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-Project Gutenberg's Arthur Brown, The Young Captain, by Elijah Kellogg

-

-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/license

-

-

-Title: Arthur Brown, The Young Captain

-       The Pleasent Cove Series

-

-Author: Elijah Kellogg

-

-Release Date: May 9, 2015 [EBook #48904]

-

-Language: English

-

-Character set encoding: UTF-8

-

-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARTHUR BROWN, THE YOUNG CAPTAIN ***

-

-

-

-

-Produced by Giovanni Fini, David Edwards and the Online

-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This

-file was produced from images generously made available

-by The Internet Archive)

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-                         TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

-

-—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.

-

-—Bold text has been rendered as =bold text=.

-

-

-

-

-                      _THE PLEASANT COVE SERIES._

-

-                             ARTHUR BROWN,

-

-                          THE YOUNG CAPTAIN.

-

-                                  BY

-

-                         REV. ELIJAH KELLOGG,

-

-     AUTHOR OF THE ELM ISLAND STORIES—“LION BEN,” “CHARLIE BELL,”

-            “THE BOY-FARMERS,” “THE ARK,” “THE YOUNG SHIP-

-                    BUILDERS,” “THE HARD-SCRABBLE.”

-

-                            _ILLUSTRATED._

-

-                                BOSTON:

-

-                      LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

-

-

-

-

-      Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by

-

-                           LEE AND SHEPARD,

-

-      in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

-

-                  COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY ELIJAH KELLOGG.

-

-                        _All Rights Reserved._

-

-                           =ARTHUR BROWN.=

-

-

-                            Norwood Press:

-

-                Berwick & Smith, Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

-

-

-

-

-PREFACE.

-

-

-NOTWITHSTANDING kindness is at times rewarded with ingratitude, and

-even positive injury, it is by no means so frequent an occurrence as

-persons naturally censorious, or whose minds have been soured by an

-unblest experience, would have us suppose.

-

-Benefits conferred usually excite gratitude, and sometimes, when the

-donors have passed away are repaid, with interest, to their posterity.

-

-The story of Arthur Brown presents a striking illustration of this

-principle. Lashed to a raft, perishing with cold and hunger in the edge

-of the surf, he is rescued by Captain Rhines, who, when a boy, poor

-and unable either to read or write, had been instructed and started

-in business by Arthur’s father, who was afterwards lost at sea. The

-old captain, discovering, in the person he had perilled his life to

-save, the only son of his benefactor, receives him with open arms,

-with a nobility of soul that strengthens our faith in human nature,

-freely bestowing both time and property to aid the son and family of

-his benefactor, and repay the old debt. His efforts in this direction,

-together with those of the young man to help himself, at a most

-stirring period of our country’s history, the adventures growing out of

-those efforts, and the consequent development of character, will, we

-trust, prove interesting, and not without instruction.

-

-Some references have necessarily been made to characters of the “Elm

-Island Series,” the reasons for which are given in the introductory

-chapter, and the references so explained as to render the connection

-plain to the reader.

-

-

-

-

-CONTENTS

-

-

-                                                        PAGE

-

-                            CHAPTER I.

-  INTRODUCTORY.                                            9

-

-                           CHAPTER II.

-  THE WRECK AND THE RESCUE.                               16

-

-                           CHAPTER III.

-  A GLAD SURPRISE.                                        30

-

-                            CHAPTER IV.

-  CAPTAIN RHINES MANIFESTS HIS GRATITUDE.                 44

-

-                             CHAPTER V.

-  “WE WERE PUT INTO THIS WORLD TO HELP ONE ANOTHER.”      60

-

-                            CHAPTER VI.

-  THE YOUNG CAPTAIN UNDER FIRE.                           74

-

-                           CHAPTER VII.

-  LITTLE NED AND HIS MOTHER.                              94

-

-                            CHAPTER VIII.

-  MOONLIGHT CONVERSATION BY THE BROOK.                   106

-

-                             CHAPTER IX.

-  THE GRIFFINS.                                          122

-

-                              CHAPTER X.

-  WHERE THE HARD STREAK CAME FROM.                       137

-

-                             CHAPTER XI.

-  RECONNOITRING.                                         155

-

-                             CHAPTER XII.

-  DID I BEAR IT LIKE A MAN, WALTER?                      169

-

-                             CHAPTER XIII.

-  THE BASKET-MAKER.                                      181

-

-                             CHAPTER XIV.

-  A STRANGE DISCOVERY.                                   191

-

-                              CHAPTER XV.

-  HOMEWARD BOUND.                                        204

-

-                             CHAPTER XVI.

-  DEAR-BOUGHT WIT.                                       223

-

-                            CHAPTER XVII.

-  DEATH AND BURIAL OF TIGE RHINES.                       240

-

-                           CHAPTER XVIII.

-  THE MEETING.                                           253

-

-                            CHAPTER XIX.

-  NED AMONG THE GRIFFINS.                                272

-

-                             CHAPTER XX.

-  A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.                            283

-

-

-

-

-                             ARTHUR BROWN,

-

-                          THE YOUNG CAPTAIN.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER I.

-

-INTRODUCTORY.

-

-

-IN the series of books denominated the “Elm Island Stories” (commencing

-at the period when the old “Continental Congress,” which had fought the

-war of the revolution, was superseded by the Federal Government, and

-running through successive years) were introduced certain characters

-in whom our juvenile readers became so much interested, that they have

-assured us they could not abruptly surrender their acquaintance, at

-least not without some slight knowledge of their future prospects,

-especially as we were compelled to conclude our tale when most of them

-were on the very threshold of manhood. Desiring to gratify, and, at

-the same time, render them somewhat familiar with the history and

-progress of their native land in those snapping times included between

-the outbreak of the French revolution and the embargo, so prolific in

-gain and adventure to those possessing the enterprise, and daring to

-profit by them, and during which American commerce took such mighty

-strides, we must of necessity, at the commencement of this volume, make

-some slight reference to persons and places previously described. For

-the benefit of those who have not read the former series, we introduce

-a brief sketch, referring those who may desire more accurate knowledge

-to those books.

-

-Our old acquaintances can pursue, with this chapter, the course we used

-to adopt, when compelled to read one of Buckminster’s sermons aloud to

-the family, after having been twice to meeting, brought home the texts

-and heads of the sermon, and to Sabbath school—_skip_, skipped all we

-dared to, skipped all we could.

-

-The scene of the “Elm Island Stories” is laid in eastern Maine, when it

-was little better than a forest, save a rim of clearings and incipient

-towns along the sea-shore.

-

-Captain Rhines, who lived on the shore at a place named from him and

-his ancestors Rhineville, but then a plantation unincorporated, was a

-noble specimen of a sea captain—shrewd, kindly, self-made, of a daring

-nature, controlled by clear, cool judgment.

-

-His son Ben, possessing all the sterling qualities of his father, is

-a giant in strength, and in the very prime of life. Though in general

-of most even temper, and only by long provocations excited to wrath,

-yet, when thoroughly roused, he was terrible; hence his name, _Lion

-Ben_. Becoming enamoured of Sally Hadlock, who will only marry him on

-condition that he relinquishes the sea, he buys Elm Island, situated

-among the breakers, six miles from the main land, and inaccessible at

-some periods by reason of the surf; fertile as to soil, and covered

-with a heavy growth of timber. With nothing to depend upon but their

-hands, and obliged to mortgage the island at the outset, this resolute

-pair sit down among the woods to achieve independence. He is greatly

-assisted in all his plans and purposes by Uncle Isaac Murch, a man in

-middle life, who, in boyhood, was captured by the Penobscot Indians,

-and adopted into their tribe—a most shrewd, resolute, genial being,

-with very strong attachment to youth, their unfailing friend and ally

-in every good purpose.

-

-While Lion Ben is cutting off the spars and raising crops to pay for

-the island, some plunderers from the British Provinces, seeing but

-one house on the island, and supposing they had but little resistance

-to encounter, landed and insulted Ben’s wife. She flies to her

-husband, who is at work near by in the woods, who encounters and

-nearly kills the intruders. Among them is an English orphan boy, by

-the name of Charlie Bell, who had shipped with them as cook, being

-ignorant of their character. He remains, and is adopted by Lion Ben.

-He turns out to be a boy of most excellent principle, of remarkable

-mechanical genius, and learns the trade of a ship carpenter; makes

-the acquaintance of Captain Rhines’s youngest boy, John, and of Fred

-Williams, the miller’s son.

-

-Fred is a boy naturally smart, and inclined to mischief. By associating

-with a miserable wretch by the name of Pete Clash, an importation from

-the Provinces, and another by the name of Godsoe, a home production,

-he is led into evil courses. These boys, while in the woods one day,

-plotting mischief against Uncle Isaac, being surprised by John Rhines,

-and finding that he will expose them, attempt to flog him; but he

-is rescued by his dog Tige, who tears Pete and Fred, injuring Fred

-so severely that he is at the point of death, which brings him to

-reflection and reform.

-

-Pete Clash, attempting to meddle with Uncle Isaac’s fish flakes,

-is caught by the old hunter in a wolf trap, and so threatened and

-frightened by him, that he leaves the place, together with Godsoe.

-John, Fred, and Charlie now became fast friends, and Uncle Isaac their

-mutual friend and adviser.

-

-John Rhines becomes a blacksmith, Fred works with his father in the

-mill. Charlie and John accumulate money by labor and ventures sent

-to the West Indies, and set up Fred in trade. These three boys, with

-another by the name of Isaac Murch, a protégé of Captain Rhines,

-_undertake_ to build a vessel, and _do_ build her, and send her to the

-French West Indies, calling her the Hard-scrabble, in commemoration of

-the desperate nature of the undertaking. She arrives at Martinique at a

-lucky moment, and pays for herself, and more too. They afterwards build

-another called the Casco, of larger dimensions, of which Isaac Murch

-becomes the master, surrendering the Hard-scrabble to another captain.

-Joe Griffin, to whom reference is made, is a friend of Lion Ben, a

-mighty man with an axe, a great wrestler, and kind-hearted, but a most

-inveterate practical joker.

-

-Walter Griffin, a younger brother of Joe, inheriting all the grit of

-this rugged race, enters the store of Fred Williams as a clerk; but the

-Griffin blood rebels under the monotony and constraint, and he takes to

-the water. Peterson, the black pilot, was for many years addicted to

-intemperance. During that period some roguish boys got him into a store

-when intoxicated, poured molasses on his head, then applied flour,

-alternating the layers, till his head was as large as a half bushel;

-for many years after which he was known by the nickname of Flour, but,

-having become a sober and industrious man, has accumulated property, is

-respected by the whole community, and the nickname is forgotten.

-

-The period at which this series commences is after the French

-revolution, when the star of Nelson was rising above the horizon, and

-Napoleon Bonaparte, a colonel of the artillery, was planting batteries

-at Toulon, and giving the English blockading fleet a taste of his

-quality.

-

-These young men are now in possession of capital. John Rhines is

-living at home with his father; Fred is engaged in trade, and just

-married to a daughter of Captain Rhines. Charlie Bell is living on a

-farm in a most beautiful spot, called “Pleasant Cove,” upon which he

-chanced to stumble one lovely night in summer while sailing, became

-enraptured with and bought it, married another daughter of the captain,

-and settled down on it in a log house, while it was a forest, has one

-child, now a babe, and having built the Casco on his own shore, hopes

-to be able to cultivate the soil (an occupation he dearly loves), and

-to carry out those ideas of taste and beauty which in childhood he had

-gathered from the vales and ancestral homes of his native land.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER II.

-

-THE WRECK AND THE RESCUE.

-

-

-IT was the middle of October, about ten o’clock in the forenoon; there

-was no rain falling, but it was blowing—O, how it was blowing!—a

-tearing gale from the south-west, which roared through, the tree

-tops, and there was a tremendous sea in the bay. But under the lee of

-Pleasant Point, entirely sheltered from the wind by the high land and

-the woods, a shooting match had just been abruptly broken off by Sol

-Chase (a boy of sixteen, who put up the turkeys) declaring that it was

-no kind of use to set up, if such marksmen as Joe Griffin and Uncle

-Isaac were going to shoot.

-

-“Well, Sol, we won’t fire any more,” said Joe; “you boys may do your

-own shooting.”

-

-“Let us do something we can all do,” said Charlie. “Uncle Isaac, let us

-play knives. I’ll blaze this pine tree for a mark.”

-

-“Blaze a pine tree! Half of you won’t be able to hit the tree. Take the

-barn door.”

-

-“We haven’t got knives,” said Ricker.

-

-“I’ve got my hunting knife,” said Uncle Isaac; “one knife will do for

-the whole of us.”

-

-“I’ve got an Indian tomahawk in the house,” said Charlie; “one that you

-gave me, Uncle Isaac, long ago.”

-

-A bull’s eye was marked out on the barn door; the knife was held by the

-point of the blade, and flung. Uncle Isaac, when, after the first two

-trials, he had ascertained his distance, hit the centre of the target

-every time; Joe Griffin nearly as often; Charlie, Fred, and John, who

-had at other times practised a good deal with Uncle Isaac and each

-other, twice out of three times.

-

-“It takes Walter Griffin to throw a knife. He’d hit that mark every

-time.”

-

-“I wish he was here,” said Fred. “I feel, since he went to sea, as

-though about half of me was gone.”

-

-As to the rest, some hit within six inches; others didn’t hit the door;

-and others flung the knife so that it struck flatways, or on the end of

-the handle.

-

-“Now let’s throw the tomahawk,” said Charlie.

-

-In this game none of them could approach Uncle Isaac, who flung it with

-a force and precision that would soon have made a breach in Charlie’s

-barn door; but as the rest could not fling it with any accuracy, they

-soon tired of it.

-

-“I’ll put up a mark for you, Uncle Isaac,” said Joe Bradish.

-

-He had a soft hat, bran new; put it on for the first time that day.

-

-“What will you give me for a shot at my hat, at six hundred yards?”

-

-“Three shillings.”

-

-“Done.”

-

-Bradish rolled his hat carefully up, and thrust it into a mortise in

-the post of a rail fence.

-

-“I thought I was to have the whole bigness of the hat to fire at;

-that’s a small mark for such a long distance.”

-

-“That’s just like him,” said Charlie; “always doing some mean,

-underhand trick.”

-

-“You was to fire at the hat. There’s the hat. Now measure off the six

-hundred yards,” said Bradish.

-

-“Don’t measure it that way,” said Uncle Isaac to the boys, who were

-about to measure in the direction that the hat was shoved into the hole.

-

-“What difference does it make?” asked Bradish.

-

-“’Cause it does. I’ve a right to fire in any direction I like, at six

-hundred yards.”

-

-Uncle Isaac fired, and the ball, just grazing the edge of the post,

-went through every fold of the hat crossways, the rifle ball whirling

-as it went, cutting it all to pieces.

-

-“You’ve spoilt my new hat,” said Bradish, with a rueful face, holding

-it up, all full of holes, like a colander.

-

-“That’s what you get by trying to cheat: good enough for you,” was the

-cry.

-

-Scarcely had the laugh subsided, when Will Griffin was seen coming on

-horseback at full speed, and as he drew near, he bawled out, “Uncle

-Isaac, Joe, Master Bell, Captain Rhines wants you to come just as quick

-as you can; there’s a vessel cast away—folks going to be drowned on

-the Brant rocks.”

-

-When they reached the cove, they found Captain Rhines, in the

-Perseverance, her sails close reefed and set, hatches fastened down,

-and the vessel hauled in against a perpendicular ledge, while he was

-holding her by a rope fast to a tree.

-

-“Jump aboard!” he cried. “There’s people on a raft, coming right in

-before the wind and sea, and they will go right into the breakers on

-the Brant rocks, except we can get them off. I happened to be looking

-with the glass, and saw them.”

-

-“We’ll do what men can do,” said Uncle Isaac. “Hadn’t we better call at

-the island, and get Ben? It’s right on our road.”

-

-“That’s a good thought. Wonder I didn’t think of it.”

-

-Ben had not noticed the raft, but he saw the schooner coming, and knew

-that it must be a matter of life and death that would bring men to the

-island in such a gale. Both he and Sally met them at the shore.

-

-“I want you, my little boy,” cried Captain Rhines, as the schooner

-luffed up beside the wharf, in the still water of Elm Island harbor.

-“There’s a raft coming before the wind and sea, with people on it, and

-a signal of distress flying. It’s breaking thirty feet high on the

-Brant rocks, and they will soon be in that surf, unless we take them

-off.”

-

-No more was said. Ben jumped aboard, and the schooner, close hauled,

-stood boldly out into that tremendous sea. The men all commenced to

-lash themselves. Charlie was forward. He had made the end of a rope

-fast to the foremast, and put it around his waist; but, before he could

-secure the other end, she shipped a sea over the bows, that filled her

-all full, and bore Charlie before it like a feather. In another instant

-it would have taken him overboard, when nothing could have saved him;

-but Joe caught him as he was going over the rail.

-

-“A miss is as good as a mile,” said Captain Rhines. “She shakes off the

-water like a Newfoundland dog. Ben, take the axe, and knock off the

-waist boards, and then the sea can have a fair chance to get out as

-fast as it comes in.”

-

-They were now nearing the raft, as it came rapidly down before the sea,

-while the crew of the schooner were endeavoring to cut athwart its

-path. Catching glimpses of it in moments when the raft and the schooner

-both chanced to be on the top of a sea at the same instant, they

-perceived that it was constructed of the yards and smaller spars of a

-vessel, with an elevation amid-ships, where an upright spar was secured

-by shrouds, on which an English flag was flying. On this elevation

-were dark objects, that Captain Rhines (at home) had made out, with his

-glass, to be human beings.

-

-“If they are people, father,” said Ben, who, confident to hold himself

-against the sea, had gone into the bows, “they are dead; for there’s

-nothing moves, only as the sea moves it.”

-

-“Perhaps not, Ben. They are lashed, chilled, and most dead, but I’ve

-seen men brought to that apparently had but a few more breaths to draw.”

-

-In a few moments Ben shouted, “There’s folks there, four or six, I

-can’t tell which. I see one move his arm a little.”

-

-“What are we going to do?” asked Captain Rhines. “I thought there would

-be some one able to take a line and make it fast, and then we might

-tow them clear of the breakers and into some lee, where we could get

-them off; but if there’s nobody to take a line, we’ve got to carry one

-ourselves.”

-

-“Let the raft go by us,” said Ben, “and follow it up astern with the

-schooner. I’ll take a line in the canoe.”

-

-“I’ll go with you,” said Joe; but Charlie insisted upon sharing the

-peril with his father. They took in all but the foresail, reefed to the

-smallest possible dimensions, leaving only a little of the peak, as it

-was difficult to make the schooner go slow enough to keep from running

-on to the raft and knocking her to pieces; but by luffing into the wind

-they managed to keep her clear till Ben and Charlie got into the canoe,

-and with a small line reached the raft, to which was made fast a larger

-one, which they hauled to them and secured.

-

-There was no such thing as returning against that sea; they must take

-their chance with those they came to save. If the rope parted, or the

-little vessel failed to tow her charge clear of the surf, they were

-lost. During the interval occupied in fastening to the raft, it had

-made fearful progress towards the rocks, that could now be plainly seen

-ahead, the sea breaking on them in sheets of foam. Never was the clear

-judgment and resolute nature of Captain Rhines put to a severer test

-than now. He must carry sail enough to drive the Perseverance through

-the water with sufficient speed to clear the rocks. On the other hand,

-there was danger, if he carried too much sail, of either parting the

-rope, in which case Ben and Charlie, with those they went to save,

-would perish, or of taking the masts out of the schooner; and also

-danger of the seas boarding her over the stern.

-

-It was most fortunate for the crew of the schooner, that when they

-grappled to the raft they were a long distance off, and well over to

-the edge of the breakers, consequently had to work the raft but very

-little to windward. Every time the little vessel rose on one of those

-tremendous seas, when the raft was perhaps in the hollow of another,

-she quivered and trembled, and it seemed as if she must be crushed

-bodily down beneath the sea.

-

-“Isaac,” said the captain, who had one hand on the rope, “I think this

-will bear more strain. Unless we go ahead a little faster, we shall

-hardly clear that ragged point making out to the leeward.”

-

-“I’m afraid, Benjamin, it will take the mast out of her.”

-

-“So am I, but we must risk it. There’s no other way. It’s sartain death

-to go into that surf.”

-

-There was one other way. A stroke of the axe upon the “taut” rope, and

-the schooner, freed from her encumbrance, would have gone off like a

-bird from the ragged reef and boiling surf, leaving their comrades to

-perish; but no such thought could find lodgment in the bosoms of the

-men on board the Perseverance.

-

-“Give her the sail, Isaac,” said the captain; “it’s the only way.”

-

-Beneath the increased canvas, the schooner plunged and quivered, as

-though every timber would part company.

-

-They were near the breakers; the roar of the surf was terrible; every

-time the great wave rolled back, the black, ragged points of the rock

-could be seen for a moment. It was now but a couple of gunshots from

-them, and they were in the outer edge of the breaker. Not a word was

-spoken. Captain Rhines coolly eyed the surf, while he managed the helm

-with consummate skill. Slowly the noble little vessel drew along by the

-reef, but the raft was the length of the hawser farther in.

-

-“If that sea breaks on them, they are gone,” cried Captain Rhines, as

-a huge wall of water, thirty feet in height, came sweeping along, its

-overhanging edge white with foam.

-

-Ben and Charlie each seized one edge of the canoe, evidently hoping,

-that though full of water, its buoyancy might support and aid them in

-swimming; but the wave broke just before it reached them, lifting the

-raft almost on end, flooding it with spray, buried them to their necks

-in water, and almost tore them from the raft, to which they clung by

-the shrouds of the upright spar, while the canoe was swept away. So

-near were they to the reef, that one end of the wave broke upon the

-rock, and the raft was covered with kelp torn from it by the force of

-the sea. While they were yet in the very edge of the broken water, the

-foremast breaking off four or five feet above deck, went over the bows.

-

-“Thank God!” exclaimed Captain Rhines; “had it gone three minutes

-sooner, we had all been lost.”

-

-Drifting along before the wind and sea, they gradually came into

-smoother water, when Ben, flinging himself overboard, swam to the

-schooner. With his aid they raised the broken spar, lashed it to the

-stump, and contrived to spread a portion of the sail.

-

-“Ben,” asked his father, “what have you got on the raft? Are they dead

-or alive?”

-

-“There’s four of them, father; one a black man, the cook or steward,

-for his hands are soft, a sailor, a boy fifteen or sixteen, and a young

-man, I should judge about twenty, who, I think, was mate of the vessel,

-by his dress. They have got just the breath of life in them; starved

-with cold and hunger, and nothing but skin and bones. I thought that

-sea would have killed them, but they are alive yet.”

-

-“God help them, but we can’t get to the island, or my cove, with this

-broken spar. We must run for Charlie’s.”

-

-“Let us run under the lee of Smutty Nose,” said Ben, “get rid of this

-raft, and take the bodies on board, then we can go faster, else they

-will be dead before we get there.”

-

-They luffed up under the island in smooth water, took Charlie on board,

-the dead and the living, and permitting the raft to go adrift, made all

-the sail they could spread for Pleasant Cove. They carried the nearly

-lifeless bodies into the cuddy, put them in berths, and covered them

-with clothes. There were flint, steel, and tinder aboard, but no wood.

-They took the bottom boards out of a berth and split them up to kindle,

-and Ben cut up the handspikes, which were white oak, and split up the

-windlass.

-

-“Father,” said Charlie, “I’ll make a new and better one.”

-

-With this supply they soon had the little place warm enough. When they

-reached the cove they found John Rhines there. He had been away, and

-arriving home just after the party set out, had kept watch of their

-movements. It was twelve o’clock at night when they landed. The gale

-was over, the clouds had disappeared, and a clear moonlight made it

-nearly as light as day. The wet clothing was instantly stripped from

-the chilled limbs of the seamen; they were put into warm blankets,

-and hot applications made. So affecting was the sight of these living

-skeletons that Mary burst into tears.

-

-“Poor creatures! What they must have suffered!” she exclaimed. “They

-will die; they are as good as dead now.”

-

-“No, they ain’t,” replied the captain, who had been putting cold water

-down their throats with a spoon, and found that they swallowed. “Kill a

-chicken, Charlie; we’ll give them some broth by and by; too much would

-kill them as dead as a stone. Now, Mary, a little supper or breakfast,

-whichever you call it, wouldn’t hurt the rest of us, after all we’ve

-been through this day and night.”

-

-The rising sun was pouring its light into the windows, as with grateful

-hearts they sat down to eat, the captain rising every few minutes to

-administer a spoonful of the warm broth to his patients. The clergyman

-and neighbors were sent for, and funeral services performed. Then the

-American flag was put over the coffins, and they were borne to the

-grave.

-

-“I wish we could have saved them,” said the captain; “but we will do

-all we can—give them Christian burial.”

-

-Charlie and Uncle Isaac made the coffins for the two who died, and

-Captain Rhines and John dug their graves. On the eastern side of the

-cove a perpendicular cliff rose abruptly from the soil, with a little

-strip of green turf between it and the beach. Here they were buried.

-The white man had the name of “J. Watts” tattooed on his right arm;

-the name of the black was afterwards ascertained to be John Davis, and

-Charlie cut the names into the cliff—a most enduring memorial.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER III.

-

-A GLAD SURPRISE.

-

-

-IN the course of three hours, it was evident that both of the rescued

-persons were reviving fast. Though unable to speak, they swallowed

-eagerly all that Captain Rhines thought proper to give; the expression

-returned to their eyes and features, and their limbs twitched with

-convulsive starts.

-

-“Charlie,” said the captain, “I’ll take these people home in the

-schooner.”

-

-“Leave them here, we can take care of them; and leave the schooner too.

-I’ll make a new mast and windlass for her.”

-

-“It is too much for Mary, with a young child,—two invalids to take

-care of.”

-

-“No, it ain’t, father; they will be all right, as soon as it will do to

-let them eat and drink.”

-

-“I’ll take the young man, at any rate, and you may have the boy.”

-

-They wrapped him in a blanket, and he was so emaciated that Charlie

-took him in his arms as though he had been an infant, and put him into

-the whale boat.

-

-“Wife,” said the captain, the next morning, as he sat watching his

-charge, as he lay sleeping, after having eaten more than he had allowed

-him at one time before, “do you know that since this young man has come

-to himself a bit he looks very natural to me. I’ve seen him, or some of

-his folks, before.”

-

-“It wouldn’t be at all strange if you had, for you have been a

-traveller all your life.”

-

-“It beats all how familiar his features look; and the more I look

-at him, the more the likeness grows upon me. He’s the very image of

-somebody I’ve known and loved right well, but to save me, I can’t tell

-who. He’ll be strong enough to talk when he wakes, and I’ll know who he

-is, and all about it. Only see, Mary, how the color has come into his

-lips! they are not drawn apart as they were. See how his eyeballs are

-filled out, and his fingers; and his nose is not so sharp as it was.

-He’s doing first rate.”

-

-As the captain had predicted, the young man, who had been within a

-hair’s breadth of eternity, awoke a few minutes before noon, extremely

-weak, but free from stupor, and in partial possession of his faculties,

-and inquired where he was.

-

-“You are among friends, young man, and safe; make yourself easy. Where

-are you from?”

-

-“Salem.”

-

-“Salem! Was you born and brought up in Salem?”

-

-“Yes, sir.”

-

-“What is your name?”

-

-“Brown, sir.”

-

-“What is your father’s business?”

-

-“He was a shipmaster, but he is not living.”

-

-“Was his name Arthur?” cried the captain, more eagerly, his face

-flushing, and then becoming very pale.

-

-“Yes, sir.”

-

-“And was he cast away in the Roanoke on Abaco, and all hands lost?”

-

-“Just so, sir.”

-

-“God bless you, my son,” shouted the captain, leaping from his chair,

-and grasping both hands of the seaman, while tears of gladness,

-streaming from his eyes, fell thick and fast on the pale features of

-his wondering guest; “your father was one of God Almighty’s noblemen;

-the first and best friend I ever had. All I am and all I’ve got in the

-world I owe to him. Didn’t you never hear him tell about Ben Rhines,

-the long-legged boy just out of the woods, with pine pitch sticking to

-him, that had to make his mark on the ship’s articles, that he learned

-to read and write, and made a shipmaster of?”

-

-“O, yes, sir, a great many times.”

-

-“Well, I’m Ben Rhines, what there is left of him. Is your mother

-living? and what family did your father leave?”

-

-“My mother is living in Salem. Father left three children, two girls

-and myself; he also took a nephew to bring up after his father died.”

-

-“Did he leave property?”

-

-“No, sir. He owned a large part of the Roanoke, and there was no

-insurance on her. My mother was left poor; father wasn’t a man to lay

-up money.”

-

-“No, he had too large a heart. I’m glad of it. I’ve got enough for

-both, thank God! I thought I’d got enough to take me well through, and

-shouldn’t try to make any more,—but I will. I’ll just give my mind to

-making money. I’ll make lots of it. I’ll go to sea again. I’ve got a

-glorious use for money now. But how came you in an English ship? Among

-all the friends your father had, and the hundreds whom, to my certain

-knowledge, he helped into business, was there not one who thought

-enough of his obligations to do for his son?”

-

-“Yes, sir. After father was lost, mother kept a boarding-house for

-masters and mates of vessels, and many of his former friends boarded

-with her, and set up our girls in a dry goods store. My cousin went

-into a grocery store. I was the youngest. When I left school I went on

-board a ship, belonging to a friend of father’s, as a cabin boy. He

-put me right along. I am only twenty-one last July, the fourteenth.

-The ship was sold in Liverpool; and by the captain’s good word, I got

-a mate’s berth in an English ship, knowing if I got across to Halifax,

-I could easily get home from there. The ship sprung a leak: the crew

-and second mate took the boats, nautical instruments, and nearly all

-the provisions, and left. They didn’t like the captain; he was a hard

-man, and there had been quarrelling all the voyage. Finally they put on

-their jackets (they might have kept the ship free), and told him they

-had as many friends in hell as he had, and left. They offered to take

-me with them; but I thought it my duty to stick by the captain and the

-ship.”

-

-“But how came the cook, the seaman, and the boy to stick by you. Why

-didn’t they join the strongest party?”

-

-“The black was a slave in Jamaica. The captain took a liking to him,

-bought him when he was nineteen, and gave him his liberty. He wouldn’t

-leave the captain. The sailor was a townie and shipmate of mine in the

-other ship; the boy belongs in Salem, the son of one of our neighbors,

-and was also with me in the other ship, and a better boy never stepped

-on a vessel’s deck. We three stuck together. Captain Rhines, is there

-any way I can get a letter to my mother, to inform her of my safety,

-and also of the boy’s? She knows I was on my passage in the Madras to

-Halifax, and that it is time for the ship to arrive there, and if the

-crew are picked up or get ashore they will report us as lost.”

-

-“We have a mail now once a week. It will go day after to-morrow.”

-

-At this period of the conversation Mrs. Rhines came into the room, when

-the captain, rushing at her, half smothered her with kisses.

-

-“Why, what is the matter, Benjamin?” she exclaimed, noticing his

-flushed face, and the traces of tears on it.

-

-“Matter, Molly!” bursting out afresh; “the matter is, we’ve got another

-boy. You know, wife, how much you have heard me tell about Mr. Brown,

-the mate of the first square-rigged vessel I went to sea in, that did

-everything, and more too, for me?”

-

-“Indeed, Benjamin, I guess I have.”

-

-“This is his boy, lying here on this lounge!—his only son, named for

-him.”

-

-“How glad I am, Benjamin!—glad on your account, and on my own, for the

-sake of his mother.”

-

-“Don’t you think, wife, when I took his father by the hand, to bid him

-good by, as I was about to step aboard the James Welch as first officer

-(through and _only_ through his means), I said, with a full heart, ‘Mr.

-Brown, how can I ever repay you?’ His reply was, ‘Ben, do by other

-young men you may fall in with, and who are starting in the world with

-nobody to help them, as I have by you.’ And now a kind Providence has

-put it in my power to save the life of his son, so help me God, if ever

-a debt was paid, principal, interest, and _compound_ interest, this

-shall be. Kiss him, wife.”

-

-Mrs. Rhines kissed the wasted cheek of the young man, and assured him

-that she was, equally with her husband, interested in his welfare, and

-rejoiced to receive him as a member of their household.

-

-“Now, Arthur,” said the captain, “you are our boy. You are just as much

-at home in this house as we are ourselves, and the more we can do for

-you the better we shall like it. John, here is your brother.”

-

-This whole-souled declaration elicited no reply. The young man,

-exhausted by the long and exciting conversation, had fallen asleep.

-

-“Poor boy! he is weak. Only see the great sores on him. See what a

-sight of little boils are coming out all over his arms.”

-

-“That, wife, is soaking in salt water so long; and the sores are where

-the ropes he was lashed with chafed him.”

-

-Utterly unable to keep the discovery confined to himself and family any

-longer, he mounted his horse, and rode full speed to tell Uncle Isaac

-and Charlie. When he reached Charlie’s, he found the boy (who was less

-accustomed to exposure) had recovered strength much more slowly than

-the mate. The moment he saw the captain, he wanted to know how Mr.

-Brown was getting along.

-

-“You like Mr. Brown?” said the captain, after replying to his question.

-

-“_Like_ him, sir! You can’t help liking him. Every man on board liked

-him. The men wanted him to go with them in the boats; but they wouldn’t

-have the captain, and he thought it was his duty to stick by him.”

-

-“Do you think you will want to go to sea any more?”

-

-“I shall go if Mr. Brown goes. How can I get home, sir, when I get my

-strength again?”

-

-“It will be some time before you will be fit to go. When that time

-comes, I’ll get you home.”

-

-“Could I send a letter, when I am able to write?”

-

-“Mr. Brown’s going to write to-morrow to his folks and yours. What is

-your name, my boy?”

-

-“Edward Gates, sir. They call me Ned on board ship.”

-

-“You are from Salem, too?”

-

-“Yes, sir. Mr. Brown and I live on the same street—King Street. His

-house is only four doors from mine.”

-

-“Then you’ve always known him?”

-

-“O, yes, sir. I went to school with him. He was one of the big boys,

-and I was a little one. I used to say my lessons to him when the master

-was busy, and sometimes he kept school when the master was sick.

-Sometimes, when his father’s ship was in port, he would get her yawl

-boat, and give us little fellows a sail.”

-

-After the building of the Casco, Charlie had been enabled to gratify

-his taste for cultivating the soil and improving his place. The

-Hard-scrabble, under the command of Seth Warren, and the Casco, under

-that of Isaac Murch, had made profitable voyages. Charlie and John

-found themselves in possession both of means and leisure. Charlie had

-built a large house, roomy enough to contain his men whenever he wanted

-to build more vessels, a barn, workshop, and other out-buildings. Hard

-wood stumps soon decay, white pine will last fifty years, and oak much

-longer than beech, maple or birch. The slope in front of the house

-presented a most enchanting view. Directly in front of the house was

-a most noble growth of forest trees, where the birch, beech, maple,

-and oak, in associate beauty, intermingled their huge trunks, covered

-with moss, and of such majestic height as to permit the buildings to

-be seen between their stems. A footpath wound among them to the outer

-edge, where, between their gnarled and twisted roots, gleamed the clear

-waters of Silver Spring.

-

-Almost any summer or autumn morning, about nine o’clock, you might see

-a gray squirrel sitting on one of the great tree roots, viewing himself

-in the transparent water, washing his face, and making his toilet by

-its aid. Scattered all along on the surface of the slope margining

-the beach were clumps and single trees, of peculiar beauty and vast

-size, which Charlie, by abstaining from the use of fire, had spared;

-thus preserving what it would have required seventy years, and a large

-outlay, to have obtained by planting.

-

-Neither the mill nor the shop could be seen, except in one direction;

-that is, when you were directly in front, they were so embosomed in

-foliage, Charlie having left the growth around them, for he was in

-possession of ideas of taste and beauty, of which neither Captain

-Rhines, Uncle Isaac, or John had the least conception. It was a

-pleasant sight, as you sailed away in the summer, to obtain indistinct

-glimpses of the water between the tree trunks as it poured off the

-dam, listen to the click of the saw, and catch through the leaves

-the gleams of the carpenters’ axes; while far beyond, as the land

-gradually rose, large fields of corn and grain, with their vivid green,

-presented a most singular and beautiful contrast to the black limbs

-and barkless trunks of the girdled trees among which they lay, their

-hollow trunks—some standing upright, others fallen—affording a most

-excellent roost for the crows, who paid their respects to Charlie’s

-corn when it was in the blade.

-

-At the lower edge of an immense forest of maple and birch, from which

-every vestige of underbrush had been removed, were seen the walls of

-a sap camp; while, instead of a path leading to the house, marked by

-spotted trees, a carriage road had been made, so that Captain Rhines

-could ride back and forth in his wagon, and Parson Goodhue in his

-chaise—for he had arrived to that dignity. It was not, however, much

-like the vehicle bearing that appellation at the present time. The

-wheels and arms were large enough for a modern team wagon; the frame

-of the top was made of iron; instead of leather, it was covered with

-painted canvas, and on the sides were projections, like the wings of a

-bird, to throw off the mud.

-

-Charlie and Joe cut a footpath through the forest, between their farms,

-and put logs across the gullies and sloughs, so that they could go back

-and forth conveniently.

-

-Two other notable events occurred this year. You know Uncle Isaac

-was not a whit like most elderly people, any more than chalk is like

-cheese. There was nothing stereotyped about him. He made a cider

-mill, to replace his white oak beam and wooden maul. When he went to

-Thomaston to see General Knox’s mills, he saw a cider press, in which

-the cheese was pressed with wooden screws. The apples, also, instead of

-being pounded to pieces in a trough, with a wooden maul, were ground

-between nuts, made with grooves and projections fitting into each

-other, and turned by a horse. Uncle Isaac took the pitch of the thread

-of the screws, and when he came home made press and mill.

-

-Ben also, that fall, brought over to his father and Charlie a bushel of

-apples apiece, which he had raised from his young orchard.

-

-“What do you think now about making cider on Elm Island?”

-

-Charlie said, “I think, when you get ready, there will be a mill for

-you;” and told him what Uncle Isaac had done.

-

-Uncle Isaac didn’t stop here. He made his wife and Sally Rhines a

-cheese-press, with screws. The way they pressed cheese before this was,

-to put a lever under the sill of the house, place the cheese under it,

-and then put rocks on the other end of the lever. At Ben’s suggestion,

-he also made a press to press hay. Before this, they carried it loose

-on board vessels, and couldn’t take any great amount, although, in

-Massachusetts, presses had come in use, and Ben had seen them.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER IV.

-

-CAPTAIN RHINES MANIFESTS HIS GRATITUDE.

-

-

-NED and the mate now began to mend rapidly. In the enjoyment of

-abundant food and rest, inhaling the bracing air of autumn, and with

-all the fruit they chose to eat, their sunken cheeks filled out, the

-flesh covered their limbs, their muscles assumed their wonted vigor,

-and they rapidly regained all that buoyancy which pertains to youth

-and high health. Mrs. Rhines, Hannah Murch, and Mrs. Ben Rhines made

-them clothes. And thus arrayed, as the evenings were now getting of

-considerable length, they went around on social visits, with Charlie

-and John, among the neighbors, and over to Elm Island; made friends,

-and won good opinions every day.

-

-Captain Rhines, instead of manifesting any disposition to take them to

-Salem in the Perseverance, as he had promised at their arrival, said

-not a word about it. Instead he seemed very earnest in laying plans,

-and inventing amusements to make them contented where they were. One

-day it was a gunning excursion by water; again hunting in the woods. At

-another time he wanted them to help him about some harvesting, which

-they were more than willing to do, and seemed never so happy as when

-they were doing something for their benefactor.

-

-The captain’s line of conduct was a sore puzzle to John and Charlie,

-and indeed to all the family. The Perseverance must have a new mast and

-windlass before she could go to Salem. But although Charlie had made

-both, the captain would not let him put them in.

-

-One day Charlie, John, and Ben were together on the island, and this

-fruitful subject of conjecture came up.

-

-“Ben,” said John, “what do you suppose the reason is father don’t take

-Ned and Mr. Brown home? He said, when they were first picked up, that

-he would take them to Salem in the Perseverance as soon as they were

-fit to go. They are all right now, and want to see their folks.”

-

-“He seems,” said Charlie, “to have forgotten all about it. I don’t

-believe he wants to take them, for I’ve had the mast and windlass made

-these three weeks, and he won’t let me put them in.”

-

-“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Ben. “Father ain’t like most old folks.

-He likes to have young people around him. Mother says he talks hours

-and hours with Brown. Perhaps he don’t like to lose their company. If

-you want to know, Charlie, why don’t you and John ask him?”

-

-“I don’t like to.”

-

-“Well, get Uncle Isaac to. He will ask in a moment; indeed, if there’s

-a special reason, I’ll warrant he knows it now.”

-

-“What seems more singular to me,” said Charlie, “is, that after telling

-how much he thought of Arthur’s father and mother, how much he was

-willing to do for his children, even to cut the last piece of bread in

-two, that he don’t _do something_—build him a vessel. I have got out

-board and ceiling plank at the mill, and deck plank all sawed out. It

-would be a capital time now to get a frame and set her up this fall,

-let her season through the winter, finish her in the summer, and rig

-her before cold weather.”

-

-“Benjamin,” said Uncle Isaac (as they shot into a thickly wooded cove

-to rest their backs, on their way home from a fowling excursion),

-laying his paddle across the float, and leaning both elbows on it, “why

-don’t you take these boys home? they want to go.”

-

-“Do they want to go?”

-

-“To be sure. Isn’t it natural they should want to see their parents and

-friends, after being at death’s door?”

-

-“But their parents know they are comfortable, and they hear from each

-other every week.”

-

-“That isn’t like seeing them. There’s another thing; the boys want to

-build a vessel for this young man, and so does Ben.”

-

-“Ben wants to, does he?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“Hum.”

-

-“He seems to be a nice, steady, well-informed young man.”

-

-“Is that the way it strikes you, Isaac?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“The fact is, Isaac,” beginning to pick the leaves of a beech limb,

-which hung over the float, and chew them up, “I am ready and willing,

-and count it a privilege to do all I can for this boy, and his father’s

-family; but whether building a vessel, and putting him in her, is the

-_best_ way to do it, I am not clear.”

-

-While they were engaged in this conversation, the boat had drifted

-under the limbs of a birch, that had never regained its upright

-position after being bent down by the ice and snow of the previous

-winter.

-

-“What have you got that’s good in that red box, Isaac?”

-

-“I’ve got a chicken, boiled eggs, bread, butter, cheese, and

-doughnuts,” he replied, placing the box on the middle thwart of the

-boat, and removing the cover.

-

-“There’s something to wash it down,” said the captain, unrolling a jug,

-carefully wrapped in the folds of his long jacket. “That’s some of the

-coffee I brought home in the Ark; it’s warm, too. We might as well eat

-now as any time, for by the tide it can’t be far from noon.”

-

-Uncle Isaac twisted one of the long, slender limbs of the birch into

-a string, and making it fast to a thole-pin hole, it held the boat

-stationary, while the two friends, sitting face to face in the warm

-sunshine, gossipped and ate; and having eaten nothing since three

-o’clock that morning, evidently enjoyed the repast, the warm sunshine,

-and the sheltered nook, so highly as to wish to prolong the pleasure,

-and ate very deliberately, till the meal was brought to an abrupt

-termination by the entire consumption of the contents of both box and

-jug.

-

-“We were speaking, Isaac,” said the captain, “about this young man,

-and about building him a vessel. If I was able to build him one, fit

-her for sea, load her, and say to him, ‘Here, my boy, take her, and do

-the best you can for yourself and me;’ and then if he made a ‘funger,’

-pocket the loss, I would lay the keel to-morrow. But in doing that, I

-must be concerned with others, and risk other people’s money. Here are

-Ben, Fred, John, and Charlie, all ready to strike, only waiting for me

-to say the word; and Mr. Welch would take hold in a moment if I should

-say to him, ‘Here is a young man, who I think capable, wants a vessel

-built.’ Now, how do I know he is capable of taking charge of a vessel

-and managing business in these squally times, with the English and

-French pitching into our commerce, and pirates to boot? A master of a

-vessel must have grit and cool judgment—qualities that don’t always

-nor often go together. He’s very young, has been only one voyage and

-part of another as mate; of course has had but little experience. Some

-men make first-rate mates, but poor masters; others poor mates, but

-excellent masters. Then, if he should make a losing voyage of it, I

-should feel very bad, and the rest (though they did not say it) might

-feel that they had been brought into difficulties, and lost money

-through me.”

-

-“He is as old, and has had as much experience as Isaac had when he

-became master. You was keen enough for putting him ahead; far more than

-I was, though he is my own nephew, and has done splendidly. This young

-man has had the best of schooling, and ten times the privileges Isaac

-ever had.”

-

-“_Schooling! privileges!_” cried the captain; “I wouldn’t give _that_

-(snapping his fingers) for the schooling and privileges. What do they

-amount to, if the man hasn’t got _Indian suet_,—hasn’t got the

-articles in him? They _help_, but they can’t put anything _into_ a man.

-I knew Isaac from the egg. I watched him as he grew up. There’s a great

-deal in the _blood_. I knew the breed he came of, both sides. He sailed

-with me. I taught him, and knew him through and through,—knew he had

-the root of the matter in him. But in regard to this young man, I know

-only the father. If he takes after his father in mind, as he does in

-looks, he will be all right. But he may look like the father, and take

-after the mother. I don’t know anything about her or her people.”

-

-“You mean to help him, don’t you?”

-

-“Reckon I do, if my life is spared. But I could help him without

-building him a vessel, or involving other folks. I might give him a

-couple of thousand dollars in cash, and let him help himself; or say

-to him, ‘Arthur, go to Salem; see if some of your father’s friends,

-and the people you’ve sailed for, won’t build you a vessel. I’ll take

-an eighth or a fourth.’ I can help the mother,—that will be my own

-concern, and nobody’s business,—and I shan’t involve others, and risk

-their hard earnings.”

-

-“But he’s been here some time. You’ve had him in your house all the

-time, with opportunities for talking with him, and making up your mind.

-What do you think?”

-

-“I think well of him. I like him all round, think him capable, and, to

-tell the truth, that is what I’ve been backing and filling for so long,

-and keeping the boys back. I wanted _time_ to make up my mind, and have

-you and the neighbors see and get acquainted with him, and find what

-you all thought of him.”

-

-“As far as my opinion is worth anything, I shouldn’t hesitate a moment.

-There’s one little thing just settles the matter in my mind.”

-

-“What is that, Isaac?”

-

-“Why, his sticking by that captain. Here is a crew of men, the

-sweepings of Liverpool; they take the boats, compass, and other

-instruments, and shove off,—they’ve had trouble with the captain, and

-are down on him, and mean to have their revenge,—leaving him to shift

-for himself; the mate they like, and offer to take him with them—even

-coax him to go; they have provision, water, and instruments, and are

-not overloaded. In the boats, there’s no great risk; to remain, is

-almost certain death. He is under no particular obligations to the

-captain, who is an Englishman and a stranger, yet he sticks by him,

-because he thinks it his duty. If _that_ ain’t pluck, principle, and

-Christianity,—if that ain’t real manhood, I wonder where you’d find

-it! There’s not one man in a hundred—no, not in a thousand—_would_

-or _could_ have done it. And, Benjamin, ‘twill take a great deal to

-make me believe that a man who has got all _that_ in him hasn’t all the

-other qualities that go to make up a man.”

-

-“It’s just what his father would have done. Well, Isaac, I’ll take them

-to Salem. I’m acquainted there; have an old shipmate that knew his

-father. I’ll see the captain he’s been mate with, and if they speak

-well of him, we’ll go ahead.”

-

-“John,” said his father, on his return home, “clap the saddle on the

-horse, ride over to Charlie’s, and tell him he may get the schooner

-ready as soon as he likes; and tell Fred to get his fish and potash

-ready, for I’m going to Salem, and will take a freight to Boston, and

-bring back any goods he wants.”

-

-Captain Folger was sitting in his store just before noon, frequently

-looking at his watch, for the demands of appetite were pressing,—he

-had set up a ship-chandler’s store, after having spent the greater

-part of life at sea,—when Captain Rhines entered, and most agreeably

-surprised him.

-

-“Why, Captain Ben!” exclaimed the old seaman, grasping his friend by

-the hand, “what good wind has blown you hither?”

-

-“I had business in Boston, and so called in here. It’s long since we’ve

-met. I hardly thought you’d know me so readily.”

-

-“_Know_ you! Old shipmates don’t forget each other.”

-

-“So you’ve left off going to sea, and turned storekeeper!”

-

-“Yes; it’s the most natural thing an old shipmaster can do to turn

-ship-chandler, and have vessels and rigging to look after. I couldn’t

-be contented ashore in any other business. I own some navigation,

-and have that to look after. My shop is a loafing place for the old

-captains, and we fight our battles over again, spin our yarns, plan

-voyages, and keep each other’s spirits up. We heard about your going

-to Cuba on a raft, and it was agreed on all hands it was the smartest

-thing ever done in these parts, or anywhere. You ran a confounded risk,

-but they say you made your Jack out of it.”

-

-“Yes, I made _something_.”

-

-“You knew Captain Brown, Arthur, who was lost on Abaco?”

-

-“_Knew_ him! I guess I did. He was the means of putting me into

-business.”

-

-“He was the means of putting a great many into business.”

-

-“Do you know his son?”

-

-“What, young Arthur?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“To be sure. We’ve been much worried about him. The vessel he was in

-foundered, but he has been picked up, so his mother tells me.”

-

-“I picked him up, and brought him here not two hours ago. What kind of

-a young man is he?”

-

-“As fine a one as ever the sun shone upon; he is thought a great deal

-of here, both upon his father’s account and his own.”

-

-“Is there business in him, or only goodness?”

-

-“Both; as much of one as the other.”

-

-“Do you know Captain Bates, who he was mate with?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“Will you introduce me to him?”

-

-“Yes; he’ll be in here about two o’clock, with half a dozen more old

-web feet, that you know, or who have heard of you, and we’ll have a

-jolly time of it. But come,” looking at his watch, “it is grub time; go

-up to the house; you belong to me while you are here.”

-

-“I will dine with you; but I made an engagement with young Brown to

-meet me here at five o’clock, and I am to take tea with him.”

-

-Captain Rhines met Captain Bates at three o’clock, who, in reply to

-his questions in relation to young Brown, replied, “If you’ve got a

-frigate, give it to him.” When Arthur came, according to appointment,

-Ned Gates came with him.

-

-“Captain Rhines,” said Ned, “father and mother want you to come to our

-house, and stop with us while you are here.”

-

-“He’s going to stay with us,” said Arthur.

-

-“No, he ain’t,” said Captain Folger; “he belongs to me. He can go to

-supper with Arthur, and he can dine to-morrow with you, Ned; but we are

-old shipmates, and the rest of the time he belongs to me.”

-

-Captain Rhines, while at Mrs. Brown’s, proposed that the whole family

-should go down and live with him. But Mrs. Brown, who was a capable,

-energetic woman, many years younger than her husband, would by no means

-consent. She told him, in reply, that her daughters were doing well in

-their store; that though her husband left her no money, he had left

-the house clear of debt. That his nephew was learning a trade, and she

-was doing well keeping boarders, and could not consent, by any means,

-to live upon him, as she could not be happy in so doing; but as he had

-announced his intentions of helping Arthur to a vessel, she should feel

-under the greatest obligations.

-

-Before leaving, he compelled her to accept a check upon Mr. Welch

-for two thousand dollars, made the girls a present of five hundred

-more, and a hundred to George Ferguson, the nephew, without which, he

-declared, he could not sleep nights.

-

-Having accomplished this, he felt quite satisfied and happy; and began

-to talk with Arthur in relation to the intended vessel.

-

-“What kind of a vessel do you want, Arthur, and what trade do you want

-to go into?”

-

-“I should prefer, sir, always with submission to your better judgment,

-a sharp vessel, that will outsail the English cruisers, run the

-gantlet, and carry provisions and supplies to France. There will be

-risk, but I have an idea there will be corresponding profit.”

-

-“That’s the talk, my boy,” cried the captain, delighted with a proposal

-so congenial to his own hardy and enterprising nature. “I only wish I

-was young enough to go into it myself. Now, if there’s a man in these

-United States that can build a clipper that will show a clean pair of

-heels to anything that swims, that man is Charles Bell.”

-

-It was just after dinner, of a pleasant afternoon, Charlie and his wife

-were seated in the sun, in the barn-door, husking corn, the sharp click

-of a horse’s feet that overreached was heard.

-

-“That’s father,” said Mary. “I know the click of the mare’s shoes.”

-

-“Charlie!” shouted the captain, never stopping, till the mare’s feet

-struck the heap of corn in the floor, sending the kernels in Mary’s

-face, “grind your broad-axe. Arthur Brown wants a vessel that will show

-her heels to the English frigates, run the blockade, and make the sweat

-stand on a dolphin’s nose to keep up.”

-

-“I am thankful,” cried Charlie, delighted, “that after so long a time

-I am to build something that is not a box.”

-

-“You can’t find a better model than the Hard-scrabble.”

-

-“Than the Hard-scrabble?”

-

-“No; she sails well when she is light, and with a free wind in ballast,

-Isaac says there’s nothing will catch her. Just give her more depth,

-so she can hold on, and put the sail on her, and I tell you she would

-streak it. You must have breadth to carry sail.”

-

-“Well, I’ll do the best I can.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER V.

-

-“WE WERE PUT INTO THIS WORLD TO HELP ONE ANOTHER.”

-

-

-IT was about eight o’clock Saturday night. Captain Rhines had sailed

-that morning for Boston.

-

-Mrs. Brown had finished her household business for the day, and was

-seated before a bright fire in a cosy little sitting-room, reserved for

-her private use. Her children were with her, the girls having closed

-the store earlier than usual, and with the beloved and rescued son and

-brother in the midst, they were talking over the exciting events of the

-week.

-

-“When I look back upon what has happened for the past two or three

-weeks,” said the happy mother, “it seems like a dream. There I was, day

-after day, and week after week, watching the papers, and no news of

-the vessel, a short passage too. Then I got Captain Folger to write

-to Halifax, and the consignee wrote that they supposed the vessel was

-lost, as one of her boats, bottom up, had been found, and a bucket

-that had the vessel’s name on it. A husband and son both buried in the

-ocean. It tore open the old wounds, and they bled afresh; brought up

-all the anguish of your father’s loss anew. I felt it was more than I

-could bear. How I begged and plead with my heavenly Father for your

-life, Arthur, the widow’s only hope! And some how, whenever I rose

-from my knees, I felt better than when I knelt down; a feeling as

-though, some how or other, the cup would pass from me, seemed to take

-possession of me, and this feeling kept me, for the most part of the

-time, on my knees. I felt better and happier there than anywhere else.”

-

-“Don’t you think, mother, when I came to be on that raft, provisions

-and water all gone, the captain raving mad and jumping overboard, my

-shipmates dying one after another, that I didn’t think of you, and

-that you were praying for me? Poor little Ned and I, our throats were

-so dry and parched we couldn’t speak so as to be heard by each other

-above the winds and waves. I fell into a doze, and dreamed I saw a most

-beautiful grove of apple trees all in blossom, and a great long table

-spread under them, covered with piles and piles of meat, and great

-goblets, that held a gallon, full of the clearest water; and you was

-sitting at it, and saying, ‘Come, Arthur, this is all for you.’ I tried

-so hard to move towards you, it woke me; and I heard a shout, ‘Raft,

-ahoy! Is there anybody can take a line?’ Then I knew there was help. I

-tried to shout, but couldn’t. I could only raise my arm. Soon I heard

-something strike the raft; a voice shouted, ‘All fast!’ and two men

-stood over us. They were Mr. Ben Rhines and Charlie Bell. They told me

-to keep my heart up, for they would stick by me; but I was so overcome

-I fainted away.”

-

-“Brother,” said Ellen, “didn’t you suffer terribly before you got so

-low as that?”

-

-“Tongue can’t describe it; but the thirst was the worst. But here I am

-now, sitting before this comfortable fire, in this old room where we

-have spent so many happy hours, with you all around me. I’m sure, as

-mother says, it seems like a dream to me.”

-

-“I hope,” said the widow, “such trials and such mercies will make us

-better; they certainly should.”

-

-“I feel that it has been good for me,” said Eliza. “I thought, when

-we were in that agony of uncertainty, ‘O that I, too, could pray with

-mother! that I had a right to, as I felt she had! But when Captain

-Rhines’s letter came, I did go to God with tears of thankfulness, and

-trust I was accepted.”

-

-“I thought, if my poor boy’s life could only be spared, even if he was

-a cripple, or injured for life, I could ask no more. And then to have

-him come home so well and happy, with such a friend as God has raised

-up for us all in Captain Rhines! Yet I can never think upon him and his

-kindness but it makes me reflect upon myself.”

-

-“Why so, mother?” said Arthur.

-

-“Your father was of most open and generous nature, far too much so

-for his own interest, and, as I then thought, for that of his family,

-while my disposition was very different. My parents were poor, and I

-was brought up by a relative, early taught hardship, knew the value of

-money, and was naturally prudent. Your father would take the clothes

-off his back to put on anybody else. I used to go to sea with him,

-when we were first married; and when sailors came on board without

-clothes, he would give them clothing, fix them all up, and make them

-comfortable. I used to tell him, sometimes, that if they drank,

-gambled, and threw all their money away, they ought to suffer the

-consequences, and his first duty was to his family. But it was no use

-to reason with him; he couldn’t help it—couldn’t bear to see anybody

-suffer; and at length I refrained from saying anything on the subject,

-but tried to economize all I could, to offset his liberality. He never

-concerned himself about household matters, was gone a great part of the

-time, and left everything to me.

-

-“He would come home, and bring barrels of sugar and molasses for family

-use, and bags of coffee, and have them hauled up to the house; and also

-quantities of fine cloths from Europe and the East Indies for me and

-the children, and material for towels, curtains, and bedding. After he

-was gone, I would live as prudently as possible, sell a great part of

-the things sent home, and put by the money against time of need.

-

-“After our third child was born, he began to alter gradually, and

-seemed to have different ideas, became more prudent, and, as he was a

-man of great business talent, began to accumulate, and soon owned a

-good part of the vessel, and, had he lived, would have become a wealthy

-man, but was taken away in a moment. There was no insurance on the ship

-or cargo, and all he had accumulated was gone, except this house. Then,

-being left a widow, with a young family, I found the benefit of the

-little I had saved.”

-

-“I’m sure, mother,” said Eliza, “I don’t see what you have to reflect

-on, except with satisfaction. You were not saving for yourself, but for

-us children, and for father, had he lived to be old, and past labor.”

-

-“Ah, but I was so anxious that your father should lay up something for

-his family, that after he was gone, I felt that perhaps I had said more

-than I ought; sometimes, too, I would discourage him from doing for

-others, when it did not consist in giving money; when he would spend a

-great deal of time at sea in teaching some young man navigation, when,

-as I thought, he ought to have been asleep in his berth, or resting;

-often, when he was on shore, and I wanted him to go with me, he

-would be running here and there, night and day, to get a vessel built

-for somebody, and oftentimes get small thanks for it, as I told him.

-Then he would say, ‘Harriet, we were put into this world to help each

-other; we ought not to feel vexed or disappointed if we do not always

-receive gratitude from those we have befriended, when we consider how

-ungrateful we are ourselves to our Maker, but do our duty.’ These

-things often came up in memory, after he was taken away, and I would

-have given anything if I had not said some things, and could have taken

-them back.”

-

-“But, mother,” said Ellen, “I don’t think you ought to feel so. You

-meant it for his good.”

-

-“I thought I did, at the time; but since then I have felt there was a

-good deal of selfishness at the bottom, that ought not to have been

-there; that your father felt it, and it pained him, for I could see a

-shade of sadness flit across his face, like a cloud across the sun in a

-spring morning.”

-

-“Don’t cry, mother,” said Arthur, putting his arm around her, and

-wiping away the tear that trembled on her cheek.

-

-“But when,” she continued, in a voice broken with emotion, “in the

-midst of my anguish about you, that letter came from Pleasant Cove,

-telling me your life had been saved by Captain Rhines (one of the very

-boys your father had worked so hard to help), so full of sentiments of

-affection for your father, and gratitude for the favors he had received

-from him, and a few days later your letter, telling me of their

-kindness to you and Ned, I was overcome.”

-

-“O, mother, I can’t tell you one half they did for me, because it can’t

-be told; for it was not only what they did, but the way they did it. It

-came so right out of the heart. They seemed to love to do it, and it

-was done with such looks and tones of love.”

-

-“Yes; and when that noble man came up here, and couldn’t do

-enough—wanted to take us all home with him—insisting upon it, didn’t

-I feel condemned for trying to hinder your father from helping others,

-and telling him he got small thanks for it? Here, now, is one of those

-very persons, becoming a father to his son, putting him right into

-business at once.”

-

-“Well, mother, I’ve made up my mind to one thing—I’ll try to show

-myself my father’s son, and practise that which I approve of so much

-in others. I’ll let Captain Rhines, Mr. Ben, Charlie, John, and the

-others see that I am not deficient in gratitude. If God gives me life

-and strength, the grass shan’t grow on that vessel’s bottom. I’ll make

-her a happy vessel for sailors, and help every young man I can, as

-father told Captain Rhines to do when he asked him how he could repay

-him. And as he has helped me, whether I get any thanks for it or not,

-I’ll look higher than that for my reward,—I’ll get it in doing my

-duty. I’ll begin with my shipmate, little Ned Gates.”

-

-“I am glad to hear you talk thus, Arthur. Your father’s principle was

-the true one,—do right because it is right,—and from all I have

-seen, it generally bears the best fruit even in this life. There was

-your uncle David, just the opposite of your father; always saving

-for his children; so close as to be on the edge of dishonesty, if

-not actually dishonest; never had a thought or care for any one but

-himself or his own, and, just as he had amassed a large property, went

-into a great speculation in his old age for the sake of getting more,

-when he had more than enough already risked the whole, and lost the

-whole. Now, worn out, and broken down, without a house over his head,

-everybody says, ‘Served him right,’ and his children all poor, while

-your father’s good name and deeds have been money at interest for his

-family, and the bread he cast upon the waters has come back after many

-days.”

-

-“Mother, there’s one thing I want you to do before I go to sea.”

-

-“What is that, Arthur?”

-

-“Just send off these boarders,—no longer make a slave of

-yourself,—and take some comfort. The girls are doing well in the

-store; George supports himself; I am going to have business, and

-Captain Rhines has given you and the girls money; so there’s no need of

-working, and wearing your life out now.”

-

-“I couldn’t feel right, Arthur, if I were not earning something; a

-thousand dollars would soon be spent, come to sit down and live upon

-it; you may have hard luck at sea; the girls are doing well, to be

-sure, but they have got to return the money that friends loaned them

-to start with. I have put that thousand dollars in the bank, against

-a rainy day; besides, I have another reason for wishing to earn

-something.”

-

-“What is it?” asked Ellen.

-

-“I want to atone for past selfishness, and follow your father’s example

-in doing what little I can to help those poorer than myself. It’s but

-little I can do, to be sure, but I mean to do that little cheerfully,

-and I trust ‘twill be accepted. There is the mother of poor James

-Watts, who was on the raft, and died. She is poor, and bereft of all

-her dependence, for he was a good boy, and gave her all his earnings,

-while my child was spared, and friends raised up to help me; and I mean

-to do all I can to help and comfort her. I mean to act on your father’s

-principle, ‘Harriet, we were put into this world to help each other.’”

-

-“At any rate, mother, you need not have so large a family and work so

-hard; you can keep more help; you must gratify me in that.”

-

-“Well, I will, my son.”

-

-At this period of the conversation, the servant announced that a young

-man wanted to see Arthur.

-

-“It is Ned; tell him to come in here. Good evening, Edward; sit down

-beside me; this is more comfortable than the raft.”

-

-“Indeed it is, sir.”

-

-“I suppose you hardly care to sail salt water any more, you’ve had such

-bad luck this time.”

-

-“O, yes, sir; old Captain Osborne tells me some people have all their

-bad luck at once, and that it’s a good sign when a man falls overboard

-before the vessel leaves the wharf, or is wrecked at the first going

-off. He says that ship was cursed.”

-

-“Was cursed!” said Mrs. Brown; “what did he mean by that?”

-

-“He says, marm, that he knew that captain; that he was a cruel man to

-sailors, abused and starved them (that I know to be true); that it was

-thought he had murdered men. Are you going again, Mr. Brown?”

-

-“Yes, Edward. Captain Rhines and his folks are building me a vessel; I

-expect the keel is laid by this time.”

-

-“Can I go with you, sir?”

-

-“Yes, if your parents are willing.”

-

-“They are willing I should go with _you_, sir.”

-

-“It will be some months before the vessel is ready; now, you better go

-to school, and get all the learning you can.”

-

-“Yes, sir; shall I study navigation?”

-

-“No; I’ll teach you that on board ship. Study arithmetic and

-book-keeping, learn to keep accounts and write a business hand, and

-study trigonometry and geography. If we live to get to sea in the ship,

-we won’t starve, or abuse anybody, nor pass any wrecks, and try not to

-have the vessel cursed. We know what it is, my boy, to starve, and to

-be helped in distress, and will do as we have been done by.”

-

-“Mr. Brown, don’t you think the folks at Pleasant Cove and round there

-are the best folks that could be?”

-

-“Yes, Ned.”

-

-“But don’t you think Charlie is handsome,—the handsomest man that ever

-was?”

-

-“I think Captain Rhines is handsome.”

-

-“Yes, sir; but Charlie Bell; is it any hurt for me to call him Charlie?

-They all down there call each other so, and somehow I seem to love him

-more when I don’t put the handle on.”

-

-“No, indeed; do you love me better when you don’t put on the handle?”

-

-“No, sir; because I have been used to calling you Mr. Brown, and it

-comes natural, and I couldn’t love you any better than I do.”

-

-“I suppose, Ned, Charlie looks handsome to you, and Captain Rhines to

-me, because we had the most to do with them; but they are both really

-fine-looking men. Most people would think John Rhines a finer specimen

-of a man than Charlie. I have seen a great many men, but I never in

-all my life saw so fine a proportioned young man as John Rhines; if he

-lives, he’ll be almost as strong as Ben. Charlie is the handsomest,

-John the most manly.”

-

-“But, sir, do you know what I thought (I suppose I was wandering) after

-they took us off the raft, and I kind of came to? I opened my eyes,

-and Charlie was bending over the bed. I looked him right in the face;

-such a beautiful face, so much goodness in it, I thought I had got to

-heaven, and that an angel was hovering over me; and then, when I came

-to myself, he was so kind,—fed me with a spoon, took me in his arms,

-and put me in a chair, just as my mother would; and Ben Rhines, though

-he ain’t handsome, he is just as good as the rest. Uncle Isaac and Fred

-Williams, they are all just as good as they can be. I mean to go down

-there, and stay a month at Pleasant Cove, and Elm Island. They asked me

-to.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER VI.

-

-THE YOUNG CAPTAIN UNDER FIRE.

-

-

-THE day is breaking. A vessel of two hundred and fifty tons lies

-completely enveloped in a dense, damp fog, and becalmed, off the coast

-of France, in the Mediterranean.

-

-It is impossible to discern an object twice the length of the vessel.

-Let us go alongside, and see if we can arrive at any conclusion

-respecting her character and business. She is evidently of American

-build, though she shows no colors; but spreading a cloud of canvas,

-modelled and rigged entirely with reference to speed, and though

-unarmed, with a much larger crew than would be required in the ordinary

-pursuits of commerce. The appearance of the crew as to dress is quite

-in contrast to that of a ship’s crew at the present time, for during

-the last forty years there has been a gradual change in the clothing

-of seafaring men, rendering it not only more comfortable, but much

-lighter.

-

-At that time, sailors wore, for head covering, tarpaulins. These were

-generally made by the men themselves at leisure moments on board ship.

-The process was this: as the course of trade in those days was chiefly

-to the West Indies, they procured the leaves of the dwarf palm, which

-they split into proper widths and platted, making the button, in the

-middle of the crown, of the same material, though some, as a matter

-of fancy, took the lead tags that came on bolts of canvas, and some

-a piece of money, and punching holes in the rim, began their work on

-that. After the braid was made, it was sewed together with ravellings

-of duck; then, if there was a pig killed on board, or a porpoise

-harpooned, they soaked the hat in the blood and let it dry, to make

-it stiff (this was sailors’ paste), then covered it with canvas, then

-mixed tar, grease, and salt water together, and daubed it with the

-composition to render it water-proof; but after a while they found that

-black paint was just as good, and much lighter. Then tarpaulins gave

-way to peaked red caps, Scotch caps, and finally the present dress was

-adopted. But the crew of the brigantine wore tarpaulins of still more

-ancient dates, and of enormous weight, made by covering thick wool hats

-with tar and canvas. The dress of landsmen at that time was breeches

-and long hose, but sailors wore trousers very wide at the bottom of

-the legs, the rule for the width, being the length of the foot; on

-their feet, for dress-up to go ashore, slippers that showed the joint

-of the great toe. Sheath knives were not worn, except occasionally by

-some Spanish sailor; they used large, square-pointed jack-knives of

-English manufacture, slung to the neck by a lanyard. The officers, both

-captain and mate, wore at sea short jackets. If a mate then had worn

-a long-tail coat, the sailors would have cut the tails off with their

-jack-knives. Every one of the ship’s company wore his hair in a cue,

-which was wound, when at sea, with an eel-skin, but with a ribbon when

-going ashore, and hung down the back. When at work it was frequently

-coiled around the top of the head and covered with the hat. Men prided

-themselves on the length of their cue, and in their watch below,

-watchmates combed out and tied up each other’s cues, and the cook or

-steward took care of the captain’s.

-

-She looks, for all the world, like a slaver. The use of copper on

-the bottom of vessels was scarcely known then, and as she rolls to

-windward, little spots of grease are seen floating on the water, and we

-perceive that her bottom is covered with a coat of tallow and soap, to

-increase her speed to the utmost.

-

-There is something in the appearance of the man who is climbing

-the main rigging that seems familiar. Looking more closely, we are

-delighted to recognize our old acquaintance Walter Griffin, now growing

-into a lithe, fine-looking young man. He is acting as second mate, that

-officer being sick with a carbuncle on the back of his neck, the pain

-of which made him nearly frantic.

-

-Walter was remarkably keen of sight and quick of hearing, and therefore

-went aloft as lookout, instead of a sailor. Although there was no

-possibility of discerning anything from the deck at any considerable

-distance, yet as the fog hung low, it was somewhat clearer aloft. There

-was also a probability that the fog might scale when the sun rose, or a

-breeze springing up sweep it away.

-

-There is evidently great anxiety among the ship’s company to gain

-intelligence, for all hands are on deck, the men clustered as thick as

-bees on the forecastle. The mate, a stranger, paces the quarter-deck.

-As Walter goes aloft aft, and another man forward, he cautions them, if

-they see or hear anything, not to hail the deck, but make a signal. A

-real racer, and no mistake, this craft. Lashed to the bulwarks are huge

-sweeps, with which the numerous crew (for they are evidently picked

-men of large proportions) can move her with considerable speed in a

-calm. But what is she? Some slaver from the French islands, built in

-Baltimore, and trying to get home? But how comes Walter Griffin there?

-To increase our surprise, as we look at the men grouped together on

-the forecastle, we recognize, seated on the heel of the bowsprit, our

-old friend Peterson, the largest man of the crew, and just behind him

-his son, who is fast emulating the massive proportions of his sire;

-but the usually cheerful face of the black was clouded with anxiety.

-On the end of the windlass, with one arm flung over the bitt, sits

-Sydney Chase, on the shank of the best bower anchor George Warren,

-a brother of Seth; and leaning against the stock of the anchor, in

-whispered conversation with him, is another old acquaintance, Danforth

-Eaton, recalling Elm Island, with all its home-like associations and

-interests. We almost expect to see Uncle Isaac and Captain Rhines make

-their appearance next. Between the knight-heads is Enoch Hadlock,

-a brother of Sally Rhines. The rest of the crew are Pettigrews,

-Godsoes, Merrithews, Lancasters, Warrens, Athertons, and Elwells, all

-belonging to Rhinesville, Pleasant Cove, or thereabouts. While thus

-perplexed, we gaze, seeking for some clew to guide us and unravel

-the mystery, the vessel, having no steerage-way, swings lazily

-round in the tide, presenting her stern to full view, where we read

-“Arthur Brown, Pleasant Cove,” and recognize in the boy sitting on

-the foretop-gallant-yard, little Ned, and the next moment the manly,

-handsome face of Arthur Brown appears in the companion way.

-

-It is all out now. Charlie has ground his broad-axe to some purpose.

-This is the vessel built by the Hard-scrabble boys and Captain

-Rhines for Arthur Brown, the noble offering of a manly, grateful

-heart, repaying to the son the debt incurred to the deceased parent,

-and bearing on her stern the name of him whose body sleeps beneath

-the waves that wash the cliffs of Abaco. What a contrast to the

-Hard-scrabble! what a testimony of the energy and progressive ideas

-of her builders! She is a model of symmetry and beauty; yet you can

-plainly see the lines of the West Wind, of famous memory. Charlie has

-put his whole soul in her; give her wind, she has evidently little to

-fear from the clumping British men-of-war.

-

-But there is not a breath of wind; she lies helpless off the port of

-Marseilles, which the English are blockading, deeply laden with a

-cargo, every article of which is contraband of war.

-

-It is the period when, after the outbreak of the French revolution,

-England had declared war against France, and, supreme at sea, was

-capturing the French West Indies, and blockading their home ports.

-The great majority of the people in this country, especially all the

-mercantile portion of the community, sympathized with France; they

-cherished a feeling of gratitude to her as our ally in the war of the

-revolution, a bitter hatred against England, growing out of the right

-of search, which she exercised in the impressment of seamen, which

-eventually led to the war of 1812.

-

-It was all the government could do, aided by the great personal

-influence of Washington, to restrain the country from entering into

-alliance with France against England, and coming to open hostilities.

-In this state of things, sharp vessels, manned by resolute men,

-conducted by skilful pilots, influenced by motives of friendship and

-self-interest on one side, and a bitter sense of oppression on the

-other, broke the blockade which Great Britain (whose fleets were

-scattered over a vast extent of ocean) attempted to maintain in respect

-to the French coasts and West Indies, and supplied them with both arms

-and provisions.

-

-This is the errand of the Arthur Brown to run the blockade of

-Marseilles, and accounts for the feeling of anxiety evident upon the

-faces of both officers and crew, since their fortunes are alike at

-stake, as each one, in lieu of wages, receives a share in the profits

-of the voyage, and if captured breaking the blockade both ship and

-cargo would be confiscated. There was also another and more terrible

-cause for anxiety—the dread of impressment. The commanders of English

-ships were accustomed to take men by force from American vessels,

-claiming them as British, disregarding the custom-house protection,

-which declared them to be American citizens, sometimes even tearing

-them up, and they were dragged away to spend their lives in the British

-fleets. A terrible instance is on record, illustrating the dread

-which in the minds of seamen was connected with impressment. A fine,

-stalwart, young American seaman, being about to be taken by force from

-an American merchantman, under pretence that he was an Englishman,

-seeing no way of escape from a bondage worse than death, clasped the

-boarding officer in his arms and leaped overboard with him, when both

-sank, to rise no more till the great day of account.

-

-In the course of half an hour, in obedience to a signal from Walter, a

-man ascended the rigging, and, coming down, reported that Griffin was

-sure he heard a rooster crow, and also the sound of oars in a rowlock.

-

-The tide, which was at the flood, had drifted the vessel to the

-neighborhood of a large rock, that was dimly seen through the fog. The

-captain called Peterson aft. “What rock is that, Peterson?” The black

-gave him the French name, and pointed it out to him on the chart.

-

-“Then we are right in with the land?”

-

-“Yes, massa cap’n; there’s another one inside this, right abreast the

-harbor.”

-

-Peterson, who was getting somewhat in years, having broken off his

-intemperate habits, and obtaining good and constant employment at

-home, had given up all thoughts of ever again going to sea; but

-Captain Rhines persuaded him to go in the “Arthur Brown” as pilot and

-interpreter. Peterson’s parents were Guinea negroes; but the boy was

-born in Martinique, where his parents were slaves, and was sold, when

-a child, to the master of a vessel that traded to Marseilles, during

-which time he became perfectly acquainted with the harbor. The French

-captain finally sold him to Captain Hadlock, the father of Sally

-Rhines, who sold him to Peterson, with whom he remained till slavery

-was abolished in New England.

-

-Captain Rhines had frequently availed himself of his knowledge as

-pilot, well knew his worth and reliability, and therefore insisted

-upon his going with Arthur Brown. No other person on board could speak

-a word of French, except Walter Griffin, and he not fluently, as he

-had learned it but a short time before, but was daily improving by

-conversation with Peterson.

-

-There was now a signal from the foremast, Ned Gates reporting that he

-heard blows as of a hammer on iron; and while all hands were anxiously

-listening, the sound of a boatswain’s whistle was faintly audible.

-

-“Man the sweeps,” cried the captain, running to the compass to note the

-quarter from which the sound came. Taking the helm himself, while the

-whole ship’s company applied their force to the sweeps, he steered in

-a direction opposite to that from which the sound that had so alarmed

-them proceeded. An hour thus passed without any repetition of the

-sounds, when the fog suddenly lifted, the sun broke out, and they found

-themselves almost within range of an English frigate on the port bow,

-while a sloop of war lay some miles off on the other quarter. The crew

-redoubled their efforts at the oars.

-

-“It’s no use, boys,” said the mate; “you might as well put on your

-jackets; the frigate is getting out her boats; they’ll be alongside of

-us before we can sweep half a mile.”

-

-“Sweep away, men,” cried the young captain, who was coolly watching the

-clouds; “something may yet turn up in our favor.”

-

-The man-o’-war’s-men, well aware of the character of the chase by the

-efforts put forth to escape, and anticipating a rich prize, strained

-every nerve, coming down upon their helpless victim with the speed of

-an arrow. The sound of the oars in the rowlocks could now be distinctly

-heard as the two leading boats diverged, one making for the fore and

-the other for the main chains of the “Arthur.”

-

-An expression of bitter anguish passed over the face of Arthur, as

-he felt that all his fair prospects, the hopes of Captain Rhines and

-others who had so nobly stepped forth to aid and start him in life,

-were to be blighted in the bud.

-

-The boats were now close aboard, and the bowmen stood up to grapple the

-prize.

-

-“Pull, men, for your lives!” shouted the captain, whose eye caught the

-sails; “there’s a breeze coming; _her length_, only her _length_ ahead.”

-

-They exerted themselves to the utmost, while, in pure recklessness,

-Peterson burst into a song used by whalemen when towing a whale.

-

-Despite their efforts, the foremost boat gained the quarter, and flung

-a grappling; it caught. Just then a light air filled the loftier sails,

-although there was not a breath of wind on deck. Slight as it was, it

-was sufficient to shoot the swift craft ahead with accelerated speed,

-leaving one boat far astern, towing and well nigh upsetting the other.

-A sharp axe in the hand of Peterson descended upon the grappling

-warp, and the boat was left astern, as the increasing breeze filled,

-partially, the larger sails of the “Arthur.”

-

-A broadside burst from the side of the frigate; but the shot all fell

-far short, covering the water with foam.

-

-The breeze now sensibly increased. The direction in which it sprung up

-brought the frigate dead to windward.

-

-“Dis be a bully grappling,” said Peterson, taking up the now harmless

-implement. “Me take him home to Massa Rhines, to moor his boat with.”

-

-The light breeze, which propelled the swift brigantine with

-considerable velocity, was scarcely felt by the frigate; but as it

-gradually freshened she began to move through the water, and picking up

-her boats, crowded all sail in pursuit. But she had, during the light

-wind, lost much precious time, profiting by which the brigantine had

-increased the distance between them.

-

-But now the situation of things was entirely reversed. The frigate,

-though no match for the swift, sharp-built American, close-hauled on

-a wind; yet dead before it, her great bulk and vast cloud of sail

-rendered her superior; besides, as she could carry sail much longer,

-and the wind was every moment increasing, she would, after a while,

-drown the smaller vessel out. She was too near, at the outset, for the

-brigantine to haul on the wind, and endeavor to cross her bows, as

-already the shots from her guns began to fall uncomfortably near. The

-wind was blowing in squalls; when the squall struck, the frigate would

-gain, and almost heave her shot on board; when the wind slacked, the

-brigantine would gain. Directly ahead lay a cluster of islands, reefs,

-and outlying rocks; one island was called Pomegues, the other Rataneau.

-These islands are now connected by a breakwater; then they were not.

-The brow of the young captain now wore an expression of great anxiety;

-he called the mate and Peterson to his councils.

-

-“We are doing all we can,” said the captain to his subordinates, “and

-as the wind increases we bury and she gains; her shot will soon be

-coming aboard.”

-

-“I see no way,” replied the mate, “but to haul our sheets aft, and

-endeavor to cross her bows. If we could once get him on a wind, we

-could shake him off.”

-

-“Then,” replied the captain, “she would run square down on us; it

-is useless to attempt that. What is your advice, pilot?” addressing

-himself to the black, who was too modest to obtrude his opinion upon

-his superiors.

-

-“Massa cap’n,” said the black, “dis darky know all dese rocks jes as

-little boy know his letters in de book. Dis island on de starboard

-hand, he Rataneau; bold water close along shore, till get down to de

-pint; den he shoal, many rocks, bad place. It low water now; we luff

-right round de pint ob de island, right in among de shoals and rocks.”

-

-“Then we shall go ashore.”

-

-“Nebber you fear. Dis chile carry you clear. Dis darky know frigate no

-dare come in. We drew leben feet ob water. ‘Spose he draw twenty-fibe;

-he stand off good way; his shot no reach us. Den you be on de wind,

-close-hauled, beat up ’twixt de islands and de main, hab smooth water;

-’spose frigate he try beat up too; he no do any ting; wid dis vessel

-on de wind, he nowhar. ’Spose he beat up toder side; den he hab _rough

-water_; he do noting at all.”

-

-There was not much time for deliberation, for, even while they were

-speaking, a shot carried away the port davit, and splintered the planks

-of the stern.

-

-“If that shot had struck the main boom,” said the mate,—“and it did

-not lack much of it,—all had been up with us.”

-

-“You are right, pilot. Mr. Rogers, brace up the yards.”

-

-While this manœuvre was being executed, a succession of terrible

-screams arose from the forward part of the ship.

-

-“Some poor fellow is struck,” cried the captain; “run forward, Mr.

-Rogers, and see who it is.”

-

-The second mate was now heard singing out, “Avast hauling on that

-fore-brace. Slack it off handsomely.” Four or five men were at the same

-time seen running up the fore-rigging.

-

-In those days iron trusses to lower yards by (which they swing in all

-directions as easily as a door on its hinges) were not known; but they

-were made of rope, covered with leather, and very stiff. A man must be

-sent up to overhaul them when the yards were swung.

-

-Danforth Eaton went up to overhaul the weather-truss. The wind blew

-the end of his cue—he had the longest cue on board—into the hole of

-the cleat; it jammed fast, and the men bracing the yard hauled it in,

-pulling out the hair by the roots, starting the skin from the flesh,

-and well nigh breaking his neck.

-

-“Cut the blasted thing off,” cried the sufferer (his eyes bloodshot,

-and the tears streaming down his cheeks) to Walter, who was the first

-to reach him.

-

-Eaton never wore another cue, and his example was followed by a few of

-his shipmates; and at length cues went out of fashion altogether.

-

-The next shot fell wide; but as both vessels were now brought nearer

-to the wind, it was evident, by the balls falling short, that the

-brigantine was increasing the distance between them, which became still

-greater as the man-of-war, afraid of the shoals, gave the island a

-wider berth, while the brigantine, under the skilful pilotage of the

-black, running as near as possible to the rocks, rounded the point of

-the island, gradually coming up more and more to the wind, till, having

-passed the last shoal, at a signal from Peterson, the yards were braced

-sharp, the main sheet hauled flat aft, and she shot out into a clear

-channel.

-

-“Dere,” cried the black (who had stood on the bow, with his eye

-glancing alternately from the water to the sails), as he flung his

-tarpaulin upon the deck, and wiped the sweat from his forehead, “where

-dat frigate now? Dis chile no see her,” he exclaimed, looking straight

-to windward. “You ole man, Peterson, you lose de eyesight.”

-

-A merry laugh went round, as the captain exclaimed, “You are looking

-the wrong way, Peterson. Look to leeward. Well done, my old pilot;

-reckon on a suit of clothes for yourself, and a dress for the old

-woman. I see you are all Captain Rhines recommended you to be, and more

-too.”

-

-“Me tank you, massa cap’n; tank you, sar. Cap’n Rhines he know dis

-chile well as he know hisself; wind blow awful; big sea; take two men

-hold toder man’s hair on; ship scudding; Massa Rhines, he come on deck;

-‘Mr. Strout!’ ‘Ay, ay, sar.’ ‘Who got de helm?’ ‘Flour, sar.’ (Dey call

-me Flour den.) He say, ‘Den I go below. Gib me call, any change in de

-weder.’ ‘Ay, ay, sar.’”

-

-“Here comes another,” said the mate, as a hundred gun ship, aroused by

-the firing, stood out from the roadstead of Marseilles.

-

-“Here comes Grandfather Bull,” cried the captain, proud of the sailing

-qualities of his craft. “On a taut bowline I wouldn’t fear their whole

-navy. Come along, old gentleman.”

-

-The fleets of Great Britain were at this time so fully occupied in all

-parts of the world, that but a small number of vessels could be spared

-to blockade the most important of the French ports, the heavier ships

-lying just out of range of the forts, and patrolling the roadstead with

-boats, while the lighter vessels scoured the coast. In bad weather they

-were obliged to ride it out in an open roadstead, or run to sea—a time

-always improved by the blockade-runners who were inside to get out,

-and by those outside, while the fleet was scattered, to run in.

-

-It was of the greatest importance for blockade-runners to ascertain the

-position of the fleet in the daytime, and, eluding the outside vessels,

-run by the others in the night, taking the chance of an attack from

-their boats, and a broadside. In making the coast in thick weather,

-they were always liable to find themselves, as in the present instance,

-in the very jaws of the enemy.

-

-Nothing but her sweeps saved the “Arthur Brown,” by preventing the

-boats from boarding her, till the breeze came. The frigate, finding the

-chase was hopeless, tacked ship, and returned to the coast; but so far

-were the crew of the brigantine from relinquishing their purpose, that

-they kept in sight, and the moment the twilight came on, stood in for

-the land, guided by the frigate’s lights, while all was dark on board

-the brigantine.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER VII.

-

-LITTLE NED AND HIS MOTHER.

-

-

-WHEN Walter Griffin flung down the yard-stick, and jumped over Fred

-Williams’s counter for the last time, he went directly on board the

-Casco, and made several voyages to Cadiz with Isaac Murch, who valued

-his services highly, and offered him promotion to remain with him;

-but arriving from a voyage while the “Arthur Brown” was building,

-the temptation to go in her on shares, and engage in all the perils

-and excitements attendant upon running the gauntlet of the enemy’s

-cruisers, proved perfectly irresistible to a boy of Walter’s sanguine,

-fearless nature; and, as the vessel would be launched and away before

-he could make another voyage and return, he resolved to wait for her.

-

-In order to make the most of his time, he went over to Elm Island to

-study navigation with Lion Ben, and then, by Captain Rhines’s advice,

-to Salem, where was a French family, who, having fled from their native

-country, during the revolution, in poverty, leaving their property

-behind, supported themselves by teaching French, giving music lessons,

-and employing themselves in any way which would bring the means of

-subsistence. They also found no lack of sympathy among the inhabitants,

-who, being a seafaring community, not only shared in the universal good

-will at that time felt towards the French, but also were naturally

-touched by the miseries of those who, having seen better days, and

-accustomed to every comfort, found themselves, in old age, poor and in

-a strange land.

-

-Fred Williams had an uncle in Salem, a tanner. Walter boarded with him,

-doing work enough in the tan-yard to defray the expense of his board.

-Thus, under the instruction of persons of culture, and in daily contact

-with them, he not only obtained a knowledge of the language, but

-learned to speak it properly, and in a manner quite different from the

-patois of Peterson, which, picked up from the lower class of people,

-was, however, fluent, coarse, and vulgar.

-

-Salem, as our readers will recollect, was the home of Ned Gates, who,

-ready to like anybody who came from the neighborhood of Pleasant Cove,

-received Walter with open arms, insisted upon having him at his house

-to tea, and to stay all night, about half the time, and spent every

-spare moment he could get with him.

-

-Ned would go down to the yard and help Walter break bark, pull hides

-out of the pits, take out the spent tan, and hang up the sides of

-leather to dry, in order that his friend might have more time to study

-French, and stuck to him like his skin. Were they not going to be

-shipmates together, and share in perils?

