one else.  She did not
+withdraw her hand, and, whispering that I had made her very happy,
+promised that she would be faithful to me, and that she did not suppose
+her father and mother would object to me, especially as I was the friend
+of her cousin.
+
+The time flew by faster than I supposed, as we thus stood talking; Dick,
+who had charge of the deck, keeping at a judicious distance.
+
+Suddenly the light on the water disappeared, a cloud had obscured the
+moon; again the light shone forth, and again was shut out; still no wind
+filled our sails.  I knew, however, that it might come ere long.  Sophie
+still lingered by my side.  Hitherto the ocean had slept in silence.
+Suddenly a rushing murmuring sound fell on my ear.
+
+"Hands aloft, and shorten sail!"  I shouted.  There was not a moment to
+be lost.
+
+"Go below, I entreat you," I said, leading Sophie to the
+companion-hatch.
+
+"Oh, what is going to happen?" she asked, in an anxious tone.
+
+"A hurricane is, I fear, upon us," I answered, "and you will be safer
+below."
+
+She no longer hesitated, and her father, aroused by my voice, happily
+came to assist her down.
+
+"Turn the hands up!"  I shouted to Dick, who hurried forward to rouse up
+the watch below.
+
+In less than a minute the other mates and the rest of the crew were on
+deck.  Courses were hauled up, topgallant sheets were let fly, topsails
+lowered.  The crew had sprung aloft.  The fore-topsail was hauled, but
+before the men were off the yards, the hurricane was down upon us.  Over
+the ship heeled.  In an instant the topgallantsails were blown to
+ribbons.
+
+"Down, for your lives, down!"  I shouted.  No human power could have
+handled the canvas now, with wild roars lashing furiously in the wind.
+The main and mizen-topsails were blown out of the bolt-ropes, and soon
+with innumerable coils encircled the yards.  The ship, relieved of the
+pressure of the sails, righted.  Happily the wind was off the land, or
+in a few minutes she would have been driven on shore.  Still there was
+the danger of it shifting; I therefore put the helm up, and ran off
+before the wind.  Every instant the sea rose, and as she got farther and
+farther from the land, she began to pitch and tumble wildly about.  Dick
+and several hands, going aloft with axes, at length cleared the
+topgallant yards, and we got them down on deck, and struck the gallant
+masts.  Getting the main-topsail set, a lull occurring, I was able to
+heave her to.
+
+Not till then could I venture to leave the deck.  On entering the cabin,
+I found my passengers clinging to the sofas.  By the light which swung
+to and fro in the centre, I saw that they all looked pale and alarmed,
+expecting again to have to encounter the fearful dangers from which they
+had lately escaped.  I did my best to reassure them, by expressing my
+hopes that the hurricane would soon cease, and that, God protecting us,
+we might be able to enter port.
+
+"Oh, then I have no fear," exclaimed Sophie; and raising her head, she
+did her best to impart the same confidence she felt to her companions.
+
+Not knowing, however, what might occur, I was compelled again to return
+quickly to the deck.  The gale howled and whistled through the rigging,
+the waves roared, and the sea, as it rose in wild billows around, every
+now and then broke on board, threatening to sweep our decks clear of all
+upon them.  The lightning, darting from the clouds in vivid flashes,
+played around our masts.  At any instant the electric fluid might, I
+knew full well, come hissing down on deck, and set the ship on fire.
+Should also the wind shift, we should lose more of our sails, and might
+be driven before daylight helplessly on shore.
+
+It was a very anxious time; for I felt that I had not only the ship to
+look after, but her whom I loved more than my life, and those dear to
+her, under my charge.
+
+Still the confidence in God's protecting care which has cheered me
+through life supported me on that trying occasion.  I knew too that it
+was enjoyed by my friends; for, from the conversations I had had with
+them, I had discovered that they possessed the same faith as I did, and
+though, from living among those who differed from them, they did not
+speak in public on religious subjects, they made the precepts of the
+Bible the rule of their lives.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+A HAPPY DISCOVERY.
+
+Morning broke at length.  How different was the appearance of the ocean
+to that it had presented the previous day!  The dark-green foam-topped
+waves danced up wildly, the sky was of a murky hue, the wind roared and
+whistled as loudly as before, and the ship, instead of gliding on with
+calm dignity, tumbled and tossed as if she was a mere cock-boat.
+
+Sophie begged to come on deck.  I assisted her up.  Scarcely had she
+appeared, when there came a break in the clouds to the eastward, and the
+sun shone forth.  "A good omen!" she exclaimed.
+
+"We may take it as such," I answered; "and I trust that before long the
+hurricane will cease, and He who holds the waters in His hands will save
+us from further danger."