-

-Ned’s parents never wanted him to go to sea, and did all in their

-power to prevent it; but finding his heart set upon it to such an

-extent that he was utterly indifferent to everything else, and

-unhappy, they yielded with the best grace possible. But when he was

-shipwrecked, and came so near perishing with hunger on the raft, they

-were greatly encouraged, thinking it would incline him to comply with

-their wishes and abandon the sea. Ned’s mother was not only a most

-affectionate parent, but a warm-hearted Christian woman. Like all

-Christian mothers, she had been accustomed to hear her little boy say

-his prayers, and continued the practice after he came to be a large

-boy. Ned would leave the light burning, and his mother would come up,

-sit by his bedside, hear him repeat the Lord’s Prayer, then kneel down

-beside the bed and pray herself. Ned was a good boy, and loved his

-mother dearly, but was full of life, and sometimes would do something

-out of the way, so much so, that his mother, after hearing him say his

-prayer, would get up, take the candle in her hand as though about to

-leave the room, observing, “Edward, you have been a bad boy, to-day; I

-don’t know as I ought to pray with you to-night.” This never failed to

-bring Ned to terms. He would own up, if it was any concealed mischief,

-confess, and promise amendment, for he could not bear to go to sleep

-till his mother had prayed with him; yet he was nearly sixteen years

-old, as smart a boy as ever went aloft to furl a royal or reeve signal

-halyards. When the crew abandoned the sinking ship, Ned, as we have

-before stated, preferred to stick by the captain.

-

-Who says vulgarity, coarseness, and profanity are necessary

-concomitants of courage?

-

-“Edward,” said his mother, as he took the candle to go to bed, the

-first night after getting home from Pleasant Cove, “leave the light;

-I’ll come and get it.”

-

-“Mother,” said he, after saying his prayers, “how nice it seems to be

-once more in the old bed, and say my prayers to you, as I used to do!”

-

-“I hope, Edward, you didn’t forget them while you were away from me.”

-

-“I never turned in a night without it; but I didn’t have any mother to

-come and get the light and kiss me when I got through.”

-

-“I hope, my child, you did more than that. I hope, when you were

-undergoing such misery on that dreadful raft, you prayed to God in your

-own words, and out of your own heart.”

-

-“No, I didn’t, mother.”

-

-“Not pray, when there seemed nothing but death before you—a child

-instructed as you have been?”

-

-“No, mother. I suppose you want me to tell you just as it was.”

-

-“Certainly, my child; but didn’t the captain, James Watts, or Arthur

-Brown?”

-

-“The captain was swearing part of the time, and crying the rest. One

-minute he’d say he knew some vessel would come along and take us off,

-and seem quite cheerful; the next minute he would wring his hands,

-and swear, and cry, and say we should all starve to death on that

-raft. After the little water and provision the men left us was gone,

-he took to drinking salt water. It made him crazy, just as Mr. Brown

-told him it would, for he said he had heard his father say so. Then

-he ran off on the idea that we were going to kill and eat him. If he

-saw us talking together, he would say we were plotting to kill him

-and drink his blood. Mr. Brown said the second mate told him that he

-passed a crew of men once on a wreck, and wouldn’t take any notice of

-their signals, though they hoisted a signal of distress, and now he was

-getting his pay for it. I suppose it was the idea he took in his head,

-that we would kill and eat him, that made him jump overboard in the

-night, when we were all asleep.”

-

-“That was awful; but didn’t Arthur Brown or James Watts ever call upon

-God?”

-

-“Not as I know of; what they did inside I don’t know, but I never heard

-them.”

-

-“It seems very strange to me that a boy brought up to know and respect

-all good things taught in the Catechism, and who never went to bed a

-night in his life, till he went from home, without saying his prayers,

-and having his mother pray with him, should be on a raft in the ocean,

-starving, death staring him in the face, and not call upon God. I can’t

-understand it; I should think that would be just the time, if ever in

-the world.”

-

-“Well, it ain’t, mother, though it may seem strange to you. It seems

-strange to myself now; but I suppose, if I was in the same place, I

-should do just so again. I did think of my prayers, and said them, as I

-told you; but whenever I thought of doing anything more, it seemed to

-me so mean to pray to God because I was in a hard place, when I never

-did it when I wasn’t, that I couldn’t—I didn’t dare to. Then I was

-thinking, most of the time, about being taken off, watching for some

-vessel, or dreaming and thinking about eating and drinking.”

-

-“Dreaming about eating?”

-

-“O, yes, mother, that was the worst of it; when my tongue was so

-swelled, as big as two tongues, and I was so weak from hunger that I

-could hardly move, I’d fall into a doze, and dream that there was a

-great table set full of everything that I loved, and then wake up, and

-find it all a dream. One time I dreamed I was travelling on a road in

-a real hot day, and saw a little wood on the side of a hill. I went to

-it, and right between two great maple trees was a barrel sunk down in

-the ground, and full of clear, cold water. It was a boiling spring, and

-a flat stone right beside it. I thought I knelt down on the stone, and

-looked way down into the clear, beautiful water, saw grains of sand

-rolling over and over in it, and tried to drink; but whenever I got my

-parched lips close to the water, it went away, and in my struggles to

-reach it I woke; and there right before me was poor James Watts’s dead

-face, and Mr Brown looking so pale and ghostly I thought he was dead,

-and I all alone on the wide ocean. When I saw it was all a dream, I

-burst into tears; after that, began to grow stupid and wandering, and

-didn’t sense anything more till I found myself in a bed, and somebody

-putting water in my mouth; and don’t you think, mother, I went right

-back where I left off in my dream, and thought I was drinking out of

-that spring? but it was Charlie Bell’s wife putting water in my mouth.

-I tell you what it is, mother; people may think so who don’t know; but

-if they were in such a place, they would find it wasn’t a very nice

-time to be good.”

-

-“My dear boy,” replied his mother, affected to tears by the narration,

-“now that God has restored you to us, you have suffered so much, and

-seen what the life of a sailor is, and what they are exposed to, I hope

-you will never leave us again. You are all the son I have got—do stay

-with us and your sisters. You have had a good education; your father

-will take you right into the store with him, or he will set you up in

-business, when you are old enough. There is Henry Bradshaw, that you

-used to sit with in school; your old playmate; you used to love him,

-and was just like a brother with him. He is going into business soon.

-You can go with him, or you can learn a trade. Your father will send

-you to college—he will do anything for you to keep you at home. If you

-could only know what we underwent, after we heard the vessel was lost,

-and thought you were lost in her, and what a thanksgiving there was in

-the house after we got Captain Rhines’s letter, you certainly never

-would leave us again.”

-

-Ned was not taken by surprise, for he knew his mother’s heart, and

-loved her. It was no easy task to deny the plea of such a mother, under

-such circumstances, and the very first night of getting home, too. He

-lay a long time silent, with eyes shut fast. His mother saw the tears

-come out from under the closed lids, and, as she wiped them away, began

-to hope her desires were to be realized.

-

-“Mother,” at length he said, “you will think I am the worst, most

-hard-hearted boy that ever was in the world.”

-

-The mother trembled, but made no reply.

-

-“Mother, I must go to sea. I can’t, indeed, I can’t stay at home.”

-

-“But only think what you suffered, and how near you were to death.”

-

-“But I didn’t die, mother. I’m all right now, and heavier than I ever

-was in my life. I was weighed in Mr. Williams’s store the day before I

-left, and weighed ten pounds more than I ever did before, without my

-coat or waistcoat. Only think of that.”

-

-“But only think what you suffered!”

-

-“Don’t people suffer at home, mother? Just see what Will Webb has

-suffered, all tied up in knots with rheumatism; and Tom Savage, with

-the spine complaint. I do believe, if I knew I should go through all I

-have been through the next voyage, I should have to go. Ain’t I a fool,

-mother?”

-

-“I think you are very foolish to leave a good home and kind parents

-without any necessity for such hardships. Only think of your cousin,

-poor James Ross, who fell from the main-mast and was killed, the very

-first day out.”

-

-“Well, mother, perhaps he would have died if he had been at home.

-Captain Rhines says, when God wants a man, he’ll call him; and anybody

-is just as safe on the royal yard as on deck, or at home in his bed.

-Isn’t that so, mother?”

-

-“I don’t know, my dear; I think I should a great deal rather have you

-at home in this bed. Suppose you are sick at sea. There is no one to

-take care of you.”

-

-“Yes, mother, Captain Brown and Walter will.”

-

-Mrs. Gates knelt down beside the bed, and prayed for submission to bear

-what she felt to be a bitter trial—resigning a beloved, affectionate

-boy to the hardships and chances of a life at sea.

-

-“Mother,” said Ned, as she took the light in her hand to go down

-stairs, “isn’t Walter Griffin a splendid boy?”

-

-“Yes; too good a boy to go to sea.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER VIII.

-

-MOONLIGHT CONVERSATION BY THE BROOK.

-

-

-WALTER well deserved the praise lavished upon him by Ned. He had

-little resemblance to his brother Joe, or indeed any other member

-of the family, except in size. He was of large frame; Joe had great

-square jaws, high cheek bones, his hair coarse and bristling, and

-his joints large,—he was what is termed, in common parlance,

-double-jointed,—and, though exceeding agile, was loose-limbed, and

-somewhat awkward in his movements.

-

-Walter, on the other hand, was compactly built, graceful in all his

-movements; fair complexion, regular features, fine hair, that curled

-upon the least exertion, and something in the expression of his face

-that inspired confidence and attracted at once; though full of humor,

-he possessed not a particle of Joe’s fondness for practical jokes.

-Every whit as resolute and fond of rough sports as any of his race,

-he had what none of the rest possessed—imagination and sentiment; he

-was thoughtful, reflective, and a vein of almost feminine delicacy ran

-through his whole nature.

-

-All that Joe thought of, when he looked upon a noble maple, was, how

-much potash it would make, whether a keel-piece could be got out of it;

-or upon a majestic pine, how many boards it would scale.

-

-But Walter looked upon them with other eyes; the murmur of the streams

-and the glance of the river through the green foliage appealed to

-susceptibilities that did not exist in the breast of the other. In

-all other respects he was Griffin to the backbone. He was a universal

-favorite; all the boys loved Walter Griffin, and he loved them in

-return. He loved John Rhines, Fred Williams, and Uncle Isaac, but

-Charlie Bell was his ideal of perfection, and, though so much his

-senior, seemed nearer than all the rest. The thoughtful tenderness of

-Charlie’s nature touched an answering chord in that of Walter; he found

-something there, he could not find among his mates.

-

-Charlie, trading with Fred, and owning a portion of the goods, was

-often in the store, and brought a good deal in contact with Walter;

-they naturally grew together.

-

-When he found Charlie was going to be married, he told John he was real

-sorry, because he knew he shouldn’t see so much of him, and he was

-afraid he wouldn’t love him so much. But he soon found, to his great

-gratification, that “the more angels in the heart, the more room.”

-

-No sooner was Charlie married than he bought a pew in the

-meeting-house, and asked Walter to sit with him (as Mr. Griffin had a

-large family, and their pew was always crowded), and frequently invited

-him to tea; he soon began to feel at home there, and found that he saw

-a great deal more of Charlie than when he was obliged to go on to Elm

-Island to see him, or met him occasionally at the store.

-

-Charlie’s religion was not something put upon him like lacker upon

-metal, but it was a part of him, as much so as the very blood in the

-chambers of his heart, or the pulse in his veins; it made him happy,

-and it was an instinct with him to communicate that which so blessed

-himself to those he loved. It was not a task; he could not help it.

-‘Twas just as much a part of his nature, as to press the hand or kiss

-the lips of those he loved.

-

-The period occupied by our narrative was long before the era of Sabbath

-schools, notwithstanding young people by no means grew up, in the days

-of our fathers, without religious instruction, and that of the most

-substantial kind; since _parents then_ discharged, in respect to their

-children, the duties which are now but too often surrendered to Sabbath

-school teachers, and the material for mission schools, now so abundant,

-did not then exist.

-

-Parson Goodhue was accustomed, once a month, to assemble all the

-children, as also the older boys and girls, in the school-house on

-Saturday afternoon, and to put them the questions contained in the

-Westminster Catechism, previously committed to memory.

-

-Walter Griffin had made all his preparations for going to sea, as a

-green hand, in the Casco, with Isaac Murch; the ship was ready to sail

-Monday, for Cadiz. Walter having attended the catechising for the last

-time, when he saw all his schoolmates, and received a parting blessing

-from the good minister, started up to Pleasant Cove, to take leave of

-Charlie, whom he met coming from the barn, where he had been tying up

-his oxen.

-

-“Good evening, Mr. Bell.”

-

-“Good evening, Walter. I was afraid you would go away without coming to

-see me.”

-

-“I couldn’t think of that, sir; I came up to the school-house, and then

-kept on.”

-

-“Then you are all dressed for Sabbath, and I shan’t let you go from

-here to-night; stop right here, and go to meeting with us in the

-morning.”

-

-“I fear I shall hinder you, sir.”

-

-“Not a whit. Uncle Isaac has been helping me break up, and has just

-gone from here; we’ve done work enough for one day. I’m going to clean

-up and rest; come, go in; supper is about ready.”

-

-Walter assisted Charlie to milk, and do his chores, and as the twilight

-came on, they sat down together beneath a tree near the edge of a bank,

-where the brook met the waters of the bay.

-

-It was a most picturesque, lovely spot, one that Charlie dearly

-loved, and to which he never took any one who he knew was incapable

-of appreciating it; he didn’t like to have his chosen spots like an

-unfenced common, for everybody and everything to trample on.

-

-It was a warm evening, the first of September; the season had been

-moist and shady; not a leaf gave token of decay. Just above them they

-saw the white foam of the water, as it fell in broken wreaths of foam

-over the precipice, and caught again the gleam of it through the

-leaves, as with tranquil current it met the waters of the bay, rolling

-with a low ripple upon the white sand of the beach.

-

-They sat with their backs against a large oak that grew double, forking

-just above their heads, and thus, being rather flat than round, offered

-a convenient rest.

-

-“Walter,” said Charlie, putting his arm around the boy, and drawing his

-head on to his breast, “how do you like this spot?”

-

-“I think it is most beautiful. I could sit here all night and listen to

-that waterfall, and watch the moonbeams glancing on the water.”

-

-“The first time I ever saw this place, I came here alone, on very much

-such a night as this. I loved it then, and have loved it more and more

-ever since. I shall miss you very much, Walter; only think how many

-Sabbath days we’ve sat side by side in meeting; I hope there’s some

-good come of it all. Walter, do you ever pray?”

-

-There was no reply, but a tear fell on Charlie’s hand; at length he

-said, “No, sir; I never did.”

-

-“But you say the Lord’s Prayer?”

-

-“No, sir.”

-

-“Didn’t your mother learn you to say it when a child?”

-

-“No, sir; there ain’t any goodness in our folks; we are a hard, rough

-set; ain’t like other people; only think about wrestling, shooting, and

-falling timber. When Joe became religious, he wanted to have prayers

-Sabbath night; but father wouldn’t hear to it. Now he’s got a house of

-his own, he can do as he likes.”

-

-“But you are not a rough, thoughtless boy, Walter; you are a gentle,

-loving boy, and you think; all the Griffin there is in you, is on the

-outside; you love the woods, flowers, the waters, and this beautiful

-spot touches you, just as it does me.”

-

-Walter made no reply, but pressed Charlie’s hand.

-

-“And you love me?”

-

-“I do, Mr. Bell, with all my heart and soul.”

-

-“Then how can you help loving God, who made everything and everybody

-that you love and admire?”

-

-“I know I ought.”

-

-“Perhaps you don’t like to have me talk to you in this way.”

-

-“Yes, sir, I do; I could hear you talk forever.”

-

-“Walter, I don’t believe there was ever a boy in the world had more

-friends than you have.”

-

-“That is just what I was thinking myself, this very afternoon, when all

-the boys and girls came round me at the catechising, and seemed sorry

-to have me go away.”

-

-“Don’t you think you owe a good deal to your Maker? and ought you not

-to tell him so?”

-

-“Yes, sir, I know I ought to; but I can’t.”

-

-“You could ask me to speak to the captain, and get you a chance to go

-in the Casco.”

-

-“O, sir, you, Mr. Rhines, and Uncle Isaac are so good, I don’t feel

-afraid to ask you anything.”

-

-“God is better.”

-

-“But he seems a great way off.”

-

-“He would seem near if you would go to him, and try to get acquainted.

-Besides, he has spoken first, and asked you to come.”

-

-“I’m afraid you will think I am a very rude boy.”

-

-“You are like all boys, and all the rest of us, before we begin to

-think of better things. Now, Walter, there’s just one thing I want you

-to do.”

-

-“What is that, sir?”

-

-“You know I have been on the ocean somewhat, and know what it is to be

-there, and how sailor men feel, although you will soon know much more

-about the matter than I do. There is no time, as you will soon learn,

-when a sailor man spends his time so well as in the middle watch of a

-pleasant night, when it is fair weather and moderate—everything going

-along smooth. It is then, if a man has any conscience, it wakes up;

-if he has had good bringing up, and good instructions, they come to

-his mind; it is then his thoughts are homeward bound, and he thinks of

-parents, brothers, sisters, and all he loves best on earth. Then he

-travels over the whole ground, from childhood clear along. You’ll find

-it so.”

-

-“I expect I shall spend many an hour in that way, and then I shall

-think of you and all your kindness to me.”

-

-“It isn’t kindness, Walter; it is more than that. I have enjoyed it as

-much as you. There are some beautiful nights at sea, as well as dark

-and dismal ones. There will be nights just like this, when the moon

-will glance on the long swell just as it now does on the little ripple

-on that beach, and the stars will seem like so many eyes looking down

-upon you, and the royal will look in the shadow as if it reached the

-sky.”

-

-“I know I shall enjoy such nights, and wish them longer.”

-

-“They make up for a good many rough ones, and you can live them over

-many times. Well, when such a night comes, I want you, as you look on

-the moon and stars, to remember that as the same moon is shining on me,

-looking down on this little brook, and into the cove, so the same good

-heavenly Father is over us both; that then I shall look at that moon,

-and think of you; this little nook, the trees, and all we’ve said to

-one another here will travel out on the ocean to meet you; then perhaps

-you may think, I wonder if some good friend is not thinking of and

-praying for me; ought I not to do something for myself?”

-

-“I thank you for all these pleasant thoughts. I never thought of such

-things before. It is not the way Parson Goodhue talks to us about

-religion.”

-

-“Well, he is a wise man. I can only talk in a simple way, as it comes

-to me, and out of my heart.”

-

-“But you don’t talk to me like as anybody else does. Captain Rhines

-often gives me good advice, and so does Uncle Isaac, about not

-drinking, and getting into bad company, or being profane, and about

-saving my money. But you don’t, somehow, seem to give me advice, or

-ever mention those things. I like to have them take notice of me, and

-always thank them; but when you talk _with_ me,—for you don’t seem to

-talk _at_ me,—I want to put my arms right round your neck.”

-

-“Don’t spoil a good mind, Walter.” And the boy actually embraced him.

-“People have different ways of looking at the same thing,” continued

-Charlie; “you wouldn’t want all your friends to be just alike—would

-you?”

-

-“No, indeed, sir, any more than I would want all the flowers to be of

-one form and color, or all the birds to look alike and sing the same

-song.”

-

-“Well, if you only love Him who made and gave you everything half as

-well as you love me, who have done, and can do, very little for you,

-all these other matters will take care of themselves.”

-

-“Please talk some more, sir.”

-

-“It is time to go. We’ve been here a great while. They will all be

-a-bed.”

-

-“O, sir, we haven’t been here but a little while.”

-

-“How long do you think?”

-

-“Half an hour.”

-

-“We’ve been here an hour and a half; I know by the tide. It was high

-water when we sat down here. You see that white rock just breaking the

-water?”

-

-“Yes, sir.”

-

-“Well, when that rock is fairly out, it is two hours ebb. Walter, what

-makes you so bent upon going to sea? You might do well on a farm. Fred

-would, in the course of another year, take you in as partner. If you

-want money, I will lend it to you. Then you can be at home among your

-friends. Is it because you think you can make money faster?”

-

-“No, sir; I don’t think money is everything. There’s Isaac Murch, as

-straightforward, kind-hearted a fellow as ever lived,—as smart a man

-as was ever wrapped up in skin; but he thinks money is everything.

-He’ll give, too, especially to a good cause; but it comes hard. He’ll

-go through a deal to get a dollar. I mean to have a good living,—I

-think that’s for every one who strives for it,—and earn my wages,

-wherever I am. I don’t believe in wasting, or any of your low stuff,

-but I had rather have friends who love me for my own sake, good health,

-enjoy myself, and have others enjoy themselves with me, than all the

-money in the world.”

-

-“Money won’t buy happiness, Walter.”

-

-“You know, sir, you were saying just now that you hoped you shouldn’t

-have to grind your broad-axe again for six years; you did so long to

-turn over some of this wild land, plant an orchard, have grain, fruit

-and flowers, and cattle in the pastures.”

-

-“Yes, and I felt more than I said.”

-

-“But haven’t you made pretty much all the property you have out of the

-sea?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“Yet you want to work on the land.”

-

-“Because I love to. I love to work with tools, but I want some time to

-plant and sow, and see things grow, whether I make anything or not;

-it’s my nature.”

-

-“So it’s my nature to go to sea. I wish you could see all the boats

-Flour (I mean Peterson) has made and rigged for me. I wouldn’t care if

-there was only land enough to build wharves to tie vessels up, to clean

-and grave their bottoms, and all the rest was water.”

-

-“But it is a hard life, and rude company. You are a quiet, thoughtful

-boy, and as affectionate as a woman.”

-

-“There’s a hard streak in all us Griffins; so I suppose there must be

-in me.”

-

-This was the boy Ned Gates was so much attached to, and helped do his

-work at the tan-yard, and respecting whom Mrs. Gates said he was too

-good to go to sea (this good lady seeming to think it best to have only

-bad men at sea).

-

-Naturally adapted to sea life, he was already (but little more than a

-boy) acting as second mate, and, by his keenness of perception, was the

-first to discern the whereabouts of the enemy.

-

-To say that Walter and Ned were intimate, and enjoyed themselves

-together, would be superfluous. They were fortunately in the same

-watch, slept in the same berth, and became more attached to each other

-every day. Ned was smart and ambitious, but light. He always aspired

-to furl the royal, which he could do well enough, when it was dry, at

-any rate, by furling the yard-arms first; but when it was wet, and a

-gale of wind, it was rather more than a match for him. At such times,

-Walter, who knew the ambition and grit of his little shipmate, and was

-unwilling to mortify him before the crew, would wait till he saw the

-sail blow away from him once or twice, and then run up and help him.

-

-Ned was very desirous of raising a cue, and even had dim visions of a

-beard. He sported a concern about three inches in length, and which

-very much resembled the appendage of a Suffolk pig. It was so short

-that Walter, who combed and dressed it for him when the rest of the

-watch were asleep, found it very difficult to make the eel-skin stay

-on, even with a clove hitch, and, to Ned’s great indignation, suggested

-that he should put some tar on it, in order to make the string stick.

-Walter, on the other hand, boasted a cue nearly a foot in length, and

-the rudiments of a beard.

-

-Whenever he shaved (which luxury he sometimes indulged in, by the

-solicitations of Ned, on Sunday morning in port, when the rest were

-ashore, to avoid disparaging remarks), Ned sat looking at him with the

-greatest reverence, and indulging in visions of the future, although,

-as yet, his lip was guiltless even of down.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER IX.

-

-THE GRIFFINS.

-

-

-THOSE of our readers who are familiar with the Elm Island stories have

-already known a good deal of the Griffin family in the persons of Joe

-and Henry, with a slight introduction to Walter and Will.

-

-Suppose, now, for the better understanding of Walter’s declaration,

-“there’s a hard streak in all of us Griffins,” we accompany Parson

-Goodhue (who is a great friend of the Griffins, and for whom Walter is

-named) in one of his parochial visits to the homestead.

-

-The good man, like most of the ministers of that day, had a farm of

-eighty acres, kept a horse, sheep, three cows, and a yoke of oxen,

-and did considerable work himself, always feeding his own cattle. He

-had, in addition, a wood lot of fifty acres. The parishioners were in

-the habit of getting together in the fall, cutting his year’s stock

-of wood, and piling it up in the woods; when snow came they put their

-teams together and hauled it to the door, when the boys and young men

-assembled and cut it for the fire; on such occasions they came about

-noon, and had supper and a grand time at the parsonage in the evening,

-the girls coming about two o’clock, bringing with them abundant

-supplies and preparing the repast.

-

-The Griffin family consisted of eight persons—the parents and six

-children, all boys, Joseph, Henry, Walter, William, Edmund, and

-Winthrop. One hot forenoon, about eleven o’clock, and just after

-haying, Parson Goodhue, in all the glory of the snow-white wig, silk

-stockings, and polished silver shoe-buckles (which Lion Ben of Elm

-Island had presented to him after his adventure with the wild gander),

-was wending his way by a road that skirted the bank of the river,

-to Edmund Griffin’s. He was mounted on a very finely proportioned,

-snug built, calico-colored mare, a pacer. A large blue saddle-cloth

-protected his garments from the hairs (as he was quite fastidious about

-his dress), and he was provided with a capacious pair of saddle-bags,

-long experience having convinced the good man that it was a most proper

-precaution, when visiting the Griffins, to be well provided with

-saddle-bags.

-

-It is said, we know not with how much truth, that dappled horses are

-of superior intelligence, and can more easily be taught all kinds

-of tricks; and for this reason they are often found in the circus.

-However this may be, one thing is sure—that Parson Goodhue’s mare was

-intelligent enough, and vexed his soul to that extent he sometimes

-feared she received diabolical aid. But Dapple, as he called her, was

-such a capital roadster, carried him so easily, and was sound in wind

-and limb, that the parson, who dearly loved a good animal, bore it

-patiently.

-

-In those days the doors of all out-buildings were universally fastened

-with wooden latches, or buttons, as also a great proportion of the

-doors of the dwellings.

-

-There was not a door or gate upon the premises of her master, or

-any of his neighbors, but Dapple could and would open, a fence she

-could not get over, or a pair of bars she could not take down (unless

-they were pinned), provided a sufficient motive presented itself.

-Notwithstanding she had been reared from a colt in the family of a

-clergyman, under the very droppings of the sanctuary, received the

-best of instruction, and the best examples had been proposed for her

-imitation, she would appropriate without the least scruple; in short,

-though we grieve to say it, she was a downright, incorrigible, sneaking

-thief; she was no respecter of persons or character, but would steal

-from saint or sinner, rich or poor; she would even take from the widow

-Hadlock and Aunt Molly Bradish (that good old soul, when she was

-alive), walk right into poor Mrs. Yelf’s cornfield right before her

-eyes, because she knew that Robert was at sea, and the old lady could

-not get at her for rheumatism.

-

-Parson Goodhue lived so near to the meeting-house that he and his

-family always walked to meeting, thus Sabbath was a leisure day to

-her; and even on that day, when all other horses and good people were

-at meeting, and her good master was inculcating morality, she would

-(if she could get loose) take the opportunity to commit trespass; in

-short, she was the grief of her master and the pest of the parish, was

-covered with scars she had received for her misdeeds, and would have

-been killed had she belonged to any other person than Parson Goodhue,

-whom everybody loved. She would back up against a door and turn the

-buttons, would lift the latch or pull the string of one with her teeth,

-and break or get off any yoke or clogs that were put on her. The

-most singular part of the whole matter was, that she would sometimes

-go for a month peaceably, in the pasture, and the good parson would

-feel quite encouraged, hoping it was a radical reformation; when just

-as he began to solace himself with this idea, and accord her larger

-liberty, she would abuse it to act worse than ever. At one time Dapple

-had gone quietly in the pasture for nearly six weeks, and the hopes

-of her master were raised to the highest pitch. Adjoining the pasture

-was a most excellent piece of wheat, just full in the milk, belonging

-to Jotham Lancaster. Dapple had not been permitted for a long time to

-go out of a Sabbath day; but her conduct had been so unexceptionable,

-that her master determined to trust her, especially as there was a

-high stone wall in good repair around the pasture. So, before going

-to meeting, he turned her out; when he returned at noon, he found her

-quietly feeding, and told Captain Rhines he verily believed Dapple had

-got over her tricks.

-

-“Hang her,” was his reply, “I wouldn’t trust her.”

-

-When the parson came home at night, there she was, in that beautiful

-field of wheat. If she had merely eaten what she wanted in one place,

-it might have been borne; but she had gone all over it, trampling down

-here and there, then lain down, and rolled in half a dozen places;

-and when found, was quietly feeding out in the grass. She had, with

-her teeth, flung off the top pole, pushed over the top rocks with her

-breast, and then jumped over.

-

-The next week John Rhines made a pair of iron fetters, to fasten one of

-her hind legs to one of her fore ones, permitting her to scuffle along

-and feed, but not to jump, and made a present of them to Mr. Goodhue,

-saying, “She can’t jump with these, I know.”

-

-Dapple now went quietly for some time. Captain Rhines said to her

-master, “I guess you’ve got her this time.”

-

-Vain delusion! she was probably meditating, in the “recesses of a mind

-capacious of such things,” upon the means and methods of evading this

-new device; that her meditations bore fruit was soon manifest. Parson

-Goodhue, returning from meeting in the afternoon, found her in the

-midst of his own corn. There was not a length of fence down; the bars

-were all up, and pinned, so that she could not remove them with her

-teeth. There was not a stone displaced in the wall, and the fetters

-were fast to her feet. As her master took down the bars to lead her

-out, he gazed upon her almost with fear; he was not superior to the

-superstitions of his day, and was almost apprehensive of some satanic

-agency.

-

-The story got abroad; John and Fred determined to watch her. They shut

-her up in the barn with nothing to eat, till she was very hungry, then

-turned her into the pasture just at night, and concealing themselves,

-kept watch. Dapple went to feeding, stopping every once in a while to

-look around and listen; at length, seeing or hearing no one, she made

-directly for the bars, and attempted to take them down with her teeth;

-but they were pinned at each end. She then tried to push them over by

-backing up against them; but they were braced by stakes nailed to the

-posts, and set in the ground; she then put her head between the lower

-bar and the one next to it above, sprung the two sufficiently to insert

-her shoulders, then her whole body, and shoved herself through, coming

-down whack on her side, while the bars sprung together as before; then

-getting up and shaking herself, with a look of profound satisfaction,

-was making for the corn, when she was accosted in not very flattering

-terms by her observers. John said he never saw anybody look more silly,

-or more worked, than she did.

-

-It was a matter of great surprise to the neighbors, and the town talk,

-that the mare never paid her respects to Joe Griffin, as in the fields

-of all others (except Captain Rhines’s, where Tige kept watch and ward)

-she ran riot; while Joe’s (whose land was new, just taken from the

-forest, and raised splendid crops of corn and grain) were unmolested

-by the common enemy; they were passed by to commit depredations on the

-fields of Charlie Bell, that adjoined.

-

-We will let our readers into the mystery. The second year after Joe

-worked his place, he got up very early one morning, just as the day

-broke, to go out gunning; there was Dapple in the corn for the first

-time. As Joe had recently moved into the neighborhood, she probably,

-as an old resident, felt it would be polite to call. Joe well knew

-the character of his visitor, and what he might expect in future. He,

-however, manifested not the least sign of anger; didn’t even throw a

-stone, or hit her with a stake; but turned her out, put up the fence,

-and went off gunning; not even mentioning the matter to his wife, who

-had not yet risen.

-

-Dapple, who had made up her mind to receive a pounding, thought Mr.

-Griffin was one of the best of men, and resolved to cultivate his

-acquaintance.

-

-Three nights after, she paid him another visit, and going along the

-fence, found the old gap but very indifferently mended; taking off

-some small poles with her teeth, she cleared the great bottom log at

-a jump; but the instant she touched the ground on the other side, it

-gave way beneath her feet, and she found herself in a pit. Bitter were

-her reflections; she accused herself of imbecility for not interpreting

-aright such forbearance in a Griffin; and awaited, with fear and

-trembling, the approach of morning. Just as the day broke, she heard

-footsteps, and Joe made his appearance. A smile of satisfaction passed

-over his face, as he gave one look, and disappeared, returning soon

-with a shovel in one hand, and a bundle of long, tough beech withes

-in the other. Then, standing on the edge of the pit, he began most

-unmercifully to apply them, with all the strength and endurance of an

-arm that had scarcely its rival in the community. On head, rump, and

-ribs the horrible tempest fell. In vain poor Dapple kicked, and reared,

-and ran round the pit, which was not large enough for her to get out of

-reach of the blows. For an hour, without intermission, this terrible

-scourging continued, when, reeking with perspiration, Joe threw down

-the rod, and took up the shovel.

-

-Dapple expected nothing less than to be buried alive, and with death

-staring her in the face, remembered with compunction the manner in

-which she had abused the kindness of the good old man, and despised all

-his wise counsels. But her quick discernment soon discovered that Joe

-was about to dig the earth at one end to an inclined plane to let her

-out, and instantly all her remorse and resolutions for a better life

-were at an end.

-

-When he had graded the pit, as he thought, sufficiently, he

-administered a few blows with the flat of the shovel, and an energy

-that sent Dapple flying from the pit like a hen from a hawk, observing,

-as he went leisurely to work to fill up the hole, “Much obliged to you,

-neighbor, for this visit; call again the first opportunity.”

-

-When Joe had filled up the pit, he flung some brush over, took the

-pail, and went to milking, never mentioning the matter, even to his

-wife, till years afterwards.

-

-The mare never found opportunity to comply with Joe’s kind invitation.

-He might have left his crops out of doors for all her.

-

-Dapple mended her pace as she approached the rising ground on which the

-Griffin homestead was located, for she had often proved the hospitality

-of its stable and pastures. The buildings were situated on the summit

-of a hill, which rose quite abruptly from the river. The blazing sun

-poured down upon a house of enormous size, the lower rooms finished,

-the rest a shell. Not a tree or a bush, save one old stub, stood near

-it. There was not the least attempt at a garden, but, far out in the

-field, in the midst of the corn, cabbage, beets, carrots, and onions

-were growing, and peas now ripe in the pod.

-

-On one side of the front door was a goose-pen; on the other a molasses

-hogshead, into which an upright board conducted the rain water from the

-eaves. The only approach to anything in the shape of plants was some

-house leek (then considered a sovereign remedy for _corns_), in an old

-skillet.

-

-At a short distance from the end door was a small enclosure, made by

-driving stakes into the ground, in which were roots of wormwood, tansy,

-comfrey, lovage, and sweet agrimony, while an enormous hop-vine covered

-a great part of the front of the house. All about the door-yard were

-shingle bolts, bunches of shingles, old yokes, logs, sticks of hewn

-timber, drags, sleds, with the stakes in, broken and whole, and a

-brush-harrow was tipped up against the house, right under one of the

-front windows, while between them the skin of a bear, recently killed,

-was stretched and nailed to the clapboards.

-

-Beside the end door stood a leech, that had been set up in the spring,

-to make soap, and suffered to stand through the summer, as Mrs.

-Griffin liked to have weak lye to scour with. Within a gun-shot of

-the western end of the house stood the stub of a massive pine, which

-had been broken off about twenty-five feet from the ground, and was

-hollow, having the opening on the north-west side. In the cavity were

-augers, planes, saws, chisels, shovels, axes, and canting dogs, thrown

-together in most admirable confusion. The tools were of English make,

-and evidently of excellent temper, but covered with rust. From the dead

-limbs on the outside hung rusty scythes and a grain cradle. This was

-the Griffin tool-chest. An eighth of a mile from the house, down under

-the hill, was the well.

-

-In the rough climate of New England, the inhabitants were solicitous

-to place their buildings in a lee, either under the side of a hill,

-the protection of a wood, or to dispose the buildings themselves in

-such a manner as to give them a sheltered and sunny door and barn-yard.

-But here the barn was a great distance from the house, the buildings

-disposed without the least reference to shelter, as though the

-occupants were insensible to wind or weather. Yet in other respects

-everything betokened plenty and thrift; the walls were well built of

-rocks of great size, and handsomely laid up; the barns were large, and

-through the open doors the hay could be seen, brought so far over the

-floors that the mows nearly touched each other, leaving barely room to

-swing a flail.

-

-An immense log crib, the top covered with boards and shingles, where

-the long yellow ears of corn showed through the chinks, attested that

-the thrifty owner kept a year’s stock of bread on hand. On a scaffold

-of poles, laid over the high beams, bundles of last year’s flax were

-visible, while the number of milking-stools, hanging on the barn-yard

-fence, gave token of a large dairy.

-

-To complete the picture, four great hogs were rooting in the chips

-after thistle roots, and a white mare, with a sucking colt and two

-half-grown ones, was standing in the shade, on the north side of the

-house. As Parson Goodhue gained the summit of the hill, and was not

-far from the old stub, he saw approaching some one whose form was

-nearly concealed by a huge back-load of spruce poles, from twenty to

-twenty-five feet in length, and bearing in one hand an axe. As he

-flung the poles from his shoulder, and stood erect, he caught sight of

-the minister.

-

-“Halloo, parson! Good morning. Glad to see you. _Hot_—ain’t it?”

-

-“Good morning, Edmund,” replied his visitor, apparently not the least

-disconcerted by the rudeness of the reception, and extending his hand,

-which the other enclosed in his great palm, and shook with a heartiness

-that caused the good man to reel in his saddle.

-

-“How are you, Elizabeth, and all the children?”

-

-“Well, so’s to be crawling. Lizzy always keeps herself worked down.

-‘Tain’t so much the work,—though we milk seven cows, for Lizzy’s a

-master hand to turn off work, and real rugged,—but she’s forever

-scrubbing and scouring. I tell her ‘tain’t a bit of use, but she will

-do it. Then father’s a good deal of care.”

-

-“How is the old gentleman?”

-

-“He’s real strong at the stomach; eats and sleeps as well as ever he

-did; but he sometimes has the rheumatics.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER X.

-

-WHERE THE HARD STREAK CAME FROM.

-

-

-THIS was Edmund Griffin, the proprietor of seven hundred acres of

-excellent land, a very large stock of cattle, and money besides—the

-strongest man in town (leaving out Lion Ben, who was an exception to

-everybody), now that Captain Rhines and Uncle Isaac were getting in

-years. He was not remarkably tall, being barely six feet in his boots,

-but of vast proportions. There was no beauty about Edmund; his hair was

-coarse as rope-yarn, inclining to red, and, where it was not confined

-by a cue, bristling; his waist was small in proportion to the great

-breadth of his shoulders and hips, his joints large, his lips and

-teeth very prominent, which gave him the appearance of coming at you.

-The whole expression of his face was extremely rugged, and would have

-been fierce, had it not been neutralized by the kindly expression of

-a clear, mild eye. His voice, also, was rather loud and hearty than

-harsh in its tones. A skein of woollen yarn was tied round him for a

-belt, his breeches of dye-pot blue, and a flannel shirt that had once

-been bright red, but so bleached by the sun and perspiration as not to

-show any red save under the armpits and below the girdle, from a pocket

-in the breast of which stuck out the end of a purse made of a sheep’s

-bladder; his open collar revealed a finely-formed throat, and a breast

-covered with a thick mass of curling brown hair. This great, brawny man

-was possessed of remarkable mechanical genius. With those great fingers

-of his he could execute the nicest jobs, and he was constantly resorted

-to by the neighbors; and yet there was not a sled or cart on the

-premises that had a decent tongue in it; they were all made by cutting

-down a forked tree, and sticking in the fork with the bark on.

-

-“You’re getting fat, parson—fat as a porpoise; you don’t do work

-enough; you ought to have been in the woods with me this forenoon;

-‘twould make the gravy run, and take some of the grease out of you.”

-

-“What are you going to do with those poles, Edmund?”

-

-“Make pike-poles to drive logs with, in the fall freshet.”

-

-Parson Goodhue was much attached to Edmund Griffin, who had grown up

-under him, and whom he had married when he was but twenty and his wife

-nineteen, and, though now surrounded by a large family, was in the very

-maturity of his strength; for he well knew that, though the outside was

-as rough as the coat of the alligator, there was a noble and generous

-nature within, and a kindly heart throbbed beneath that hairy bosom and

-faded shirt.

-

-For many a long year he had been seeking his good, and striving in vain

-to impress him with religious ideas; but it was like lifting a wet

-cannon ball; he eluded all his efforts; he could find no chink in his

-armor. He was always at meeting with his family, rain or shine, and an

-attentive hearer. Anything, everything he would do for Parson Goodhue,

-except listen to religious conversation; _that_ he would always avoid.

-He had no sympathy in that direction, nor his wife either, and the

-children naturally grew up with the same ideas. Even the old father,

-ninety years of age, and tottering on the verge of eternity, seemed

-to have no notions beyond the present; and all his talk was about

-lifting, wrestling, and the Indian fights, in which he had played a

-most conspicuous part, and, though he could with difficulty get across

-the room, would, every few weeks, have his rifle brought to him, and

-clean and oil the lock.

-

-“Lizzy,” shouted Mr. Griffin, in a voice that might be heard a mile.

-

-This brought to the door a woman of a noble form, dark-brown hair,

-and one of the sweetest faces the eye ever rested upon, and, though

-evidently just from the cheese-tub, very neatly dressed.

-

-“Lizzy, here’s Parson Goodhue come to stay to dinner, and a fortnight

-longer, I hope.”

-

-“So do I,” was the reply of his wife, as she welcomed the visitor.

-

-“Let the mare go, parson; she knows the way to the barn; come, let’s go

-into the house.”

-

-“I rather think, Edmund, I had better hitch her to this stub; if she

-goes to the barn alone, she will certainly be in mischief;” but as the

-minister stepped forward, with the bridle in his hand, to execute his

-design, Griffin caught him by the shoulders, and exclaiming, “Bless me!

-where is the man going?” lifted and set him aside, as though he had

-been a feather; at the same time dropping a stone upon the trencher of

-a bear trap, the great jaws sprung together with a clang that caused

-Parson Goodhue to jump clear from the ground in mortal fear.

-

-“Goodness, Edmund, do you set bear-traps for your friends?”

-

-“No, parson; I’m sorry for your fright, but you see, we caught a bear

-last night, and the boys have been playing with the trap, and left it

-set. If you had got into it, ‘twould have broken your leg.”

-

-What a contrast between the outside and the inside of the house, where

-Elizabeth Griffin held undisputed sway! Silver was not brighter than

-the pewter on the shelves, and white as the snow flake were dressers

-and the nicely-sanded floor of the best room into which the visitor

-was ushered, where, seated in his arm-chair, was Joseph Griffin,

-the grandfather, a vast ruin, the great bones and cords of the old

-Indian-killer standing out in bold relief through the shrunken flesh.

-

-“Father’s master hard of hearing, and his eyesight has failed him a

-good deal,” said his son; “but otherways he’s just as bright as he ever

-was; knows all that’s going on, and all the young folks.”

-

-“Father,” he shouted, as they entered the room, “here’s Mr. Goodhue,

-come to see you.”

-

-“Glad to see him; give him a cheer.”

-

-“Good morning, Mr. Griffin,” said the minister, placing his chair close

-to the old gentleman; “you have been spared to a great age.”

-

-“_Spared!_ I never spared myself. I allers took the but-end of a log,

-and the bunt of a topsail. Nobody can say that Joe Griffin ever spared

-himself. Young man (Mr. Goodhue was on the wrong side of sixty), when I

-was of your age, I had more strength than I knew what to do with.”

-

-“I said you had lived to a great age.”

-

-“Yes; I’ve been here a good while. I was through the French and Indian

-wars. I was at the takin’ of Quebec, in ‘59, but I was too old for this

-last one.”

-

-“I trust, sitting here alone so much as you do, and knowing that you

-are living on borrowed time, that you often think on your latter end,

-and endeavor to prepare for it.”

-

-“Leetle end; leetle end of what?”

-

-“I say, I hope you are prepared to go.”

-

-“I don’t go anywhere; I can’t for the rheumatics, only to town meetin’,

-and then they put me into Isaac Murch’s wagin; before he had that, they

-hauled me on an ox sled.”

-

-“I mean, I hope you are prepared to die, and meet your Maker.”

-

-“O, die, is it? I never killed nobody (except in fair fight), and

-nobody ever killed me. I never abused my neighbors, or the cattle, and

-I think it’s everybody’s duty to live just as long as they kin. It’s

-an awful thing to kill yourself; when anybody has sich thoughts, they

-ought to put ‘em right out o’ their minds.”

-

-“Do you think that is all the preparation you need?”

-

-“I allers kept up good line fence, and give good weight and measure. I

-s’pose the less we do, the less there’s charged to us.”

-

-Mr. Goodhue now relinquished the effort in despair; as Uncle Isaac

-would have said, he could find nothing to nail to. The old man had

-grown up, like the beasts he hunted, without culture, and could neither

-read nor write. But, although he found great difficulty in hearing, he

-could talk fast enough, and however impervious to religious sentiment,

-was shrewd enough in other matters.

-

-The subject which at that period most divided the opinions and agitated

-the minds of the people, was the state of affairs in France, and our

-relations to that nation. That nation having dethroned their king,

-and proclaimed liberty and equality, naturally expected to receive

-fraternal sympathy and aid from this country, and from the people whom

-they had aided in their recent struggle for liberty.

-

-The members in Congress were divided in sentiment on the subject.

-The people at large, especially the mercantile portion of the

-community (who were very much embittered against England on account

-of the impressment of seamen and the right of search), felt that the

-movement in France was resistance to arbitrary power, a struggle for

-self-government against oppression, and a mere carrying out of the

-principles of our own revolution, that we owed it to the cause of

-liberty, and were obligated in gratitude to aid them to the extent of

-entering into an offensive and defensive alliance, and declaring war

-with Great Britain. The party espousing these sentiments was large

-and influential, and a strong pressure was brought to bear upon the

-administration. To complicate matters still more, Genet, the French

-minister, a hot-headed, overbearing man, appealed to the prejudices and

-sympathies of the people, and, without the sanction or knowledge of the

-government, attempted to raise men and arms, and fit out privateers to

-prey on British commerce, and sell their prizes in American ports.

-

-On the other hand, Washington, and those of cooler heads and calmer

-judgment, shocked at the excesses of the French revolution, and having

-no confidence in the capacity of the French people for self-government,

-were as resolutely opposed to any interference. Old Mr. Griffin, in

-opposition to his son and the great majority of his neighbors, was of

-the latter party, and Mr. Goodhue was of the same opinion.

-

-“What’s that rapscallion’s name, parson, that’s come over here, and is

-kickin’ up sich a dust, and tryin’ to get us into a quarrel with the

-old country?”

-

-“Genet, the French minister,” replied Mr. Goodhue, rejoiced at the

-introduction of a topic in respect to which their sympathies were in

-unison.

-

-“A minister goin’ about tryin’ to stir up people agin their government,

-and to git up a war!”

-

-“He’s not a minister of the gospel, but a sort of ambassador.”

-

-“Wal, I wish my eye was as quick and my hand as steady as ‘twas

-once, and I had him within range of my rifle; I’d put an eend to his

-trampin’;” at the same time striking his cane violently on the floor.

-Captain Rhines was here t’other day, settin’ right where you set, and

-sayin’ we never should got our liberty, if’t hadn’t been for them are

-French; that one good turn deserved another; and all that. I ups and

-tells him, I does, says I, the French waited till they see how the cat

-was goin’ to jump, and that we were like to wear the old bull-dog out,

-and then comes in to bet on the winnin’ horse. I telled him the French

-were well enough, but it wasn’t so much for any love to us they come;

-England had took Canada, and robbed ‘em of their colonies, and now

-they wanted to pay her in her own coin, and help us get clear on ‘em;

-they’ll eny time send over troops to help the Irish when they undertake

-to rise.”

-

-“I think you are right in that, Mr. Griffin.”

-

-“If we should go into war with England now, it would make an eend of

-our leetle commerce; but if we go on as we’ve begun, in a few years we

-shall be able to fight our own battles, no thanks to eny on ‘em.”

-

-“I’m perfectly willing to abide by the judgment of General Washington,

-Hamilton, and those who have carried us thus far. I believe Washington

-was raised up and divinely appointed to carry us through the

-revolutionary war, as evidently as Moses was to lead the children of

-Israel to the promised land.”

-

-“That’s the talk, parson. I don’t know enything ‘bout Moses, and them

-old characters, but I know ‘bout Gineral Washington, cause I fought

-under him, when he was kernel; yes, I go in for the old horse that

-never balked at the steepest hill, but allus pulled, whether the load

-went, or whether other horses pulled or not.”

-

-“Yes, my old friend, the heart of the country rests safely on

-Washington.”

-

-“Then, parson, he’s a prayin’ man. Isaac Murch told me that; he said,

-that winter at Valley Forge, when the soldiers were barefoot, and

-suffered so much, there was an hour at noon when he couldn’t be seen;

-if an express came, he wouldn’t be disturbed; it was allers thought and

-said among the men, that he was at prayer. I allers thought them are

-the sort of men to foller.”

-

-“Certainly; because in following them we may hope for the aid of Him by

-whom they are guided.”

-

-“There’s a great many in this place, parson, if you allow that there’s

-any good thing in an Englishman, cry out, ‘Tory’!”

-

-“That’s too much the case, I know.”

-

-“I don’t want to swaller an Englishman whole. I know they press our

-seamen, and are overbearin’; but, then, they press their own likewise,

-take a man from his own doorstep; but ‘tain’t the people, it’s the

-government, does that. They say this new man that’s come up—What’s his

-name?”

-

-“Bonaparte.”

-

-“That he’s goin’ to lick the English into shoe-strings.”

-

-“Then he’ll do what has not been done for the last two hundred years.”

-

-“I tell you it ain’t in ‘em, parson; it’ ain’t in the men that live on

-frogs and soup to lick the men that eat beef and pork, I don’t care

-who they’re led by. When I was payin’ for my place, I follered the

-sea a good deal. I have been in English ports and French ports; fought

-side by side with Englishmen, and aginst Frenchmen; and I don’t care

-who knows it, I like an Englishman better’n a Frenchman eny day. When

-it’s good weather at sea, and everything goin’ well, an Englishman is

-a grouty chap; he’ll growl at the wind, the ship, the grub, and the

-usage; but let there come a gale of wind, a raal tryin’ time, the lee

-riggin’ hangin’ in bights, men three or four hours on a yard tryin’ to

-smother a sail, or the ship sprung a leak and like to go down, I tell

-you, John Bull is there. The harder it blows, the blacker it looks,

-and the tougher it comes, the higher his spirit rises; then they’re a

-Protestant people, and that’s a thing goes a good ways with me.”

-

-Our readers may suspect that the old gentleman was not so obtuse in

-relation to religious matters as he appeared; an idea of this kind

-seemed to cross the mind of Mr. Goodhue, for he instantly attempted to

-introduce a religious conversation; but the old man shrunk from it as

-speedily as a turtle draws his head into the shell when apprehensive of

-danger.

-

-When Edmund Griffin returned to the kitchen, he said, “Come, wife,

-ain’t you going to do something? There ain’t a speck of fire on the

-hearth.”

-

-“What of that? I’ve got baked beans, brown bread, pies, and an Indian

-pudding in the oven, and I must put this cheese in press.”

-

-“_Baked beans!_ I want to kill some chickens, make a smother, and give

-the old gentleman a good tuck out.”

-

-“Well, then, make me up a fire; the boys are all in the field.”

-

-He brought in a great log, and threw it on the hearth; then, bringing

-in a huge armful of wood, the moment he was inside the door, let drive

-right into the middle of the room, at the same time kicking the door to

-with his feet. Proceeding to put on the log, instead of using the great

-kitchen shovel to rake forward the ashes from the back, he put in his

-foot, and, after scraping out a hole, flung on the log with such force

-that the coals and ashes flew all over the room.

-

-“Edmund, what a splutter you do make! Do go and get the chickens. I had

-rather make two fires than clean up after you.”

-

-Taking the mare’s bridle on his arm, he put her in the barn; returning

-with the bridle in one hand, and a dish of corn in the other, he threw

-it among the fowls; as they were busily eating, he brought down the

-bridle on the flock with such force as to prostrate half a dozen, and

-picking them up, cut off their heads, and soon transferred them to the

-kitchen table.

-

-“Why, Edmund,” cried his wife, looking them over, “what a careless

-creature you are! Half of these are old hens; and, as sure as I live,

-you’ve killed Winthrop’s setting hen. She was just ready to hatch. He

-will cry his eyes out. I do wish I’d gone myself; the chickens are all

-lost, and we shall have to throw the hen away. She’s all skin and bone.”

-

-“Never mind, wife; the boy can set another. Have you got everything you

-want now?”

-

-“No. I want you to wash yourself, and put on a clean shirt and clothes.

-They’re on the bed.”

-

-“What’s the use, wife? I’m well enough.”

-

-“I tell you, you shan’t come to dinner looking so!” she exclaimed,

-pushing him into the bedroom, and pulling the skein of yarn from his

-waist.

-

-With a groan he obeyed, and, making him sit down on the edge of the

-bed, she combed out his cue, and tied it up with a black ribbon,

-instead of the eel-skin.

-

-Mr. Goodhue, who had a large family of his own, was very fond of

-children, and it was a curious sight to see Winthrop Griffin tugging

-the stately old minister by the hand, to see his fowl and playthings,

-his tame crow, and the woodchuck he had caught. The good man also

-sincerely sympathized with him respecting the loss of his hen and

-expected brood of chickens.

-

-Mrs. Griffin would have persuaded the minister to lie down after

-dinner; but as the boys were going to work in the field, he wished to

-read the Scriptures and have prayers before they went away, it being

-his constant custom. The parents and children all listened with the

-greatest respect and attention, but all attempts to engage the seniors

-in conversation of a religious nature were useless.

-

-After the evening meal, when Parson Goodhue prepared to depart,

-Dapple, true to her instincts, was found in a chamber over the stable

-where Griffin kept grain. She had gone up a flight of stairs, but all

-attempts to induce her to go down by the same were unavailing.

-

-“Look here, parson,” said Edmund; “let me knock her on the head, and

-take her for wolf bait—there’s a bounty on wolves,—and I’ll give you

-my roan colt, that’s worth a dozen of her.”

-

-But Mr. Goodhue entreated for the life of his beast. Griffin, then

-putting a great pile of hay on the stable floor beneath, took up the

-boards of the floor above, and forced her to jump down.

-

-“What a strange family,” said the good man to himself as he returned,

-his saddle-bags stuffed to their utmost extent. “I would be content

-with less respect and kindness shown to myself if they would only

-manifest some respect for my Master. How sad to see that old man

-so thoughtless! Well, the children are different. Joe is a good

-man,—there is certainly encouragement there,—and Walter takes after

-his mother; if she was anywhere else, she would be different.”

-

-In the course of the autumn, Dapple ended her eventful life; in trying

-to get over a fence with the fetters on, she got cast, and beat herself

-to death, thus dying as she had lived. Two days after, the parson, on

-going to his barn to feed his cattle, found a noble-looking roan horse

-in Dapple’s stall, a present from Edmund Griffin.

-

-In this slight glance at the Griffins, we have seen where the hard

-streak came from. That old grandfather’s was gradually diluted as it

-mingled with other and more kindly blood, till in Walter rudeness had

-become attempered to firmness, and nothing more.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XI.

-

-RECONNOITRING.

-

-

-IT was an overcast night; there was no moon; the stars were bright

-overhead, but around the edge of the horizon they were obscured by thin

-clouds, through which a star occasionally shone.

-

-The brigantine, with all sail set, was running in for the land, the

-dark outline of which could be dimly seen in the distance. The French

-had put out the light on Planier Island, and removed all the buoys from

-the shoals and reefs, that they might not be of advantage to the enemy;

-but the lights of the English frigate could be seen far ahead, as she

-also stood in for the land, her commander not dreaming he was followed

-by the vessel, so nearly his prize, and which he supposed effectually

-frightened from that locality.

-

-“It would have been a very valuable prize to us, could we have taken

-her,” said the captain of the frigate to his lieutenant; (”and at one

-time I thought she was ours,) not merely as far as the value of her

-cargo was concerned; but we could have put a few guns aboard of her,

-and a crew, and she is so fast she would have taken everything on the

-coast; our prize-money would soon have amounted to something very

-handsome.”

-

-“Where did the Yankees learn to build such vessels? Before the war they

-couldn’t make their own mouse-traps.”

-

-“It was the war taught them; they wanted privateers to prey on our

-merchantmen and supply ships. They wanted sharp vessels to run into

-neutral ports, and escape our frigates, and they built them. Since they

-set up for themselves, they make rigging and duck, roll iron, and forge

-anchors, and there’s no telling where they will stop.”

-

-“We may catch her yet, if we could get her before the wind, where she

-could not run into shoal water, or have the good fortune to come across

-her in a calm.”

-

-“He’ll not come here again; he’s run too great a risk. He will be more

-likely to try Toulon; perhaps go round into the Bay of Biscay, to some

-of the ports on the other side.”

-

-The wind, which had blown very fresh all through the afternoon and

-first part of the night, had moderated to a good working breeze.

-

-As the watch on board the brigantine that brought twelve o’clock came

-on deck, a large rock was discovered right ahead; the topsail was hove

-to the mast, and the vessel became stationary. The captain, calling the

-whole crew aft, said to them, “Boys, I want to put a man on that rock,

-to watch this frigate and the sixty-four, see which way they stand in

-the morning, and where they go; also to look into the roadstead, and

-see what vessels are there, and how they lie; in short, to keep himself

-concealed, and get all the information he can. To-morrow night I’ll run

-in, and take him off. Who’ll volunteer?”

-

-Before the words were fairly out of his mouth, or any other could

-reply, Walter Griffin exclaimed, “I will go, sir.”

-

-Peterson had from Walter’s childhood cherished a great affection for

-him, and Walter loved the black with all his heart. It was at first

-a childhood liking (as children care very little about color), which

-increased as he grew older; and Peterson, by reforming his habits,

-became deserving of respect.

-

-Peterson was not merely a finished sailor and first-rate calker, but

-was also exceedingly ingenious in making kites, windmills, boats,

-sleds, carts, squirts, popguns, sawyers, and all those things that

-children and boys want; and no one but Uncle Isaac could equal him in

-the manufacture of bows and arrows.

-

-Peterson lived not far from Walter’s father. Every leisure day Walter

-was there; everything he wanted Peterson made, and, as he outgrew

-kites and bows, instructed him in wrestling, making sailor knots, and

-built him a skiff; when, therefore, he came to be shipmate with him,

-he felt that the boy was in a manner committed to him, and under his

-protection, and instantly interfered.

-

-“Massa cap’n, dat boy no fit to go; he too young; s’pose come gale

-ob wind; vessel driben to sea; no get him off long time; boy be

-frightened, die, p’rhaps starve. Hab to show hisself; den English

-man-o’-war take him; nebber see his farder or mudder no more. Boy no

-‘sperience to know what to look for; me go, meself.”

-

-Walter, however, insisted upon going; he had a right to go; the captain

-called for volunteers, and he had volunteered, and was going.

-

-“But you too young, chile, for such ting.”

-

-“_Young_,” replied Walter, in high dudgeon; “I shipped before the mast,

-and have a man’s wages, and can steer my trick, and do my duty.”

-

-“I can’t do without _you_, pilot,” said the captain.

-

-Several others had also intended to volunteer, and now came forward;

-but Walter had been too quick for them, and claimed his right.

-

-“Captain,” said Fred Williams, as he took leave of Arthur Brown,

-“you’ll find one of our young men aboard, Walter Griffin (he’s not

-much more than a boy, but he’s a choice one); I know him through and

-through. He never should have left me if I could have helped it; but he

-seems one of those made to go to sea. Put him anywhere, trust him with

-any matter, and he will give a good account of himself. You will find

-him better, on an emergency, than many older persons; for he belongs to

-an iron-sided race, and what he lacks in experience he will make up in

-mother wit.”

-

-All that the captain had seen of Walter went to corroborate Fred’s

-statement, and he determined to try him.

-

-Little Ned now besought the captain to permit him to share the

-adventure with Walter, but he refused, telling him he had promised his

-mother not to expose him unnecessarily; that one was enough, and two

-would be more likely to attract attention.

-

-Ned turned away, with a tear in his eye, and walked forward. Flinging

-his arms round his friend’s neck, he said, “He won’t let me go, Walter.

-It’s too bad; we might have such a good time!”

-

-The boat was manned, and beef, bread, water, and raw pork put into her.

-The raw pork was in addition, as that could, on occasion, be eaten raw;

-and if the vessel should be blown off the coast, he might be left there

-a good while, and no fire could be made to cook, without attracting

-notice.

-

-The captain, after giving him his instructions, put into his hands

-a spy-glass. “There,” said he, “is a glass with which you can read

-letters three inches long a mile away.” He then shook hands with him at

-the side, bidding him take care of himself, and keep a bright lookout,

-while the tender-hearted black fairly shed tears.

-

-“Look out for de man-o’-war, sonnie. S’pose he ketch you, Peterson

-chase you all ober de world but he git you.”

-

-“Good by, dear Walter,” cried Ned, throwing his arms around his

-friend’s neck, as he stood up in the stern sheets to step on the rock.

-

-“Good by, Ned,” said Walter, returning the embrace.

-

-The provision and water were landed, and the boat pulled rapidly away.

-Walter sat down upon the rock, listening to the sound of the oars in

-the rowlocks, and watching the phosphorescence of the water as it

-flashed on their blades. All these tokens of departure, of little

-moment on ordinary occasions, now possessed not a little interest. He

-marked the ring of the iron, as the hook of the davit-fall went into

-the ring-bolt, and heard the man say, “Hoist away,” the creak of the

-blocks, and the slat of the canvas, as the sails filled, then the

-low, rushing sound of the vessel’s bow as it parted the water. It was

-a lonely moment to the brave boy, when the last low sound betokening

-companionship was lost in the dash of midnight waves, the gleam of her

-white canvas faded from his view, and he was left on the wild rock

-alone. He had never been taught to breathe a petition for protection,

-or to depend upon aught but himself. His conversation with Charlie by

-the brook constituted the only appeal of a religious nature ever made

-to his heart.

-

-He knew not the nature or extent of the rock on which he had been so

-unceremoniously deposited, and, clambering up to where he was above

-the flow of the tide, placed his provisions beside him, and determined

-to keep watch till the day broke, that he might have time to examine

-the place before he could be observed from any passing boat or vessel.

-Fearing, if he went to sleep, he might sleep too long, and finding a

-flat place on the rock, he paced back and forth, to keep himself awake.

-

-Little Ned, feeling very lonely in the absence of his watch-mate,

-attached himself to Peterson, between whom and Walter there was such

-a good understanding, in order that he might talk about Walter,

-Pleasant Cove, the Griffins, and all the people and boys he had become

-acquainted with there.

-

-The rock on which Walter was placed might have been, at low water,

-half an acre in extent, and irregular in its form, the eastern end

-rising in a high bluff, with deep water around and close to it; but

-the western end sloped into long, ragged ridges, honeycombed by the

-everlasting dash of surf, and terminating in long reefs, upon which the

-sea broke with a continuous roar. Between these ridges were openings

-or coves, quite wide at the extremities of the reefs, shoaling and

-narrowing as they ran up into the main portion of the rock, in such a

-manner that it was easy to enter them in a boat between the breaking

-points, and land, in good weather, with perfect safety.

-

-The heads of these coves were filled with those materials the sea

-usually flings up—sea-weeds, shells, barrel staves, chips, planks, and

-broken pieces of vessels.

-

-On the eastern end of the rock was a patch of turf extending from the

-edge of the bold cliffs along the heads of the coves, covered with

-bushes and scrub trees, dwarfed by the sea winds, and thickly matted

-together.

-

-The sun had risen clear, bringing with it a moderate easterly breeze.

-The English frigate before referred to is passing within musket shot of

-the eastern extremity of the rock. A close observer might have noticed

-the branches of a pine bush move in a direction opposite to the wind,

-and in a few moments the head of a man is cautiously thrust through the

-branches. It is Walter Griffin. He watches with keen eyes the course of

-the man-o’-war, and, as she increases the distance between them, crawls

-to the shelter of a ledge, and, resting his glass over it, watches her

-till she disappears from view. From his position he can command a view

-of the roadstead, the men-of-war lying at anchor in it, the forts, and

-the entrance to the port.

-

-At the head of one of the coves, in which there was a little beach

-of white sand, a portion of the stern frame of a vessel had, by the

-conjunction of a high tide and a gale of wind, been flung high on the

-rocks, extending from one side to the other, leaving a space of several

-feet between it and the beach. Here Walter had bestowed his water and

-food.

-

-Having made all the observation possible, he retired to this place,

-and, with some dry sea-weed for a bed, lay down for a nap, as he had

-been up the entire night.

-

-When he awoke, he espied a French fisherman, fishing among the kelp for

-rock-fish. Looking cautiously around, to be sure that no vessel was in

-sight, he, after a while, succeeded in attracting his attention, and

-prevailing upon him to row into one of the passages between the rocks,

-where he met him.

-

-“Who are you?” asked the fisherman, resting upon his oars, and

-surprised to be addressed in his own language by one who, he perceived,

-was of another nation.

-

-“An American.”

-

-“Have you run away from the man-o’-war?” asked the Frenchman, taking

-him for some impressed American seaman, who had swum off from a British

-vessel.

-

-“No; I was put ashore here last night from an American vessel, that is

-trying to run the blockade, to watch the fleet; she will stand in for

-the land again to-night.”

-

-“The vessel they were chasing yesterday?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“We thought you were gone.”

-

-“We thought so ourselves, till the wind came.”

-

-“Men sometimes swim ashore from the fleet. I thought you had swam to

-the rock. I’ve got an Englishman in my house now who ran away a week

-ago.”

-

-“Why don’t they take you prisoner?”

-

-“They don’t trouble the fishermen, and when they want fish, they pay

-for them; but our vessels and the Spaniards take ‘em without thanks or

-money.”

-

-“What time in the day is it?”

-

-“By the tide, about eleven o’clock.”

-

-“Could you take me ashore in your boat, so that I could have a good

-look at the fleet and harbor, and see the Englishman you spoke of, and

-bring me back after dark?”

-

-“I can take you ashore well enough, but bringing you back is another

-matter; the English have boats rowing around the roadstead in the

-night; if they saw me going out after dark, they would suspect

-something, and stop me.”

-

-“I would give a good deal to get inside the roadstead, and to see that

-deserter.”

-

-“I’ll do all I can to help you. I’ll take you along shore to one of the

-creeks where there is no watch kept, and set you off from there.”

-

-The Frenchman made Walter lie down in the bottom of the boat, covered

-him with sea-weed, and flung fish over him; he then put up his sail,

-and steered boldly into the roadstead. As he passed one of the English

-ships, he was hailed and asked for a mess of fish; he went alongside,

-and flung the fish on the grating of the side ladder, and receiving his

-money, kept on.

-

-“If they had known who was under these fish,” said the fisherman to

-Walter, pulling the sea-weed off from him, as they came under the guns

-of the French castle, “it would have put an end to my fishing.”

-

-He now conducted Walter to the observatory, situated on very high

-ground, in which was a powerful telescope, and from which he could

-track the frigate and sloop of war as they ran along the coast, and

-see perfectly the position of the ships in the roadstead. He found the

-flag-ship lay the farthest in, just out of range of the forts, and so

-moored as to completely command the channel. Having taken careful note

-of all these things, and made a rough draft on paper, he went to the

-fisherman’s house, where he found the English sailor, who informed him

-of many particulars that were important, and among other things, that a

-supply ship was daily expected on the coast and was eagerly looked for,

-as provisions were growing short in the fleet.

-

-“What is her name?” asked Walter.

-

-“The Severn.”

-

-“Where has that frigate probably gone?”

-

-“To Toulon.”

-

-“And the sixty-four?”

-

-“Round the other side, to carry despatches.”

-

-“How big is the flag-ship?”

-

-“A hundred guns.”

-

-“Do they keep a keen lookout?”

-

-“Yes; it is no use to try to run by her at night; she wouldn’t leave

-you a stick to do it with.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XII.

-

-DID I BEAR IT LIKE A MAN, WALTER?

-

-

-IT was nearly one o’clock at night, when the brigantine hove to, off

-the rock, a boat put off, and the sharp voice of Ned, crying, “Are you

-there, Walter?” came over the waves. But it was now blowing fresh, the

-sky obscured by clouds, and no possibility of landing on the rock,

-which was white with foam, it being so small that the sea ran all round

-it. The boat, pulled by men who had been all their lives brought up

-among the surf, and accustomed to working around breakers, was backed

-in within two seas of the rock, and held there by the oars, while she

-stood almost on end.

-

-“Now, shipmate,” said Danforth Eaton, standing up in the stern sheets,

-with a coil of rope in his hand, “look out for the line, and jump for

-it.”

-

-Walter caught the line, and making it fast round his waist, flung

-himself into the surf, and was hauled aboard, where he was joyfully

-received by Ned, to whom one day and a portion of two nights had seemed

-a week.

-

-When the young captain had received Walter’s information, he

-complimented him very much for the shrewdness he had manifested;

-and as all were equally interested (the profits of the voyage being

-divided in this manner, the vessel, that is, the owners, drew a certain

-proportion, the captain, mates, and crew another, according to their

-rank), he spread the whole matter before the ship’s company.

-

-Said the young captain to his crew, “The wind is fair, and plenty of

-it; the tide also is with us, and sets up the harbor; we should go

-like a shot; the frigate and sixty-four are out of the way; there is

-no moon, and it is overcast; if they fire at us, they will have to

-fire by guess, for they can’t sight over the black cannon; probably we

-shall not have so many things in our favor again. I am in for trying it

-to-night; but I want your opinions, for we must run the risk of their

-broadsides.”

-

-“I reckon,” said Danforth Eaton, “that when we shipped aboard this

-craft, we knew what we had to kalkerlate on; we expect to get our

-profit out of our risk; I’m for trying it now.”

-

-His opinion being assented to by the crew, the brigantine, with a

-spanking breeze and every sail set, was steered directly for the

-roadstead, a little over two miles distant. It seemed but a moment,

-so rapid was her progress, before the high lands of Marseilles were

-throwing their shadows before her path. Walter acting as second

-mate, his station was in his watch on deck, aft. He, however, still

-shared Ned’s berth, as the second mate was sick in his own. It was

-now his watch below; but in the present circumstances, no one felt

-any inclination to sleep, and he was, with all the rest of the crew,

-forward. At such a time, it is natural for those most acquainted to

-get together, and the men were divided into little knots, conversing

-in low tones. Walter, Enoch Hadlock, and Ben Peterson, having been

-schoolmates, and grown up together, formed one group, with Ned nestled

-close to the side of Walter.

-

-“Walter,” said Ben, “do you expect, if we make the run, and a heap of

-money, to have the second mate’s share, while he’s off duty?”

-

-“No, indeed; I have no right to it. He can’t help having a carbuncle. I

-wouldn’t take it if it was offered me. I wouldn’t be so mean.”

-

-“But if you’re doing second mate’s duty—”

-

-“The honor pays for that.”

-

-“Perhaps you think it is a stepping-stone. I hope it is.”

-

-“I don’t know about that.”

-

-“We shall soon see what our young captain is made of,” said Eaton, as

-the dark hull and long masts of the ship of the line began to appear;

-“I only wish we were well through it.”

-

-A man-o’-war cutter was now seen on the lee bow.

-

-“What ship is that?” was the hail.

-

-“The Severn, supply.”

-

-Thus boats and ships were passed, the night being too dark, and the

-brigantine going too quick to admit of a close scrutiny. The name

-of the expected store-ship being given, also completely disarmed

-suspicion. They were now rapidly nearing the flag-ship, of a hundred

-guns—the last and most fearful ordeal. A death-like stillness now

-pervaded the brigantine, broken only by the rushing of the vessel

-through the water, the straining of the cordage, and the moan of the

-wind through the rigging.

-

-“Walter,” whispered Ned, “do you feel afraid?”

-

-“No, Ned; do you?”

-

-“I guess not; but I feel as I never did before. I wish we were doing

-something, and it was not so dreadfully still,” said the boy, putting

-his arm round his companion’s waist, as they sat side by side on the

-windlass, gazing through the darkness at the lights of the man-of-war.

-“Kiss me, Walter.”

-

-He put his arms round his friend, and pressed his lips to his cheek.

-So dark was the night now grown, and so rapid the passage of the

-vessel, that the stern lights of the ship bore over the cat-head of the

-brigantine.

-

-The young captain now took the helm, when a hail came from the ship

-that thrilled the blood of every man on board.

-

-“What ship is that? Reply, or I’ll sink you.”

-

-“The Severn, store vessel.”

-

-The ports of the man-of-war were triced up, and by the gleam of the

-battle lantern, the gunners could be seen standing by their pieces.

-

-“Ay, ay. Come to, under the stern, and report on board at six o’clock

-in the morning.”

-

-“Ay, ay,” was the reply; and “Hard a-lee! Haul aft the main sheet!”

-were shouted, in loud tones, on board the brigantine.

-

-The officer of the deck, who could distinguish nothing, hearing these

-orders, was for an instant deceived—an instant that was the salvation

-of the brigantine, going twelve knots under the combined force of wind

-and tide. Perceiving immediately that it was a ruse, he gave orders to

-fire. The horizon was lit up by the flash of guns, and the midnight

-stillness broken by the roar of cannon. But so well had the brigantine

-improved her opportunity, that but one or two of the forward guns were

-brought to bear on her.

-

-As the iron shower came hurtling on, and passed, a groan was heard near

-the foot of the main-mast. It came from little Ned, who was struck as

-he came aft with an order from the pilot.

-

-“Bear it like a man, Neddie,” cried Walter, as he held him in his arms.

-“Are you hurt much?”

-

-“Yes, bad, Walter.” And he fainted.

-

-“Take care of him,” said the captain, “till the vessel is brought to.”

-

-For a few moments every one was exerting himself to the utmost, in

-order to bring the vessel, under such a press of sail, to anchor under

-the guns of the castle of St. Nicolas.

-

-She was somewhat disabled, a round shot having cut off her main boom

-at the jaws to such an extent that it broke and fell on deck, carrying

-away the rail. Several shot had passed through the sails and bulwarks,

-one had cut off the tiller-head, and the mate had received a wound in

-the leg; so that the attention of the captain was fully occupied in

-taking care of the vessel.

-

-During this period, which, though really but a short time, seemed an

-age to Walter, he sat with his back against the main-mast, his arms

-around Neddie’s waist, and felt the warm blood oozing slowly through

-his fingers.

-

-The artillery now began to thunder from the castle at the boats of the

-fleet, which, enraged at the audacity and success of the enterprise,

-endeavored to follow and cut out the brigantine, but, finding the enemy

-aware of their designs, relinquished it.

-

-A boat was immediately sent to the castle for a surgeon, who, having

-restored Ned by stimulants, proceeded to examine his hurts, and

-ascertained that he had received a severe flesh wound in the thigh from

-a splinter, parts of which still remained in the wound. He had also

-received a musket ball in the groin, which, passing round the body

-without breaking the bone, could be felt in the flesh of the back, near

-the spine. Being just beneath the skin, he pronounced neither of the

-wounds mortal.

-

-“Thank God for that!” exclaimed the captain.

-

-The surgeon wished to fasten him to the cabin table while he performed

-the operation; but Ned resisted this, declaring he could bear it if the

-captain would stand beside him, and Walter would hold his hand. The

-extraction of the splinters was more painful than even the cutting for

-the ball; but the little fellow bore it all with firmness, scarcely

-uttering a groan, and without aid from any of the means now in use to

-produce insensibility, they being at that period unknown.

-

-“Didn’t I bear it like a man, Walter?” asked Ned, when the operation

-was over.

-

-“Bravely,” answered Walter.

-

-The captain would not send Ned to the hospital, but hired a room for

-him in the house of Jacques Bernoux, the fisherman whose acquaintance

-Walter made on the rock, and sent Walter and Peterson alternately to

-take care of him, going daily himself to see him.

-

-Ned, who was as sweet-tempered as ambitious, had always been the pet

-of the crew, most of whom he had known while at Pleasant Cove; they

-were, therefore, always ready to watch of a night whenever needed, and

-there were so many of them that the duty was not at all burdensome.

-

-Boys of Ned’s age learn a language with great rapidity, and he soon

-began to pick up words, and talk with the people of the house. Nothing

-could exceed the kindness of Peterson to the little wounded fellow. He

-was so strong he could lift him easily, and, as he gradually recovered,

-made him many little messes (being a skillful cook) that were very

-grateful to the convalescent. Ned began to love his black friend

-dearly, and always called him James.

-

-To the surprise of all but the surgeon, Ned recovered a great deal

-faster than the first mate, Mr. Rogers, who was only wounded in the

-leg, the ball passing through. The wound continued to run, and seemed

-as if it never would heal, while Ned could walk across the floor with

-the aid of Walter.

-

-One day Ned was sitting in a chair, propped up with pillows, and

-eating, with the greatest relish, a nice breakfast Peterson had

-prepared for him. “James,” said he, laying down his knife and fork,

-“I’m glad I was wounded.”

-

-“Glad you wounded! Glad you hab so much pain, be sick so long, make de

-cap’n so much trouble, all ob us feel bad! Nebber hear sich ting afore.”

-

-“I didn’t mean I was glad of that, or that I should want to be wounded

-again; but I’m glad, now it’s over, I’ve been through it.”

-

-“I know what you tink; you tink, when you git home to Salem, farder,

-mudder so glad cause you wasn’t killed; den, when you walks in de

-street, all de people say, ‘Dere Ned Gates; he one smart boy; he been

-shipwrecked, almost starve on a raft; been wounded two times runnin’ de

-blockade; see what dat boy been through.’ Den all de boys dey open dere

-eyes wide and stare, say notin’.”

-

-“That is it, James. I _have_ been through a good deal—haven’t I, for a

-boy no older than I am?”

-

-“Dat de Lord; he carry you through dat cause you good boy.”

-

-“I ain’t a very good boy, James.”

-

-“What de reason? Cap’n say you good boy, mate say you good boy,

-eberybody say so.”

-

-The brigantine, as she lay under the guns of the fort, was recognized

-by the officers of the blockading fleet as the vessel they had chased,

-and so nearly taken, and they determined she should not escape them a

-second time, therefore kept incessant watch.

-

-The roadstead of Marseilles is exposed to severe gales, during which,

-the blockading fleet were compelled to run to sea. The captain of the

-brigantine had made too much money to run any unnecessary risk in

-getting home; he, therefore, determined to wait for a gale of wind that

-should drive his antagonists to sea, before he attempted to run out.

-This gave time for Ned to recover sufficiently to go in the vessel. As

-the mate, Mr. Rogers, was not well enough to do duty, Walter was put

-in his place, which offended the second mate very much, who thought,

-and said to the captain, that the place belonged to him; to which

-the captain replied, that Griffin had run some risk in volunteering

-to go on the rock; that it was _principally_, if not entirely, due

-to his shrewdness in getting hold of the fisherman, and obtaining

-the information he did from the English sailor, that their adventure

-succeeded, and they were not sunk by the man-of-war. He therefore

-considered promotion no more than a suitable reward, especially as the

-second mate, though a good seaman, was not a navigator. Thus Walter

-experienced at the outset the benefit of knowledge, as well as of pluck

-and principle.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XIII.

-

-THE BASKET-MAKER.

-

-

-IT was a glad day to Ned, when he had so far recovered that the

-surgeon, yielding to his solicitations, told him he might go on board

-the vessel, spend most of the day, and come back at night.

-

-The fisherman’s house was not far from the pier. Walter and Peterson

-made a chair, by taking hold of each other’s wrists, and Ned, seated on

-it, with an arm round each of their necks, was taken on board.

-

-The weather was warm, and some blankets from Walter’s berth were spread

-on the hen-coop, and a pillow placed so that Ned could lie down or sit

-up, as he chose, see what was going on, and chat with his shipmates,

-who were all rejoiced to see him on board again. Peterson prepared his

-dinner, but Ned wanted to eat with the rest, it seemed so much more

-sociable, having been compelled for so long a time to eat alone.

-

-It was just after dinner; Ned was sitting, propped up with pillows,

-the captain seated near by, watching him, when he noticed an old man,

-apparently over sixty years of age, in seaman’s dress, coming along the

-gangway plank. His hair, where it came outside his tarpaulin, was gray;

-he stooped very much, appearing feeble, and bore on his back a large

-number of articles manufactured of willows, and strung together by a

-cord.

-

-Approaching the captain, he deposited the bundle on the deck, evidently

-much fatigued, and asked, in English, if he would like to buy any

-of his work—market-baskets, knife-baskets, table-mats, ladies’

-work-baskets, and many articles, merely ornamental, of superior

-workmanship and most beautifully stained.

-

-There was something in his whole demeanor that was both modest and

-prepossessing—quite the reverse of street-venders in general.

-

-“There,” said he, “is a market-basket that would be very handy on board

-ship; and here,”—producing a basket nearly square, and with partings

-in it for tumblers,—“is an article that would be very convenient on

-a cabin table, or in a ship’s pantry. Many of my articles are made for

-vessels’ use, as I deal much with seafaring men.”

-

-Arthur Brown, who was of quick sympathies, was interested in the old

-gentleman, and touched by seeing a man of his years, apparently infirm,

-thus employed, felt inclined to converse, especially as he spoke

-English.

-

-“This is beautiful work,” he observed. “I have seen a great deal of it

-in England and Germany, where excellent work is made, but never any

-superior to this. You are surely master of your business.”

-

-“I should be, considering I have been at it for the greater part of my

-life since I was twelve years old, and we have no knowledge that any of

-our ancestors were ever anything but weavers of sallies,—that’s what

-we call the rods the baskets are made of.”

-

-“You seem infirm. Have you been sick?”

-

-“No, captain; I am worn down with wounds and hardships, but, most of

-all, with a sore heart.”

-

-“Then you’ve been a soldier?”

-

-“No, sir; a sailor. I was born in Lincolnshire, England, in the fens.

-There my forefathers all lived and followed their trade. A happier

-man, sir, the sun never shone upon than myself. I had an affectionate

-wife,—a right godly woman, and thrifty,—and three children. I

-employed four, sometimes five men. My oldest child was a boy. He worked

-in the shop. We paid our rent easy, and were getting along nicely,

-when, in the midst of all this happiness, I was pressed, torn from my

-family, and put aboard a hulk. Wouldn’t you think, sir, that would

-break a man down?”

-

-“I should, indeed, my friend,” replied Captain Brown, greatly moved,

-“and I feel for you, from the bottom of my heart.”

-

-The tears were running down little Ned’s cheeks as he sat propped up on

-the hen-coop.

-

-“It must have been long ago,” continued the captain.

-

-“Not so very long, sir. Only about ten years.”

-

-“Indeed!”

-

-“How old might you take me to be, sir?”

-

-“Sixty, or thereabouts.”

-

-“I am but forty-seven. Ought to be in my prime. But O, sir, to have a

-wife and family, and be forever separated from them, in a strange land,

-and not know whether they are dead or alive, or whether they are in

-distress or not,—only to know that they are dead to you, and you to

-them,—it keeps gnawing at the heart-strings.”

-

-“It must, indeed. But how did you get clear from the navy?”

-

-“It was near the close of the American war. The frigate I belonged

-to was in action with a French seventy-four. I was wounded and flung

-overboard for dead. The cold water revived me, and I clung to the

-wreck of our spars, which were shot away. The French vessel won the

-battle, being a much heavier ship. I was picked up, brought ashore at

-Toulon, and lay a long time in the hospital, wishing for death; but

-I recovered, and since then have, though feeble, made a living by my

-trade. The people here are very kind.”

-

-“What is your name, my friend?”

-

-“Bell—John Bell, sir.”

-

-“Why, that is the name of the man who built this vessel, and is part

-owner.”

-

-“Indeed, sir, I hope he is a happier man than I am.”

-

-“He is a happy man, and deserves to be, for he tries to make others

-happy.”

-

-The captain bought a good many articles of the basket-maker, and then

-sent him forward among the crew, who purchased so largely that there

-remained but very little to carry away. Peterson bought a work-basket

-for Captain Rhines’s wife, and Enoch Hadlock another for old Mrs. Yelf.

-

-Walter was away, for, as he could speak French, the captain had sent

-him to make some purchases for him. Walter, indeed, had plenty of

-business in this way, being spokesman for all hands.

-

-The captain insisted upon the basket-maker stopping to supper; but

-something in his appearance prevented him from offering him money as a

-gift,—he felt it might wound his feelings,—but he gave him a cordial

-invitation to come on board and eat or sleep, whenever his business

-led him in that direction. The next night, when Walter went over to

-see Ned, he mentioned the circumstance of the basket-maker’s coming on

-board, showed him his purchases, and told him he was an Englishman, and

-that his name was Bell. This excited Walter’s curiosity. He inquired

-further about it, and Ned, who had been deeply touched by the man’s

-pitiful story, repeated the whole conversation between him and the

-captain, word for word. When he concluded, Walter sat for a few

-moments, with his hands clasped over his knees, as though striving to

-recall something.

-

-At length he said, “Ned Gates, as sure as you are lying on that bed,

-the basket-maker is our Charlie Bell’s father.”

-

-“Charlie Bell’s father?” said Ned, sitting bolt upright, and then

-screaming at the twinge the effort occasioned, because of his wound.

-

-“Yes, Charlie Bell’s father.”

-

-“But the man is an Englishman.”

-

-“So is Charlie Bell.”

-

-“I never knew that before.”

-

-“He was an English boy; came to Elm Island as poor as he could be, with

-some bad men,—but he didn’t know they were bad when he started,—that

-came to rob; but they came to the wrong place, for Lion Ben most killed

-‘em, kept the boy, and brought him up. I’ve heard our Joe and Mr.

-Williams tell about it a thousand times.”

-

-“What if it should turn out to be so?”

-

-“I tell you it is so; I’m certain sure it is. His father was a

-basket-maker, and was pressed; I heard Mr. Williams say so; and when

-they were boys, Charlie, Mr. Bell, and John Rhines used to make

-baskets, and Mr. Williams sold ‘em at the mill; and when I first went

-to tend store for him, there were some of ‘em in the store.”

-

-“If your Joe or Mr. Williams were only here, we could ask them, and

-know all about it.”

-

-“Yes, Joe, they said, used to live on Elm Island half the time before

-he was married. I remember another thing Joe said.”

-

-“What is that?”

-

-“He said he made baskets of willows, and colored them red, blue, and

-green, real handsome, and said that was the way they did in England.”

-

-“But the basket-maker said, if I remember right, that it was about ten

-years ago, and that his son was large enough to work in the shop at

-light work. O, Walter, wouldn’t I be glad, and wouldn’t the captain be

-glad (when Mr. Bell saved our lives), to be the means of taking his

-father home to him?”

-

-“Don’t you think somebody else would be glad too, you little monkey,

-you?”

-

-“The boys didn’t sleep much that night, having worked each other up to

-such a state of excitement. In the morning Walter went on board, full

-of the news, and opened the whole matter to the captain, who was as

-much astonished as Ned; being entirely ignorant of the antecedents

-of Charlie, he supposed him a native of the country. After patiently

-listening with the deepest interest to all that Walter had to say, he

-acknowledged that the probabilities were very strong, but, much less

-sanguine, did not express a very decided opinion.

-

-“He said he had a wife and three children,” observed the captain; “what

-became of them? were they ever at Elm Island?”

-

-Walter had never heard them mentioned; but he was very young when

-Charlie came to Elm Island, and might not have heard half that

-occurred. Captain Brown turned the matter over in his mind, and

-conversed with Walter, who daily recollected some fresh corroborating

-circumstance, till at length he determined, the next time the

-basket-maker came on board, to broach the matter to him, even at the

-risk of exciting unfounded hopes. Day after day they expected his

-appearance; but he came not. Walter searched the streets and piers, but

-in vain.

-

-The time of year now drew on when periodical gales were expected, and

-the vessel would be likely to go to sea.

-

-“He may be sick, Walter,” said Ned; “for he looked pale and half sick

-the day he was aboard.”

-

-“He may be dead,” said Walter; “and we never should know it, in this

-great city. I wish I had seen him; if he was Charlie Bell’s father, I

-could tell; I know I could see something of the look.”

-

-“I saw, when he pulled his hat off,” said Ned, “that his hair, where it

-was not gray, is the same color as Charlie’s.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XIV.

-

-A STRANGE DISCOVERY.

-

-

-CAPTAIN BROWN had employed Jacques Bernoux, the French fisherman, to

-get the spy-glass Walter had forgotten and left on the rock, and he

-came on board, one morning, to bring it.

-

-“Do you know a man who goes about the piers and streets selling

-baskets? an old man, and an Englishman?” said Walter.

-

-“John Bell?”

-

-“That’s the name.”

-

-“Yes; pass his place every day going to my boat.”

-

-“Will you ask him to come on board the vessel to-morrow?” asked the

-captain.

-

-“Yes, sir.”

-

-Early the next morning the basket-maker made his appearance with a

-large burden of baskets; he had been so engaged manufacturing that it

-kept him out of the streets—the reason that Walter couldn’t find him.

-

-The captain, taking him into the cabin, said, “My friend, when you was

-here, a few days ago, you gave me some particulars of your life. This

-young man, Mr. Griffin, my mate, was not present; but having heard

-what then passed between us, he has not a doubt but that Charles Bell,

-who built and is part owner of this vessel, is your oldest son. As for

-myself, residing in another part of the country, I have no personal

-knowledge of the circumstances; but I must say that as related by him,

-they seem to me most probable. But you can hear what he has to say

-about it, and judge for yourself.”

-

-While the captain was speaking, the basket-maker became very pale,

-trembled, and big tears rolled down his hollow cheeks.

-

-“For the sake of Heaven, captain,” he exclaimed, “do not raise in this

-sad heart hopes that may have no foundation. I’ve made up my mind to

-endure the worst, as God shall give me strength, till I lay these bones

-in the grave.”

-

-“I am the last person to do that; but I have been turning the subject

-over in my mind ever since you were here last, and the more I reflect

-upon the young man’s story, the more the probability of it grows upon

-me.”

-

-The basket-maker, hearing these words, made a sign to Walter, who

-gave him substantially the same statement he had made to Ned and the

-captain. The old man was deeply affected; he evidently saw strong

-grounds for believing the person described was his child, but was

-fearful of cherishing a premature hope.

-

-“I can bear what I have borne,” he said, “but the disappointment would

-drive me mad. You say, young man, that you have known this person

-intimately?”

-

-“Yes, sir, as well as it’s possible for one person to know another.”

-

-“And that his name is Charles?”

-

-“Yes, sir.”

-

-“What’s his age?”

-

-“I think about twenty-three.”

-

-“My son, if living, would be twenty-three next Michaelmas. What sort of

-a looking man is this Charles Bell?”

-

-“Hair, eyes, and complexion just like yours, but he is not so large a

-man as you are.”

-

-“Those are the features of my boy,” replied the old man, evidently

-gaining confidence as he continued his inquiries.

-

-“You say you didn’t know this Charles Bell when he first came to Elm

-Island, and this Mr. Rhines and his wife took him.”

-

-“No, sir; I was too young; but I’ve heard my brother talk about it.”

-

-“My boy,” said the old man, “was a most loving boy, very much attached

-to his mother. I don’t believe he would leave her and his brother and

-sister. You never heard him mention his parents or family—did you?”

-

-“This Charles Bell’s mother is dead. I never heard him speak of any

-brother or sister.”

-

-“How do you know his mother is dead?”

-

-“Because, sir, he went to St. John’s two or three years ago, brought

-her body from there, and buried it on his place, under an elm tree—a

-beautiful spot. I’ve seen it a hundred times.”

-

-The old man’s countenance fell. “It cannot be,” he said, “that my

-wife, with young children and small means, would leave England,

-and all her and my relations, and go to the colonies; and yet the

-time, circumstances, and personal appearance of the young man tally

-precisely.”

-

-“I know it’s your son,” said Walter; “nobody can make me believe it

-ain’t. He looks as much like you as my two hands look alike, saving the

-difference in age, and his voice is like yours.”

-

-“Do you expect to come here again, captain?”

-

-“Yes, if we get off clear this time, and can run the gantlet. You know

-it is all luck and chance with us.”

-

-“I can send a letter by you, and that will remove all doubts, and

-settle the whole matter.”

-

-“But I hoped you would feel sure enough to take passage with us. You

-can do better in the States than here.”

-

-“I could not bear to go over there expecting to meet a son, and be

-disappointed. I’m making a very good living here.”

-

-“I think you’d better go.”

-

-“Well, captain, I’ve about as much as I can carry at present, and am

-somewhat confused. I will go about my regular business the rest of the

-day; that will steady my mind; and perhaps I may think of some question

-that this young man can answer, that will throw more light on the

-matter; and I will be on board again in the morning.”

-

-Resisting all solicitations to stop to dinner, the old man departed

-with his load.

-

-“I know it’s his son,” said Walter, as they were eating dinner. “I feel

-it in my bones, and I think we ought to persuade him to go.”

-

-“I have not much doubt,” replied the captain. “People are always

-emigrating from England to St. John’s and Canada. Her relatives might

-have gone, and taken her with them. I shall persuade him in the morning

-to go, if I can.”

-

-The second mate, who was a Marblehead man, and had listened to the

-conversation, now inquired, “Don’t all this crew belong right there?

-and wouldn’t they be likely to know more about it than Mr. Griffin?

-Most of them are much older than he is.”

-

-“To be sure they would,” cried Walter. “There’s Danforth Eaton helped

-clear Elm Island when Charlie Bell first came there; then there’s

-Peterson, and Enoch Hadlock,—what a ninny I was not to think of that

-before he went away!—there’s not _one_ of them but knows more about

-his _first_ coming there than I do.”

-

-Leaving his dinner, Walter ran forward, and soon returned, saying that

-Eaton knew all about it.

-

-When John Bell came on board the next morning, he seemed calm,

-collected, and much more hopeful. Sending for Eaton, the captain said

-to him, “Eaton, I want you to tell us all you know about Charles Bell’s

-coming to Elm Island, and about his parents, if you know or have heard

-anything about them, and I want you to begin at the bottom.”

-

-“What I know, cap’n, isn’t hearsay, but I had it all from his own lips.”

-

-“So much the better.”

-

-“You see, cap’n, about that time there was some Tories come up from the

-provinces—”

-

-“We know,” said the captain, interrupting him, “how he got to the

-island; but what we are most concerned to ascertain is, who his parents

-were, and how he came into the hands of those pirates (for they were no

-better) who brought him to Elm Island. Can you tell us anything about

-that?”

-

-“Reckon I kin tell you all about it; but I must tell it in my own way.

-If you keep putting in and interrupting me, I shall get all mixed up.”

-

-“Well, go on.”

-

-“You see, arter this boy come on the island, Lion Ben he hires me and

-Joe Griffin, the next winter, to cut spars and clear land. Charlie Bell

-was a little, slender, half-starved, pitiful-looking creatur’, then,

-but he was willing and clever, and soon begun to pick up. Most of the

-winter he drove the team; but along in March, when it was bad hauling,

-he helped me chop. I tapped a maple, to have sap to drink while I was

-chopping. One day we comes into the woods arter dinner, and before we

-went to work, sot down by the sap tree, in the sun. I sets on a stump,

-same as where that stool is, and he on another, same as where that

-old gentleman is setting. I takes a good drink of the sap, and hands

-the dipper to him; says I, ‘Charlie, tell me your history, or part of

-it, like as you did Joe and Fred Williams.’ He didn’t want ter, but I

-coaxed him. Then he said, the way his father come to be pressed, was

-all through another man, that courted his mother when she was a gal,

-but she liked his father better; he couldn’t give her up, and allers

-hild that old grudge agin his father. He said his father had agreed to

-work for the government, and if he had only got his name on the roll,

-couldn’t have been touched any more than if he had been a peer of the

-kingdom. This feller, I forget his name—” “Robert Rankin,” said the

-basket-maker. “That’s it, old man, by jingo,—who thought, if he was

-out of the way, he could get her, after all,—told the press-gang, and

-they took him as he was on the road to the place where he would have

-been safe.”

-

-The tears were streaming down John Bell’s cheeks, and his hands were

-lifted in gratitude to Heaven; but he would not interrupt Eaton by a

-question.

-

-“He said, soon arter his father was gone, he was killed in an action,

-and his mother carried on the business for a while; but this feller

-kept prosecutin’ her, and wantin’ her to have him, till she couldn’t

-stand it any longer. So she packed up everything, and went to St.

-John’s, where she had a brother; but when she got there, he’d gone

-to furrin parts, and she took sick and died. Then the boy, destitute

-and wandering about the streets and docks to pick up a living, fell

-inter the hands of them are reprobates, thinking they were honest

-fishermen, and went cook for them. The rest you say you know. Good as a

-story-book—ain’t it?”

-

-“Eaton,” said the captain, sternly, “this is Mr. Bell’s father.”

-

-“His _father_! Then he wasn’t killed. I didn’t dream of that, or I

-shouldn’t have spoken like as I did. I see now he favors him.”

-

-“Did he tell you,” asked the father, “what became of the other

-children?”

-

-“I axed him if there was any more of ‘em. He said his mother’s

-relations took ‘em.”

-

-There was an oppressive pause in the conversation after Eaton had gone

-forward. John Bell sat with his handkerchief over his face, while the

-others, respecting his emotions, were silent.

-

-“No doubt, there can be none,” he said, at length, “that my poor

-wife is dead—God only knows what she suffered, in poverty and among

-strangers; that two of my children—whether alive or dead I know

-not—are in England, and that the other is in America. I may yet see

-_him_. I ought to be thankful for that.”

-

-“Your son, Mr. Bell,” said the captain, “is well to do; able to provide

-you with every comfort; and, what is more, respected and beloved.”

-

-“And he owns land?”

-

-“Yes; six hundred acres.”

-

-“That seems like a dream to me, for none of our folks ever owned a foot

-of land. I always loved the earth, and loved to work on it, even when

-it was the freehold of another. I feel there may yet be some happiness

-in store for me.”

-

-“You are not an old man yet, Mr. Bell,” said the captain, “and good

-news and good spirits will make you ten years younger; so bring all

-your things on board, and prepare to go with us, the first gale that

-scatters the blockaders.”

-

-“I don’t suppose there is any doubt now. I know there can’t be. Still,

-you know a person in my situation feels they can’t be too certain; and

-there is just one thing more that has come to mind since I was here. I

-would like to ask of this young man whether he ever noticed any scar on

-my son’s face.”

-

-“Yes, sir,” replied Walter; “it is on his right jaw, and close to his

-ear,—runs up behind the ear, into his hair.”

-

-“Then I’ll indulge no more in doubt. It would be ungrateful. I

-never shall forget when he received the cut that made that scar, it

-frightened me so. Though it was long ago, it seems but the other day.”

-

-“How did it happen, Mr. Bell?” asked Walter.

-

-“I suppose you never saw any basket rods growing?”

-

-“No, sir.”

-

-“In England, we plant them in rows, three feet apart, and as straight

-as an arrow. They grow seven or eight feet high, and make a nice place

-for the children to play. I was cutting the sallies with a large

-knife, as sharp as a razor. My little children, with their cousins,

-who had come to see them, were playing hide-and-seek among the rows,

-when Charlie ran in the way of my knife, and I cut a dreadful gash in

-his cheek, that made that scar. And now I will leave you, and make my

-preparations for the voyage.”

-

-“Not till you have taken dinner with us,” said the captain; “and,

-Mr. Bell, I expect you to make the vessel your home, and sleep here

-whenever it suits your convenience.”

-

-“Thank you, captain. My quarters on shore are not so spacious or

-elegant that I should feel inclined to refuse so handsome and hearty an

-offer.”

-

-When the meal was concluded, Mr. Bell went on shore.

-

-“Only see,” said Walter, looking after him, as he went up the pier,

-“how quick he steps, and how much straighter he is.”

-

-“There’s a new heart in him,” said the captain. “He’s something to live

-for and look forward to now. In a week’s time he’ll be another man. As

-far as I am concerned, I had rather carry _him_ home, than the richest

-cargo. And now, Mr. Griffin, run up and tell the good news to Ned.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XV.

-

-HOMEWARD BOUND.

-

-

-NED had of late recovered rapidly, could walk quite well, and was on

-board the vessel very often, and went about the city some; but the

-doctor advised that he should not go on board the vessel to live till

-she was ready to sail. Ned had not seen Walter since his promotion, but

-Peterson had been up and informed him of it.

-

-“Well, Ned,” said Walter, as he entered the room, “it has turned out

-just as I told you it would; the basket-maker is Charlie’s father, and

-no mistake.”

-

-“I am so glad, Mr. Griffin! and he will go back with us—won’t he?”

-

-“Ned, my boy, just leave that handle off, and call me Walter, as you

-always did. It makes me sick.”

-

-“But you are mate now; Peterson told me so.”

-

-“What of that? When we are on board ship, call me what you like; but

-not when we are alone, as we are now, you little monkey,” patting his

-cheek.

-

-“We shan’t sleep together any more,” said Ned, in a desponding tone.

-

-“No, Ned, I shall have to live aft; and that is not the worst of it; we

-shall now be in different watches.”

-

-“I know it. I shall be in Mr. Baxter’s watch. And we used to have such

-good times in our watch on deck, talking about home, Pleasant Cove,

-and all the folks there. Walter, who do you like best of all the folks

-there, out of your own family?”

-

-“Charlie Bell.”

-

-“So do I, and well I might. He saved my life. Ain’t he handsome?”

-

-“Yes; and just as good as he is handsome. A first rate

-wrestler—there’s none of the young ones can throw him but John Rhines

-and Ben Peterson.”

-

-“What, this Ben aboard here?”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-“I’m afraid, if I call you Walter all the time when we are alone, that

-I shall forget to put the Sir on sometimes before the men.”

-

-“If you do, I shan’t hit you on the head with a belaying pin.”

-

-“I tell you what I could do, Walter.”

-

-“What?”

-

-“I might swap watches with Enoch Hadlock. He is in your watch.”

-

-“Yes, you _could_, but I wouldn’t.”

-

-“Why not? Then we should be in the same watch again, and we could walk

-the deck, and talk, and have good times together, as we used to.”

-

-“I’ll tell you, Ned; if you should swap watches with Hadlock, and get

-into my watch, it would make trouble. If I happened to give you a soft

-job, and somebody else a hard one, they would say I was partial—made

-fish of one, and flesh of another.”

-

-“I never thought of that.”

-

-“We shouldn’t be together any more for being in the same watch. You

-would be forward, and I should be aft.”

-

-“Shouldn’t we be together when it was my trick at the helm?”

-

-“Yes, but we couldn’t talk. It is against the rules of the ship, and

-very unseamanlike, for an officer, or anybody, to make talk with a man

-at the helm. You couldn’t come aft to talk with me, and if I should go

-forward to talk with you, it would make growling directly, and set all

-the men against you.”

-

-“I see how it is,” said Ned, sadly. “The good times are all over.

-There’s going to be a great, high, solid wall, reaching clear up to the

-sky, built right up between us.”

-

-“O, not so bad as that, Ned. There will be cracks and chinks in it,

-where we can peek through, and boys must change into men some time or

-other.”

-

-“I suppose so, Walter; but I wish the change had not come quite yet.”

-

-“I wish so, too. There’s time enough for me these some years yet. But

-it would never have done for me to refuse the berth when it was offered

-me. It would have looked as though I did not know how to appreciate

-kind treatment, and I should never have had another offer. We can’t

-have everything and keep everything.”

-

-The ambitions, cares, and responsibilities of practical life lay a

-ruthless hand upon the sympathies and yearnings of young hearts, and

-the conversation of the boys may, to the minds of older persons who

-read these pages, recall similar experiences, when the relations of

-master and servant were rudely thrust between playfellows and near

-friends.

-

-“Cheer up, Ned,” said Walter, noticing the downcast looks of his

-friend; “we will sleep together once more, at any rate. I’m going to

-stay here to-night, and take you aboard with me in the morning; that’s

-the order.”

-

-When they were snug in bed, Ned lay for a long time silent. Walter

-thought him asleep, and had just begun to doze himself, when he was

-roused by Ned exclaiming, abruptly, “I’m sure I shouldn’t want to be a

-king.”

-

-“Nor I either; I don’t believe in ‘em; but what in the world has put

-that into your head just now?”

-

-“Well, I have been thinking over all the good times we’ve had when

-we were in the same watch, slept in the same berth, and ate out of

-the same kid. In good weather we could sit side by side under the lee

-of the boat, or under the rail, and talk and enjoy ourselves. In our

-forenoon watch below, we could comb each other’s hair, tie our cues,

-read and study navigation; then, being in the same watch, we always got

-liberty ashore together. Right in the midst of all these good times

-comes up this chief mate’s affair, takes you right away from me, and

-sticks you up on the quarter-deck. It’s no longer Ned and Walter; O,

-no; it’s Mr. Griffin and Gates. I can’t speak to you, for fear the men

-should think I was currying favor; you can’t speak to me, lest there

-should be growling about partiality. O, I shouldn’t want to be a king,

-to be stuck up for everybody to look at, and nobody to love. If people

-obeyed me, I should know it was because they couldn’t help it; if they

-pretended to love me, I should be sure they lied.”

-

-“But I ain’t a king, Ned.”

-

-“No; but you are a mate, and if just being a mate is going to make such

-an awful gap, what must being a king make? It must be a lonesome thing

-to be a king.”

-

-“What a queer fellow you are, Ned! I always thought you were about as

-spunky and ambitious a boy as I ever knew. You wouldn’t want to be a

-boy always—would you?”

-

-“No; I don’t know as I should want to be _always_ a boy; but I don’t

-like stepping over the edge all of a sudden; at any rate, I don’t like

-to see everybody else stepping over, and leaving me to be boy alone.”

-

-“Perhaps you’ll get to be second mate next voyage, and then we can be

-together again.”

-

-“I might if I was older, or if I was only a Griffin, or a Murch, or a

-Rhines, who are as big when they are seventeen as others when they are

-men grown. Here you are, a great fellow, your feet sticking out of bed,

-while my toes are only down to your knees.”

-

-“But you are growing all the time; you can steer a good trick now, and

-do anything that your strength is equal to, as well as any man in the

-vessel; you must be patient, Ned.”

-

-“O, if I was only a little bigger, so that I could furl the royal in

-wet weather, or when it blows hard! I didn’t use to care so much for

-you, but I should so hate to have any of the crew come up to help me!”

-

-“I’ll have a bunt-line rove for it.”

-

-“O, thank you; then I can handle it any time.”

-

-“Ned, do you think it is the beef makes the man?”

-

-“Not altogether; but I think there must be more beef than I’ve got.”

-

-“That is a fault that will be daily mending: see how much you’ve

-done since you left home; you have obtained a very good knowledge of

-navigation.”

-

-“I shouldn’t have done so much, if I had not been wounded. I have had

-lots of time to study since I have been getting better; so there’s some

-good come out of it. That’s just what mother’s always saying—every

-thing is for the best. I wonder if she’d been here the night I was hit,

-if she would have thought _that_ was for the best.”

-

-“I’ll warrant she’ll think it is all for the best, Ned, when you get

-home safe and sound.”

-

-“That she will, when she gets me in that old bed again, prays with me

-and kisses me. Ain’t I a great baby, Walter?”

-

-“Not a bit of it, Ned; you’re just right.”

-

-“I wish I was good, Wal, just to please my mother, it’s all she thinks

-about.”

-

-“I wish _I_ was, just to please Charlie Bell; at any rate, we’ll do the

-best we can.”

-

-“O, Wal, it’s nothing at all to be good here, with such a crew as

-this, all nice, steady men, well brought up. You never sailed in an old

-country vessel—did you?”

-

-“No; I have only sailed with just such a crew as we have here, and part

-of them are the same men.”

-

-“Then you don’t know anything about it. Such a set of reprobates as we

-had in that ship I was cast away in, cursing, swearing, fighting all

-the time; the captain never came on deck without his pistols in his

-pockets; half the crew didn’t know who their father or mother was; the

-crew were fighting among themselves, and the captain quarrelling with

-his mates, full of liquor all the time; and such deviltry as they tried

-to put into my head! I tell you, Walter, there was not the least need

-of that ship being lost (and I heard Mr. Brown tell Captain Rhines the

-same thing); the men might have kept her free just as well as not; we

-were not far from land.”

-

-“Why didn’t they, then?”

-

-In the first place, the men were harassed to death, kept out of their

-watch, working up jobs all the time, and half starved; the captain’s

-idea seemed to be to keep them so used up that they wouldn’t have

-strength or pluck to rise and take the ship from him, and it came back

-on his own head; they hadn’t strength enough, when the ship sprung

-a-leak, to work the pumps; and besides, they were so worn out, and

-hated him so, that they were desperate, thought it was their turn now,

-and if they could only drown him, they didn’t care what became of

-themselves. I tell you, Wal, I think, when a boy is away from home,

-and thrown into bad places and bad company, it makes a good deal of

-difference how he’s been brought up, and whether he’s come of nice

-folks.”

-

-“I guess it does, Ned, because he has a good character to sustain, and

-thinks, when he’s tempted, ‘How can I disgrace my folks? what would my

-parents, brothers and sisters say? and how would they feel if I should

-do this thing?’ Then there’s another thing comes of being well brought

-up.”

-

-“What is that, Wal?”

-

-“A boy that has been well brought up, and has learning, has hopes; he

-knows he can make something of himself, and means to; whereas those

-poor fellows, who, as you say, didn’t know who their fathers and

-mothers were, had no ambition or hope of ever rising, and so made up

-their minds to enjoy themselves after their own fashion.”

-

-“That’s so, for I’ve heard them say so. There was one of them, my

-watch-mate, Dick Cameron, a very decent fellow when the rum was out

-of him, and I used to talk with him; but all he would say was, ‘It’s

-all well for you, who have learning, and friends, and a chance to be

-something; but it’s no use for me.’”

-

-“How big a man was Dick Cameron?”

-

-“What do you mean by that?”

-

-“Why, I mean, how much did he weigh?”

-

-“O, he was a stout, thick-set man—the strongest man in the ship, and

-always took the bunt of a sail. I shouldn’t wonder if he weighed nearly

-two hundred.”

-

-“Now, see; it’s just as I told you a while ago. It isn’t beef that

-makes a man, but it’s pluck, knowledge, and good principles.”

-

-“And friends.”

-

-“He’ll have friends if he has those things. They will raise him up

-friends anywhere. Here you are, fretting because you don’t weigh two

-hundred, like Dick Cameron, and are not twenty-one. But if anything

-should happen to the officers of this vessel, all this crew of twenty

-great, stout men, second mate and all, couldn’t get this vessel home.

-They would have to fall back on Ned Gates, if he hasn’t got any cue to

-speak of, and can’t furl the royal when it blows hard, and the sail is

-wet and heavy.”

-

-“I won’t whine any more, Walter.”

-

-“It wouldn’t make one farthing’s difference as to age or size, with

-such a crew as this, all neighbors. If you are only modest, and know

-your duty, they would take pride in seeing you go ahead.”

-

-“Well, I won’t feel so any more. Let us talk about something else.”

-

-“I’ll tell you when we can get together, and it will be nobody’s

-business.”

-

-“When?”

-

-“When the voyage is up, then you can go home with me to my house.”

-

-“But shall we have time before the vessel goes again?”

-

-“Plenty. They will have to pick up a cargo. The articles to carry, many

-of them, have to be imported from other countries—the salt-petre from

-England or the East Indies.”

-

-“Wouldn’t I like it? Wouldn’t I have the best time that ever was in

-this world?”

-

-“You better believe it.”

-

-“I shall see Charlie Bell and his wife, and the baby, Lion Ben, Uncle

-Isaac, and old Tige.”

-

-“Yes, and I’ll get Uncle Isaac, our Joe, and Charlie Bell to go hunting

-with us. It will be right in bear time, and about town-meeting time,

-and they’ll have a wrestling match. Our Joe is champion, but father can

-throw him; only he’s done wrestling in the ring. But I suppose, if any

-stranger came along, as Ricker did, he’d take hold, for the credit of

-the place. But father never saw the day he was so stout as grandfather.

-Did you ever see my grandsir?”

-

-“No, I never saw any of your folks but Joe.”

-

-“Well, he’s an old man now, but you can see, by his great bones and

-cords, as big as an ox’s, what he was once. When Hen, and I, and Will

-were little boys, he used to get us up in the floor, and set us to

-wrestling.”

-

-“I shouldn’t think an old man would care about wrestling and such

-things.”

-

-“He ain’t old _inside_; no older than ever he was. O, I’ll tell you the

-funniest thing. You must know, we milk seven cows, and have awful big

-churnings. One rainy day mother had our great churn, full of cream,

-sitting in the chimney corner, because it was a rainy day, and father

-was going to churn for her. Grandsir he ties a string to the churn

-handle, sat in his chair, and held the end of it, and told us boys to

-jump over it, and see which could jump the highest. Every little while

-he would put the string up a little higher. It was Hen’s turn to jump,

-and just as he was going over, grandsir twitched up the string, and

-caught his feet. Over went the churn, the cover came out, and there was

-that cream all over the floor. Grandsir was too old to get out of the

-way; it filled his shoes full, ran into the fireplace, and soaked Hen

-all through in front before he could get up. The dog lay asleep before

-the fire. It ran all over him. He jumped up, and went all round the

-room, switching his tail, and flinging the cream over everything. We

-laughed; it frightened the baby; he began to scream, and you never saw

-such a scrape.”

-

-“What did your mother say?”

-

-“She didn’t say much. She is one of the best mothers that ever was,

-always one way. She isn’t religious, like your mother, ‘cause there

-ain’t any religion in our folks. She is too good to have such a tearing

-set of boys round her.”

-

-“Will you go in the woods, and camp out? I never was in the big woods.

-There ain’t any woods round Salem.”

-

-“Well, there’s woods enough round our way. It’s all woods. You can get

-bear’s grease enough to make your cue grow three inches a night, and

-eat bear’s meat till you grow big enough to fill up the boots of a

-second mate. Come, let’s go to sleep.”

-

-When they went on board in the morning, the wind was blowing fresh, and

-the sea beginning to heave into the roadstead.

-

-The captain made his way to the observatory (taking Walter with him),

-from which he enjoyed a view of the roadstead and all in it. Here he

-sat, watching the blockading fleet with all the interest with which

-a beleaguered rat contemplates the movements of his enemy, the cat.

-Ned Gates had been despatched to find Mr. Bell, and tell him to get

-his things on board the vessel, accompanied by the fisherman’s boy

-as pilot. Ned traversed alleys and by-ways, till, in the dark, damp

-basement of a squalid tenement he found the object of his search. It

-was a wretched place, the walls low and dripping with moisture; in one

-corner was a large trough, nearly full of water, in which the willow

-rods lay soaking, in order to make them pliable to work; the floor was

-littered with pieces of willows, of all colors, which had been trimmed

-off; the walls were hung all round with willows, stripped into thin

-shavings, and made into skeins. In another corner was a rough berth,

-built up like those on shipboard, where the old gentleman slept, and on

-a shelf, at the head of it, his Bible; evincing that, in his loneliness

-and sorrow, he found consolation in the Word of God. There was also a

-rusty stove, a few cooking utensils, a rickety table, and some rough

-chairs, made of willow with the bark on.

-

-The old gentleman was seated on a wooden platform, a little inclined,

-with his back against the wall, employed in finishing a basket of such

-delicate workmanship, such tastefully arranged and beautiful colors, as

-to elicit the most unbounded expressions of admiration from Ned.

-

-The old gentleman was evidently highly gratified with the praise

-bestowed upon his work.

-

-“I am glad you like it,” said he; “I have spent a vast deal of time

-and work upon it; indeed, it is all I have done since I heard my son

-was living. I design it as a present for my daughter, if I am ever

-permitted to see her. It is said, self-praise goes but little ways;

-yet, when I was working at my trade in England, I had the reputation

-of doing the best work of any man in the fens, and that is saying a

-good deal. I used to think, when Charles was growing up, he would make

-a first-rate workman; but he has found better business than making

-baskets.”

-

-“He can do anything,” said Ned. “He can make a ship, a bedstead, or a

-fiddle.”

-

-“He takes that from his mother’s folks. They were shipwrights and

-joiners; but mine were all basket-makers, from the beginning. I’m going

-to take my tools, some basket-rods, and dye-stuffs; the rest I have

-given to a young man who learned his trade of me.”

-

-He then drew from a chest a pair of nice broad-cloth breeches, silk

-hose, and other things to correspond, a nice pair of shoes, with silver

-buckles, and, arraying himself, accompanied Ned on board the vessel.

-

-The gale increased as the day wore away.

-

-“There they go,” said the captain, as one of the frigates loosed her

-topsails and made sail.

-

-“I reckon,” said Walter, “they’ll find that when the cat’s away the

-mice will play.”

-

-The frigate was soon followed by another, till at length only the

-line-of-battle ship remained. Long she held on against a tremendous

-sea, till, at length, Walter, who had taken her bearings over a

-projecting point, exclaimed, “She drags; she will have to go.”

-

-In a few moments the men were seen mounting the rigging, and she also

-joined the rest. She, under short sail, drifted very fast to leeward.

-The frigates, carrying all the sail they could smother to, and sharper

-built, made desperate efforts to keep to windward, and did better,

-especially one which had been taken from the French, that outsailed

-all the rest; but they all gradually fell to leeward, leaving a clear

-offing.

-

-“Good by, dear friends,” said Captain Brown, highly elated with the

-turn matters were taking; “sorry to part, but your room is better than

-your company.”

-

-When the basket-maker made his appearance with Ned, he was scarcely

-recognized by the captain and Walter, so changed was his appearance,

-and so sprightly were his looks. Noticing their astonishment, he

-observed to the captain, “I had contrived to lay by a little, by

-prudence and hard work, for I couldn’t bear the thought of being a

-pauper in a foreign land, and that I might have somewhat to give me

-Christian burial; and I thought I would fix myself up a bit, that my

-son might not be ashamed of me, should I be spared to see him.”

-

-By twelve o’clock at night the gale moderated, the brigantine got under

-way, and as the sun rose was far beyond the reach of her enemies.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XVI.

-

-DEAR-BOUGHT WIT.

-

-

-NED had been accustomed, in all ordinary weather, to take his trick

-at the helm with the rest; but the captain would not permit it for

-the first fortnight out, greatly to the annoyance of Ned, who prided

-himself very much on being able to steer. Wheels were not in use then,

-and the old-fashioned tiller with which vessels were steered came

-against the hips, sometimes with a good deal of force, and the captain

-was fearful of causing Ned’s wound to break out again; neither would

-he permit him to stand his watch. All day he was on deck, pulled and

-hauled with the rest, and went aloft.

-

-As Ned didn’t care for turning in till nine, ten, or even twelve

-o’clock, of a pleasant night, when he had not been fatigued through

-the day, Mr. Bell—who was naturally inclined to make all the

-inquiries possible about his son, and the new country to which he was

-going—sought out Ned in the pleasant evenings, and whiled away many

-an hour in conversation most interesting to both. Ned described the

-personal appearance of the son to his father, and also that of Lion

-Ben, told all the stories he had ever heard of his enormous strength,

-and his encounter with the pirates, recounted the beauties of Elm

-Island, of Charlie’s farm, and sketched the characters of Captain

-Rhines and Uncle Isaac. No doubt the virtues and attractions of Charlie

-received their just due in the description of so enthusiastic an

-admirer.

-

-“You say, Ned, that my son owns six hundred acres of land.”

-

-“Yes, sir; and a saw-mill on it; and the machinery came from

-England,—that is, the crank, saw, and mill chain.”

-

-“Why, a man must be immensely rich to own so much land. There must be

-some mistake about it.”

-

-“No, sir, there ain’t; for Mr. Griffin, the mate’s brother, his next

-neighbor, told me so, and I’ve been in the mill. He owns more than

-that, sir; he owns part of this vessel, and part of the Casco (a great

-mast ship of seven hundred tons), and one fourth of the Hard-scrabble;

-and he built the whole of them.”

-

-“I can’t understand how he came by so much money at his age, for he’s

-not much more than a boy now.”

-

-“Perhaps Lion Ben, Uncle Isaac, and Captain Rhines gave it to him, they

-think so much of him.”

-

-“I don’t believe that. People are not so fond of giving away money.

-There must be some mistake. All my forefathers have been prudent,

-hard-working people, and never one of them owned a foot of land.”

-

-“Well, sir, I don’t know how it is, but I know _it is so_. I will call

-Danforth Eaton. He can explain it all, I dare say.”

-

-“Do, young man.”

-

-Eaton told Mr. Bell about the ventures that Charlie sent in the Ark,

-which gave him the first money he ever possessed; also about his

-learning the ship carpenter’s trade; and astonished the old gentleman

-by telling him that Charlie’s land cost only seventy-five cents an

-acre. He also told him about the building of the Hard-scrabble, and how

-much money she made. Upon these matters Eaton was an authority, as he

-had worked on all the vessels Charlie had built, and knew the whole

-matter from the beginning, whereas Walter Griffin was too young to be

-familiar with the events of Charlie’s boyhood, and the information of

-Ned was all second hand.

-

-As the voyage approached its termination, the excitement of the father

-increased. Ned was now able to stand his watch, and often, at twelve

-o’clock, the old gentleman would come on deck, and spend the remainder

-of the night talking with him and Eaton, and also with Peterson, whose

-acquaintance he had now made.

-

-When, by the captain’s reckoning, the vessel was nearly up with the

-land, and men were sent aloft to look out for it, he became quite

-nervous, thinking, perhaps, the happiness of possessing and meeting

-such a son was too great a boon. Again, he imagined that he might die

-before the vessel arrived, or that, after all, there might be some

-mistake. “God only knows what is in store for me,” he said, brushing

-the tear from his eye, as a joyous scream from the royal yard, in the

-shrill tones of Ned, proclaimed, “Land, O!”

-

-Let us now see what the unconscious object of all this solicitude

-is doing. He is about half way between his house and Uncle Isaac’s,

-walking at a smart pace, and with the air of one bound upon a long

-walk. It was early autumn. As he approached the house, he saw Uncle

-Isaac in the barn floor, winnowing grain in the primitive fashion.

-

-“Good afternoon, Charlie. Go into the house. I’ll be there in a moment.

-I’m almost through.”

-

-“I can’t stop, Uncle Isaac. I’m going farther.”

-

-“Where to?”

-

-“Over to Mr. Colcord’s, to look at a cow. He’s got seven. He told me I

-might have my pick of them for fifteen dollars.”

-

-“What! Jim Colcord?”

-

-“Yes, sir.”

-

-“I wouldn’t have anything to do with him.”

-

-“Why not?”

-

-“Because he’s the most narrow-contracted creetur that ever lived. He

-soaks out mackerel, and then takes the water to make hasty-pudding, in

-order to save the salt. Robert Yelf worked for him one year in haying

-time. Didn’t you never hear him tell about his jumping into the loaf of

-hot rye and Indian bread?”

-

-“No, sir; what did he do that for?”

-

-“I’ll tell you. One day, his wife had cooked all her dinner in the

-brick oven, except some potatoes that she had baked in the ashes. She

-had baked beans, Indian pudding, a hind quarter of lamb, and a great

-loaf of rye and Indian bread in an iron pan that would hold a peck. He

-had a number of hands at work for him, getting hay. He’s rich the old

-screw, but so mean that he never allows himself or his family decent

-clothes, and always goes barefoot. He’s got a noble woman for a wife,

-too, as ever God made, and a nice family of children.”

-

-“I believe such men always get the best of wives.”

-

-“It’s a good deal so, Charlie, I guess. Well, as I was saying, coming

-into the house that day, just afore twelve o’clock, and seeing no pots

-or kettles on the fire, he took it into his head that his wife had made

-no preparation for dinner; that the men would come in at twelve, have

-to wait, and he should lose some time.”

-

-“Whereas,” said Charlie, “the dinner was all in the oven, and ready to

-be put on the table.”

-

-“Just so. He instantly began to jump up and down on the hearth, and

-curse and swear. His wife, who was scared to death of him, began to

-take the victuals out of the oven, to let him see it was all right. The

-first thing she came to was the great iron pan of rye and Indian bread,

-which she put down on the hearth. Thinking, in his passion, that this

-was all, he jumped right into it with his bare feet.”

-

-“I guess it burnt him some.”

-

-“I guess you’d think so; if there’s anything in this world that’s hot,

-or holds heat, it’s rye and Indian bread. It stuck between his toes,

-and scalded to the bone. He ran round the room, howling and swearing,

-and the tears running down his cheeks.”

-

-“Served him right.”

-

-“I think so. Now, if I were you, I wouldn’t have anything to do with

-him; he’ll cheat you, sure.”

-

-“I reckon I can tell a good cow when I see her.”

-

-“Perhaps you can; but he’s cheated as smart men as you are. Let me go

-and trade for you.”

-

-Charlie would by no means consent to that, but set off on his errand.

-

-“Well,” said Uncle Isaac, as they parted, “it is said, bought wit is

-good; perhaps it is, if you don’t buy it too dear.” When, at length, at

-the place, he was received by Colcord with the greatest cordiality; but

-Charlie saw that the house and all the surroundings accorded precisely

-with Uncle Isaac’s description of his character.

-

-Colcord himself was a meagre-looking being; although in years, he

-was barefoot, and so was his wife. Charlie also noticed that the

-small quantity of wood at the door seemed to be rotten windfalls

-and dead limbs of trees, though he possessed a large extent of very

-heavily timbered woodland. Three boys, whose dress barely served the

-purposes of decency, completed this singular family. The youngest,

-notwithstanding his rags and a certain timidity of expression (the

-result of hard usage), was a most intelligent, noble-looking boy, with

-whose face Charlie instantly fell in love; his heart went out to these

-boys.

-

-“I have known hardship and poverty,” he said to himself, “but I thank

-God I never had a father who, when I asked him for an egg, would

-give me a scorpion. _My_ poor father did all in his power to give me

-schooling, and make my childhood happy.—You remember,” said Charlie

-to Mr. Colcord, “the talk we had some time since about cows, when you

-told me that for fifteen dollars I should have my pick out of seven.

-This is the day set, and I have come to look them over.”

-

-“Andrew,” said Colcord, to the oldest boy, “drive the cows into the

-yard.”

-

-After Charlie had examined each cow in succession, he said, “Mr.

-Colcord, here are but six cows; I was to have my choice of seven.”

-

-“It is true, Mr. Bell, I did say so; but when I came home and told my

-wife, she took on at such a rate about my selling _that_ cow, that I’ve

-tied her up in the barn. She won’t consent to part with her; it would

-break her heart. You must excuse me there.”

-

-Charlie’s suspicions were roused in an instant. All that Uncle Isaac

-had told him in respect to the sharp practice of the man rushed at

-once to his recollection. He was determined to have that cow, at any

-rate, and instantly asked to see Mrs. Colcord, intending to make her a

-present, to reconcile her to the loss of the cow; but he was told she

-had gone away to spend the day.

-

-“The old rascal,” soliloquized Charlie, “has shut up his best cow,

-thinking I wouldn’t notice there were but six in the yard.—Mr.

-Colcord,” he said, “it was a fair contract between us. You agreed to

-let me take my pick of seven cows. I am here, according to agreement,

-with the cash. I’ll have that cow, or none.”

-

-“Well, if I _must_, I must,” said the old man; “but my wife will cry

-her eyes out;” and he flung open the cow-house.

-

-Charlie felt so sure that this was the best cow of the herd, that he

-never stopped to examine her closely, asked no questions, didn’t even

-take hold of her teats, to see if she milked easy, or to examine the

-quality of the milk, but put a rope on her head, and drove her off,

-congratulating himself, all the way along, that he had outwitted the

-old sneak.

-

-“Guess Uncle Isaac won’t say any more about bought wit,” thought he.

-“Couldn’t have done better than that himself.”

-

-It was about the middle of the afternoon when Charlie reached home. At

-the usual time his wife went to the barn to milk, and began with the

-new comer.

-

-“She has got nice teats, and milks easy, at any rate,” said Mrs. Bell.

-

-[Illustration: THE KICKING COW. Page 233.]

-

-The words were scarcely out of her mouth when the cow gave the pail a

-kick so vicious as to send it spinning over the floor, spattering her

-with milk.

-

-“It is because she is in a strange place, and is afraid of a stranger,”

-said Mrs. Bell; and, holding the pail in one hand, she continued to

-milk with the other. The cow began to kick, first with one leg and

-then the other, without an instant’s intermission, so that to milk was

-impossible.

-

-Charlie, who was in the barn-yard, milking the other cows, now came to

-the rescue. “I never saw a cow I couldn’t milk,” he said; and taking

-up one of her fore legs, fastened it to the rack with a rope. “Kick

-now, if you can.” Placing the pail on the floor, he began to milk with

-both hands; but the vicious brute, springing from the floor, fell over

-upon him, spilling the milk, breaking the bail of the pail, upsetting

-Charlie’s milking-stool, and leaving him at full length on the floor,

-in not the most amiable mood (for his wife could not refrain from

-laughing). He beat her to make her get up, but she was sullen, and get

-up she wouldn’t. He twisted her tail, but she wouldn’t start. He then,

-with both hands, closed her mouth and nostrils, strangling her till

-she was glad to jump up. Thinking she had got enough of it, he began

-again to milk, when away went the pail into the manger, and the milk

-into Charlie’s face. Provoked now beyond endurance, he beat her till

-she roared; but the moment he touched her teats, she began to kick as

-bad as ever. In short, all the way he could milk her at all was to

-fasten her to the stake next the side of the barn, build a fence on

-the other side, so that she couldn’t run around either way, then tie

-her hind legs together, milk her till she threw herself down, and then

-finish the operation as she lay.

-

-While all this was going on, the dog kept up a furious barking.

-

-“What is that dog barking about, Mary?”

-

-“I’m sure I don’t know. Perhaps there’s a skunk or a woodchuck under

-the barn.”

-

-If it was a skunk, he was peeping through a knot-hole in the back

-barn-door.

-

-As they came in with their milk, Joe Griffin was approaching the door,

-having come to borrow a chain and canting dog.

-

-Charlie now perceived that the cunning old wretch had shut up this

-pest, and feigned reluctance to part with her, on purpose to draw him

-on.

-

-“I don’t believe,” said Mrs. Bell, “but what his wife was at home all

-the time. He knew, if you spoke to her, she would tell you the whole

-truth, for she is an excellent woman.”

-

-Charlie resolved to keep the thing from the knowledge of every one,

-_especially_ of Uncle Isaac, whose assertion, “He has cheated as smart

-men as you are,” recurred most unpleasantly to his recollection.

-

-“Mary,” said he,” we must not breathe a word of this to any

-soul,—father’s folks, Joe Griffin, or, above all, Uncle Isaac. I had

-rather pocket the loss than have it known that I got so taken in. I’ll

-dry her up, and fat her. She’s a large cow, and will make a lot of

-beef.”

-

-But such things will always, in some way or other, leak out. While

-Charlie imagined that himself and wife alone possessed the secret, it

-was known to half the town, and they were chuckling over it. Indeed, it

-had come to the ears of Lion Ben, on Elm Island, whose adopted son he

-was.

-

-A fortnight after the occurrences related, Fred Williams and Joe

-Griffin were standing in the doorway of Fred’s store, when they espied

-Lion Ben coming from Elm Island in his big canoe, which he was forcing

-through the water with tremendous strokes.

-

-Landing, and dragging the heavy craft out of the water as though she

-was an egg-shell, he merely nodded to Joe and Fred, and proceeded with

-rapid strides in the direction of Charlie Bell’s.

-

-“What can that mean, Joe?” asked Fred. “He never spoke to us.”

-

-Fred was his brother-in-law, Joe one of his most intimate friends.

-

-“It means that he is angry. Didn’t you notice his face? I never saw him

-angry, though I’ve known him ever since I was a boy; but I’ve heard say

-he is awful when he rises. A common man would be no more in his hands

-now than a fly in the clutch of a lion.”

-

-Ben went directly into Charlie’s pasture, avoiding him, hunted

-around there till he found the kicking cow, and pulling a rope from

-his pocket, put it over her horns, and led her in the direction of

-Colcord’s. Uncle Isaac was butchering a lamb at his door when Ben came

-along with the cow, and was just about to speak to him; but catching

-one glimpse of his face, he dropped his knife, and pretending not to

-see him, walked into the barn.

-

-“Isaac,” cried his wife from the window. “_Isaac_, Ben has just gone

-by.”

-

-“I saw him.”

-

-“_Saw_ him; then why didn’t you speak to him, and ask him to come in,

-and stop to dinner?”

-

-“He’s got the cow Jim Colcord sold to Charlie. I guess he’s on his way

-to call the old viper to account for his trick. When he is in one of

-those rages you’d better go near a she catamount than him.”

-

-“Will he murder him?”

-

-“I hope not.”

-

-“It is some ways there. Ben can’t hold his passion long, and will most

-likely get over it somewhat before he gets there.”

-

-“If he don’t, much as I abhor the old creetur, I pity him.”

-

-When Ben arrived at Colcord’s the family were at dinner; seeing an ox

-cart in the barn-yard, he tied the cow to it. He entered the kitchen

-without knocking, where the family were seated at the dinner-table,

-seized old Colcord by the nape of the neck, carried him, pale as a

-ghost, with eyes starting from their sockets, and too nearly strangled

-to scream, into the barn-yard; here Ben sat down upon the cart-tongue,

-flung his victim across his knees, and while he was alternately

-screaming murder, and begging for mercy, slapped him with his terrible

-paw, till the blood came through his breeches, while the family looked

-on, crying and trembling.

-

-Ben, as a redresser of wrongs, considered it his duty, not only

-to inflict punishment for his knavery in the matter of the cow,

-but likewise for the abuse he had for years inflicted upon his

-uncomplaining wife and children.

-

-When he had finished the castigation, he ordered him to bring the

-money Charlie paid him for the cow, and ten dollars additional for his

-trouble in whipping him. Colcord brought the money, but, fearing to

-approach Ben, put it on the cart tongue.

-

-After counting it, Ben called for a basin of water, soap, and a towel,

-observing, that he was accustomed to wash his hands after handling

-carrion, and informing him (after wiping his hands, as he hung the

-towel on the wheel of the cart) that, if compelled to come there

-again, he should most probably make an end of him.

-

-That night Charlie hunted the pasture over in vain for the cow; but the

-next morning Uncle Isaac came over, told him where the cow was, and

-handed him the money, which Ben had left with him on his return.

-

-“How did father find it out?” asked Charlie.

-

-“Captain Rhines told him.”

-

-“Who told Captain Rhines?”

-

-“I did.”

-

-“Who told you?”

-

-“Joe Griffin.”

-

-“How in the world came he, or anybody else, to know anything about it?”

-

-“That’s more than I know; but he said you had to build a fence round

-her, and tie her hind legs together to milk her, and when she couldn’t

-kick, she’d lie down.”

-

-“I bought wit pretty dear, Uncle Isaac.”

-

-“Not quite so dear as Jim Colcord did. They say he can’t sit down, and

-won’t be able to till snow flies.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XVII.

-

-DEATH AND BURIAL OF TIGE RHINES.

-

-

-THERE is no animal that seems to be so closely allied to man as the

-dog. He lives in his master’s smiles, defends his person, guards his

-property, and is grateful for the smallest favors.

-

-In respect to other animals, they are naturally shy; we must attach

-them to us by food and caresses.

-

-Take, for instance, a kitten, born in the house, and her parents before

-her for generations; yet the moment it gets its eyes open, it will

-round up its back, and spit at the little boy or girl who approaches to

-fondle it, and must be wonted; but a puppy, why, the moment his eyes

-are open, he’s right on to you, and you have hard work to keep him from

-licking your face.

-

-When the family leaves the house, the cat will seldom, if ever, follow

-them, because she cares more about the place than the people; but the

-dog’s home is where his master is.

-

-John Rhines’s dog, Tige, a Newfoundland of the largest size,

-possessed—as those who have read the Elm Island stories know—a

-sagacity greater than that which generally pertains even to that noble

-breed.

-

-Tige Rhines, as he was called, was known and loved by both young and

-old, the protector and playmate of all the children, and bore on his

-neck a broad brass collar, on which were inscribed the date of the year

-and the day on which he pulled little Fannie Williams from the bottom

-of the mill-pond, and many other things that he had done.

-

-For many years Tige had been gradually losing his activity, and was

-quite infirm with age. He had never been accustomed to leave the home

-of his master, except when sent upon some errand, with a basket or

-letter in his mouth, unless with some of the family; but after Mary

-and Elizabeth were married, he would once in a while go to visit each

-of them in the forenoon, stop to dinner and tea, see the babies, and

-go home at night. He would also go down to the cove in front of the

-house, and play with the children of the neighborhood by the hour

-together. All through Fannie Williams’s childhood (whose life he saved)

-he was, whenever she came up to see him, which was generally once a

-month, sent home with her by Captain Rhines. But age, which comes alike

-upon dogs and men, had compelled him to relinquish all these pleasant

-excursions. His legs had grown stiff and crooked; his glossy black coat

-had become a dirty yellow, except along the back and at the roots of

-the tail; his intelligent eye was dim; and all around his eyes and nose

-gray hairs were plentifully scattered. It was with great difficulty

-he could walk; he would attempt sometimes to follow John to the barn,

-go part way there, and moan because he could get no farther; then

-John would go back and pat and comfort him. Everything that care and

-affection could do to render him comfortable and happy in his old age,

-was done by Captain Rhines and John.

-

-As the weather grew cooler, John made him a bed of sheep-skins with

-the wool on; for though once apparently insensible to cold, never

-hesitating in the dead of winter to plunge into the waves, he now

-trembled before every blast. Captain Rhines would catch smelts and

-bring to him, for Tige was a dear lover of fish; John would put him

-in the cart, haul him down in the field, and put him in the sun, at

-the end of the piece where he was digging potatoes, and as the sun

-went down, cover him with his jacket. The children around brought him

-titbits, and all the dogs in the neighborhood came to visit him. He

-at length became so feeble it was with difficulty he could get out of

-his kennel. Mornings when John went to the barn to feed the cattle, he

-would bid him good morning; Tige would wag his tail and look wistfully

-in his face, unable to rise.

-

-One morning, John, as he passed the kennel, spoke, as usual; but not

-hearing the noise of Tige’s tail striking against the side of the

-house, he went back and looked in; he was stretched out, apparently

-asleep; he put his fingers in his mouth; there was no warmth. “He is

-dead! poor old Tige,” cried John; “there never was such a dog in this

-world, and never will be again. I never will love another dog;” and

-he burst into tears; “I don’t care if I do cry,” he said, at length,

-wiping away the tears; “he’s been my playmate, ever since I was a boy;

-has saved my life; and nobody sees me; but if Charlie and Fred were

-here, they would cry, too.”

-

-Captain Rhines was not yet up. John fed the cattle, and then went to

-the door of his bedroom.

-

-“Father.”

-

-“What is it, John?”

-

-“Tige’s dead.”

-

-“I’m sorry; poor fellow! I’d give the best cow I’ve got in the barn to

-have him back as smart as he was once.”

-

-“_I’d_ give them _all_, father.”

-

-“Well, we’ve done all we could for him, John, and he’s gone where

-the good dogs go. It will make Ben feel bad; he and Tige were great

-friends.”

-

-“And Fannie, father.”

-

-“Yes.”

-

-It was soon known in the neighborhood. About nine o’clock, Fannie

-Williams came in, now grown to be, by universal consent, the prettiest

-girl in town; industrious, capable, and, as Captain Rhines was

-accustomed to say, as good as she was handsome.

-

-“Is Tige dead, John?” she asked, taking the chair he proffered her.

-

-“Yes, Fannie.”

-

-She was silent for a few minutes, then began to cry.

-

-“Don’t cry, Fannie,” said John.

-

-“I know it’s foolish, but I can’t help it; you know he saved my life.”

-

-“That he did,” said the captain; “for I took you from his jaws, when he

-brought you to the shore. I would cry as much as I had a mind to.”

-

-“I’m sure,” said Mrs. Rhines, “I don’t see what anybody could be made

-of, not to feel bad to lose such a good creature as Tige, even if he

-was a dumb animal. I used to feel just as safe with him, when Captain

-Rhines was at sea, and I left alone with the children, as though the

-men folks were round. When Captain Rhines was about home, or we had

-a hired man, he would lie under the big maple, or, if it was cold

-weather, in his house; but the very first night I was left alone, he

-would (without my saying a word to him) come right into the house, and,

-after I went to bed, stretch himself out before my bedroom door; it

-seemed as if he knew.”

-

-“_Knew!_ I guess he did know,” said John; “only think how long he smelt

-us before we got here, when Charlie and I came from Portland, and how

-glad he was to see us! I thought he would have jumped out of his skin.”

-

-John persuaded Fannie to stop to dinner, as Tige was to be buried in

-the afternoon.

-

-“Where would you bury him, father?”

-

-“I’ll tell you, John. Under the big maple, where he loved so much to

-lie in the hot summer days.”

-

-While this conversation was going on at Captain Rhines’s, Joe Griffin,

-Charlie, and Fred were expatiating upon the merits of Tige, and

-regretting his loss, in Fred’s store. Joe Bradish came in, and after

-listening a while to their conversation, broke in with, “Such a fuss

-about a dog—an old dog, that ought to have been knocked on the head

-years ago. Anybody would think it was a Christian you was lamenting

-about.”

-

-Fred was naturally of a warm temper, shared in the universal feeling

-of dislike to Bradish, and this rough remark, in his present state of

-feeling, was more than he could bear.

-

-“There _was_ more Christianity in him than there ever was in _you_,”

-retorted Fred; “more in one of his nails than in your whole body. He

-saved the lives of three of us, when we went to sleep in the tide’s

-way, at Indian Cave. If it hadn’t been for him, I should have been as

-miserable to-day as Pete Clash. It will be news to me when I hear of

-your lifting a finger to help anybody. You may keep still or leave the

-store.”

-

-Bradish, without making any reply, went out.

-

-“You’ve lost his custom, I reckon,” said Charlie.

-

-“It won’t be much loss. He came in here the other day, lolling round,

-and upset the inkstand upon a whole piece of muslin. I was out of

-doors, and before I could get in, it went through the whole piece. He

-said he was master sorry, supposed he ought to buy something, and would

-take a darning-needle.”

-

-The three friends, with Fannie and Captain Rhines’s family, buried

-Tige beneath a large rock maple that stood on the side of the hill, in

-the edge of the orchard. It was all full of holes, where Ben and John

-had tapped it. Between its roots they had made many a hoard of apples;

-and here Tige had loved to lie, as it was a cool place, and from it he

-could see everything that moved upon the water. They put a stone at

-the grave, on which his noble deeds were recorded.

-

-John Rhines had long cherished a secret attachment to Fannie Williams;

-but the death of Tige occasioned a mingling of sympathies that brought

-matters to a focus, and after a short engagement they were married.

-Captain Rhines and his wife, with whom Fannie had been a favorite from

-childhood, were highly gratified; for since their daughters had married

-and gone, the large house seemed lonely, and this beautiful, lively,

-sweet-tempered girl was to them a perfect treasure.

-

-A week after the occurrences narrated, a stranger, in the dress of a

-working man, with his coat on his arm, came into Fred’s store, and

-called for some crackers and cheese, and half a pint of new rum.

-

-Fred placed before him the crackers and cheese, but told him he must go

-to the other store for the liquor. He then called for a quart of cider.

-After eating, drinking, and resting a while, and smoking his pipe,

-he took a piece of chalk from his pocket, and drew a line across the

-floor. “There,” said he, “the first man that steps over that line has

-got to take hold of me.”

-

-This was altogether too much for Fred, who instantly stepped over the

-line. They went out before the door, and the stranger threw Fred in a

-moment, and several others who came in. The thing was noised abroad,

-and quite a crowd assembled, but they were careful not to step over the

-line. Fred sent for Charlie, and the stranger threw him. The matter was

-now getting serious; the reputation of the town was at stake.

-

-“Send for Joe Griffin,” said Uncle Isaac.

-

-Joe had gone up river after logs.

-

-“Then send for Edmund Griffin.”

-

-He had gone with Joe. A boy was now despatched for Joel Ricker, who

-brought back word that he was on Elm Island, doing some joiner-work for

-Lion Ben.

-

-“Then,” said Uncle Isaac, “we must send for the Lion. This fellow

-shan’t go off and make his brags that he has stumped the place, and

-got off clear. I’ll take hold of him myself first, though I haven’t

-wrestled these twenty-five year.”

-

-“Why haven’t we thought of John Rhines?” said Fred.

-

-“Sure enough,” said Uncle Isaac; “he’ll handle him.”

-

-“John,” said the captain, “has gone to Tom Stanley’s to buy a yoke

-of oxen; but I’ve got a horse that will go there and back in three

-quarters of an hour, if anybody will drive him.”

-

-“I’ll go,” said Fred.

-

-By the time John arrived, half the town was there. A ring was made

-before the door.

-

-“You’ve brought a man big enough this time,” said the stranger, looking

-up at John, who towered far above him.

-

-They took hold. John threw him as easily as he had thrown Fred, while

-shout after shout went up from the crowd, who had been holding their

-breath, in anxious suspense.

-

-“You _crushed_ me down by main strength,” said the stranger; “but I

-would like to try you at arms’ length.”

-

-They took hold at arms’ length, and although the grapple was longer,

-John threw him twice.

-

-“You have stout men up in this place,” said he. “I am thirty years old

-next July, and this is the first time I’ve been thrown since I was

-nineteen.”

-

-“_Men!_” said Uncle Isaac. “You have as yet wrestled only with boys.

-Our men all happen to be away.”

-

-“If you call these boys, I should like to see your men.”

-

-“Here comes one of them,” said Uncle Isaac, pointing towards the water.

-

-The eyes of the stranger, following the direction of his finger, rested

-upon the massive shoulders of Lion Ben, who was approaching the shore

-in his big canoe, pulling cross-handed, while Joel Ricker, with his

-tools in his lap, was sitting in the stern.

-

-They landed, wondering much at the crowd assembled. Ricker walked up

-the beach with his tools, while Ben followed, dragging the canoe with

-one hand over the gravel.

-

-The stranger gazed with dilating eyes, as he straightened up to his

-full proportions. Then he went to the canoe, but found himself unable

-to move it, even down hill.

-

-“What may I call your name, friend?” asked Uncle Isaac, approaching.

-

-“Libby—Lemuel Libby, from Black Pint, in Scarboro’.”

-

-Uncle Isaac then introduced him to Captain Rhines, John, and Lion Ben,

-at the same time informing him that they were the father and two sons.

-Libby gazed a moment upon these superb specimens of manly vigor, and

-resuming his clothes, said, “This is no place for common men, like me.

-I’ll make tracks for home.”

-

-“Not so, friend Libby,” said John. “Everything has been done fair and

-above-board. There’s no occasion for hardness. Spend the night with me.

-I’ll take the horse, and start you on your way in the morning.”

-

-“Neighbors,” said Captain Rhines, who was greatly delighted at the

-triumph of his son, “I invite you all to take dinner at our house

-to-morrow, at twelve o’clock; and Mr. Libby will stop and eat with us.”

-

-“The house won’t hold us, Benjamin,” said Uncle Isaac.

-

-“Well, the barn will. We’ll make two crews, and set two tables.”

-

-“John,” said Charlie, after the crowd had dispersed, “do you remember

-what you said so long ago?”

-

-“No. What was it?”

-

-“That you meant to be the greatest wrestler, and marry the handsomest

-girl. I don’t see but you are in a fair way to do both, if all tales

-are true.”

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XVIII.

-

-THE MEETING.

-

-

-LITTLE dreaming of the happiness in store for him, Charlie, having

-gathered in his harvest and husked his corn, now occupied himself in

-preparing to put a hedge around his mother’s grave.

-

-A _hedge_. How significant that word to him, reared amid the vales of

-Lincolnshire! It recalled all the associations of his childhood, and

-of the sunny spring mornings, when, sitting beneath the shelter of

-the hedge-rows, he watched the ducks sport in the pools below, while

-beside him the hens were scratching and burrowing in the warm earth

-beneath the bank for worms and grubs, and he, a happy, careless boy,

-was pounding a willow stick on his knee with the handle of his knife,

-to make the bark slip, for a whistle; listening to the birds in the

-hedge above him, and watching the mimic waves produced by the wind as

-it swept over the osiers.

-

-His intention was to surround the little promontory (around whose sides

-murmur the clear waters of the brook and the majestic elm that shadows

-it, whose pendent branches, with their extremities, approached within a

-few feet of the grave-stone) with hedge.

-

-Mr. Welch, several years before, had imported plants from England, and

-also ivy. It was from him he expected to obtain his plants—“quicks”

-Charlie called them—for he was no novice in hedging. The ivy he

-purposed to plant at the roots of the great elm.

-

-This occupation had revived all the associations of his boyhood, and

-fond recollections of other days, often bringing tears to his eyes.

-

-“A beautiful land is England,” said he, as he wiped the sweat from his

-brow and rested upon his spade; “and those sweet spots in the fens I

-shall never forget; but this is sweeter, for it is my own. What I do

-here, I do for myself, my wife, and little one.”

-

-That evening, as he sat with the babe in his lap, while his wife was

-clearing off the supper table, he said to her, “Mary, it don’t seem

-to look, or to be, just right that I should have a grave-stone for my

-mother, and none for my father, brother, and sister.”

-

-“But they are not buried here. You wouldn’t wish to put stones where

-there are no bodies.”

-

-“But I might have _something_. I’ve seen in the churchyards at home

-monuments with the names of people on them who were not buried under

-them, but had died at sea, or been killed in battle, as father was. I

-might do that.”

-

-“Why don’t you?”

-

-“I think I will; and the very next time the schooner goes to Boston,

-when I send for my quicks and ivy, I’ll inquire of Mr. Welch about it.”

-

-Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of John Rhines,

-with a letter in his hand.

-

-“Just give me that baby, and read this.”

-

-“If ever I was glad of anything in my life, I am of this,” said

-Charlie, when he had read the letter; “not on our account altogether,

-but Captain Brown’s, he was just starting in life, and there were so

-many looking at him; and how handsomely he speaks of Walter and little

-Ned!”

-

-“Ain’t it great?”

-

-“Yes; she’s paid for herself with the freight she carried out.”

-

-“I know it; and the back freight is all clear gain. There’s no loss,

-except the main boom and a boat.”

-

-“I’ll build another boat. I’ve got the stuff in the ship-yard, all

-seasoned. The boom won’t be much; he can buy the stick, and Danforth

-Eaton can make it. What did your father say? He was a long time making

-up his mind whether it would do to trust him with a vessel or not, and

-I know he’s been very anxious, though he said nothing.”

-

-“_Say!_ I only wish you could have seen him when I brought in the

-letter. Mother was just going to tie his cue; he glanced over it,

-jumped up, and cut round the house like a boy of sixteen; made me put

-the saddle on the mare, and in spite of all mother could do, went over

-to tell Uncle Isaac, with his hair all flying in the wind. Won’t they

-have a good time, talking it over?”

-

-“Yes; and I know just what they’ll say.”

-

-“What?”

-

-“They’ll say he’s turned out just as they expected, when it was all

-you, father, and I could do to get them started to build the vessel for

-him.”

-

-“Don’t be too confident, Charlie; the old folks know a thing or two;

-remember the cow trade.”

-

-Charlie blushed, and in order to turn the conversation, remarked, as he

-looked again at the letter, “It seems he wants some beef and fish to

-make up his next cargo.”

-

-“Fred has got a lot on hand, just packed; father is going up in the

-Perseverance to take it up, settle up the voyage, and bring home the

-money. Have you heard the news, Charlie, Tom Bannister brought?”

-

-“No; what is it?”

-

-“Pete Clash and John Godsoe have turned up.”

-

-“They have?”

-

-“Yes; Tom saw ‘em on board a Guineaman in Havana; they pretended not

-to know him, but he knew them. Just the place for them. Father says

-these Guineamen have a long gun in the hold, and mount it when they get

-outside, and are all pirates in disguise.”

-

-The country, especially around the sea-coast, was now in a prosperous

-condition. The settlements were pushed back to the head waters of

-the streams, roads made, townships surveyed, town incorporated, and

-vessels built; the timber trade assumed vast proportions, and money

-was abundant, men began to break away from the rigid manners of the

-primitive times, and ape the style of dress and living that prevailed

-in England, which they had either seen or heard of.

-

-Great numbers of cattle were raised on the lands newly burnt over.

-Instead of driving the cattle to Brighton or Cambridge, as at the

-present day in seaport towns and country villages, they were butchered,

-and the beef packed at home, shipped to Spain and other countries of

-Europe, and smuggled into Cuba for the use of the Spanish slavers. Fred

-had added to his other business that of packing beef, and Uncle Isaac

-and Joe Griffin bought the cattle for him. He had imported a cooper, by

-the name of Wallace, from Standish, to make the barrels, who had taken

-three boys as apprentices, thus increasing the business of the place.

-

-Charlie, who as our readers know, was strongly attached to the

-cultivation of the soil, had neither engaged in vessel or boat building

-since the Arthur Brown was launched. John Rhines likewise found

-plenty of employment upon the home farm, occasionally working in the

-yard of Reed and Atherton, who came from Massachusetts, and set up

-ship-building, built vessels, and took them to Massachusetts for sale.

-

-Charlie, Fred, and John intended only to build vessels as they wanted

-them, and repair old ones, or aid some industrious, enterprising young

-man, who wanted a vessel.

-

-They were influenced to this line of conduct very much by the opinions

-of Uncle Isaac, who had a most wonderful power of making people think

-as he did; one reason of which was, that he never manifested the least

-assumption, and another, that he always placed matters in such a light

-that those with whom he conversed seemed to convince themselves.

-

-One day Uncle Isaac and the boys went pigeon shooting together; as they

-were sitting by the fire after dinner, he said. “Where did that corn

-come from that Seth Warren carried last vige in the Hard-scrabble?”

-

-“From North Carolina,” replied Fred.

-

-“Yes, and where did that cargo you are grinding now, that’s going into

-the logging camps, come from?”

-

-“From Baltimore.”

-

-“Do you take in any corn now from round here?”

-

-“When I first began to trade, I used to take in a great deal; but now,

-except from yourself, Captain Rhines, Ben, Joe Griffin, and one or two

-more, I don’t get five bushels in a year; but I sell lots to the people

-round here.”

-

-“It seems to me, when a people get so much taken up with building

-vessels, fishing, cutting masts and ton timber, to send to England,

-that they have to go to the southerd to buy corn to export, feed their

-cattle in the logging swamps, bread their families, and fat their hogs,

-they are in rather a poor way; that there’s more talk than cider;

-that they ain’t getting rich so fast as they appear to be; when they

-raise but little except on burns, never hauling out their dressing,

-or ploughing the land, but keep going over and over, skimming and

-skimming, that by and by they will have a very poor set of carcasses

-left, and that if there should come a war, and all this exportation be

-stopped, there would be pretty blue times. I don’t pretend to know, but

-it appears to me that’s about the way things are done round here, and

-all over the District of Maine.”

-

-“I never thought of that before,” said Charlie.

-

-“Nor I either,” said John.

-

-“It’s just as Uncle Isaac says,” said Fred, “just to a T. When I first

-began to trade, almost everybody had a few bushels of corn to sell,

-some a good deal; and I never sold a bushel of corn, or meal, except

-to fishermen from some other place; if any of our people wanted corn,

-wheat or barley, they went to their neighbors.”

-

-“I have thought a good deal about it,” said Uncle Isaac, “and I’ve

-talked the matter over with Captain Rhines and Benjamin; it strikes

-them pretty much as it does me; they ought to be better judges than

-me, because they’ve had greater privileges. I helped about the

-Hard-scrabble and the Casco, because I wanted to start you boys, build

-up the place, and make business; but it never will do to have the

-eggs all in one basket, for all to be ship-builders, lumbermen, or

-fishermen. A ship don’t produce anything; she is herself a product,

-manned from the land, and victualled from the land; everything comes

-from the ground; we ourselves were made out of it; there must be

-farmers to feed the rest. I mean, for the future, to put my money into

-the land, except I see special reasons for helping somebody.”

-

-When the Hard-scrabble was built, Captain Rhines and Ben rigged her,

-and made the sails, as also those of the Casco, and the Arthur Brown;

-but after Reed and Atherton began to build, a rigger and sail-maker

-came into the place. Charlie Bell built the first pair of cart wheels,

-that had an iron tire. Uncle Isaac and Captain Rhines for some time had

-the only wagons; but in a few years, carts and wagons were more common,

-and a blacksmith from Roxbury, who could do carriage work and make edge

-tools, bought out Peter Brock.

-

-The meeting between Captain Rhines and Arthur (his boy, as he called

-him), in Boston, was a most interesting one. The old captain was

-jubilant that all the owners were more than satisfied, and his own

-judgment, in respect to the capacity of the young captain, borne out by

-facts.

-

-Though by no means given to the melting mood, he met his protégé with

-moistening eyes. It is not within the province of language to describe

-the joy that thrilled the breast of Arthur Brown, and shone in every

-feature, as he put his hand in that of the captain, resulting from the

-consciousness that he had more than answered the expectations and

-justified the confidence reposed in him by his own friends and those of

-his father, especially of Captain Rhines, Charlie, Lion Ben, and the

-others who had risked their own lives to save his, and, not satisfied

-with this, had also jeopardized their property, to open before him a

-path to usefulness and honor.

-

-“Where are the boys?” asked Captain Rhines, after he had talked half an

-hour with Arthur.

-

-“They started for home in a coaster yesterday. I have shipped them all

-for the next voyage.”

-

-“Where is Peterson?”

-

-“Gone with them.”

-

-“Walter and little Ned?”

-

-“They went to Salem together after the vessel was discharged; are

-coming back to-morrow, expecting to go home with you, or whoever came

-up. Then you’re fully satisfied with me, captain?”

-

-“_Satisfied!_ My dear boy, I should have been satisfied if you had done

-half as well. There’s not a shipmaster in the country but would be

-proud of much less than you have done.”

-

-“Mr. Bell and your sons are satisfied?”

-

-“Why, to be sure they are. I don’t know what they could be made of, if

-they are not.”

-

-“Well,” said Arthur, laying both his hands on the captain’s shoulders,

-“I have brought home in this vessel that which will afford greater

-satisfaction to Mr. Bell, yourself and family, than all the money I

-have made this passage. I have brought home Mr. Bell’s father.”

-

-“You must be jesting, or have been deceived. His father has been in his

-grave for years.”

-

-“No; he was not killed, as was supposed, but carried a prisoner

-to France. He has told Eaton and Peterson the whole story of his

-impressment, just as they say Charlie told it; told his son’s age,

-looks, and the scar on his face. There’s no mistake—can’t be. You’ll

-say so when you see him.”

-

-“God ‘a mercy! Well, this is news indeed. But you didn’t mention it in

-your letter.”

-

-“His father didn’t want me to.”

-

-“Where is he?”

-

-“He’s gone to ride with Mr. Welch. I am to meet him there, and take

-tea, and then he is coming aboard.”

-

-“I’ll go there to tea. I have a standing invitation. Well, if I ain’t

-glad! What do you suppose Charlie was about when I came away?”

-

-“I’m sure I don’t know.”

-

-“He was getting ready to put a hedge round the spot where his mother

-lies; sent up by me to get the plants of Mr. Welch, and wanted me to

-talk with him about a monument that he wanted to put up to his father’s

-memory, and a brother and sister that he has heard died in England; and

-also to get some plans and bring home to him. And now, instead of the

-monumental plans, he’ll have the man himself.”

-

-[The Mr. Welch referred to here is a wealthy merchant and ship owner,

-an intimate friend of Captain Rhines, in whose employ he had sailed

-the greater part of his life. His son James, a young man of singular

-promise, but broken down by intemperance, was sent by his father to Elm

-Island in order to get him out of the way of temptation, and restored

-by the influence of Uncle Isaac.]

-

-“But,” continued Captain Rhines, “the boys will be home before us, will

-see Charlie, and let the cat out of the bag.”

-

-“No, they won’t; I’ve told them not to.”

-

-The Perseverance had now been away ten days, and Charlie was expecting

-to receive his “quicks” at her return. He had, in the spring, ploughed

-the ground intended for his hedge, and planted it with potatoes, to

-subdue the tough sward. Having dug the potatoes, and spaded in a heavy

-coating of manure, he was busily engaged (on one of those delightful

-autumn mornings when the hoar frost is melting from the grass, and

-dripping from the extremity of the leaves, and the muscles feel that

-joyous thrill which the season of the year inspires) in levelling the

-surface with a rake, removing the stones, twigs, and bark that had

-fallen from the elm. Feeling a hand laid lightly upon his shoulder, he

-raised his eyes, and looked Walter Griffin full in the face.

-

-“Why, Walter,” he exclaimed, taking both his hands, and struck with the

-expression of heartfelt joy which pervaded every feature, “how happy

-you look!”

-

-“I hope so. I’m sure I ought to.”

-

-“He ain’t any happier than I am,” said a voice that Charlie well knew;

-and stepping from behind the great tree, Ned Gates ran into his arms.

-

-“Why, Ned, how you have grown! I should hardly know you.”

-

-“Have I, truly, Mr. Bell?” replied Ned, excessively pleased.

-

-“Yes; and see what a cue he’s got,” said Walter, turning him round.

-

-“Be still, Wal; how you do like to poke fun at me.”

-

-“Mr. Bell,” asked Walter, “can you bear good news?”

-

-“I guess so.”

-

-“But you never had any such news as this.”

-

-“I stood it pretty well when the Ark made her great voyage, and when

-Isaac Murch made so much money in the Hard-scrabble. I guess I can

-stand this,” replied Charlie, thinking Walter was about to tell him how

-much the Arthur Brown had made.

-

-“O, it ain’t about money at all, but it’s something that will make you

-gladder than if you had a pile of gold as big as Elm Island.”

-

-“Then it must be that you have given your heart to God, Walter.”

-

-The tears came into Walter’s eyes in a moment.

-

-“And do you think so much of me, Mr. Bell?”

-

-“Just so much.”

-

-“Well, it is not that. _Your father has come._”

-

-“My father, Walter, is dead, and I am preparing to put up a monument to

-his memory, right where we stand.”

-

-“You needn’t put up any monument, for he’s alive and well, and in

-Captain Rhines’s house this minute.”

-

-Charlie turned pale, staggered, and would have fallen to the ground,

-but was so near the elm that he fell against it. Walter put his arm

-around him, and he leaned his head on his friend’s shoulder.

-

-“What made you tell him that way?” asked Ned.

-

-“I didn’t mean to; but when he spoke to me about giving my heart to

-God, I didn’t know what I said.”

-

-“It’s over, now,” said Charlie, lifting his head from Walter’s shoulder.

-

-“He wasn’t killed, Mr. Bell,” said Ned, “though he was flung overboard

-for dead. The French picked him up, and we found him in Marseilles,

-selling baskets.”

-

-“I will go right up to Captain Rhines’s,” said Charlie. “You stop at

-the house till I come back.”

-

-“I must go home,” said Walter; “and Ned is going with me. I haven’t

-been home yet. I didn’t want anybody to bring this news but myself and

-Ned.”

-

-When Charlie—his pale features still manifesting traces of the

-feelings which had mastered him—entered the sitting-room, the captain,

-taking him by the hand, pointed to the door of the parlor, which stood

-ajar.

-

-We will draw a veil over the meeting of father and son; but when, at

-the expiration of half an hour, they came out together, traces of tears

-were on the cheeks of both, but they were tears of joy. When Charlie

-presented his wife to his father, and placed the child in his arms, “I

-can now,” said the happy grand-parent, “say, in the words of old Jacob,

-‘I had not thought to see _thy_ face, and lo! God hath also showed me

-thy seed.’”

-

-As they sat side by side, the old gentleman with the child on his knee,

-Captain Rhines said,—

-

-“I don’t see how anybody who ever saw Charlie could harbor any doubt

-about Mr. Bell’s being his father—they favor each other so much.”

-

-“Ah, captain,” was the reply, “put an old, faded, red shirt on me, all

-stained up with osier sap, a tarpaulin hat, a bundle of baskets on

-my back, and, more than all, the heart-broken look I wore then, you

-yourself couldn’t have found much resemblance.”

-

-As they returned to Pleasant Cove by the road that wound along the

-slope of land towards the house, skirting the sugar orchard, the sun,

-which was now getting low, illuminated with its level rays the whole

-declivity, falling off in natural terraces to the shore, and flashed

-upon the foliage of the rock-maples, now red as blood. Indian Island,

-with its high cliffs rising up from the glassy bosom of the bay, the

-white trunks and yellow leaves of its masses of tall birch contrasting

-with the darker hues of the oak and ash, with which the edges of the

-bank were fringed, presented a mingling of tints most delightful.

-

-Mr. Bell, upon whom the glories of a New England forest in autumn

-produced all the effect of novelty, was, for a while, silent with

-wonder and delight.

-

-He at length exclaimed, “How grand, how beautiful! And is all this land

-and forest yours, my son?”

-

-“Yes, father, and a great deal more than you can see from here. I

-bought four hundred acres first, and two hundred more afterwards.

-Father, do you see that large island, with a cleared spot on the side

-of it?”

-

-“With a house on it, that looks as though it were on fire, the sun is

-shining so bright on the windows?”

-

-“Yes, that’s the one; that is Elm Island, where Lion Ben and his wife

-live, who have been a father and mother to me. God bless you, old Elm

-Island. What happy years I have spent on you!”

-

-They next proceeded to the little promontory, and Mr. Bell stood beside

-the grave of her from whom he parted, in bitterness of heart, when he

-was pressed on board the hulk at Sheerness.

-

-“Poor Mary! She starved—saw poverty and sorrow enough in this world;

-but I believe she is now experiencing infinitely more happiness than

-would be hers, were it in our power to call her from the grave to join

-us. I am glad, my son, that you have not set these quicks; we’ll make

-the hedge together. When I am gone, you can lay me in this beautiful

-spot beside her.”

-

-They sat together beneath the elm, talking, till the stars began to

-come out one after another; and when that night Charlie knelt down to

-pray, it was with a heart full to overflowing with gratitude and joy.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XIX.

-

-NED AMONG THE GRIFFINS.

-

-

-IF a boy ever enjoyed himself in this world, Ned Gates did among

-the Griffins. Their rough, but kindly, rollicking ways just suited

-his sanguine temperament, and he suited them, from the youngest to

-the oldest, and got through the crust at once. Indeed, there was

-everything a wide-awake boy would naturally like. There was a charm,

-in itself, about such a jolly house-full. Ned thought Edmund Griffin

-was a splendid man, his wife one of the best of women, and as for the

-old grandfather, despite his rough ways, he was a perfect treasure.

-Evenings, Ned would nestle to his side, and coax him to tell him

-stories about river driving, hunting, wrestling, and the Indian wars,

-in which he had taken a prominent part.

-

-Captain Brown had rewarded Jacques Bernoux very handsomely for the

-assistance he had rendered Walter, and induced him to come to the

-States, paying him seaman’s wages, and Walter brought him home with

-him. Three or four more never made any difference at Edmund Griffin’s.

-Jacques afforded much amusement by his attempts to speak English.

-

-Being a leisure time of year, and the harvest in, it was hunting,

-fishing, going to Elm Island,—Ned and Captain Rhines carried the news

-of Mr. Bell’s arrival to Ben and Sally,—going with Edmund Griffin and

-Joe up river, and coming down on the raft, breaking colts; and, to fill

-his cup of happiness to the brim, Ned shot a moose. The boys caught a

-bear in the trap, and Ned had an opportunity to taste of the meat, and

-grease his cue with the fat.

-

-There was another older person having a good time, and that was Mr.

-Bell. His things having been brought to the house, he drew from the

-recesses of an enormous chest the beautiful work-basket, and some

-articles of household use, that he had made while in Marseilles, and

-which had so excited the admiration of Ned. Mary was delighted—she had

-never seen anything half so beautiful.

-

-“You can’t come up to that, Charlie,” said his father.

-

-“No, father, I can’t. I never saw any of your work so beautiful as

-this.”

-

-“I never had quite so strong a motive before,” said the old gentleman,

-smiling.

-

-The next day Charlie was called from home to run out a piece of land,

-and was absent nearly a week. Finding lumber and tools in the shop,

-his father made a trough to soak willow, a bench, and having cut some

-native willows by the brook for the frame, in order to economize the

-osiers, made a chair for the baby, and when Charlie returned, was

-busily at work making one high enough for the child to sit at table in.

-

-He was so much occupied with his work as not to notice his son, who

-stood in the door watching him.

-

-“Father,” said he, “I should think I had got back to Lincolnshire.”

-

-“This is a better place than the fens, Charles. I’ll tell you what I’ve

-been thinking about while at work here.”

-

-“What is it, father?”

-

-“All through my life, at home, I have been accustomed to look up to

-the quality, and the country squires who owned lands, with a sort of

-awe; and I have been thinking what a pleasant feeling it must be to own

-a piece of land that God made, and that I should, before I die, like to

-experience the feeling. Now, I have got a few pounds, that I managed to

-lay up while in France. Why couldn’t I buy a little piece of land, and

-have a little garden, and plant it? It would seem so pleasant to eat

-anything that grew on my own land. But perhaps you’ll think I’m getting

-childish, and that it’s an old man’s whim.”

-

-“That’s just the way I used to feel at home, father; and when I came to

-this country, I couldn’t rest for thinking how I should ever come to

-own a piece of land. I would do it. Sam Edwards has a piece right on

-the shore he wants to sell. Part of it’s cleared. There’s a small piece

-between it and me that belongs to heirs, and is to be sold. I’ll buy

-it, and then yours will join mine.”

-

-“And I shall be a freeholder in my old age, after living a tenant all

-the best of my life,” said the old gentleman, highly gratified.

-

-“I’ll tell you what you can do, father. Next time the vessel goes to

-Marseilles, get Jacques to procure some sallies for you, set them on

-your land, and then you can have an osier holt, grow your own rods,

-and make all the baskets you like, to pass away the time in the long

-winters we have in this country.”

-

-“Do you think they would grow here?”

-

-“Anything will grow here, and there’s a swale on that place will suit

-them exactly.”

-

-The marriage of John Rhines and Fannie Williams added to the general

-satisfaction. The infare, or second-day wedding, took place at Captain

-Rhines’s, upon which occasion half the town were invited.

-

-Uncle Isaac and Joe Griffin met Walter and Ned at the infare, and there

-made an agreement to start the next week for the woods. Ned, who had

-been kept quite closely at school till he went to sea, and had never in

-his life shot anything larger than a pigeon or squirrel till he came

-to Pleasant Cove, was perfectly wild with the anticipation, and kept

-Walter awake so long talking about it, that he averred, if he didn’t

-keep still, he wouldn’t sleep with him.

-

-Charlie lent Ned a splendid gun, and they were busily employed running

-balls and making preparations.

-

-While the whole family at Edmund Griffin’s were spending an evening in

-playing “blind man’s buff” in the great kitchen, the old grandfather

-looking on and enjoying the sport as much as the rest, Joe, his face

-bathed in tears, came to announce that Uncle Isaac was dreadfully hurt,

-and could not live.

-

-“How did it happen?” inquired the grandfather, the first to recover

-from the effect produced by these sad tidings.

-

-“You know what a hand Uncle Isaac always was to work alone. He went

-into the woods to haul a large log, laid a skid, one end on the ground,

-the other on a stump, calculating to roll the log up with the cattle,

-so as to run the wheels under. He’s got a yoke of cattle that will

-do anything he tells them to. He stood behind the log, and spoke to

-the cattle, calculating to trig the log when it was up; but the chain

-broke, and the log came back on him.”

-

-“How did they know about it?” asked Edmund.

-

-“He spoke to the cattle, threw chips at them, and started them home

-with a part of the chain hanging to them; his wife knew something was

-wrong, got some of the neighbors to go, and they brought him home.”

-

-“He’s a very strong man; he may get over it.”

-

-“No, he can’t, father; both legs are broken, and he’s hurt otherways;

-the doctor says he can’t, though he may live some time. I must go, for

-I’m going to watch with him to-night.”

-

-“Tell ‘em, Joe, to send here, night or day; anything that we can do, it

-will be a privilege to do it.”

-

-As is the case when people feel deeply, little was said, and one after

-another silently slipped off to bed. As soon as Lion Ben and Sally

-heard of it, they came over and stopped at Captain Rhines’s. Ben, his

-father, and Joe Griffin gave up everything to take care of and watch

-with Uncle Isaac; for although the whole neighborhood offered and

-pressed their services, he preferred that they should take care of him.

-For some days he suffered intense pain, and was at times delirious;

-but as death approached, the pain subsided, his mind became perfectly

-clear, and the same hearty, kindly interest in the young that had ever

-been a prominent trait of his character, resumed its wonted sway. A

-few days before his death, he sent for John Rhines, Charlie, Fred

-Williams, Walter, and Ned, preferring, as he was not able to talk with

-each one separately, to see them together.

-

-“Boys,” said he, “you have come to see the last of Uncle Isaac. John,

-won’t you turn that hour-glass. The sand is run out. We have spent

-a great many pleasant hours together; they are all over now; but I

-want to tell you that they have been as pleasant to me as to you. It

-is a great comfort to me that I have been spared to see my children,

-and you, who seem as near to me as my own children, grow up to be

-God-fearing, useful men in the world, and settled in life. It would

-have been a comfort to me to have seen Isaac once more; but you must

-tell him that his Uncle Isaac did not forget him in his last hours.

-I have been a strong and a tough man in my time. I never was thrown,

-seldom pulled up; very few could lift my load, plan work better, or

-bring more to pass with an axe or scythe. I never saw but one man

-who could outdo me in trapping game or with a rifle, and that was a

-Penobscot Indian, and my foster-brother, John Conesus. I have left my

-rifle with the walnut stock to him. I don’t fetch up these things

-in any kind of a boasting way, but only to say to you that all these

-matters that appeared great to me once, and no doubt do to you, seem

-very small now. What I like most to think about ain’t what I’ve done

-for myself, but to help others, especially to start young men, and get

-‘em canted right, because any good done to the young always seemed to

-me to go a great ways. I always did love to set a scion in a young

-stock; it ain’t like grafting an old hollow tree, which, if it bears a

-little fruit, soon rots down or blows over. If, at your time of life,

-you feel and do thus, like as when you caught the fish and gave them to

-poor Mrs. Yelf, and when you tried to make a good boy of Fred here—”

-

-“We never should have done either,” said John, “if you hadn’t put it

-into our heads.”

-

-“More especially, if you should be owned of the Lord as a means

-of grace to some fellow-creetur, you will find they will be the

-pleasantest things to look back on, when you come to be where I am;

-more so than chopping, wrestling, and getting property, though they

-are all good in their place; such thoughts smooth a sick pillow

-wonderfully. Not that I put any dependence in them, but in the marcy

-of Him who gave me the heart to do them.”

-

-After resting a while, and taking some stimulant, he motioned for

-Walter and Ned to come near.

-

-“I hear that Captain Brown gives you a good name, Walter, and that

-you came home his first officer. We were about to go into the woods

-together when I was hurt. I used to think you loved to go into the

-woods with me.”

-

-“O, Uncle Isaac, the happiest hours of my life have been spent in the

-woods with you.”

-

-“We never shall go there again; I am going to a better place—to

-heaven. Walter, I hope we shall meet there. I haven’t strength to say

-more; but you will remember the talks we’ve had at the camp fire. So

-this is the little boy we took off the raft; he is not very little now,

-though. Don’t cry, my son,” he said, laying his hand upon Ned’s head,

-who had buried his face in the bed-clothes, and was sobbing audibly.

-“It seems to me I am the best off of the two.”

-

-“How _can_ that be, Uncle Isaac, when you are hurt so dreadfully, while

-I am well?”

-

-“Because, my son, I have got about through; I have run all the risk,

-while you have just begun, have all the risk to run, and may be

-shipwrecked. _I_ know what is before me—a better world; _you_ don’t

-know what is before you. _I_ have had all _my_ trials; _yours_ are to

-come. Captain Rhines tells me you have a Christian mother.”

-

-“Yes, Uncle Isaac, she’s the best mother that ever was.”

-

-“I had a praying mother; when I was younger than you I was torn from

-her, and carried away by the Indians. I never forgot her words; in the

-great woods, all alone, they came to mind, and through them I sought

-and found the Lord.”

-

-After parting with the boys, he seemed prostrated, fell into a doze,

-and passed away without a struggle.

-

-A few days after, Uncle Jonathan Smullen died, from decay of nature—a

-very clever man, and kind neighbor; and it was said of him, he never

-did anybody any harm; but Uncle Isaac was missed, and mourned by the

-whole community. The seed of good principles he had sown in the minds

-of young men kept coming up for years after he was in his grave, and

-was resown by those who received it from them, a hundred times; nor

-will their influence ever cease.

-

-

-

-

-CHAPTER XX.

-

-A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.

-

-

-SCARCELY had Uncle Isaac been committed to the earth, when the nephew

-he had so longed to see arrived in the Casco, sick with the fever and

-ague. As the owners wished to send the vessel with despatch to one

-of the French West India islands, they, at Isaac’s request, put Ezra

-Aldrich in her as master. He was a native of the place, and relative of

-Isaac, but never much liked by his schoolmates, being an overbearing

-fellow.

-

-In his youth he went two voyages with Captain Rhines, and afterwards in

-English ships from Liverpool to Halifax.

-

-“I don’t see,” said Captain Rhines, “what Isaac wants to put him in her

-for.”

-

-The first mate was an acquaintance and shipmate of Aldrich, by the name

-of Percival, and, as Captain Rhines told his wife, as great a rascal

-as the captain. There was some difficulty in getting a crew, but,

-through the influence of Captain Rhines, who prevailed on Peterson

-and Danforth Eaton to ship, a crew was mustered. Being all young men

-from the neighborhood, who knew their duty and were able and willing

-to do it, they were at first rather amused than otherwise with the

-consequential airs and bluster of their new captain, in such strong

-contrast to the manners of Captain Rhines and Captain Murch.

-

-Aldrich seemed very much inclined to quarrel with Peterson, but having

-a wholesome dread of the strength of the black, restrained himself. By

-continual abuse, he at length irritated the good-natured negro to such

-a degree, that he said to him, “Lookee ‘ere, Massa Aldrich; ‘member

-when you little picaninny, runnin’ ‘bout barefoot; shirt flap he stick

-out behind; your farder haul staves on a hand-sled, your mudder dig

-clams; spose you gib me any more your jabber-juice, fling you ober de

-rail.”

-

-A week passed, when the captain, offended with Danforth Eaton, caught

-up the end of a rope to flog him. Eaton took up another.

-

-“What use do you intend to make of that rope, Eaton?” asked the

-captain.

-

-“Just the same use that you make of yours.”

-

-The captain was a school-mate of Eaton, and knew very well the

-result of a collision with him. But as they approached the land, the

-deportment of the captain entirely changed. While the vessel was being

-discharged, he bought soft bread, fresh meat, vegetables, and even

-fruit, for the men. Seamen are little disposed to remember injuries,

-and all old scores were now rubbed out.