+
+The wind ceased almost as suddenly as it had arisen, the sea went down,
+and in a few hours we were able to clear the yards and bend fresh sails.
+Once more the ship was standing for the land.
+
+My first mate had frequently been at Saint Lucia, and he acting as
+pilot, soon after daylight the next morning we entered the harbour.
+
+The ship of necessity must I found be detained some days, as the
+main-topmast was badly sprung, while she had received other damages in
+the gale.  As these could be repaired under the superintendence of my
+first mate, I escorted my passengers on shore.
+
+Monsieur de Villereine had begged me to come to his house, which was
+situated about a mile from the town, but I felt compelled to accept
+Henri's invitation to accompany him and his sister to his father's
+house, a short distance farther off on the side of the mountain; and
+more so, as from his weak state, he required my assistance in getting in
+and out of the carriage.  Poor fellow! my heart grieved for him, as it
+seemed to me, though he had no apprehension of danger, that he was only
+returning home to die.
+
+I had asked Sophie whether she had mentioned our engagement to her
+father and mother.
+
+"I will do so immediately we get home," she answered; "it would be
+better than saying anything at present."
+
+Monsieur de Villereine's house stood on elevated ground, with extensive
+sugar plantations below it.  It was of a considerable size, surrounded
+by a broad verandah.  The handsome appearance of the interior, and the
+numerous domestic slaves, gave me an idea of the wealth of the owners.
+I could not help asking myself, "Will Sophie be content to exchange all
+this luxury for the limited income and small house which I should alone
+have the power of offering her?"  I had but one moment to speak to her
+alone.  She seemed to divine my thoughts.
+
+"I do not value all these things," she said, pressing my hand; "and I
+trust that my brothers will live to occupy this house."
+
+She had already told me of her two brothers, who were away on the other
+side of the island.
+
+After resting some time, we continued our journey to the house of
+Henri's father and mother.  A messenger had been sent on to warn them of
+our coming.
+
+I was much pleased with the elder Monsieur de Villereine and his wife.
+They received me in the most kind and cordial way, but I saw how deeply
+they were grieved at the altered appearance of poor Henri, and that they
+were evidently far more alarmed than Emilie had been, who had constantly
+watched him.  Their house was even handsomer than that of Sophie's
+father, though built in the same style.  It commanded a beautiful view
+of the town and harbour and the blue sea beyond it, while on every side
+below stretched out the numerous sugar plantations; while here and there
+were seen the whitewashed houses of the inhabitants, with their
+gaily-painted verandahs and window blinds.
+
+Though her manner was gentle and kind in the extreme, Madame de
+Villereine's countenance wore an expression of sadness which seemed
+habitual to it.  I concluded, however, that this arose very much from
+her anxiety about the health of her only son.  Emilie tried to cheer up
+her parents by assuring them that Henri was better than he had been, and
+she hoped that before long they should be able to carry out their
+project of visiting England.
+
+"Though not our native air, it is yours, you know, mamma, and I am sure
+it will effectually restore his health."
+
+Madame de Villereine shook her head.
+
+"I had thought so," she observed; "but I see a great change in him for
+the worse, and I fear he is sinking under the same complaint which
+carried off my dear sister."
+
+In the course of conversation she happened to mention that the sister of
+whom she spoke was a Mrs Raglan.  I was struck by the name, and
+inquired who she had married.
+
+"An officer in the navy," she answered; "but he was ordered to the East
+Indies, and soon afterwards she died, leaving a little girl.  We
+received notice of her death, but the island being at the time in the
+possession of France, and war raging, we were never able to ascertain
+what became of the child."
+
+Emilie I saw seemed anxious when her mother began to speak on this
+subject, and endeavoured, without appearing to do so, to change the
+conversation.  Soon afterwards her mother seemed much affected, and left
+the room.
+
+"I must ask you," said Emilie, "not again to allude to the subject, as
+it recalls many painful associations."
+
+"I will do as you wish," I answered, "but I feel sure that I am well
+acquainted with the niece she spoke of;" and I then told her all I knew
+of Kitty Raglan, my meeting with her father, and her marriage with my
+old friend Captain Falconer.
+
+She expressed her pleasure at what I had told her, adding, "It will, I
+am sure, give great joy to mother, for she has always grieved at having
+lost all traces of my cousin, though she has still greater grief of her
+own."
+
+Just then Madame de Villereine returned, and Emilie cautiously prepared
+her for the interesting information I had to give.
+
+"This is indeed joyful news," she exclaimed, when I had told her of her
+niece's happy marriage with Captain Falconer; when suddenly she stopped
+and sighed, and the sad expression which her countenance usually wore
+stole over it.