-

-The cook having gone to the hospital sick, Peterson had taken his place.

-

-One evening, just as the men were about to turn in, the captain sent

-Peterson ashore with some letters. In the morning, when the crew

-turned out, he was among the missing. There was a good fire in the

-fireplace,—stoves were not in use then,—the tea-kettle on, coffee

-pounded in the mortar, some raw potatoes and onions peeled and

-sliced, slices of raw pork in the frying-pan, salt beef chopped in a

-kid,—everything prepared to make lob-scouse.

-

-“Was he not a drinking man?” inquired the captain.

-

-“He was once,” said Hurd, “but left it off years ago.”

-

-“Halloo! What’s this?” said George Hoyt.

-

-A handkerchief lay on the fender. They brought it aboard on the point

-of a boat-hook.

-

-“It’s Peterson’s,” said Elwell; “there’s his name on it.”

-

-“It’s just as I thought,” said the captain. “He drank last night; that

-waked up the old appetite, and as soon as he turned out this morning he

-went for more, and fell off the gangway plank.”

-

-A grappling was procured ashore, and the crew, under the direction of

-the captain, who was deeply moved, grappled for the body the greater

-part of the day, without success. In the meanwhile, the mate was making

-inquiries on shore.

-

-“The tide runs strong here,” said the captain; “it has swept him to

-sea.”

-

-“Poor Jim has gone, boys,” said Eaton, as, weary and dispirited, they

-sat down to supper.

-

-“Anybody wouldn’t have thought,” said Savage, “he’d a broke through,

-after being a steady man so long. The captain feels bad, but he’s done

-all a man could do.”

-

-“Jim Peterson,” said Eaton, brushing away a tear with the back of his

-hand, “was a black fellow, raal coal black, too,—a Guinea nigger, if

-you please; but if he’d been washed overboard, I’d a risked my life to

-save him quicker than for any shipmate I ever had; and I’m not all the

-one would have done it.”

-

-“That’s so, Dan. I’m sure I never thought anything about his color.”

-

-“But I don’t believe anything about his getting drunk (though I’ve no

-doubt the captain thinks so); for I’ve seen him tried and tempted hard

-to weather, by old shipmates, time and time again. He went ashore to

-get something to put in the stew; a sober man might make a misdeal in a

-hurry. No power on earth will ever make me believe Jim was drunk.”

-

-“Then why didn’t he sing out?”

-

-“He might strike his head on something, and stun him. There’s a good

-many will feel bad when we carry the news home, besides his own folks.”

-

-“That’s so,” said Savage; “there’s nothing in the world that the

-Rhineses wouldn’t do for Peterson, and always would; and it was just so

-with the Griffins. I’ve heard that Peterson saved the captain’s life

-once. I remember one time a parcel of us boys got some withes, tied

-them together, and got a turn round Peterson’s waist when he was so

-drunk he couldn’t chase us, and began to pull him round. First thing I

-knew, I got a clip side of my head that sent me a rod; when I picked

-myself up, I saw the boys, some on the ground, some runnin’, and Lion

-Ben right among ‘em. I put her for home, and never stopped till I got

-under mother’s bed; but the rim of my ear was cut through, and my head

-was swelled for a week. I tell you, I looked sharp for Lion Ben after

-that, whenever I wanted to have any fun with Peterson.”

-

-When the vessel arrived home, Captain Murch took charge, and Aldrich

-went back to Liverpool.

-

-Percival, the mate, got to drinking, and became a miserable fellow;

-went to Boston, and sailed before the mast, sometimes second mate, and

-after his brief elevation, again before the mast; till, becoming so

-notorious a drunkard that no captain would have him, he was employed as

-a lumper about the wharves in Boston.

-

-The next volume of this series, “THE YOUNG DELIVERERS,” will explain

-the mystery attending the disappearance of Peterson, and present the

-characters of Walter and Ned in an entirely new light.

-

-

-

-

-_AMERICAN BOYS’ SERIES_

-

-

-Ninety-five copyright books for boys by noted American Authors

-

-[Illustration]

-

-The books selected for this series are all thoroughly American, by

-such favorite American authors of boys’ books as Oliver Optic, Elijah

-Kellogg, P. C. Headley, Captain Farrar, George M. Towle, and others,

-now made for the first time at a largely reduced price, in order to

-bring them within the reach of all. Each volume complete in itself.

-

-UNIFORM CLOTH BINDING NEW COVER DESIGN ILLUSTRATED Price per volume

-$1.00

-

- 1. =Adrift in the Ice Fields= By Capt. Chas. W. Hall

-

- 2. =All Aboard, or Life on the Lake= By Oliver Optic

-

- 3. =Ark of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 4. =Arthur Brown the Young Captain= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 5. =Boat Club, The, or the Bunkers of Rippleton= By Oliver Optic

-

- 6. =Boy Farmers of Elm Island, The= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 7. =Boys of Grand Pré School= By Prof. James DeMille

-

- 8. <b<“B. O. W. C.,” The= By Prof. James DeMille

-

- 9. =Brought to the Front, or the Young Defenders= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 10. =Burying the Hatchet, or the Young Brave of the Delawares= By

- Elijah Kellogg

-

- 11. =Cast Away in the Cold= By Dr. Isaac I. Hayes

-

- 12. =Charlie Bell the Waif of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 13. =Child of the Island Glen= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 14. =Crossing the Quicksands= By Samuel W. Cozzens

-

- 15. =Cruise of the Casco= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 16. =Fire in the Woods= By Prof. James DeMille

-

- 17. =Fisher Boys of Pleasant Cove= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 18. =Forest Glen, or the Mohawk’s Friendship= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 19. =Good Old Times= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 20. =Hard-scrabble of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 21. =Haste or Waste, or the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain= By Oliver

- Optic

-

- 22. =Hope and Have= By Oliver Optic

-

- 23. =In School and Out, or the Conquest of Richard Grant= By Oliver

- Optic

-

- 24. =John Godsoe’s Legacy= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 25. =Just His Luck= By Oliver Optic

-

- 26. =Lion Ben of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 27. =Little by Little, or the Cruise of the Flyaway= By Oliver Optic

-

- 28. =Live Oak Boys, or the Adventures of Richard Constable Afloat and

- Ashore= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 29. =Lost in the Fog= By Prof. James DeMille

-

- 30. =Mission of Black Rifle, or On the Trail= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 31. =Now or Never, or the Adventures of Bobby Bright= By Oliver Optic

-

- 32. =Poor and Proud, or the Fortunes of Kate Redburn= By Oliver Optic

-

- 33. =Rich and Humble, or the Mission of Bertha Grant= By Oliver Optic

-

- 34. =Sophomores of Radcliffe, or James Trafton and His Boston Friends=

- By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 35. =Sowed by the Wind, or the Poor Boy’s Fortune= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 36. =Spark of Genius, or the College Life of James Trafton= By Elijah

- Kellogg

-

- 37. =Stout Heart, or the Student from Over the Sea= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 38. =Strong Arm and a Mother’s Blessing= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 39. =Treasure of the Sea= By Prof. James DeMille

-

- 40. =Try Again, or the Trials and Triumphs of Harry West= By Oliver

- Optic

-

- 41. =Turning of the Tide, or Radcliffe Rich and his Patients= By

- Elijah Kellogg

-

- 42. =Unseen Hand, or James Renfew and His Boy Helpers= By Elijah

- Kellogg

-

- 43. =Watch and Wait, or the Young Fugitives= By Oliver Optic

-

- 44. =Whispering Pine, or the Graduates of Radcliffe= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 45. =Winning His Spurs, or Henry Morton’s First Trial= By Elijah

- Kellogg

-

- 46. =Wolf Run, or the Boys of the Wilderness= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 47. =Work and Win, or Noddy Newman on a Cruise= By Oliver Optic

-

- 48. =Young Deliverers of Pleasant Cove= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 49. =Young Shipbuilders of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg

-

- 50. =Young Trail Hunters= By Samuel W. Cozzens

-

- 51. =Field and Forest, or the Fortunes of a Farmer= By Oliver Optic

-

- 52. =Outward Bound, or Young America Afloat= By Oliver Optic

-

- 53. =The Soldier Boy, or Tom Somers in the Army= By Oliver Optic

-

- 54. =The Starry Flag, or the Young Fisherman of Cape Ann= By Oliver

- Optic

-

- 55. =Through by Daylight, or the Young Engineer of the Lake Shore

- Railroad= By Oliver Optic

-

- 56. =Cruises with Captain Bob around the Kitchen Fire= By B. P.

- Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)

-

- 57. =The Double-Runner Club, or the Lively Boys of Rivertown= By B. P.

- Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)

-

- 58. =Ike Partington and His Friends, or the Humors of a Human Boy= By

- B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)

-

- 59. =Locke Amsden the Schoolmaster= By Judge D. P. Thompson

-

- 60. =The Rangers= By Judge D. P. Thompson

-

- 61. =The Green Mountain Boys= By Judge D. P. Thompson

-

- 62. =A Missing Million, or the Adventures of Louis Belgrave= By Oliver

- Optic

-

- 63. =A Millionaire at Sixteen, or the Cruise of the “Guardian Mother”=

- By Oliver Optic

-

- 64. =A Young Knight Errant, or Cruising in the West Indies= By Oliver

- Optic

-

- 65. =Strange Sights Abroad, or Adventures in European Waters= By

- Oliver Optic

-

- 66. =Facing the Enemy The Life of Gen. Wm. Tecumseh Sherman= By P. C.

- Headley

-

- 67. =Fight it Out on This Line The Life and Deeds of Gen. U. S. Grant=

- By P. C. Headley

-

- 68. =Fighting Phil The Life of Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan= By P. C.

- Headley

-

- 69. =Old Salamander The Life of Admiral David G. Farragut= By P. C.

- Headley

-

- 70. =Old Stars The Life of Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchell= By P. C. Headley

-

- 71. =The Miner Boy and His Monitor The Career of John Ericsson,

- Engineer= By P. C. Headley

-

- 72. =The Young Silver Seekers= By Samuel W. Cozzens

-

- 73. =Drake the Sea King of Devon= By George Makepeace Towle

-

- 74. =Magellan=, or the First Voyage around the World By G. M. Towle

-

- 75. =Marco Polo, His Travels and Adventures= By G. M. Towle

-

- 76. =Pizarro, His Adventures and Conquests= By George M. Towle

-

- 77. =Raleigh, His Voyages and Adventures= By George M. Towle

-

- 78. =Vasco da Gama=, His Voyages and Adventures By G. M. Towle

-

- 79. =The Heroes and Martyrs of Invention= By George M. Towle

-

- 80. =Live Boys=, or Charlie and Nasho in Texas By A. Morecamp

-

- 81. =Live Boys in the Black Hills= By Arthur Morecamp

-

- 82. =Down the West Branch= By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar

-

- 83. =Eastward Ho!= By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar

-

- 84. =Up the North Branch= By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar

-

- 85. =Wild Woods Life= By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar

-

- 86. =Child of the Tide= By Mrs. E. D. Cheney

-

- 87. =The Boys of Thirty-Five= By E. H. Elwell

-

- 88. =Perseverance Island= By Douglas Frazar

-

- 89. =Going West= By Oliver Optic

-

- 90. =Little Bobtail= By Oliver Optic

-

-

-NEW TITLES ADDED IN 1904

-

- 91. =Fore and Aft= By Robert B. Dixon

-

- 92. =Pocket Island= By Charles Clark Munn

-

- 93. =Donald’s School Days= By Gen. O. O. Howard

-

- 94. =Henry in the War= By Gen. O. O. Howard

-

- 95. =All Adrift= By Oliver Optic

-

-

-

-

-THE BOY CRAFTSMAN

-

-

- Practical and Profitable Ideas for a Boy’s Leisure Hours

-

-  By A. NEELY HALL

-

-[Illustration: THE BOY CRAFTSMAN]

-

- Illustrated with over 400 diagrams and working drawings 8vo Price,

- $2.00

-

-EVERY real boy wishes to design and make things, but the questions of

-materials and tools are often hard to get around. Nearly all books

-on the subject call for a greater outlay of money than is within the

-means of many boys, or their parents wish to expend in such ways. In

-this book a number of chapters give suggestions for carrying on a

-small business that will bring a boy in money with which to buy tools

-and materials necessary for making apparatus and articles described

-in other chapters, while the ideas are so practical that many an

-industrious boy can learn what he is best fitted for in his life work.

-No work of its class is so completely up-to-date or so worthy in point

-of thoroughness and avoidance of danger. The drawings are profuse and

-excellent, and every feature of the book is first-class. It tells

-how to make a boy’s workshop, how to handle tools, and what can be

-made with them; how to start a printing shop and conduct an amateur

-newspaper, how to make photographs, build a log cabin, a canvas canoe,

-a gymnasium, a miniature theatre, and many other things dear to the

-soul of youth.

-

- We cannot imagine a more delightful present for a boy than this

- book.—_Churchman, N.Y._

-

- Every boy should have this book. It’s a practical book—it gets right

- next to the boy’s heart and stays there. He will have it near him all

- the time, and on every page there is a lesson or something that will

- stand the boy in good need. Beyond a doubt in its line this is one of

- the cleverest books on the market.—_Providence News._

-

- If a boy has any sort of a mechanical turn of mind, his parents should

- see that he has this book.—_Boston Journal._

-

- This is a book that will do boys good.—_Buffalo Express._

-

- The boy who will not find this book a mine of joy and profit must be

- queerly constituted.—_Pittsburgh Gazette._

-

- Will be a delight to the boy mechanic.—_Watchman, Boston._

-

- An admirable book to give a boy.—_Newark News._

-

- This book is the best yet offered for its large number of practical

- and profitable ideas.—_Milwaukee Free Press._

-

- Parents ought to know of this book.—_New York Globe._

-

-

-

-

-PHILLIPS EXETER SERIES

-

-By A. T. DUDLEY

-

-Cloth, 12mo Illustrated by Charles Copeland Price per volume, =$1.25=

-

-

-FOLLOWING THE BALL

-

-HERE is an up-to-date story presenting American boarding-school life

-and modern athletics. Of course football is an important feature, but

-this is far more than a football book. It is a story of character

-formation told in a most wholesome and manly way. In this development

-athletics play an important part, to be sure, but are only one feature

-in carrying the hero, “Dick Melvin,” on to a worthy manhood.

-

- “Mingled with the story of football is another and higher endeavor,

- giving the book the best of moral tone.”—_Chicago Record-Herald._

-

-[Illustration: MAKING THE NINE]

-

-MAKING THE NINE

-

-THIS story is lively and worth telling, and the life presented is

-that of a real school, interesting, diversified, and full of striking

-incidents, while the characters are true and consistent types of

-American boyhood and youth. The athletics are technically correct,

-abounding in helpful suggestions, soundly and wisely given, and the

-moral tone is high and set by action rather than preaching.

-

- “The story is healthful, for, while it exalts athletics, it does

- not overlook the fact that studious habits and noble character are

- imperative needs for those who would win success in life.”—_Herald

- and Presbyter, Cincinnati._

-

-

-[Illustration:IN THE LINE]

-

-IN THE LINE

-

-TELLS how a stalwart young student won his position as guard, and

-at the same time made equally marked progress in the formation of

-character. It introduces the leading arguments for and against football

-in connection with the difficulties to be overcome before the hero’s

-father finally consents to allow his son to represent his academy in

-this way.

-

- “The book gives boys an interesting story, much football information,

- and many lessons in true manliness.”—_Watchman, Boston._

-

-

-JACK TENFIELD’S STAR

-

-By MARTHA JAMES Illustrated by Charles Copeland Large 12mo $1.00

-

-[Illustration: JACK TENFIELD’S STAR]

-

-JACK TENFIELD is a bright Boston boy, who, while preparing for

-college, is brought to face the fact that his father, a benevolent

-physician, and supposed to be well-to-do, had really left no estate.

-Jack resolutely defends his father’s memory, and makes the best of it.

-Circumstances bring much travel and many adventures, in all of which

-his generous, manly character rings true. That Jack is capable of being

-his “own star” well expresses the excellent thought of the book, which

-is remarkable for variety of well-told incidents.

-

- “A clean, wholesome, enjoyable book.”—_The American Boy, Detroit,

- Mich._

-

-

-Tom Winstone, “Wide Awake”

-

-By MARTHA JAMES Large 12mo Illustrated by W. Herbert Dunton $1.00

-

-WE have often wished that we could secure a book for boys like the

-undying ones written by J. T. Trowbridge, and in “Tom Winstone” we have

-a young hero whose story is told in a way well worthy to be compared

-with the work of the older writer referred to. The sterling quality

-shown in “My Friend Jim” is all here, and “Tom,” an older boy, equally

-efficient in baseball, a foot race, or a noble action, is well worth

-knowing.

-

- “Any healthy boy will delight in this book.”—_Living Church,

- Milwaukee, Wis._

-

-[Illustration: My Friend Jim]

-

-My Friend Jim

-

-A Story of Real Boys and for Them

-

-By MARTHA JAMES Large 12mo Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill $1.00

-

-JUST the book to place in the hands of bright, active boys, and one

-that the most careful parents will be glad to use for that purpose.

-The loyal friendship springing up between Jim, the son of a mechanic,

-and a wealthy man’s son who is at Sunnyside farm for his health, has

-made the basis for some of the cleanest, brightest, and most helpful

-descriptions of boy life that we have ever read.

-

- “It is a book that boys will like and profit by.”—_Universalist

- Leader, Boston._

-

-

-TWO YOUNG INVENTORS

-

-_THE STORY OF THE FLYING BOAT_

-

-[Illustration: TWO YOUNG INVENTORS]

-

-BY ALVAH MILTON KERR Illustrated $1.25

-

-HERE is a rattling good story; a tale of mystery, mechanism, and

-getting on in the world that will be a boy’s favorite for years. Two

-youths, both born inventors, make each other’s acquaintance as a result

-of misfortunes attending a Minnesota cyclone. Their efforts to perfect

-a flying-boat that shall not only skim the water, but rise into the

-air, result in the securing of a mechanical education. Mr. Kerr has

-solved the problem of a book that shall be intensely exciting and yet

-thoroughly wholesome.

-

- “The ingenuity and pluck of these two worthy heroes supply just the

- right material for the encouragement of ambitious youth.”—_Boston

- Beacon._

-

- “The book is full of life, incident, and stirring

- success.”—_Watchman, Boston._

-

- “The book is deeply interesting, at times intensely exciting, and yet

- thoroughly clean and wholesome throughout.”—_Portland Express._

-

-

-YOUNG HEROES OF WIRE AND RAIL

-

-[Illustration: YOUNG HEROES OF WIRE AND RAIL]

-

-BY ALVAH MILTON KERR Illustrated 12mo Cloth $1.25

-

-THE place which the sea once held in supplying thrilling tales of

-heroism and peril is now being largely usurped by that powerful

-agent of progress, the railway service, and with no lessening of

-interest. It is also very attractive to know how those who bear the

-vast responsibilities of this service perform their work and meet the

-fearful emergencies that may arise at any time.

-

- “The tone of the work is healthful and inspiring.”—_Boston Herald._

-

- “They are calculated to inspire boys to become manly, and incidentally

- they contain considerable valuable information.”—_Newark News._

-

- “An ideal book for a young boy is ‘Young Heroes of Wire and

- Rail.’”—_Episcopal Recorder, Philadelphia._

-

-

-THE GREGORY GUARDS

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-By EMMA LEE BENEDICT Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill 12mo $1.25

-

-[Illustration: THE GREGORY GUARDS]

-

-A YOUNG man of wealth is trustee for a fund to help boys and chooses

-six to pass the summer at his home on an island near New York. These

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-

- “It is a story along novel lines, and may be warmly commended.”—_St.

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-[Illustration: THE YOUNG VIGILANTES]

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-A Story of California Life in the Fifties

-

-By SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman Price $1.25

-

-FEW men now remain who can describe the “Forty-Niners” from personal

-knowledge and experience, and the very best one of them is the noted

-historical writer, Col. Drake. One of two young chums in Boston yields

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-friend’s expense. Later, the hero of the story is driven by injustice

-to make his way thither via the route across Nicaragua, befriended by

-an old sailor. A reunion and exciting experiences in San Francisco

-follow.

-

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- O._

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-Joe’s Signal Code

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-By W. REIFF HESSER Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill $1.25

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-THIS book tells of the abandoning of a fine ship with its cargo in

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-last boat, had their escape cut off by its destruction, but succeed in

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-on a hitherto unknown island.

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- “The boys will enjoy it from cover to cover. The book is many degrees

- above the ordinary story.”—_American Boy, Detroit._

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-[Illustration: PATRIOTIC SERIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS]

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-“Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime.”

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-The volumes included in this series tend to inculcate the spirit of

-patriotism and good citizenship. The boys and girls of to-day are here

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- 4. DORA DARLING or the Daughter of the Regiment By Jane G. Austin

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- 5. DORA DARLING AND LITTLE SUNSHINE By Jane G. Austin

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- 6. FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY A Popular Life of George Washington By Henry

- C. Watson

-

- 7. FRIEND OF WASHINGTON A Popular Life of General Lafayette. By Henry

- C. Watson.

-

- 8. GREAT MEN AND GALLANT DEEDS By J. G. Edgar

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- 9. GREAT PEACEMAKER A Popular Life of William Penn By Henry C. Watson

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- 10. GREAT EXPOUNDER Young Folks’ Life of Daniel Webster

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- 11. GOOD AND GREAT MEN Their Brave Deeds and Works By John Frost, LL.D.

-

- 12. LITTLE CORPORAL Young Folks’ Life of Napoleon Bonaparte By John

- Frost, LL.D.

-

- 13. MILL BOY OF THE SLASHES Life of Henry Clay By John Frost

-

- 14. NOBLE DEEDS OF AMERICAN WOMEN Edited by J. Clement

-

- 15. OLD BELL OF INDEPENDENCE By Henry C. Watson

-

- 16. OLD HICKORY Life of Andrew Jackson By John Frost

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- 17. OLD ROUGH AND READY Young Folks’ Life of Gen. Zachary Taylor By

- John Frost, LL.D.

-

- 18. PIONEER MOTHERS OF THE WEST Daring and Heroic Deeds of American

- Women By John Frost, LL.D.

-

- 19. PRINTER BOY or How Ben Franklin made his Mark

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- 20. POOR RICHARD’S STORY A Popular Life of Ben Franklin By Henry C.

- Watson

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- 21. PAUL AND PERSIS or the Revolutionary Struggle in the Mohawk Valley

- By Mary E. Brush

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- 23. SWAMP FOX Life of Gen. Francis Marion By John Frost

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- 25. YOUNG INVINCIBLES or Patriotism at Home. By I. H. Anderson

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-=Newly arranged Standard Collection of History, Biography, Heroism, and

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-[Illustration: NORWOOD SERIES]

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-This series can truly be said to cover the world in its scope, as

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- 1. =Adventures of Dick Onslow among the Redskins= By W. H. K. Kingston

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- 2. =African Crusoes, The= By Mrs. R. Lee

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- John

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- 6. =Around the World in Eighty Days= By Jules Verne

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- 7. =Australian Crusoes, The= By Charles Rowcroft

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- 8. =Australian Wanderers= By Mrs. R. Lee

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- 9. =Cabin on the Prairie, The= By Dr. C. H. Pearson

-

- 10. =Cruise of the Frolic, The= By W. H. K. Kingston

-

- 11. =Ernest Bracebridge; or School Boy Days= By W. H. K. Kingston

-

- 12. =French Robinson Crusoe, The= By Alfred de Brehat

-

- 13. =Golden Hair, a Tale of the Pilgrim Fathers= By Sir Lascelle

- Wraxhall

-

- 14. =Life Boat, The= By R. M. Ballantyne

-

- 15. =Lily and the Cross, The= By Prof. James DeMille

-

- 16. =Planting the Wilderness= By James D. McCabe, Jr.

-

- 17. =Prairie Crusoe, The; or Adventures in the Far West= By Sir

- Lascelle Wraxhall

-

- 18. =Sand Hills of Jutland, The= By Hans Christian Andersen

-

- 19. =Twice Taken, a Tale of Louisburg= By Capt. Charles W. Hall

-

- 20. =Twelve Nights in a Hunter’s Camp= By Rev. William Barrows

-

- 21. =Whales We Caught, The, and How We Did It= By William H. Macy

-

- 22. =Wild Scenes of a Hunter’s Life= By John Frost, LL.D.

-

- 23. =Willis the Pilot, a Sequel to the Swiss Family Robinson= By Sir

- Lascelle Wraxhall

-

- 24. =Winged Lion, The, or Stories of Venice.= By Prof. James De Mille

-

- 25. =Winter in the Ice, A= By Jules Verne

-

- 26. =Wreck of the Chancellor, The= By Jules Verne

-

- 27. =Yarns of an Old Mariner= By Mary Cowden Clarke

-

- 28. =Young Crusoe, The; or Adventure of a Shipwrecked Boy= By Dr.

- Harley

-

- 29. =Young Middy, The= By F. C. Armstrong

-

- 30. =Young Pioneers of the Northwest= By Dr. C. H. Pearson

-

-

-[Illustration: FAMOUS CHILDREN]

-

-Famous Children

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-By H. TWITCHELL Illustrated $1.25

-

-WE have here a most valuable book, telling not of the childhood of

-those who have afterwards become famous, but those who as children

-are famous in history, song, and story. For convenience the subjects

-are grouped as “Royal Children,” “Child Artists,” “Learned Children,”

-“Devoted Children,” “Child Martyrs,” and “Heroic Children,” and the

-names of the “two little princes,” Louis XVII., Mozart, St. Genevieve,

-David, and Joan of Arc are here, as well as those of many more.

-

-

-  The Story of the Cid For Young People

-

-By CALVIN DILL WILSON Illustrated by J. W. KENNEDY $1.25

-

-MR. WILSON, a well-known writer and reviewer, has prepared from

-Southey’s translation, which was far too cumbrous to entertain the

-young, a book that will kindle the imagination of youth and entertain

-and inform those of advanced years.

-

-

-[Illustration: Jason’s Quest]

-

-Jason’s Quest

-

-By D. O. S. LOWELL, A. M., M. D. Master in Roxbury Latin School

-Illustrated $1.00

-

-NOTHING can be better to arouse the imagination of boys and girls, and

-at the same time store in their minds knowledge indispensable to any

-one who would be known as cultured, or happier than Professor Lowell’s

-way of telling a story, and the many excellent drawings have lent great

-spirit to the narrative.

-

-

-Heroes of the Crusades

-

-By AMANDA M. DOUGLAS Cloth Fifty full-page illustrations $1.50

-

-THE romantic interest in the days of chivalry, so fully exemplified by

-the “Heroes of the Crusades,” is permanent and properly so. This book

-is fitted to keep it alive without descending to improbability or cheap

-sensationalism.

-

-

-BOOKS BY EVERETT T. TOMLINSON.

-

-

-THE WAR OF 1812 SERIES

-

-[Illustration: Tecumseh’s Young Braves]

-

-Six volumes Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price per volume reduced

-to $1.25

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-No American writer for boys has ever occupied a higher position than

-Dr. Tomlinson, and the “War of 1812 Series” covers a field attempted

-by no other juvenile literature in a manner that has secured continued

-popularity.

-

-  =The Search for Andrew Field=

-  =The Boy Soldiers of 1812=

-  =The Boy Officers of 1812=

-  =Tecumseh’s Young Brave=

-  =Guarding the Border=

-  =The Boys with Old Hickory=

-

-

-ST. LAWRENCE SERIES

-

-CRUISING IN THE ST. LAWRENCE

-

- Being the third volume of the “St. Lawrence Series” Cloth Illustrated

- Price $1.50

-

-Our old friends, “Bob,” “Ben,” “Jock,” and “Bert,” having completed

-their sophomore year at college, plan to spend the summer vacation

-cruising on the noble St. Lawrence. Here they not only visit places of

-historic interest, but also the Indian tribes encamped on the banks

-of the river, and learn from them their customs, habits, and quaint

-legends.

-

-

-_PREVIOUS VOLUMES_

-

-  CAMPING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE

-  Or, On the Trail of the Early Discoverers

-

- Cloth Illustrated $1.50

-

-  THE HOUSE-BOAT ON THE ST. LAWRENCE

-  Or, Following Frontenac

-

- Cloth Illustrated $1.50

-

-

-_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_

-

-STORIES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

-

- First and Second Series Cloth Illustrated $1.00 each

-

-

-The Tide-Mill Stories

-

-By J. T. TROWBRIDGE

-

-_Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25_

-

-

-Phil and His Friends.

-

- The hero is the son of a man who from drink got into debt, and, after

- having given a paper to a creditor authorizing him to keep the son as

- a security for his claim, ran away, leaving poor Phil a bond slave.

- The story involves a great many unexpected incidents, some of which

- are painful and some comic. Phil manfully works for a year cancelling

- his father’s debt, and then escapes. The characters are strongly

- drawn, and the story is absorbingly interesting.

-

-

-The Tinkham Brothers’ Tide-Mill.

-

- “‘The Tinkham Brothers’ were the devoted sons of an invalid

- mother. The story tells how they purchased a tide-mill, which

- afterwards, by the ill-will and obstinacy of neighbors, became a

- source of much trouble to them. It tells also how, by discretion

- and the exercise of a peaceable spirit, they at last overcame all

- difficulties.”—_Christian Observer, Louisville, Ky._

-

-

-The Satin-wood Box.

-

- “Mr. Trowbridge has always a purpose in his writings, and this time

- he has undertaken to show how very near an innocent boy can come to

- the guilty edge and yet be able by fortunate circumstances to rid

- himself of all suspicion of evil. There is something winsome about the

- hero; but he has a singular way of falling into bad luck, although

- the careful reader will never feel the least disposed to doubt his

- honesty.”—_Syracuse Standard._

-

-

-The Little Master.

-

- This is the story of a schoolmaster, his trials, disappointments, and

- final victory. It will recall to many a man his experience in teaching

- pupils, and in managing their opinionated and self-willed parents. The

- story has the charm which is always found in Mr. Trowbridge’s works.

-

- “Many a teacher could profit by reading of this plucky little

- schoolmaster.”—_Journal of Education._

-

-

-His One Fault.

-

- “As for the hero of this story ‘His One Fault’ was absent-mindedness.

- He forgot to lock his uncle’s stable door, and the horse was stolen.

- In seeking to recover the stolen horse, he unintentionally stole

- another. In trying to restore the wrong horse to his rightful

- owner, he was himself arrested. After no end of comic and dolorous

- adventures, he surmounted all his misfortunes by downright pluck

- and genuine good feeling. It is a noble contribution to juvenile

- literature.”—_Woman’s Journal._

-

-

-Peter Budstone.

-

- “Mr. J. T. Trowbridge’s ‘Peter Budstone’ is another of those

- altogether good and wholesome books for boys of which it is hardly

- possible to speak too highly. This author shows us convincingly how

- juvenile reading may be made vivacious and interesting, and yet

- teach sound and clean lessons. ‘Peter Budstone’ shows forcibly the

- folly and crime of ‘hazing.’ It is the story of a noble young fellow

- whose reason is irreparably overthrown by the savage treatment he

- received from some of his associates at college. It is a powerful

- little book, and we wish every schoolboy and college youth could read

- it.”—_Philadelphia American._

-

-

-The Silver Medal Stories

-

-By J. T. TROWBRIDGE

-

-_Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25_

-

-

-=The Silver Medal=, AND OTHER STORIES.

-

- There were some schoolboys who had turned housebreakers, and among

- their plunder was a silver medal that had been given to one John

- Harrison by the Humane Society for rescuing from drowning a certain

- Benton Barry. Now Benton Barry was one of the wretched housebreakers.

- This is the summary of the opening chapter. The story is intensely

- interesting in its serious as well as its humorous parts.

-

-

-=His Own Master.=

-

- “This is a book after the typical boy’s own heart. Its hero is a

- plucky young fellow, who, seeing no chance for himself at home,

- determines to make his own way in the world.... He sets out

- accordingly, trudges to the far West, and finds the road to fortune an

- unpleasantly rough one.”—_Philadelphia Inquirer._

-

-

-=Bound in Honor.=

-

- This story is of a lad, who, though not guilty of any bad action, has

- been an eye-witness of the conduct of his comrades, and felt “Bound in

- Honor” not to tell.

-

- “A capital book in all respects, overflowing with all sorts of fun and

- adventure; just the sort of book, in short, that the young folks will

- be anxious to read and re-read with as much continuous interest as the

- most favored of their storybooks.”—_Philadelphia Leader._

-

-

-=The Pocket Rifle.=

-

- “A boy’s story which will be read with avidity, as it ought to be, it

- is so brightly and frankly written, and with such evident knowledge

- of the temperaments and habits, the friendships and enmities of

- schoolboys.”—_New York Mail._

-

- “This is a capital story for boys. It teaches honesty, integrity, and

- friendship, and how best they can be promoted. It shows the danger of

- hasty judgment and circumstantial evidence; that right-doing pays, and

- dishonesty never.”—_Chicago Inter-Ocean._

-

-

-=The Jolly Rover.=

-

- “This book will help to neutralize the ill effects of any poison which

- children may have swallowed in the way of sham-adventurous stories and

- wildly fictitious tales. ‘The Jolly Rover’ runs away from home, and

- meets life as it is, till he is glad enough to seek again his father’s

- house. Mr. Trowbridge has the power of making an instructive story

- absorbing in its interest, and of covering a moral so that it is easy

- to take.”—_Christian Intelligencer._

-

-

-=Young Joe=, AND OTHER BOYS.

-

- “Young Joe,” who lived at Bass Cove, where he shot wild ducks, took

- some to town for sale, and attracted the attention of a portly

- gentleman fond of shooting. This gentleman went duck shooting with

- Joe, and their adventures were more amusing to the boy than to the

- amateur sportsman.

-

- There are thirteen other short stories in the book which will be sure

- to please the young folks.

-

-

-THE TOBY TRAFFORD SERIES

-

-BY

-

-J. T. TROWBRIDGE

-

-  _Three Volumes_      _Cloth_      _Illustrated_

-  _Price per volume_                      _$1.25_

-

-

-=The Fortunes of Toby Trafford.=

-

- “A new story by J. T. Trowbridge, is, like all Mr. Trowbridge’s

- fiction, the good wine that needs no bush. The plot is full of

- interest, and is still so natural that it all might happen in a

- thousand places. Its scenes and its people are everywhere; only

- few writers have Trowbridge’s eyes to see them. The hero is not an

- impossibly good boy, but he has manly instincts; and he is kept from

- follies and mistakes by the counsels of an excellent mother, and of

- his wise and noble-hearted schoolmaster. Boys will follow his career

- and his good and bad fortune with genuine interest.”—_Boston Budget._

-

-

-=Father Brighthopes=; AN OLD CLERGYMAN’S VACATION.

-

- “To the many friends which this book will doubtless gain it may be

- well to say that Father Brighthopes of the story gains that cheery

- name by his readiness to always see the bright and not the dark side

- of any difficulty, great or small. The few weeks which he spent with

- his friends, the Roydons, wrought a change in their daily life as

- marked as it was pleasant. The writings of Trowbridge are too well

- known to require comment, since almost everyone is familiar with his

- straightforward, simple style, underlying which there is not a little

- humor as well as pathos.”—_Chicago Times._

-

-

-=Woodie Thorpe’s Pilgrimage=, AND OTHER STORIES.

-

- “The scenes are full of human interest and lifelikeness, and will

- please many an old reader, as well as the younger folks, for whose

- delectation it is intended. As in all the books of this author the

- spirit is manly, sincere, and in the best sense moral. There is no

- “goody” talk and no cant, but principles of truthfulness, integrity,

- and self-reliance are quietly inculcated by example. It is safe to say

- that any boy will be the better for reading books like this.”—_St.

- Botolph._

-

-  _For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price

-  by the publishers. Our Illustrated Catalogue sent free._

-

-  Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Boston

-

-

-

-

-

-

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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48904 ***
+
+                         TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
+
+—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.
+
+—Bold text has been rendered as =bold text=.
+
+
+
+
+                      _THE PLEASANT COVE SERIES._
+
+                             ARTHUR BROWN,
+
+                          THE YOUNG CAPTAIN.
+
+                                  BY
+
+                         REV. ELIJAH KELLOGG,
+
+     AUTHOR OF THE ELM ISLAND STORIES—“LION BEN,” “CHARLIE BELL,”
+            “THE BOY-FARMERS,” “THE ARK,” “THE YOUNG SHIP-
+                    BUILDERS,” “THE HARD-SCRABBLE.”
+
+                            _ILLUSTRATED._
+
+                                BOSTON:
+
+                      LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
+
+
+
+
+      Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
+
+                           LEE AND SHEPARD,
+
+      in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
+
+                  COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY ELIJAH KELLOGG.
+
+                        _All Rights Reserved._
+
+                           =ARTHUR BROWN.=
+
+
+                            Norwood Press:
+
+                Berwick & Smith, Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+NOTWITHSTANDING kindness is at times rewarded with ingratitude, and
+even positive injury, it is by no means so frequent an occurrence as
+persons naturally censorious, or whose minds have been soured by an
+unblest experience, would have us suppose.
+
+Benefits conferred usually excite gratitude, and sometimes, when the
+donors have passed away are repaid, with interest, to their posterity.
+
+The story of Arthur Brown presents a striking illustration of this
+principle. Lashed to a raft, perishing with cold and hunger in the edge
+of the surf, he is rescued by Captain Rhines, who, when a boy, poor
+and unable either to read or write, had been instructed and started
+in business by Arthur’s father, who was afterwards lost at sea. The
+old captain, discovering, in the person he had perilled his life to
+save, the only son of his benefactor, receives him with open arms,
+with a nobility of soul that strengthens our faith in human nature,
+freely bestowing both time and property to aid the son and family of
+his benefactor, and repay the old debt. His efforts in this direction,
+together with those of the young man to help himself, at a most
+stirring period of our country’s history, the adventures growing out of
+those efforts, and the consequent development of character, will, we
+trust, prove interesting, and not without instruction.
+
+Some references have necessarily been made to characters of the “Elm
+Island Series,” the reasons for which are given in the introductory
+chapter, and the references so explained as to render the connection
+plain to the reader.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                        PAGE
+
+                            CHAPTER I.
+  INTRODUCTORY.                                            9
+
+                           CHAPTER II.
+  THE WRECK AND THE RESCUE.                               16
+
+                           CHAPTER III.
+  A GLAD SURPRISE.                                        30
+
+                            CHAPTER IV.
+  CAPTAIN RHINES MANIFESTS HIS GRATITUDE.                 44
+
+                             CHAPTER V.
+  “WE WERE PUT INTO THIS WORLD TO HELP ONE ANOTHER.”      60
+
+                            CHAPTER VI.
+  THE YOUNG CAPTAIN UNDER FIRE.                           74
+
+                           CHAPTER VII.
+  LITTLE NED AND HIS MOTHER.                              94
+
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+  MOONLIGHT CONVERSATION BY THE BROOK.                   106
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+  THE GRIFFINS.                                          122
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+  WHERE THE HARD STREAK CAME FROM.                       137
+
+                             CHAPTER XI.
+  RECONNOITRING.                                         155
+
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+  DID I BEAR IT LIKE A MAN, WALTER?                      169
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII.
+  THE BASKET-MAKER.                                      181
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV.
+  A STRANGE DISCOVERY.                                   191
+
+                              CHAPTER XV.
+  HOMEWARD BOUND.                                        204
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI.
+  DEAR-BOUGHT WIT.                                       223
+
+                            CHAPTER XVII.
+  DEATH AND BURIAL OF TIGE RHINES.                       240
+
+                           CHAPTER XVIII.
+  THE MEETING.                                           253
+
+                            CHAPTER XIX.
+  NED AMONG THE GRIFFINS.                                272
+
+                             CHAPTER XX.
+  A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.                            283
+
+
+
+
+                             ARTHUR BROWN,
+
+                          THE YOUNG CAPTAIN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+IN the series of books denominated the “Elm Island Stories” (commencing
+at the period when the old “Continental Congress,” which had fought the
+war of the revolution, was superseded by the Federal Government, and
+running through successive years) were introduced certain characters
+in whom our juvenile readers became so much interested, that they have
+assured us they could not abruptly surrender their acquaintance, at
+least not without some slight knowledge of their future prospects,
+especially as we were compelled to conclude our tale when most of them
+were on the very threshold of manhood. Desiring to gratify, and, at
+the same time, render them somewhat familiar with the history and
+progress of their native land in those snapping times included between
+the outbreak of the French revolution and the embargo, so prolific in
+gain and adventure to those possessing the enterprise, and daring to
+profit by them, and during which American commerce took such mighty
+strides, we must of necessity, at the commencement of this volume, make
+some slight reference to persons and places previously described. For
+the benefit of those who have not read the former series, we introduce
+a brief sketch, referring those who may desire more accurate knowledge
+to those books.
+
+Our old acquaintances can pursue, with this chapter, the course we used
+to adopt, when compelled to read one of Buckminster’s sermons aloud to
+the family, after having been twice to meeting, brought home the texts
+and heads of the sermon, and to Sabbath school—_skip_, skipped all we
+dared to, skipped all we could.
+
+The scene of the “Elm Island Stories” is laid in eastern Maine, when it
+was little better than a forest, save a rim of clearings and incipient
+towns along the sea-shore.
+
+Captain Rhines, who lived on the shore at a place named from him and
+his ancestors Rhineville, but then a plantation unincorporated, was a
+noble specimen of a sea captain—shrewd, kindly, self-made, of a daring
+nature, controlled by clear, cool judgment.
+
+His son Ben, possessing all the sterling qualities of his father, is
+a giant in strength, and in the very prime of life. Though in general
+of most even temper, and only by long provocations excited to wrath,
+yet, when thoroughly roused, he was terrible; hence his name, _Lion
+Ben_. Becoming enamoured of Sally Hadlock, who will only marry him on
+condition that he relinquishes the sea, he buys Elm Island, situated
+among the breakers, six miles from the main land, and inaccessible at
+some periods by reason of the surf; fertile as to soil, and covered
+with a heavy growth of timber. With nothing to depend upon but their
+hands, and obliged to mortgage the island at the outset, this resolute
+pair sit down among the woods to achieve independence. He is greatly
+assisted in all his plans and purposes by Uncle Isaac Murch, a man in
+middle life, who, in boyhood, was captured by the Penobscot Indians,
+and adopted into their tribe—a most shrewd, resolute, genial being,
+with very strong attachment to youth, their unfailing friend and ally
+in every good purpose.
+
+While Lion Ben is cutting off the spars and raising crops to pay for
+the island, some plunderers from the British Provinces, seeing but
+one house on the island, and supposing they had but little resistance
+to encounter, landed and insulted Ben’s wife. She flies to her
+husband, who is at work near by in the woods, who encounters and
+nearly kills the intruders. Among them is an English orphan boy, by
+the name of Charlie Bell, who had shipped with them as cook, being
+ignorant of their character. He remains, and is adopted by Lion Ben.
+He turns out to be a boy of most excellent principle, of remarkable
+mechanical genius, and learns the trade of a ship carpenter; makes
+the acquaintance of Captain Rhines’s youngest boy, John, and of Fred
+Williams, the miller’s son.
+
+Fred is a boy naturally smart, and inclined to mischief. By associating
+with a miserable wretch by the name of Pete Clash, an importation from
+the Provinces, and another by the name of Godsoe, a home production,
+he is led into evil courses. These boys, while in the woods one day,
+plotting mischief against Uncle Isaac, being surprised by John Rhines,
+and finding that he will expose them, attempt to flog him; but he
+is rescued by his dog Tige, who tears Pete and Fred, injuring Fred
+so severely that he is at the point of death, which brings him to
+reflection and reform.
+
+Pete Clash, attempting to meddle with Uncle Isaac’s fish flakes,
+is caught by the old hunter in a wolf trap, and so threatened and
+frightened by him, that he leaves the place, together with Godsoe.
+John, Fred, and Charlie now became fast friends, and Uncle Isaac their
+mutual friend and adviser.
+
+John Rhines becomes a blacksmith, Fred works with his father in the
+mill. Charlie and John accumulate money by labor and ventures sent
+to the West Indies, and set up Fred in trade. These three boys, with
+another by the name of Isaac Murch, a protégé of Captain Rhines,
+_undertake_ to build a vessel, and _do_ build her, and send her to the
+French West Indies, calling her the Hard-scrabble, in commemoration of
+the desperate nature of the undertaking. She arrives at Martinique at a
+lucky moment, and pays for herself, and more too. They afterwards build
+another called the Casco, of larger dimensions, of which Isaac Murch
+becomes the master, surrendering the Hard-scrabble to another captain.
+Joe Griffin, to whom reference is made, is a friend of Lion Ben, a
+mighty man with an axe, a great wrestler, and kind-hearted, but a most
+inveterate practical joker.
+
+Walter Griffin, a younger brother of Joe, inheriting all the grit of
+this rugged race, enters the store of Fred Williams as a clerk; but the
+Griffin blood rebels under the monotony and constraint, and he takes to
+the water. Peterson, the black pilot, was for many years addicted to
+intemperance. During that period some roguish boys got him into a store
+when intoxicated, poured molasses on his head, then applied flour,
+alternating the layers, till his head was as large as a half bushel;
+for many years after which he was known by the nickname of Flour, but,
+having become a sober and industrious man, has accumulated property, is
+respected by the whole community, and the nickname is forgotten.
+
+The period at which this series commences is after the French
+revolution, when the star of Nelson was rising above the horizon, and
+Napoleon Bonaparte, a colonel of the artillery, was planting batteries
+at Toulon, and giving the English blockading fleet a taste of his
+quality.
+
+These young men are now in possession of capital. John Rhines is
+living at home with his father; Fred is engaged in trade, and just
+married to a daughter of Captain Rhines. Charlie Bell is living on a
+farm in a most beautiful spot, called “Pleasant Cove,” upon which he
+chanced to stumble one lovely night in summer while sailing, became
+enraptured with and bought it, married another daughter of the captain,
+and settled down on it in a log house, while it was a forest, has one
+child, now a babe, and having built the Casco on his own shore, hopes
+to be able to cultivate the soil (an occupation he dearly loves), and
+to carry out those ideas of taste and beauty which in childhood he had
+gathered from the vales and ancestral homes of his native land.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE WRECK AND THE RESCUE.
+
+
+IT was the middle of October, about ten o’clock in the forenoon; there
+was no rain falling, but it was blowing—O, how it was blowing!—a
+tearing gale from the south-west, which roared through, the tree
+tops, and there was a tremendous sea in the bay. But under the lee of
+Pleasant Point, entirely sheltered from the wind by the high land and
+the woods, a shooting match had just been abruptly broken off by Sol
+Chase (a boy of sixteen, who put up the turkeys) declaring that it was
+no kind of use to set up, if such marksmen as Joe Griffin and Uncle
+Isaac were going to shoot.
+
+“Well, Sol, we won’t fire any more,” said Joe; “you boys may do your
+own shooting.”
+
+“Let us do something we can all do,” said Charlie. “Uncle Isaac, let us
+play knives. I’ll blaze this pine tree for a mark.”
+
+“Blaze a pine tree! Half of you won’t be able to hit the tree. Take the
+barn door.”
+
+“We haven’t got knives,” said Ricker.
+
+“I’ve got my hunting knife,” said Uncle Isaac; “one knife will do for
+the whole of us.”
+
+“I’ve got an Indian tomahawk in the house,” said Charlie; “one that you
+gave me, Uncle Isaac, long ago.”
+
+A bull’s eye was marked out on the barn door; the knife was held by the
+point of the blade, and flung. Uncle Isaac, when, after the first two
+trials, he had ascertained his distance, hit the centre of the target
+every time; Joe Griffin nearly as often; Charlie, Fred, and John, who
+had at other times practised a good deal with Uncle Isaac and each
+other, twice out of three times.
+
+“It takes Walter Griffin to throw a knife. He’d hit that mark every
+time.”
+
+“I wish he was here,” said Fred. “I feel, since he went to sea, as
+though about half of me was gone.”
+
+As to the rest, some hit within six inches; others didn’t hit the door;
+and others flung the knife so that it struck flatways, or on the end of
+the handle.
+
+“Now let’s throw the tomahawk,” said Charlie.
+
+In this game none of them could approach Uncle Isaac, who flung it with
+a force and precision that would soon have made a breach in Charlie’s
+barn door; but as the rest could not fling it with any accuracy, they
+soon tired of it.
+
+“I’ll put up a mark for you, Uncle Isaac,” said Joe Bradish.
+
+He had a soft hat, bran new; put it on for the first time that day.
+
+“What will you give me for a shot at my hat, at six hundred yards?”
+
+“Three shillings.”
+
+“Done.”
+
+Bradish rolled his hat carefully up, and thrust it into a mortise in
+the post of a rail fence.
+
+“I thought I was to have the whole bigness of the hat to fire at;
+that’s a small mark for such a long distance.”
+
+“That’s just like him,” said Charlie; “always doing some mean,
+underhand trick.”
+
+“You was to fire at the hat. There’s the hat. Now measure off the six
+hundred yards,” said Bradish.
+
+“Don’t measure it that way,” said Uncle Isaac to the boys, who were
+about to measure in the direction that the hat was shoved into the hole.
+
+“What difference does it make?” asked Bradish.
+
+“’Cause it does. I’ve a right to fire in any direction I like, at six
+hundred yards.”
+
+Uncle Isaac fired, and the ball, just grazing the edge of the post,
+went through every fold of the hat crossways, the rifle ball whirling
+as it went, cutting it all to pieces.
+
+“You’ve spoilt my new hat,” said Bradish, with a rueful face, holding
+it up, all full of holes, like a colander.
+
+“That’s what you get by trying to cheat: good enough for you,” was the
+cry.
+
+Scarcely had the laugh subsided, when Will Griffin was seen coming on
+horseback at full speed, and as he drew near, he bawled out, “Uncle
+Isaac, Joe, Master Bell, Captain Rhines wants you to come just as quick
+as you can; there’s a vessel cast away—folks going to be drowned on
+the Brant rocks.”
+
+When they reached the cove, they found Captain Rhines, in the
+Perseverance, her sails close reefed and set, hatches fastened down,
+and the vessel hauled in against a perpendicular ledge, while he was
+holding her by a rope fast to a tree.
+
+“Jump aboard!” he cried. “There’s people on a raft, coming right in
+before the wind and sea, and they will go right into the breakers on
+the Brant rocks, except we can get them off. I happened to be looking
+with the glass, and saw them.”
+
+“We’ll do what men can do,” said Uncle Isaac. “Hadn’t we better call at
+the island, and get Ben? It’s right on our road.”
+
+“That’s a good thought. Wonder I didn’t think of it.”
+
+Ben had not noticed the raft, but he saw the schooner coming, and knew
+that it must be a matter of life and death that would bring men to the
+island in such a gale. Both he and Sally met them at the shore.
+
+“I want you, my little boy,” cried Captain Rhines, as the schooner
+luffed up beside the wharf, in the still water of Elm Island harbor.
+“There’s a raft coming before the wind and sea, with people on it, and
+a signal of distress flying. It’s breaking thirty feet high on the
+Brant rocks, and they will soon be in that surf, unless we take them
+off.”
+
+No more was said. Ben jumped aboard, and the schooner, close hauled,
+stood boldly out into that tremendous sea. The men all commenced to
+lash themselves. Charlie was forward. He had made the end of a rope
+fast to the foremast, and put it around his waist; but, before he could
+secure the other end, she shipped a sea over the bows, that filled her
+all full, and bore Charlie before it like a feather. In another instant
+it would have taken him overboard, when nothing could have saved him;
+but Joe caught him as he was going over the rail.
+
+“A miss is as good as a mile,” said Captain Rhines. “She shakes off the
+water like a Newfoundland dog. Ben, take the axe, and knock off the
+waist boards, and then the sea can have a fair chance to get out as
+fast as it comes in.”
+
+They were now nearing the raft, as it came rapidly down before the sea,
+while the crew of the schooner were endeavoring to cut athwart its
+path. Catching glimpses of it in moments when the raft and the schooner
+both chanced to be on the top of a sea at the same instant, they
+perceived that it was constructed of the yards and smaller spars of a
+vessel, with an elevation amid-ships, where an upright spar was secured
+by shrouds, on which an English flag was flying. On this elevation
+were dark objects, that Captain Rhines (at home) had made out, with his
+glass, to be human beings.
+
+“If they are people, father,” said Ben, who, confident to hold himself
+against the sea, had gone into the bows, “they are dead; for there’s
+nothing moves, only as the sea moves it.”
+
+“Perhaps not, Ben. They are lashed, chilled, and most dead, but I’ve
+seen men brought to that apparently had but a few more breaths to draw.”
+
+In a few moments Ben shouted, “There’s folks there, four or six, I
+can’t tell which. I see one move his arm a little.”
+
+“What are we going to do?” asked Captain Rhines. “I thought there would
+be some one able to take a line and make it fast, and then we might
+tow them clear of the breakers and into some lee, where we could get
+them off; but if there’s nobody to take a line, we’ve got to carry one
+ourselves.”
+
+“Let the raft go by us,” said Ben, “and follow it up astern with the
+schooner. I’ll take a line in the canoe.”
+
+“I’ll go with you,” said Joe; but Charlie insisted upon sharing the
+peril with his father. They took in all but the foresail, reefed to the
+smallest possible dimensions, leaving only a little of the peak, as it
+was difficult to make the schooner go slow enough to keep from running
+on to the raft and knocking her to pieces; but by luffing into the wind
+they managed to keep her clear till Ben and Charlie got into the canoe,
+and with a small line reached the raft, to which was made fast a larger
+one, which they hauled to them and secured.
+
+There was no such thing as returning against that sea; they must take
+their chance with those they came to save. If the rope parted, or the
+little vessel failed to tow her charge clear of the surf, they were
+lost. During the interval occupied in fastening to the raft, it had
+made fearful progress towards the rocks, that could now be plainly seen
+ahead, the sea breaking on them in sheets of foam. Never was the clear
+judgment and resolute nature of Captain Rhines put to a severer test
+than now. He must carry sail enough to drive the Perseverance through
+the water with sufficient speed to clear the rocks. On the other hand,
+there was danger, if he carried too much sail, of either parting the
+rope, in which case Ben and Charlie, with those they went to save,
+would perish, or of taking the masts out of the schooner; and also
+danger of the seas boarding her over the stern.
+
+It was most fortunate for the crew of the schooner, that when they
+grappled to the raft they were a long distance off, and well over to
+the edge of the breakers, consequently had to work the raft but very
+little to windward. Every time the little vessel rose on one of those
+tremendous seas, when the raft was perhaps in the hollow of another,
+she quivered and trembled, and it seemed as if she must be crushed
+bodily down beneath the sea.
+
+“Isaac,” said the captain, who had one hand on the rope, “I think this
+will bear more strain. Unless we go ahead a little faster, we shall
+hardly clear that ragged point making out to the leeward.”
+
+“I’m afraid, Benjamin, it will take the mast out of her.”
+
+“So am I, but we must risk it. There’s no other way. It’s sartain death
+to go into that surf.”
+
+There was one other way. A stroke of the axe upon the “taut” rope, and
+the schooner, freed from her encumbrance, would have gone off like a
+bird from the ragged reef and boiling surf, leaving their comrades to
+perish; but no such thought could find lodgment in the bosoms of the
+men on board the Perseverance.
+
+“Give her the sail, Isaac,” said the captain; “it’s the only way.”
+
+Beneath the increased canvas, the schooner plunged and quivered, as
+though every timber would part company.
+
+They were near the breakers; the roar of the surf was terrible; every
+time the great wave rolled back, the black, ragged points of the rock
+could be seen for a moment. It was now but a couple of gunshots from
+them, and they were in the outer edge of the breaker. Not a word was
+spoken. Captain Rhines coolly eyed the surf, while he managed the helm
+with consummate skill. Slowly the noble little vessel drew along by the
+reef, but the raft was the length of the hawser farther in.
+
+“If that sea breaks on them, they are gone,” cried Captain Rhines, as
+a huge wall of water, thirty feet in height, came sweeping along, its
+overhanging edge white with foam.
+
+Ben and Charlie each seized one edge of the canoe, evidently hoping,
+that though full of water, its buoyancy might support and aid them in
+swimming; but the wave broke just before it reached them, lifting the
+raft almost on end, flooding it with spray, buried them to their necks
+in water, and almost tore them from the raft, to which they clung by
+the shrouds of the upright spar, while the canoe was swept away. So
+near were they to the reef, that one end of the wave broke upon the
+rock, and the raft was covered with kelp torn from it by the force of
+the sea. While they were yet in the very edge of the broken water, the
+foremast breaking off four or five feet above deck, went over the bows.
+
+“Thank God!” exclaimed Captain Rhines; “had it gone three minutes
+sooner, we had all been lost.”
+
+Drifting along before the wind and sea, they gradually came into
+smoother water, when Ben, flinging himself overboard, swam to the
+schooner. With his aid they raised the broken spar, lashed it to the
+stump, and contrived to spread a portion of the sail.
+
+“Ben,” asked his father, “what have you got on the raft? Are they dead
+or alive?”
+
+“There’s four of them, father; one a black man, the cook or steward,
+for his hands are soft, a sailor, a boy fifteen or sixteen, and a young
+man, I should judge about twenty, who, I think, was mate of the vessel,
+by his dress. They have got just the breath of life in them; starved
+with cold and hunger, and nothing but skin and bones. I thought that
+sea would have killed them, but they are alive yet.”
+
+“God help them, but we can’t get to the island, or my cove, with this
+broken spar. We must run for Charlie’s.”
+
+“Let us run under the lee of Smutty Nose,” said Ben, “get rid of this
+raft, and take the bodies on board, then we can go faster, else they
+will be dead before we get there.”
+
+They luffed up under the island in smooth water, took Charlie on board,
+the dead and the living, and permitting the raft to go adrift, made all
+the sail they could spread for Pleasant Cove. They carried the nearly
+lifeless bodies into the cuddy, put them in berths, and covered them
+with clothes. There were flint, steel, and tinder aboard, but no wood.
+They took the bottom boards out of a berth and split them up to kindle,
+and Ben cut up the handspikes, which were white oak, and split up the
+windlass.
+
+“Father,” said Charlie, “I’ll make a new and better one.”
+
+With this supply they soon had the little place warm enough. When they
+reached the cove they found John Rhines there. He had been away, and
+arriving home just after the party set out, had kept watch of their
+movements. It was twelve o’clock at night when they landed. The gale
+was over, the clouds had disappeared, and a clear moonlight made it
+nearly as light as day. The wet clothing was instantly stripped from
+the chilled limbs of the seamen; they were put into warm blankets,
+and hot applications made. So affecting was the sight of these living
+skeletons that Mary burst into tears.
+
+“Poor creatures! What they must have suffered!” she exclaimed. “They
+will die; they are as good as dead now.”
+
+“No, they ain’t,” replied the captain, who had been putting cold water
+down their throats with a spoon, and found that they swallowed. “Kill a
+chicken, Charlie; we’ll give them some broth by and by; too much would
+kill them as dead as a stone. Now, Mary, a little supper or breakfast,
+whichever you call it, wouldn’t hurt the rest of us, after all we’ve
+been through this day and night.”
+
+The rising sun was pouring its light into the windows, as with grateful
+hearts they sat down to eat, the captain rising every few minutes to
+administer a spoonful of the warm broth to his patients. The clergyman
+and neighbors were sent for, and funeral services performed. Then the
+American flag was put over the coffins, and they were borne to the
+grave.
+
+“I wish we could have saved them,” said the captain; “but we will do
+all we can—give them Christian burial.”
+
+Charlie and Uncle Isaac made the coffins for the two who died, and
+Captain Rhines and John dug their graves. On the eastern side of the
+cove a perpendicular cliff rose abruptly from the soil, with a little
+strip of green turf between it and the beach. Here they were buried.
+The white man had the name of “J. Watts” tattooed on his right arm;
+the name of the black was afterwards ascertained to be John Davis, and
+Charlie cut the names into the cliff—a most enduring memorial.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A GLAD SURPRISE.
+
+
+IN the course of three hours, it was evident that both of the rescued
+persons were reviving fast. Though unable to speak, they swallowed
+eagerly all that Captain Rhines thought proper to give; the expression
+returned to their eyes and features, and their limbs twitched with
+convulsive starts.
+
+“Charlie,” said the captain, “I’ll take these people home in the
+schooner.”
+
+“Leave them here, we can take care of them; and leave the schooner too.
+I’ll make a new mast and windlass for her.”
+
+“It is too much for Mary, with a young child,—two invalids to take
+care of.”
+
+“No, it ain’t, father; they will be all right, as soon as it will do to
+let them eat and drink.”
+
+“I’ll take the young man, at any rate, and you may have the boy.”
+
+They wrapped him in a blanket, and he was so emaciated that Charlie
+took him in his arms as though he had been an infant, and put him into
+the whale boat.
+
+“Wife,” said the captain, the next morning, as he sat watching his
+charge, as he lay sleeping, after having eaten more than he had allowed
+him at one time before, “do you know that since this young man has come
+to himself a bit he looks very natural to me. I’ve seen him, or some of
+his folks, before.”
+
+“It wouldn’t be at all strange if you had, for you have been a
+traveller all your life.”
+
+“It beats all how familiar his features look; and the more I look
+at him, the more the likeness grows upon me. He’s the very image of
+somebody I’ve known and loved right well, but to save me, I can’t tell
+who. He’ll be strong enough to talk when he wakes, and I’ll know who he
+is, and all about it. Only see, Mary, how the color has come into his
+lips! they are not drawn apart as they were. See how his eyeballs are
+filled out, and his fingers; and his nose is not so sharp as it was.
+He’s doing first rate.”
+
+As the captain had predicted, the young man, who had been within a
+hair’s breadth of eternity, awoke a few minutes before noon, extremely
+weak, but free from stupor, and in partial possession of his faculties,
+and inquired where he was.
+
+“You are among friends, young man, and safe; make yourself easy. Where
+are you from?”
+
+“Salem.”
+
+“Salem! Was you born and brought up in Salem?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“What is your name?”
+
+“Brown, sir.”
+
+“What is your father’s business?”
+
+“He was a shipmaster, but he is not living.”
+
+“Was his name Arthur?” cried the captain, more eagerly, his face
+flushing, and then becoming very pale.
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“And was he cast away in the Roanoke on Abaco, and all hands lost?”
+
+“Just so, sir.”
+
+“God bless you, my son,” shouted the captain, leaping from his chair,
+and grasping both hands of the seaman, while tears of gladness,
+streaming from his eyes, fell thick and fast on the pale features of
+his wondering guest; “your father was one of God Almighty’s noblemen;
+the first and best friend I ever had. All I am and all I’ve got in the
+world I owe to him. Didn’t you never hear him tell about Ben Rhines,
+the long-legged boy just out of the woods, with pine pitch sticking to
+him, that had to make his mark on the ship’s articles, that he learned
+to read and write, and made a shipmaster of?”
+
+“O, yes, sir, a great many times.”
+
+“Well, I’m Ben Rhines, what there is left of him. Is your mother
+living? and what family did your father leave?”
+
+“My mother is living in Salem. Father left three children, two girls
+and myself; he also took a nephew to bring up after his father died.”
+
+“Did he leave property?”
+
+“No, sir. He owned a large part of the Roanoke, and there was no
+insurance on her. My mother was left poor; father wasn’t a man to lay
+up money.”
+
+“No, he had too large a heart. I’m glad of it. I’ve got enough for
+both, thank God! I thought I’d got enough to take me well through, and
+shouldn’t try to make any more,—but I will. I’ll just give my mind to
+making money. I’ll make lots of it. I’ll go to sea again. I’ve got a
+glorious use for money now. But how came you in an English ship? Among
+all the friends your father had, and the hundreds whom, to my certain
+knowledge, he helped into business, was there not one who thought
+enough of his obligations to do for his son?”
+
+“Yes, sir. After father was lost, mother kept a boarding-house for
+masters and mates of vessels, and many of his former friends boarded
+with her, and set up our girls in a dry goods store. My cousin went
+into a grocery store. I was the youngest. When I left school I went on
+board a ship, belonging to a friend of father’s, as a cabin boy. He
+put me right along. I am only twenty-one last July, the fourteenth.
+The ship was sold in Liverpool; and by the captain’s good word, I got
+a mate’s berth in an English ship, knowing if I got across to Halifax,
+I could easily get home from there. The ship sprung a leak: the crew
+and second mate took the boats, nautical instruments, and nearly all
+the provisions, and left. They didn’t like the captain; he was a hard
+man, and there had been quarrelling all the voyage. Finally they put on
+their jackets (they might have kept the ship free), and told him they
+had as many friends in hell as he had, and left. They offered to take
+me with them; but I thought it my duty to stick by the captain and the
+ship.”
+
+“But how came the cook, the seaman, and the boy to stick by you. Why
+didn’t they join the strongest party?”
+
+“The black was a slave in Jamaica. The captain took a liking to him,
+bought him when he was nineteen, and gave him his liberty. He wouldn’t
+leave the captain. The sailor was a townie and shipmate of mine in the
+other ship; the boy belongs in Salem, the son of one of our neighbors,
+and was also with me in the other ship, and a better boy never stepped
+on a vessel’s deck. We three stuck together. Captain Rhines, is there
+any way I can get a letter to my mother, to inform her of my safety,
+and also of the boy’s? She knows I was on my passage in the Madras to
+Halifax, and that it is time for the ship to arrive there, and if the
+crew are picked up or get ashore they will report us as lost.”
+
+“We have a mail now once a week. It will go day after to-morrow.”
+
+At this period of the conversation Mrs. Rhines came into the room, when
+the captain, rushing at her, half smothered her with kisses.
+
+“Why, what is the matter, Benjamin?” she exclaimed, noticing his
+flushed face, and the traces of tears on it.
+
+“Matter, Molly!” bursting out afresh; “the matter is, we’ve got another
+boy. You know, wife, how much you have heard me tell about Mr. Brown,
+the mate of the first square-rigged vessel I went to sea in, that did
+everything, and more too, for me?”
+
+“Indeed, Benjamin, I guess I have.”
+
+“This is his boy, lying here on this lounge!—his only son, named for
+him.”
+
+“How glad I am, Benjamin!—glad on your account, and on my own, for the
+sake of his mother.”
+
+“Don’t you think, wife, when I took his father by the hand, to bid him
+good by, as I was about to step aboard the James Welch as first officer
+(through and _only_ through his means), I said, with a full heart, ‘Mr.
+Brown, how can I ever repay you?’ His reply was, ‘Ben, do by other
+young men you may fall in with, and who are starting in the world with
+nobody to help them, as I have by you.’ And now a kind Providence has
+put it in my power to save the life of his son, so help me God, if ever
+a debt was paid, principal, interest, and _compound_ interest, this
+shall be. Kiss him, wife.”
+
+Mrs. Rhines kissed the wasted cheek of the young man, and assured him
+that she was, equally with her husband, interested in his welfare, and
+rejoiced to receive him as a member of their household.
+
+“Now, Arthur,” said the captain, “you are our boy. You are just as much
+at home in this house as we are ourselves, and the more we can do for
+you the better we shall like it. John, here is your brother.”
+
+This whole-souled declaration elicited no reply. The young man,
+exhausted by the long and exciting conversation, had fallen asleep.
+
+“Poor boy! he is weak. Only see the great sores on him. See what a
+sight of little boils are coming out all over his arms.”
+
+“That, wife, is soaking in salt water so long; and the sores are where
+the ropes he was lashed with chafed him.”
+
+Utterly unable to keep the discovery confined to himself and family any
+longer, he mounted his horse, and rode full speed to tell Uncle Isaac
+and Charlie. When he reached Charlie’s, he found the boy (who was less
+accustomed to exposure) had recovered strength much more slowly than
+the mate. The moment he saw the captain, he wanted to know how Mr.
+Brown was getting along.
+
+“You like Mr. Brown?” said the captain, after replying to his question.
+
+“_Like_ him, sir! You can’t help liking him. Every man on board liked
+him. The men wanted him to go with them in the boats; but they wouldn’t
+have the captain, and he thought it was his duty to stick by him.”
+
+“Do you think you will want to go to sea any more?”
+
+“I shall go if Mr. Brown goes. How can I get home, sir, when I get my
+strength again?”
+
+“It will be some time before you will be fit to go. When that time
+comes, I’ll get you home.”
+
+“Could I send a letter, when I am able to write?”
+
+“Mr. Brown’s going to write to-morrow to his folks and yours. What is
+your name, my boy?”
+
+“Edward Gates, sir. They call me Ned on board ship.”
+
+“You are from Salem, too?”
+
+“Yes, sir. Mr. Brown and I live on the same street—King Street. His
+house is only four doors from mine.”
+
+“Then you’ve always known him?”
+
+“O, yes, sir. I went to school with him. He was one of the big boys,
+and I was a little one. I used to say my lessons to him when the master
+was busy, and sometimes he kept school when the master was sick.
+Sometimes, when his father’s ship was in port, he would get her yawl
+boat, and give us little fellows a sail.”
+
+After the building of the Casco, Charlie had been enabled to gratify
+his taste for cultivating the soil and improving his place. The
+Hard-scrabble, under the command of Seth Warren, and the Casco, under
+that of Isaac Murch, had made profitable voyages. Charlie and John
+found themselves in possession both of means and leisure. Charlie had
+built a large house, roomy enough to contain his men whenever he wanted
+to build more vessels, a barn, workshop, and other out-buildings. Hard
+wood stumps soon decay, white pine will last fifty years, and oak much
+longer than beech, maple or birch. The slope in front of the house
+presented a most enchanting view. Directly in front of the house was
+a most noble growth of forest trees, where the birch, beech, maple,
+and oak, in associate beauty, intermingled their huge trunks, covered
+with moss, and of such majestic height as to permit the buildings to
+be seen between their stems. A footpath wound among them to the outer
+edge, where, between their gnarled and twisted roots, gleamed the clear
+waters of Silver Spring.
+
+Almost any summer or autumn morning, about nine o’clock, you might see
+a gray squirrel sitting on one of the great tree roots, viewing himself
+in the transparent water, washing his face, and making his toilet by
+its aid. Scattered all along on the surface of the slope margining
+the beach were clumps and single trees, of peculiar beauty and vast
+size, which Charlie, by abstaining from the use of fire, had spared;
+thus preserving what it would have required seventy years, and a large
+outlay, to have obtained by planting.
+
+Neither the mill nor the shop could be seen, except in one direction;
+that is, when you were directly in front, they were so embosomed in
+foliage, Charlie having left the growth around them, for he was in
+possession of ideas of taste and beauty, of which neither Captain
+Rhines, Uncle Isaac, or John had the least conception. It was a
+pleasant sight, as you sailed away in the summer, to obtain indistinct
+glimpses of the water between the tree trunks as it poured off the
+dam, listen to the click of the saw, and catch through the leaves
+the gleams of the carpenters’ axes; while far beyond, as the land
+gradually rose, large fields of corn and grain, with their vivid green,
+presented a most singular and beautiful contrast to the black limbs
+and barkless trunks of the girdled trees among which they lay, their
+hollow trunks—some standing upright, others fallen—affording a most
+excellent roost for the crows, who paid their respects to Charlie’s
+corn when it was in the blade.
+
+At the lower edge of an immense forest of maple and birch, from which
+every vestige of underbrush had been removed, were seen the walls of
+a sap camp; while, instead of a path leading to the house, marked by
+spotted trees, a carriage road had been made, so that Captain Rhines
+could ride back and forth in his wagon, and Parson Goodhue in his
+chaise—for he had arrived to that dignity. It was not, however, much
+like the vehicle bearing that appellation at the present time. The
+wheels and arms were large enough for a modern team wagon; the frame
+of the top was made of iron; instead of leather, it was covered with
+painted canvas, and on the sides were projections, like the wings of a
+bird, to throw off the mud.
+
+Charlie and Joe cut a footpath through the forest, between their farms,
+and put logs across the gullies and sloughs, so that they could go back
+and forth conveniently.
+
+Two other notable events occurred this year. You know Uncle Isaac
+was not a whit like most elderly people, any more than chalk is like
+cheese. There was nothing stereotyped about him. He made a cider
+mill, to replace his white oak beam and wooden maul. When he went to
+Thomaston to see General Knox’s mills, he saw a cider press, in which
+the cheese was pressed with wooden screws. The apples, also, instead of
+being pounded to pieces in a trough, with a wooden maul, were ground
+between nuts, made with grooves and projections fitting into each
+other, and turned by a horse. Uncle Isaac took the pitch of the thread
+of the screws, and when he came home made press and mill.
+
+Ben also, that fall, brought over to his father and Charlie a bushel of
+apples apiece, which he had raised from his young orchard.
+
+“What do you think now about making cider on Elm Island?”
+
+Charlie said, “I think, when you get ready, there will be a mill for
+you;” and told him what Uncle Isaac had done.
+
+Uncle Isaac didn’t stop here. He made his wife and Sally Rhines a
+cheese-press, with screws. The way they pressed cheese before this was,
+to put a lever under the sill of the house, place the cheese under it,
+and then put rocks on the other end of the lever. At Ben’s suggestion,
+he also made a press to press hay. Before this, they carried it loose
+on board vessels, and couldn’t take any great amount, although, in
+Massachusetts, presses had come in use, and Ben had seen them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+CAPTAIN RHINES MANIFESTS HIS GRATITUDE.
+
+
+NED and the mate now began to mend rapidly. In the enjoyment of
+abundant food and rest, inhaling the bracing air of autumn, and with
+all the fruit they chose to eat, their sunken cheeks filled out, the
+flesh covered their limbs, their muscles assumed their wonted vigor,
+and they rapidly regained all that buoyancy which pertains to youth
+and high health. Mrs. Rhines, Hannah Murch, and Mrs. Ben Rhines made
+them clothes. And thus arrayed, as the evenings were now getting of
+considerable length, they went around on social visits, with Charlie
+and John, among the neighbors, and over to Elm Island; made friends,
+and won good opinions every day.
+
+Captain Rhines, instead of manifesting any disposition to take them to
+Salem in the Perseverance, as he had promised at their arrival, said
+not a word about it. Instead he seemed very earnest in laying plans,
+and inventing amusements to make them contented where they were. One
+day it was a gunning excursion by water; again hunting in the woods. At
+another time he wanted them to help him about some harvesting, which
+they were more than willing to do, and seemed never so happy as when
+they were doing something for their benefactor.
+
+The captain’s line of conduct was a sore puzzle to John and Charlie,
+and indeed to all the family. The Perseverance must have a new mast and
+windlass before she could go to Salem. But although Charlie had made
+both, the captain would not let him put them in.
+
+One day Charlie, John, and Ben were together on the island, and this
+fruitful subject of conjecture came up.
+
+“Ben,” said John, “what do you suppose the reason is father don’t take
+Ned and Mr. Brown home? He said, when they were first picked up, that
+he would take them to Salem in the Perseverance as soon as they were
+fit to go. They are all right now, and want to see their folks.”
+
+“He seems,” said Charlie, “to have forgotten all about it. I don’t
+believe he wants to take them, for I’ve had the mast and windlass made
+these three weeks, and he won’t let me put them in.”
+
+“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Ben. “Father ain’t like most old folks.
+He likes to have young people around him. Mother says he talks hours
+and hours with Brown. Perhaps he don’t like to lose their company. If
+you want to know, Charlie, why don’t you and John ask him?”
+
+“I don’t like to.”
+
+“Well, get Uncle Isaac to. He will ask in a moment; indeed, if there’s
+a special reason, I’ll warrant he knows it now.”
+
+“What seems more singular to me,” said Charlie, “is, that after telling
+how much he thought of Arthur’s father and mother, how much he was
+willing to do for his children, even to cut the last piece of bread in
+two, that he don’t _do something_—build him a vessel. I have got out
+board and ceiling plank at the mill, and deck plank all sawed out. It
+would be a capital time now to get a frame and set her up this fall,
+let her season through the winter, finish her in the summer, and rig
+her before cold weather.”
+
+“Benjamin,” said Uncle Isaac (as they shot into a thickly wooded cove
+to rest their backs, on their way home from a fowling excursion),
+laying his paddle across the float, and leaning both elbows on it, “why
+don’t you take these boys home? they want to go.”
+
+“Do they want to go?”
+
+“To be sure. Isn’t it natural they should want to see their parents and
+friends, after being at death’s door?”
+
+“But their parents know they are comfortable, and they hear from each
+other every week.”
+
+“That isn’t like seeing them. There’s another thing; the boys want to
+build a vessel for this young man, and so does Ben.”
+
+“Ben wants to, does he?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Hum.”
+
+“He seems to be a nice, steady, well-informed young man.”
+
+“Is that the way it strikes you, Isaac?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“The fact is, Isaac,” beginning to pick the leaves of a beech limb,
+which hung over the float, and chew them up, “I am ready and willing,
+and count it a privilege to do all I can for this boy, and his father’s
+family; but whether building a vessel, and putting him in her, is the
+_best_ way to do it, I am not clear.”
+
+While they were engaged in this conversation, the boat had drifted
+under the limbs of a birch, that had never regained its upright
+position after being bent down by the ice and snow of the previous
+winter.
+
+“What have you got that’s good in that red box, Isaac?”
+
+“I’ve got a chicken, boiled eggs, bread, butter, cheese, and
+doughnuts,” he replied, placing the box on the middle thwart of the
+boat, and removing the cover.
+
+“There’s something to wash it down,” said the captain, unrolling a jug,
+carefully wrapped in the folds of his long jacket. “That’s some of the
+coffee I brought home in the Ark; it’s warm, too. We might as well eat
+now as any time, for by the tide it can’t be far from noon.”
+
+Uncle Isaac twisted one of the long, slender limbs of the birch into
+a string, and making it fast to a thole-pin hole, it held the boat
+stationary, while the two friends, sitting face to face in the warm
+sunshine, gossipped and ate; and having eaten nothing since three
+o’clock that morning, evidently enjoyed the repast, the warm sunshine,
+and the sheltered nook, so highly as to wish to prolong the pleasure,
+and ate very deliberately, till the meal was brought to an abrupt
+termination by the entire consumption of the contents of both box and
+jug.
+
+“We were speaking, Isaac,” said the captain, “about this young man,
+and about building him a vessel. If I was able to build him one, fit
+her for sea, load her, and say to him, ‘Here, my boy, take her, and do
+the best you can for yourself and me;’ and then if he made a ‘funger,’
+pocket the loss, I would lay the keel to-morrow. But in doing that, I
+must be concerned with others, and risk other people’s money. Here are
+Ben, Fred, John, and Charlie, all ready to strike, only waiting for me
+to say the word; and Mr. Welch would take hold in a moment if I should
+say to him, ‘Here is a young man, who I think capable, wants a vessel
+built.’ Now, how do I know he is capable of taking charge of a vessel
+and managing business in these squally times, with the English and
+French pitching into our commerce, and pirates to boot? A master of a
+vessel must have grit and cool judgment—qualities that don’t always
+nor often go together. He’s very young, has been only one voyage and
+part of another as mate; of course has had but little experience. Some
+men make first-rate mates, but poor masters; others poor mates, but
+excellent masters. Then, if he should make a losing voyage of it, I
+should feel very bad, and the rest (though they did not say it) might
+feel that they had been brought into difficulties, and lost money
+through me.”
+
+“He is as old, and has had as much experience as Isaac had when he
+became master. You was keen enough for putting him ahead; far more than
+I was, though he is my own nephew, and has done splendidly. This young
+man has had the best of schooling, and ten times the privileges Isaac
+ever had.”
+
+“_Schooling! privileges!_” cried the captain; “I wouldn’t give _that_
+(snapping his fingers) for the schooling and privileges. What do they
+amount to, if the man hasn’t got _Indian suet_,—hasn’t got the
+articles in him? They _help_, but they can’t put anything _into_ a man.
+I knew Isaac from the egg. I watched him as he grew up. There’s a great
+deal in the _blood_. I knew the breed he came of, both sides. He sailed
+with me. I taught him, and knew him through and through,—knew he had
+the root of the matter in him. But in regard to this young man, I know
+only the father. If he takes after his father in mind, as he does in
+looks, he will be all right. But he may look like the father, and take
+after the mother. I don’t know anything about her or her people.”
+
+“You mean to help him, don’t you?”
+
+“Reckon I do, if my life is spared. But I could help him without
+building him a vessel, or involving other folks. I might give him a
+couple of thousand dollars in cash, and let him help himself; or say
+to him, ‘Arthur, go to Salem; see if some of your father’s friends,
+and the people you’ve sailed for, won’t build you a vessel. I’ll take
+an eighth or a fourth.’ I can help the mother,—that will be my own
+concern, and nobody’s business,—and I shan’t involve others, and risk
+their hard earnings.”
+
+“But he’s been here some time. You’ve had him in your house all the
+time, with opportunities for talking with him, and making up your mind.
+What do you think?”
+
+“I think well of him. I like him all round, think him capable, and, to
+tell the truth, that is what I’ve been backing and filling for so long,
+and keeping the boys back. I wanted _time_ to make up my mind, and have
+you and the neighbors see and get acquainted with him, and find what
+you all thought of him.”
+
+“As far as my opinion is worth anything, I shouldn’t hesitate a moment.
+There’s one little thing just settles the matter in my mind.”
+
+“What is that, Isaac?”
+
+“Why, his sticking by that captain. Here is a crew of men, the
+sweepings of Liverpool; they take the boats, compass, and other
+instruments, and shove off,—they’ve had trouble with the captain, and
+are down on him, and mean to have their revenge,—leaving him to shift
+for himself; the mate they like, and offer to take him with them—even
+coax him to go; they have provision, water, and instruments, and are
+not overloaded. In the boats, there’s no great risk; to remain, is
+almost certain death. He is under no particular obligations to the
+captain, who is an Englishman and a stranger, yet he sticks by him,
+because he thinks it his duty. If _that_ ain’t pluck, principle, and
+Christianity,—if that ain’t real manhood, I wonder where you’d find
+it! There’s not one man in a hundred—no, not in a thousand—_would_
+or _could_ have done it. And, Benjamin, ‘twill take a great deal to
+make me believe that a man who has got all _that_ in him hasn’t all the
+other qualities that go to make up a man.”
+
+“It’s just what his father would have done. Well, Isaac, I’ll take them
+to Salem. I’m acquainted there; have an old shipmate that knew his
+father. I’ll see the captain he’s been mate with, and if they speak
+well of him, we’ll go ahead.”
+
+“John,” said his father, on his return home, “clap the saddle on the
+horse, ride over to Charlie’s, and tell him he may get the schooner
+ready as soon as he likes; and tell Fred to get his fish and potash
+ready, for I’m going to Salem, and will take a freight to Boston, and
+bring back any goods he wants.”
+
+Captain Folger was sitting in his store just before noon, frequently
+looking at his watch, for the demands of appetite were pressing,—he
+had set up a ship-chandler’s store, after having spent the greater
+part of life at sea,—when Captain Rhines entered, and most agreeably
+surprised him.
+
+“Why, Captain Ben!” exclaimed the old seaman, grasping his friend by
+the hand, “what good wind has blown you hither?”
+
+“I had business in Boston, and so called in here. It’s long since we’ve
+met. I hardly thought you’d know me so readily.”
+
+“_Know_ you! Old shipmates don’t forget each other.”
+
+“So you’ve left off going to sea, and turned storekeeper!”
+
+“Yes; it’s the most natural thing an old shipmaster can do to turn
+ship-chandler, and have vessels and rigging to look after. I couldn’t
+be contented ashore in any other business. I own some navigation,
+and have that to look after. My shop is a loafing place for the old
+captains, and we fight our battles over again, spin our yarns, plan
+voyages, and keep each other’s spirits up. We heard about your going
+to Cuba on a raft, and it was agreed on all hands it was the smartest
+thing ever done in these parts, or anywhere. You ran a confounded risk,
+but they say you made your Jack out of it.”
+
+“Yes, I made _something_.”
+
+“You knew Captain Brown, Arthur, who was lost on Abaco?”
+
+“_Knew_ him! I guess I did. He was the means of putting me into
+business.”
+
+“He was the means of putting a great many into business.”
+
+“Do you know his son?”
+
+“What, young Arthur?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“To be sure. We’ve been much worried about him. The vessel he was in
+foundered, but he has been picked up, so his mother tells me.”
+
+“I picked him up, and brought him here not two hours ago. What kind of
+a young man is he?”
+
+“As fine a one as ever the sun shone upon; he is thought a great deal
+of here, both upon his father’s account and his own.”
+
+“Is there business in him, or only goodness?”
+
+“Both; as much of one as the other.”
+
+“Do you know Captain Bates, who he was mate with?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Will you introduce me to him?”
+
+“Yes; he’ll be in here about two o’clock, with half a dozen more old
+web feet, that you know, or who have heard of you, and we’ll have a
+jolly time of it. But come,” looking at his watch, “it is grub time; go
+up to the house; you belong to me while you are here.”
+
+“I will dine with you; but I made an engagement with young Brown to
+meet me here at five o’clock, and I am to take tea with him.”
+
+Captain Rhines met Captain Bates at three o’clock, who, in reply to
+his questions in relation to young Brown, replied, “If you’ve got a
+frigate, give it to him.” When Arthur came, according to appointment,
+Ned Gates came with him.
+
+“Captain Rhines,” said Ned, “father and mother want you to come to our
+house, and stop with us while you are here.”
+
+“He’s going to stay with us,” said Arthur.
+
+“No, he ain’t,” said Captain Folger; “he belongs to me. He can go to
+supper with Arthur, and he can dine to-morrow with you, Ned; but we are
+old shipmates, and the rest of the time he belongs to me.”
+
+Captain Rhines, while at Mrs. Brown’s, proposed that the whole family
+should go down and live with him. But Mrs. Brown, who was a capable,
+energetic woman, many years younger than her husband, would by no means
+consent. She told him, in reply, that her daughters were doing well in
+their store; that though her husband left her no money, he had left
+the house clear of debt. That his nephew was learning a trade, and she
+was doing well keeping boarders, and could not consent, by any means,
+to live upon him, as she could not be happy in so doing; but as he had
+announced his intentions of helping Arthur to a vessel, she should feel
+under the greatest obligations.
+
+Before leaving, he compelled her to accept a check upon Mr. Welch
+for two thousand dollars, made the girls a present of five hundred
+more, and a hundred to George Ferguson, the nephew, without which, he
+declared, he could not sleep nights.
+
+Having accomplished this, he felt quite satisfied and happy; and began
+to talk with Arthur in relation to the intended vessel.
+
+“What kind of a vessel do you want, Arthur, and what trade do you want
+to go into?”
+
+“I should prefer, sir, always with submission to your better judgment,
+a sharp vessel, that will outsail the English cruisers, run the
+gantlet, and carry provisions and supplies to France. There will be
+risk, but I have an idea there will be corresponding profit.”
+
+“That’s the talk, my boy,” cried the captain, delighted with a proposal
+so congenial to his own hardy and enterprising nature. “I only wish I
+was young enough to go into it myself. Now, if there’s a man in these
+United States that can build a clipper that will show a clean pair of
+heels to anything that swims, that man is Charles Bell.”
+
+It was just after dinner, of a pleasant afternoon, Charlie and his wife
+were seated in the sun, in the barn-door, husking corn, the sharp click
+of a horse’s feet that overreached was heard.
+
+“That’s father,” said Mary. “I know the click of the mare’s shoes.”
+
+“Charlie!” shouted the captain, never stopping, till the mare’s feet
+struck the heap of corn in the floor, sending the kernels in Mary’s
+face, “grind your broad-axe. Arthur Brown wants a vessel that will show
+her heels to the English frigates, run the blockade, and make the sweat
+stand on a dolphin’s nose to keep up.”
+
+“I am thankful,” cried Charlie, delighted, “that after so long a time
+I am to build something that is not a box.”
+
+“You can’t find a better model than the Hard-scrabble.”
+
+“Than the Hard-scrabble?”
+
+“No; she sails well when she is light, and with a free wind in ballast,
+Isaac says there’s nothing will catch her. Just give her more depth,
+so she can hold on, and put the sail on her, and I tell you she would
+streak it. You must have breadth to carry sail.”
+
+“Well, I’ll do the best I can.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+“WE WERE PUT INTO THIS WORLD TO HELP ONE ANOTHER.”
+
+
+IT was about eight o’clock Saturday night. Captain Rhines had sailed
+that morning for Boston.
+
+Mrs. Brown had finished her household business for the day, and was
+seated before a bright fire in a cosy little sitting-room, reserved for
+her private use. Her children were with her, the girls having closed
+the store earlier than usual, and with the beloved and rescued son and
+brother in the midst, they were talking over the exciting events of the
+week.
+
+“When I look back upon what has happened for the past two or three
+weeks,” said the happy mother, “it seems like a dream. There I was, day
+after day, and week after week, watching the papers, and no news of
+the vessel, a short passage too. Then I got Captain Folger to write
+to Halifax, and the consignee wrote that they supposed the vessel was
+lost, as one of her boats, bottom up, had been found, and a bucket
+that had the vessel’s name on it. A husband and son both buried in the
+ocean. It tore open the old wounds, and they bled afresh; brought up
+all the anguish of your father’s loss anew. I felt it was more than I
+could bear. How I begged and plead with my heavenly Father for your
+life, Arthur, the widow’s only hope! And some how, whenever I rose
+from my knees, I felt better than when I knelt down; a feeling as
+though, some how or other, the cup would pass from me, seemed to take
+possession of me, and this feeling kept me, for the most part of the
+time, on my knees. I felt better and happier there than anywhere else.”
+
+“Don’t you think, mother, when I came to be on that raft, provisions
+and water all gone, the captain raving mad and jumping overboard, my
+shipmates dying one after another, that I didn’t think of you, and
+that you were praying for me? Poor little Ned and I, our throats were
+so dry and parched we couldn’t speak so as to be heard by each other
+above the winds and waves. I fell into a doze, and dreamed I saw a most
+beautiful grove of apple trees all in blossom, and a great long table
+spread under them, covered with piles and piles of meat, and great
+goblets, that held a gallon, full of the clearest water; and you was
+sitting at it, and saying, ‘Come, Arthur, this is all for you.’ I tried
+so hard to move towards you, it woke me; and I heard a shout, ‘Raft,
+ahoy! Is there anybody can take a line?’ Then I knew there was help. I
+tried to shout, but couldn’t. I could only raise my arm. Soon I heard
+something strike the raft; a voice shouted, ‘All fast!’ and two men
+stood over us. They were Mr. Ben Rhines and Charlie Bell. They told me
+to keep my heart up, for they would stick by me; but I was so overcome
+I fainted away.”
+
+“Brother,” said Ellen, “didn’t you suffer terribly before you got so
+low as that?”
+
+“Tongue can’t describe it; but the thirst was the worst. But here I am
+now, sitting before this comfortable fire, in this old room where we
+have spent so many happy hours, with you all around me. I’m sure, as
+mother says, it seems like a dream to me.”
+
+“I hope,” said the widow, “such trials and such mercies will make us
+better; they certainly should.”
+
+“I feel that it has been good for me,” said Eliza. “I thought, when
+we were in that agony of uncertainty, ‘O that I, too, could pray with
+mother! that I had a right to, as I felt she had! But when Captain
+Rhines’s letter came, I did go to God with tears of thankfulness, and
+trust I was accepted.”
+
+“I thought, if my poor boy’s life could only be spared, even if he was
+a cripple, or injured for life, I could ask no more. And then to have
+him come home so well and happy, with such a friend as God has raised
+up for us all in Captain Rhines! Yet I can never think upon him and his
+kindness but it makes me reflect upon myself.”
+
+“Why so, mother?” said Arthur.
+
+“Your father was of most open and generous nature, far too much so
+for his own interest, and, as I then thought, for that of his family,
+while my disposition was very different. My parents were poor, and I
+was brought up by a relative, early taught hardship, knew the value of
+money, and was naturally prudent. Your father would take the clothes
+off his back to put on anybody else. I used to go to sea with him,
+when we were first married; and when sailors came on board without
+clothes, he would give them clothing, fix them all up, and make them
+comfortable. I used to tell him, sometimes, that if they drank,
+gambled, and threw all their money away, they ought to suffer the
+consequences, and his first duty was to his family. But it was no use
+to reason with him; he couldn’t help it—couldn’t bear to see anybody
+suffer; and at length I refrained from saying anything on the subject,
+but tried to economize all I could, to offset his liberality. He never
+concerned himself about household matters, was gone a great part of the
+time, and left everything to me.
+
+“He would come home, and bring barrels of sugar and molasses for family
+use, and bags of coffee, and have them hauled up to the house; and also
+quantities of fine cloths from Europe and the East Indies for me and
+the children, and material for towels, curtains, and bedding. After he
+was gone, I would live as prudently as possible, sell a great part of
+the things sent home, and put by the money against time of need.
+
+“After our third child was born, he began to alter gradually, and
+seemed to have different ideas, became more prudent, and, as he was a
+man of great business talent, began to accumulate, and soon owned a
+good part of the vessel, and, had he lived, would have become a wealthy
+man, but was taken away in a moment. There was no insurance on the ship
+or cargo, and all he had accumulated was gone, except this house. Then,
+being left a widow, with a young family, I found the benefit of the
+little I had saved.”
+
+“I’m sure, mother,” said Eliza, “I don’t see what you have to reflect
+on, except with satisfaction. You were not saving for yourself, but for
+us children, and for father, had he lived to be old, and past labor.”
+
+“Ah, but I was so anxious that your father should lay up something for
+his family, that after he was gone, I felt that perhaps I had said more
+than I ought; sometimes, too, I would discourage him from doing for
+others, when it did not consist in giving money; when he would spend a
+great deal of time at sea in teaching some young man navigation, when,
+as I thought, he ought to have been asleep in his berth, or resting;
+often, when he was on shore, and I wanted him to go with me, he
+would be running here and there, night and day, to get a vessel built
+for somebody, and oftentimes get small thanks for it, as I told him.
+Then he would say, ‘Harriet, we were put into this world to help each
+other; we ought not to feel vexed or disappointed if we do not always
+receive gratitude from those we have befriended, when we consider how
+ungrateful we are ourselves to our Maker, but do our duty.’ These
+things often came up in memory, after he was taken away, and I would
+have given anything if I had not said some things, and could have taken
+them back.”
+
+“But, mother,” said Ellen, “I don’t think you ought to feel so. You
+meant it for his good.”
+
+“I thought I did, at the time; but since then I have felt there was a
+good deal of selfishness at the bottom, that ought not to have been
+there; that your father felt it, and it pained him, for I could see a
+shade of sadness flit across his face, like a cloud across the sun in a
+spring morning.”
+
+“Don’t cry, mother,” said Arthur, putting his arm around her, and
+wiping away the tear that trembled on her cheek.
+
+“But when,” she continued, in a voice broken with emotion, “in the
+midst of my anguish about you, that letter came from Pleasant Cove,
+telling me your life had been saved by Captain Rhines (one of the very
+boys your father had worked so hard to help), so full of sentiments of
+affection for your father, and gratitude for the favors he had received
+from him, and a few days later your letter, telling me of their
+kindness to you and Ned, I was overcome.”
+
+“O, mother, I can’t tell you one half they did for me, because it can’t
+be told; for it was not only what they did, but the way they did it. It
+came so right out of the heart. They seemed to love to do it, and it
+was done with such looks and tones of love.”
+
+“Yes; and when that noble man came up here, and couldn’t do
+enough—wanted to take us all home with him—insisting upon it, didn’t
+I feel condemned for trying to hinder your father from helping others,
+and telling him he got small thanks for it? Here, now, is one of those
+very persons, becoming a father to his son, putting him right into
+business at once.”
+
+“Well, mother, I’ve made up my mind to one thing—I’ll try to show
+myself my father’s son, and practise that which I approve of so much
+in others. I’ll let Captain Rhines, Mr. Ben, Charlie, John, and the
+others see that I am not deficient in gratitude. If God gives me life
+and strength, the grass shan’t grow on that vessel’s bottom. I’ll make
+her a happy vessel for sailors, and help every young man I can, as
+father told Captain Rhines to do when he asked him how he could repay
+him. And as he has helped me, whether I get any thanks for it or not,
+I’ll look higher than that for my reward,—I’ll get it in doing my
+duty. I’ll begin with my shipmate, little Ned Gates.”
+
+“I am glad to hear you talk thus, Arthur. Your father’s principle was
+the true one,—do right because it is right,—and from all I have
+seen, it generally bears the best fruit even in this life. There was
+your uncle David, just the opposite of your father; always saving
+for his children; so close as to be on the edge of dishonesty, if
+not actually dishonest; never had a thought or care for any one but
+himself or his own, and, just as he had amassed a large property, went
+into a great speculation in his old age for the sake of getting more,
+when he had more than enough already risked the whole, and lost the
+whole. Now, worn out, and broken down, without a house over his head,
+everybody says, ‘Served him right,’ and his children all poor, while
+your father’s good name and deeds have been money at interest for his
+family, and the bread he cast upon the waters has come back after many
+days.”
+
+“Mother, there’s one thing I want you to do before I go to sea.”
+
+“What is that, Arthur?”
+
+“Just send off these boarders,—no longer make a slave of
+yourself,—and take some comfort. The girls are doing well in the
+store; George supports himself; I am going to have business, and
+Captain Rhines has given you and the girls money; so there’s no need of
+working, and wearing your life out now.”
+
+“I couldn’t feel right, Arthur, if I were not earning something; a
+thousand dollars would soon be spent, come to sit down and live upon
+it; you may have hard luck at sea; the girls are doing well, to be
+sure, but they have got to return the money that friends loaned them
+to start with. I have put that thousand dollars in the bank, against
+a rainy day; besides, I have another reason for wishing to earn
+something.”
+
+“What is it?” asked Ellen.
+
+“I want to atone for past selfishness, and follow your father’s example
+in doing what little I can to help those poorer than myself. It’s but
+little I can do, to be sure, but I mean to do that little cheerfully,
+and I trust ‘twill be accepted. There is the mother of poor James
+Watts, who was on the raft, and died. She is poor, and bereft of all
+her dependence, for he was a good boy, and gave her all his earnings,
+while my child was spared, and friends raised up to help me; and I mean
+to do all I can to help and comfort her. I mean to act on your father’s
+principle, ‘Harriet, we were put into this world to help each other.’”
+
+“At any rate, mother, you need not have so large a family and work so
+hard; you can keep more help; you must gratify me in that.”
+
+“Well, I will, my son.”
+
+At this period of the conversation, the servant announced that a young
+man wanted to see Arthur.
+
+“It is Ned; tell him to come in here. Good evening, Edward; sit down
+beside me; this is more comfortable than the raft.”
+
+“Indeed it is, sir.”
+
+“I suppose you hardly care to sail salt water any more, you’ve had such
+bad luck this time.”
+
+“O, yes, sir; old Captain Osborne tells me some people have all their
+bad luck at once, and that it’s a good sign when a man falls overboard
+before the vessel leaves the wharf, or is wrecked at the first going
+off. He says that ship was cursed.”
+
+“Was cursed!” said Mrs. Brown; “what did he mean by that?”
+
+“He says, marm, that he knew that captain; that he was a cruel man to
+sailors, abused and starved them (that I know to be true); that it was
+thought he had murdered men. Are you going again, Mr. Brown?”
+
+“Yes, Edward. Captain Rhines and his folks are building me a vessel; I
+expect the keel is laid by this time.”
+
+“Can I go with you, sir?”
+
+“Yes, if your parents are willing.”
+
+“They are willing I should go with _you_, sir.”
+
+“It will be some months before the vessel is ready; now, you better go
+to school, and get all the learning you can.”
+
+“Yes, sir; shall I study navigation?”
+
+“No; I’ll teach you that on board ship. Study arithmetic and
+book-keeping, learn to keep accounts and write a business hand, and
+study trigonometry and geography. If we live to get to sea in the ship,
+we won’t starve, or abuse anybody, nor pass any wrecks, and try not to
+have the vessel cursed. We know what it is, my boy, to starve, and to
+be helped in distress, and will do as we have been done by.”
+
+“Mr. Brown, don’t you think the folks at Pleasant Cove and round there
+are the best folks that could be?”
+
+“Yes, Ned.”
+
+“But don’t you think Charlie is handsome,—the handsomest man that ever
+was?”
+
+“I think Captain Rhines is handsome.”
+
+“Yes, sir; but Charlie Bell; is it any hurt for me to call him Charlie?
+They all down there call each other so, and somehow I seem to love him
+more when I don’t put the handle on.”
+
+“No, indeed; do you love me better when you don’t put on the handle?”
+
+“No, sir; because I have been used to calling you Mr. Brown, and it
+comes natural, and I couldn’t love you any better than I do.”
+
+“I suppose, Ned, Charlie looks handsome to you, and Captain Rhines to
+me, because we had the most to do with them; but they are both really
+fine-looking men. Most people would think John Rhines a finer specimen
+of a man than Charlie. I have seen a great many men, but I never in
+all my life saw so fine a proportioned young man as John Rhines; if he
+lives, he’ll be almost as strong as Ben. Charlie is the handsomest,
+John the most manly.”
+
+“But, sir, do you know what I thought (I suppose I was wandering) after
+they took us off the raft, and I kind of came to? I opened my eyes,
+and Charlie was bending over the bed. I looked him right in the face;
+such a beautiful face, so much goodness in it, I thought I had got to
+heaven, and that an angel was hovering over me; and then, when I came
+to myself, he was so kind,—fed me with a spoon, took me in his arms,
+and put me in a chair, just as my mother would; and Ben Rhines, though
+he ain’t handsome, he is just as good as the rest. Uncle Isaac and Fred
+Williams, they are all just as good as they can be. I mean to go down
+there, and stay a month at Pleasant Cove, and Elm Island. They asked me
+to.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE YOUNG CAPTAIN UNDER FIRE.
+
+
+THE day is breaking. A vessel of two hundred and fifty tons lies
+completely enveloped in a dense, damp fog, and becalmed, off the coast
+of France, in the Mediterranean.
+
+It is impossible to discern an object twice the length of the vessel.
+Let us go alongside, and see if we can arrive at any conclusion
+respecting her character and business. She is evidently of American
+build, though she shows no colors; but spreading a cloud of canvas,
+modelled and rigged entirely with reference to speed, and though
+unarmed, with a much larger crew than would be required in the ordinary
+pursuits of commerce. The appearance of the crew as to dress is quite
+in contrast to that of a ship’s crew at the present time, for during
+the last forty years there has been a gradual change in the clothing
+of seafaring men, rendering it not only more comfortable, but much
+lighter.
+
+At that time, sailors wore, for head covering, tarpaulins. These were
+generally made by the men themselves at leisure moments on board ship.
+The process was this: as the course of trade in those days was chiefly
+to the West Indies, they procured the leaves of the dwarf palm, which
+they split into proper widths and platted, making the button, in the
+middle of the crown, of the same material, though some, as a matter
+of fancy, took the lead tags that came on bolts of canvas, and some
+a piece of money, and punching holes in the rim, began their work on
+that. After the braid was made, it was sewed together with ravellings
+of duck; then, if there was a pig killed on board, or a porpoise
+harpooned, they soaked the hat in the blood and let it dry, to make
+it stiff (this was sailors’ paste), then covered it with canvas, then
+mixed tar, grease, and salt water together, and daubed it with the
+composition to render it water-proof; but after a while they found that
+black paint was just as good, and much lighter. Then tarpaulins gave
+way to peaked red caps, Scotch caps, and finally the present dress was
+adopted. But the crew of the brigantine wore tarpaulins of still more
+ancient dates, and of enormous weight, made by covering thick wool hats
+with tar and canvas. The dress of landsmen at that time was breeches
+and long hose, but sailors wore trousers very wide at the bottom of
+the legs, the rule for the width, being the length of the foot; on
+their feet, for dress-up to go ashore, slippers that showed the joint
+of the great toe. Sheath knives were not worn, except occasionally by
+some Spanish sailor; they used large, square-pointed jack-knives of
+English manufacture, slung to the neck by a lanyard. The officers, both
+captain and mate, wore at sea short jackets. If a mate then had worn
+a long-tail coat, the sailors would have cut the tails off with their
+jack-knives. Every one of the ship’s company wore his hair in a cue,
+which was wound, when at sea, with an eel-skin, but with a ribbon when
+going ashore, and hung down the back. When at work it was frequently
+coiled around the top of the head and covered with the hat. Men prided
+themselves on the length of their cue, and in their watch below,
+watchmates combed out and tied up each other’s cues, and the cook or
+steward took care of the captain’s.
+
+She looks, for all the world, like a slaver. The use of copper on
+the bottom of vessels was scarcely known then, and as she rolls to
+windward, little spots of grease are seen floating on the water, and we
+perceive that her bottom is covered with a coat of tallow and soap, to
+increase her speed to the utmost.
+
+There is something in the appearance of the man who is climbing
+the main rigging that seems familiar. Looking more closely, we are
+delighted to recognize our old acquaintance Walter Griffin, now growing
+into a lithe, fine-looking young man. He is acting as second mate, that
+officer being sick with a carbuncle on the back of his neck, the pain
+of which made him nearly frantic.
+
+Walter was remarkably keen of sight and quick of hearing, and therefore
+went aloft as lookout, instead of a sailor. Although there was no
+possibility of discerning anything from the deck at any considerable
+distance, yet as the fog hung low, it was somewhat clearer aloft. There
+was also a probability that the fog might scale when the sun rose, or a
+breeze springing up sweep it away.
+
+There is evidently great anxiety among the ship’s company to gain
+intelligence, for all hands are on deck, the men clustered as thick as
+bees on the forecastle. The mate, a stranger, paces the quarter-deck.
+As Walter goes aloft aft, and another man forward, he cautions them, if
+they see or hear anything, not to hail the deck, but make a signal. A
+real racer, and no mistake, this craft. Lashed to the bulwarks are huge
+sweeps, with which the numerous crew (for they are evidently picked
+men of large proportions) can move her with considerable speed in a
+calm. But what is she? Some slaver from the French islands, built in
+Baltimore, and trying to get home? But how comes Walter Griffin there?
+To increase our surprise, as we look at the men grouped together on
+the forecastle, we recognize, seated on the heel of the bowsprit, our
+old friend Peterson, the largest man of the crew, and just behind him
+his son, who is fast emulating the massive proportions of his sire;
+but the usually cheerful face of the black was clouded with anxiety.
+On the end of the windlass, with one arm flung over the bitt, sits
+Sydney Chase, on the shank of the best bower anchor George Warren,
+a brother of Seth; and leaning against the stock of the anchor, in
+whispered conversation with him, is another old acquaintance, Danforth
+Eaton, recalling Elm Island, with all its home-like associations and
+interests. We almost expect to see Uncle Isaac and Captain Rhines make
+their appearance next. Between the knight-heads is Enoch Hadlock,
+a brother of Sally Rhines. The rest of the crew are Pettigrews,
+Godsoes, Merrithews, Lancasters, Warrens, Athertons, and Elwells, all
+belonging to Rhinesville, Pleasant Cove, or thereabouts. While thus
+perplexed, we gaze, seeking for some clew to guide us and unravel
+the mystery, the vessel, having no steerage-way, swings lazily
+round in the tide, presenting her stern to full view, where we read
+“Arthur Brown, Pleasant Cove,” and recognize in the boy sitting on
+the foretop-gallant-yard, little Ned, and the next moment the manly,
+handsome face of Arthur Brown appears in the companion way.
+
+It is all out now. Charlie has ground his broad-axe to some purpose.
+This is the vessel built by the Hard-scrabble boys and Captain
+Rhines for Arthur Brown, the noble offering of a manly, grateful
+heart, repaying to the son the debt incurred to the deceased parent,
+and bearing on her stern the name of him whose body sleeps beneath
+the waves that wash the cliffs of Abaco. What a contrast to the
+Hard-scrabble! what a testimony of the energy and progressive ideas
+of her builders! She is a model of symmetry and beauty; yet you can
+plainly see the lines of the West Wind, of famous memory. Charlie has
+put his whole soul in her; give her wind, she has evidently little to
+fear from the clumping British men-of-war.
+
+But there is not a breath of wind; she lies helpless off the port of
+Marseilles, which the English are blockading, deeply laden with a
+cargo, every article of which is contraband of war.
+
+It is the period when, after the outbreak of the French revolution,
+England had declared war against France, and, supreme at sea, was
+capturing the French West Indies, and blockading their home ports.
+The great majority of the people in this country, especially all the
+mercantile portion of the community, sympathized with France; they
+cherished a feeling of gratitude to her as our ally in the war of the
+revolution, a bitter hatred against England, growing out of the right
+of search, which she exercised in the impressment of seamen, which
+eventually led to the war of 1812.
+
+It was all the government could do, aided by the great personal
+influence of Washington, to restrain the country from entering into
+alliance with France against England, and coming to open hostilities.
+In this state of things, sharp vessels, manned by resolute men,
+conducted by skilful pilots, influenced by motives of friendship and
+self-interest on one side, and a bitter sense of oppression on the
+other, broke the blockade which Great Britain (whose fleets were
+scattered over a vast extent of ocean) attempted to maintain in respect
+to the French coasts and West Indies, and supplied them with both arms
+and provisions.
+
+This is the errand of the Arthur Brown to run the blockade of
+Marseilles, and accounts for the feeling of anxiety evident upon the
+faces of both officers and crew, since their fortunes are alike at
+stake, as each one, in lieu of wages, receives a share in the profits
+of the voyage, and if captured breaking the blockade both ship and
+cargo would be confiscated. There was also another and more terrible
+cause for anxiety—the dread of impressment. The commanders of English
+ships were accustomed to take men by force from American vessels,
+claiming them as British, disregarding the custom-house protection,
+which declared them to be American citizens, sometimes even tearing
+them up, and they were dragged away to spend their lives in the British
+fleets. A terrible instance is on record, illustrating the dread
+which in the minds of seamen was connected with impressment. A fine,
+stalwart, young American seaman, being about to be taken by force from
+an American merchantman, under pretence that he was an Englishman,
+seeing no way of escape from a bondage worse than death, clasped the
+boarding officer in his arms and leaped overboard with him, when both
+sank, to rise no more till the great day of account.
+
+In the course of half an hour, in obedience to a signal from Walter, a
+man ascended the rigging, and, coming down, reported that Griffin was
+sure he heard a rooster crow, and also the sound of oars in a rowlock.
+
+The tide, which was at the flood, had drifted the vessel to the
+neighborhood of a large rock, that was dimly seen through the fog. The
+captain called Peterson aft. “What rock is that, Peterson?” The black
+gave him the French name, and pointed it out to him on the chart.
+
+“Then we are right in with the land?”
+
+“Yes, massa cap’n; there’s another one inside this, right abreast the
+harbor.”
+
+Peterson, who was getting somewhat in years, having broken off his
+intemperate habits, and obtaining good and constant employment at
+home, had given up all thoughts of ever again going to sea; but
+Captain Rhines persuaded him to go in the “Arthur Brown” as pilot and
+interpreter. Peterson’s parents were Guinea negroes; but the boy was
+born in Martinique, where his parents were slaves, and was sold, when
+a child, to the master of a vessel that traded to Marseilles, during
+which time he became perfectly acquainted with the harbor. The French
+captain finally sold him to Captain Hadlock, the father of Sally
+Rhines, who sold him to Peterson, with whom he remained till slavery
+was abolished in New England.
+
+Captain Rhines had frequently availed himself of his knowledge as
+pilot, well knew his worth and reliability, and therefore insisted
+upon his going with Arthur Brown. No other person on board could speak
+a word of French, except Walter Griffin, and he not fluently, as he
+had learned it but a short time before, but was daily improving by
+conversation with Peterson.
+
+There was now a signal from the foremast, Ned Gates reporting that he
+heard blows as of a hammer on iron; and while all hands were anxiously
+listening, the sound of a boatswain’s whistle was faintly audible.
+
+“Man the sweeps,” cried the captain, running to the compass to note the
+quarter from which the sound came. Taking the helm himself, while the
+whole ship’s company applied their force to the sweeps, he steered in
+a direction opposite to that from which the sound that had so alarmed
+them proceeded. An hour thus passed without any repetition of the
+sounds, when the fog suddenly lifted, the sun broke out, and they found
+themselves almost within range of an English frigate on the port bow,
+while a sloop of war lay some miles off on the other quarter. The crew
+redoubled their efforts at the oars.
+
+“It’s no use, boys,” said the mate; “you might as well put on your
+jackets; the frigate is getting out her boats; they’ll be alongside of
+us before we can sweep half a mile.”
+
+“Sweep away, men,” cried the young captain, who was coolly watching the
+clouds; “something may yet turn up in our favor.”
+
+The man-o’-war’s-men, well aware of the character of the chase by the
+efforts put forth to escape, and anticipating a rich prize, strained
+every nerve, coming down upon their helpless victim with the speed of
+an arrow. The sound of the oars in the rowlocks could now be distinctly
+heard as the two leading boats diverged, one making for the fore and
+the other for the main chains of the “Arthur.”
+
+An expression of bitter anguish passed over the face of Arthur, as
+he felt that all his fair prospects, the hopes of Captain Rhines and
+others who had so nobly stepped forth to aid and start him in life,
+were to be blighted in the bud.
+
+The boats were now close aboard, and the bowmen stood up to grapple the
+prize.
+
+“Pull, men, for your lives!” shouted the captain, whose eye caught the
+sails; “there’s a breeze coming; _her length_, only her _length_ ahead.”
+
+They exerted themselves to the utmost, while, in pure recklessness,
+Peterson burst into a song used by whalemen when towing a whale.
+
+Despite their efforts, the foremost boat gained the quarter, and flung
+a grappling; it caught. Just then a light air filled the loftier sails,
+although there was not a breath of wind on deck. Slight as it was, it
+was sufficient to shoot the swift craft ahead with accelerated speed,
+leaving one boat far astern, towing and well nigh upsetting the other.
+A sharp axe in the hand of Peterson descended upon the grappling
+warp, and the boat was left astern, as the increasing breeze filled,
+partially, the larger sails of the “Arthur.”
+
+A broadside burst from the side of the frigate; but the shot all fell
+far short, covering the water with foam.
+
+The breeze now sensibly increased. The direction in which it sprung up
+brought the frigate dead to windward.
+
+“Dis be a bully grappling,” said Peterson, taking up the now harmless
+implement. “Me take him home to Massa Rhines, to moor his boat with.”
+
+The light breeze, which propelled the swift brigantine with
+considerable velocity, was scarcely felt by the frigate; but as it
+gradually freshened she began to move through the water, and picking up
+her boats, crowded all sail in pursuit. But she had, during the light
+wind, lost much precious time, profiting by which the brigantine had
+increased the distance between them.
+
+But now the situation of things was entirely reversed. The frigate,
+though no match for the swift, sharp-built American, close-hauled on
+a wind; yet dead before it, her great bulk and vast cloud of sail
+rendered her superior; besides, as she could carry sail much longer,
+and the wind was every moment increasing, she would, after a while,
+drown the smaller vessel out. She was too near, at the outset, for the
+brigantine to haul on the wind, and endeavor to cross her bows, as
+already the shots from her guns began to fall uncomfortably near. The
+wind was blowing in squalls; when the squall struck, the frigate would
+gain, and almost heave her shot on board; when the wind slacked, the
+brigantine would gain. Directly ahead lay a cluster of islands, reefs,
+and outlying rocks; one island was called Pomegues, the other Rataneau.
+These islands are now connected by a breakwater; then they were not.
+The brow of the young captain now wore an expression of great anxiety;
+he called the mate and Peterson to his councils.
+
+“We are doing all we can,” said the captain to his subordinates, “and
+as the wind increases we bury and she gains; her shot will soon be
+coming aboard.”
+
+“I see no way,” replied the mate, “but to haul our sheets aft, and
+endeavor to cross her bows. If we could once get him on a wind, we
+could shake him off.”
+
+“Then,” replied the captain, “she would run square down on us; it
+is useless to attempt that. What is your advice, pilot?” addressing
+himself to the black, who was too modest to obtrude his opinion upon
+his superiors.
+
+“Massa cap’n,” said the black, “dis darky know all dese rocks jes as
+little boy know his letters in de book. Dis island on de starboard
+hand, he Rataneau; bold water close along shore, till get down to de
+pint; den he shoal, many rocks, bad place. It low water now; we luff
+right round de pint ob de island, right in among de shoals and rocks.”
+
+“Then we shall go ashore.”
+
+“Nebber you fear. Dis chile carry you clear. Dis darky know frigate no
+dare come in. We drew leben feet ob water. ‘Spose he draw twenty-fibe;
+he stand off good way; his shot no reach us. Den you be on de wind,
+close-hauled, beat up ’twixt de islands and de main, hab smooth water;
+’spose frigate he try beat up too; he no do any ting; wid dis vessel
+on de wind, he nowhar. ’Spose he beat up toder side; den he hab _rough
+water_; he do noting at all.”
+
+There was not much time for deliberation, for, even while they were
+speaking, a shot carried away the port davit, and splintered the planks
+of the stern.
+
+“If that shot had struck the main boom,” said the mate,—“and it did
+not lack much of it,—all had been up with us.”
+
+“You are right, pilot. Mr. Rogers, brace up the yards.”
+
+While this manœuvre was being executed, a succession of terrible
+screams arose from the forward part of the ship.
+
+“Some poor fellow is struck,” cried the captain; “run forward, Mr.
+Rogers, and see who it is.”
+
+The second mate was now heard singing out, “Avast hauling on that
+fore-brace. Slack it off handsomely.” Four or five men were at the same
+time seen running up the fore-rigging.
+
+In those days iron trusses to lower yards by (which they swing in all
+directions as easily as a door on its hinges) were not known; but they
+were made of rope, covered with leather, and very stiff. A man must be
+sent up to overhaul them when the yards were swung.
+
+Danforth Eaton went up to overhaul the weather-truss. The wind blew
+the end of his cue—he had the longest cue on board—into the hole of
+the cleat; it jammed fast, and the men bracing the yard hauled it in,
+pulling out the hair by the roots, starting the skin from the flesh,
+and well nigh breaking his neck.
+
+“Cut the blasted thing off,” cried the sufferer (his eyes bloodshot,
+and the tears streaming down his cheeks) to Walter, who was the first
+to reach him.
+
+Eaton never wore another cue, and his example was followed by a few of
+his shipmates; and at length cues went out of fashion altogether.
+
+The next shot fell wide; but as both vessels were now brought nearer
+to the wind, it was evident, by the balls falling short, that the
+brigantine was increasing the distance between them, which became still
+greater as the man-of-war, afraid of the shoals, gave the island a
+wider berth, while the brigantine, under the skilful pilotage of the
+black, running as near as possible to the rocks, rounded the point of
+the island, gradually coming up more and more to the wind, till, having
+passed the last shoal, at a signal from Peterson, the yards were braced
+sharp, the main sheet hauled flat aft, and she shot out into a clear
+channel.
+
+“Dere,” cried the black (who had stood on the bow, with his eye
+glancing alternately from the water to the sails), as he flung his
+tarpaulin upon the deck, and wiped the sweat from his forehead, “where
+dat frigate now? Dis chile no see her,” he exclaimed, looking straight
+to windward. “You ole man, Peterson, you lose de eyesight.”
+
+A merry laugh went round, as the captain exclaimed, “You are looking
+the wrong way, Peterson. Look to leeward. Well done, my old pilot;
+reckon on a suit of clothes for yourself, and a dress for the old
+woman. I see you are all Captain Rhines recommended you to be, and more
+too.”
+
+“Me tank you, massa cap’n; tank you, sar. Cap’n Rhines he know dis
+chile well as he know hisself; wind blow awful; big sea; take two men
+hold toder man’s hair on; ship scudding; Massa Rhines, he come on deck;
+‘Mr. Strout!’ ‘Ay, ay, sar.’ ‘Who got de helm?’ ‘Flour, sar.’ (Dey call
+me Flour den.) He say, ‘Den I go below. Gib me call, any change in de
+weder.’ ‘Ay, ay, sar.’”
+
+“Here comes another,” said the mate, as a hundred gun ship, aroused by
+the firing, stood out from the roadstead of Marseilles.
+
+“Here comes Grandfather Bull,” cried the captain, proud of the sailing
+qualities of his craft. “On a taut bowline I wouldn’t fear their whole
+navy. Come along, old gentleman.”
+
+The fleets of Great Britain were at this time so fully occupied in all
+parts of the world, that but a small number of vessels could be spared
+to blockade the most important of the French ports, the heavier ships
+lying just out of range of the forts, and patrolling the roadstead with
+boats, while the lighter vessels scoured the coast. In bad weather they
+were obliged to ride it out in an open roadstead, or run to sea—a time
+always improved by the blockade-runners who were inside to get out,
+and by those outside, while the fleet was scattered, to run in.
+
+It was of the greatest importance for blockade-runners to ascertain the
+position of the fleet in the daytime, and, eluding the outside vessels,
+run by the others in the night, taking the chance of an attack from
+their boats, and a broadside. In making the coast in thick weather,
+they were always liable to find themselves, as in the present instance,
+in the very jaws of the enemy.
+
+Nothing but her sweeps saved the “Arthur Brown,” by preventing the
+boats from boarding her, till the breeze came. The frigate, finding the
+chase was hopeless, tacked ship, and returned to the coast; but so far
+were the crew of the brigantine from relinquishing their purpose, that
+they kept in sight, and the moment the twilight came on, stood in for
+the land, guided by the frigate’s lights, while all was dark on board
+the brigantine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+LITTLE NED AND HIS MOTHER.
+
+
+WHEN Walter Griffin flung down the yard-stick, and jumped over Fred
+Williams’s counter for the last time, he went directly on board the
+Casco, and made several voyages to Cadiz with Isaac Murch, who valued
+his services highly, and offered him promotion to remain with him;
+but arriving from a voyage while the “Arthur Brown” was building,
+the temptation to go in her on shares, and engage in all the perils
+and excitements attendant upon running the gauntlet of the enemy’s
+cruisers, proved perfectly irresistible to a boy of Walter’s sanguine,
+fearless nature; and, as the vessel would be launched and away before
+he could make another voyage and return, he resolved to wait for her.
+
+In order to make the most of his time, he went over to Elm Island to
+study navigation with Lion Ben, and then, by Captain Rhines’s advice,
+to Salem, where was a French family, who, having fled from their native
+country, during the revolution, in poverty, leaving their property
+behind, supported themselves by teaching French, giving music lessons,
+and employing themselves in any way which would bring the means of
+subsistence. They also found no lack of sympathy among the inhabitants,
+who, being a seafaring community, not only shared in the universal good
+will at that time felt towards the French, but also were naturally
+touched by the miseries of those who, having seen better days, and
+accustomed to every comfort, found themselves, in old age, poor and in
+a strange land.
+
+Fred Williams had an uncle in Salem, a tanner. Walter boarded with him,
+doing work enough in the tan-yard to defray the expense of his board.
+Thus, under the instruction of persons of culture, and in daily contact
+with them, he not only obtained a knowledge of the language, but
+learned to speak it properly, and in a manner quite different from the
+patois of Peterson, which, picked up from the lower class of people,
+was, however, fluent, coarse, and vulgar.
+
+Salem, as our readers will recollect, was the home of Ned Gates, who,
+ready to like anybody who came from the neighborhood of Pleasant Cove,
+received Walter with open arms, insisted upon having him at his house
+to tea, and to stay all night, about half the time, and spent every
+spare moment he could get with him.
+
+Ned would go down to the yard and help Walter break bark, pull hides
+out of the pits, take out the spent tan, and hang up the sides of
+leather to dry, in order that his friend might have more time to study
+French, and stuck to him like his skin. Were they not going to be
+shipmates together, and share in perils?
+
+Ned’s parents never wanted him to go to sea, and did all in their
+power to prevent it; but finding his heart set upon it to such an
+extent that he was utterly indifferent to everything else, and
+unhappy, they yielded with the best grace possible. But when he was
+shipwrecked, and came so near perishing with hunger on the raft, they
+were greatly encouraged, thinking it would incline him to comply with
+their wishes and abandon the sea. Ned’s mother was not only a most
+affectionate parent, but a warm-hearted Christian woman. Like all
+Christian mothers, she had been accustomed to hear her little boy say
+his prayers, and continued the practice after he came to be a large
+boy. Ned would leave the light burning, and his mother would come up,
+sit by his bedside, hear him repeat the Lord’s Prayer, then kneel down
+beside the bed and pray herself. Ned was a good boy, and loved his
+mother dearly, but was full of life, and sometimes would do something
+out of the way, so much so, that his mother, after hearing him say his
+prayer, would get up, take the candle in her hand as though about to
+leave the room, observing, “Edward, you have been a bad boy, to-day; I
+don’t know as I ought to pray with you to-night.” This never failed to
+bring Ned to terms. He would own up, if it was any concealed mischief,
+confess, and promise amendment, for he could not bear to go to sleep
+till his mother had prayed with him; yet he was nearly sixteen years
+old, as smart a boy as ever went aloft to furl a royal or reeve signal
+halyards. When the crew abandoned the sinking ship, Ned, as we have
+before stated, preferred to stick by the captain.
+
+Who says vulgarity, coarseness, and profanity are necessary
+concomitants of courage?
+
+“Edward,” said his mother, as he took the candle to go to bed, the
+first night after getting home from Pleasant Cove, “leave the light;
+I’ll come and get it.”
+
+“Mother,” said he, after saying his prayers, “how nice it seems to be
+once more in the old bed, and say my prayers to you, as I used to do!”
+
+“I hope, Edward, you didn’t forget them while you were away from me.”
+
+“I never turned in a night without it; but I didn’t have any mother to
+come and get the light and kiss me when I got through.”
+
+“I hope, my child, you did more than that. I hope, when you were
+undergoing such misery on that dreadful raft, you prayed to God in your
+own words, and out of your own heart.”
+
+“No, I didn’t, mother.”
+
+“Not pray, when there seemed nothing but death before you—a child
+instructed as you have been?”
+
+“No, mother. I suppose you want me to tell you just as it was.”
+
+“Certainly, my child; but didn’t the captain, James Watts, or Arthur
+Brown?”
+
+“The captain was swearing part of the time, and crying the rest. One
+minute he’d say he knew some vessel would come along and take us off,
+and seem quite cheerful; the next minute he would wring his hands,
+and swear, and cry, and say we should all starve to death on that
+raft. After the little water and provision the men left us was gone,
+he took to drinking salt water. It made him crazy, just as Mr. Brown
+told him it would, for he said he had heard his father say so. Then
+he ran off on the idea that we were going to kill and eat him. If he
+saw us talking together, he would say we were plotting to kill him
+and drink his blood. Mr. Brown said the second mate told him that he
+passed a crew of men once on a wreck, and wouldn’t take any notice of
+their signals, though they hoisted a signal of distress, and now he was
+getting his pay for it. I suppose it was the idea he took in his head,
+that we would kill and eat him, that made him jump overboard in the
+night, when we were all asleep.”
+
+“That was awful; but didn’t Arthur Brown or James Watts ever call upon
+God?”
+
+“Not as I know of; what they did inside I don’t know, but I never heard
+them.”
+
+“It seems very strange to me that a boy brought up to know and respect
+all good things taught in the Catechism, and who never went to bed a
+night in his life, till he went from home, without saying his prayers,
+and having his mother pray with him, should be on a raft in the ocean,
+starving, death staring him in the face, and not call upon God. I can’t
+understand it; I should think that would be just the time, if ever in
+the world.”
+
+“Well, it ain’t, mother, though it may seem strange to you. It seems
+strange to myself now; but I suppose, if I was in the same place, I
+should do just so again. I did think of my prayers, and said them, as I
+told you; but whenever I thought of doing anything more, it seemed to
+me so mean to pray to God because I was in a hard place, when I never
+did it when I wasn’t, that I couldn’t—I didn’t dare to. Then I was
+thinking, most of the time, about being taken off, watching for some
+vessel, or dreaming and thinking about eating and drinking.”
+
+“Dreaming about eating?”
+
+“O, yes, mother, that was the worst of it; when my tongue was so
+swelled, as big as two tongues, and I was so weak from hunger that I
+could hardly move, I’d fall into a doze, and dream that there was a
+great table set full of everything that I loved, and then wake up, and
+find it all a dream. One time I dreamed I was travelling on a road in
+a real hot day, and saw a little wood on the side of a hill. I went to
+it, and right between two great maple trees was a barrel sunk down in
+the ground, and full of clear, cold water. It was a boiling spring, and
+a flat stone right beside it. I thought I knelt down on the stone, and
+looked way down into the clear, beautiful water, saw grains of sand
+rolling over and over in it, and tried to drink; but whenever I got my
+parched lips close to the water, it went away, and in my struggles to
+reach it I woke; and there right before me was poor James Watts’s dead
+face, and Mr Brown looking so pale and ghostly I thought he was dead,
+and I all alone on the wide ocean. When I saw it was all a dream, I
+burst into tears; after that, began to grow stupid and wandering, and
+didn’t sense anything more till I found myself in a bed, and somebody
+putting water in my mouth; and don’t you think, mother, I went right
+back where I left off in my dream, and thought I was drinking out of
+that spring? but it was Charlie Bell’s wife putting water in my mouth.
+I tell you what it is, mother; people may think so who don’t know; but
+if they were in such a place, they would find it wasn’t a very nice
+time to be good.”
+
+“My dear boy,” replied his mother, affected to tears by the narration,
+“now that God has restored you to us, you have suffered so much, and
+seen what the life of a sailor is, and what they are exposed to, I hope
+you will never leave us again. You are all the son I have got—do stay
+with us and your sisters. You have had a good education; your father
+will take you right into the store with him, or he will set you up in
+business, when you are old enough. There is Henry Bradshaw, that you
+used to sit with in school; your old playmate; you used to love him,
+and was just like a brother with him. He is going into business soon.
+You can go with him, or you can learn a trade. Your father will send
+you to college—he will do anything for you to keep you at home. If you
+could only know what we underwent, after we heard the vessel was lost,
+and thought you were lost in her, and what a thanksgiving there was in
+the house after we got Captain Rhines’s letter, you certainly never
+would leave us again.”
+
+Ned was not taken by surprise, for he knew his mother’s heart, and
+loved her. It was no easy task to deny the plea of such a mother, under
+such circumstances, and the very first night of getting home, too. He
+lay a long time silent, with eyes shut fast. His mother saw the tears
+come out from under the closed lids, and, as she wiped them away, began
+to hope her desires were to be realized.
+
+“Mother,” at length he said, “you will think I am the worst, most
+hard-hearted boy that ever was in the world.”
+
+The mother trembled, but made no reply.
+
+“Mother, I must go to sea. I can’t, indeed, I can’t stay at home.”
+
+“But only think what you suffered, and how near you were to death.”
+
+“But I didn’t die, mother. I’m all right now, and heavier than I ever
+was in my life. I was weighed in Mr. Williams’s store the day before I
+left, and weighed ten pounds more than I ever did before, without my
+coat or waistcoat. Only think of that.”
+
+“But only think what you suffered!”
+
+“Don’t people suffer at home, mother? Just see what Will Webb has
+suffered, all tied up in knots with rheumatism; and Tom Savage, with
+the spine complaint. I do believe, if I knew I should go through all I
+have been through the next voyage, I should have to go. Ain’t I a fool,
+mother?”
+
+“I think you are very foolish to leave a good home and kind parents
+without any necessity for such hardships. Only think of your cousin,
+poor James Ross, who fell from the main-mast and was killed, the very
+first day out.”
+
+“Well, mother, perhaps he would have died if he had been at home.
+Captain Rhines says, when God wants a man, he’ll call him; and anybody
+is just as safe on the royal yard as on deck, or at home in his bed.
+Isn’t that so, mother?”
+
+“I don’t know, my dear; I think I should a great deal rather have you
+at home in this bed. Suppose you are sick at sea. There is no one to
+take care of you.”
+
+“Yes, mother, Captain Brown and Walter will.”
+
+Mrs. Gates knelt down beside the bed, and prayed for submission to bear
+what she felt to be a bitter trial—resigning a beloved, affectionate
+boy to the hardships and chances of a life at sea.
+
+“Mother,” said Ned, as she took the light in her hand to go down
+stairs, “isn’t Walter Griffin a splendid boy?”
+
+“Yes; too good a boy to go to sea.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+MOONLIGHT CONVERSATION BY THE BROOK.
+
+
+WALTER well deserved the praise lavished upon him by Ned. He had
+little resemblance to his brother Joe, or indeed any other member
+of the family, except in size. He was of large frame; Joe had great
+square jaws, high cheek bones, his hair coarse and bristling, and
+his joints large,—he was what is termed, in common parlance,
+double-jointed,—and, though exceeding agile, was loose-limbed, and
+somewhat awkward in his movements.
+
+Walter, on the other hand, was compactly built, graceful in all his
+movements; fair complexion, regular features, fine hair, that curled
+upon the least exertion, and something in the expression of his face
+that inspired confidence and attracted at once; though full of humor,
+he possessed not a particle of Joe’s fondness for practical jokes.
+Every whit as resolute and fond of rough sports as any of his race,
+he had what none of the rest possessed—imagination and sentiment; he
+was thoughtful, reflective, and a vein of almost feminine delicacy ran
+through his whole nature.
+
+All that Joe thought of, when he looked upon a noble maple, was, how
+much potash it would make, whether a keel-piece could be got out of it;
+or upon a majestic pine, how many boards it would scale.
+
+But Walter looked upon them with other eyes; the murmur of the streams
+and the glance of the river through the green foliage appealed to
+susceptibilities that did not exist in the breast of the other. In
+all other respects he was Griffin to the backbone. He was a universal
+favorite; all the boys loved Walter Griffin, and he loved them in
+return. He loved John Rhines, Fred Williams, and Uncle Isaac, but
+Charlie Bell was his ideal of perfection, and, though so much his
+senior, seemed nearer than all the rest. The thoughtful tenderness of
+Charlie’s nature touched an answering chord in that of Walter; he found
+something there, he could not find among his mates.
+
+Charlie, trading with Fred, and owning a portion of the goods, was
+often in the store, and brought a good deal in contact with Walter;
+they naturally grew together.
+
+When he found Charlie was going to be married, he told John he was real
+sorry, because he knew he shouldn’t see so much of him, and he was
+afraid he wouldn’t love him so much. But he soon found, to his great
+gratification, that “the more angels in the heart, the more room.”
+
+No sooner was Charlie married than he bought a pew in the
+meeting-house, and asked Walter to sit with him (as Mr. Griffin had a
+large family, and their pew was always crowded), and frequently invited
+him to tea; he soon began to feel at home there, and found that he saw
+a great deal more of Charlie than when he was obliged to go on to Elm
+Island to see him, or met him occasionally at the store.
+
+Charlie’s religion was not something put upon him like lacker upon
+metal, but it was a part of him, as much so as the very blood in the
+chambers of his heart, or the pulse in his veins; it made him happy,
+and it was an instinct with him to communicate that which so blessed
+himself to those he loved. It was not a task; he could not help it.
+‘Twas just as much a part of his nature, as to press the hand or kiss
+the lips of those he loved.
+
+The period occupied by our narrative was long before the era of Sabbath
+schools, notwithstanding young people by no means grew up, in the days
+of our fathers, without religious instruction, and that of the most
+substantial kind; since _parents then_ discharged, in respect to their
+children, the duties which are now but too often surrendered to Sabbath
+school teachers, and the material for mission schools, now so abundant,
+did not then exist.
+
+Parson Goodhue was accustomed, once a month, to assemble all the
+children, as also the older boys and girls, in the school-house on
+Saturday afternoon, and to put them the questions contained in the
+Westminster Catechism, previously committed to memory.
+
+Walter Griffin had made all his preparations for going to sea, as a
+green hand, in the Casco, with Isaac Murch; the ship was ready to sail
+Monday, for Cadiz. Walter having attended the catechising for the last
+time, when he saw all his schoolmates, and received a parting blessing
+from the good minister, started up to Pleasant Cove, to take leave of
+Charlie, whom he met coming from the barn, where he had been tying up
+his oxen.
+
+“Good evening, Mr. Bell.”
+
+“Good evening, Walter. I was afraid you would go away without coming to
+see me.”
+
+“I couldn’t think of that, sir; I came up to the school-house, and then
+kept on.”
+
+“Then you are all dressed for Sabbath, and I shan’t let you go from
+here to-night; stop right here, and go to meeting with us in the
+morning.”
+
+“I fear I shall hinder you, sir.”
+
+“Not a whit. Uncle Isaac has been helping me break up, and has just
+gone from here; we’ve done work enough for one day. I’m going to clean
+up and rest; come, go in; supper is about ready.”
+
+Walter assisted Charlie to milk, and do his chores, and as the twilight
+came on, they sat down together beneath a tree near the edge of a bank,
+where the brook met the waters of the bay.
+
+It was a most picturesque, lovely spot, one that Charlie dearly
+loved, and to which he never took any one who he knew was incapable
+of appreciating it; he didn’t like to have his chosen spots like an
+unfenced common, for everybody and everything to trample on.
+
+It was a warm evening, the first of September; the season had been
+moist and shady; not a leaf gave token of decay. Just above them they
+saw the white foam of the water, as it fell in broken wreaths of foam
+over the precipice, and caught again the gleam of it through the
+leaves, as with tranquil current it met the waters of the bay, rolling
+with a low ripple upon the white sand of the beach.
+
+They sat with their backs against a large oak that grew double, forking
+just above their heads, and thus, being rather flat than round, offered
+a convenient rest.
+
+“Walter,” said Charlie, putting his arm around the boy, and drawing his
+head on to his breast, “how do you like this spot?”
+
+“I think it is most beautiful. I could sit here all night and listen to
+that waterfall, and watch the moonbeams glancing on the water.”
+
+“The first time I ever saw this place, I came here alone, on very much
+such a night as this. I loved it then, and have loved it more and more
+ever since. I shall miss you very much, Walter; only think how many
+Sabbath days we’ve sat side by side in meeting; I hope there’s some
+good come of it all. Walter, do you ever pray?”
+
+There was no reply, but a tear fell on Charlie’s hand; at length he
+said, “No, sir; I never did.”
+
+“But you say the Lord’s Prayer?”
+
+“No, sir.”
+
+“Didn’t your mother learn you to say it when a child?”
+
+“No, sir; there ain’t any goodness in our folks; we are a hard, rough
+set; ain’t like other people; only think about wrestling, shooting, and
+falling timber. When Joe became religious, he wanted to have prayers
+Sabbath night; but father wouldn’t hear to it. Now he’s got a house of
+his own, he can do as he likes.”
+
+“But you are not a rough, thoughtless boy, Walter; you are a gentle,
+loving boy, and you think; all the Griffin there is in you, is on the
+outside; you love the woods, flowers, the waters, and this beautiful
+spot touches you, just as it does me.”
+
+Walter made no reply, but pressed Charlie’s hand.
+
+“And you love me?”
+
+“I do, Mr. Bell, with all my heart and soul.”
+
+“Then how can you help loving God, who made everything and everybody
+that you love and admire?”
+
+“I know I ought.”
+
+“Perhaps you don’t like to have me talk to you in this way.”
+
+“Yes, sir, I do; I could hear you talk forever.”
+
+“Walter, I don’t believe there was ever a boy in the world had more
+friends than you have.”
+
+“That is just what I was thinking myself, this very afternoon, when all
+the boys and girls came round me at the catechising, and seemed sorry
+to have me go away.”
+
+“Don’t you think you owe a good deal to your Maker? and ought you not
+to tell him so?”
+
+“Yes, sir, I know I ought to; but I can’t.”
+
+“You could ask me to speak to the captain, and get you a chance to go
+in the Casco.”
+
+“O, sir, you, Mr. Rhines, and Uncle Isaac are so good, I don’t feel
+afraid to ask you anything.”
+
+“God is better.”
+
+“But he seems a great way off.”
+
+“He would seem near if you would go to him, and try to get acquainted.
+Besides, he has spoken first, and asked you to come.”
+
+“I’m afraid you will think I am a very rude boy.”
+
+“You are like all boys, and all the rest of us, before we begin to
+think of better things. Now, Walter, there’s just one thing I want you
+to do.”
+
+“What is that, sir?”
+
+“You know I have been on the ocean somewhat, and know what it is to be
+there, and how sailor men feel, although you will soon know much more
+about the matter than I do. There is no time, as you will soon learn,
+when a sailor man spends his time so well as in the middle watch of a
+pleasant night, when it is fair weather and moderate—everything going
+along smooth. It is then, if a man has any conscience, it wakes up;
+if he has had good bringing up, and good instructions, they come to
+his mind; it is then his thoughts are homeward bound, and he thinks of
+parents, brothers, sisters, and all he loves best on earth. Then he
+travels over the whole ground, from childhood clear along. You’ll find
+it so.”
+
+“I expect I shall spend many an hour in that way, and then I shall
+think of you and all your kindness to me.”
+
+“It isn’t kindness, Walter; it is more than that. I have enjoyed it as
+much as you. There are some beautiful nights at sea, as well as dark
+and dismal ones. There will be nights just like this, when the moon
+will glance on the long swell just as it now does on the little ripple
+on that beach, and the stars will seem like so many eyes looking down
+upon you, and the royal will look in the shadow as if it reached the
+sky.”
+
+“I know I shall enjoy such nights, and wish them longer.”
+
+“They make up for a good many rough ones, and you can live them over
+many times. Well, when such a night comes, I want you, as you look on
+the moon and stars, to remember that as the same moon is shining on me,
+looking down on this little brook, and into the cove, so the same good
+heavenly Father is over us both; that then I shall look at that moon,
+and think of you; this little nook, the trees, and all we’ve said to
+one another here will travel out on the ocean to meet you; then perhaps
+you may think, I wonder if some good friend is not thinking of and
+praying for me; ought I not to do something for myself?”
+
+“I thank you for all these pleasant thoughts. I never thought of such
+things before. It is not the way Parson Goodhue talks to us about
+religion.”
+
+“Well, he is a wise man. I can only talk in a simple way, as it comes
+to me, and out of my heart.”
+
+“But you don’t talk to me like as anybody else does. Captain Rhines
+often gives me good advice, and so does Uncle Isaac, about not
+drinking, and getting into bad company, or being profane, and about
+saving my money. But you don’t, somehow, seem to give me advice, or
+ever mention those things. I like to have them take notice of me, and
+always thank them; but when you talk _with_ me,—for you don’t seem to
+talk _at_ me,—I want to put my arms right round your neck.”
+
+“Don’t spoil a good mind, Walter.” And the boy actually embraced him.
+“People have different ways of looking at the same thing,” continued
+Charlie; “you wouldn’t want all your friends to be just alike—would
+you?”
+
+“No, indeed, sir, any more than I would want all the flowers to be of
+one form and color, or all the birds to look alike and sing the same
+song.”
+
+“Well, if you only love Him who made and gave you everything half as
+well as you love me, who have done, and can do, very little for you,
+all these other matters will take care of themselves.”
+
+“Please talk some more, sir.”
+
+“It is time to go. We’ve been here a great while. They will all be
+a-bed.”
+
+“O, sir, we haven’t been here but a little while.”
+
+“How long do you think?”
+
+“Half an hour.”
+
+“We’ve been here an hour and a half; I know by the tide. It was high
+water when we sat down here. You see that white rock just breaking the
+water?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“Well, when that rock is fairly out, it is two hours ebb. Walter, what
+makes you so bent upon going to sea? You might do well on a farm. Fred
+would, in the course of another year, take you in as partner. If you
+want money, I will lend it to you. Then you can be at home among your
+friends. Is it because you think you can make money faster?”
+
+“No, sir; I don’t think money is everything. There’s Isaac Murch, as
+straightforward, kind-hearted a fellow as ever lived,—as smart a man
+as was ever wrapped up in skin; but he thinks money is everything.
+He’ll give, too, especially to a good cause; but it comes hard. He’ll
+go through a deal to get a dollar. I mean to have a good living,—I
+think that’s for every one who strives for it,—and earn my wages,
+wherever I am. I don’t believe in wasting, or any of your low stuff,
+but I had rather have friends who love me for my own sake, good health,
+enjoy myself, and have others enjoy themselves with me, than all the
+money in the world.”
+
+“Money won’t buy happiness, Walter.”
+
+“You know, sir, you were saying just now that you hoped you shouldn’t
+have to grind your broad-axe again for six years; you did so long to
+turn over some of this wild land, plant an orchard, have grain, fruit
+and flowers, and cattle in the pastures.”
+
+“Yes, and I felt more than I said.”
+
+“But haven’t you made pretty much all the property you have out of the
+sea?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Yet you want to work on the land.”
+
+“Because I love to. I love to work with tools, but I want some time to
+plant and sow, and see things grow, whether I make anything or not;
+it’s my nature.”
+
+“So it’s my nature to go to sea. I wish you could see all the boats
+Flour (I mean Peterson) has made and rigged for me. I wouldn’t care if
+there was only land enough to build wharves to tie vessels up, to clean
+and grave their bottoms, and all the rest was water.”
+
+“But it is a hard life, and rude company. You are a quiet, thoughtful
+boy, and as affectionate as a woman.”
+
+“There’s a hard streak in all us Griffins; so I suppose there must be
+in me.”
+
+This was the boy Ned Gates was so much attached to, and helped do his
+work at the tan-yard, and respecting whom Mrs. Gates said he was too
+good to go to sea (this good lady seeming to think it best to have only
+bad men at sea).
+
+Naturally adapted to sea life, he was already (but little more than a
+boy) acting as second mate, and, by his keenness of perception, was the
+first to discern the whereabouts of the enemy.
+
+To say that Walter and Ned were intimate, and enjoyed themselves
+together, would be superfluous. They were fortunately in the same
+watch, slept in the same berth, and became more attached to each other
+every day. Ned was smart and ambitious, but light. He always aspired
+to furl the royal, which he could do well enough, when it was dry, at
+any rate, by furling the yard-arms first; but when it was wet, and a
+gale of wind, it was rather more than a match for him. At such times,
+Walter, who knew the ambition and grit of his little shipmate, and was
+unwilling to mortify him before the crew, would wait till he saw the
+sail blow away from him once or twice, and then run up and help him.
+
+Ned was very desirous of raising a cue, and even had dim visions of a
+beard. He sported a concern about three inches in length, and which
+very much resembled the appendage of a Suffolk pig. It was so short
+that Walter, who combed and dressed it for him when the rest of the
+watch were asleep, found it very difficult to make the eel-skin stay
+on, even with a clove hitch, and, to Ned’s great indignation, suggested
+that he should put some tar on it, in order to make the string stick.
+Walter, on the other hand, boasted a cue nearly a foot in length, and
+the rudiments of a beard.
+
+Whenever he shaved (which luxury he sometimes indulged in, by the
+solicitations of Ned, on Sunday morning in port, when the rest were
+ashore, to avoid disparaging remarks), Ned sat looking at him with the
+greatest reverence, and indulging in visions of the future, although,
+as yet, his lip was guiltless even of down.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE GRIFFINS.
+
+
+THOSE of our readers who are familiar with the Elm Island stories have
+already known a good deal of the Griffin family in the persons of Joe
+and Henry, with a slight introduction to Walter and Will.
+
+Suppose, now, for the better understanding of Walter’s declaration,
+“there’s a hard streak in all of us Griffins,” we accompany Parson
+Goodhue (who is a great friend of the Griffins, and for whom Walter is
+named) in one of his parochial visits to the homestead.
+
+The good man, like most of the ministers of that day, had a farm of
+eighty acres, kept a horse, sheep, three cows, and a yoke of oxen,
+and did considerable work himself, always feeding his own cattle. He
+had, in addition, a wood lot of fifty acres. The parishioners were in
+the habit of getting together in the fall, cutting his year’s stock
+of wood, and piling it up in the woods; when snow came they put their
+teams together and hauled it to the door, when the boys and young men
+assembled and cut it for the fire; on such occasions they came about
+noon, and had supper and a grand time at the parsonage in the evening,
+the girls coming about two o’clock, bringing with them abundant
+supplies and preparing the repast.
+
+The Griffin family consisted of eight persons—the parents and six
+children, all boys, Joseph, Henry, Walter, William, Edmund, and
+Winthrop. One hot forenoon, about eleven o’clock, and just after
+haying, Parson Goodhue, in all the glory of the snow-white wig, silk
+stockings, and polished silver shoe-buckles (which Lion Ben of Elm
+Island had presented to him after his adventure with the wild gander),
+was wending his way by a road that skirted the bank of the river,
+to Edmund Griffin’s. He was mounted on a very finely proportioned,
+snug built, calico-colored mare, a pacer. A large blue saddle-cloth
+protected his garments from the hairs (as he was quite fastidious about
+his dress), and he was provided with a capacious pair of saddle-bags,
+long experience having convinced the good man that it was a most proper
+precaution, when visiting the Griffins, to be well provided with
+saddle-bags.
+
+It is said, we know not with how much truth, that dappled horses are
+of superior intelligence, and can more easily be taught all kinds
+of tricks; and for this reason they are often found in the circus.
+However this may be, one thing is sure—that Parson Goodhue’s mare was
+intelligent enough, and vexed his soul to that extent he sometimes
+feared she received diabolical aid. But Dapple, as he called her, was
+such a capital roadster, carried him so easily, and was sound in wind
+and limb, that the parson, who dearly loved a good animal, bore it
+patiently.
+
+In those days the doors of all out-buildings were universally fastened
+with wooden latches, or buttons, as also a great proportion of the
+doors of the dwellings.
+
+There was not a door or gate upon the premises of her master, or
+any of his neighbors, but Dapple could and would open, a fence she
+could not get over, or a pair of bars she could not take down (unless
+they were pinned), provided a sufficient motive presented itself.
+Notwithstanding she had been reared from a colt in the family of a
+clergyman, under the very droppings of the sanctuary, received the
+best of instruction, and the best examples had been proposed for her
+imitation, she would appropriate without the least scruple; in short,
+though we grieve to say it, she was a downright, incorrigible, sneaking
+thief; she was no respecter of persons or character, but would steal
+from saint or sinner, rich or poor; she would even take from the widow
+Hadlock and Aunt Molly Bradish (that good old soul, when she was
+alive), walk right into poor Mrs. Yelf’s cornfield right before her
+eyes, because she knew that Robert was at sea, and the old lady could
+not get at her for rheumatism.
+
+Parson Goodhue lived so near to the meeting-house that he and his
+family always walked to meeting, thus Sabbath was a leisure day to
+her; and even on that day, when all other horses and good people were
+at meeting, and her good master was inculcating morality, she would
+(if she could get loose) take the opportunity to commit trespass; in
+short, she was the grief of her master and the pest of the parish, was
+covered with scars she had received for her misdeeds, and would have
+been killed had she belonged to any other person than Parson Goodhue,
+whom everybody loved. She would back up against a door and turn the
+buttons, would lift the latch or pull the string of one with her teeth,
+and break or get off any yoke or clogs that were put on her. The
+most singular part of the whole matter was, that she would sometimes
+go for a month peaceably, in the pasture, and the good parson would
+feel quite encouraged, hoping it was a radical reformation; when just
+as he began to solace himself with this idea, and accord her larger
+liberty, she would abuse it to act worse than ever. At one time Dapple
+had gone quietly in the pasture for nearly six weeks, and the hopes
+of her master were raised to the highest pitch. Adjoining the pasture
+was a most excellent piece of wheat, just full in the milk, belonging
+to Jotham Lancaster. Dapple had not been permitted for a long time to
+go out of a Sabbath day; but her conduct had been so unexceptionable,
+that her master determined to trust her, especially as there was a
+high stone wall in good repair around the pasture. So, before going
+to meeting, he turned her out; when he returned at noon, he found her
+quietly feeding, and told Captain Rhines he verily believed Dapple had
+got over her tricks.
+
+“Hang her,” was his reply, “I wouldn’t trust her.”
+
+When the parson came home at night, there she was, in that beautiful
+field of wheat. If she had merely eaten what she wanted in one place,
+it might have been borne; but she had gone all over it, trampling down
+here and there, then lain down, and rolled in half a dozen places;
+and when found, was quietly feeding out in the grass. She had, with
+her teeth, flung off the top pole, pushed over the top rocks with her
+breast, and then jumped over.
+
+The next week John Rhines made a pair of iron fetters, to fasten one of
+her hind legs to one of her fore ones, permitting her to scuffle along
+and feed, but not to jump, and made a present of them to Mr. Goodhue,
+saying, “She can’t jump with these, I know.”
+
+Dapple now went quietly for some time. Captain Rhines said to her
+master, “I guess you’ve got her this time.”
+
+Vain delusion! she was probably meditating, in the “recesses of a mind
+capacious of such things,” upon the means and methods of evading this
+new device; that her meditations bore fruit was soon manifest. Parson
+Goodhue, returning from meeting in the afternoon, found her in the
+midst of his own corn. There was not a length of fence down; the bars
+were all up, and pinned, so that she could not remove them with her
+teeth. There was not a stone displaced in the wall, and the fetters
+were fast to her feet. As her master took down the bars to lead her
+out, he gazed upon her almost with fear; he was not superior to the
+superstitions of his day, and was almost apprehensive of some satanic
+agency.
+
+The story got abroad; John and Fred determined to watch her. They shut
+her up in the barn with nothing to eat, till she was very hungry, then
+turned her into the pasture just at night, and concealing themselves,
+kept watch. Dapple went to feeding, stopping every once in a while to
+look around and listen; at length, seeing or hearing no one, she made
+directly for the bars, and attempted to take them down with her teeth;
+but they were pinned at each end. She then tried to push them over by
+backing up against them; but they were braced by stakes nailed to the
+posts, and set in the ground; she then put her head between the lower
+bar and the one next to it above, sprung the two sufficiently to insert
+her shoulders, then her whole body, and shoved herself through, coming
+down whack on her side, while the bars sprung together as before; then
+getting up and shaking herself, with a look of profound satisfaction,
+was making for the corn, when she was accosted in not very flattering
+terms by her observers. John said he never saw anybody look more silly,
+or more worked, than she did.
+
+It was a matter of great surprise to the neighbors, and the town talk,
+that the mare never paid her respects to Joe Griffin, as in the fields
+of all others (except Captain Rhines’s, where Tige kept watch and ward)
+she ran riot; while Joe’s (whose land was new, just taken from the
+forest, and raised splendid crops of corn and grain) were unmolested
+by the common enemy; they were passed by to commit depredations on the
+fields of Charlie Bell, that adjoined.
+
+We will let our readers into the mystery. The second year after Joe
+worked his place, he got up very early one morning, just as the day
+broke, to go out gunning; there was Dapple in the corn for the first
+time. As Joe had recently moved into the neighborhood, she probably,
+as an old resident, felt it would be polite to call. Joe well knew
+the character of his visitor, and what he might expect in future. He,
+however, manifested not the least sign of anger; didn’t even throw a
+stone, or hit her with a stake; but turned her out, put up the fence,
+and went off gunning; not even mentioning the matter to his wife, who
+had not yet risen.
+
+Dapple, who had made up her mind to receive a pounding, thought Mr.
+Griffin was one of the best of men, and resolved to cultivate his
+acquaintance.
+
+Three nights after, she paid him another visit, and going along the
+fence, found the old gap but very indifferently mended; taking off
+some small poles with her teeth, she cleared the great bottom log at
+a jump; but the instant she touched the ground on the other side, it
+gave way beneath her feet, and she found herself in a pit. Bitter were
+her reflections; she accused herself of imbecility for not interpreting
+aright such forbearance in a Griffin; and awaited, with fear and
+trembling, the approach of morning. Just as the day broke, she heard
+footsteps, and Joe made his appearance. A smile of satisfaction passed
+over his face, as he gave one look, and disappeared, returning soon
+with a shovel in one hand, and a bundle of long, tough beech withes
+in the other. Then, standing on the edge of the pit, he began most
+unmercifully to apply them, with all the strength and endurance of an
+arm that had scarcely its rival in the community. On head, rump, and
+ribs the horrible tempest fell. In vain poor Dapple kicked, and reared,
+and ran round the pit, which was not large enough for her to get out of
+reach of the blows. For an hour, without intermission, this terrible
+scourging continued, when, reeking with perspiration, Joe threw down
+the rod, and took up the shovel.
+
+Dapple expected nothing less than to be buried alive, and with death
+staring her in the face, remembered with compunction the manner in
+which she had abused the kindness of the good old man, and despised all
+his wise counsels. But her quick discernment soon discovered that Joe
+was about to dig the earth at one end to an inclined plane to let her
+out, and instantly all her remorse and resolutions for a better life
+were at an end.
+
+When he had graded the pit, as he thought, sufficiently, he
+administered a few blows with the flat of the shovel, and an energy
+that sent Dapple flying from the pit like a hen from a hawk, observing,
+as he went leisurely to work to fill up the hole, “Much obliged to you,
+neighbor, for this visit; call again the first opportunity.”
+
+When Joe had filled up the pit, he flung some brush over, took the
+pail, and went to milking, never mentioning the matter, even to his
+wife, till years afterwards.
+
+The mare never found opportunity to comply with Joe’s kind invitation.
+He might have left his crops out of doors for all her.
+
+Dapple mended her pace as she approached the rising ground on which the
+Griffin homestead was located, for she had often proved the hospitality
+of its stable and pastures. The buildings were situated on the summit
+of a hill, which rose quite abruptly from the river. The blazing sun
+poured down upon a house of enormous size, the lower rooms finished,
+the rest a shell. Not a tree or a bush, save one old stub, stood near
+it. There was not the least attempt at a garden, but, far out in the
+field, in the midst of the corn, cabbage, beets, carrots, and onions
+were growing, and peas now ripe in the pod.
+
+On one side of the front door was a goose-pen; on the other a molasses
+hogshead, into which an upright board conducted the rain water from the
+eaves. The only approach to anything in the shape of plants was some
+house leek (then considered a sovereign remedy for _corns_), in an old
+skillet.
+
+At a short distance from the end door was a small enclosure, made by
+driving stakes into the ground, in which were roots of wormwood, tansy,
+comfrey, lovage, and sweet agrimony, while an enormous hop-vine covered
+a great part of the front of the house. All about the door-yard were
+shingle bolts, bunches of shingles, old yokes, logs, sticks of hewn
+timber, drags, sleds, with the stakes in, broken and whole, and a
+brush-harrow was tipped up against the house, right under one of the
+front windows, while between them the skin of a bear, recently killed,
+was stretched and nailed to the clapboards.
+
+Beside the end door stood a leech, that had been set up in the spring,
+to make soap, and suffered to stand through the summer, as Mrs.
+Griffin liked to have weak lye to scour with. Within a gun-shot of
+the western end of the house stood the stub of a massive pine, which
+had been broken off about twenty-five feet from the ground, and was
+hollow, having the opening on the north-west side. In the cavity were
+augers, planes, saws, chisels, shovels, axes, and canting dogs, thrown
+together in most admirable confusion. The tools were of English make,
+and evidently of excellent temper, but covered with rust. From the dead
+limbs on the outside hung rusty scythes and a grain cradle. This was
+the Griffin tool-chest. An eighth of a mile from the house, down under
+the hill, was the well.
+
+In the rough climate of New England, the inhabitants were solicitous
+to place their buildings in a lee, either under the side of a hill,
+the protection of a wood, or to dispose the buildings themselves in
+such a manner as to give them a sheltered and sunny door and barn-yard.
+But here the barn was a great distance from the house, the buildings
+disposed without the least reference to shelter, as though the
+occupants were insensible to wind or weather. Yet in other respects
+everything betokened plenty and thrift; the walls were well built of
+rocks of great size, and handsomely laid up; the barns were large, and
+through the open doors the hay could be seen, brought so far over the
+floors that the mows nearly touched each other, leaving barely room to
+swing a flail.
+
+An immense log crib, the top covered with boards and shingles, where
+the long yellow ears of corn showed through the chinks, attested that
+the thrifty owner kept a year’s stock of bread on hand. On a scaffold
+of poles, laid over the high beams, bundles of last year’s flax were
+visible, while the number of milking-stools, hanging on the barn-yard
+fence, gave token of a large dairy.
+
+To complete the picture, four great hogs were rooting in the chips
+after thistle roots, and a white mare, with a sucking colt and two
+half-grown ones, was standing in the shade, on the north side of the
+house. As Parson Goodhue gained the summit of the hill, and was not
+far from the old stub, he saw approaching some one whose form was
+nearly concealed by a huge back-load of spruce poles, from twenty to
+twenty-five feet in length, and bearing in one hand an axe. As he
+flung the poles from his shoulder, and stood erect, he caught sight of
+the minister.
+
+“Halloo, parson! Good morning. Glad to see you. _Hot_—ain’t it?”
+
+“Good morning, Edmund,” replied his visitor, apparently not the least
+disconcerted by the rudeness of the reception, and extending his hand,
+which the other enclosed in his great palm, and shook with a heartiness
+that caused the good man to reel in his saddle.
+
+“How are you, Elizabeth, and all the children?”
+
+“Well, so’s to be crawling. Lizzy always keeps herself worked down.
+‘Tain’t so much the work,—though we milk seven cows, for Lizzy’s a
+master hand to turn off work, and real rugged,—but she’s forever
+scrubbing and scouring. I tell her ‘tain’t a bit of use, but she will
+do it. Then father’s a good deal of care.”
+
+“How is the old gentleman?”
+
+“He’s real strong at the stomach; eats and sleeps as well as ever he
+did; but he sometimes has the rheumatics.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+WHERE THE HARD STREAK CAME FROM.
+
+
+THIS was Edmund Griffin, the proprietor of seven hundred acres of
+excellent land, a very large stock of cattle, and money besides—the
+strongest man in town (leaving out Lion Ben, who was an exception to
+everybody), now that Captain Rhines and Uncle Isaac were getting in
+years. He was not remarkably tall, being barely six feet in his boots,
+but of vast proportions. There was no beauty about Edmund; his hair was
+coarse as rope-yarn, inclining to red, and, where it was not confined
+by a cue, bristling; his waist was small in proportion to the great
+breadth of his shoulders and hips, his joints large, his lips and
+teeth very prominent, which gave him the appearance of coming at you.
+The whole expression of his face was extremely rugged, and would have
+been fierce, had it not been neutralized by the kindly expression of
+a clear, mild eye. His voice, also, was rather loud and hearty than
+harsh in its tones. A skein of woollen yarn was tied round him for a
+belt, his breeches of dye-pot blue, and a flannel shirt that had once
+been bright red, but so bleached by the sun and perspiration as not to
+show any red save under the armpits and below the girdle, from a pocket
+in the breast of which stuck out the end of a purse made of a sheep’s
+bladder; his open collar revealed a finely-formed throat, and a breast
+covered with a thick mass of curling brown hair. This great, brawny man
+was possessed of remarkable mechanical genius. With those great fingers
+of his he could execute the nicest jobs, and he was constantly resorted
+to by the neighbors; and yet there was not a sled or cart on the
+premises that had a decent tongue in it; they were all made by cutting
+down a forked tree, and sticking in the fork with the bark on.
+
+“You’re getting fat, parson—fat as a porpoise; you don’t do work
+enough; you ought to have been in the woods with me this forenoon;
+‘twould make the gravy run, and take some of the grease out of you.”
+
+“What are you going to do with those poles, Edmund?”
+
+“Make pike-poles to drive logs with, in the fall freshet.”
+
+Parson Goodhue was much attached to Edmund Griffin, who had grown up
+under him, and whom he had married when he was but twenty and his wife
+nineteen, and, though now surrounded by a large family, was in the very
+maturity of his strength; for he well knew that, though the outside was
+as rough as the coat of the alligator, there was a noble and generous
+nature within, and a kindly heart throbbed beneath that hairy bosom and
+faded shirt.
+
+For many a long year he had been seeking his good, and striving in vain
+to impress him with religious ideas; but it was like lifting a wet
+cannon ball; he eluded all his efforts; he could find no chink in his
+armor. He was always at meeting with his family, rain or shine, and an
+attentive hearer. Anything, everything he would do for Parson Goodhue,
+except listen to religious conversation; _that_ he would always avoid.
+He had no sympathy in that direction, nor his wife either, and the
+children naturally grew up with the same ideas. Even the old father,
+ninety years of age, and tottering on the verge of eternity, seemed
+to have no notions beyond the present; and all his talk was about
+lifting, wrestling, and the Indian fights, in which he had played a
+most conspicuous part, and, though he could with difficulty get across
+the room, would, every few weeks, have his rifle brought to him, and
+clean and oil the lock.
+
+“Lizzy,” shouted Mr. Griffin, in a voice that might be heard a mile.
+
+This brought to the door a woman of a noble form, dark-brown hair,
+and one of the sweetest faces the eye ever rested upon, and, though
+evidently just from the cheese-tub, very neatly dressed.
+
+“Lizzy, here’s Parson Goodhue come to stay to dinner, and a fortnight
+longer, I hope.”
+
+“So do I,” was the reply of his wife, as she welcomed the visitor.
+
+“Let the mare go, parson; she knows the way to the barn; come, let’s go
+into the house.”
+
+“I rather think, Edmund, I had better hitch her to this stub; if she
+goes to the barn alone, she will certainly be in mischief;” but as the
+minister stepped forward, with the bridle in his hand, to execute his
+design, Griffin caught him by the shoulders, and exclaiming, “Bless me!
+where is the man going?” lifted and set him aside, as though he had
+been a feather; at the same time dropping a stone upon the trencher of
+a bear trap, the great jaws sprung together with a clang that caused
+Parson Goodhue to jump clear from the ground in mortal fear.
+
+“Goodness, Edmund, do you set bear-traps for your friends?”
+
+“No, parson; I’m sorry for your fright, but you see, we caught a bear
+last night, and the boys have been playing with the trap, and left it
+set. If you had got into it, ‘twould have broken your leg.”
+
+What a contrast between the outside and the inside of the house, where
+Elizabeth Griffin held undisputed sway! Silver was not brighter than
+the pewter on the shelves, and white as the snow flake were dressers
+and the nicely-sanded floor of the best room into which the visitor
+was ushered, where, seated in his arm-chair, was Joseph Griffin,
+the grandfather, a vast ruin, the great bones and cords of the old
+Indian-killer standing out in bold relief through the shrunken flesh.
+
+“Father’s master hard of hearing, and his eyesight has failed him a
+good deal,” said his son; “but otherways he’s just as bright as he ever
+was; knows all that’s going on, and all the young folks.”
+
+“Father,” he shouted, as they entered the room, “here’s Mr. Goodhue,
+come to see you.”
+
+“Glad to see him; give him a cheer.”
+
+“Good morning, Mr. Griffin,” said the minister, placing his chair close
+to the old gentleman; “you have been spared to a great age.”
+
+“_Spared!_ I never spared myself. I allers took the but-end of a log,
+and the bunt of a topsail. Nobody can say that Joe Griffin ever spared
+himself. Young man (Mr. Goodhue was on the wrong side of sixty), when I
+was of your age, I had more strength than I knew what to do with.”
+
+“I said you had lived to a great age.”
+
+“Yes; I’ve been here a good while. I was through the French and Indian
+wars. I was at the takin’ of Quebec, in ‘59, but I was too old for this
+last one.”
+
+“I trust, sitting here alone so much as you do, and knowing that you
+are living on borrowed time, that you often think on your latter end,
+and endeavor to prepare for it.”
+
+“Leetle end; leetle end of what?”
+
+“I say, I hope you are prepared to go.”
+
+“I don’t go anywhere; I can’t for the rheumatics, only to town meetin’,
+and then they put me into Isaac Murch’s wagin; before he had that, they
+hauled me on an ox sled.”
+
+“I mean, I hope you are prepared to die, and meet your Maker.”
+
+“O, die, is it? I never killed nobody (except in fair fight), and
+nobody ever killed me. I never abused my neighbors, or the cattle, and
+I think it’s everybody’s duty to live just as long as they kin. It’s
+an awful thing to kill yourself; when anybody has sich thoughts, they
+ought to put ‘em right out o’ their minds.”
+
+“Do you think that is all the preparation you need?”
+
+“I allers kept up good line fence, and give good weight and measure. I
+s’pose the less we do, the less there’s charged to us.”
+
+Mr. Goodhue now relinquished the effort in despair; as Uncle Isaac
+would have said, he could find nothing to nail to. The old man had
+grown up, like the beasts he hunted, without culture, and could neither
+read nor write. But, although he found great difficulty in hearing, he
+could talk fast enough, and however impervious to religious sentiment,
+was shrewd enough in other matters.
+
+The subject which at that period most divided the opinions and agitated
+the minds of the people, was the state of affairs in France, and our
+relations to that nation. That nation having dethroned their king,
+and proclaimed liberty and equality, naturally expected to receive
+fraternal sympathy and aid from this country, and from the people whom
+they had aided in their recent struggle for liberty.
+
+The members in Congress were divided in sentiment on the subject.
+The people at large, especially the mercantile portion of the
+community (who were very much embittered against England on account
+of the impressment of seamen and the right of search), felt that the
+movement in France was resistance to arbitrary power, a struggle for
+self-government against oppression, and a mere carrying out of the
+principles of our own revolution, that we owed it to the cause of
+liberty, and were obligated in gratitude to aid them to the extent of
+entering into an offensive and defensive alliance, and declaring war
+with Great Britain. The party espousing these sentiments was large
+and influential, and a strong pressure was brought to bear upon the
+administration. To complicate matters still more, Genet, the French
+minister, a hot-headed, overbearing man, appealed to the prejudices and
+sympathies of the people, and, without the sanction or knowledge of the
+government, attempted to raise men and arms, and fit out privateers to
+prey on British commerce, and sell their prizes in American ports.
+
+On the other hand, Washington, and those of cooler heads and calmer
+judgment, shocked at the excesses of the French revolution, and having
+no confidence in the capacity of the French people for self-government,
+were as resolutely opposed to any interference. Old Mr. Griffin, in
+opposition to his son and the great majority of his neighbors, was of
+the latter party, and Mr. Goodhue was of the same opinion.
+
+“What’s that rapscallion’s name, parson, that’s come over here, and is
+kickin’ up sich a dust, and tryin’ to get us into a quarrel with the
+old country?”
+
+“Genet, the French minister,” replied Mr. Goodhue, rejoiced at the
+introduction of a topic in respect to which their sympathies were in
+unison.
+
+“A minister goin’ about tryin’ to stir up people agin their government,
+and to git up a war!”
+
+“He’s not a minister of the gospel, but a sort of ambassador.”
+
+“Wal, I wish my eye was as quick and my hand as steady as ‘twas
+once, and I had him within range of my rifle; I’d put an eend to his
+trampin’;” at the same time striking his cane violently on the floor.
+Captain Rhines was here t’other day, settin’ right where you set, and
+sayin’ we never should got our liberty, if’t hadn’t been for them are
+French; that one good turn deserved another; and all that. I ups and
+tells him, I does, says I, the French waited till they see how the cat
+was goin’ to jump, and that we were like to wear the old bull-dog out,
+and then comes in to bet on the winnin’ horse. I telled him the French
+were well enough, but it wasn’t so much for any love to us they come;
+England had took Canada, and robbed ‘em of their colonies, and now
+they wanted to pay her in her own coin, and help us get clear on ‘em;
+they’ll eny time send over troops to help the Irish when they undertake
+to rise.”
+
+“I think you are right in that, Mr. Griffin.”
+
+“If we should go into war with England now, it would make an eend of
+our leetle commerce; but if we go on as we’ve begun, in a few years we
+shall be able to fight our own battles, no thanks to eny on ‘em.”
+
+“I’m perfectly willing to abide by the judgment of General Washington,
+Hamilton, and those who have carried us thus far. I believe Washington
+was raised up and divinely appointed to carry us through the
+revolutionary war, as evidently as Moses was to lead the children of
+Israel to the promised land.”
+
+“That’s the talk, parson. I don’t know enything ‘bout Moses, and them
+old characters, but I know ‘bout Gineral Washington, cause I fought
+under him, when he was kernel; yes, I go in for the old horse that
+never balked at the steepest hill, but allus pulled, whether the load
+went, or whether other horses pulled or not.”
+
+“Yes, my old friend, the heart of the country rests safely on
+Washington.”
+
+“Then, parson, he’s a prayin’ man. Isaac Murch told me that; he said,
+that winter at Valley Forge, when the soldiers were barefoot, and
+suffered so much, there was an hour at noon when he couldn’t be seen;
+if an express came, he wouldn’t be disturbed; it was allers thought and
+said among the men, that he was at prayer. I allers thought them are
+the sort of men to foller.”
+
+“Certainly; because in following them we may hope for the aid of Him by
+whom they are guided.”
+
+“There’s a great many in this place, parson, if you allow that there’s
+any good thing in an Englishman, cry out, ‘Tory’!”
+
+“That’s too much the case, I know.”
+
+“I don’t want to swaller an Englishman whole. I know they press our
+seamen, and are overbearin’; but, then, they press their own likewise,
+take a man from his own doorstep; but ‘tain’t the people, it’s the
+government, does that. They say this new man that’s come up—What’s his
+name?”
+
+“Bonaparte.”
+
+“That he’s goin’ to lick the English into shoe-strings.”
+
+“Then he’ll do what has not been done for the last two hundred years.”
+
+“I tell you it ain’t in ‘em, parson; it’ ain’t in the men that live on
+frogs and soup to lick the men that eat beef and pork, I don’t care
+who they’re led by. When I was payin’ for my place, I follered the
+sea a good deal. I have been in English ports and French ports; fought
+side by side with Englishmen, and aginst Frenchmen; and I don’t care
+who knows it, I like an Englishman better’n a Frenchman eny day. When
+it’s good weather at sea, and everything goin’ well, an Englishman is
+a grouty chap; he’ll growl at the wind, the ship, the grub, and the
+usage; but let there come a gale of wind, a raal tryin’ time, the lee
+riggin’ hangin’ in bights, men three or four hours on a yard tryin’ to
+smother a sail, or the ship sprung a leak and like to go down, I tell
+you, John Bull is there. The harder it blows, the blacker it looks,
+and the tougher it comes, the higher his spirit rises; then they’re a
+Protestant people, and that’s a thing goes a good ways with me.”
+
+Our readers may suspect that the old gentleman was not so obtuse in
+relation to religious matters as he appeared; an idea of this kind
+seemed to cross the mind of Mr. Goodhue, for he instantly attempted to
+introduce a religious conversation; but the old man shrunk from it as
+speedily as a turtle draws his head into the shell when apprehensive of
+danger.
+
+When Edmund Griffin returned to the kitchen, he said, “Come, wife,
+ain’t you going to do something? There ain’t a speck of fire on the
+hearth.”
+
+“What of that? I’ve got baked beans, brown bread, pies, and an Indian
+pudding in the oven, and I must put this cheese in press.”
+
+“_Baked beans!_ I want to kill some chickens, make a smother, and give
+the old gentleman a good tuck out.”
+
+“Well, then, make me up a fire; the boys are all in the field.”
+
+He brought in a great log, and threw it on the hearth; then, bringing
+in a huge armful of wood, the moment he was inside the door, let drive
+right into the middle of the room, at the same time kicking the door to
+with his feet. Proceeding to put on the log, instead of using the great
+kitchen shovel to rake forward the ashes from the back, he put in his
+foot, and, after scraping out a hole, flung on the log with such force
+that the coals and ashes flew all over the room.
+
+“Edmund, what a splutter you do make! Do go and get the chickens. I had
+rather make two fires than clean up after you.”
+
+Taking the mare’s bridle on his arm, he put her in the barn; returning
+with the bridle in one hand, and a dish of corn in the other, he threw
+it among the fowls; as they were busily eating, he brought down the
+bridle on the flock with such force as to prostrate half a dozen, and
+picking them up, cut off their heads, and soon transferred them to the
+kitchen table.
+
+“Why, Edmund,” cried his wife, looking them over, “what a careless
+creature you are! Half of these are old hens; and, as sure as I live,
+you’ve killed Winthrop’s setting hen. She was just ready to hatch. He
+will cry his eyes out. I do wish I’d gone myself; the chickens are all
+lost, and we shall have to throw the hen away. She’s all skin and bone.”
+
+“Never mind, wife; the boy can set another. Have you got everything you
+want now?”
+
+“No. I want you to wash yourself, and put on a clean shirt and clothes.
+They’re on the bed.”
+
+“What’s the use, wife? I’m well enough.”
+
+“I tell you, you shan’t come to dinner looking so!” she exclaimed,
+pushing him into the bedroom, and pulling the skein of yarn from his
+waist.
+
+With a groan he obeyed, and, making him sit down on the edge of the
+bed, she combed out his cue, and tied it up with a black ribbon,
+instead of the eel-skin.
+
+Mr. Goodhue, who had a large family of his own, was very fond of
+children, and it was a curious sight to see Winthrop Griffin tugging
+the stately old minister by the hand, to see his fowl and playthings,
+his tame crow, and the woodchuck he had caught. The good man also
+sincerely sympathized with him respecting the loss of his hen and
+expected brood of chickens.
+
+Mrs. Griffin would have persuaded the minister to lie down after
+dinner; but as the boys were going to work in the field, he wished to
+read the Scriptures and have prayers before they went away, it being
+his constant custom. The parents and children all listened with the
+greatest respect and attention, but all attempts to engage the seniors
+in conversation of a religious nature were useless.
+
+After the evening meal, when Parson Goodhue prepared to depart,
+Dapple, true to her instincts, was found in a chamber over the stable
+where Griffin kept grain. She had gone up a flight of stairs, but all
+attempts to induce her to go down by the same were unavailing.
+
+“Look here, parson,” said Edmund; “let me knock her on the head, and
+take her for wolf bait—there’s a bounty on wolves,—and I’ll give you
+my roan colt, that’s worth a dozen of her.”
+
+But Mr. Goodhue entreated for the life of his beast. Griffin, then
+putting a great pile of hay on the stable floor beneath, took up the
+boards of the floor above, and forced her to jump down.
+
+“What a strange family,” said the good man to himself as he returned,
+his saddle-bags stuffed to their utmost extent. “I would be content
+with less respect and kindness shown to myself if they would only
+manifest some respect for my Master. How sad to see that old man
+so thoughtless! Well, the children are different. Joe is a good
+man,—there is certainly encouragement there,—and Walter takes after
+his mother; if she was anywhere else, she would be different.”
+
+In the course of the autumn, Dapple ended her eventful life; in trying
+to get over a fence with the fetters on, she got cast, and beat herself
+to death, thus dying as she had lived. Two days after, the parson, on
+going to his barn to feed his cattle, found a noble-looking roan horse
+in Dapple’s stall, a present from Edmund Griffin.
+
+In this slight glance at the Griffins, we have seen where the hard
+streak came from. That old grandfather’s was gradually diluted as it
+mingled with other and more kindly blood, till in Walter rudeness had
+become attempered to firmness, and nothing more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+RECONNOITRING.
+
+
+IT was an overcast night; there was no moon; the stars were bright
+overhead, but around the edge of the horizon they were obscured by thin
+clouds, through which a star occasionally shone.
+
+The brigantine, with all sail set, was running in for the land, the
+dark outline of which could be dimly seen in the distance. The French
+had put out the light on Planier Island, and removed all the buoys from
+the shoals and reefs, that they might not be of advantage to the enemy;
+but the lights of the English frigate could be seen far ahead, as she
+also stood in for the land, her commander not dreaming he was followed
+by the vessel, so nearly his prize, and which he supposed effectually
+frightened from that locality.
+
+“It would have been a very valuable prize to us, could we have taken
+her,” said the captain of the frigate to his lieutenant; (”and at one
+time I thought she was ours,) not merely as far as the value of her
+cargo was concerned; but we could have put a few guns aboard of her,
+and a crew, and she is so fast she would have taken everything on the
+coast; our prize-money would soon have amounted to something very
+handsome.”
+
+“Where did the Yankees learn to build such vessels? Before the war they
+couldn’t make their own mouse-traps.”
+
+“It was the war taught them; they wanted privateers to prey on our
+merchantmen and supply ships. They wanted sharp vessels to run into
+neutral ports, and escape our frigates, and they built them. Since they
+set up for themselves, they make rigging and duck, roll iron, and forge
+anchors, and there’s no telling where they will stop.”
+
+“We may catch her yet, if we could get her before the wind, where she
+could not run into shoal water, or have the good fortune to come across
+her in a calm.”
+
+“He’ll not come here again; he’s run too great a risk. He will be more
+likely to try Toulon; perhaps go round into the Bay of Biscay, to some
+of the ports on the other side.”
+
+The wind, which had blown very fresh all through the afternoon and
+first part of the night, had moderated to a good working breeze.
+
+As the watch on board the brigantine that brought twelve o’clock came
+on deck, a large rock was discovered right ahead; the topsail was hove
+to the mast, and the vessel became stationary. The captain, calling the
+whole crew aft, said to them, “Boys, I want to put a man on that rock,
+to watch this frigate and the sixty-four, see which way they stand in
+the morning, and where they go; also to look into the roadstead, and
+see what vessels are there, and how they lie; in short, to keep himself
+concealed, and get all the information he can. To-morrow night I’ll run
+in, and take him off. Who’ll volunteer?”
+
+Before the words were fairly out of his mouth, or any other could
+reply, Walter Griffin exclaimed, “I will go, sir.”
+
+Peterson had from Walter’s childhood cherished a great affection for
+him, and Walter loved the black with all his heart. It was at first
+a childhood liking (as children care very little about color), which
+increased as he grew older; and Peterson, by reforming his habits,
+became deserving of respect.
+
+Peterson was not merely a finished sailor and first-rate calker, but
+was also exceedingly ingenious in making kites, windmills, boats,
+sleds, carts, squirts, popguns, sawyers, and all those things that
+children and boys want; and no one but Uncle Isaac could equal him in
+the manufacture of bows and arrows.
+
+Peterson lived not far from Walter’s father. Every leisure day Walter
+was there; everything he wanted Peterson made, and, as he outgrew
+kites and bows, instructed him in wrestling, making sailor knots, and
+built him a skiff; when, therefore, he came to be shipmate with him,
+he felt that the boy was in a manner committed to him, and under his
+protection, and instantly interfered.
+
+“Massa cap’n, dat boy no fit to go; he too young; s’pose come gale
+ob wind; vessel driben to sea; no get him off long time; boy be
+frightened, die, p’rhaps starve. Hab to show hisself; den English
+man-o’-war take him; nebber see his farder or mudder no more. Boy no
+‘sperience to know what to look for; me go, meself.”
+
+Walter, however, insisted upon going; he had a right to go; the captain
+called for volunteers, and he had volunteered, and was going.
+
+“But you too young, chile, for such ting.”
+
+“_Young_,” replied Walter, in high dudgeon; “I shipped before the mast,
+and have a man’s wages, and can steer my trick, and do my duty.”
+
+“I can’t do without _you_, pilot,” said the captain.
+
+Several others had also intended to volunteer, and now came forward;
+but Walter had been too quick for them, and claimed his right.
+
+“Captain,” said Fred Williams, as he took leave of Arthur Brown,
+“you’ll find one of our young men aboard, Walter Griffin (he’s not
+much more than a boy, but he’s a choice one); I know him through and
+through. He never should have left me if I could have helped it; but he
+seems one of those made to go to sea. Put him anywhere, trust him with
+any matter, and he will give a good account of himself. You will find
+him better, on an emergency, than many older persons; for he belongs to
+an iron-sided race, and what he lacks in experience he will make up in
+mother wit.”
+
+All that the captain had seen of Walter went to corroborate Fred’s
+statement, and he determined to try him.
+
+Little Ned now besought the captain to permit him to share the
+adventure with Walter, but he refused, telling him he had promised his
+mother not to expose him unnecessarily; that one was enough, and two
+would be more likely to attract attention.
+
+Ned turned away, with a tear in his eye, and walked forward. Flinging
+his arms round his friend’s neck, he said, “He won’t let me go, Walter.
+It’s too bad; we might have such a good time!”
+
+The boat was manned, and beef, bread, water, and raw pork put into her.
+The raw pork was in addition, as that could, on occasion, be eaten raw;
+and if the vessel should be blown off the coast, he might be left there
+a good while, and no fire could be made to cook, without attracting
+notice.
+
+The captain, after giving him his instructions, put into his hands
+a spy-glass. “There,” said he, “is a glass with which you can read
+letters three inches long a mile away.” He then shook hands with him at
+the side, bidding him take care of himself, and keep a bright lookout,
+while the tender-hearted black fairly shed tears.
+
+“Look out for de man-o’-war, sonnie. S’pose he ketch you, Peterson
+chase you all ober de world but he git you.”
+
+“Good by, dear Walter,” cried Ned, throwing his arms around his
+friend’s neck, as he stood up in the stern sheets to step on the rock.