+
+"Monsieur de Villereine will to-day drive you over to see his brother
+and his wife and daughter, and you must give them the account you have
+given me.  They will be greatly interested; and oh, how I wish we could
+persuade Captain Falconer to come over and pay us a visit!"
+
+A carriage shortly afterwards came to the door, and I accompanied my new
+friend--Emilie wishing to remain with Henri.  Monsieur de Villereine,
+who had observed our approach, received as at the door.  He welcomed me
+with marked politeness, but it struck me that his manner was much more
+stiff and formal than it had before been.  He conducted us to the
+drawing-room, where I hoped to see Sophie, but her mother alone was
+there.  I was struck also by the change of manner of the old lady,
+though she was as studiously polite and courteous as her husband.
+Having begged me to be seated, and made various common-place inquiries,
+he led his brother out of the room, while the old lady continued the
+conversation in the same formal strain.  When I inquired for Sophie,
+expressing my hope that she had recovered from the fatigues of the
+voyage, she answered that her daughter was in her room, and that she did
+not think she would be able to leave it that morning.
+
+After some time, when it seemed to me that we had exhausted all subjects
+of conversation, and my tongue had begun in a most uncomfortable way to
+cling to my mouth, for I somehow or other had forgotten all about Mrs
+Falconer, and that I had undertaken to narrate her history to her uncle
+and aunt, I was in truth thinking only of Sophie and myself, the two
+brothers returned and the old lady retired.  They then sat down opposite
+to me, and I could not help feeling, by the expression of their
+countenances and their manner, that something not over agreeable was
+coming.  Monsieur de Villereine looked at his brother and then at me,
+and hummed and hawed several times, as if he did not like to begin what
+he had to say.  At last he mustered courage.
+
+"My dear Captain Laurel," he began, "I am sure that as a sailor you like
+open and frank dealing.  Now, I need not tell you how much we esteem
+you, and how grateful we are for the inestimable service you have
+rendered us, and for your kindness and attention while we were on board
+your ship; but you must acknowledge that I ought not as a father to
+allow these considerations to bias me when my daughter's future
+prospects are concerned.  Now you will understand, my brother and I had
+agreed that she should marry her cousin Henri, although she herself is
+not aware of this arrangement.  My astonishment was nevertheless very
+great when she told me that you had offered her your hand, and that she,
+young and inexperienced as she is, had, without consulting me, ventured
+to accept you.  Such a thing, my dear sir, is against all precedent.
+The whole of society would be subverted, and all parental authority
+destroyed, were I as a father to allow what you do me the honour of
+proposing to take place.  I am, I repeat, deeply grateful to you for the
+inestimable service you have rendered me, but I must ask you to be
+generous, and not insist on my giving you the reward you demand."
+
+"My dear sir," I exclaimed, "I do not ask for your daughter's hand as a
+reward for anything I have done, though I esteem it the highest prize I
+could win.  The service you are pleased to say I have rendered you, I
+should equally have given to any fellow-creature, and I therefore ask
+your daughter's hand as a free gift.  I love her devotedly, and she has
+consented, with your permission, to be mine."
+
+"My permission I cannot give, Captain Laurel," exclaimed the old
+gentleman, growing more and more agitated.  "I desire to reward you to
+the utmost of my power, and you have my sincere and hearty gratitude;
+but more I cannot and will not offer.  I regret deeply to say this, and
+I am grieved--greatly grieved.  My brother knows my determination, and I
+am sure that you will agree that it is better I should express it at
+once."
+
+In vain I attempted to plead my cause.  I entreated to see Sophie, but
+her father replied that that would only be painful and useless; and at
+length the elder Monsieur de Villereine observing that his carriage was
+ready, I took the hint, and, feeling as if I was walking in a dream, I
+got into it.  I felt dreadfully cast down.  It seemed to me that Sophie
+was lost to me for ever, and I might not again have an opportunity of
+seeing her.
+
+"I have some few commissions to perform in the town," said my friend,
+"and we will drive there.  But notwithstanding what has occurred, I must
+insist on your coming back with me to see Henri: he and his sister will
+afford you all the consolation they can.  But my brother is very
+determined, and I know him so well that I cannot tell you to keep up
+your hopes.  It would be wiser for you to abandon them altogether."
+
+We reached the town, and when we got there I was much inclined to go on
+board the ship and remain: but Monsieur de Villereine pressed me so
+earnestly to return, that, for the sake of Henri, I agreed to do so.
+As, however, I wished to go on board for a short time, he undertook to
+wait for me.  Taking a boat from the shore, I pulled out to the _Ellen_.
+I had not been long on board before Dick asked me to step into the
+cabin, as he had something of interest to communicate to me.