+
+“Good by, Ned,” said Walter, returning the embrace.
+
+The provision and water were landed, and the boat pulled rapidly away.
+Walter sat down upon the rock, listening to the sound of the oars in
+the rowlocks, and watching the phosphorescence of the water as it
+flashed on their blades. All these tokens of departure, of little
+moment on ordinary occasions, now possessed not a little interest. He
+marked the ring of the iron, as the hook of the davit-fall went into
+the ring-bolt, and heard the man say, “Hoist away,” the creak of the
+blocks, and the slat of the canvas, as the sails filled, then the
+low, rushing sound of the vessel’s bow as it parted the water. It was
+a lonely moment to the brave boy, when the last low sound betokening
+companionship was lost in the dash of midnight waves, the gleam of her
+white canvas faded from his view, and he was left on the wild rock
+alone. He had never been taught to breathe a petition for protection,
+or to depend upon aught but himself. His conversation with Charlie by
+the brook constituted the only appeal of a religious nature ever made
+to his heart.
+
+He knew not the nature or extent of the rock on which he had been so
+unceremoniously deposited, and, clambering up to where he was above
+the flow of the tide, placed his provisions beside him, and determined
+to keep watch till the day broke, that he might have time to examine
+the place before he could be observed from any passing boat or vessel.
+Fearing, if he went to sleep, he might sleep too long, and finding a
+flat place on the rock, he paced back and forth, to keep himself awake.
+
+Little Ned, feeling very lonely in the absence of his watch-mate,
+attached himself to Peterson, between whom and Walter there was such
+a good understanding, in order that he might talk about Walter,
+Pleasant Cove, the Griffins, and all the people and boys he had become
+acquainted with there.
+
+The rock on which Walter was placed might have been, at low water,
+half an acre in extent, and irregular in its form, the eastern end
+rising in a high bluff, with deep water around and close to it; but
+the western end sloped into long, ragged ridges, honeycombed by the
+everlasting dash of surf, and terminating in long reefs, upon which the
+sea broke with a continuous roar. Between these ridges were openings
+or coves, quite wide at the extremities of the reefs, shoaling and
+narrowing as they ran up into the main portion of the rock, in such a
+manner that it was easy to enter them in a boat between the breaking
+points, and land, in good weather, with perfect safety.
+
+The heads of these coves were filled with those materials the sea
+usually flings up—sea-weeds, shells, barrel staves, chips, planks, and
+broken pieces of vessels.
+
+On the eastern end of the rock was a patch of turf extending from the
+edge of the bold cliffs along the heads of the coves, covered with
+bushes and scrub trees, dwarfed by the sea winds, and thickly matted
+together.
+
+The sun had risen clear, bringing with it a moderate easterly breeze.
+The English frigate before referred to is passing within musket shot of
+the eastern extremity of the rock. A close observer might have noticed
+the branches of a pine bush move in a direction opposite to the wind,
+and in a few moments the head of a man is cautiously thrust through the
+branches. It is Walter Griffin. He watches with keen eyes the course of
+the man-o’-war, and, as she increases the distance between them, crawls
+to the shelter of a ledge, and, resting his glass over it, watches her
+till she disappears from view. From his position he can command a view
+of the roadstead, the men-of-war lying at anchor in it, the forts, and
+the entrance to the port.
+
+At the head of one of the coves, in which there was a little beach
+of white sand, a portion of the stern frame of a vessel had, by the
+conjunction of a high tide and a gale of wind, been flung high on the
+rocks, extending from one side to the other, leaving a space of several
+feet between it and the beach. Here Walter had bestowed his water and
+food.
+
+Having made all the observation possible, he retired to this place,
+and, with some dry sea-weed for a bed, lay down for a nap, as he had
+been up the entire night.
+
+When he awoke, he espied a French fisherman, fishing among the kelp for
+rock-fish. Looking cautiously around, to be sure that no vessel was in
+sight, he, after a while, succeeded in attracting his attention, and
+prevailing upon him to row into one of the passages between the rocks,
+where he met him.
+
+“Who are you?” asked the fisherman, resting upon his oars, and
+surprised to be addressed in his own language by one who, he perceived,
+was of another nation.
+
+“An American.”
+
+“Have you run away from the man-o’-war?” asked the Frenchman, taking
+him for some impressed American seaman, who had swum off from a British
+vessel.
+
+“No; I was put ashore here last night from an American vessel, that is
+trying to run the blockade, to watch the fleet; she will stand in for
+the land again to-night.”
+
+“The vessel they were chasing yesterday?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“We thought you were gone.”
+
+“We thought so ourselves, till the wind came.”
+
+“Men sometimes swim ashore from the fleet. I thought you had swam to
+the rock. I’ve got an Englishman in my house now who ran away a week
+ago.”
+
+“Why don’t they take you prisoner?”
+
+“They don’t trouble the fishermen, and when they want fish, they pay
+for them; but our vessels and the Spaniards take ‘em without thanks or
+money.”
+
+“What time in the day is it?”
+
+“By the tide, about eleven o’clock.”
+
+“Could you take me ashore in your boat, so that I could have a good
+look at the fleet and harbor, and see the Englishman you spoke of, and
+bring me back after dark?”
+
+“I can take you ashore well enough, but bringing you back is another
+matter; the English have boats rowing around the roadstead in the
+night; if they saw me going out after dark, they would suspect
+something, and stop me.”
+
+“I would give a good deal to get inside the roadstead, and to see that
+deserter.”
+
+“I’ll do all I can to help you. I’ll take you along shore to one of the
+creeks where there is no watch kept, and set you off from there.”
+
+The Frenchman made Walter lie down in the bottom of the boat, covered
+him with sea-weed, and flung fish over him; he then put up his sail,
+and steered boldly into the roadstead. As he passed one of the English
+ships, he was hailed and asked for a mess of fish; he went alongside,
+and flung the fish on the grating of the side ladder, and receiving his
+money, kept on.
+
+“If they had known who was under these fish,” said the fisherman to
+Walter, pulling the sea-weed off from him, as they came under the guns
+of the French castle, “it would have put an end to my fishing.”
+
+He now conducted Walter to the observatory, situated on very high
+ground, in which was a powerful telescope, and from which he could
+track the frigate and sloop of war as they ran along the coast, and
+see perfectly the position of the ships in the roadstead. He found the
+flag-ship lay the farthest in, just out of range of the forts, and so
+moored as to completely command the channel. Having taken careful note
+of all these things, and made a rough draft on paper, he went to the
+fisherman’s house, where he found the English sailor, who informed him
+of many particulars that were important, and among other things, that a
+supply ship was daily expected on the coast and was eagerly looked for,
+as provisions were growing short in the fleet.
+
+“What is her name?” asked Walter.
+
+“The Severn.”
+
+“Where has that frigate probably gone?”
+
+“To Toulon.”
+
+“And the sixty-four?”
+
+“Round the other side, to carry despatches.”
+
+“How big is the flag-ship?”
+
+“A hundred guns.”
+
+“Do they keep a keen lookout?”
+
+“Yes; it is no use to try to run by her at night; she wouldn’t leave
+you a stick to do it with.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DID I BEAR IT LIKE A MAN, WALTER?
+
+
+IT was nearly one o’clock at night, when the brigantine hove to, off
+the rock, a boat put off, and the sharp voice of Ned, crying, “Are you
+there, Walter?” came over the waves. But it was now blowing fresh, the
+sky obscured by clouds, and no possibility of landing on the rock,
+which was white with foam, it being so small that the sea ran all round
+it. The boat, pulled by men who had been all their lives brought up
+among the surf, and accustomed to working around breakers, was backed
+in within two seas of the rock, and held there by the oars, while she
+stood almost on end.
+
+“Now, shipmate,” said Danforth Eaton, standing up in the stern sheets,
+with a coil of rope in his hand, “look out for the line, and jump for
+it.”
+
+Walter caught the line, and making it fast round his waist, flung
+himself into the surf, and was hauled aboard, where he was joyfully
+received by Ned, to whom one day and a portion of two nights had seemed
+a week.
+
+When the young captain had received Walter’s information, he
+complimented him very much for the shrewdness he had manifested;
+and as all were equally interested (the profits of the voyage being
+divided in this manner, the vessel, that is, the owners, drew a certain
+proportion, the captain, mates, and crew another, according to their
+rank), he spread the whole matter before the ship’s company.
+
+Said the young captain to his crew, “The wind is fair, and plenty of
+it; the tide also is with us, and sets up the harbor; we should go
+like a shot; the frigate and sixty-four are out of the way; there is
+no moon, and it is overcast; if they fire at us, they will have to
+fire by guess, for they can’t sight over the black cannon; probably we
+shall not have so many things in our favor again. I am in for trying it
+to-night; but I want your opinions, for we must run the risk of their
+broadsides.”
+
+“I reckon,” said Danforth Eaton, “that when we shipped aboard this
+craft, we knew what we had to kalkerlate on; we expect to get our
+profit out of our risk; I’m for trying it now.”
+
+His opinion being assented to by the crew, the brigantine, with a
+spanking breeze and every sail set, was steered directly for the
+roadstead, a little over two miles distant. It seemed but a moment,
+so rapid was her progress, before the high lands of Marseilles were
+throwing their shadows before her path. Walter acting as second
+mate, his station was in his watch on deck, aft. He, however, still
+shared Ned’s berth, as the second mate was sick in his own. It was
+now his watch below; but in the present circumstances, no one felt
+any inclination to sleep, and he was, with all the rest of the crew,
+forward. At such a time, it is natural for those most acquainted to
+get together, and the men were divided into little knots, conversing
+in low tones. Walter, Enoch Hadlock, and Ben Peterson, having been
+schoolmates, and grown up together, formed one group, with Ned nestled
+close to the side of Walter.
+
+“Walter,” said Ben, “do you expect, if we make the run, and a heap of
+money, to have the second mate’s share, while he’s off duty?”
+
+“No, indeed; I have no right to it. He can’t help having a carbuncle. I
+wouldn’t take it if it was offered me. I wouldn’t be so mean.”
+
+“But if you’re doing second mate’s duty—”
+
+“The honor pays for that.”
+
+“Perhaps you think it is a stepping-stone. I hope it is.”
+
+“I don’t know about that.”
+
+“We shall soon see what our young captain is made of,” said Eaton, as
+the dark hull and long masts of the ship of the line began to appear;
+“I only wish we were well through it.”
+
+A man-o’-war cutter was now seen on the lee bow.
+
+“What ship is that?” was the hail.
+
+“The Severn, supply.”
+
+Thus boats and ships were passed, the night being too dark, and the
+brigantine going too quick to admit of a close scrutiny. The name
+of the expected store-ship being given, also completely disarmed
+suspicion. They were now rapidly nearing the flag-ship, of a hundred
+guns—the last and most fearful ordeal. A death-like stillness now
+pervaded the brigantine, broken only by the rushing of the vessel
+through the water, the straining of the cordage, and the moan of the
+wind through the rigging.
+
+“Walter,” whispered Ned, “do you feel afraid?”
+
+“No, Ned; do you?”
+
+“I guess not; but I feel as I never did before. I wish we were doing
+something, and it was not so dreadfully still,” said the boy, putting
+his arm round his companion’s waist, as they sat side by side on the
+windlass, gazing through the darkness at the lights of the man-of-war.
+“Kiss me, Walter.”
+
+He put his arms round his friend, and pressed his lips to his cheek.
+So dark was the night now grown, and so rapid the passage of the
+vessel, that the stern lights of the ship bore over the cat-head of the
+brigantine.
+
+The young captain now took the helm, when a hail came from the ship
+that thrilled the blood of every man on board.
+
+“What ship is that? Reply, or I’ll sink you.”
+
+“The Severn, store vessel.”
+
+The ports of the man-of-war were triced up, and by the gleam of the
+battle lantern, the gunners could be seen standing by their pieces.
+
+“Ay, ay. Come to, under the stern, and report on board at six o’clock
+in the morning.”
+
+“Ay, ay,” was the reply; and “Hard a-lee! Haul aft the main sheet!”
+were shouted, in loud tones, on board the brigantine.
+
+The officer of the deck, who could distinguish nothing, hearing these
+orders, was for an instant deceived—an instant that was the salvation
+of the brigantine, going twelve knots under the combined force of wind
+and tide. Perceiving immediately that it was a ruse, he gave orders to
+fire. The horizon was lit up by the flash of guns, and the midnight
+stillness broken by the roar of cannon. But so well had the brigantine
+improved her opportunity, that but one or two of the forward guns were
+brought to bear on her.
+
+As the iron shower came hurtling on, and passed, a groan was heard near
+the foot of the main-mast. It came from little Ned, who was struck as
+he came aft with an order from the pilot.
+
+“Bear it like a man, Neddie,” cried Walter, as he held him in his arms.
+“Are you hurt much?”
+
+“Yes, bad, Walter.” And he fainted.
+
+“Take care of him,” said the captain, “till the vessel is brought to.”
+
+For a few moments every one was exerting himself to the utmost, in
+order to bring the vessel, under such a press of sail, to anchor under
+the guns of the castle of St. Nicolas.
+
+She was somewhat disabled, a round shot having cut off her main boom
+at the jaws to such an extent that it broke and fell on deck, carrying
+away the rail. Several shot had passed through the sails and bulwarks,
+one had cut off the tiller-head, and the mate had received a wound in
+the leg; so that the attention of the captain was fully occupied in
+taking care of the vessel.
+
+During this period, which, though really but a short time, seemed an
+age to Walter, he sat with his back against the main-mast, his arms
+around Neddie’s waist, and felt the warm blood oozing slowly through
+his fingers.
+
+The artillery now began to thunder from the castle at the boats of the
+fleet, which, enraged at the audacity and success of the enterprise,
+endeavored to follow and cut out the brigantine, but, finding the enemy
+aware of their designs, relinquished it.
+
+A boat was immediately sent to the castle for a surgeon, who, having
+restored Ned by stimulants, proceeded to examine his hurts, and
+ascertained that he had received a severe flesh wound in the thigh from
+a splinter, parts of which still remained in the wound. He had also
+received a musket ball in the groin, which, passing round the body
+without breaking the bone, could be felt in the flesh of the back, near
+the spine. Being just beneath the skin, he pronounced neither of the
+wounds mortal.
+
+“Thank God for that!” exclaimed the captain.
+
+The surgeon wished to fasten him to the cabin table while he performed
+the operation; but Ned resisted this, declaring he could bear it if the
+captain would stand beside him, and Walter would hold his hand. The
+extraction of the splinters was more painful than even the cutting for
+the ball; but the little fellow bore it all with firmness, scarcely
+uttering a groan, and without aid from any of the means now in use to
+produce insensibility, they being at that period unknown.
+
+“Didn’t I bear it like a man, Walter?” asked Ned, when the operation
+was over.
+
+“Bravely,” answered Walter.
+
+The captain would not send Ned to the hospital, but hired a room for
+him in the house of Jacques Bernoux, the fisherman whose acquaintance
+Walter made on the rock, and sent Walter and Peterson alternately to
+take care of him, going daily himself to see him.
+
+Ned, who was as sweet-tempered as ambitious, had always been the pet
+of the crew, most of whom he had known while at Pleasant Cove; they
+were, therefore, always ready to watch of a night whenever needed, and
+there were so many of them that the duty was not at all burdensome.
+
+Boys of Ned’s age learn a language with great rapidity, and he soon
+began to pick up words, and talk with the people of the house. Nothing
+could exceed the kindness of Peterson to the little wounded fellow. He
+was so strong he could lift him easily, and, as he gradually recovered,
+made him many little messes (being a skillful cook) that were very
+grateful to the convalescent. Ned began to love his black friend
+dearly, and always called him James.
+
+To the surprise of all but the surgeon, Ned recovered a great deal
+faster than the first mate, Mr. Rogers, who was only wounded in the
+leg, the ball passing through. The wound continued to run, and seemed
+as if it never would heal, while Ned could walk across the floor with
+the aid of Walter.
+
+One day Ned was sitting in a chair, propped up with pillows, and
+eating, with the greatest relish, a nice breakfast Peterson had
+prepared for him. “James,” said he, laying down his knife and fork,
+“I’m glad I was wounded.”
+
+“Glad you wounded! Glad you hab so much pain, be sick so long, make de
+cap’n so much trouble, all ob us feel bad! Nebber hear sich ting afore.”
+
+“I didn’t mean I was glad of that, or that I should want to be wounded
+again; but I’m glad, now it’s over, I’ve been through it.”
+
+“I know what you tink; you tink, when you git home to Salem, farder,
+mudder so glad cause you wasn’t killed; den, when you walks in de
+street, all de people say, ‘Dere Ned Gates; he one smart boy; he been
+shipwrecked, almost starve on a raft; been wounded two times runnin’ de
+blockade; see what dat boy been through.’ Den all de boys dey open dere
+eyes wide and stare, say notin’.”
+
+“That is it, James. I _have_ been through a good deal—haven’t I, for a
+boy no older than I am?”
+
+“Dat de Lord; he carry you through dat cause you good boy.”
+
+“I ain’t a very good boy, James.”
+
+“What de reason? Cap’n say you good boy, mate say you good boy,
+eberybody say so.”
+
+The brigantine, as she lay under the guns of the fort, was recognized
+by the officers of the blockading fleet as the vessel they had chased,
+and so nearly taken, and they determined she should not escape them a
+second time, therefore kept incessant watch.
+
+The roadstead of Marseilles is exposed to severe gales, during which,
+the blockading fleet were compelled to run to sea. The captain of the
+brigantine had made too much money to run any unnecessary risk in
+getting home; he, therefore, determined to wait for a gale of wind that
+should drive his antagonists to sea, before he attempted to run out.
+This gave time for Ned to recover sufficiently to go in the vessel. As
+the mate, Mr. Rogers, was not well enough to do duty, Walter was put
+in his place, which offended the second mate very much, who thought,
+and said to the captain, that the place belonged to him; to which
+the captain replied, that Griffin had run some risk in volunteering
+to go on the rock; that it was _principally_, if not entirely, due
+to his shrewdness in getting hold of the fisherman, and obtaining
+the information he did from the English sailor, that their adventure
+succeeded, and they were not sunk by the man-of-war. He therefore
+considered promotion no more than a suitable reward, especially as the
+second mate, though a good seaman, was not a navigator. Thus Walter
+experienced at the outset the benefit of knowledge, as well as of pluck
+and principle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE BASKET-MAKER.
+
+
+IT was a glad day to Ned, when he had so far recovered that the
+surgeon, yielding to his solicitations, told him he might go on board
+the vessel, spend most of the day, and come back at night.
+
+The fisherman’s house was not far from the pier. Walter and Peterson
+made a chair, by taking hold of each other’s wrists, and Ned, seated on
+it, with an arm round each of their necks, was taken on board.
+
+The weather was warm, and some blankets from Walter’s berth were spread
+on the hen-coop, and a pillow placed so that Ned could lie down or sit
+up, as he chose, see what was going on, and chat with his shipmates,
+who were all rejoiced to see him on board again. Peterson prepared his
+dinner, but Ned wanted to eat with the rest, it seemed so much more
+sociable, having been compelled for so long a time to eat alone.
+
+It was just after dinner; Ned was sitting, propped up with pillows,
+the captain seated near by, watching him, when he noticed an old man,
+apparently over sixty years of age, in seaman’s dress, coming along the
+gangway plank. His hair, where it came outside his tarpaulin, was gray;
+he stooped very much, appearing feeble, and bore on his back a large
+number of articles manufactured of willows, and strung together by a
+cord.
+
+Approaching the captain, he deposited the bundle on the deck, evidently
+much fatigued, and asked, in English, if he would like to buy any
+of his work—market-baskets, knife-baskets, table-mats, ladies’
+work-baskets, and many articles, merely ornamental, of superior
+workmanship and most beautifully stained.
+
+There was something in his whole demeanor that was both modest and
+prepossessing—quite the reverse of street-venders in general.
+
+“There,” said he, “is a market-basket that would be very handy on board
+ship; and here,”—producing a basket nearly square, and with partings
+in it for tumblers,—“is an article that would be very convenient on
+a cabin table, or in a ship’s pantry. Many of my articles are made for
+vessels’ use, as I deal much with seafaring men.”
+
+Arthur Brown, who was of quick sympathies, was interested in the old
+gentleman, and touched by seeing a man of his years, apparently infirm,
+thus employed, felt inclined to converse, especially as he spoke
+English.
+
+“This is beautiful work,” he observed. “I have seen a great deal of it
+in England and Germany, where excellent work is made, but never any
+superior to this. You are surely master of your business.”
+
+“I should be, considering I have been at it for the greater part of my
+life since I was twelve years old, and we have no knowledge that any of
+our ancestors were ever anything but weavers of sallies,—that’s what
+we call the rods the baskets are made of.”
+
+“You seem infirm. Have you been sick?”
+
+“No, captain; I am worn down with wounds and hardships, but, most of
+all, with a sore heart.”
+
+“Then you’ve been a soldier?”
+
+“No, sir; a sailor. I was born in Lincolnshire, England, in the fens.
+There my forefathers all lived and followed their trade. A happier
+man, sir, the sun never shone upon than myself. I had an affectionate
+wife,—a right godly woman, and thrifty,—and three children. I
+employed four, sometimes five men. My oldest child was a boy. He worked
+in the shop. We paid our rent easy, and were getting along nicely,
+when, in the midst of all this happiness, I was pressed, torn from my
+family, and put aboard a hulk. Wouldn’t you think, sir, that would
+break a man down?”
+
+“I should, indeed, my friend,” replied Captain Brown, greatly moved,
+“and I feel for you, from the bottom of my heart.”
+
+The tears were running down little Ned’s cheeks as he sat propped up on
+the hen-coop.
+
+“It must have been long ago,” continued the captain.
+
+“Not so very long, sir. Only about ten years.”
+
+“Indeed!”
+
+“How old might you take me to be, sir?”
+
+“Sixty, or thereabouts.”
+
+“I am but forty-seven. Ought to be in my prime. But O, sir, to have a
+wife and family, and be forever separated from them, in a strange land,
+and not know whether they are dead or alive, or whether they are in
+distress or not,—only to know that they are dead to you, and you to
+them,—it keeps gnawing at the heart-strings.”
+
+“It must, indeed. But how did you get clear from the navy?”
+
+“It was near the close of the American war. The frigate I belonged
+to was in action with a French seventy-four. I was wounded and flung
+overboard for dead. The cold water revived me, and I clung to the
+wreck of our spars, which were shot away. The French vessel won the
+battle, being a much heavier ship. I was picked up, brought ashore at
+Toulon, and lay a long time in the hospital, wishing for death; but
+I recovered, and since then have, though feeble, made a living by my
+trade. The people here are very kind.”
+
+“What is your name, my friend?”
+
+“Bell—John Bell, sir.”
+
+“Why, that is the name of the man who built this vessel, and is part
+owner.”
+
+“Indeed, sir, I hope he is a happier man than I am.”
+
+“He is a happy man, and deserves to be, for he tries to make others
+happy.”
+
+The captain bought a good many articles of the basket-maker, and then
+sent him forward among the crew, who purchased so largely that there
+remained but very little to carry away. Peterson bought a work-basket
+for Captain Rhines’s wife, and Enoch Hadlock another for old Mrs. Yelf.
+
+Walter was away, for, as he could speak French, the captain had sent
+him to make some purchases for him. Walter, indeed, had plenty of
+business in this way, being spokesman for all hands.
+
+The captain insisted upon the basket-maker stopping to supper; but
+something in his appearance prevented him from offering him money as a
+gift,—he felt it might wound his feelings,—but he gave him a cordial
+invitation to come on board and eat or sleep, whenever his business
+led him in that direction. The next night, when Walter went over to
+see Ned, he mentioned the circumstance of the basket-maker’s coming on
+board, showed him his purchases, and told him he was an Englishman, and
+that his name was Bell. This excited Walter’s curiosity. He inquired
+further about it, and Ned, who had been deeply touched by the man’s
+pitiful story, repeated the whole conversation between him and the
+captain, word for word. When he concluded, Walter sat for a few
+moments, with his hands clasped over his knees, as though striving to
+recall something.
+
+At length he said, “Ned Gates, as sure as you are lying on that bed,
+the basket-maker is our Charlie Bell’s father.”
+
+“Charlie Bell’s father?” said Ned, sitting bolt upright, and then
+screaming at the twinge the effort occasioned, because of his wound.
+
+“Yes, Charlie Bell’s father.”
+
+“But the man is an Englishman.”
+
+“So is Charlie Bell.”
+
+“I never knew that before.”
+
+“He was an English boy; came to Elm Island as poor as he could be, with
+some bad men,—but he didn’t know they were bad when he started,—that
+came to rob; but they came to the wrong place, for Lion Ben most killed
+‘em, kept the boy, and brought him up. I’ve heard our Joe and Mr.
+Williams tell about it a thousand times.”
+
+“What if it should turn out to be so?”
+
+“I tell you it is so; I’m certain sure it is. His father was a
+basket-maker, and was pressed; I heard Mr. Williams say so; and when
+they were boys, Charlie, Mr. Bell, and John Rhines used to make
+baskets, and Mr. Williams sold ‘em at the mill; and when I first went
+to tend store for him, there were some of ‘em in the store.”
+
+“If your Joe or Mr. Williams were only here, we could ask them, and
+know all about it.”
+
+“Yes, Joe, they said, used to live on Elm Island half the time before
+he was married. I remember another thing Joe said.”
+
+“What is that?”
+
+“He said he made baskets of willows, and colored them red, blue, and
+green, real handsome, and said that was the way they did in England.”
+
+“But the basket-maker said, if I remember right, that it was about ten
+years ago, and that his son was large enough to work in the shop at
+light work. O, Walter, wouldn’t I be glad, and wouldn’t the captain be
+glad (when Mr. Bell saved our lives), to be the means of taking his
+father home to him?”
+
+“Don’t you think somebody else would be glad too, you little monkey,
+you?”
+
+“The boys didn’t sleep much that night, having worked each other up to
+such a state of excitement. In the morning Walter went on board, full
+of the news, and opened the whole matter to the captain, who was as
+much astonished as Ned; being entirely ignorant of the antecedents
+of Charlie, he supposed him a native of the country. After patiently
+listening with the deepest interest to all that Walter had to say, he
+acknowledged that the probabilities were very strong, but, much less
+sanguine, did not express a very decided opinion.
+
+“He said he had a wife and three children,” observed the captain; “what
+became of them? were they ever at Elm Island?”
+
+Walter had never heard them mentioned; but he was very young when
+Charlie came to Elm Island, and might not have heard half that
+occurred. Captain Brown turned the matter over in his mind, and
+conversed with Walter, who daily recollected some fresh corroborating
+circumstance, till at length he determined, the next time the
+basket-maker came on board, to broach the matter to him, even at the
+risk of exciting unfounded hopes. Day after day they expected his
+appearance; but he came not. Walter searched the streets and piers, but
+in vain.
+
+The time of year now drew on when periodical gales were expected, and
+the vessel would be likely to go to sea.
+
+“He may be sick, Walter,” said Ned; “for he looked pale and half sick
+the day he was aboard.”
+
+“He may be dead,” said Walter; “and we never should know it, in this
+great city. I wish I had seen him; if he was Charlie Bell’s father, I
+could tell; I know I could see something of the look.”
+
+“I saw, when he pulled his hat off,” said Ned, “that his hair, where it
+was not gray, is the same color as Charlie’s.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A STRANGE DISCOVERY.
+
+
+CAPTAIN BROWN had employed Jacques Bernoux, the French fisherman, to
+get the spy-glass Walter had forgotten and left on the rock, and he
+came on board, one morning, to bring it.
+
+“Do you know a man who goes about the piers and streets selling
+baskets? an old man, and an Englishman?” said Walter.
+
+“John Bell?”
+
+“That’s the name.”
+
+“Yes; pass his place every day going to my boat.”
+
+“Will you ask him to come on board the vessel to-morrow?” asked the
+captain.
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+Early the next morning the basket-maker made his appearance with a
+large burden of baskets; he had been so engaged manufacturing that it
+kept him out of the streets—the reason that Walter couldn’t find him.
+
+The captain, taking him into the cabin, said, “My friend, when you was
+here, a few days ago, you gave me some particulars of your life. This
+young man, Mr. Griffin, my mate, was not present; but having heard
+what then passed between us, he has not a doubt but that Charles Bell,
+who built and is part owner of this vessel, is your oldest son. As for
+myself, residing in another part of the country, I have no personal
+knowledge of the circumstances; but I must say that as related by him,
+they seem to me most probable. But you can hear what he has to say
+about it, and judge for yourself.”
+
+While the captain was speaking, the basket-maker became very pale,
+trembled, and big tears rolled down his hollow cheeks.
+
+“For the sake of Heaven, captain,” he exclaimed, “do not raise in this
+sad heart hopes that may have no foundation. I’ve made up my mind to
+endure the worst, as God shall give me strength, till I lay these bones
+in the grave.”
+
+“I am the last person to do that; but I have been turning the subject
+over in my mind ever since you were here last, and the more I reflect
+upon the young man’s story, the more the probability of it grows upon
+me.”
+
+The basket-maker, hearing these words, made a sign to Walter, who
+gave him substantially the same statement he had made to Ned and the
+captain. The old man was deeply affected; he evidently saw strong
+grounds for believing the person described was his child, but was
+fearful of cherishing a premature hope.
+
+“I can bear what I have borne,” he said, “but the disappointment would
+drive me mad. You say, young man, that you have known this person
+intimately?”
+
+“Yes, sir, as well as it’s possible for one person to know another.”
+
+“And that his name is Charles?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“What’s his age?”
+
+“I think about twenty-three.”
+
+“My son, if living, would be twenty-three next Michaelmas. What sort of
+a looking man is this Charles Bell?”
+
+“Hair, eyes, and complexion just like yours, but he is not so large a
+man as you are.”
+
+“Those are the features of my boy,” replied the old man, evidently
+gaining confidence as he continued his inquiries.
+
+“You say you didn’t know this Charles Bell when he first came to Elm
+Island, and this Mr. Rhines and his wife took him.”
+
+“No, sir; I was too young; but I’ve heard my brother talk about it.”
+
+“My boy,” said the old man, “was a most loving boy, very much attached
+to his mother. I don’t believe he would leave her and his brother and
+sister. You never heard him mention his parents or family—did you?”
+
+“This Charles Bell’s mother is dead. I never heard him speak of any
+brother or sister.”
+
+“How do you know his mother is dead?”
+
+“Because, sir, he went to St. John’s two or three years ago, brought
+her body from there, and buried it on his place, under an elm tree—a
+beautiful spot. I’ve seen it a hundred times.”
+
+The old man’s countenance fell. “It cannot be,” he said, “that my
+wife, with young children and small means, would leave England,
+and all her and my relations, and go to the colonies; and yet the
+time, circumstances, and personal appearance of the young man tally
+precisely.”
+
+“I know it’s your son,” said Walter; “nobody can make me believe it
+ain’t. He looks as much like you as my two hands look alike, saving the
+difference in age, and his voice is like yours.”
+
+“Do you expect to come here again, captain?”
+
+“Yes, if we get off clear this time, and can run the gantlet. You know
+it is all luck and chance with us.”
+
+“I can send a letter by you, and that will remove all doubts, and
+settle the whole matter.”
+
+“But I hoped you would feel sure enough to take passage with us. You
+can do better in the States than here.”
+
+“I could not bear to go over there expecting to meet a son, and be
+disappointed. I’m making a very good living here.”
+
+“I think you’d better go.”
+
+“Well, captain, I’ve about as much as I can carry at present, and am
+somewhat confused. I will go about my regular business the rest of the
+day; that will steady my mind; and perhaps I may think of some question
+that this young man can answer, that will throw more light on the
+matter; and I will be on board again in the morning.”
+
+Resisting all solicitations to stop to dinner, the old man departed
+with his load.
+
+“I know it’s his son,” said Walter, as they were eating dinner. “I feel
+it in my bones, and I think we ought to persuade him to go.”
+
+“I have not much doubt,” replied the captain. “People are always
+emigrating from England to St. John’s and Canada. Her relatives might
+have gone, and taken her with them. I shall persuade him in the morning
+to go, if I can.”
+
+The second mate, who was a Marblehead man, and had listened to the
+conversation, now inquired, “Don’t all this crew belong right there?
+and wouldn’t they be likely to know more about it than Mr. Griffin?
+Most of them are much older than he is.”
+
+“To be sure they would,” cried Walter. “There’s Danforth Eaton helped
+clear Elm Island when Charlie Bell first came there; then there’s
+Peterson, and Enoch Hadlock,—what a ninny I was not to think of that
+before he went away!—there’s not _one_ of them but knows more about
+his _first_ coming there than I do.”
+
+Leaving his dinner, Walter ran forward, and soon returned, saying that
+Eaton knew all about it.
+
+When John Bell came on board the next morning, he seemed calm,
+collected, and much more hopeful. Sending for Eaton, the captain said
+to him, “Eaton, I want you to tell us all you know about Charles Bell’s
+coming to Elm Island, and about his parents, if you know or have heard
+anything about them, and I want you to begin at the bottom.”
+
+“What I know, cap’n, isn’t hearsay, but I had it all from his own lips.”
+
+“So much the better.”
+
+“You see, cap’n, about that time there was some Tories come up from the
+provinces—”
+
+“We know,” said the captain, interrupting him, “how he got to the
+island; but what we are most concerned to ascertain is, who his parents
+were, and how he came into the hands of those pirates (for they were no
+better) who brought him to Elm Island. Can you tell us anything about
+that?”
+
+“Reckon I kin tell you all about it; but I must tell it in my own way.
+If you keep putting in and interrupting me, I shall get all mixed up.”
+
+“Well, go on.”
+
+“You see, arter this boy come on the island, Lion Ben he hires me and
+Joe Griffin, the next winter, to cut spars and clear land. Charlie Bell
+was a little, slender, half-starved, pitiful-looking creatur’, then,
+but he was willing and clever, and soon begun to pick up. Most of the
+winter he drove the team; but along in March, when it was bad hauling,
+he helped me chop. I tapped a maple, to have sap to drink while I was
+chopping. One day we comes into the woods arter dinner, and before we
+went to work, sot down by the sap tree, in the sun. I sets on a stump,
+same as where that stool is, and he on another, same as where that
+old gentleman is setting. I takes a good drink of the sap, and hands
+the dipper to him; says I, ‘Charlie, tell me your history, or part of
+it, like as you did Joe and Fred Williams.’ He didn’t want ter, but I
+coaxed him. Then he said, the way his father come to be pressed, was
+all through another man, that courted his mother when she was a gal,
+but she liked his father better; he couldn’t give her up, and allers
+hild that old grudge agin his father. He said his father had agreed to
+work for the government, and if he had only got his name on the roll,
+couldn’t have been touched any more than if he had been a peer of the
+kingdom. This feller, I forget his name—” “Robert Rankin,” said the
+basket-maker. “That’s it, old man, by jingo,—who thought, if he was
+out of the way, he could get her, after all,—told the press-gang, and
+they took him as he was on the road to the place where he would have
+been safe.”
+
+The tears were streaming down John Bell’s cheeks, and his hands were
+lifted in gratitude to Heaven; but he would not interrupt Eaton by a
+question.
+
+“He said, soon arter his father was gone, he was killed in an action,
+and his mother carried on the business for a while; but this feller
+kept prosecutin’ her, and wantin’ her to have him, till she couldn’t
+stand it any longer. So she packed up everything, and went to St.
+John’s, where she had a brother; but when she got there, he’d gone
+to furrin parts, and she took sick and died. Then the boy, destitute
+and wandering about the streets and docks to pick up a living, fell
+inter the hands of them are reprobates, thinking they were honest
+fishermen, and went cook for them. The rest you say you know. Good as a
+story-book—ain’t it?”
+
+“Eaton,” said the captain, sternly, “this is Mr. Bell’s father.”
+
+“His _father_! Then he wasn’t killed. I didn’t dream of that, or I
+shouldn’t have spoken like as I did. I see now he favors him.”
+
+“Did he tell you,” asked the father, “what became of the other
+children?”
+
+“I axed him if there was any more of ‘em. He said his mother’s
+relations took ‘em.”
+
+There was an oppressive pause in the conversation after Eaton had gone
+forward. John Bell sat with his handkerchief over his face, while the
+others, respecting his emotions, were silent.
+
+“No doubt, there can be none,” he said, at length, “that my poor
+wife is dead—God only knows what she suffered, in poverty and among
+strangers; that two of my children—whether alive or dead I know
+not—are in England, and that the other is in America. I may yet see
+_him_. I ought to be thankful for that.”
+
+“Your son, Mr. Bell,” said the captain, “is well to do; able to provide
+you with every comfort; and, what is more, respected and beloved.”
+
+“And he owns land?”
+
+“Yes; six hundred acres.”
+
+“That seems like a dream to me, for none of our folks ever owned a foot
+of land. I always loved the earth, and loved to work on it, even when
+it was the freehold of another. I feel there may yet be some happiness
+in store for me.”
+
+“You are not an old man yet, Mr. Bell,” said the captain, “and good
+news and good spirits will make you ten years younger; so bring all
+your things on board, and prepare to go with us, the first gale that
+scatters the blockaders.”
+
+“I don’t suppose there is any doubt now. I know there can’t be. Still,
+you know a person in my situation feels they can’t be too certain; and
+there is just one thing more that has come to mind since I was here. I
+would like to ask of this young man whether he ever noticed any scar on
+my son’s face.”
+
+“Yes, sir,” replied Walter; “it is on his right jaw, and close to his
+ear,—runs up behind the ear, into his hair.”
+
+“Then I’ll indulge no more in doubt. It would be ungrateful. I
+never shall forget when he received the cut that made that scar, it
+frightened me so. Though it was long ago, it seems but the other day.”
+
+“How did it happen, Mr. Bell?” asked Walter.
+
+“I suppose you never saw any basket rods growing?”
+
+“No, sir.”
+
+“In England, we plant them in rows, three feet apart, and as straight
+as an arrow. They grow seven or eight feet high, and make a nice place
+for the children to play. I was cutting the sallies with a large
+knife, as sharp as a razor. My little children, with their cousins,
+who had come to see them, were playing hide-and-seek among the rows,
+when Charlie ran in the way of my knife, and I cut a dreadful gash in
+his cheek, that made that scar. And now I will leave you, and make my
+preparations for the voyage.”
+
+“Not till you have taken dinner with us,” said the captain; “and,
+Mr. Bell, I expect you to make the vessel your home, and sleep here
+whenever it suits your convenience.”
+
+“Thank you, captain. My quarters on shore are not so spacious or
+elegant that I should feel inclined to refuse so handsome and hearty an
+offer.”
+
+When the meal was concluded, Mr. Bell went on shore.
+
+“Only see,” said Walter, looking after him, as he went up the pier,
+“how quick he steps, and how much straighter he is.”
+
+“There’s a new heart in him,” said the captain. “He’s something to live
+for and look forward to now. In a week’s time he’ll be another man. As
+far as I am concerned, I had rather carry _him_ home, than the richest
+cargo. And now, Mr. Griffin, run up and tell the good news to Ned.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+HOMEWARD BOUND.
+
+
+NED had of late recovered rapidly, could walk quite well, and was on
+board the vessel very often, and went about the city some; but the
+doctor advised that he should not go on board the vessel to live till
+she was ready to sail. Ned had not seen Walter since his promotion, but
+Peterson had been up and informed him of it.
+
+“Well, Ned,” said Walter, as he entered the room, “it has turned out
+just as I told you it would; the basket-maker is Charlie’s father, and
+no mistake.”
+
+“I am so glad, Mr. Griffin! and he will go back with us—won’t he?”
+
+“Ned, my boy, just leave that handle off, and call me Walter, as you
+always did. It makes me sick.”
+
+“But you are mate now; Peterson told me so.”
+
+“What of that? When we are on board ship, call me what you like; but
+not when we are alone, as we are now, you little monkey,” patting his
+cheek.
+
+“We shan’t sleep together any more,” said Ned, in a desponding tone.
+
+“No, Ned, I shall have to live aft; and that is not the worst of it; we
+shall now be in different watches.”
+
+“I know it. I shall be in Mr. Baxter’s watch. And we used to have such
+good times in our watch on deck, talking about home, Pleasant Cove,
+and all the folks there. Walter, who do you like best of all the folks
+there, out of your own family?”
+
+“Charlie Bell.”
+
+“So do I, and well I might. He saved my life. Ain’t he handsome?”
+
+“Yes; and just as good as he is handsome. A first rate
+wrestler—there’s none of the young ones can throw him but John Rhines
+and Ben Peterson.”
+
+“What, this Ben aboard here?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“I’m afraid, if I call you Walter all the time when we are alone, that
+I shall forget to put the Sir on sometimes before the men.”
+
+“If you do, I shan’t hit you on the head with a belaying pin.”
+
+“I tell you what I could do, Walter.”
+
+“What?”
+
+“I might swap watches with Enoch Hadlock. He is in your watch.”
+
+“Yes, you _could_, but I wouldn’t.”
+
+“Why not? Then we should be in the same watch again, and we could walk
+the deck, and talk, and have good times together, as we used to.”
+
+“I’ll tell you, Ned; if you should swap watches with Hadlock, and get
+into my watch, it would make trouble. If I happened to give you a soft
+job, and somebody else a hard one, they would say I was partial—made
+fish of one, and flesh of another.”
+
+“I never thought of that.”
+
+“We shouldn’t be together any more for being in the same watch. You
+would be forward, and I should be aft.”
+
+“Shouldn’t we be together when it was my trick at the helm?”
+
+“Yes, but we couldn’t talk. It is against the rules of the ship, and
+very unseamanlike, for an officer, or anybody, to make talk with a man
+at the helm. You couldn’t come aft to talk with me, and if I should go
+forward to talk with you, it would make growling directly, and set all
+the men against you.”
+
+“I see how it is,” said Ned, sadly. “The good times are all over.
+There’s going to be a great, high, solid wall, reaching clear up to the
+sky, built right up between us.”
+
+“O, not so bad as that, Ned. There will be cracks and chinks in it,
+where we can peek through, and boys must change into men some time or
+other.”
+
+“I suppose so, Walter; but I wish the change had not come quite yet.”
+
+“I wish so, too. There’s time enough for me these some years yet. But
+it would never have done for me to refuse the berth when it was offered
+me. It would have looked as though I did not know how to appreciate
+kind treatment, and I should never have had another offer. We can’t
+have everything and keep everything.”
+
+The ambitions, cares, and responsibilities of practical life lay a
+ruthless hand upon the sympathies and yearnings of young hearts, and
+the conversation of the boys may, to the minds of older persons who
+read these pages, recall similar experiences, when the relations of
+master and servant were rudely thrust between playfellows and near
+friends.
+
+“Cheer up, Ned,” said Walter, noticing the downcast looks of his
+friend; “we will sleep together once more, at any rate. I’m going to
+stay here to-night, and take you aboard with me in the morning; that’s
+the order.”
+
+When they were snug in bed, Ned lay for a long time silent. Walter
+thought him asleep, and had just begun to doze himself, when he was
+roused by Ned exclaiming, abruptly, “I’m sure I shouldn’t want to be a
+king.”
+
+“Nor I either; I don’t believe in ‘em; but what in the world has put
+that into your head just now?”
+
+“Well, I have been thinking over all the good times we’ve had when
+we were in the same watch, slept in the same berth, and ate out of
+the same kid. In good weather we could sit side by side under the lee
+of the boat, or under the rail, and talk and enjoy ourselves. In our
+forenoon watch below, we could comb each other’s hair, tie our cues,
+read and study navigation; then, being in the same watch, we always got
+liberty ashore together. Right in the midst of all these good times
+comes up this chief mate’s affair, takes you right away from me, and
+sticks you up on the quarter-deck. It’s no longer Ned and Walter; O,
+no; it’s Mr. Griffin and Gates. I can’t speak to you, for fear the men
+should think I was currying favor; you can’t speak to me, lest there
+should be growling about partiality. O, I shouldn’t want to be a king,
+to be stuck up for everybody to look at, and nobody to love. If people
+obeyed me, I should know it was because they couldn’t help it; if they
+pretended to love me, I should be sure they lied.”
+
+“But I ain’t a king, Ned.”
+
+“No; but you are a mate, and if just being a mate is going to make such
+an awful gap, what must being a king make? It must be a lonesome thing
+to be a king.”
+
+“What a queer fellow you are, Ned! I always thought you were about as
+spunky and ambitious a boy as I ever knew. You wouldn’t want to be a
+boy always—would you?”
+
+“No; I don’t know as I should want to be _always_ a boy; but I don’t
+like stepping over the edge all of a sudden; at any rate, I don’t like
+to see everybody else stepping over, and leaving me to be boy alone.”
+
+“Perhaps you’ll get to be second mate next voyage, and then we can be
+together again.”
+
+“I might if I was older, or if I was only a Griffin, or a Murch, or a
+Rhines, who are as big when they are seventeen as others when they are
+men grown. Here you are, a great fellow, your feet sticking out of bed,
+while my toes are only down to your knees.”
+
+“But you are growing all the time; you can steer a good trick now, and
+do anything that your strength is equal to, as well as any man in the
+vessel; you must be patient, Ned.”
+
+“O, if I was only a little bigger, so that I could furl the royal in
+wet weather, or when it blows hard! I didn’t use to care so much for
+you, but I should so hate to have any of the crew come up to help me!”
+
+“I’ll have a bunt-line rove for it.”
+
+“O, thank you; then I can handle it any time.”
+
+“Ned, do you think it is the beef makes the man?”
+
+“Not altogether; but I think there must be more beef than I’ve got.”
+
+“That is a fault that will be daily mending: see how much you’ve
+done since you left home; you have obtained a very good knowledge of
+navigation.”
+
+“I shouldn’t have done so much, if I had not been wounded. I have had
+lots of time to study since I have been getting better; so there’s some
+good come out of it. That’s just what mother’s always saying—every
+thing is for the best. I wonder if she’d been here the night I was hit,
+if she would have thought _that_ was for the best.”
+
+“I’ll warrant she’ll think it is all for the best, Ned, when you get
+home safe and sound.”
+
+“That she will, when she gets me in that old bed again, prays with me
+and kisses me. Ain’t I a great baby, Walter?”
+
+“Not a bit of it, Ned; you’re just right.”
+
+“I wish I was good, Wal, just to please my mother, it’s all she thinks
+about.”
+
+“I wish _I_ was, just to please Charlie Bell; at any rate, we’ll do the
+best we can.”
+
+“O, Wal, it’s nothing at all to be good here, with such a crew as
+this, all nice, steady men, well brought up. You never sailed in an old
+country vessel—did you?”
+
+“No; I have only sailed with just such a crew as we have here, and part
+of them are the same men.”
+
+“Then you don’t know anything about it. Such a set of reprobates as we
+had in that ship I was cast away in, cursing, swearing, fighting all
+the time; the captain never came on deck without his pistols in his
+pockets; half the crew didn’t know who their father or mother was; the
+crew were fighting among themselves, and the captain quarrelling with
+his mates, full of liquor all the time; and such deviltry as they tried
+to put into my head! I tell you, Walter, there was not the least need
+of that ship being lost (and I heard Mr. Brown tell Captain Rhines the
+same thing); the men might have kept her free just as well as not; we
+were not far from land.”
+
+“Why didn’t they, then?”
+
+In the first place, the men were harassed to death, kept out of their
+watch, working up jobs all the time, and half starved; the captain’s
+idea seemed to be to keep them so used up that they wouldn’t have
+strength or pluck to rise and take the ship from him, and it came back
+on his own head; they hadn’t strength enough, when the ship sprung
+a-leak, to work the pumps; and besides, they were so worn out, and
+hated him so, that they were desperate, thought it was their turn now,
+and if they could only drown him, they didn’t care what became of
+themselves. I tell you, Wal, I think, when a boy is away from home,
+and thrown into bad places and bad company, it makes a good deal of
+difference how he’s been brought up, and whether he’s come of nice
+folks.”
+
+“I guess it does, Ned, because he has a good character to sustain, and
+thinks, when he’s tempted, ‘How can I disgrace my folks? what would my
+parents, brothers and sisters say? and how would they feel if I should
+do this thing?’ Then there’s another thing comes of being well brought
+up.”
+
+“What is that, Wal?”
+
+“A boy that has been well brought up, and has learning, has hopes; he
+knows he can make something of himself, and means to; whereas those
+poor fellows, who, as you say, didn’t know who their fathers and
+mothers were, had no ambition or hope of ever rising, and so made up
+their minds to enjoy themselves after their own fashion.”
+
+“That’s so, for I’ve heard them say so. There was one of them, my
+watch-mate, Dick Cameron, a very decent fellow when the rum was out
+of him, and I used to talk with him; but all he would say was, ‘It’s
+all well for you, who have learning, and friends, and a chance to be
+something; but it’s no use for me.’”
+
+“How big a man was Dick Cameron?”
+
+“What do you mean by that?”
+
+“Why, I mean, how much did he weigh?”
+
+“O, he was a stout, thick-set man—the strongest man in the ship, and
+always took the bunt of a sail. I shouldn’t wonder if he weighed nearly
+two hundred.”
+
+“Now, see; it’s just as I told you a while ago. It isn’t beef that
+makes a man, but it’s pluck, knowledge, and good principles.”
+
+“And friends.”
+
+“He’ll have friends if he has those things. They will raise him up
+friends anywhere. Here you are, fretting because you don’t weigh two
+hundred, like Dick Cameron, and are not twenty-one. But if anything
+should happen to the officers of this vessel, all this crew of twenty
+great, stout men, second mate and all, couldn’t get this vessel home.
+They would have to fall back on Ned Gates, if he hasn’t got any cue to
+speak of, and can’t furl the royal when it blows hard, and the sail is
+wet and heavy.”
+
+“I won’t whine any more, Walter.”
+
+“It wouldn’t make one farthing’s difference as to age or size, with
+such a crew as this, all neighbors. If you are only modest, and know
+your duty, they would take pride in seeing you go ahead.”
+
+“Well, I won’t feel so any more. Let us talk about something else.”
+
+“I’ll tell you when we can get together, and it will be nobody’s
+business.”
+
+“When?”
+
+“When the voyage is up, then you can go home with me to my house.”
+
+“But shall we have time before the vessel goes again?”
+
+“Plenty. They will have to pick up a cargo. The articles to carry, many
+of them, have to be imported from other countries—the salt-petre from
+England or the East Indies.”
+
+“Wouldn’t I like it? Wouldn’t I have the best time that ever was in
+this world?”
+
+“You better believe it.”
+
+“I shall see Charlie Bell and his wife, and the baby, Lion Ben, Uncle
+Isaac, and old Tige.”
+
+“Yes, and I’ll get Uncle Isaac, our Joe, and Charlie Bell to go hunting
+with us. It will be right in bear time, and about town-meeting time,
+and they’ll have a wrestling match. Our Joe is champion, but father can
+throw him; only he’s done wrestling in the ring. But I suppose, if any
+stranger came along, as Ricker did, he’d take hold, for the credit of
+the place. But father never saw the day he was so stout as grandfather.
+Did you ever see my grandsir?”
+
+“No, I never saw any of your folks but Joe.”
+
+“Well, he’s an old man now, but you can see, by his great bones and
+cords, as big as an ox’s, what he was once. When Hen, and I, and Will
+were little boys, he used to get us up in the floor, and set us to
+wrestling.”
+
+“I shouldn’t think an old man would care about wrestling and such
+things.”
+
+“He ain’t old _inside_; no older than ever he was. O, I’ll tell you the
+funniest thing. You must know, we milk seven cows, and have awful big
+churnings. One rainy day mother had our great churn, full of cream,
+sitting in the chimney corner, because it was a rainy day, and father
+was going to churn for her. Grandsir he ties a string to the churn
+handle, sat in his chair, and held the end of it, and told us boys to
+jump over it, and see which could jump the highest. Every little while
+he would put the string up a little higher. It was Hen’s turn to jump,
+and just as he was going over, grandsir twitched up the string, and
+caught his feet. Over went the churn, the cover came out, and there was
+that cream all over the floor. Grandsir was too old to get out of the
+way; it filled his shoes full, ran into the fireplace, and soaked Hen
+all through in front before he could get up. The dog lay asleep before
+the fire. It ran all over him. He jumped up, and went all round the
+room, switching his tail, and flinging the cream over everything. We
+laughed; it frightened the baby; he began to scream, and you never saw
+such a scrape.”
+
+“What did your mother say?”
+
+“She didn’t say much. She is one of the best mothers that ever was,
+always one way. She isn’t religious, like your mother, ‘cause there
+ain’t any religion in our folks. She is too good to have such a tearing
+set of boys round her.”
+
+“Will you go in the woods, and camp out? I never was in the big woods.
+There ain’t any woods round Salem.”
+
+“Well, there’s woods enough round our way. It’s all woods. You can get
+bear’s grease enough to make your cue grow three inches a night, and
+eat bear’s meat till you grow big enough to fill up the boots of a
+second mate. Come, let’s go to sleep.”
+
+When they went on board in the morning, the wind was blowing fresh, and
+the sea beginning to heave into the roadstead.
+
+The captain made his way to the observatory (taking Walter with him),
+from which he enjoyed a view of the roadstead and all in it. Here he
+sat, watching the blockading fleet with all the interest with which
+a beleaguered rat contemplates the movements of his enemy, the cat.
+Ned Gates had been despatched to find Mr. Bell, and tell him to get
+his things on board the vessel, accompanied by the fisherman’s boy
+as pilot. Ned traversed alleys and by-ways, till, in the dark, damp
+basement of a squalid tenement he found the object of his search. It
+was a wretched place, the walls low and dripping with moisture; in one
+corner was a large trough, nearly full of water, in which the willow
+rods lay soaking, in order to make them pliable to work; the floor was
+littered with pieces of willows, of all colors, which had been trimmed
+off; the walls were hung all round with willows, stripped into thin
+shavings, and made into skeins. In another corner was a rough berth,
+built up like those on shipboard, where the old gentleman slept, and on
+a shelf, at the head of it, his Bible; evincing that, in his loneliness
+and sorrow, he found consolation in the Word of God. There was also a
+rusty stove, a few cooking utensils, a rickety table, and some rough
+chairs, made of willow with the bark on.
+
+The old gentleman was seated on a wooden platform, a little inclined,
+with his back against the wall, employed in finishing a basket of such
+delicate workmanship, such tastefully arranged and beautiful colors, as
+to elicit the most unbounded expressions of admiration from Ned.
+
+The old gentleman was evidently highly gratified with the praise
+bestowed upon his work.
+
+“I am glad you like it,” said he; “I have spent a vast deal of time
+and work upon it; indeed, it is all I have done since I heard my son
+was living. I design it as a present for my daughter, if I am ever
+permitted to see her. It is said, self-praise goes but little ways;
+yet, when I was working at my trade in England, I had the reputation
+of doing the best work of any man in the fens, and that is saying a
+good deal. I used to think, when Charles was growing up, he would make
+a first-rate workman; but he has found better business than making
+baskets.”
+
+“He can do anything,” said Ned. “He can make a ship, a bedstead, or a
+fiddle.”
+
+“He takes that from his mother’s folks. They were shipwrights and
+joiners; but mine were all basket-makers, from the beginning. I’m going
+to take my tools, some basket-rods, and dye-stuffs; the rest I have
+given to a young man who learned his trade of me.”
+
+He then drew from a chest a pair of nice broad-cloth breeches, silk
+hose, and other things to correspond, a nice pair of shoes, with silver
+buckles, and, arraying himself, accompanied Ned on board the vessel.
+
+The gale increased as the day wore away.
+
+“There they go,” said the captain, as one of the frigates loosed her
+topsails and made sail.
+
+“I reckon,” said Walter, “they’ll find that when the cat’s away the
+mice will play.”
+
+The frigate was soon followed by another, till at length only the
+line-of-battle ship remained. Long she held on against a tremendous
+sea, till, at length, Walter, who had taken her bearings over a
+projecting point, exclaimed, “She drags; she will have to go.”
+
+In a few moments the men were seen mounting the rigging, and she also
+joined the rest. She, under short sail, drifted very fast to leeward.
+The frigates, carrying all the sail they could smother to, and sharper
+built, made desperate efforts to keep to windward, and did better,
+especially one which had been taken from the French, that outsailed
+all the rest; but they all gradually fell to leeward, leaving a clear
+offing.
+
+“Good by, dear friends,” said Captain Brown, highly elated with the
+turn matters were taking; “sorry to part, but your room is better than
+your company.”
+
+When the basket-maker made his appearance with Ned, he was scarcely
+recognized by the captain and Walter, so changed was his appearance,
+and so sprightly were his looks. Noticing their astonishment, he
+observed to the captain, “I had contrived to lay by a little, by
+prudence and hard work, for I couldn’t bear the thought of being a
+pauper in a foreign land, and that I might have somewhat to give me
+Christian burial; and I thought I would fix myself up a bit, that my
+son might not be ashamed of me, should I be spared to see him.”
+
+By twelve o’clock at night the gale moderated, the brigantine got under
+way, and as the sun rose was far beyond the reach of her enemies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+DEAR-BOUGHT WIT.
+
+
+NED had been accustomed, in all ordinary weather, to take his trick
+at the helm with the rest; but the captain would not permit it for
+the first fortnight out, greatly to the annoyance of Ned, who prided
+himself very much on being able to steer. Wheels were not in use then,
+and the old-fashioned tiller with which vessels were steered came
+against the hips, sometimes with a good deal of force, and the captain
+was fearful of causing Ned’s wound to break out again; neither would
+he permit him to stand his watch. All day he was on deck, pulled and
+hauled with the rest, and went aloft.
+
+As Ned didn’t care for turning in till nine, ten, or even twelve
+o’clock, of a pleasant night, when he had not been fatigued through
+the day, Mr. Bell—who was naturally inclined to make all the
+inquiries possible about his son, and the new country to which he was
+going—sought out Ned in the pleasant evenings, and whiled away many
+an hour in conversation most interesting to both. Ned described the
+personal appearance of the son to his father, and also that of Lion
+Ben, told all the stories he had ever heard of his enormous strength,
+and his encounter with the pirates, recounted the beauties of Elm
+Island, of Charlie’s farm, and sketched the characters of Captain
+Rhines and Uncle Isaac. No doubt the virtues and attractions of Charlie
+received their just due in the description of so enthusiastic an
+admirer.
+
+“You say, Ned, that my son owns six hundred acres of land.”
+
+“Yes, sir; and a saw-mill on it; and the machinery came from
+England,—that is, the crank, saw, and mill chain.”
+
+“Why, a man must be immensely rich to own so much land. There must be
+some mistake about it.”
+
+“No, sir, there ain’t; for Mr. Griffin, the mate’s brother, his next
+neighbor, told me so, and I’ve been in the mill. He owns more than
+that, sir; he owns part of this vessel, and part of the Casco (a great
+mast ship of seven hundred tons), and one fourth of the Hard-scrabble;
+and he built the whole of them.”
+
+“I can’t understand how he came by so much money at his age, for he’s
+not much more than a boy now.”
+
+“Perhaps Lion Ben, Uncle Isaac, and Captain Rhines gave it to him, they
+think so much of him.”
+
+“I don’t believe that. People are not so fond of giving away money.
+There must be some mistake. All my forefathers have been prudent,
+hard-working people, and never one of them owned a foot of land.”
+
+“Well, sir, I don’t know how it is, but I know _it is so_. I will call
+Danforth Eaton. He can explain it all, I dare say.”
+
+“Do, young man.”
+
+Eaton told Mr. Bell about the ventures that Charlie sent in the Ark,
+which gave him the first money he ever possessed; also about his
+learning the ship carpenter’s trade; and astonished the old gentleman
+by telling him that Charlie’s land cost only seventy-five cents an
+acre. He also told him about the building of the Hard-scrabble, and how
+much money she made. Upon these matters Eaton was an authority, as he
+had worked on all the vessels Charlie had built, and knew the whole
+matter from the beginning, whereas Walter Griffin was too young to be
+familiar with the events of Charlie’s boyhood, and the information of
+Ned was all second hand.
+
+As the voyage approached its termination, the excitement of the father
+increased. Ned was now able to stand his watch, and often, at twelve
+o’clock, the old gentleman would come on deck, and spend the remainder
+of the night talking with him and Eaton, and also with Peterson, whose
+acquaintance he had now made.
+
+When, by the captain’s reckoning, the vessel was nearly up with the
+land, and men were sent aloft to look out for it, he became quite
+nervous, thinking, perhaps, the happiness of possessing and meeting
+such a son was too great a boon. Again, he imagined that he might die
+before the vessel arrived, or that, after all, there might be some
+mistake. “God only knows what is in store for me,” he said, brushing
+the tear from his eye, as a joyous scream from the royal yard, in the
+shrill tones of Ned, proclaimed, “Land, O!”
+
+Let us now see what the unconscious object of all this solicitude
+is doing. He is about half way between his house and Uncle Isaac’s,
+walking at a smart pace, and with the air of one bound upon a long
+walk. It was early autumn. As he approached the house, he saw Uncle
+Isaac in the barn floor, winnowing grain in the primitive fashion.
+
+“Good afternoon, Charlie. Go into the house. I’ll be there in a moment.
+I’m almost through.”
+
+“I can’t stop, Uncle Isaac. I’m going farther.”
+
+“Where to?”
+
+“Over to Mr. Colcord’s, to look at a cow. He’s got seven. He told me I
+might have my pick of them for fifteen dollars.”
+
+“What! Jim Colcord?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“I wouldn’t have anything to do with him.”
+
+“Why not?”
+
+“Because he’s the most narrow-contracted creetur that ever lived. He
+soaks out mackerel, and then takes the water to make hasty-pudding, in
+order to save the salt. Robert Yelf worked for him one year in haying
+time. Didn’t you never hear him tell about his jumping into the loaf of
+hot rye and Indian bread?”
+
+“No, sir; what did he do that for?”
+
+“I’ll tell you. One day, his wife had cooked all her dinner in the
+brick oven, except some potatoes that she had baked in the ashes. She
+had baked beans, Indian pudding, a hind quarter of lamb, and a great
+loaf of rye and Indian bread in an iron pan that would hold a peck. He
+had a number of hands at work for him, getting hay. He’s rich the old
+screw, but so mean that he never allows himself or his family decent
+clothes, and always goes barefoot. He’s got a noble woman for a wife,
+too, as ever God made, and a nice family of children.”
+
+“I believe such men always get the best of wives.”
+
+“It’s a good deal so, Charlie, I guess. Well, as I was saying, coming
+into the house that day, just afore twelve o’clock, and seeing no pots
+or kettles on the fire, he took it into his head that his wife had made
+no preparation for dinner; that the men would come in at twelve, have
+to wait, and he should lose some time.”
+
+“Whereas,” said Charlie, “the dinner was all in the oven, and ready to
+be put on the table.”
+
+“Just so. He instantly began to jump up and down on the hearth, and
+curse and swear. His wife, who was scared to death of him, began to
+take the victuals out of the oven, to let him see it was all right. The
+first thing she came to was the great iron pan of rye and Indian bread,
+which she put down on the hearth. Thinking, in his passion, that this
+was all, he jumped right into it with his bare feet.”
+
+“I guess it burnt him some.”
+
+“I guess you’d think so; if there’s anything in this world that’s hot,
+or holds heat, it’s rye and Indian bread. It stuck between his toes,
+and scalded to the bone. He ran round the room, howling and swearing,
+and the tears running down his cheeks.”
+
+“Served him right.”
+
+“I think so. Now, if I were you, I wouldn’t have anything to do with
+him; he’ll cheat you, sure.”
+
+“I reckon I can tell a good cow when I see her.”
+
+“Perhaps you can; but he’s cheated as smart men as you are. Let me go
+and trade for you.”
+
+Charlie would by no means consent to that, but set off on his errand.
+
+“Well,” said Uncle Isaac, as they parted, “it is said, bought wit is
+good; perhaps it is, if you don’t buy it too dear.” When, at length, at
+the place, he was received by Colcord with the greatest cordiality; but
+Charlie saw that the house and all the surroundings accorded precisely
+with Uncle Isaac’s description of his character.
+
+Colcord himself was a meagre-looking being; although in years, he
+was barefoot, and so was his wife. Charlie also noticed that the
+small quantity of wood at the door seemed to be rotten windfalls
+and dead limbs of trees, though he possessed a large extent of very
+heavily timbered woodland. Three boys, whose dress barely served the
+purposes of decency, completed this singular family. The youngest,
+notwithstanding his rags and a certain timidity of expression (the
+result of hard usage), was a most intelligent, noble-looking boy, with
+whose face Charlie instantly fell in love; his heart went out to these
+boys.
+
+“I have known hardship and poverty,” he said to himself, “but I thank
+God I never had a father who, when I asked him for an egg, would
+give me a scorpion. _My_ poor father did all in his power to give me
+schooling, and make my childhood happy.—You remember,” said Charlie
+to Mr. Colcord, “the talk we had some time since about cows, when you
+told me that for fifteen dollars I should have my pick out of seven.
+This is the day set, and I have come to look them over.”
+
+“Andrew,” said Colcord, to the oldest boy, “drive the cows into the
+yard.”
+
+After Charlie had examined each cow in succession, he said, “Mr.
+Colcord, here are but six cows; I was to have my choice of seven.”
+
+“It is true, Mr. Bell, I did say so; but when I came home and told my
+wife, she took on at such a rate about my selling _that_ cow, that I’ve
+tied her up in the barn. She won’t consent to part with her; it would
+break her heart. You must excuse me there.”
+
+Charlie’s suspicions were roused in an instant. All that Uncle Isaac
+had told him in respect to the sharp practice of the man rushed at
+once to his recollection. He was determined to have that cow, at any
+rate, and instantly asked to see Mrs. Colcord, intending to make her a
+present, to reconcile her to the loss of the cow; but he was told she
+had gone away to spend the day.
+
+“The old rascal,” soliloquized Charlie, “has shut up his best cow,
+thinking I wouldn’t notice there were but six in the yard.—Mr.
+Colcord,” he said, “it was a fair contract between us. You agreed to
+let me take my pick of seven cows. I am here, according to agreement,
+with the cash. I’ll have that cow, or none.”
+
+“Well, if I _must_, I must,” said the old man; “but my wife will cry
+her eyes out;” and he flung open the cow-house.
+
+Charlie felt so sure that this was the best cow of the herd, that he
+never stopped to examine her closely, asked no questions, didn’t even
+take hold of her teats, to see if she milked easy, or to examine the
+quality of the milk, but put a rope on her head, and drove her off,
+congratulating himself, all the way along, that he had outwitted the
+old sneak.
+
+“Guess Uncle Isaac won’t say any more about bought wit,” thought he.
+“Couldn’t have done better than that himself.”
+
+It was about the middle of the afternoon when Charlie reached home. At
+the usual time his wife went to the barn to milk, and began with the
+new comer.
+
+“She has got nice teats, and milks easy, at any rate,” said Mrs. Bell.
+
+[Illustration: THE KICKING COW. Page 233.]
+
+The words were scarcely out of her mouth when the cow gave the pail a
+kick so vicious as to send it spinning over the floor, spattering her
+with milk.
+
+“It is because she is in a strange place, and is afraid of a stranger,”
+said Mrs. Bell; and, holding the pail in one hand, she continued to
+milk with the other. The cow began to kick, first with one leg and
+then the other, without an instant’s intermission, so that to milk was
+impossible.
+
+Charlie, who was in the barn-yard, milking the other cows, now came to
+the rescue. “I never saw a cow I couldn’t milk,” he said; and taking
+up one of her fore legs, fastened it to the rack with a rope. “Kick
+now, if you can.” Placing the pail on the floor, he began to milk with
+both hands; but the vicious brute, springing from the floor, fell over
+upon him, spilling the milk, breaking the bail of the pail, upsetting
+Charlie’s milking-stool, and leaving him at full length on the floor,
+in not the most amiable mood (for his wife could not refrain from
+laughing). He beat her to make her get up, but she was sullen, and get
+up she wouldn’t. He twisted her tail, but she wouldn’t start. He then,
+with both hands, closed her mouth and nostrils, strangling her till
+she was glad to jump up. Thinking she had got enough of it, he began
+again to milk, when away went the pail into the manger, and the milk
+into Charlie’s face. Provoked now beyond endurance, he beat her till
+she roared; but the moment he touched her teats, she began to kick as
+bad as ever. In short, all the way he could milk her at all was to
+fasten her to the stake next the side of the barn, build a fence on
+the other side, so that she couldn’t run around either way, then tie
+her hind legs together, milk her till she threw herself down, and then
+finish the operation as she lay.
+
+While all this was going on, the dog kept up a furious barking.
+
+“What is that dog barking about, Mary?”
+
+“I’m sure I don’t know. Perhaps there’s a skunk or a woodchuck under
+the barn.”
+
+If it was a skunk, he was peeping through a knot-hole in the back
+barn-door.
+
+As they came in with their milk, Joe Griffin was approaching the door,
+having come to borrow a chain and canting dog.
+
+Charlie now perceived that the cunning old wretch had shut up this
+pest, and feigned reluctance to part with her, on purpose to draw him
+on.
+
+“I don’t believe,” said Mrs. Bell, “but what his wife was at home all
+the time. He knew, if you spoke to her, she would tell you the whole
+truth, for she is an excellent woman.”
+
+Charlie resolved to keep the thing from the knowledge of every one,
+_especially_ of Uncle Isaac, whose assertion, “He has cheated as smart
+men as you are,” recurred most unpleasantly to his recollection.
+
+“Mary,” said he,” we must not breathe a word of this to any
+soul,—father’s folks, Joe Griffin, or, above all, Uncle Isaac. I had
+rather pocket the loss than have it known that I got so taken in. I’ll
+dry her up, and fat her. She’s a large cow, and will make a lot of
+beef.”
+
+But such things will always, in some way or other, leak out. While
+Charlie imagined that himself and wife alone possessed the secret, it
+was known to half the town, and they were chuckling over it. Indeed, it
+had come to the ears of Lion Ben, on Elm Island, whose adopted son he
+was.
+
+A fortnight after the occurrences related, Fred Williams and Joe
+Griffin were standing in the doorway of Fred’s store, when they espied
+Lion Ben coming from Elm Island in his big canoe, which he was forcing
+through the water with tremendous strokes.
+
+Landing, and dragging the heavy craft out of the water as though she
+was an egg-shell, he merely nodded to Joe and Fred, and proceeded with
+rapid strides in the direction of Charlie Bell’s.
+
+“What can that mean, Joe?” asked Fred. “He never spoke to us.”
+
+Fred was his brother-in-law, Joe one of his most intimate friends.
+
+“It means that he is angry. Didn’t you notice his face? I never saw him
+angry, though I’ve known him ever since I was a boy; but I’ve heard say
+he is awful when he rises. A common man would be no more in his hands
+now than a fly in the clutch of a lion.”
+
+Ben went directly into Charlie’s pasture, avoiding him, hunted
+around there till he found the kicking cow, and pulling a rope from
+his pocket, put it over her horns, and led her in the direction of
+Colcord’s. Uncle Isaac was butchering a lamb at his door when Ben came
+along with the cow, and was just about to speak to him; but catching
+one glimpse of his face, he dropped his knife, and pretending not to
+see him, walked into the barn.
+
+“Isaac,” cried his wife from the window. “_Isaac_, Ben has just gone
+by.”
+
+“I saw him.”
+
+“_Saw_ him; then why didn’t you speak to him, and ask him to come in,
+and stop to dinner?”
+
+“He’s got the cow Jim Colcord sold to Charlie. I guess he’s on his way
+to call the old viper to account for his trick. When he is in one of
+those rages you’d better go near a she catamount than him.”
+
+“Will he murder him?”
+
+“I hope not.”
+
+“It is some ways there. Ben can’t hold his passion long, and will most
+likely get over it somewhat before he gets there.”
+
+“If he don’t, much as I abhor the old creetur, I pity him.”
+
+When Ben arrived at Colcord’s the family were at dinner; seeing an ox
+cart in the barn-yard, he tied the cow to it. He entered the kitchen
+without knocking, where the family were seated at the dinner-table,
+seized old Colcord by the nape of the neck, carried him, pale as a
+ghost, with eyes starting from their sockets, and too nearly strangled
+to scream, into the barn-yard; here Ben sat down upon the cart-tongue,
+flung his victim across his knees, and while he was alternately
+screaming murder, and begging for mercy, slapped him with his terrible
+paw, till the blood came through his breeches, while the family looked
+on, crying and trembling.
+
+Ben, as a redresser of wrongs, considered it his duty, not only
+to inflict punishment for his knavery in the matter of the cow,
+but likewise for the abuse he had for years inflicted upon his
+uncomplaining wife and children.
+
+When he had finished the castigation, he ordered him to bring the
+money Charlie paid him for the cow, and ten dollars additional for his
+trouble in whipping him. Colcord brought the money, but, fearing to
+approach Ben, put it on the cart tongue.
+
+After counting it, Ben called for a basin of water, soap, and a towel,
+observing, that he was accustomed to wash his hands after handling
+carrion, and informing him (after wiping his hands, as he hung the
+towel on the wheel of the cart) that, if compelled to come there
+again, he should most probably make an end of him.
+
+That night Charlie hunted the pasture over in vain for the cow; but the
+next morning Uncle Isaac came over, told him where the cow was, and
+handed him the money, which Ben had left with him on his return.
+
+“How did father find it out?” asked Charlie.
+
+“Captain Rhines told him.”
+
+“Who told Captain Rhines?”
+
+“I did.”
+
+“Who told you?”
+
+“Joe Griffin.”
+
+“How in the world came he, or anybody else, to know anything about it?”
+
+“That’s more than I know; but he said you had to build a fence round
+her, and tie her hind legs together to milk her, and when she couldn’t
+kick, she’d lie down.”
+
+“I bought wit pretty dear, Uncle Isaac.”
+
+“Not quite so dear as Jim Colcord did. They say he can’t sit down, and
+won’t be able to till snow flies.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+DEATH AND BURIAL OF TIGE RHINES.
+
+
+THERE is no animal that seems to be so closely allied to man as the
+dog. He lives in his master’s smiles, defends his person, guards his
+property, and is grateful for the smallest favors.
+
+In respect to other animals, they are naturally shy; we must attach
+them to us by food and caresses.
+
+Take, for instance, a kitten, born in the house, and her parents before
+her for generations; yet the moment it gets its eyes open, it will
+round up its back, and spit at the little boy or girl who approaches to
+fondle it, and must be wonted; but a puppy, why, the moment his eyes
+are open, he’s right on to you, and you have hard work to keep him from
+licking your face.
+
+When the family leaves the house, the cat will seldom, if ever, follow
+them, because she cares more about the place than the people; but the
+dog’s home is where his master is.
+
+John Rhines’s dog, Tige, a Newfoundland of the largest size,
+possessed—as those who have read the Elm Island stories know—a
+sagacity greater than that which generally pertains even to that noble
+breed.
+
+Tige Rhines, as he was called, was known and loved by both young and
+old, the protector and playmate of all the children, and bore on his
+neck a broad brass collar, on which were inscribed the date of the year
+and the day on which he pulled little Fannie Williams from the bottom
+of the mill-pond, and many other things that he had done.
+
+For many years Tige had been gradually losing his activity, and was
+quite infirm with age. He had never been accustomed to leave the home
+of his master, except when sent upon some errand, with a basket or
+letter in his mouth, unless with some of the family; but after Mary
+and Elizabeth were married, he would once in a while go to visit each
+of them in the forenoon, stop to dinner and tea, see the babies, and
+go home at night. He would also go down to the cove in front of the
+house, and play with the children of the neighborhood by the hour
+together. All through Fannie Williams’s childhood (whose life he saved)
+he was, whenever she came up to see him, which was generally once a
+month, sent home with her by Captain Rhines. But age, which comes alike
+upon dogs and men, had compelled him to relinquish all these pleasant
+excursions. His legs had grown stiff and crooked; his glossy black coat
+had become a dirty yellow, except along the back and at the roots of
+the tail; his intelligent eye was dim; and all around his eyes and nose
+gray hairs were plentifully scattered. It was with great difficulty
+he could walk; he would attempt sometimes to follow John to the barn,
+go part way there, and moan because he could get no farther; then
+John would go back and pat and comfort him. Everything that care and
+affection could do to render him comfortable and happy in his old age,
+was done by Captain Rhines and John.
+
+As the weather grew cooler, John made him a bed of sheep-skins with
+the wool on; for though once apparently insensible to cold, never
+hesitating in the dead of winter to plunge into the waves, he now
+trembled before every blast. Captain Rhines would catch smelts and
+bring to him, for Tige was a dear lover of fish; John would put him
+in the cart, haul him down in the field, and put him in the sun, at
+the end of the piece where he was digging potatoes, and as the sun
+went down, cover him with his jacket. The children around brought him
+titbits, and all the dogs in the neighborhood came to visit him. He
+at length became so feeble it was with difficulty he could get out of
+his kennel. Mornings when John went to the barn to feed the cattle, he
+would bid him good morning; Tige would wag his tail and look wistfully
+in his face, unable to rise.
+
+One morning, John, as he passed the kennel, spoke, as usual; but not
+hearing the noise of Tige’s tail striking against the side of the
+house, he went back and looked in; he was stretched out, apparently
+asleep; he put his fingers in his mouth; there was no warmth. “He is
+dead! poor old Tige,” cried John; “there never was such a dog in this
+world, and never will be again. I never will love another dog;” and
+he burst into tears; “I don’t care if I do cry,” he said, at length,
+wiping away the tears; “he’s been my playmate, ever since I was a boy;
+has saved my life; and nobody sees me; but if Charlie and Fred were
+here, they would cry, too.”
+
+Captain Rhines was not yet up. John fed the cattle, and then went to
+the door of his bedroom.
+
+“Father.”
+
+“What is it, John?”
+
+“Tige’s dead.”
+
+“I’m sorry; poor fellow! I’d give the best cow I’ve got in the barn to
+have him back as smart as he was once.”
+
+“_I’d_ give them _all_, father.”
+
+“Well, we’ve done all we could for him, John, and he’s gone where
+the good dogs go. It will make Ben feel bad; he and Tige were great
+friends.”
+
+“And Fannie, father.”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+It was soon known in the neighborhood. About nine o’clock, Fannie
+Williams came in, now grown to be, by universal consent, the prettiest
+girl in town; industrious, capable, and, as Captain Rhines was
+accustomed to say, as good as she was handsome.
+
+“Is Tige dead, John?” she asked, taking the chair he proffered her.
+
+“Yes, Fannie.”
+
+She was silent for a few minutes, then began to cry.
+
+“Don’t cry, Fannie,” said John.
+
+“I know it’s foolish, but I can’t help it; you know he saved my life.”
+
+“That he did,” said the captain; “for I took you from his jaws, when he
+brought you to the shore. I would cry as much as I had a mind to.”
+
+“I’m sure,” said Mrs. Rhines, “I don’t see what anybody could be made
+of, not to feel bad to lose such a good creature as Tige, even if he
+was a dumb animal. I used to feel just as safe with him, when Captain
+Rhines was at sea, and I left alone with the children, as though the
+men folks were round. When Captain Rhines was about home, or we had
+a hired man, he would lie under the big maple, or, if it was cold
+weather, in his house; but the very first night I was left alone, he
+would (without my saying a word to him) come right into the house, and,
+after I went to bed, stretch himself out before my bedroom door; it
+seemed as if he knew.”
+
+“_Knew!_ I guess he did know,” said John; “only think how long he smelt
+us before we got here, when Charlie and I came from Portland, and how
+glad he was to see us! I thought he would have jumped out of his skin.”
+
+John persuaded Fannie to stop to dinner, as Tige was to be buried in
+the afternoon.
+
+“Where would you bury him, father?”
+
+“I’ll tell you, John. Under the big maple, where he loved so much to
+lie in the hot summer days.”
+
+While this conversation was going on at Captain Rhines’s, Joe Griffin,
+Charlie, and Fred were expatiating upon the merits of Tige, and
+regretting his loss, in Fred’s store. Joe Bradish came in, and after
+listening a while to their conversation, broke in with, “Such a fuss
+about a dog—an old dog, that ought to have been knocked on the head
+years ago. Anybody would think it was a Christian you was lamenting
+about.”
+
+Fred was naturally of a warm temper, shared in the universal feeling
+of dislike to Bradish, and this rough remark, in his present state of
+feeling, was more than he could bear.
+
+“There _was_ more Christianity in him than there ever was in _you_,”
+retorted Fred; “more in one of his nails than in your whole body. He
+saved the lives of three of us, when we went to sleep in the tide’s
+way, at Indian Cave. If it hadn’t been for him, I should have been as
+miserable to-day as Pete Clash. It will be news to me when I hear of
+your lifting a finger to help anybody. You may keep still or leave the
+store.”
+
+Bradish, without making any reply, went out.
+
+“You’ve lost his custom, I reckon,” said Charlie.
+
+“It won’t be much loss. He came in here the other day, lolling round,
+and upset the inkstand upon a whole piece of muslin. I was out of
+doors, and before I could get in, it went through the whole piece. He
+said he was master sorry, supposed he ought to buy something, and would
+take a darning-needle.”
+
+The three friends, with Fannie and Captain Rhines’s family, buried
+Tige beneath a large rock maple that stood on the side of the hill, in
+the edge of the orchard. It was all full of holes, where Ben and John
+had tapped it. Between its roots they had made many a hoard of apples;
+and here Tige had loved to lie, as it was a cool place, and from it he
+could see everything that moved upon the water. They put a stone at
+the grave, on which his noble deeds were recorded.
+
+John Rhines had long cherished a secret attachment to Fannie Williams;
+but the death of Tige occasioned a mingling of sympathies that brought
+matters to a focus, and after a short engagement they were married.
+Captain Rhines and his wife, with whom Fannie had been a favorite from
+childhood, were highly gratified; for since their daughters had married
+and gone, the large house seemed lonely, and this beautiful, lively,
+sweet-tempered girl was to them a perfect treasure.
+
+A week after the occurrences narrated, a stranger, in the dress of a
+working man, with his coat on his arm, came into Fred’s store, and
+called for some crackers and cheese, and half a pint of new rum.
+
+Fred placed before him the crackers and cheese, but told him he must go
+to the other store for the liquor. He then called for a quart of cider.
+After eating, drinking, and resting a while, and smoking his pipe,
+he took a piece of chalk from his pocket, and drew a line across the
+floor. “There,” said he, “the first man that steps over that line has
+got to take hold of me.”
+
+This was altogether too much for Fred, who instantly stepped over the
+line. They went out before the door, and the stranger threw Fred in a
+moment, and several others who came in. The thing was noised abroad,
+and quite a crowd assembled, but they were careful not to step over the
+line. Fred sent for Charlie, and the stranger threw him. The matter was
+now getting serious; the reputation of the town was at stake.
+
+“Send for Joe Griffin,” said Uncle Isaac.
+
+Joe had gone up river after logs.
+
+“Then send for Edmund Griffin.”
+
+He had gone with Joe. A boy was now despatched for Joel Ricker, who
+brought back word that he was on Elm Island, doing some joiner-work for
+Lion Ben.
+
+“Then,” said Uncle Isaac, “we must send for the Lion. This fellow
+shan’t go off and make his brags that he has stumped the place, and
+got off clear. I’ll take hold of him myself first, though I haven’t
+wrestled these twenty-five year.”
+
+“Why haven’t we thought of John Rhines?” said Fred.
+
+“Sure enough,” said Uncle Isaac; “he’ll handle him.”
+
+“John,” said the captain, “has gone to Tom Stanley’s to buy a yoke
+of oxen; but I’ve got a horse that will go there and back in three
+quarters of an hour, if anybody will drive him.”
+
+“I’ll go,” said Fred.
+
+By the time John arrived, half the town was there. A ring was made
+before the door.
+
+“You’ve brought a man big enough this time,” said the stranger, looking
+up at John, who towered far above him.
+
+They took hold. John threw him as easily as he had thrown Fred, while
+shout after shout went up from the crowd, who had been holding their
+breath, in anxious suspense.
+
+“You _crushed_ me down by main strength,” said the stranger; “but I
+would like to try you at arms’ length.”
+
+They took hold at arms’ length, and although the grapple was longer,
+John threw him twice.
+
+“You have stout men up in this place,” said he. “I am thirty years old
+next July, and this is the first time I’ve been thrown since I was
+nineteen.”
+
+“_Men!_” said Uncle Isaac. “You have as yet wrestled only with boys.
+Our men all happen to be away.”
+
+“If you call these boys, I should like to see your men.”
+
+“Here comes one of them,” said Uncle Isaac, pointing towards the water.
+
+The eyes of the stranger, following the direction of his finger, rested
+upon the massive shoulders of Lion Ben, who was approaching the shore
+in his big canoe, pulling cross-handed, while Joel Ricker, with his
+tools in his lap, was sitting in the stern.
+
+They landed, wondering much at the crowd assembled. Ricker walked up
+the beach with his tools, while Ben followed, dragging the canoe with
+one hand over the gravel.
+
+The stranger gazed with dilating eyes, as he straightened up to his
+full proportions. Then he went to the canoe, but found himself unable
+to move it, even down hill.
+
+“What may I call your name, friend?” asked Uncle Isaac, approaching.
+
+“Libby—Lemuel Libby, from Black Pint, in Scarboro’.”
+
+Uncle Isaac then introduced him to Captain Rhines, John, and Lion Ben,
+at the same time informing him that they were the father and two sons.
+Libby gazed a moment upon these superb specimens of manly vigor, and
+resuming his clothes, said, “This is no place for common men, like me.
+I’ll make tracks for home.”
+
+“Not so, friend Libby,” said John. “Everything has been done fair and
+above-board. There’s no occasion for hardness. Spend the night with me.
+I’ll take the horse, and start you on your way in the morning.”
+
+“Neighbors,” said Captain Rhines, who was greatly delighted at the
+triumph of his son, “I invite you all to take dinner at our house
+to-morrow, at twelve o’clock; and Mr. Libby will stop and eat with us.”
+
+“The house won’t hold us, Benjamin,” said Uncle Isaac.
+
+“Well, the barn will. We’ll make two crews, and set two tables.”
+
+“John,” said Charlie, after the crowd had dispersed, “do you remember
+what you said so long ago?”
+
+“No. What was it?”
+
+“That you meant to be the greatest wrestler, and marry the handsomest
+girl. I don’t see but you are in a fair way to do both, if all tales
+are true.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE MEETING.
+
+
+LITTLE dreaming of the happiness in store for him, Charlie, having
+gathered in his harvest and husked his corn, now occupied himself in
+preparing to put a hedge around his mother’s grave.
+
+A _hedge_. How significant that word to him, reared amid the vales of
+Lincolnshire! It recalled all the associations of his childhood, and
+of the sunny spring mornings, when, sitting beneath the shelter of
+the hedge-rows, he watched the ducks sport in the pools below, while
+beside him the hens were scratching and burrowing in the warm earth
+beneath the bank for worms and grubs, and he, a happy, careless boy,
+was pounding a willow stick on his knee with the handle of his knife,
+to make the bark slip, for a whistle; listening to the birds in the
+hedge above him, and watching the mimic waves produced by the wind as
+it swept over the osiers.
+
+His intention was to surround the little promontory (around whose sides
+murmur the clear waters of the brook and the majestic elm that shadows
+it, whose pendent branches, with their extremities, approached within a
+few feet of the grave-stone) with hedge.
+
+Mr. Welch, several years before, had imported plants from England, and
+also ivy. It was from him he expected to obtain his plants—“quicks”
+Charlie called them—for he was no novice in hedging. The ivy he
+purposed to plant at the roots of the great elm.
+
+This occupation had revived all the associations of his boyhood, and
+fond recollections of other days, often bringing tears to his eyes.
+
+“A beautiful land is England,” said he, as he wiped the sweat from his
+brow and rested upon his spade; “and those sweet spots in the fens I
+shall never forget; but this is sweeter, for it is my own. What I do
+here, I do for myself, my wife, and little one.”
+
+That evening, as he sat with the babe in his lap, while his wife was
+clearing off the supper table, he said to her, “Mary, it don’t seem
+to look, or to be, just right that I should have a grave-stone for my
+mother, and none for my father, brother, and sister.”
+
+“But they are not buried here. You wouldn’t wish to put stones where
+there are no bodies.”
+
+“But I might have _something_. I’ve seen in the churchyards at home
+monuments with the names of people on them who were not buried under
+them, but had died at sea, or been killed in battle, as father was. I
+might do that.”
+
+“Why don’t you?”
+
+“I think I will; and the very next time the schooner goes to Boston,
+when I send for my quicks and ivy, I’ll inquire of Mr. Welch about it.”
+
+Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of John Rhines,
+with a letter in his hand.
+
+“Just give me that baby, and read this.”
+
+“If ever I was glad of anything in my life, I am of this,” said
+Charlie, when he had read the letter; “not on our account altogether,
+but Captain Brown’s, he was just starting in life, and there were so
+many looking at him; and how handsomely he speaks of Walter and little
+Ned!”
+
+“Ain’t it great?”
+
+“Yes; she’s paid for herself with the freight she carried out.”
+
+“I know it; and the back freight is all clear gain. There’s no loss,
+except the main boom and a boat.”
+
+“I’ll build another boat. I’ve got the stuff in the ship-yard, all
+seasoned. The boom won’t be much; he can buy the stick, and Danforth
+Eaton can make it. What did your father say? He was a long time making
+up his mind whether it would do to trust him with a vessel or not, and
+I know he’s been very anxious, though he said nothing.”
+
+“_Say!_ I only wish you could have seen him when I brought in the
+letter. Mother was just going to tie his cue; he glanced over it,
+jumped up, and cut round the house like a boy of sixteen; made me put
+the saddle on the mare, and in spite of all mother could do, went over
+to tell Uncle Isaac, with his hair all flying in the wind. Won’t they
+have a good time, talking it over?”
+
+“Yes; and I know just what they’ll say.”
+
+“What?”
+
+“They’ll say he’s turned out just as they expected, when it was all
+you, father, and I could do to get them started to build the vessel for
+him.”
+
+“Don’t be too confident, Charlie; the old folks know a thing or two;
+remember the cow trade.”
+
+Charlie blushed, and in order to turn the conversation, remarked, as he
+looked again at the letter, “It seems he wants some beef and fish to
+make up his next cargo.”
+
+“Fred has got a lot on hand, just packed; father is going up in the
+Perseverance to take it up, settle up the voyage, and bring home the
+money. Have you heard the news, Charlie, Tom Bannister brought?”
+
+“No; what is it?”
+
+“Pete Clash and John Godsoe have turned up.”
+
+“They have?”
+
+“Yes; Tom saw ‘em on board a Guineaman in Havana; they pretended not
+to know him, but he knew them. Just the place for them. Father says
+these Guineamen have a long gun in the hold, and mount it when they get
+outside, and are all pirates in disguise.”
+
+The country, especially around the sea-coast, was now in a prosperous
+condition. The settlements were pushed back to the head waters of
+the streams, roads made, townships surveyed, town incorporated, and
+vessels built; the timber trade assumed vast proportions, and money
+was abundant, men began to break away from the rigid manners of the
+primitive times, and ape the style of dress and living that prevailed
+in England, which they had either seen or heard of.
+
+Great numbers of cattle were raised on the lands newly burnt over.
+Instead of driving the cattle to Brighton or Cambridge, as at the
+present day in seaport towns and country villages, they were butchered,
+and the beef packed at home, shipped to Spain and other countries of
+Europe, and smuggled into Cuba for the use of the Spanish slavers. Fred
+had added to his other business that of packing beef, and Uncle Isaac
+and Joe Griffin bought the cattle for him. He had imported a cooper, by
+the name of Wallace, from Standish, to make the barrels, who had taken
+three boys as apprentices, thus increasing the business of the place.
+
+Charlie, who as our readers know, was strongly attached to the
+cultivation of the soil, had neither engaged in vessel or boat building
+since the Arthur Brown was launched. John Rhines likewise found
+plenty of employment upon the home farm, occasionally working in the
+yard of Reed and Atherton, who came from Massachusetts, and set up
+ship-building, built vessels, and took them to Massachusetts for sale.
+
+Charlie, Fred, and John intended only to build vessels as they wanted
+them, and repair old ones, or aid some industrious, enterprising young
+man, who wanted a vessel.
+
+They were influenced to this line of conduct very much by the opinions
+of Uncle Isaac, who had a most wonderful power of making people think
+as he did; one reason of which was, that he never manifested the least
+assumption, and another, that he always placed matters in such a light
+that those with whom he conversed seemed to convince themselves.
+
+One day Uncle Isaac and the boys went pigeon shooting together; as they
+were sitting by the fire after dinner, he said. “Where did that corn
+come from that Seth Warren carried last vige in the Hard-scrabble?”
+
+“From North Carolina,” replied Fred.
+
+“Yes, and where did that cargo you are grinding now, that’s going into
+the logging camps, come from?”
+
+“From Baltimore.”
+
+“Do you take in any corn now from round here?”
+
+“When I first began to trade, I used to take in a great deal; but now,
+except from yourself, Captain Rhines, Ben, Joe Griffin, and one or two
+more, I don’t get five bushels in a year; but I sell lots to the people
+round here.”
+
+“It seems to me, when a people get so much taken up with building
+vessels, fishing, cutting masts and ton timber, to send to England,
+that they have to go to the southerd to buy corn to export, feed their
+cattle in the logging swamps, bread their families, and fat their hogs,
+they are in rather a poor way; that there’s more talk than cider;
+that they ain’t getting rich so fast as they appear to be; when they
+raise but little except on burns, never hauling out their dressing,
+or ploughing the land, but keep going over and over, skimming and
+skimming, that by and by they will have a very poor set of carcasses
+left, and that if there should come a war, and all this exportation be
+stopped, there would be pretty blue times. I don’t pretend to know, but
+it appears to me that’s about the way things are done round here, and
+all over the District of Maine.”
+
+“I never thought of that before,” said Charlie.
+
+“Nor I either,” said John.
+
+“It’s just as Uncle Isaac says,” said Fred, “just to a T. When I first
+began to trade, almost everybody had a few bushels of corn to sell,
+some a good deal; and I never sold a bushel of corn, or meal, except
+to fishermen from some other place; if any of our people wanted corn,
+wheat or barley, they went to their neighbors.”
+
+“I have thought a good deal about it,” said Uncle Isaac, “and I’ve
+talked the matter over with Captain Rhines and Benjamin; it strikes
+them pretty much as it does me; they ought to be better judges than
+me, because they’ve had greater privileges. I helped about the
+Hard-scrabble and the Casco, because I wanted to start you boys, build
+up the place, and make business; but it never will do to have the
+eggs all in one basket, for all to be ship-builders, lumbermen, or
+fishermen. A ship don’t produce anything; she is herself a product,
+manned from the land, and victualled from the land; everything comes
+from the ground; we ourselves were made out of it; there must be
+farmers to feed the rest. I mean, for the future, to put my money into
+the land, except I see special reasons for helping somebody.”
+
+When the Hard-scrabble was built, Captain Rhines and Ben rigged her,
+and made the sails, as also those of the Casco, and the Arthur Brown;
+but after Reed and Atherton began to build, a rigger and sail-maker
+came into the place. Charlie Bell built the first pair of cart wheels,
+that had an iron tire. Uncle Isaac and Captain Rhines for some time had
+the only wagons; but in a few years, carts and wagons were more common,
+and a blacksmith from Roxbury, who could do carriage work and make edge
+tools, bought out Peter Brock.
+
+The meeting between Captain Rhines and Arthur (his boy, as he called
+him), in Boston, was a most interesting one. The old captain was
+jubilant that all the owners were more than satisfied, and his own
+judgment, in respect to the capacity of the young captain, borne out by
+facts.
+
+Though by no means given to the melting mood, he met his protégé with
+moistening eyes. It is not within the province of language to describe
+the joy that thrilled the breast of Arthur Brown, and shone in every
+feature, as he put his hand in that of the captain, resulting from the
+consciousness that he had more than answered the expectations and
+justified the confidence reposed in him by his own friends and those of
+his father, especially of Captain Rhines, Charlie, Lion Ben, and the
+others who had risked their own lives to save his, and, not satisfied
+with this, had also jeopardized their property, to open before him a
+path to usefulness and honor.
+
+“Where are the boys?” asked Captain Rhines, after he had talked half an
+hour with Arthur.
+
+“They started for home in a coaster yesterday. I have shipped them all
+for the next voyage.”
+
+“Where is Peterson?”
+
+“Gone with them.”
+
+“Walter and little Ned?”
+
+“They went to Salem together after the vessel was discharged; are
+coming back to-morrow, expecting to go home with you, or whoever came
+up. Then you’re fully satisfied with me, captain?”
+
+“_Satisfied!_ My dear boy, I should have been satisfied if you had done
+half as well. There’s not a shipmaster in the country but would be
+proud of much less than you have done.”
+
+“Mr. Bell and your sons are satisfied?”
+
+“Why, to be sure they are. I don’t know what they could be made of, if
+they are not.”
+
+“Well,” said Arthur, laying both his hands on the captain’s shoulders,
+“I have brought home in this vessel that which will afford greater
+satisfaction to Mr. Bell, yourself and family, than all the money I
+have made this passage. I have brought home Mr. Bell’s father.”
+
+“You must be jesting, or have been deceived. His father has been in his
+grave for years.”
+
+“No; he was not killed, as was supposed, but carried a prisoner
+to France. He has told Eaton and Peterson the whole story of his
+impressment, just as they say Charlie told it; told his son’s age,
+looks, and the scar on his face. There’s no mistake—can’t be. You’ll
+say so when you see him.”
+
+“God ‘a mercy! Well, this is news indeed. But you didn’t mention it in
+your letter.”
+
+“His father didn’t want me to.”
+
+“Where is he?”
+
+“He’s gone to ride with Mr. Welch. I am to meet him there, and take
+tea, and then he is coming aboard.”
+
+“I’ll go there to tea. I have a standing invitation. Well, if I ain’t
+glad! What do you suppose Charlie was about when I came away?”
+
+“I’m sure I don’t know.”
+
+“He was getting ready to put a hedge round the spot where his mother
+lies; sent up by me to get the plants of Mr. Welch, and wanted me to
+talk with him about a monument that he wanted to put up to his father’s
+memory, and a brother and sister that he has heard died in England; and
+also to get some plans and bring home to him. And now, instead of the
+monumental plans, he’ll have the man himself.”
+
+[The Mr. Welch referred to here is a wealthy merchant and ship owner,
+an intimate friend of Captain Rhines, in whose employ he had sailed
+the greater part of his life. His son James, a young man of singular
+promise, but broken down by intemperance, was sent by his father to Elm
+Island in order to get him out of the way of temptation, and restored
+by the influence of Uncle Isaac.]
+
+“But,” continued Captain Rhines, “the boys will be home before us, will
+see Charlie, and let the cat out of the bag.”
+
+“No, they won’t; I’ve told them not to.”
+
+The Perseverance had now been away ten days, and Charlie was expecting
+to receive his “quicks” at her return. He had, in the spring, ploughed
+the ground intended for his hedge, and planted it with potatoes, to
+subdue the tough sward. Having dug the potatoes, and spaded in a heavy
+coating of manure, he was busily engaged (on one of those delightful
+autumn mornings when the hoar frost is melting from the grass, and
+dripping from the extremity of the leaves, and the muscles feel that
+joyous thrill which the season of the year inspires) in levelling the
+surface with a rake, removing the stones, twigs, and bark that had
+fallen from the elm. Feeling a hand laid lightly upon his shoulder, he
+raised his eyes, and looked Walter Griffin full in the face.
+
+“Why, Walter,” he exclaimed, taking both his hands, and struck with the
+expression of heartfelt joy which pervaded every feature, “how happy
+you look!”
+
+“I hope so. I’m sure I ought to.”
+
+“He ain’t any happier than I am,” said a voice that Charlie well knew;
+and stepping from behind the great tree, Ned Gates ran into his arms.
+
+“Why, Ned, how you have grown! I should hardly know you.”
+
+“Have I, truly, Mr. Bell?” replied Ned, excessively pleased.
+
+“Yes; and see what a cue he’s got,” said Walter, turning him round.
+
+“Be still, Wal; how you do like to poke fun at me.”
+
+“Mr. Bell,” asked Walter, “can you bear good news?”
+
+“I guess so.”
+
+“But you never had any such news as this.”
+
+“I stood it pretty well when the Ark made her great voyage, and when
+Isaac Murch made so much money in the Hard-scrabble. I guess I can
+stand this,” replied Charlie, thinking Walter was about to tell him how
+much the Arthur Brown had made.
+
+“O, it ain’t about money at all, but it’s something that will make you
+gladder than if you had a pile of gold as big as Elm Island.”
+
+“Then it must be that you have given your heart to God, Walter.”
+
+The tears came into Walter’s eyes in a moment.
+
+“And do you think so much of me, Mr. Bell?”
+
+“Just so much.”
+
+“Well, it is not that. _Your father has come._”
+
+“My father, Walter, is dead, and I am preparing to put up a monument to
+his memory, right where we stand.”
+
+“You needn’t put up any monument, for he’s alive and well, and in
+Captain Rhines’s house this minute.”
+
+Charlie turned pale, staggered, and would have fallen to the ground,
+but was so near the elm that he fell against it. Walter put his arm
+around him, and he leaned his head on his friend’s shoulder.
+
+“What made you tell him that way?” asked Ned.
+
+“I didn’t mean to; but when he spoke to me about giving my heart to
+God, I didn’t know what I said.”
+
+“It’s over, now,” said Charlie, lifting his head from Walter’s shoulder.
+
+“He wasn’t killed, Mr. Bell,” said Ned, “though he was flung overboard
+for dead. The French picked him up, and we found him in Marseilles,
+selling baskets.”
+
+“I will go right up to Captain Rhines’s,” said Charlie. “You stop at
+the house till I come back.”
+
+“I must go home,” said Walter; “and Ned is going with me. I haven’t
+been home yet. I didn’t want anybody to bring this news but myself and
+Ned.”
+
+When Charlie—his pale features still manifesting traces of the
+feelings which had mastered him—entered the sitting-room, the captain,
+taking him by the hand, pointed to the door of the parlor, which stood
+ajar.
+
+We will draw a veil over the meeting of father and son; but when, at
+the expiration of half an hour, they came out together, traces of tears
+were on the cheeks of both, but they were tears of joy. When Charlie
+presented his wife to his father, and placed the child in his arms, “I
+can now,” said the happy grand-parent, “say, in the words of old Jacob,
+‘I had not thought to see _thy_ face, and lo! God hath also showed me
+thy seed.’”
+
+As they sat side by side, the old gentleman with the child on his knee,
+Captain Rhines said,—
+
+“I don’t see how anybody who ever saw Charlie could harbor any doubt
+about Mr. Bell’s being his father—they favor each other so much.”
+
+“Ah, captain,” was the reply, “put an old, faded, red shirt on me, all
+stained up with osier sap, a tarpaulin hat, a bundle of baskets on
+my back, and, more than all, the heart-broken look I wore then, you
+yourself couldn’t have found much resemblance.”
+
+As they returned to Pleasant Cove by the road that wound along the
+slope of land towards the house, skirting the sugar orchard, the sun,
+which was now getting low, illuminated with its level rays the whole
+declivity, falling off in natural terraces to the shore, and flashed
+upon the foliage of the rock-maples, now red as blood. Indian Island,
+with its high cliffs rising up from the glassy bosom of the bay, the
+white trunks and yellow leaves of its masses of tall birch contrasting
+with the darker hues of the oak and ash, with which the edges of the
+bank were fringed, presented a mingling of tints most delightful.
+
+Mr. Bell, upon whom the glories of a New England forest in autumn
+produced all the effect of novelty, was, for a while, silent with
+wonder and delight.
+
+He at length exclaimed, “How grand, how beautiful! And is all this land
+and forest yours, my son?”
+
+“Yes, father, and a great deal more than you can see from here. I
+bought four hundred acres first, and two hundred more afterwards.
+Father, do you see that large island, with a cleared spot on the side
+of it?”
+
+“With a house on it, that looks as though it were on fire, the sun is
+shining so bright on the windows?”
+
+“Yes, that’s the one; that is Elm Island, where Lion Ben and his wife
+live, who have been a father and mother to me. God bless you, old Elm
+Island. What happy years I have spent on you!”
+
+They next proceeded to the little promontory, and Mr. Bell stood beside
+the grave of her from whom he parted, in bitterness of heart, when he
+was pressed on board the hulk at Sheerness.
+
+“Poor Mary! She starved—saw poverty and sorrow enough in this world;
+but I believe she is now experiencing infinitely more happiness than
+would be hers, were it in our power to call her from the grave to join
+us. I am glad, my son, that you have not set these quicks; we’ll make
+the hedge together. When I am gone, you can lay me in this beautiful
+spot beside her.”
+
+They sat together beneath the elm, talking, till the stars began to
+come out one after another; and when that night Charlie knelt down to
+pray, it was with a heart full to overflowing with gratitude and joy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+NED AMONG THE GRIFFINS.
+
+
+IF a boy ever enjoyed himself in this world, Ned Gates did among
+the Griffins. Their rough, but kindly, rollicking ways just suited
+his sanguine temperament, and he suited them, from the youngest to
+the oldest, and got through the crust at once. Indeed, there was
+everything a wide-awake boy would naturally like. There was a charm,
+in itself, about such a jolly house-full. Ned thought Edmund Griffin
+was a splendid man, his wife one of the best of women, and as for the
+old grandfather, despite his rough ways, he was a perfect treasure.
+Evenings, Ned would nestle to his side, and coax him to tell him
+stories about river driving, hunting, wrestling, and the Indian wars,
+in which he had taken a prominent part.
+
+Captain Brown had rewarded Jacques Bernoux very handsomely for the
+assistance he had rendered Walter, and induced him to come to the
+States, paying him seaman’s wages, and Walter brought him home with
+him. Three or four more never made any difference at Edmund Griffin’s.
+Jacques afforded much amusement by his attempts to speak English.
+
+Being a leisure time of year, and the harvest in, it was hunting,
+fishing, going to Elm Island,—Ned and Captain Rhines carried the news
+of Mr. Bell’s arrival to Ben and Sally,—going with Edmund Griffin and
+Joe up river, and coming down on the raft, breaking colts; and, to fill
+his cup of happiness to the brim, Ned shot a moose. The boys caught a
+bear in the trap, and Ned had an opportunity to taste of the meat, and
+grease his cue with the fat.
+
+There was another older person having a good time, and that was Mr.
+Bell. His things having been brought to the house, he drew from the
+recesses of an enormous chest the beautiful work-basket, and some
+articles of household use, that he had made while in Marseilles, and
+which had so excited the admiration of Ned. Mary was delighted—she had
+never seen anything half so beautiful.
+
+“You can’t come up to that, Charlie,” said his father.
+
+“No, father, I can’t. I never saw any of your work so beautiful as
+this.”
+
+“I never had quite so strong a motive before,” said the old gentleman,
+smiling.
+
+The next day Charlie was called from home to run out a piece of land,
+and was absent nearly a week. Finding lumber and tools in the shop,
+his father made a trough to soak willow, a bench, and having cut some
+native willows by the brook for the frame, in order to economize the
+osiers, made a chair for the baby, and when Charlie returned, was
+busily at work making one high enough for the child to sit at table in.
+
+He was so much occupied with his work as not to notice his son, who
+stood in the door watching him.
+
+“Father,” said he, “I should think I had got back to Lincolnshire.”
+
+“This is a better place than the fens, Charles. I’ll tell you what I’ve
+been thinking about while at work here.”
+
+“What is it, father?”
+
+“All through my life, at home, I have been accustomed to look up to
+the quality, and the country squires who owned lands, with a sort of
+awe; and I have been thinking what a pleasant feeling it must be to own
+a piece of land that God made, and that I should, before I die, like to
+experience the feeling. Now, I have got a few pounds, that I managed to
+lay up while in France. Why couldn’t I buy a little piece of land, and
+have a little garden, and plant it? It would seem so pleasant to eat
+anything that grew on my own land. But perhaps you’ll think I’m getting
+childish, and that it’s an old man’s whim.”
+
+“That’s just the way I used to feel at home, father; and when I came to
+this country, I couldn’t rest for thinking how I should ever come to
+own a piece of land. I would do it. Sam Edwards has a piece right on
+the shore he wants to sell. Part of it’s cleared. There’s a small piece
+between it and me that belongs to heirs, and is to be sold. I’ll buy
+it, and then yours will join mine.”
+
+“And I shall be a freeholder in my old age, after living a tenant all
+the best of my life,” said the old gentleman, highly gratified.
+
+“I’ll tell you what you can do, father. Next time the vessel goes to
+Marseilles, get Jacques to procure some sallies for you, set them on
+your land, and then you can have an osier holt, grow your own rods,
+and make all the baskets you like, to pass away the time in the long
+winters we have in this country.”
+
+“Do you think they would grow here?”
+
+“Anything will grow here, and there’s a swale on that place will suit
+them exactly.”
+
+The marriage of John Rhines and Fannie Williams added to the general
+satisfaction. The infare, or second-day wedding, took place at Captain
+Rhines’s, upon which occasion half the town were invited.
+
+Uncle Isaac and Joe Griffin met Walter and Ned at the infare, and there
+made an agreement to start the next week for the woods. Ned, who had
+been kept quite closely at school till he went to sea, and had never in
+his life shot anything larger than a pigeon or squirrel till he came
+to Pleasant Cove, was perfectly wild with the anticipation, and kept
+Walter awake so long talking about it, that he averred, if he didn’t
+keep still, he wouldn’t sleep with him.
+
+Charlie lent Ned a splendid gun, and they were busily employed running
+balls and making preparations.
+
+While the whole family at Edmund Griffin’s were spending an evening in
+playing “blind man’s buff” in the great kitchen, the old grandfather
+looking on and enjoying the sport as much as the rest, Joe, his face
+bathed in tears, came to announce that Uncle Isaac was dreadfully hurt,
+and could not live.
+
+“How did it happen?” inquired the grandfather, the first to recover
+from the effect produced by these sad tidings.
+
+“You know what a hand Uncle Isaac always was to work alone. He went
+into the woods to haul a large log, laid a skid, one end on the ground,
+the other on a stump, calculating to roll the log up with the cattle,
+so as to run the wheels under. He’s got a yoke of cattle that will
+do anything he tells them to. He stood behind the log, and spoke to
+the cattle, calculating to trig the log when it was up; but the chain
+broke, and the log came back on him.”
+
+“How did they know about it?” asked Edmund.
+
+“He spoke to the cattle, threw chips at them, and started them home
+with a part of the chain hanging to them; his wife knew something was
+wrong, got some of the neighbors to go, and they brought him home.”
+
+“He’s a very strong man; he may get over it.”
+
+“No, he can’t, father; both legs are broken, and he’s hurt otherways;
+the doctor says he can’t, though he may live some time. I must go, for
+I’m going to watch with him to-night.”
+
+“Tell ‘em, Joe, to send here, night or day; anything that we can do, it
+will be a privilege to do it.”
+
+As is the case when people feel deeply, little was said, and one after
+another silently slipped off to bed. As soon as Lion Ben and Sally
+heard of it, they came over and stopped at Captain Rhines’s. Ben, his
+father, and Joe Griffin gave up everything to take care of and watch
+with Uncle Isaac; for although the whole neighborhood offered and
+pressed their services, he preferred that they should take care of him.
+For some days he suffered intense pain, and was at times delirious;
+but as death approached, the pain subsided, his mind became perfectly
+clear, and the same hearty, kindly interest in the young that had ever
+been a prominent trait of his character, resumed its wonted sway. A
+few days before his death, he sent for John Rhines, Charlie, Fred
+Williams, Walter, and Ned, preferring, as he was not able to talk with
+each one separately, to see them together.
+
+“Boys,” said he, “you have come to see the last of Uncle Isaac. John,
+won’t you turn that hour-glass. The sand is run out. We have spent
+a great many pleasant hours together; they are all over now; but I
+want to tell you that they have been as pleasant to me as to you. It
+is a great comfort to me that I have been spared to see my children,
+and you, who seem as near to me as my own children, grow up to be
+God-fearing, useful men in the world, and settled in life. It would
+have been a comfort to me to have seen Isaac once more; but you must
+tell him that his Uncle Isaac did not forget him in his last hours.
+I have been a strong and a tough man in my time. I never was thrown,
+seldom pulled up; very few could lift my load, plan work better, or
+bring more to pass with an axe or scythe. I never saw but one man
+who could outdo me in trapping game or with a rifle, and that was a
+Penobscot Indian, and my foster-brother, John Conesus. I have left my
+rifle with the walnut stock to him. I don’t fetch up these things
+in any kind of a boasting way, but only to say to you that all these
+matters that appeared great to me once, and no doubt do to you, seem
+very small now. What I like most to think about ain’t what I’ve done
+for myself, but to help others, especially to start young men, and get
+‘em canted right, because any good done to the young always seemed to
+me to go a great ways. I always did love to set a scion in a young
+stock; it ain’t like grafting an old hollow tree, which, if it bears a
+little fruit, soon rots down or blows over. If, at your time of life,
+you feel and do thus, like as when you caught the fish and gave them to
+poor Mrs. Yelf, and when you tried to make a good boy of Fred here—”
+
+“We never should have done either,” said John, “if you hadn’t put it
+into our heads.”
+
+“More especially, if you should be owned of the Lord as a means
+of grace to some fellow-creetur, you will find they will be the
+pleasantest things to look back on, when you come to be where I am;
+more so than chopping, wrestling, and getting property, though they
+are all good in their place; such thoughts smooth a sick pillow
+wonderfully. Not that I put any dependence in them, but in the marcy
+of Him who gave me the heart to do them.”
+
+After resting a while, and taking some stimulant, he motioned for
+Walter and Ned to come near.
+
+“I hear that Captain Brown gives you a good name, Walter, and that
+you came home his first officer. We were about to go into the woods
+together when I was hurt. I used to think you loved to go into the
+woods with me.”
+
+“O, Uncle Isaac, the happiest hours of my life have been spent in the
+woods with you.”
+
+“We never shall go there again; I am going to a better place—to
+heaven. Walter, I hope we shall meet there. I haven’t strength to say
+more; but you will remember the talks we’ve had at the camp fire. So
+this is the little boy we took off the raft; he is not very little now,
+though. Don’t cry, my son,” he said, laying his hand upon Ned’s head,
+who had buried his face in the bed-clothes, and was sobbing audibly.
+“It seems to me I am the best off of the two.”
+
+“How _can_ that be, Uncle Isaac, when you are hurt so dreadfully, while
+I am well?”
+
+“Because, my son, I have got about through; I have run all the risk,
+while you have just begun, have all the risk to run, and may be
+shipwrecked. _I_ know what is before me—a better world; _you_ don’t
+know what is before you. _I_ have had all _my_ trials; _yours_ are to
+come. Captain Rhines tells me you have a Christian mother.”
+
+“Yes, Uncle Isaac, she’s the best mother that ever was.”
+
+“I had a praying mother; when I was younger than you I was torn from
+her, and carried away by the Indians. I never forgot her words; in the
+great woods, all alone, they came to mind, and through them I sought
+and found the Lord.”
+
+After parting with the boys, he seemed prostrated, fell into a doze,
+and passed away without a struggle.
+
+A few days after, Uncle Jonathan Smullen died, from decay of nature—a
+very clever man, and kind neighbor; and it was said of him, he never
+did anybody any harm; but Uncle Isaac was missed, and mourned by the
+whole community. The seed of good principles he had sown in the minds
+of young men kept coming up for years after he was in his grave, and
+was resown by those who received it from them, a hundred times; nor
+will their influence ever cease.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.
+
+
+SCARCELY had Uncle Isaac been committed to the earth, when the nephew
+he had so longed to see arrived in the Casco, sick with the fever and
+ague. As the owners wished to send the vessel with despatch to one
+of the French West India islands, they, at Isaac’s request, put Ezra
+Aldrich in her as master. He was a native of the place, and relative of
+Isaac, but never much liked by his schoolmates, being an overbearing
+fellow.
+
+In his youth he went two voyages with Captain Rhines, and afterwards in
+English ships from Liverpool to Halifax.
+
+“I don’t see,” said Captain Rhines, “what Isaac wants to put him in her
+for.”
+
+The first mate was an acquaintance and shipmate of Aldrich, by the name
+of Percival, and, as Captain Rhines told his wife, as great a rascal
+as the captain. There was some difficulty in getting a crew, but,
+through the influence of Captain Rhines, who prevailed on Peterson
+and Danforth Eaton to ship, a crew was mustered. Being all young men
+from the neighborhood, who knew their duty and were able and willing
+to do it, they were at first rather amused than otherwise with the
+consequential airs and bluster of their new captain, in such strong
+contrast to the manners of Captain Rhines and Captain Murch.
+
+Aldrich seemed very much inclined to quarrel with Peterson, but having
+a wholesome dread of the strength of the black, restrained himself. By
+continual abuse, he at length irritated the good-natured negro to such
+a degree, that he said to him, “Lookee ‘ere, Massa Aldrich; ‘member
+when you little picaninny, runnin’ ‘bout barefoot; shirt flap he stick
+out behind; your farder haul staves on a hand-sled, your mudder dig
+clams; spose you gib me any more your jabber-juice, fling you ober de
+rail.”
+
+A week passed, when the captain, offended with Danforth Eaton, caught
+up the end of a rope to flog him. Eaton took up another.
+
+“What use do you intend to make of that rope, Eaton?” asked the
+captain.
+
+“Just the same use that you make of yours.”
+
+The captain was a school-mate of Eaton, and knew very well the
+result of a collision with him. But as they approached the land, the
+deportment of the captain entirely changed. While the vessel was being
+discharged, he bought soft bread, fresh meat, vegetables, and even
+fruit, for the men. Seamen are little disposed to remember injuries,
+and all old scores were now rubbed out.
+
+The cook having gone to the hospital sick, Peterson had taken his place.
+
+One evening, just as the men were about to turn in, the captain sent
+Peterson ashore with some letters. In the morning, when the crew
+turned out, he was among the missing. There was a good fire in the
+fireplace,—stoves were not in use then,—the tea-kettle on, coffee
+pounded in the mortar, some raw potatoes and onions peeled and
+sliced, slices of raw pork in the frying-pan, salt beef chopped in a
+kid,—everything prepared to make lob-scouse.
+
+“Was he not a drinking man?” inquired the captain.
+
+“He was once,” said Hurd, “but left it off years ago.”
+
+“Halloo! What’s this?” said George Hoyt.
+
+A handkerchief lay on the fender. They brought it aboard on the point
+of a boat-hook.
+
+“It’s Peterson’s,” said Elwell; “there’s his name on it.”
+
+“It’s just as I thought,” said the captain. “He drank last night; that
+waked up the old appetite, and as soon as he turned out this morning he
+went for more, and fell off the gangway plank.”
+
+A grappling was procured ashore, and the crew, under the direction of
+the captain, who was deeply moved, grappled for the body the greater
+part of the day, without success. In the meanwhile, the mate was making
+inquiries on shore.
+
+“The tide runs strong here,” said the captain; “it has swept him to
+sea.”
+
+“Poor Jim has gone, boys,” said Eaton, as, weary and dispirited, they
+sat down to supper.
+
+“Anybody wouldn’t have thought,” said Savage, “he’d a broke through,
+after being a steady man so long. The captain feels bad, but he’s done
+all a man could do.”
+
+“Jim Peterson,” said Eaton, brushing away a tear with the back of his
+hand, “was a black fellow, raal coal black, too,—a Guinea nigger, if
+you please; but if he’d been washed overboard, I’d a risked my life to
+save him quicker than for any shipmate I ever had; and I’m not all the
+one would have done it.”
+
+“That’s so, Dan. I’m sure I never thought anything about his color.”
+
+“But I don’t believe anything about his getting drunk (though I’ve no
+doubt the captain thinks so); for I’ve seen him tried and tempted hard
+to weather, by old shipmates, time and time again. He went ashore to
+get something to put in the stew; a sober man might make a misdeal in a
+hurry. No power on earth will ever make me believe Jim was drunk.”
+
+“Then why didn’t he sing out?”
+
+“He might strike his head on something, and stun him. There’s a good
+many will feel bad when we carry the news home, besides his own folks.”
+
+“That’s so,” said Savage; “there’s nothing in the world that the
+Rhineses wouldn’t do for Peterson, and always would; and it was just so
+with the Griffins. I’ve heard that Peterson saved the captain’s life
+once. I remember one time a parcel of us boys got some withes, tied
+them together, and got a turn round Peterson’s waist when he was so
+drunk he couldn’t chase us, and began to pull him round. First thing I
+knew, I got a clip side of my head that sent me a rod; when I picked
+myself up, I saw the boys, some on the ground, some runnin’, and Lion
+Ben right among ‘em. I put her for home, and never stopped till I got
+under mother’s bed; but the rim of my ear was cut through, and my head
+was swelled for a week. I tell you, I looked sharp for Lion Ben after
+that, whenever I wanted to have any fun with Peterson.”
+
+When the vessel arrived home, Captain Murch took charge, and Aldrich
+went back to Liverpool.
+
+Percival, the mate, got to drinking, and became a miserable fellow;
+went to Boston, and sailed before the mast, sometimes second mate, and
+after his brief elevation, again before the mast; till, becoming so
+notorious a drunkard that no captain would have him, he was employed as
+a lumper about the wharves in Boston.
+
+The next volume of this series, “THE YOUNG DELIVERERS,” will explain
+the mystery attending the disappearance of Peterson, and present the
+characters of Walter and Ned in an entirely new light.
+
+
+
+
+_AMERICAN BOYS’ SERIES_
+
+
+Ninety-five copyright books for boys by noted American Authors
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The books selected for this series are all thoroughly American, by
+such favorite American authors of boys’ books as Oliver Optic, Elijah
+Kellogg, P. C. Headley, Captain Farrar, George M. Towle, and others,
+now made for the first time at a largely reduced price, in order to
+bring them within the reach of all. Each volume complete in itself.
+
+UNIFORM CLOTH BINDING NEW COVER DESIGN ILLUSTRATED Price per volume
+$1.00
+
+ 1. =Adrift in the Ice Fields= By Capt. Chas. W. Hall
+
+ 2. =All Aboard, or Life on the Lake= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 3. =Ark of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 4. =Arthur Brown the Young Captain= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 5. =Boat Club, The, or the Bunkers of Rippleton= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 6. =Boy Farmers of Elm Island, The= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 7. =Boys of Grand Pré School= By Prof. James DeMille
+
+ 8. <b<“B. O. W. C.,” The= By Prof. James DeMille
+
+ 9. =Brought to the Front, or the Young Defenders= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 10. =Burying the Hatchet, or the Young Brave of the Delawares= By
+ Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 11. =Cast Away in the Cold= By Dr. Isaac I. Hayes
+
+ 12. =Charlie Bell the Waif of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 13. =Child of the Island Glen= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 14. =Crossing the Quicksands= By Samuel W. Cozzens
+
+ 15. =Cruise of the Casco= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 16. =Fire in the Woods= By Prof. James DeMille
+
+ 17. =Fisher Boys of Pleasant Cove= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 18. =Forest Glen, or the Mohawk’s Friendship= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 19. =Good Old Times= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 20. =Hard-scrabble of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 21. =Haste or Waste, or the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain= By Oliver
+ Optic
+
+ 22. =Hope and Have= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 23. =In School and Out, or the Conquest of Richard Grant= By Oliver
+ Optic
+
+ 24. =John Godsoe’s Legacy= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 25. =Just His Luck= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 26. =Lion Ben of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 27. =Little by Little, or the Cruise of the Flyaway= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 28. =Live Oak Boys, or the Adventures of Richard Constable Afloat and
+ Ashore= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 29. =Lost in the Fog= By Prof. James DeMille
+
+ 30. =Mission of Black Rifle, or On the Trail= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 31. =Now or Never, or the Adventures of Bobby Bright= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 32. =Poor and Proud, or the Fortunes of Kate Redburn= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 33. =Rich and Humble, or the Mission of Bertha Grant= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 34. =Sophomores of Radcliffe, or James Trafton and His Boston Friends=
+ By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 35. =Sowed by the Wind, or the Poor Boy’s Fortune= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 36. =Spark of Genius, or the College Life of James Trafton= By Elijah
+ Kellogg
+
+ 37. =Stout Heart, or the Student from Over the Sea= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 38. =Strong Arm and a Mother’s Blessing= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 39. =Treasure of the Sea= By Prof. James DeMille
+
+ 40. =Try Again, or the Trials and Triumphs of Harry West= By Oliver
+ Optic
+
+ 41. =Turning of the Tide, or Radcliffe Rich and his Patients= By
+ Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 42. =Unseen Hand, or James Renfew and His Boy Helpers= By Elijah
+ Kellogg
+
+ 43. =Watch and Wait, or the Young Fugitives= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 44. =Whispering Pine, or the Graduates of Radcliffe= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 45. =Winning His Spurs, or Henry Morton’s First Trial= By Elijah
+ Kellogg
+
+ 46. =Wolf Run, or the Boys of the Wilderness= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 47. =Work and Win, or Noddy Newman on a Cruise= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 48. =Young Deliverers of Pleasant Cove= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 49. =Young Shipbuilders of Elm Island= By Elijah Kellogg
+
+ 50. =Young Trail Hunters= By Samuel W. Cozzens
+
+ 51. =Field and Forest, or the Fortunes of a Farmer= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 52. =Outward Bound, or Young America Afloat= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 53. =The Soldier Boy, or Tom Somers in the Army= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 54. =The Starry Flag, or the Young Fisherman of Cape Ann= By Oliver
+ Optic
+
+ 55. =Through by Daylight, or the Young Engineer of the Lake Shore
+ Railroad= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 56. =Cruises with Captain Bob around the Kitchen Fire= By B. P.
+ Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)
+
+ 57. =The Double-Runner Club, or the Lively Boys of Rivertown= By B. P.
+ Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)
+
+ 58. =Ike Partington and His Friends, or the Humors of a Human Boy= By
+ B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)
+
+ 59. =Locke Amsden the Schoolmaster= By Judge D. P. Thompson
+
+ 60. =The Rangers= By Judge D. P. Thompson
+
+ 61. =The Green Mountain Boys= By Judge D. P. Thompson
+
+ 62. =A Missing Million, or the Adventures of Louis Belgrave= By Oliver
+ Optic
+
+ 63. =A Millionaire at Sixteen, or the Cruise of the “Guardian Mother”=
+ By Oliver Optic
+
+ 64. =A Young Knight Errant, or Cruising in the West Indies= By Oliver
+ Optic
+
+ 65. =Strange Sights Abroad, or Adventures in European Waters= By
+ Oliver Optic
+
+ 66. =Facing the Enemy The Life of Gen. Wm. Tecumseh Sherman= By P. C.
+ Headley
+
+ 67. =Fight it Out on This Line The Life and Deeds of Gen. U. S. Grant=
+ By P. C. Headley
+
+ 68. =Fighting Phil The Life of Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan= By P. C.
+ Headley
+
+ 69. =Old Salamander The Life of Admiral David G. Farragut= By P. C.
+ Headley
+
+ 70. =Old Stars The Life of Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchell= By P. C. Headley
+
+ 71. =The Miner Boy and His Monitor The Career of John Ericsson,
+ Engineer= By P. C. Headley
+
+ 72. =The Young Silver Seekers= By Samuel W. Cozzens
+
+ 73. =Drake the Sea King of Devon= By George Makepeace Towle
+
+ 74. =Magellan=, or the First Voyage around the World By G. M. Towle
+
+ 75. =Marco Polo, His Travels and Adventures= By G. M. Towle
+
+ 76. =Pizarro, His Adventures and Conquests= By George M. Towle
+
+ 77. =Raleigh, His Voyages and Adventures= By George M. Towle
+
+ 78. =Vasco da Gama=, His Voyages and Adventures By G. M. Towle
+
+ 79. =The Heroes and Martyrs of Invention= By George M. Towle
+
+ 80. =Live Boys=, or Charlie and Nasho in Texas By A. Morecamp
+
+ 81. =Live Boys in the Black Hills= By Arthur Morecamp
+
+ 82. =Down the West Branch= By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar
+
+ 83. =Eastward Ho!= By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar
+
+ 84. =Up the North Branch= By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar
+
+ 85. =Wild Woods Life= By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar
+
+ 86. =Child of the Tide= By Mrs. E. D. Cheney
+
+ 87. =The Boys of Thirty-Five= By E. H. Elwell
+
+ 88. =Perseverance Island= By Douglas Frazar
+
+ 89. =Going West= By Oliver Optic
+
+ 90. =Little Bobtail= By Oliver Optic
+
+
+NEW TITLES ADDED IN 1904
+
+ 91. =Fore and Aft= By Robert B. Dixon
+
+ 92. =Pocket Island= By Charles Clark Munn
+
+ 93. =Donald’s School Days= By Gen. O. O. Howard
+
+ 94. =Henry in the War= By Gen. O. O. Howard
+
+ 95. =All Adrift= By Oliver Optic
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY CRAFTSMAN
+
+
+ Practical and Profitable Ideas for a Boy’s Leisure Hours
+
+  By A. NEELY HALL
+
+[Illustration: THE BOY CRAFTSMAN]
+
+ Illustrated with over 400 diagrams and working drawings 8vo Price,
+ $2.00
+
+EVERY real boy wishes to design and make things, but the questions of
+materials and tools are often hard to get around. Nearly all books
+on the subject call for a greater outlay of money than is within the
+means of many boys, or their parents wish to expend in such ways. In
+this book a number of chapters give suggestions for carrying on a
+small business that will bring a boy in money with which to buy tools
+and materials necessary for making apparatus and articles described
+in other chapters, while the ideas are so practical that many an
+industrious boy can learn what he is best fitted for in his life work.
+No work of its class is so completely up-to-date or so worthy in point
+of thoroughness and avoidance of danger. The drawings are profuse and
+excellent, and every feature of the book is first-class. It tells
+how to make a boy’s workshop, how to handle tools, and what can be
+made with them; how to start a printing shop and conduct an amateur
+newspaper, how to make photographs, build a log cabin, a canvas canoe,
+a gymnasium, a miniature theatre, and many other things dear to the
+soul of youth.
+
+ We cannot imagine a more delightful present for a boy than this
+ book.—_Churchman, N.Y._
+
+ Every boy should have this book. It’s a practical book—it gets right
+ next to the boy’s heart and stays there. He will have it near him all
+ the time, and on every page there is a lesson or something that will
+ stand the boy in good need. Beyond a doubt in its line this is one of
+ the cleverest books on the market.—_Providence News._
+
+ If a boy has any sort of a mechanical turn of mind, his parents should
+ see that he has this book.—_Boston Journal._
+
+ This is a book that will do boys good.—_Buffalo Express._
+
+ The boy who will not find this book a mine of joy and profit must be
+ queerly constituted.—_Pittsburgh Gazette._
+
+ Will be a delight to the boy mechanic.—_Watchman, Boston._
+
+ An admirable book to give a boy.—_Newark News._
+
+ This book is the best yet offered for its large number of practical
+ and profitable ideas.—_Milwaukee Free Press._
+
+ Parents ought to know of this book.—_New York Globe._
+
+
+
+
+PHILLIPS EXETER SERIES
+
+By A. T. DUDLEY
+
+Cloth, 12mo Illustrated by Charles Copeland Price per volume, =$1.25=
+
+
+FOLLOWING THE BALL
+
+HERE is an up-to-date story presenting American boarding-school life
+and modern athletics. Of course football is an important feature, but
+this is far more than a football book. It is a story of character
+formation told in a most wholesome and manly way. In this development
+athletics play an important part, to be sure, but are only one feature
+in carrying the hero, “Dick Melvin,” on to a worthy manhood.
+
+ “Mingled with the story of football is another and higher endeavor,
+ giving the book the best of moral tone.”—_Chicago Record-Herald._
+
+[Illustration: MAKING THE NINE]
+
+MAKING THE NINE
+
+THIS story is lively and worth telling, and the life presented is
+that of a real school, interesting, diversified, and full of striking
+incidents, while the characters are true and consistent types of
+American boyhood and youth. The athletics are technically correct,
+abounding in helpful suggestions, soundly and wisely given, and the
+moral tone is high and set by action rather than preaching.
+
+ “The story is healthful, for, while it exalts athletics, it does
+ not overlook the fact that studious habits and noble character are
+ imperative needs for those who would win success in life.”—_Herald
+ and Presbyter, Cincinnati._
+
+
+[Illustration:IN THE LINE]
+
+IN THE LINE
+
+TELLS how a stalwart young student won his position as guard, and
+at the same time made equally marked progress in the formation of
+character. It introduces the leading arguments for and against football
+in connection with the difficulties to be overcome before the hero’s
+father finally consents to allow his son to represent his academy in
+this way.
+
+ “The book gives boys an interesting story, much football information,
+ and many lessons in true manliness.”—_Watchman, Boston._
+
+
+JACK TENFIELD’S STAR
+
+By MARTHA JAMES Illustrated by Charles Copeland Large 12mo $1.00
+
+[Illustration: JACK TENFIELD’S STAR]
+
+JACK TENFIELD is a bright Boston boy, who, while preparing for
+college, is brought to face the fact that his father, a benevolent
+physician, and supposed to be well-to-do, had really left no estate.
+Jack resolutely defends his father’s memory, and makes the best of it.
+Circumstances bring much travel and many adventures, in all of which
+his generous, manly character rings true. That Jack is capable of being
+his “own star” well expresses the excellent thought of the book, which
+is remarkable for variety of well-told incidents.
+
+ “A clean, wholesome, enjoyable book.”—_The American Boy, Detroit,
+ Mich._
+
+
+Tom Winstone, “Wide Awake”
+
+By MARTHA JAMES Large 12mo Illustrated by W. Herbert Dunton $1.00
+
+WE have often wished that we could secure a book for boys like the
+undying ones written by J. T. Trowbridge, and in “Tom Winstone” we have
+a young hero whose story is told in a way well worthy to be compared
+with the work of the older writer referred to. The sterling quality
+shown in “My Friend Jim” is all here, and “Tom,” an older boy, equally
+efficient in baseball, a foot race, or a noble action, is well worth
+knowing.
+
+ “Any healthy boy will delight in this book.”—_Living Church,
+ Milwaukee, Wis._
+
+[Illustration: My Friend Jim]
+
+My Friend Jim
+
+A Story of Real Boys and for Them
+
+By MARTHA JAMES Large 12mo Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill $1.00
+
+JUST the book to place in the hands of bright, active boys, and one
+that the most careful parents will be glad to use for that purpose.
+The loyal friendship springing up between Jim, the son of a mechanic,
+and a wealthy man’s son who is at Sunnyside farm for his health, has
+made the basis for some of the cleanest, brightest, and most helpful
+descriptions of boy life that we have ever read.
+
+ “It is a book that boys will like and profit by.”—_Universalist
+ Leader, Boston._
+
+
+TWO YOUNG INVENTORS
+
+_THE STORY OF THE FLYING BOAT_
+
+[Illustration: TWO YOUNG INVENTORS]
+
+BY ALVAH MILTON KERR Illustrated $1.25
+
+HERE is a rattling good story; a tale of mystery, mechanism, and
+getting on in the world that will be a boy’s favorite for years. Two
+youths, both born inventors, make each other’s acquaintance as a result
+of misfortunes attending a Minnesota cyclone. Their efforts to perfect
+a flying-boat that shall not only skim the water, but rise into the
+air, result in the securing of a mechanical education. Mr. Kerr has
+solved the problem of a book that shall be intensely exciting and yet
+thoroughly wholesome.
+
+ “The ingenuity and pluck of these two worthy heroes supply just the
+ right material for the encouragement of ambitious youth.”—_Boston
+ Beacon._
+
+ “The book is full of life, incident, and stirring
+ success.”—_Watchman, Boston._
+
+ “The book is deeply interesting, at times intensely exciting, and yet
+ thoroughly clean and wholesome throughout.”—_Portland Express._
+
+
+YOUNG HEROES OF WIRE AND RAIL
+
+[Illustration: YOUNG HEROES OF WIRE AND RAIL]
+
+BY ALVAH MILTON KERR Illustrated 12mo Cloth $1.25
+
+THE place which the sea once held in supplying thrilling tales of
+heroism and peril is now being largely usurped by that powerful
+agent of progress, the railway service, and with no lessening of
+interest. It is also very attractive to know how those who bear the
+vast responsibilities of this service perform their work and meet the
+fearful emergencies that may arise at any time.
+
+ “The tone of the work is healthful and inspiring.”—_Boston Herald._
+
+ “They are calculated to inspire boys to become manly, and incidentally
+ they contain considerable valuable information.”—_Newark News._
+
+ “An ideal book for a young boy is ‘Young Heroes of Wire and
+ Rail.’”—_Episcopal Recorder, Philadelphia._
+
+
+THE GREGORY GUARDS
+
+By EMMA LEE BENEDICT Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill 12mo $1.25
+
+[Illustration: THE GREGORY GUARDS]
+
+A YOUNG man of wealth is trustee for a fund to help boys and chooses
+six to pass the summer at his home on an island near New York. These
+lads of widely different temperaments in true boy fashion form a
+“club,” whose highest purpose it is to watch over the property and
+interests of their benefactor, and to which they give his name. All
+profit in great measure from a summer that is a turning point in their
+lives. A story of reaping good by doing good, bright and entertaining
+and full of life, incident, and good sense.
+
+ “It is a story along novel lines, and may be warmly commended.”—_St.
+ Louis Globe-Democrat._
+
+
+The Young Vigilantes
+
+[Illustration: THE YOUNG VIGILANTES]
+
+A Story of California Life in the Fifties
+
+By SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman Price $1.25
+
+FEW men now remain who can describe the “Forty-Niners” from personal
+knowledge and experience, and the very best one of them is the noted
+historical writer, Col. Drake. One of two young chums in Boston yields
+to the excitement of the day and goes to California, partly at his
+friend’s expense. Later, the hero of the story is driven by injustice
+to make his way thither via the route across Nicaragua, befriended by
+an old sailor. A reunion and exciting experiences in San Francisco
+follow.
+
+ “The book is a bright, able, and wholesome contribution to the
+ knowledge of our country’s progress.”—_Religious Telescope, Dayton,
+ O._
+
+
+Joe’s Signal Code
+
+By W. REIFF HESSER Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill $1.25
+
+THIS book tells of the abandoning of a fine ship with its cargo in
+the Pacific Ocean. The leading characters, who are to leave in the
+last boat, had their escape cut off by its destruction, but succeed in
+saving the ship and lead a most interesting life for more than a year
+on a hitherto unknown island.
+
+ “The boys will enjoy it from cover to cover. The book is many degrees
+ above the ordinary story.”—_American Boy, Detroit._
+
+
+PATRIOTIC SERIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
+
+[Illustration: PATRIOTIC SERIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS]
+
+“Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime.”
+
+The volumes included in this series tend to inculcate the spirit of
+patriotism and good citizenship. The boys and girls of to-day are here
+made acquainted with the lives and characters of many noble men and
+women of this and other countries. The information is pleasantly and
+vividly imparted in the form of popular biography as well as fiction by
+well-known and popular writers.
+
+UNIFORM CLOTH BINDING NEW AND ATTRACTIVE DIES ILLUSTRATED Price per
+volume $1.00
+
+ 1. BOBBIN BOY The Early Life of Gen. N. P. Banks
+
+ 2. BORDER BOY A Popular Life of Daniel Boone By W. H. Bogart
+
+ 3. DARING DEEDS OF THE REVOLUTION By Henry C. Watson
+
+ 4. DORA DARLING or the Daughter of the Regiment By Jane G. Austin
+
+ 5. DORA DARLING AND LITTLE SUNSHINE By Jane G. Austin
+
+ 6. FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY A Popular Life of George Washington By Henry
+ C. Watson
+
+ 7. FRIEND OF WASHINGTON A Popular Life of General Lafayette. By Henry
+ C. Watson.
+
+ 8. GREAT MEN AND GALLANT DEEDS By J. G. Edgar
+
+ 9. GREAT PEACEMAKER A Popular Life of William Penn By Henry C. Watson
+
+ 10. GREAT EXPOUNDER Young Folks’ Life of Daniel Webster
+
+ 11. GOOD AND GREAT MEN Their Brave Deeds and Works By John Frost, LL.D.
+
+ 12. LITTLE CORPORAL Young Folks’ Life of Napoleon Bonaparte By John
+ Frost, LL.D.
+
+ 13. MILL BOY OF THE SLASHES Life of Henry Clay By John Frost
+
+ 14. NOBLE DEEDS OF AMERICAN WOMEN Edited by J. Clement
+
+ 15. OLD BELL OF INDEPENDENCE By Henry C. Watson
+
+ 16. OLD HICKORY Life of Andrew Jackson By John Frost
+
+ 17. OLD ROUGH AND READY Young Folks’ Life of Gen. Zachary Taylor By
+ John Frost, LL.D.
+
+ 18. PIONEER MOTHERS OF THE WEST Daring and Heroic Deeds of American
+ Women By John Frost, LL.D.
+
+ 19. PRINTER BOY or How Ben Franklin made his Mark
+
+ 20. POOR RICHARD’S STORY A Popular Life of Ben Franklin By Henry C.
+ Watson
+
+ 21. PAUL AND PERSIS or the Revolutionary Struggle in the Mohawk Valley
+ By Mary E. Brush
+
+ 22. QUAKER AMONG THE INDIANS By Thomas C. Battey
+
+ 23. SWAMP FOX Life of Gen. Francis Marion By John Frost
+
+ 24. WOMEN OF WORTH WHOM THE WORLD LOVES TO HONOR
+
+ 25. YOUNG INVINCIBLES or Patriotism at Home. By I. H. Anderson
+
+
+=Newly arranged Standard Collection of History, Biography, Heroism, and
+Adventure=
+
+
+[Illustration: NORWOOD SERIES]
+
+Thirty favorites in new series New uniform cover design Attractive dies
+Fine cloth binding Illustrated Price per volume 75 cents.
+
+This series can truly be said to cover the world in its scope, as
+it chronicles heroic and daring exploits in all climes, told by an
+exceptionally strong list of authors. It is just the library to
+entertain and inform a live boy, and, while composed of books that
+arouse eager interest, is wholly free from cheap sensationalism.
+
+ 1. =Adventures of Dick Onslow among the Redskins= By W. H. K. Kingston
+
+ 2. =African Crusoes, The= By Mrs. R. Lee
+
+ 3. =Among the Brigands= By Prof. James DeMille
+
+ 4. =Anthony Waymouth= By W. H. K. Kingston
+
+ 5. =Arctic Crusoe, The, Adventures on the Sea of Ice= By Percy B. St.
+ John
+
+ 6. =Around the World in Eighty Days= By Jules Verne
+
+ 7. =Australian Crusoes, The= By Charles Rowcroft
+
+ 8. =Australian Wanderers= By Mrs. R. Lee
+
+ 9. =Cabin on the Prairie, The= By Dr. C. H. Pearson
+
+ 10. =Cruise of the Frolic, The= By W. H. K. Kingston
+
+ 11. =Ernest Bracebridge; or School Boy Days= By W. H. K. Kingston
+
+ 12. =French Robinson Crusoe, The= By Alfred de Brehat
+
+ 13. =Golden Hair, a Tale of the Pilgrim Fathers= By Sir Lascelle
+ Wraxhall
+
+ 14. =Life Boat, The= By R. M. Ballantyne
+
+ 15. =Lily and the Cross, The= By Prof. James DeMille
+
+ 16. =Planting the Wilderness= By James D. McCabe, Jr.
+
+ 17. =Prairie Crusoe, The; or Adventures in the Far West= By Sir
+ Lascelle Wraxhall
+
+ 18. =Sand Hills of Jutland, The= By Hans Christian Andersen
+
+ 19. =Twice Taken, a Tale of Louisburg= By Capt. Charles W. Hall
+
+ 20. =Twelve Nights in a Hunter’s Camp= By Rev. William Barrows
+
+ 21. =Whales We Caught, The, and How We Did It= By William H. Macy
+
+ 22. =Wild Scenes of a Hunter’s Life= By John Frost, LL.D.
+
+ 23. =Willis the Pilot, a Sequel to the Swiss Family Robinson= By Sir
+ Lascelle Wraxhall
+
+ 24. =Winged Lion, The, or Stories of Venice.= By Prof. James De Mille
+
+ 25. =Winter in the Ice, A= By Jules Verne
+
+ 26. =Wreck of the Chancellor, The= By Jules Verne
+
+ 27. =Yarns of an Old Mariner= By Mary Cowden Clarke
+
+ 28. =Young Crusoe, The; or Adventure of a Shipwrecked Boy= By Dr.
+ Harley
+
+ 29. =Young Middy, The= By F. C. Armstrong
+
+ 30. =Young Pioneers of the Northwest= By Dr. C. H. Pearson
+
+
+[Illustration: FAMOUS CHILDREN]
+
+Famous Children
+
+By H. TWITCHELL Illustrated $1.25
+
+WE have here a most valuable book, telling not of the childhood of
+those who have afterwards become famous, but those who as children
+are famous in history, song, and story. For convenience the subjects
+are grouped as “Royal Children,” “Child Artists,” “Learned Children,”
+“Devoted Children,” “Child Martyrs,” and “Heroic Children,” and the
+names of the “two little princes,” Louis XVII., Mozart, St. Genevieve,
+David, and Joan of Arc are here, as well as those of many more.
+
+
+  The Story of the Cid For Young People
+
+By CALVIN DILL WILSON Illustrated by J. W. KENNEDY $1.25
+
+MR. WILSON, a well-known writer and reviewer, has prepared from
+Southey’s translation, which was far too cumbrous to entertain the
+young, a book that will kindle the imagination of youth and entertain
+and inform those of advanced years.
+
+
+[Illustration: Jason’s Quest]
+
+Jason’s Quest
+
+By D. O. S. LOWELL, A. M., M. D. Master in Roxbury Latin School
+Illustrated $1.00
+
+NOTHING can be better to arouse the imagination of boys and girls, and
+at the same time store in their minds knowledge indispensable to any
+one who would be known as cultured, or happier than Professor Lowell’s
+way of telling a story, and the many excellent drawings have lent great
+spirit to the narrative.
+
+
+Heroes of the Crusades
+
+By AMANDA M. DOUGLAS Cloth Fifty full-page illustrations $1.50
+
+THE romantic interest in the days of chivalry, so fully exemplified by
+the “Heroes of the Crusades,” is permanent and properly so. This book
+is fitted to keep it alive without descending to improbability or cheap
+sensationalism.
+
+
+BOOKS BY EVERETT T. TOMLINSON.
+
+
+THE WAR OF 1812 SERIES
+
+[Illustration: Tecumseh’s Young Braves]
+
+Six volumes Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price per volume reduced
+to $1.25
+
+No American writer for boys has ever occupied a higher position than
+Dr. Tomlinson, and the “War of 1812 Series” covers a field attempted
+by no other juvenile literature in a manner that has secured continued
+popularity.
+
+  =The Search for Andrew Field=
+  =The Boy Soldiers of 1812=
+  =The Boy Officers of 1812=
+  =Tecumseh’s Young Brave=
+  =Guarding the Border=
+  =The Boys with Old Hickory=
+
+
+ST. LAWRENCE SERIES
+
+CRUISING IN THE ST. LAWRENCE
+
+ Being the third volume of the “St. Lawrence Series” Cloth Illustrated
+ Price $1.50
+
+Our old friends, “Bob,” “Ben,” “Jock,” and “Bert,” having completed
+their sophomore year at college, plan to spend the summer vacation
+cruising on the noble St. Lawrence. Here they not only visit places of
+historic interest, but also the Indian tribes encamped on the banks
+of the river, and learn from them their customs, habits, and quaint
+legends.
+
+
+_PREVIOUS VOLUMES_
+
+  CAMPING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE
+  Or, On the Trail of the Early Discoverers
+
+ Cloth Illustrated $1.50
+
+  THE HOUSE-BOAT ON THE ST. LAWRENCE
+  Or, Following Frontenac
+
+ Cloth Illustrated $1.50
+
+
+_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_
+
+STORIES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
+
+ First and Second Series Cloth Illustrated $1.00 each
+
+
+The Tide-Mill Stories
+
+By J. T. TROWBRIDGE
+
+_Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25_
+
+
+Phil and His Friends.
+
+ The hero is the son of a man who from drink got into debt, and, after
+ having given a paper to a creditor authorizing him to keep the son as
+ a security for his claim, ran away, leaving poor Phil a bond slave.
+ The story involves a great many unexpected incidents, some of which
+ are painful and some comic. Phil manfully works for a year cancelling
+ his father’s debt, and then escapes. The characters are strongly
+ drawn, and the story is absorbingly interesting.
+
+
+The Tinkham Brothers’ Tide-Mill.
+
+ “‘The Tinkham Brothers’ were the devoted sons of an invalid
+ mother. The story tells how they purchased a tide-mill, which
+ afterwards, by the ill-will and obstinacy of neighbors, became a
+ source of much trouble to them. It tells also how, by discretion
+ and the exercise of a peaceable spirit, they at last overcame all
+ difficulties.”—_Christian Observer, Louisville, Ky._
+
+
+The Satin-wood Box.
+
+ “Mr. Trowbridge has always a purpose in his writings, and this time
+ he has undertaken to show how very near an innocent boy can come to
+ the guilty edge and yet be able by fortunate circumstances to rid
+ himself of all suspicion of evil. There is something winsome about the
+ hero; but he has a singular way of falling into bad luck, although
+ the careful reader will never feel the least disposed to doubt his
+ honesty.”—_Syracuse Standard._
+
+
+The Little Master.
+
+ This is the story of a schoolmaster, his trials, disappointments, and
+ final victory. It will recall to many a man his experience in teaching
+ pupils, and in managing their opinionated and self-willed parents. The
+ story has the charm which is always found in Mr. Trowbridge’s works.
+
+ “Many a teacher could profit by reading of this plucky little
+ schoolmaster.”—_Journal of Education._
+
+
+His One Fault.
+
+ “As for the hero of this story ‘His One Fault’ was absent-mindedness.
+ He forgot to lock his uncle’s stable door, and the horse was stolen.
+ In seeking to recover the stolen horse, he unintentionally stole
+ another. In trying to restore the wrong horse to his rightful
+ owner, he was himself arrested. After no end of comic and dolorous
+ adventures, he surmounted all his misfortunes by downright pluck
+ and genuine good feeling. It is a noble contribution to juvenile
+ literature.”—_Woman’s Journal._
+
+
+Peter Budstone.
+
+ “Mr. J. T. Trowbridge’s ‘Peter Budstone’ is another of those
+ altogether good and wholesome books for boys of which it is hardly
+ possible to speak too highly. This author shows us convincingly how
+ juvenile reading may be made vivacious and interesting, and yet
+ teach sound and clean lessons. ‘Peter Budstone’ shows forcibly the
+ folly and crime of ‘hazing.’ It is the story of a noble young fellow
+ whose reason is irreparably overthrown by the savage treatment he
+ received from some of his associates at college. It is a powerful
+ little book, and we wish every schoolboy and college youth could read
+ it.”—_Philadelphia American._
+
+
+The Silver Medal Stories
+
+By J. T. TROWBRIDGE
+
+_Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25_
+
+
+=The Silver Medal=, AND OTHER STORIES.
+
+ There were some schoolboys who had turned housebreakers, and among
+ their plunder was a silver medal that had been given to one John
+ Harrison by the Humane Society for rescuing from drowning a certain
+ Benton Barry. Now Benton Barry was one of the wretched housebreakers.
+ This is the summary of the opening chapter. The story is intensely
+ interesting in its serious as well as its humorous parts.
+
+
+=His Own Master.=
+
+ “This is a book after the typical boy’s own heart. Its hero is a
+ plucky young fellow, who, seeing no chance for himself at home,
+ determines to make his own way in the world.... He sets out
+ accordingly, trudges to the far West, and finds the road to fortune an
+ unpleasantly rough one.”—_Philadelphia Inquirer._
+
+
+=Bound in Honor.=
+
+ This story is of a lad, who, though not guilty of any bad action, has
+ been an eye-witness of the conduct of his comrades, and felt “Bound in
+ Honor” not to tell.
+
+ “A capital book in all respects, overflowing with all sorts of fun and
+ adventure; just the sort of book, in short, that the young folks will
+ be anxious to read and re-read with as much continuous interest as the
+ most favored of their storybooks.”—_Philadelphia Leader._
+
+
+=The Pocket Rifle.=
+
+ “A boy’s story which will be read with avidity, as it ought to be, it
+ is so brightly and frankly written, and with such evident knowledge
+ of the temperaments and habits, the friendships and enmities of
+ schoolboys.”—_New York Mail._
+
+ “This is a capital story for boys. It teaches honesty, integrity, and
+ friendship, and how best they can be promoted. It shows the danger of
+ hasty judgment and circumstantial evidence; that right-doing pays, and
+ dishonesty never.”—_Chicago Inter-Ocean._
+
+
+=The Jolly Rover.=
+
+ “This book will help to neutralize the ill effects of any poison which
+ children may have swallowed in the way of sham-adventurous stories and
+ wildly fictitious tales. ‘The Jolly Rover’ runs away from home, and
+ meets life as it is, till he is glad enough to seek again his father’s
+ house. Mr. Trowbridge has the power of making an instructive story
+ absorbing in its interest, and of covering a moral so that it is easy
+ to take.”—_Christian Intelligencer._
+
+
+=Young Joe=, AND OTHER BOYS.
+
+ “Young Joe,” who lived at Bass Cove, where he shot wild ducks, took
+ some to town for sale, and attracted the attention of a portly
+ gentleman fond of shooting. This gentleman went duck shooting with
+ Joe, and their adventures were more amusing to the boy than to the
+ amateur sportsman.
+
+ There are thirteen other short stories in the book which will be sure
+ to please the young folks.
+
+
+THE TOBY TRAFFORD SERIES
+
+BY
+
+J. T. TROWBRIDGE
+
+  _Three Volumes_      _Cloth_      _Illustrated_
+  _Price per volume_                      _$1.25_
+
+
+=The Fortunes of Toby Trafford.=
+
+ “A new story by J. T. Trowbridge, is, like all Mr. Trowbridge’s
+ fiction, the good wine that needs no bush. The plot is full of
+ interest, and is still so natural that it all might happen in a
+ thousand places. Its scenes and its people are everywhere; only
+ few writers have Trowbridge’s eyes to see them. The hero is not an
+ impossibly good boy, but he has manly instincts; and he is kept from
+ follies and mistakes by the counsels of an excellent mother, and of
+ his wise and noble-hearted schoolmaster. Boys will follow his career
+ and his good and bad fortune with genuine interest.”—_Boston Budget._
+
+
+=Father Brighthopes=; AN OLD CLERGYMAN’S VACATION.
+
+ “To the many friends which this book will doubtless gain it may be
+ well to say that Father Brighthopes of the story gains that cheery
+ name by his readiness to always see the bright and not the dark side
+ of any difficulty, great or small. The few weeks which he spent with
+ his friends, the Roydons, wrought a change in their daily life as
+ marked as it was pleasant. The writings of Trowbridge are too well
+ known to require comment, since almost everyone is familiar with his
+ straightforward, simple style, underlying which there is not a little
+ humor as well as pathos.”—_Chicago Times._
+
+
+=Woodie Thorpe’s Pilgrimage=, AND OTHER STORIES.
+
+ “The scenes are full of human interest and lifelikeness, and will
+ please many an old reader, as well as the younger folks, for whose
+ delectation it is intended. As in all the books of this author the
+ spirit is manly, sincere, and in the best sense moral. There is no
+ “goody” talk and no cant, but principles of truthfulness, integrity,
+ and self-reliance are quietly inculcated by example. It is safe to say
+ that any boy will be the better for reading books like this.”—_St.
+ Botolph._
+
+  _For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price
+  by the publishers. Our Illustrated Catalogue sent free._
+
+  Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Boston
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Arthur Brown, The Young Captain, by Elijah Kellogg
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48904 ***
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-

-Project Gutenberg's Arthur Brown, The Young Captain, by Elijah Kellogg

-

-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/license

-

-

-Title: Arthur Brown, The Young Captain

-       The Pleasent Cove Series

-

-Author: Elijah Kellogg

-

-Release Date: May 9, 2015 [EBook #48904]

-

-Language: English

-

-Character set encoding: UTF-8

-

-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARTHUR BROWN, THE YOUNG CAPTAIN ***

-

-

-

-

-Produced by Giovanni Fini, David Edwards and the Online

-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This

-file was produced from images generously made available

-by The Internet Archive)

-

-

-

-

-

-

-</pre>

-

-<div class="limit">

-

-<div class="sum">

-

-<div class="transnote p4">

-<p class="pc large">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:</p>

-<p class="ptn">&mdash;Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.</p>

-</div>

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<p class="pc4 large"><i>THE PLEASANT COVE SERIES.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pc1">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<h1 class="p4">ARTHUR BROWN,</h1>

-

-<p class="pc2 elarge">THE YOUNG CAPTAIN.</p>

-

-<p class="pc4 reduct">BY</p>

-

-<p class="pc4 mid">REV. ELIJAH KELLOGG,</p>

-

-<p class="pc small">AUTHOR OF THE ELM ISLAND STORIES&mdash;“LION BEN,” “CHARLIE BELL,”<br />

-“THE BOY-FARMERS,” “THE ARK,” “THE YOUNG SHIP-<br />

-BUILDERS,” “THE HARD-SCRABBLE.”</p>

-

-<p class="pc4"><i>ILLUSTRATED.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pc4 lmid">BOSTON:</p>

-<p class="pc lmid">LOTHROP, LEE &amp; SHEPARD CO.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p>

-

-<p class="pc4 reduct">Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by<br />

-LEE AND SHEPARD,<br />

-in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.</p>

-

-<p class="pc4 reduct"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1898, by Elijah Kellogg.</span></p>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="pc reduct"><i>All Rights Reserved.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="pc reduct"><span class="smcap"><b>Arthur Brown.</b></span></p>

-

-<p class="pc4 reduct">Norwood Press:<br />

-Berwick &amp; Smith, Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p>

-

-<h2 class="p4">PREFACE.</h2>

-

-<p class="pc2">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Notwithstanding</span> kindness is at times rewarded

-with ingratitude, and even positive injury, it is by

-no means so frequent an occurrence as persons

-naturally censorious, or whose minds have been

-soured by an unblest experience, would have us

-suppose.</p>

-

-<p>Benefits conferred usually excite gratitude, and

-sometimes, when the donors have passed away

-are repaid, with interest, to their posterity.</p>

-

-<p>The story of Arthur Brown presents a striking

-illustration of this principle. Lashed to a raft,

-perishing with cold and hunger in the edge of

-the surf, he is rescued by Captain Rhines, who,

-when a boy, poor and unable either to read or

-write, had been instructed and started in business<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>

-by Arthur’s father, who was afterwards lost

-at sea. The old captain, discovering, in the person

-he had perilled his life to save, the only son

-of his benefactor, receives him with open arms,

-with a nobility of soul that strengthens our faith

-in human nature, freely bestowing both time and

-property to aid the son and family of his benefactor,

-and repay the old debt. His efforts in

-this direction, together with those of the young

-man to help himself, at a most stirring period

-of our country’s history, the adventures growing

-out of those efforts, and the consequent development

-of character, will, we trust, prove interesting,

-and not without instruction.</p>

-

-<p>Some references have necessarily been made

-to characters of the “Elm Island Series,” the

-reasons for which are given in the introductory

-chapter, and the references so explained as to

-render the connection plain to the reader.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="sum">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CONTENTS</h2>

-

-<table id="toc" summary="cont">

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdrl"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap1">CHAPTER I.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Introductory.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER II.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">The Wreck and the Rescue.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER III.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">A Glad Surprise.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER IV.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Captain Rhines manifests his Gratitude.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER V.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt">“<span class="smcap">We were put into this World to help one Another.</span>“”</td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER VI.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">The Young Captain under Fire.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER VII.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Little Ned and his Mother.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER VIII.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Moonlight Conversation by the Brook.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER IX.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span><span class="smcap">The Griffins.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER X.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Where the Hard Streak came from.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XI.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Reconnoitring.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XII.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Did I bear it like a Man, Walter?</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XIII.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">The Basket-maker.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XIV.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">A Strange Discovery.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XV.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Homeward bound.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XVI.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Dear-bought Wit.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XVII.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Death and Burial of Tige Rhines.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XVIII.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">The Meeting.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XIX.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Ned among the Griffins.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XX.</td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">A Mysterious Disappearance.</span></td>

-  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td>

- </tr>

-

-</table>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<p class="pc4 xlarge">ARTHUR BROWN,</p>

-

-<p class="pc2 large">THE YOUNG CAPTAIN.</p>

-

-<p class="pc2">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<h2 class="pc2">CHAPTER I.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">INTRODUCTORY.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">IN the series of books denominated the “Elm

-Island Stories” (commencing at the period

-when the old “Continental Congress,” which had

-fought the war of the revolution, was superseded

-by the Federal Government, and running through

-successive years) were introduced certain characters

-in whom our juvenile readers became so

-much interested, that they have assured us they

-could not abruptly surrender their acquaintance,

-at least not without some slight knowledge of

-their future prospects, especially as we were compelled

-to conclude our tale when most of them

-were on the very threshold of manhood. Desiring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>

-to gratify, and, at the same time, render them

-somewhat familiar with the history and progress

-of their native land in those snapping times included

-between the outbreak of the French revolution

-and the embargo, so prolific in gain and

-adventure to those possessing the enterprise, and

-daring to profit by them, and during which American

-commerce took such mighty strides, we must

-of necessity, at the commencement of this volume,

-make some slight reference to persons and places

-previously described. For the benefit of those

-who have not read the former series, we introduce

-a brief sketch, referring those who may desire

-more accurate knowledge to those books.</p>

-

-<p>Our old acquaintances can pursue, with this

-chapter, the course we used to adopt, when compelled

-to read one of Buckminster’s sermons aloud

-to the family, after having been twice to meeting,

-brought home the texts and heads of the

-sermon, and to Sabbath school&mdash;<i>skip</i>, skipped all

-we dared to, skipped all we could.</p>

-

-<p>The scene of the “Elm Island Stories” is laid

-in eastern Maine, when it was little better than

-a forest, save a rim of clearings and incipient

-towns along the sea-shore.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Captain Rhines, who lived on the shore at a

-place named from him and his ancestors Rhineville,

-but then a plantation unincorporated, was a

-noble specimen of a sea captain&mdash;shrewd, kindly,

-self-made, of a daring nature, controlled by clear,

-cool judgment.</p>

-

-<p>His son Ben, possessing all the sterling qualities

-of his father, is a giant in strength, and in

-the very prime of life. Though in general of

-most even temper, and only by long provocations

-excited to wrath, yet, when thoroughly roused,

-he was terrible; hence his name, <i>Lion Ben</i>. Becoming

-enamoured of Sally Hadlock, who will only

-marry him on condition that he relinquishes the

-sea, he buys Elm Island, situated among the breakers,

-six miles from the main land, and inaccessible

-at some periods by reason of the surf; fertile as to

-soil, and covered with a heavy growth of timber.

-With nothing to depend upon but their hands, and

-obliged to mortgage the island at the outset, this

-resolute pair sit down among the woods to

-achieve independence. He is greatly assisted in

-all his plans and purposes by Uncle Isaac Murch,

-a man in middle life, who, in boyhood, was captured

-by the Penobscot Indians, and adopted into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>

-their tribe&mdash;a most shrewd, resolute, genial being,

-with very strong attachment to youth, their

-unfailing friend and ally in every good purpose.</p>

-

-<p>While Lion Ben is cutting off the spars and raising

-crops to pay for the island, some plunderers

-from the British Provinces, seeing but one house

-on the island, and supposing they had but little resistance

-to encounter, landed and insulted Ben’s

-wife. She flies to her husband, who is at work

-near by in the woods, who encounters and nearly

-kills the intruders. Among them is an English

-orphan boy, by the name of Charlie Bell, who had

-shipped with them as cook, being ignorant of their

-character. He remains, and is adopted by Lion

-Ben. He turns out to be a boy of most excellent

-principle, of remarkable mechanical genius, and

-learns the trade of a ship carpenter; makes the

-acquaintance of Captain Rhines’s youngest boy,

-John, and of Fred Williams, the miller’s son.</p>

-

-<p>Fred is a boy naturally smart, and inclined to

-mischief. By associating with a miserable wretch

-by the name of Pete Clash, an importation from

-the Provinces, and another by the name of Godsoe,

-a home production, he is led into evil courses.

-These boys, while in the woods one day, plotting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>

-mischief against Uncle Isaac, being surprised by

-John Rhines, and finding that he will expose

-them, attempt to flog him; but he is rescued by

-his dog Tige, who tears Pete and Fred, injuring

-Fred so severely that he is at the point of death,

-which brings him to reflection and reform.</p>

-

-<p>Pete Clash, attempting to meddle with Uncle

-Isaac’s fish flakes, is caught by the old hunter

-in a wolf trap, and so threatened and frightened

-by him, that he leaves the place, together with

-Godsoe. John, Fred, and Charlie now became

-fast friends, and Uncle Isaac their mutual friend

-and adviser.</p>

-

-<p>John Rhines becomes a blacksmith, Fred works

-with his father in the mill. Charlie and John

-accumulate money by labor and ventures sent

-to the West Indies, and set up Fred in trade.

-These three boys, with another by the name of

-Isaac Murch, a protégé of Captain Rhines, <i>undertake</i>

-to build a vessel, and <i>do</i> build her, and send

-her to the French West Indies, calling her the

-Hard-scrabble, in commemoration of the desperate

-nature of the undertaking. She arrives at Martinique

-at a lucky moment, and pays for herself,

-and more too. They afterwards build another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>

-called the Casco, of larger dimensions, of which

-Isaac Murch becomes the master, surrendering the

-Hard-scrabble to another captain. Joe Griffin, to

-whom reference is made, is a friend of Lion Ben,

-a mighty man with an axe, a great wrestler,

-and kind-hearted, but a most inveterate practical

-joker.</p>

-

-<p>Walter Griffin, a younger brother of Joe, inheriting

-all the grit of this rugged race, enters the

-store of Fred Williams as a clerk; but the Griffin

-blood rebels under the monotony and constraint,

-and he takes to the water. Peterson, the

-black pilot, was for many years addicted to intemperance.

-During that period some roguish

-boys got him into a store when intoxicated,

-poured molasses on his head, then applied flour,

-alternating the layers, till his head was as large

-as a half bushel; for many years after which he

-was known by the nickname of Flour, but, having

-become a sober and industrious man, has

-accumulated property, is respected by the whole

-community, and the nickname is forgotten.</p>

-

-<p>The period at which this series commences

-is after the French revolution, when the star of

-Nelson was rising above the horizon, and Napoleon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>

-Bonaparte, a colonel of the artillery, was

-planting batteries at Toulon, and giving the English

-blockading fleet a taste of his quality.</p>

-

-<p>These young men are now in possession of

-capital. John Rhines is living at home with his

-father; Fred is engaged in trade, and just married

-to a daughter of Captain Rhines. Charlie Bell is

-living on a farm in a most beautiful spot, called

-“Pleasant Cove,” upon which he chanced to stumble

-one lovely night in summer while sailing,

-became enraptured with and bought it, married

-another daughter of the captain, and settled down

-on it in a log house, while it was a forest, has

-one child, now a babe, and having built the Casco

-on his own shore, hopes to be able to cultivate

-the soil (an occupation he dearly loves), and to

-carry out those ideas of taste and beauty which

-in childhood he had gathered from the vales and

-ancestral homes of his native land.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER II.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">THE WRECK AND THE RESCUE.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">IT was the middle of October, about ten o’clock

-in the forenoon; there was no rain falling, but

-it was blowing&mdash;O, how it was blowing!&mdash;a tearing

-gale from the south-west, which roared through,

-the tree tops, and there was a tremendous sea in

-the bay. But under the lee of Pleasant Point,

-entirely sheltered from the wind by the high land

-and the woods, a shooting match had just been

-abruptly broken off by Sol Chase (a boy of sixteen,

-who put up the turkeys) declaring that it

-was no kind of use to set up, if such marksmen

-as Joe Griffin and Uncle Isaac were going to

-shoot.</p>

-

-<p>“Well, Sol, we won’t fire any more,” said Joe;

-“you boys may do your own shooting.”</p>

-

-<p>“Let us do something we can all do,” said

-Charlie. “Uncle Isaac, let us play knives. I’ll

-blaze this pine tree for a mark.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Blaze a pine tree! Half of you won’t be able

-to hit the tree. Take the barn door.”</p>

-

-<p>“We haven’t got knives,” said Ricker.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve got my hunting knife,” said Uncle Isaac;

-“one knife will do for the whole of us.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve got an Indian tomahawk in the house,”

-said Charlie; “one that you gave me, Uncle

-Isaac, long ago.”</p>

-

-<p>A bull’s eye was marked out on the barn door;

-the knife was held by the point of the blade, and

-flung. Uncle Isaac, when, after the first two trials,

-he had ascertained his distance, hit the centre

-of the target every time; Joe Griffin nearly as

-often; Charlie, Fred, and John, who had at other

-times practised a good deal with Uncle Isaac and

-each other, twice out of three times.</p>

-

-<p>“It takes Walter Griffin to throw a knife. He’d

-hit that mark every time.”</p>

-

-<p>“I wish he was here,” said Fred. “I feel,

-since he went to sea, as though about half of me

-was gone.”</p>

-

-<p>As to the rest, some hit within six inches;

-others didn’t hit the door; and others flung the

-knife so that it struck flatways, or on the end

-of the handle.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Now let’s throw the tomahawk,” said Charlie.</p>

-

-<p>In this game none of them could approach Uncle

-Isaac, who flung it with a force and precision

-that would soon have made a breach in Charlie’s

-barn door; but as the rest could not fling it with

-any accuracy, they soon tired of it.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll put up a mark for you, Uncle Isaac,” said

-Joe Bradish.</p>

-

-<p>He had a soft hat, bran new; put it on for the

-first time that day.</p>

-

-<p>“What will you give me for a shot at my hat,

-at six hundred yards?”</p>

-

-<p>“Three shillings.”</p>

-

-<p>“Done.”</p>

-

-<p>Bradish rolled his hat carefully up, and thrust it

-into a mortise in the post of a rail fence.</p>

-

-<p>“I thought I was to have the whole bigness of

-the hat to fire at; that’s a small mark for such a

-long distance.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s just like him,” said Charlie; “always

-doing some mean, underhand trick.”</p>

-

-<p>“You was to fire at the hat. There’s the hat.

-Now measure off the six hundred yards,” said

-Bradish.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t measure it that way,” said Uncle Isaac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>

-to the boys, who were about to measure in the

-direction that the hat was shoved into the hole.</p>

-

-<p>“What difference does it make?” asked Bradish.</p>

-

-<p>“’Cause it does. I’ve a right to fire in any

-direction I like, at six hundred yards.”</p>

-

-<p>Uncle Isaac fired, and the ball, just grazing the

-edge of the post, went through every fold of the

-hat crossways, the rifle ball whirling as it went,

-cutting it all to pieces.</p>

-

-<p>“You’ve spoilt my new hat,” said Bradish, with

-a rueful face, holding it up, all full of holes, like a

-colander.</p>

-

-<p>“That’s what you get by trying to cheat: good

-enough for you,” was the cry.</p>

-

-<p>Scarcely had the laugh subsided, when Will

-Griffin was seen coming on horseback at full

-speed, and as he drew near, he bawled out, “Uncle

-Isaac, Joe, Master Bell, Captain Rhines wants

-you to come just as quick as you can; there’s a

-vessel cast away&mdash;folks going to be drowned on

-the Brant rocks.”</p>

-

-<p>When they reached the cove, they found Captain

-Rhines, in the Perseverance, her sails close

-reefed and set, hatches fastened down, and the

-vessel hauled in against a perpendicular ledge,

-while he was holding her by a rope fast to a tree.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Jump aboard!” he cried. “There’s people on

-a raft, coming right in before the wind and sea, and

-they will go right into the breakers on the Brant

-rocks, except we can get them off. I happened

-to be looking with the glass, and saw them.”</p>

-

-<p>“We’ll do what men can do,” said Uncle Isaac.

-“Hadn’t we better call at the island, and get Ben?

-It’s right on our road.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s a good thought. Wonder I didn’t think

-of it.”</p>

-

-<p>Ben had not noticed the raft, but he saw the

-schooner coming, and knew that it must be a matter

-of life and death that would bring men to the

-island in such a gale. Both he and Sally met

-them at the shore.</p>

-

-<p>“I want you, my little boy,” cried Captain

-Rhines, as the schooner luffed up beside the

-wharf, in the still water of Elm Island harbor.

-“There’s a raft coming before the wind and sea,

-with people on it, and a signal of distress flying.