+
+"Well, Captain Laurel," he said, as soon as we were seated, "I went on
+shore yesterday evening and walked up the town, and I am as sure as I am
+alive that this is the very place where you came from.  As I walked up
+the street, I came to the very spot where the black woman handed you to
+me when you were a little chap scarcely higher than my knee--I could
+swear to it in any court of justice, if it were necessary--and, as I
+think I have told you, I have always carried about me the very coral you
+had on at the time; and now I would advise you to lose no time in making
+inquiries about the matter among your friends."
+
+So wretched did I feel, that I was very little disposed to do this, and
+had I not promised to rejoin Monsieur de Villereine, I think that I
+should have remained on board, to get ready for sailing as fast as
+possible.  I however told Dick that I would do as he recommended.
+
+I found Monsieur de Villereine waiting on the quay for me.  As soon as
+we had got clear of the town, I began to speak to him on the subject.
+As I went on, I was surprised at the extraordinary agitation he
+exhibited.
+
+"Do I understand from you, my dear sir, that you yourself were carried
+away from this island when about four years of age?" he asked, pulling
+up his horse, as if he felt unable to guide the animal, and gazing at me
+earnestly.
+
+"One of my mates, who has acted the part of a father to me, has assured
+me so," I answered, "though I myself have a very indistinct recollection
+even of events which occurred much after that."
+
+"The ways of heaven are indeed mysterious," exclaimed Monsieur de
+Villereine.  "At the time you mention, my second son, two years younger
+than Henri, while in charge of a black nurse, was lost to us.  The poor
+woman was wounded by a chance shot during an attack from an English
+squadron, and she died shortly afterwards without being able to give any
+account of what had become of the child, though we had hopes that he had
+been carried on board one of the men-of-war.  As, however, two of them
+were afterwards lost, we abandoned all expectation of ever again seeing
+our son.  I must not raise your hopes too high, nor my own, and yet when
+I look at your features, and think of what my son might have been, I
+cannot but believe that you are indeed my lost boy.  His name, too, was
+Charles, which may be a remarkable coincidence.  You tell me that that
+name was given you on board the ship."
+
+As may be supposed, my heart beat violently as Monsieur de Villereine
+said this; yet I could not help trusting that he was indeed my father.
+
+That he might himself make inquiries of Dick, I offered to send on board
+at once for my mate.  We accordingly drove back into the town.  Dick
+soon arrived at the hotel, where we remained for him.  Monsieur de
+Villereine cross-questioned him narrowly, and on his producing the coral
+I spoke of, any doubts he might have entertained vanished.
+
+"My dear boy," he exclaimed, embracing me, "you are indeed my long-lost
+son.  Your recovery will, I trust, be the means of preserving your poor
+mother's life, for she has, I fear, a great grief in store for her; for,
+although she hoped for the best, I cannot but see that your poor brother
+Henri's days are numbered."
+
+I need not repeat what more my father said.  Taking Dick in the
+carriage, we drove rapidly home.  My father hurried in first to prepare
+my mother, and in a few minutes I had the happiness of being clasped in
+her arms, and receiving the affectionate kisses of my sister Emilie and
+the warm congratulations of poor Henri.
+
+"I always loved you as a brother," he exclaimed; "and now I am indeed
+delighted to find that you are so in reality."
+
+I was scarcely aware how quickly the time had gone by, when carriage
+wheels were heard approaching the house.
+
+"I sent off a note to your uncle and aunt," said Emilie to me, "as I was
+sure they would be glad to hear the news, and here they are."
+
+They entered the room directly afterwards, followed by Sophie.  The
+formal manner my uncle had assumed had vanished.  After he and my aunt
+had cordially welcomed me, the whole party disappeared from the room
+with the exception of Sophie.
+
+"Papa has withdrawn his objection," she whispered; "and I told him I
+would never marry any one but you."
+
+I must bring my yarn to a conclusion.
+
+My first mate was so trustworthy a man, that I felt justified in sending
+the _Ellen_ back to Barbadoes under his charge to receive her cargo.
+
+Poor Henri entreated that I would not delay my marriage, and Sophie
+having no objections, in the course of a few weeks we were united.  My
+brother's death, which all expected, took place, to our great grief, a
+short time afterwards.
+
+I was thankful to find that the consignees of the _Ellen_ consented to
+allow my mate to take her home.  On her next voyage my parents and
+sister, as well as my uncle and aunt, agreed to accompany me to England,
+leaving my brothers-in-law in charge of their two estates.
+
+We had a prosperous passage, and having been invited by Mr and Mrs
+Dear to pay them a visit, we on our arrival repaired to their house,
+where Captain and Mrs Falconer had come to receive us; and I had the
+happiness of introducing my old friend, and now my cousin Kitty, to her
+aunt and to the rest of her relations.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Charley Laurel, by W. H. G. Kingston
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