-It’s breaking thirty feet high on the Brant rocks,

-and they will soon be in that surf, unless we take

-them off.”</p>

-

-<p>No more was said. Ben jumped aboard, and

-the schooner, close hauled, stood boldly out into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>

-that tremendous sea. The men all commenced to

-lash themselves. Charlie was forward. He had

-made the end of a rope fast to the foremast, and

-put it around his waist; but, before he could

-secure the other end, she shipped a sea over the

-bows, that filled her all full, and bore Charlie before

-it like a feather. In another instant it would

-have taken him overboard, when nothing could

-have saved him; but Joe caught him as he was

-going over the rail.</p>

-

-<p>“A miss is as good as a mile,” said Captain

-Rhines. “She shakes off the water like a Newfoundland

-dog. Ben, take the axe, and knock off

-the waist boards, and then the sea can have a fair

-chance to get out as fast as it comes in.”</p>

-

-<p>They were now nearing the raft, as it came rapidly

-down before the sea, while the crew of the

-schooner were endeavoring to cut athwart its

-path. Catching glimpses of it in moments when

-the raft and the schooner both chanced to be on

-the top of a sea at the same instant, they perceived

-that it was constructed of the yards and

-smaller spars of a vessel, with an elevation amid-ships,

-where an upright spar was secured by

-shrouds, on which an English flag was flying. On<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>

-this elevation were dark objects, that Captain

-Rhines (at home) had made out, with his glass, to

-be human beings.</p>

-

-<p>“If they are people, father,” said Ben, who,

-confident to hold himself against the sea, had gone

-into the bows, “they are dead; for there’s nothing

-moves, only as the sea moves it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Perhaps not, Ben. They are lashed, chilled,

-and most dead, but I’ve seen men brought to

-that apparently had but a few more breaths

-to draw.”</p>

-

-<p>In a few moments Ben shouted, “There’s folks

-there, four or six, I can’t tell which. I see one

-move his arm a little.”</p>

-

-<p>“What are we going to do?” asked Captain

-Rhines. “I thought there would be some one

-able to take a line and make it fast, and then we

-might tow them clear of the breakers and into

-some lee, where we could get them off; but if

-there’s nobody to take a line, we’ve got to carry

-one ourselves.”</p>

-

-<p>“Let the raft go by us,” said Ben, “and follow

-it up astern with the schooner. I’ll take a

-line in the canoe.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll go with you,” said Joe; but Charlie insisted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>

-upon sharing the peril with his father.

-They took in all but the foresail, reefed to the

-smallest possible dimensions, leaving only a little

-of the peak, as it was difficult to make the

-schooner go slow enough to keep from running

-on to the raft and knocking her to pieces; but by

-luffing into the wind they managed to keep her

-clear till Ben and Charlie got into the canoe, and

-with a small line reached the raft, to which was

-made fast a larger one, which they hauled to

-them and secured.</p>

-

-<p>There was no such thing as returning against

-that sea; they must take their chance with those

-they came to save. If the rope parted, or the

-little vessel failed to tow her charge clear of

-the surf, they were lost. During the interval

-occupied in fastening to the raft, it had made

-fearful progress towards the rocks, that could

-now be plainly seen ahead, the sea breaking on

-them in sheets of foam. Never was the clear

-judgment and resolute nature of Captain Rhines

-put to a severer test than now. He must carry

-sail enough to drive the Perseverance through

-the water with sufficient speed to clear the

-rocks. On the other hand, there was danger,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>

-if he carried too much sail, of either parting the

-rope, in which case Ben and Charlie, with those

-they went to save, would perish, or of taking the

-masts out of the schooner; and also danger of

-the seas boarding her over the stern.</p>

-

-<p>It was most fortunate for the crew of the

-schooner, that when they grappled to the raft

-they were a long distance off, and well over to

-the edge of the breakers, consequently had to

-work the raft but very little to windward. Every

-time the little vessel rose on one of those tremendous

-seas, when the raft was perhaps in the

-hollow of another, she quivered and trembled,

-and it seemed as if she must be crushed bodily

-down beneath the sea.</p>

-

-<p>“Isaac,” said the captain, who had one hand

-on the rope, “I think this will bear more strain.

-Unless we go ahead a little faster, we shall hardly

-clear that ragged point making out to the leeward.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m afraid, Benjamin, it will take the mast

-out of her.”</p>

-

-<p>“So am I, but we must risk it. There’s no other

-way. It’s sartain death to go into that surf.”</p>

-

-<p>There was one other way. A stroke of the axe

-upon the “taut” rope, and the schooner, freed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>

-from her encumbrance, would have gone off like

-a bird from the ragged reef and boiling surf,

-leaving their comrades to perish; but no such

-thought could find lodgment in the bosoms of

-the men on board the Perseverance.</p>

-

-<p>“Give her the sail, Isaac,” said the captain;

-“it’s the only way.”</p>

-

-<p>Beneath the increased canvas, the schooner

-plunged and quivered, as though every timber

-would part company.</p>

-

-<p>They were near the breakers; the roar of the

-surf was terrible; every time the great wave

-rolled back, the black, ragged points of the rock

-could be seen for a moment. It was now but a

-couple of gunshots from them, and they were in

-the outer edge of the breaker. Not a word was

-spoken. Captain Rhines coolly eyed the surf,

-while he managed the helm with consummate skill.

-Slowly the noble little vessel drew along by the

-reef, but the raft was the length of the hawser

-farther in.</p>

-

-<p>“If that sea breaks on them, they are gone,”

-cried Captain Rhines, as a huge wall of water,

-thirty feet in height, came sweeping along, its

-overhanging edge white with foam.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Ben and Charlie each seized one edge of

-the canoe, evidently hoping, that though full

-of water, its buoyancy might support and aid

-them in swimming; but the wave broke just

-before it reached them, lifting the raft almost

-on end, flooding it with spray, buried them to

-their necks in water, and almost tore them from

-the raft, to which they clung by the shrouds of

-the upright spar, while the canoe was swept

-away. So near were they to the reef, that one

-end of the wave broke upon the rock, and the raft

-was covered with kelp torn from it by the force

-of the sea. While they were yet in the very edge

-of the broken water, the foremast breaking off

-four or five feet above deck, went over the bows.</p>

-

-<p>“Thank God!” exclaimed Captain Rhines; “had

-it gone three minutes sooner, we had all been

-lost.”</p>

-

-<p>Drifting along before the wind and sea, they

-gradually came into smoother water, when Ben,

-flinging himself overboard, swam to the schooner.

-With his aid they raised the broken spar, lashed

-it to the stump, and contrived to spread a portion

-of the sail.</p>

-

-<p>“Ben,” asked his father, “what have you got on

-the raft? Are they dead or alive?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“There’s four of them, father; one a black man,

-the cook or steward, for his hands are soft, a

-sailor, a boy fifteen or sixteen, and a young man,

-I should judge about twenty, who, I think, was

-mate of the vessel, by his dress. They have got

-just the breath of life in them; starved with cold

-and hunger, and nothing but skin and bones. I

-thought that sea would have killed them, but they

-are alive yet.”</p>

-

-<p>“God help them, but we can’t get to the island,

-or my cove, with this broken spar. We must run

-for Charlie’s.”</p>

-

-<p>“Let us run under the lee of Smutty Nose,”

-said Ben, “get rid of this raft, and take the bodies

-on board, then we can go faster, else they will be

-dead before we get there.”</p>

-

-<p>They luffed up under the island in smooth water,

-took Charlie on board, the dead and the living,

-and permitting the raft to go adrift, made all the

-sail they could spread for Pleasant Cove. They

-carried the nearly lifeless bodies into the cuddy,

-put them in berths, and covered them with

-clothes. There were flint, steel, and tinder aboard,

-but no wood. They took the bottom boards out

-of a berth and split them up to kindle, and Ben<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>

-cut up the handspikes, which were white oak, and

-split up the windlass.</p>

-

-<p>“Father,” said Charlie, “I’ll make a new and

-better one.”</p>

-

-<p>With this supply they soon had the little place

-warm enough. When they reached the cove they

-found John Rhines there. He had been away, and

-arriving home just after the party set out, had

-kept watch of their movements. It was twelve

-o’clock at night when they landed. The gale was

-over, the clouds had disappeared, and a clear

-moonlight made it nearly as light as day. The

-wet clothing was instantly stripped from the

-chilled limbs of the seamen; they were put into

-warm blankets, and hot applications made. So

-affecting was the sight of these living skeletons

-that Mary burst into tears.</p>

-

-<p>“Poor creatures! What they must have suffered!”

-she exclaimed. “They will die; they are

-as good as dead now.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, they ain’t,” replied the captain, who had

-been putting cold water down their throats with

-a spoon, and found that they swallowed. “Kill a

-chicken, Charlie; we’ll give them some broth by

-and by; too much would kill them as dead as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>

-stone. Now, Mary, a little supper or breakfast,

-whichever you call it, wouldn’t hurt the rest of us,

-after all we’ve been through this day and night.”</p>

-

-<p>The rising sun was pouring its light into the

-windows, as with grateful hearts they sat down

-to eat, the captain rising every few minutes to

-administer a spoonful of the warm broth to his

-patients. The clergyman and neighbors were

-sent for, and funeral services performed. Then

-the American flag was put over the coffins, and

-they were borne to the grave.</p>

-

-<p>“I wish we could have saved them,” said the

-captain; “but we will do all we can&mdash;give them

-Christian burial.”</p>

-

-<p>Charlie and Uncle Isaac made the coffins for the

-two who died, and Captain Rhines and John

-dug their graves. On the eastern side of the cove

-a perpendicular cliff rose abruptly from the soil,

-with a little strip of green turf between it and

-the beach. Here they were buried. The white

-man had the name of “J. Watts” tattooed on his

-right arm; the name of the black was afterwards

-ascertained to be John Davis, and Charlie cut the

-names into the cliff&mdash;a most enduring memorial.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER III.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">A GLAD SURPRISE.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">IN the course of three hours, it was evident

-that both of the rescued persons were reviving

-fast. Though unable to speak, they swallowed

-eagerly all that Captain Rhines thought proper to

-give; the expression returned to their eyes and

-features, and their limbs twitched with convulsive

-starts.</p>

-

-<p>“Charlie,” said the captain, “I’ll take these

-people home in the schooner.”</p>

-

-<p>“Leave them here, we can take care of them;

-and leave the schooner too. I’ll make a new mast

-and windlass for her.”</p>

-

-<p>“It is too much for Mary, with a young child,&mdash;two

-invalids to take care of.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, it ain’t, father; they will be all right, as

-soon as it will do to let them eat and drink.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll take the young man, at any rate, and you

-may have the boy.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>They wrapped him in a blanket, and he was

-so emaciated that Charlie took him in his arms

-as though he had been an infant, and put him

-into the whale boat.</p>

-

-<p>“Wife,” said the captain, the next morning, as

-he sat watching his charge, as he lay sleeping,

-after having eaten more than he had allowed

-him at one time before, “do you know that since

-this young man has come to himself a bit he

-looks very natural to me. I’ve seen him, or some

-of his folks, before.”</p>

-

-<p>“It wouldn’t be at all strange if you had, for

-you have been a traveller all your life.”</p>

-

-<p>“It beats all how familiar his features look;

-and the more I look at him, the more the likeness

-grows upon me. He’s the very image of

-somebody I’ve known and loved right well, but

-to save me, I can’t tell who. He’ll be strong

-enough to talk when he wakes, and I’ll know

-who he is, and all about it. Only see, Mary, how

-the color has come into his lips! they are not

-drawn apart as they were. See how his eyeballs

-are filled out, and his fingers; and his nose is

-not so sharp as it was. He’s doing first rate.”</p>

-

-<p>As the captain had predicted, the young man,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>

-who had been within a hair’s breadth of eternity,

-awoke a few minutes before noon, extremely

-weak, but free from stupor, and in partial possession

-of his faculties, and inquired where he

-was.</p>

-

-<p>“You are among friends, young man, and safe;

-make yourself easy. Where are you from?”</p>

-

-<p>“Salem.”</p>

-

-<p>“Salem! Was you born and brought up in

-Salem?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is your name?”</p>

-

-<p>“Brown, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is your father’s business?”</p>

-

-<p>“He was a shipmaster, but he is not living.”</p>

-

-<p>“Was his name Arthur?” cried the captain,

-more eagerly, his face flushing, and then becoming

-very pale.</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“And was he cast away in the Roanoke on

-Abaco, and all hands lost?”</p>

-

-<p>“Just so, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“God bless you, my son,” shouted the captain,

-leaping from his chair, and grasping both hands

-of the seaman, while tears of gladness, streaming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>

-from his eyes, fell thick and fast on the pale

-features of his wondering guest; “your father

-was one of God Almighty’s noblemen; the first

-and best friend I ever had. All I am and all I’ve

-got in the world I owe to him. Didn’t you never

-hear him tell about Ben Rhines, the long-legged

-boy just out of the woods, with pine pitch sticking

-to him, that had to make his mark on the

-ship’s articles, that he learned to read and write,

-and made a shipmaster of?”</p>

-

-<p>“O, yes, sir, a great many times.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, I’m Ben Rhines, what there is left of

-him. Is your mother living? and what family did

-your father leave?”</p>

-

-<p>“My mother is living in Salem. Father left

-three children, two girls and myself; he also took

-a nephew to bring up after his father died.”</p>

-

-<p>“Did he leave property?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, sir. He owned a large part of the Roanoke,

-and there was no insurance on her. My

-mother was left poor; father wasn’t a man to lay

-up money.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, he had too large a heart. I’m glad of it.

-I’ve got enough for both, thank God! I thought

-I’d got enough to take me well through, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>

-shouldn’t try to make any more,&mdash;but I will.

-I’ll just give my mind to making money. I’ll make

-lots of it. I’ll go to sea again. I’ve got a glorious

-use for money now. But how came you in an

-English ship? Among all the friends your father

-had, and the hundreds whom, to my certain knowledge,

-he helped into business, was there not

-one who thought enough of his obligations to

-do for his son?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir. After father was lost, mother kept

-a boarding-house for masters and mates of vessels,

-and many of his former friends boarded

-with her, and set up our girls in a dry goods

-store. My cousin went into a grocery store. I

-was the youngest. When I left school I went on

-board a ship, belonging to a friend of father’s,

-as a cabin boy. He put me right along. I am

-only twenty-one last July, the fourteenth. The

-ship was sold in Liverpool; and by the captain’s

-good word, I got a mate’s berth in an English

-ship, knowing if I got across to Halifax, I could

-easily get home from there. The ship sprung a

-leak: the crew and second mate took the boats,

-nautical instruments, and nearly all the provisions,

-and left. They didn’t like the captain; he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>

-a hard man, and there had been quarrelling all

-the voyage. Finally they put on their jackets (they

-might have kept the ship free), and told him they

-had as many friends in hell as he had, and left.

-They offered to take me with them; but I thought

-it my duty to stick by the captain and the ship.”</p>

-

-<p>“But how came the cook, the seaman, and

-the boy to stick by you. Why didn’t they join

-the strongest party?”</p>

-

-<p>“The black was a slave in Jamaica. The captain

-took a liking to him, bought him when he

-was nineteen, and gave him his liberty. He

-wouldn’t leave the captain. The sailor was a

-townie and shipmate of mine in the other ship;

-the boy belongs in Salem, the son of one of our

-neighbors, and was also with me in the other

-ship, and a better boy never stepped on a vessel’s

-deck. We three stuck together. Captain

-Rhines, is there any way I can get a letter to

-my mother, to inform her of my safety, and also

-of the boy’s? She knows I was on my passage

-in the Madras to Halifax, and that it is time for

-the ship to arrive there, and if the crew are

-picked up or get ashore they will report us as

-lost.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“We have a mail now once a week. It will go

-day after to-morrow.”</p>

-

-<p>At this period of the conversation Mrs. Rhines

-came into the room, when the captain, rushing at

-her, half smothered her with kisses.</p>

-

-<p>“Why, what is the matter, Benjamin?” she exclaimed,

-noticing his flushed face, and the traces

-of tears on it.</p>

-

-<p>“Matter, Molly!” bursting out afresh; “the

-matter is, we’ve got another boy. You know,

-wife, how much you have heard me tell about Mr.

-Brown, the mate of the first square-rigged vessel

-I went to sea in, that did everything, and more

-too, for me?”</p>

-

-<p>“Indeed, Benjamin, I guess I have.”</p>

-

-<p>“This is his boy, lying here on this lounge!&mdash;his

-only son, named for him.”</p>

-

-<p>“How glad I am, Benjamin!&mdash;glad on your

-account, and on my own, for the sake of his

-mother.”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t you think, wife, when I took his father

-by the hand, to bid him good by, as I was about

-to step aboard the James Welch as first officer

-(through and <i>only</i> through his means), I said, with

-a full heart, ‘Mr. Brown, how can I ever repay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>

-you?’ His reply was, ‘Ben, do by other young men

-you may fall in with, and who are starting in the

-world with nobody to help them, as I have by

-you.’ And now a kind Providence has put it in

-my power to save the life of his son, so help me

-God, if ever a debt was paid, principal, interest,

-and <i>compound</i> interest, this shall be. Kiss him,

-wife.”</p>

-

-<p>Mrs. Rhines kissed the wasted cheek of the

-young man, and assured him that she was, equally

-with her husband, interested in his welfare, and

-rejoiced to receive him as a member of their

-household.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, Arthur,” said the captain, “you are our

-boy. You are just as much at home in this house

-as we are ourselves, and the more we can do for

-you the better we shall like it. John, here is

-your brother.”</p>

-

-<p>This whole-souled declaration elicited no reply.

-The young man, exhausted by the long and exciting

-conversation, had fallen asleep.</p>

-

-<p>“Poor boy! he is weak. Only see the great

-sores on him. See what a sight of little boils are

-coming out all over his arms.”</p>

-

-<p>“That, wife, is soaking in salt water so long;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>

-and the sores are where the ropes he was lashed

-with chafed him.”</p>

-

-<p>Utterly unable to keep the discovery confined

-to himself and family any longer, he mounted his

-horse, and rode full speed to tell Uncle Isaac and

-Charlie. When he reached Charlie’s, he found

-the boy (who was less accustomed to exposure)

-had recovered strength much more slowly than

-the mate. The moment he saw the captain, he

-wanted to know how Mr. Brown was getting

-along.</p>

-

-<p>“You like Mr. Brown?” said the captain, after

-replying to his question.</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Like</i> him, sir! You can’t help liking him.

-Every man on board liked him. The men wanted

-him to go with them in the boats; but they

-wouldn’t have the captain, and he thought it was

-his duty to stick by him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do you think you will want to go to sea any

-more?”</p>

-

-<p>“I shall go if Mr. Brown goes. How can I get

-home, sir, when I get my strength again?”</p>

-

-<p>“It will be some time before you will be fit to

-go. When that time comes, I’ll get you home.”</p>

-

-<p>“Could I send a letter, when I am able to

-write?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Mr. Brown’s going to write to-morrow to his

-folks and yours. What is your name, my boy?”</p>

-

-<p>“Edward Gates, sir. They call me Ned on

-board ship.”</p>

-

-<p>“You are from Salem, too?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir. Mr. Brown and I live on the same

-street&mdash;King Street. His house is only four

-doors from mine.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then you’ve always known him?”</p>

-

-<p>“O, yes, sir. I went to school with him. He

-was one of the big boys, and I was a little one. I

-used to say my lessons to him when the master

-was busy, and sometimes he kept school when the

-master was sick. Sometimes, when his father’s

-ship was in port, he would get her yawl boat, and

-give us little fellows a sail.”</p>

-

-<p>After the building of the Casco, Charlie had

-been enabled to gratify his taste for cultivating

-the soil and improving his place. The Hard-scrabble,

-under the command of Seth Warren, and the

-Casco, under that of Isaac Murch, had made profitable

-voyages. Charlie and John found themselves

-in possession both of means and leisure.

-Charlie had built a large house, roomy enough to

-contain his men whenever he wanted to build<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>

-more vessels, a barn, workshop, and other out-buildings.

-Hard wood stumps soon decay, white

-pine will last fifty years, and oak much longer

-than beech, maple or birch. The slope in front of

-the house presented a most enchanting view.

-Directly in front of the house was a most noble

-growth of forest trees, where the birch, beech,

-maple, and oak, in associate beauty, intermingled

-their huge trunks, covered with moss, and of such

-majestic height as to permit the buildings to be

-seen between their stems. A footpath wound

-among them to the outer edge, where, between

-their gnarled and twisted roots, gleamed the clear

-waters of Silver Spring.</p>

-

-<p>Almost any summer or autumn morning, about

-nine o’clock, you might see a gray squirrel sitting

-on one of the great tree roots, viewing himself in

-the transparent water, washing his face, and making

-his toilet by its aid. Scattered all along on

-the surface of the slope margining the beach

-were clumps and single trees, of peculiar beauty

-and vast size, which Charlie, by abstaining from

-the use of fire, had spared; thus preserving what

-it would have required seventy years, and a large

-outlay, to have obtained by planting.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Neither the mill nor the shop could be seen,

-except in one direction; that is, when you were

-directly in front, they were so embosomed in

-foliage, Charlie having left the growth around

-them, for he was in possession of ideas of taste

-and beauty, of which neither Captain Rhines,

-Uncle Isaac, or John had the least conception. It

-was a pleasant sight, as you sailed away in the

-summer, to obtain indistinct glimpses of the water

-between the tree trunks as it poured off the dam,

-listen to the click of the saw, and catch through

-the leaves the gleams of the carpenters’ axes;

-while far beyond, as the land gradually rose,

-large fields of corn and grain, with their vivid

-green, presented a most singular and beautiful

-contrast to the black limbs and barkless trunks of

-the girdled trees among which they lay, their hollow

-trunks&mdash;some standing upright, others fallen&mdash;affording

-a most excellent roost for the crows,

-who paid their respects to Charlie’s corn when it

-was in the blade.</p>

-

-<p>At the lower edge of an immense forest of maple

-and birch, from which every vestige of underbrush

-had been removed, were seen the walls of a

-sap camp; while, instead of a path leading to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>

-the house, marked by spotted trees, a carriage

-road had been made, so that Captain Rhines could

-ride back and forth in his wagon, and Parson

-Goodhue in his chaise&mdash;for he had arrived to

-that dignity. It was not, however, much like the

-vehicle bearing that appellation at the present

-time. The wheels and arms were large enough

-for a modern team wagon; the frame of the top

-was made of iron; instead of leather, it was covered

-with painted canvas, and on the sides were

-projections, like the wings of a bird, to throw off

-the mud.</p>

-

-<p>Charlie and Joe cut a footpath through the

-forest, between their farms, and put logs across

-the gullies and sloughs, so that they could go

-back and forth conveniently.</p>

-

-<p>Two other notable events occurred this year.

-You know Uncle Isaac was not a whit like most

-elderly people, any more than chalk is like cheese.

-There was nothing stereotyped about him. He

-made a cider mill, to replace his white oak beam

-and wooden maul. When he went to Thomaston

-to see General Knox’s mills, he saw a cider press,

-in which the cheese was pressed with wooden

-screws. The apples, also, instead of being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>

-pounded to pieces in a trough, with a wooden

-maul, were ground between nuts, made with

-grooves and projections fitting into each other,

-and turned by a horse. Uncle Isaac took the

-pitch of the thread of the screws, and when he

-came home made press and mill.</p>

-

-<p>Ben also, that fall, brought over to his father

-and Charlie a bushel of apples apiece, which he

-had raised from his young orchard.</p>

-

-<p>“What do you think now about making cider

-on Elm Island?”</p>

-

-<p>Charlie said, “I think, when you get ready,

-there will be a mill for you;” and told him what

-Uncle Isaac had done.</p>

-

-<p>Uncle Isaac didn’t stop here. He made his

-wife and Sally Rhines a cheese-press, with screws.

-The way they pressed cheese before this was, to

-put a lever under the sill of the house, place the

-cheese under it, and then put rocks on the other

-end of the lever. At Ben’s suggestion, he also

-made a press to press hay. Before this, they carried

-it loose on board vessels, and couldn’t take

-any great amount, although, in Massachusetts,

-presses had come in use, and Ben had seen them.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER IV.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">CAPTAIN RHINES MANIFESTS HIS GRATITUDE.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap04">NED and the mate now began to mend rapidly.

-In the enjoyment of abundant food and

-rest, inhaling the bracing air of autumn, and with

-all the fruit they chose to eat, their sunken

-cheeks filled out, the flesh covered their limbs,

-their muscles assumed their wonted vigor, and

-they rapidly regained all that buoyancy which

-pertains to youth and high health. Mrs. Rhines,

-Hannah Murch, and Mrs. Ben Rhines made them

-clothes. And thus arrayed, as the evenings were

-now getting of considerable length, they went

-around on social visits, with Charlie and John,

-among the neighbors, and over to Elm Island;

-made friends, and won good opinions every day.</p>

-

-<p>Captain Rhines, instead of manifesting any disposition

-to take them to Salem in the Perseverance,

-as he had promised at their arrival, said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>

-not a word about it. Instead he seemed very

-earnest in laying plans, and inventing amusements

-to make them contented where they were.

-One day it was a gunning excursion by water;

-again hunting in the woods. At another time

-he wanted them to help him about some harvesting,

-which they were more than willing to do,

-and seemed never so happy as when they were

-doing something for their benefactor.</p>

-

-<p>The captain’s line of conduct was a sore puzzle

-to John and Charlie, and indeed to all the

-family. The Perseverance must have a new mast

-and windlass before she could go to Salem. But

-although Charlie had made both, the captain

-would not let him put them in.</p>

-

-<p>One day Charlie, John, and Ben were together

-on the island, and this fruitful subject of conjecture

-came up.</p>

-

-<p>“Ben,” said John, “what do you suppose the

-reason is father don’t take Ned and Mr. Brown

-home? He said, when they were first picked

-up, that he would take them to Salem in the

-Perseverance as soon as they were fit to go.

-They are all right now, and want to see their

-folks.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“He seems,” said Charlie, “to have forgotten

-all about it. I don’t believe he wants to take

-them, for I’ve had the mast and windlass made

-these three weeks, and he won’t let me put

-them in.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Ben. “Father

-ain’t like most old folks. He likes to have young

-people around him. Mother says he talks hours

-and hours with Brown. Perhaps he don’t like to

-lose their company. If you want to know, Charlie,

-why don’t you and John ask him?”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t like to.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, get Uncle Isaac to. He will ask in a

-moment; indeed, if there’s a special reason, I’ll

-warrant he knows it now.”</p>

-

-<p>“What seems more singular to me,” said

-Charlie, “is, that after telling how much he

-thought of Arthur’s father and mother, how

-much he was willing to do for his children, even

-to cut the last piece of bread in two, that he

-don’t <i>do something</i>&mdash;build him a vessel. I have

-got out board and ceiling plank at the mill, and

-deck plank all sawed out. It would be a capital

-time now to get a frame and set her up this

-fall, let her season through the winter, finish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>

-her in the summer, and rig her before cold

-weather.”</p>

-

-<p>“Benjamin,” said Uncle Isaac (as they shot

-into a thickly wooded cove to rest their backs,

-on their way home from a fowling excursion),

-laying his paddle across the float, and leaning

-both elbows on it, “why don’t you take these

-boys home? they want to go.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do they want to go?”</p>

-

-<p>“To be sure. Isn’t it natural they should want

-to see their parents and friends, after being at

-death’s door?”</p>

-

-<p>“But their parents know they are comfortable,

-and they hear from each other every week.”</p>

-

-<p>“That isn’t like seeing them. There’s another

-thing; the boys want to build a vessel for this

-young man, and so does Ben.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ben wants to, does he?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“Hum.”</p>

-

-<p>“He seems to be a nice, steady, well-informed

-young man.”</p>

-

-<p>“Is that the way it strikes you, Isaac?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“The fact is, Isaac,” beginning to pick the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>

-leaves of a beech limb, which hung over the

-float, and chew them up, “I am ready and

-willing, and count it a privilege to do all I can

-for this boy, and his father’s family; but whether

-building a vessel, and putting him in her, is the

-<i>best</i> way to do it, I am not clear.”</p>

-

-<p>While they were engaged in this conversation,

-the boat had drifted under the limbs of a birch,

-that had never regained its upright position

-after being bent down by the ice and snow of

-the previous winter.</p>

-

-<p>“What have you got that’s good in that red

-box, Isaac?”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ve got a chicken, boiled eggs, bread, butter,

-cheese, and doughnuts,” he replied, placing the

-box on the middle thwart of the boat, and removing

-the cover.</p>

-

-<p>“There’s something to wash it down,” said the

-captain, unrolling a jug, carefully wrapped in the

-folds of his long jacket. “That’s some of the

-coffee I brought home in the Ark; it’s warm,

-too. We might as well eat now as any time,

-for by the tide it can’t be far from noon.”</p>

-

-<p>Uncle Isaac twisted one of the long, slender

-limbs of the birch into a string, and making it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>

-fast to a thole-pin hole, it held the boat stationary,

-while the two friends, sitting face to face

-in the warm sunshine, gossipped and ate; and

-having eaten nothing since three o’clock that

-morning, evidently enjoyed the repast, the warm

-sunshine, and the sheltered nook, so highly as to

-wish to prolong the pleasure, and ate very deliberately,

-till the meal was brought to an abrupt

-termination by the entire consumption of the contents

-of both box and jug.</p>

-

-<p>“We were speaking, Isaac,” said the captain,

-“about this young man, and about building him

-a vessel. If I was able to build him one, fit her

-for sea, load her, and say to him, ‘Here, my boy,

-take her, and do the best you can for yourself

-and me;’ and then if he made a ‘funger,’

-pocket the loss, I would lay the keel to-morrow.

-But in doing that, I must be concerned with

-others, and risk other people’s money. Here are

-Ben, Fred, John, and Charlie, all ready to strike,

-only waiting for me to say the word; and Mr.

-Welch would take hold in a moment if I should

-say to him, ‘Here is a young man, who I think

-capable, wants a vessel built.’ Now, how do I

-know he is capable of taking charge of a vessel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>

-and managing business in these squally times,

-with the English and French pitching into our

-commerce, and pirates to boot? A master of a

-vessel must have grit and cool judgment&mdash;qualities

-that don’t always nor often go together. He’s

-very young, has been only one voyage and part of

-another as mate; of course has had but little experience.

-Some men make first-rate mates, but

-poor masters; others poor mates, but excellent

-masters. Then, if he should make a losing voyage

-of it, I should feel very bad, and the rest (though

-they did not say it) might feel that they had been

-brought into difficulties, and lost money through

-me.”</p>

-

-<p>“He is as old, and has had as much experience

-as Isaac had when he became master. You was

-keen enough for putting him ahead; far more

-than I was, though he is my own nephew, and has

-done splendidly. This young man has had the

-best of schooling, and ten times the privileges

-Isaac ever had.”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Schooling! privileges!</i>” cried the captain;

-“I wouldn’t give <i>that</i> (snapping his fingers) for

-the schooling and privileges. What do they

-amount to, if the man hasn’t got <i>Indian suet</i>,&mdash;hasn’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>

-got the articles in him? They <i>help</i>, but

-they can’t put anything <i>into</i> a man. I knew Isaac

-from the egg. I watched him as he grew up.

-There’s a great deal in the <i>blood</i>. I knew the

-breed he came of, both sides. He sailed with me.

-I taught him, and knew him through and through,&mdash;knew

-he had the root of the matter in him.

-But in regard to this young man, I know only the

-father. If he takes after his father in mind, as he

-does in looks, he will be all right. But he may

-look like the father, and take after the mother. I

-don’t know anything about her or her people.”</p>

-

-<p>“You mean to help him, don’t you?”</p>

-

-<p>“Reckon I do, if my life is spared. But I

-could help him without building him a vessel, or

-involving other folks. I might give him a couple

-of thousand dollars in cash, and let him help himself;

-or say to him, ‘Arthur, go to Salem; see if

-some of your father’s friends, and the people

-you’ve sailed for, won’t build you a vessel. I’ll

-take an eighth or a fourth.’ I can help the

-mother,&mdash;that will be my own concern, and nobody’s

-business,&mdash;and I shan’t involve others, and

-risk their hard earnings.”</p>

-

-<p>“But he’s been here some time. You’ve had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>

-him in your house all the time, with opportunities

-for talking with him, and making up your mind.

-What do you think?”</p>

-

-<p>“I think well of him. I like him all round,

-think him capable, and, to tell the truth, that is

-what I’ve been backing and filling for so long,

-and keeping the boys back. I wanted <i>time</i> to

-make up my mind, and have you and the neighbors

-see and get acquainted with him, and find

-what you all thought of him.”</p>

-

-<p>“As far as my opinion is worth anything, I

-shouldn’t hesitate a moment. There’s one little

-thing just settles the matter in my mind.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is that, Isaac?”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, his sticking by that captain. Here is a

-crew of men, the sweepings of Liverpool; they

-take the boats, compass, and other instruments,

-and shove off,&mdash;they’ve had trouble with the captain,

-and are down on him, and mean to have their

-revenge,&mdash;leaving him to shift for himself; the

-mate they like, and offer to take him with them&mdash;even

-coax him to go; they have provision, water,

-and instruments, and are not overloaded. In the

-boats, there’s no great risk; to remain, is almost

-certain death. He is under no particular obligations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>

-to the captain, who is an Englishman and a

-stranger, yet he sticks by him, because he thinks

-it his duty. If <i>that</i> ain’t pluck, principle, and

-Christianity,&mdash;if that ain’t real manhood, I wonder

-where you’d find it! There’s not one man in

-a hundred&mdash;no, not in a thousand&mdash;<i>would</i> or

-<i>could</i> have done it. And, Benjamin, ‘twill take a

-great deal to make me believe that a man who has

-got all <i>that</i> in him hasn’t all the other qualities

-that go to make up a man.”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s just what his father would have done.

-Well, Isaac, I’ll take them to Salem. I’m acquainted

-there; have an old shipmate that knew

-his father. I’ll see the captain he’s been mate with,

-and if they speak well of him, we’ll go ahead.”</p>

-

-<p>“John,” said his father, on his return home,

-“clap the saddle on the horse, ride over to Charlie’s,

-and tell him he may get the schooner ready

-as soon as he likes; and tell Fred to get his fish

-and potash ready, for I’m going to Salem, and will

-take a freight to Boston, and bring back any goods

-he wants.”</p>

-

-<p>Captain Folger was sitting in his store just before

-noon, frequently looking at his watch, for the

-demands of appetite were pressing,&mdash;he had set<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>

-up a ship-chandler’s store, after having spent the

-greater part of life at sea,&mdash;when Captain Rhines

-entered, and most agreeably surprised him.</p>

-

-<p>“Why, Captain Ben!” exclaimed the old seaman,

-grasping his friend by the hand, “what good

-wind has blown you hither?”</p>

-

-<p>“I had business in Boston, and so called in here.

-It’s long since we’ve met. I hardly thought you’d

-know me so readily.”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Know</i> you! Old shipmates don’t forget each

-other.”</p>

-

-<p>“So you’ve left off going to sea, and turned

-storekeeper!”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; it’s the most natural thing an old shipmaster

-can do to turn ship-chandler, and have vessels

-and rigging to look after. I couldn’t be contented

-ashore in any other business. I own some

-navigation, and have that to look after. My shop

-is a loafing place for the old captains, and we

-fight our battles over again, spin our yarns, plan

-voyages, and keep each other’s spirits up. We

-heard about your going to Cuba on a raft, and

-it was agreed on all hands it was the smartest

-thing ever done in these parts, or anywhere. You

-ran a confounded risk, but they say you made

-your Jack out of it.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Yes, I made <i>something</i>.”</p>

-

-<p>“You knew Captain Brown, Arthur, who was

-lost on Abaco?”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Knew</i> him! I guess I did. He was the means

-of putting me into business.”</p>

-

-<p>“He was the means of putting a great many

-into business.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do you know his son?”</p>

-

-<p>“What, young Arthur?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“To be sure. We’ve been much worried about

-him. The vessel he was in foundered, but he has

-been picked up, so his mother tells me.”</p>

-

-<p>“I picked him up, and brought him here not

-two hours ago. What kind of a young man is

-he?”</p>

-

-<p>“As fine a one as ever the sun shone upon; he

-is thought a great deal of here, both upon his

-father’s account and his own.”</p>

-

-<p>“Is there business in him, or only goodness?”</p>

-

-<p>“Both; as much of one as the other.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do you know Captain Bates, who he was mate

-with?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“Will you introduce me to him?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Yes; he’ll be in here about two o’clock, with

-half a dozen more old web feet, that you know, or

-who have heard of you, and we’ll have a jolly time

-of it. But come,” looking at his watch, “it is grub

-time; go up to the house; you belong to me while

-you are here.”</p>

-

-<p>“I will dine with you; but I made an engagement

-with young Brown to meet me here at five

-o’clock, and I am to take tea with him.”</p>

-

-<p>Captain Rhines met Captain Bates at three

-o’clock, who, in reply to his questions in relation

-to young Brown, replied, “If you’ve got a frigate,

-give it to him.” When Arthur came, according to

-appointment, Ned Gates came with him.</p>

-

-<p>“Captain Rhines,” said Ned, “father and mother

-want you to come to our house, and stop with us

-while you are here.”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s going to stay with us,” said Arthur.</p>

-

-<p>“No, he ain’t,” said Captain Folger; “he belongs

-to me. He can go to supper with Arthur,

-and he can dine to-morrow with you, Ned; but we

-are old shipmates, and the rest of the time he belongs

-to me.”</p>

-

-<p>Captain Rhines, while at Mrs. Brown’s, proposed

-that the whole family should go down and live<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>

-with him. But Mrs. Brown, who was a capable,

-energetic woman, many years younger than her

-husband, would by no means consent. She told

-him, in reply, that her daughters were doing well

-in their store; that though her husband left her

-no money, he had left the house clear of debt.

-That his nephew was learning a trade, and she

-was doing well keeping boarders, and could not

-consent, by any means, to live upon him, as she

-could not be happy in so doing; but as he had announced

-his intentions of helping Arthur to a vessel,

-she should feel under the greatest obligations.</p>

-

-<p>Before leaving, he compelled her to accept a

-check upon Mr. Welch for two thousand dollars,

-made the girls a present of five hundred more,

-and a hundred to George Ferguson, the nephew,

-without which, he declared, he could not sleep

-nights.</p>

-

-<p>Having accomplished this, he felt quite satisfied

-and happy; and began to talk with Arthur in relation

-to the intended vessel.</p>

-

-<p>“What kind of a vessel do you want, Arthur,

-and what trade do you want to go into?”</p>

-

-<p>“I should prefer, sir, always with submission

-to your better judgment, a sharp vessel, that will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>

-outsail the English cruisers, run the gantlet, and

-carry provisions and supplies to France. There

-will be risk, but I have an idea there will be corresponding

-profit.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s the talk, my boy,” cried the captain, delighted

-with a proposal so congenial to his own

-hardy and enterprising nature. “I only wish I

-was young enough to go into it myself. Now, if

-there’s a man in these United States that can

-build a clipper that will show a clean pair of heels

-to anything that swims, that man is Charles Bell.”</p>

-

-<p>It was just after dinner, of a pleasant afternoon,

-Charlie and his wife were seated in the sun, in the

-barn-door, husking corn, the sharp click of a

-horse’s feet that overreached was heard.</p>

-

-<p>“That’s father,” said Mary. “I know the click

-of the mare’s shoes.”</p>

-

-<p>“Charlie!” shouted the captain, never stopping,

-till the mare’s feet struck the heap of corn in the

-floor, sending the kernels in Mary’s face, “grind

-your broad-axe. Arthur Brown wants a vessel

-that will show her heels to the English frigates,

-run the blockade, and make the sweat stand on

-a dolphin’s nose to keep up.”</p>

-

-<p>“I am thankful,” cried Charlie, delighted, “that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>

-after so long a time I am to build something that

-is not a box.”</p>

-

-<p>“You can’t find a better model than the Hard-scrabble.”</p>

-

-<p>“Than the Hard-scrabble?”</p>

-

-<p>“No; she sails well when she is light, and

-with a free wind in ballast, Isaac says there’s

-nothing will catch her. Just give her more

-depth, so she can hold on, and put the sail on her,

-and I tell you she would streak it. You must

-have breadth to carry sail.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, I’ll do the best I can.”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER V.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">“WE WERE PUT INTO THIS WORLD TO HELP ONE ANOTHER.”</p>

-

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">IT was about eight o’clock Saturday night.

-Captain Rhines had sailed that morning for

-Boston.</p>

-

-<p class="pn">Mrs. Brown had finished her household business

-for the day, and was seated before a bright

-fire in a cosy little sitting-room, reserved for her

-private use. Her children were with her, the

-girls having closed the store earlier than usual,

-and with the beloved and rescued son and brother

-in the midst, they were talking over the exciting

-events of the week.</p>

-

-<p>“When I look back upon what has happened

-for the past two or three weeks,” said the happy

-mother, “it seems like a dream. There I was,

-day after day, and week after week, watching

-the papers, and no news of the vessel, a short<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>

-passage too. Then I got Captain Folger to write

-to Halifax, and the consignee wrote that they

-supposed the vessel was lost, as one of her boats,

-bottom up, had been found, and a bucket that

-had the vessel’s name on it. A husband and

-son both buried in the ocean. It tore open the

-old wounds, and they bled afresh; brought up

-all the anguish of your father’s loss anew. I

-felt it was more than I could bear. How I

-begged and plead with my heavenly Father for

-your life, Arthur, the widow’s only hope! And

-some how, whenever I rose from my knees, I

-felt better than when I knelt down; a feeling

-as though, some how or other, the cup would

-pass from me, seemed to take possession of me,

-and this feeling kept me, for the most part of

-the time, on my knees. I felt better and happier

-there than anywhere else.”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t you think, mother, when I came to be

-on that raft, provisions and water all gone, the

-captain raving mad and jumping overboard, my

-shipmates dying one after another, that I didn’t

-think of you, and that you were praying for me?

-Poor little Ned and I, our throats were so dry

-and parched we couldn’t speak so as to be heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>

-by each other above the winds and waves. I

-fell into a doze, and dreamed I saw a most beautiful

-grove of apple trees all in blossom, and a

-great long table spread under them, covered with

-piles and piles of meat, and great goblets, that held

-a gallon, full of the clearest water; and you was

-sitting at it, and saying, ‘Come, Arthur, this is

-all for you.’ I tried so hard to move towards

-you, it woke me; and I heard a shout, ‘Raft,

-ahoy! Is there anybody can take a line?’ Then

-I knew there was help. I tried to shout, but

-couldn’t. I could only raise my arm. Soon I

-heard something strike the raft; a voice shouted,

-‘All fast!’ and two men stood over us. They

-were Mr. Ben Rhines and Charlie Bell. They told

-me to keep my heart up, for they would stick by

-me; but I was so overcome I fainted away.”</p>

-

-<p>“Brother,” said Ellen, “didn’t you suffer terribly

-before you got so low as that?”</p>

-

-<p>“Tongue can’t describe it; but the thirst was

-the worst. But here I am now, sitting before

-this comfortable fire, in this old room where we

-have spent so many happy hours, with you all

-around me. I’m sure, as mother says, it seems

-like a dream to me.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“I hope,” said the widow, “such trials and

-such mercies will make us better; they certainly

-should.”</p>

-

-<p>“I feel that it has been good for me,” said

-Eliza. “I thought, when we were in that agony

-of uncertainty, ‘O that I, too, could pray with

-mother! that I had a right to, as I felt she had!

-But when Captain Rhines’s letter came, I did go

-to God with tears of thankfulness, and trust I

-was accepted.”</p>

-

-<p>“I thought, if my poor boy’s life could only be

-spared, even if he was a cripple, or injured for

-life, I could ask no more. And then to have

-him come home so well and happy, with such

-a friend as God has raised up for us all in Captain

-Rhines! Yet I can never think upon him

-and his kindness but it makes me reflect upon

-myself.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why so, mother?” said Arthur.</p>

-

-<p>“Your father was of most open and generous

-nature, far too much so for his own interest,

-and, as I then thought, for that of his family,

-while my disposition was very different. My

-parents were poor, and I was brought up by a

-relative, early taught hardship, knew the value<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>

-of money, and was naturally prudent. Your

-father would take the clothes off his back to put

-on anybody else. I used to go to sea with him,

-when we were first married; and when sailors

-came on board without clothes, he would give

-them clothing, fix them all up, and make them

-comfortable. I used to tell him, sometimes, that if

-they drank, gambled, and threw all their money

-away, they ought to suffer the consequences, and

-his first duty was to his family. But it was no

-use to reason with him; he couldn’t help it&mdash;couldn’t

-bear to see anybody suffer; and at length

-I refrained from saying anything on the subject,

-but tried to economize all I could, to offset his liberality.

-He never concerned himself about household

-matters, was gone a great part of the time,

-and left everything to me.</p>

-

-<p>“He would come home, and bring barrels of

-sugar and molasses for family use, and bags of

-coffee, and have them hauled up to the house;

-and also quantities of fine cloths from Europe and

-the East Indies for me and the children, and material

-for towels, curtains, and bedding. After he

-was gone, I would live as prudently as possible,

-sell a great part of the things sent home, and put

-by the money against time of need.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“After our third child was born, he began to

-alter gradually, and seemed to have different

-ideas, became more prudent, and, as he was a

-man of great business talent, began to accumulate,

-and soon owned a good part of the vessel, and,

-had he lived, would have become a wealthy man,

-but was taken away in a moment. There was no

-insurance on the ship or cargo, and all he had

-accumulated was gone, except this house. Then,

-being left a widow, with a young family, I found

-the benefit of the little I had saved.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m sure, mother,” said Eliza, “I don’t see

-what you have to reflect on, except with satisfaction.

-You were not saving for yourself, but for

-us children, and for father, had he lived to be old,

-and past labor.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah, but I was so anxious that your father

-should lay up something for his family, that after

-he was gone, I felt that perhaps I had said more

-than I ought; sometimes, too, I would discourage

-him from doing for others, when it did not consist

-in giving money; when he would spend a great

-deal of time at sea in teaching some young man

-navigation, when, as I thought, he ought to have

-been asleep in his berth, or resting; often, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>

-he was on shore, and I wanted him to go with me,

-he would be running here and there, night and day,

-to get a vessel built for somebody, and oftentimes

-get small thanks for it, as I told him. Then he

-would say, ‘Harriet, we were put into this world

-to help each other; we ought not to feel vexed or

-disappointed if we do not always receive gratitude

-from those we have befriended, when we

-consider how ungrateful we are ourselves to our

-Maker, but do our duty.’ These things often

-came up in memory, after he was taken away, and

-I would have given anything if I had not said

-some things, and could have taken them back.”</p>

-

-<p>“But, mother,” said Ellen, “I don’t think you

-ought to feel so. You meant it for his good.”</p>

-

-<p>“I thought I did, at the time; but since then I

-have felt there was a good deal of selfishness at

-the bottom, that ought not to have been there;

-that your father felt it, and it pained him, for I

-could see a shade of sadness flit across his face,

-like a cloud across the sun in a spring morning.”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t cry, mother,” said Arthur, putting his

-arm around her, and wiping away the tear that

-trembled on her cheek.</p>

-

-<p>“But when,” she continued, in a voice broken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>

-with emotion, “in the midst of my anguish about

-you, that letter came from Pleasant Cove, telling

-me your life had been saved by Captain Rhines

-(one of the very boys your father had worked so

-hard to help), so full of sentiments of affection for

-your father, and gratitude for the favors he had

-received from him, and a few days later your

-letter, telling me of their kindness to you and

-Ned, I was overcome.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, mother, I can’t tell you one half they did

-for me, because it can’t be told; for it was not

-only what they did, but the way they did it. It

-came so right out of the heart. They seemed to

-love to do it, and it was done with such looks and

-tones of love.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; and when that noble man came up here,

-and couldn’t do enough&mdash;wanted to take us all

-home with him&mdash;insisting upon it, didn’t I feel

-condemned for trying to hinder your father from

-helping others, and telling him he got small thanks

-for it? Here, now, is one of those very persons,

-becoming a father to his son, putting him right

-into business at once.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, mother, I’ve made up my mind to one

-thing&mdash;I’ll try to show myself my father’s son,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>

-and practise that which I approve of so much in

-others. I’ll let Captain Rhines, Mr. Ben, Charlie,

-John, and the others see that I am not deficient in

-gratitude. If God gives me life and strength, the

-grass shan’t grow on that vessel’s bottom. I’ll

-make her a happy vessel for sailors, and help

-every young man I can, as father told Captain

-Rhines to do when he asked him how he could

-repay him. And as he has helped me, whether I

-get any thanks for it or not, I’ll look higher than

-that for my reward,&mdash;I’ll get it in doing my duty.

-I’ll begin with my shipmate, little Ned Gates.”</p>

-

-<p>“I am glad to hear you talk thus, Arthur.

-Your father’s principle was the true one,&mdash;do

-right because it is right,&mdash;and from all I have

-seen, it generally bears the best fruit even in this

-life. There was your uncle David, just the opposite

-of your father; always saving for his children;

-so close as to be on the edge of dishonesty,

-if not actually dishonest; never had a thought or

-care for any one but himself or his own, and, just

-as he had amassed a large property, went into a

-great speculation in his old age for the sake of getting

-more, when he had more than enough already

-risked the whole, and lost the whole. Now, worn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>

-out, and broken down, without a house over his

-head, everybody says, ‘Served him right,’ and his

-children all poor, while your father’s good name

-and deeds have been money at interest for his

-family, and the bread he cast upon the waters has

-come back after many days.”</p>

-

-<p>“Mother, there’s one thing I want you to do before

-I go to sea.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is that, Arthur?”</p>

-

-<p>“Just send off these boarders,&mdash;no longer

-make a slave of yourself,&mdash;and take some comfort.

-The girls are doing well in the store;

-George supports himself; I am going to have

-business, and Captain Rhines has given you and

-the girls money; so there’s no need of working,

-and wearing your life out now.”</p>

-

-<p>“I couldn’t feel right, Arthur, if I were not

-earning something; a thousand dollars would soon

-be spent, come to sit down and live upon it; you

-may have hard luck at sea; the girls are doing

-well, to be sure, but they have got to return the

-money that friends loaned them to start with. I

-have put that thousand dollars in the bank, against

-a rainy day; besides, I have another reason for

-wishing to earn something.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“What is it?” asked Ellen.</p>

-

-<p>“I want to atone for past selfishness, and follow

-your father’s example in doing what little I can to

-help those poorer than myself. It’s but little I

-can do, to be sure, but I mean to do that little

-cheerfully, and I trust ‘twill be accepted. There

-is the mother of poor James Watts, who was on

-the raft, and died. She is poor, and bereft of all

-her dependence, for he was a good boy, and gave

-her all his earnings, while my child was spared,

-and friends raised up to help me; and I mean to

-do all I can to help and comfort her. I mean to

-act on your father’s principle, ‘Harriet, we were

-put into this world to help each other.’”</p>

-

-<p>“At any rate, mother, you need not have so

-large a family and work so hard; you can keep

-more help; you must gratify me in that.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, I will, my son.”</p>

-

-<p>At this period of the conversation, the servant

-announced that a young man wanted to see

-Arthur.</p>

-

-<p>“It is Ned; tell him to come in here. Good

-evening, Edward; sit down beside me; this is more

-comfortable than the raft.”</p>

-

-<p>“Indeed it is, sir.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“I suppose you hardly care to sail salt water

-any more, you’ve had such bad luck this time.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, yes, sir; old Captain Osborne tells me some

-people have all their bad luck at once, and that

-it’s a good sign when a man falls overboard before

-the vessel leaves the wharf, or is wrecked at the

-first going off. He says that ship was cursed.”</p>

-

-<p>“Was cursed!” said Mrs. Brown; “what did he

-mean by that?”</p>

-

-<p>“He says, marm, that he knew that captain; that

-he was a cruel man to sailors, abused and starved

-them (that I know to be true); that it was thought

-he had murdered men. Are you going again, Mr.

-Brown?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, Edward. Captain Rhines and his folks

-are building me a vessel; I expect the keel is

-laid by this time.”</p>

-

-<p>“Can I go with you, sir?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, if your parents are willing.”</p>

-

-<p>“They are willing I should go with <i>you</i>, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“It will be some months before the vessel is

-ready; now, you better go to school, and get all

-the learning you can.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir; shall I study navigation?”</p>

-

-<p>“No; I’ll teach you that on board ship. Study<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>

-arithmetic and book-keeping, learn to keep accounts

-and write a business hand, and study trigonometry

-and geography. If we live to get to

-sea in the ship, we won’t starve, or abuse anybody,

-nor pass any wrecks, and try not to have the

-vessel cursed. We know what it is, my boy, to

-starve, and to be helped in distress, and will do

-as we have been done by.”</p>

-

-<p>“Mr. Brown, don’t you think the folks at Pleasant

-Cove and round there are the best folks that

-could be?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, Ned.”</p>

-

-<p>“But don’t you think Charlie is handsome,&mdash;the

-handsomest man that ever was?”</p>

-

-<p>“I think Captain Rhines is handsome.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir; but Charlie Bell; is it any hurt for

-me to call him Charlie? They all down there call

-each other so, and somehow I seem to love him

-more when I don’t put the handle on.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, indeed; do you love me better when you

-don’t put on the handle?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, sir; because I have been used to calling

-you Mr. Brown, and it comes natural, and I

-couldn’t love you any better than I do.”</p>

-

-<p>“I suppose, Ned, Charlie looks handsome to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>

-you, and Captain Rhines to me, because we had

-the most to do with them; but they are both

-really fine-looking men. Most people would think

-John Rhines a finer specimen of a man than

-Charlie. I have seen a great many men, but I

-never in all my life saw so fine a proportioned

-young man as John Rhines; if he lives, he’ll

-be almost as strong as Ben. Charlie is the handsomest,

-John the most manly.”</p>

-

-<p>“But, sir, do you know what I thought (I suppose

-I was wandering) after they took us off the raft, and

-I kind of came to? I opened my eyes, and Charlie

-was bending over the bed. I looked him right in

-the face; such a beautiful face, so much goodness in

-it, I thought I had got to heaven, and that an angel

-was hovering over me; and then, when I came

-to myself, he was so kind,&mdash;fed me with a spoon,

-took me in his arms, and put me in a chair, just as

-my mother would; and Ben Rhines, though he

-ain’t handsome, he is just as good as the rest.

-Uncle Isaac and Fred Williams, they are all just as

-good as they can be. I mean to go down there,

-and stay a month at Pleasant Cove, and Elm

-Island. They asked me to.”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VI.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">THE YOUNG CAPTAIN UNDER FIRE.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">THE day is breaking. A vessel of two hundred

-and fifty tons lies completely enveloped

-in a dense, damp fog, and becalmed, off the

-coast of France, in the Mediterranean.</p>

-

-<p>It is impossible to discern an object twice the

-length of the vessel. Let us go alongside, and

-see if we can arrive at any conclusion respecting

-her character and business. She is evidently of

-American build, though she shows no colors; but

-spreading a cloud of canvas, modelled and rigged

-entirely with reference to speed, and though unarmed,

-with a much larger crew than would be

-required in the ordinary pursuits of commerce.

-The appearance of the crew as to dress is quite

-in contrast to that of a ship’s crew at the present

-time, for during the last forty years there has

-been a gradual change in the clothing of seafaring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>

-men, rendering it not only more comfortable,

-but much lighter.</p>

-

-<p>At that time, sailors wore, for head covering,

-tarpaulins. These were generally made by the

-men themselves at leisure moments on board

-ship. The process was this: as the course of

-trade in those days was chiefly to the West

-Indies, they procured the leaves of the dwarf

-palm, which they split into proper widths and

-platted, making the button, in the middle of the

-crown, of the same material, though some, as a

-matter of fancy, took the lead tags that came on

-bolts of canvas, and some a piece of money, and

-punching holes in the rim, began their work on

-that. After the braid was made, it was sewed

-together with ravellings of duck; then, if there

-was a pig killed on board, or a porpoise harpooned,

-they soaked the hat in the blood and

-let it dry, to make it stiff (this was sailors’ paste),

-then covered it with canvas, then mixed tar,

-grease, and salt water together, and daubed it

-with the composition to render it water-proof;

-but after a while they found that black paint

-was just as good, and much lighter. Then tarpaulins

-gave way to peaked red caps, Scotch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>

-caps, and finally the present dress was adopted.

-But the crew of the brigantine wore tarpaulins

-of still more ancient dates, and of enormous

-weight, made by covering thick wool hats with

-tar and canvas. The dress of landsmen at that

-time was breeches and long hose, but sailors

-wore trousers very wide at the bottom of the

-legs, the rule for the width, being the length of

-the foot; on their feet, for dress-up to go ashore,

-slippers that showed the joint of the great toe.

-Sheath knives were not worn, except occasionally

-by some Spanish sailor; they used large,

-square-pointed jack-knives of English manufacture,

-slung to the neck by a lanyard. The officers,

-both captain and mate, wore at sea short

-jackets. If a mate then had worn a long-tail

-coat, the sailors would have cut the tails off with

-their jack-knives. Every one of the ship’s company

-wore his hair in a cue, which was wound,

-when at sea, with an eel-skin, but with a ribbon

-when going ashore, and hung down the back.

-When at work it was frequently coiled around

-the top of the head and covered with the hat.

-Men prided themselves on the length of their cue,

-and in their watch below, watchmates combed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>

-out and tied up each other’s cues, and the cook

-or steward took care of the captain’s.</p>

-

-<p>She looks, for all the world, like a slaver. The

-use of copper on the bottom of vessels was scarcely

-known then, and as she rolls to windward,

-little spots of grease are seen floating on the

-water, and we perceive that her bottom is

-covered with a coat of tallow and soap, to increase

-her speed to the utmost.</p>

-

-<p>There is something in the appearance of the

-man who is climbing the main rigging that seems

-familiar. Looking more closely, we are delighted

-to recognize our old acquaintance Walter Griffin,

-now growing into a lithe, fine-looking young man.

-He is acting as second mate, that officer being

-sick with a carbuncle on the back of his neck,

-the pain of which made him nearly frantic.</p>

-

-<p>Walter was remarkably keen of sight and quick

-of hearing, and therefore went aloft as lookout, instead

-of a sailor. Although there was no possibility

-of discerning anything from the deck at any

-considerable distance, yet as the fog hung low, it

-was somewhat clearer aloft. There was also a

-probability that the fog might scale when the sun

-rose, or a breeze springing up sweep it away.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>There is evidently great anxiety among the

-ship’s company to gain intelligence, for all hands

-are on deck, the men clustered as thick as bees

-on the forecastle. The mate, a stranger, paces

-the quarter-deck. As Walter goes aloft aft, and

-another man forward, he cautions them, if they

-see or hear anything, not to hail the deck, but

-make a signal. A real racer, and no mistake, this

-craft. Lashed to the bulwarks are huge sweeps,

-with which the numerous crew (for they are

-evidently picked men of large proportions) can

-move her with considerable speed in a calm.

-But what is she? Some slaver from the French

-islands, built in Baltimore, and trying to get

-home? But how comes Walter Griffin there?

-To increase our surprise, as we look at the men

-grouped together on the forecastle, we recognize,

-seated on the heel of the bowsprit, our old friend

-Peterson, the largest man of the crew, and just

-behind him his son, who is fast emulating the

-massive proportions of his sire; but the usually

-cheerful face of the black was clouded with

-anxiety. On the end of the windlass, with one

-arm flung over the bitt, sits Sydney Chase, on

-the shank of the best bower anchor George Warren,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>

-a brother of Seth; and leaning against the

-stock of the anchor, in whispered conversation

-with him, is another old acquaintance, Danforth

-Eaton, recalling Elm Island, with all its home-like

-associations and interests. We almost expect

-to see Uncle Isaac and Captain Rhines

-make their appearance next. Between the knight-heads

-is Enoch Hadlock, a brother of Sally

-Rhines. The rest of the crew are Pettigrews,

-Godsoes, Merrithews, Lancasters, Warrens, Athertons,

-and Elwells, all belonging to Rhinesville,

-Pleasant Cove, or thereabouts. While thus perplexed,

-we gaze, seeking for some clew to guide

-us and unravel the mystery, the vessel, having

-no steerage-way, swings lazily round in the tide,

-presenting her stern to full view, where we read

-“Arthur Brown, Pleasant Cove,” and recognize in

-the boy sitting on the foretop-gallant-yard, little

-Ned, and the next moment the manly, handsome

-face of Arthur Brown appears in the companion

-way.</p>

-

-<p>It is all out now. Charlie has ground his broad-axe

-to some purpose. This is the vessel built

-by the Hard-scrabble boys and Captain Rhines

-for Arthur Brown, the noble offering of a manly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>

-grateful heart, repaying to the son the debt

-incurred to the deceased parent, and bearing on

-her stern the name of him whose body sleeps

-beneath the waves that wash the cliffs of Abaco.

-What a contrast to the Hard-scrabble! what

-a testimony of the energy and progressive ideas

-of her builders! She is a model of symmetry

-and beauty; yet you can plainly see the lines

-of the West Wind, of famous memory. Charlie

-has put his whole soul in her; give her wind,

-she has evidently little to fear from the clumping

-British men-of-war.</p>

-

-<p>But there is not a breath of wind; she lies

-helpless off the port of Marseilles, which the

-English are blockading, deeply laden with a

-cargo, every article of which is contraband of

-war.</p>

-

-<p>It is the period when, after the outbreak of

-the French revolution, England had declared

-war against France, and, supreme at sea, was

-capturing the French West Indies, and blockading

-their home ports. The great majority of

-the people in this country, especially all the mercantile

-portion of the community, sympathized

-with France; they cherished a feeling of gratitude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>

-to her as our ally in the war of the revolution,

-a bitter hatred against England, growing

-out of the right of search, which she exercised in

-the impressment of seamen, which eventually led

-to the war of 1812.</p>

-

-<p>It was all the government could do, aided by

-the great personal influence of Washington, to

-restrain the country from entering into alliance

-with France against England, and coming to

-open hostilities. In this state of things, sharp

-vessels, manned by resolute men, conducted by

-skilful pilots, influenced by motives of friendship

-and self-interest on one side, and a bitter sense

-of oppression on the other, broke the blockade

-which Great Britain (whose fleets were scattered

-over a vast extent of ocean) attempted to maintain

-in respect to the French coasts and West

-Indies, and supplied them with both arms and

-provisions.</p>

-

-<p>This is the errand of the Arthur Brown to

-run the blockade of Marseilles, and accounts for

-the feeling of anxiety evident upon the faces

-of both officers and crew, since their fortunes

-are alike at stake, as each one, in lieu of wages,

-receives a share in the profits of the voyage,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>

-and if captured breaking the blockade both ship

-and cargo would be confiscated. There was

-also another and more terrible cause for anxiety&mdash;the

-dread of impressment. The commanders of

-English ships were accustomed to take men by

-force from American vessels, claiming them as

-British, disregarding the custom-house protection,

-which declared them to be American citizens,

-sometimes even tearing them up, and they

-were dragged away to spend their lives in the

-British fleets. A terrible instance is on record,

-illustrating the dread which in the minds of

-seamen was connected with impressment. A

-fine, stalwart, young American seaman, being

-about to be taken by force from an American

-merchantman, under pretence that he was an

-Englishman, seeing no way of escape from a

-bondage worse than death, clasped the boarding

-officer in his arms and leaped overboard with

-him, when both sank, to rise no more till the

-great day of account.</p>

-

-<p>In the course of half an hour, in obedience to a

-signal from Walter, a man ascended the rigging,

-and, coming down, reported that Griffin was sure

-he heard a rooster crow, and also the sound of

-oars in a rowlock.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>The tide, which was at the flood, had drifted the

-vessel to the neighborhood of a large rock, that

-was dimly seen through the fog. The captain

-called Peterson aft. “What rock is that, Peterson?”

-The black gave him the French name, and

-pointed it out to him on the chart.</p>

-

-<p>“Then we are right in with the land?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, massa cap’n; there’s another one inside

-this, right abreast the harbor.”</p>

-

-<p>Peterson, who was getting somewhat in years,

-having broken off his intemperate habits, and obtaining

-good and constant employment at home, had

-given up all thoughts of ever again going to sea;

-but Captain Rhines persuaded him to go in the

-“Arthur Brown” as pilot and interpreter. Peterson’s

-parents were Guinea negroes; but the boy was

-born in Martinique, where his parents were slaves,

-and was sold, when a child, to the master of a vessel

-that traded to Marseilles, during which time

-he became perfectly acquainted with the harbor.

-The French captain finally sold him to Captain

-Hadlock, the father of Sally Rhines, who sold him

-to Peterson, with whom he remained till slavery

-was abolished in New England.</p>

-

-<p>Captain Rhines had frequently availed himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>

-of his knowledge as pilot, well knew his worth and

-reliability, and therefore insisted upon his going

-with Arthur Brown. No other person on board

-could speak a word of French, except Walter Griffin,

-and he not fluently, as he had learned it but

-a short time before, but was daily improving by

-conversation with Peterson.</p>

-

-<p>There was now a signal from the foremast,

-Ned Gates reporting that he heard blows as of a

-hammer on iron; and while all hands were anxiously

-listening, the sound of a boatswain’s whistle

-was faintly audible.</p>

-

-<p>“Man the sweeps,” cried the captain, running

-to the compass to note the quarter from which the

-sound came. Taking the helm himself, while the

-whole ship’s company applied their force to the

-sweeps, he steered in a direction opposite to that

-from which the sound that had so alarmed them

-proceeded. An hour thus passed without any

-repetition of the sounds, when the fog suddenly

-lifted, the sun broke out, and they found themselves

-almost within range of an English frigate

-on the port bow, while a sloop of war lay some

-miles off on the other quarter. The crew redoubled

-their efforts at the oars.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“It’s no use, boys,” said the mate; “you might

-as well put on your jackets; the frigate is getting

-out her boats; they’ll be alongside of us before

-we can sweep half a mile.”</p>

-

-<p>“Sweep away, men,” cried the young captain,

-who was coolly watching the clouds; “something

-may yet turn up in our favor.”</p>

-

-<p>The man-o’-war’s-men, well aware of the character

-of the chase by the efforts put forth to

-escape, and anticipating a rich prize, strained

-every nerve, coming down upon their helpless

-victim with the speed of an arrow. The sound

-of the oars in the rowlocks could now be distinctly

-heard as the two leading boats diverged,

-one making for the fore and the other for the

-main chains of the “Arthur.”</p>

-

-<p>An expression of bitter anguish passed over

-the face of Arthur, as he felt that all his fair

-prospects, the hopes of Captain Rhines and

-others who had so nobly stepped forth to aid

-and start him in life, were to be blighted in

-the bud.</p>

-

-<p>The boats were now close aboard, and the bowmen

-stood up to grapple the prize.</p>

-

-<p>“Pull, men, for your lives!” shouted the captain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>

-whose eye caught the sails; “there’s a breeze

-coming; <i>her length</i>, only her <i>length</i> ahead.”</p>

-

-<p>They exerted themselves to the utmost, while,

-in pure recklessness, Peterson burst into a song

-used by whalemen when towing a whale.</p>

-

-<p>Despite their efforts, the foremost boat gained

-the quarter, and flung a grappling; it caught.

-Just then a light air filled the loftier sails, although

-there was not a breath of wind on deck.

-Slight as it was, it was sufficient to shoot the

-swift craft ahead with accelerated speed, leaving

-one boat far astern, towing and well nigh

-upsetting the other. A sharp axe in the hand

-of Peterson descended upon the grappling warp,

-and the boat was left astern, as the increasing

-breeze filled, partially, the larger sails of the

-“Arthur.”</p>

-

-<p>A broadside burst from the side of the frigate;

-but the shot all fell far short, covering the water

-with foam.</p>

-

-<p>The breeze now sensibly increased. The direction

-in which it sprung up brought the frigate

-dead to windward.</p>

-

-<p>“Dis be a bully grappling,” said Peterson, taking

-up the now harmless implement. “Me take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>

-him home to Massa Rhines, to moor his boat

-with.”</p>

-

-<p>The light breeze, which propelled the swift

-brigantine with considerable velocity, was scarcely

-felt by the frigate; but as it gradually freshened

-she began to move through the water, and

-picking up her boats, crowded all sail in pursuit.

-But she had, during the light wind, lost

-much precious time, profiting by which the brigantine

-had increased the distance between them.</p>

-

-<p>But now the situation of things was entirely

-reversed. The frigate, though no match for the

-swift, sharp-built American, close-hauled on a

-wind; yet dead before it, her great bulk and

-vast cloud of sail rendered her superior; besides,

-as she could carry sail much longer, and the wind

-was every moment increasing, she would, after a

-while, drown the smaller vessel out. She was

-too near, at the outset, for the brigantine to haul

-on the wind, and endeavor to cross her bows, as

-already the shots from her guns began to fall

-uncomfortably near. The wind was blowing in

-squalls; when the squall struck, the frigate would

-gain, and almost heave her shot on board; when

-the wind slacked, the brigantine would gain.

-Directly ahead lay a cluster of islands, reefs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>

-and outlying rocks; one island was called Pomegues,

-the other Rataneau. These islands are now

-connected by a breakwater; then they were not.

-The brow of the young captain now wore an expression

-of great anxiety; he called the mate and

-Peterson to his councils.</p>

-

-<p>“We are doing all we can,” said the captain

-to his subordinates, “and as the wind increases

-we bury and she gains; her shot will soon be

-coming aboard.”</p>

-

-<p>“I see no way,” replied the mate, “but to

-haul our sheets aft, and endeavor to cross her

-bows. If we could once get him on a wind, we

-could shake him off.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then,” replied the captain, “she would run

-square down on us; it is useless to attempt that.

-What is your advice, pilot?” addressing himself

-to the black, who was too modest to obtrude his

-opinion upon his superiors.</p>

-

-<p>“Massa cap’n,” said the black, “dis darky know

-all dese rocks jes as little boy know his letters in

-de book. Dis island on de starboard hand, he Rataneau;

-bold water close along shore, till get down

-to de pint; den he shoal, many rocks, bad place.

-It low water now; we luff right round de pint

-ob de island, right in among de shoals and rocks.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Then we shall go ashore.”</p>

-

-<p>“Nebber you fear. Dis chile carry you clear.

-Dis darky know frigate no dare come in. We

-drew leben feet ob water. ‘Spose he draw twenty-fibe;

-he stand off good way; his shot no reach us.

-Den you be on de wind, close-hauled, beat up

-’twixt de islands and de main, hab smooth water;

-’spose frigate he try beat up too; he no do any

-ting; wid dis vessel on de wind, he nowhar.

-’Spose he beat up toder side; den he hab <i>rough

-water</i>; he do noting at all.”</p>

-

-<p>There was not much time for deliberation, for,

-even while they were speaking, a shot carried

-away the port davit, and splintered the planks of

-the stern.</p>

-

-<p>“If that shot had struck the main boom,” said

-the mate,&mdash;“and it did not lack much of it,&mdash;all

-had been up with us.”</p>

-

-<p>“You are right, pilot. Mr. Rogers, brace up

-the yards.”</p>

-

-<p>While this manœuvre was being executed, a

-succession of terrible screams arose from the forward

-part of the ship.</p>

-

-<p>“Some poor fellow is struck,” cried the captain;

-“run forward, Mr. Rogers, and see who it is.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>The second mate was now heard singing out,

-“Avast hauling on that fore-brace. Slack it off

-handsomely.” Four or five men were at the same

-time seen running up the fore-rigging.</p>

-

-<p>In those days iron trusses to lower yards by

-(which they swing in all directions as easily as a

-door on its hinges) were not known; but they

-were made of rope, covered with leather, and very

-stiff. A man must be sent up to overhaul them

-when the yards were swung.</p>

-

-<p>Danforth Eaton went up to overhaul the weather-truss.

-The wind blew the end of his cue&mdash;he

-had the longest cue on board&mdash;into the hole of

-the cleat; it jammed fast, and the men bracing the

-yard hauled it in, pulling out the hair by the roots,

-starting the skin from the flesh, and well nigh

-breaking his neck.</p>

-

-<p>“Cut the blasted thing off,” cried the sufferer

-(his eyes bloodshot, and the tears streaming down

-his cheeks) to Walter, who was the first to reach

-him.</p>

-

-<p>Eaton never wore another cue, and his example

-was followed by a few of his shipmates; and at

-length cues went out of fashion altogether.</p>

-

-<p>The next shot fell wide; but as both vessels<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>

-were now brought nearer to the wind, it was evident,

-by the balls falling short, that the brigantine

-was increasing the distance between them, which

-became still greater as the man-of-war, afraid of

-the shoals, gave the island a wider berth, while

-the brigantine, under the skilful pilotage of the

-black, running as near as possible to the rocks,

-rounded the point of the island, gradually coming

-up more and more to the wind, till, having passed

-the last shoal, at a signal from Peterson, the yards

-were braced sharp, the main sheet hauled flat aft,

-and she shot out into a clear channel.</p>

-

-<p>“Dere,” cried the black (who had stood on the

-bow, with his eye glancing alternately from the

-water to the sails), as he flung his tarpaulin upon

-the deck, and wiped the sweat from his forehead,

-“where dat frigate now? Dis chile no see her,”

-he exclaimed, looking straight to windward.

-“You ole man, Peterson, you lose de eyesight.”</p>

-

-<p>A merry laugh went round, as the captain exclaimed,

-“You are looking the wrong way, Peterson.

-Look to leeward. Well done, my old pilot;

-reckon on a suit of clothes for yourself, and a

-dress for the old woman. I see you are all Captain

-Rhines recommended you to be, and more too.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Me tank you, massa cap’n; tank you, sar.

-Cap’n Rhines he know dis chile well as he know

-hisself; wind blow awful; big sea; take two men

-hold toder man’s hair on; ship scudding; Massa

-Rhines, he come on deck; ‘Mr. Strout!’ ‘Ay, ay,

-sar.’ ‘Who got de helm?’ ‘Flour, sar.’ (Dey call

-me Flour den.) He say, ‘Den I go below. Gib

-me call, any change in de weder.’ ‘Ay, ay, sar.’”</p>

-

-<p>“Here comes another,” said the mate, as a hundred

-gun ship, aroused by the firing, stood out

-from the roadstead of Marseilles.</p>

-

-<p>“Here comes Grandfather Bull,” cried the captain,

-proud of the sailing qualities of his craft.

-“On a taut bowline I wouldn’t fear their whole

-navy. Come along, old gentleman.”</p>

-

-<p>The fleets of Great Britain were at this time so

-fully occupied in all parts of the world, that but a

-small number of vessels could be spared to blockade

-the most important of the French ports, the

-heavier ships lying just out of range of the forts,

-and patrolling the roadstead with boats, while the

-lighter vessels scoured the coast. In bad weather

-they were obliged to ride it out in an open roadstead,

-or run to sea&mdash;a time always improved by

-the blockade-runners who were inside to get out,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>

-and by those outside, while the fleet was scattered,

-to run in.</p>

-

-<p>It was of the greatest importance for blockade-runners

-to ascertain the position of the fleet in the

-daytime, and, eluding the outside vessels, run by

-the others in the night, taking the chance of an

-attack from their boats, and a broadside. In making

-the coast in thick weather, they were always

-liable to find themselves, as in the present instance,

-in the very jaws of the enemy.</p>

-

-<p>Nothing but her sweeps saved the “Arthur

-Brown,” by preventing the boats from boarding

-her, till the breeze came. The frigate, finding the

-chase was hopeless, tacked ship, and returned to

-the coast; but so far were the crew of the brigantine

-from relinquishing their purpose, that they

-kept in sight, and the moment the twilight came

-on, stood in for the land, guided by the frigate’s

-lights, while all was dark on board the brigantine.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VII.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">LITTLE NED AND HIS MOTHER.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">WHEN Walter Griffin flung down the yard-stick,

-and jumped over Fred Williams’s

-counter for the last time, he went directly on

-board the Casco, and made several voyages to

-Cadiz with Isaac Murch, who valued his services

-highly, and offered him promotion to remain with

-him; but arriving from a voyage while the “Arthur

-Brown” was building, the temptation to go

-in her on shares, and engage in all the perils and

-excitements attendant upon running the gauntlet

-of the enemy’s cruisers, proved perfectly irresistible

-to a boy of Walter’s sanguine, fearless nature;

-and, as the vessel would be launched and away

-before he could make another voyage and return,

-he resolved to wait for her.</p>

-

-<p>In order to make the most of his time, he went

-over to Elm Island to study navigation with Lion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>

-Ben, and then, by Captain Rhines’s advice, to

-Salem, where was a French family, who, having

-fled from their native country, during the revolution,

-in poverty, leaving their property behind,

-supported themselves by teaching French, giving

-music lessons, and employing themselves in

-any way which would bring the means of subsistence.

-They also found no lack of sympathy

-among the inhabitants, who, being a seafaring

-community, not only shared in the universal good

-will at that time felt towards the French, but

-also were naturally touched by the miseries of

-those who, having seen better days, and accustomed

-to every comfort, found themselves, in old

-age, poor and in a strange land.</p>

-

-<p>Fred Williams had an uncle in Salem, a tanner.

-Walter boarded with him, doing work enough in

-the tan-yard to defray the expense of his board.

-Thus, under the instruction of persons of culture,

-and in daily contact with them, he not only obtained

-a knowledge of the language, but learned

-to speak it properly, and in a manner quite different

-from the patois of Peterson, which, picked

-up from the lower class of people, was, however,

-fluent, coarse, and vulgar.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Salem, as our readers will recollect, was the

-home of Ned Gates, who, ready to like anybody

-who came from the neighborhood of Pleasant

-Cove, received Walter with open arms, insisted

-upon having him at his house to tea, and to stay

-all night, about half the time, and spent every

-spare moment he could get with him.</p>

-

-<p>Ned would go down to the yard and help

-Walter break bark, pull hides out of the pits,

-take out the spent tan, and hang up the sides

-of leather to dry, in order that his friend might

-have more time to study French, and stuck to

-him like his skin. Were they not going to be

-shipmates together, and share in perils?</p>

-

-<p>Ned’s parents never wanted him to go to sea,

-and did all in their power to prevent it; but finding

-his heart set upon it to such an extent that

-he was utterly indifferent to everything else, and

-unhappy, they yielded with the best grace possible.

-But when he was shipwrecked, and came

-so near perishing with hunger on the raft, they

-were greatly encouraged, thinking it would incline

-him to comply with their wishes and abandon

-the sea. Ned’s mother was not only a most

-affectionate parent, but a warm-hearted Christian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>

-woman. Like all Christian mothers, she had been

-accustomed to hear her little boy say his prayers,

-and continued the practice after he came to be

-a large boy. Ned would leave the light burning,

-and his mother would come up, sit by his bedside,

-hear him repeat the Lord’s Prayer, then

-kneel down beside the bed and pray herself.

-Ned was a good boy, and loved his mother dearly,

-but was full of life, and sometimes would do

-something out of the way, so much so, that his

-mother, after hearing him say his prayer, would

-get up, take the candle in her hand as though

-about to leave the room, observing, “Edward,

-you have been a bad boy, to-day; I don’t know as

-I ought to pray with you to-night.” This never

-failed to bring Ned to terms. He would own

-up, if it was any concealed mischief, confess, and

-promise amendment, for he could not bear to go

-to sleep till his mother had prayed with him;

-yet he was nearly sixteen years old, as smart

-a boy as ever went aloft to furl a royal or reeve

-signal halyards. When the crew abandoned the

-sinking ship, Ned, as we have before stated, preferred

-to stick by the captain.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Who says vulgarity, coarseness, and profanity

-are necessary concomitants of courage?</p>

-

-<p>“Edward,” said his mother, as he took the

-candle to go to bed, the first night after getting

-home from Pleasant Cove, “leave the light; I’ll

-come and get it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Mother,” said he, after saying his prayers,

-“how nice it seems to be once more in the old

-bed, and say my prayers to you, as I used to do!”</p>

-

-<p>“I hope, Edward, you didn’t forget them while

-you were away from me.”</p>

-

-<p>“I never turned in a night without it; but I

-didn’t have any mother to come and get the light

-and kiss me when I got through.”</p>

-

-<p>“I hope, my child, you did more than that.

-I hope, when you were undergoing such misery

-on that dreadful raft, you prayed to God in your

-own words, and out of your own heart.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, I didn’t, mother.”</p>

-

-<p>“Not pray, when there seemed nothing but death

-before you&mdash;a child instructed as you have been?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, mother. I suppose you want me to tell

-you just as it was.”</p>

-

-<p>“Certainly, my child; but didn’t the captain,

-James Watts, or Arthur Brown?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“The captain was swearing part of the time,

-and crying the rest. One minute he’d say he

-knew some vessel would come along and take

-us off, and seem quite cheerful; the next minute

-he would wring his hands, and swear, and cry,

-and say we should all starve to death on that

-raft. After the little water and provision the

-men left us was gone, he took to drinking salt

-water. It made him crazy, just as Mr. Brown

-told him it would, for he said he had heard his

-father say so. Then he ran off on the idea that

-we were going to kill and eat him. If he saw

-us talking together, he would say we were plotting

-to kill him and drink his blood. Mr. Brown

-said the second mate told him that he passed a

-crew of men once on a wreck, and wouldn’t take

-any notice of their signals, though they hoisted

-a signal of distress, and now he was getting his

-pay for it. I suppose it was the idea he took in

-his head, that we would kill and eat him, that

-made him jump overboard in the night, when

-we were all asleep.”</p>

-

-<p>“That was awful; but didn’t Arthur Brown or

-James Watts ever call upon God?”</p>

-

-<p>“Not as I know of; what they did inside I don’t

-know, but I never heard them.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“It seems very strange to me that a boy

-brought up to know and respect all good things

-taught in the Catechism, and who never went to

-bed a night in his life, till he went from home,

-without saying his prayers, and having his mother

-pray with him, should be on a raft in the ocean,

-starving, death staring him in the face, and not

-call upon God. I can’t understand it; I should

-think that would be just the time, if ever in the

-world.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, it ain’t, mother, though it may seem

-strange to you. It seems strange to myself now;

-but I suppose, if I was in the same place, I should

-do just so again. I did think of my prayers, and

-said them, as I told you; but whenever I thought

-of doing anything more, it seemed to me so mean

-to pray to God because I was in a hard place,

-when I never did it when I wasn’t, that I couldn’t&mdash;I

-didn’t dare to. Then I was thinking, most of

-the time, about being taken off, watching for some

-vessel, or dreaming and thinking about eating and

-drinking.”</p>

-

-<p>“Dreaming about eating?”</p>

-

-<p>“O, yes, mother, that was the worst of it; when

-my tongue was so swelled, as big as two tongues,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>

-and I was so weak from hunger that I could hardly

-move, I’d fall into a doze, and dream that there

-was a great table set full of everything that I

-loved, and then wake up, and find it all a dream.

-One time I dreamed I was travelling on a road in

-a real hot day, and saw a little wood on the side

-of a hill. I went to it, and right between two

-great maple trees was a barrel sunk down in the

-ground, and full of clear, cold water. It was a

-boiling spring, and a flat stone right beside it.

-I thought I knelt down on the stone, and looked

-way down into the clear, beautiful water, saw

-grains of sand rolling over and over in it, and

-tried to drink; but whenever I got my parched

-lips close to the water, it went away, and in my

-struggles to reach it I woke; and there right before

-me was poor James Watts’s dead face, and Mr

-Brown looking so pale and ghostly I thought he

-was dead, and I all alone on the wide ocean.

-When I saw it was all a dream, I burst into tears;

-after that, began to grow stupid and wandering,

-and didn’t sense anything more till I found myself

-in a bed, and somebody putting water in my

-mouth; and don’t you think, mother, I went right

-back where I left off in my dream, and thought I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>

-was drinking out of that spring? but it was Charlie

-Bell’s wife putting water in my mouth. I tell

-you what it is, mother; people may think so who

-don’t know; but if they were in such a place,

-they would find it wasn’t a very nice time to be

-good.”</p>

-

-<p>“My dear boy,” replied his mother, affected to

-tears by the narration, “now that God has restored

-you to us, you have suffered so much, and seen

-what the life of a sailor is, and what they are exposed

-to, I hope you will never leave us again.

-You are all the son I have got&mdash;do stay with us

-and your sisters. You have had a good education;

-your father will take you right into the store

-with him, or he will set you up in business, when

-you are old enough. There is Henry Bradshaw,

-that you used to sit with in school; your old playmate;

-you used to love him, and was just like a

-brother with him. He is going into business

-soon. You can go with him, or you can learn a

-trade. Your father will send you to college&mdash;he

-will do anything for you to keep you at home. If

-you could only know what we underwent, after we

-heard the vessel was lost, and thought you were

-lost in her, and what a thanksgiving there was in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>

-the house after we got Captain Rhines’s letter,

-you certainly never would leave us again.”</p>

-

-<p>Ned was not taken by surprise, for he knew his

-mother’s heart, and loved her. It was no easy

-task to deny the plea of such a mother, under

-such circumstances, and the very first night of

-getting home, too. He lay a long time silent,

-with eyes shut fast. His mother saw the tears

-come out from under the closed lids, and, as she

-wiped them away, began to hope her desires were

-to be realized.</p>

-

-<p>“Mother,” at length he said, “you will think I

-am the worst, most hard-hearted boy that ever was

-in the world.”</p>

-

-<p>The mother trembled, but made no reply.</p>

-

-<p>“Mother, I must go to sea. I can’t, indeed, I

-can’t stay at home.”</p>

-

-<p>“But only think what you suffered, and how

-near you were to death.”</p>

-

-<p>“But I didn’t die, mother. I’m all right now,

-and heavier than I ever was in my life. I was

-weighed in Mr. Williams’s store the day before I

-left, and weighed ten pounds more than I ever did

-before, without my coat or waistcoat. Only think

-of that.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“But only think what you suffered!”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t people suffer at home, mother? Just

-see what Will Webb has suffered, all tied up in

-knots with rheumatism; and Tom Savage, with

-the spine complaint. I do believe, if I knew I

-should go through all I have been through the

-next voyage, I should have to go. Ain’t I a fool,

-mother?”</p>

-

-<p>“I think you are very foolish to leave a good

-home and kind parents without any necessity for

-such hardships. Only think of your cousin, poor

-James Ross, who fell from the main-mast and was

-killed, the very first day out.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, mother, perhaps he would have died if

-he had been at home. Captain Rhines says, when

-God wants a man, he’ll call him; and anybody is

-just as safe on the royal yard as on deck, or at

-home in his bed. Isn’t that so, mother?”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t know, my dear; I think I should a

-great deal rather have you at home in this bed.

-Suppose you are sick at sea. There is no one to

-take care of you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, mother, Captain Brown and Walter will.”</p>

-

-<p>Mrs. Gates knelt down beside the bed, and

-prayed for submission to bear what she felt to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>

-a bitter trial&mdash;resigning a beloved, affectionate

-boy to the hardships and chances of a life at sea.</p>

-

-<p>“Mother,” said Ned, as she took the light in her

-hand to go down stairs, “isn’t Walter Griffin a

-splendid boy?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; too good a boy to go to sea.”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VIII.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">MOONLIGHT CONVERSATION BY THE BROOK.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap05">WALTER well deserved the praise lavished

-upon him by Ned. He had little resemblance

-to his brother Joe, or indeed any other

-member of the family, except in size. He was of

-large frame; Joe had great square jaws, high

-cheek bones, his hair coarse and bristling, and his

-joints large,&mdash;he was what is termed, in common

-parlance, double-jointed,&mdash;and, though exceeding

-agile, was loose-limbed, and somewhat awkward in

-his movements.</p>

-

-<p>Walter, on the other hand, was compactly

-built, graceful in all his movements; fair complexion,

-regular features, fine hair, that curled

-upon the least exertion, and something in the

-expression of his face that inspired confidence

-and attracted at once; though full of humor,

-he possessed not a particle of Joe’s fondness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>

-for practical jokes. Every whit as resolute and

-fond of rough sports as any of his race, he had

-what none of the rest possessed&mdash;imagination

-and sentiment; he was thoughtful, reflective, and

-a vein of almost feminine delicacy ran through

-his whole nature.</p>

-

-<p>All that Joe thought of, when he looked upon

-a noble maple, was, how much potash it would

-make, whether a keel-piece could be got out

-of it; or upon a majestic pine, how many boards

-it would scale.</p>

-

-<p>But Walter looked upon them with other eyes;

-the murmur of the streams and the glance of

-the river through the green foliage appealed

-to susceptibilities that did not exist in the

-breast of the other. In all other respects he

-was Griffin to the backbone. He was a universal

-favorite; all the boys loved Walter Griffin,

-and he loved them in return. He loved John

-Rhines, Fred Williams, and Uncle Isaac, but

-Charlie Bell was his ideal of perfection, and,

-though so much his senior, seemed nearer than

-all the rest. The thoughtful tenderness of

-Charlie’s nature touched an answering chord

-in that of Walter; he found something there, he

-could not find among his mates.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Charlie, trading with Fred, and owning a portion

-of the goods, was often in the store, and

-brought a good deal in contact with Walter;

-they naturally grew together.</p>

-

-<p>When he found Charlie was going to be married,

-he told John he was real sorry, because he

-knew he shouldn’t see so much of him, and he

-was afraid he wouldn’t love him so much. But

-he soon found, to his great gratification, that

-“the more angels in the heart, the more room.”</p>

-

-<p>No sooner was Charlie married than he bought

-a pew in the meeting-house, and asked Walter

-to sit with him (as Mr. Griffin had a large family,

-and their pew was always crowded), and frequently

-invited him to tea; he soon began to

-feel at home there, and found that he saw a

-great deal more of Charlie than when he was

-obliged to go on to Elm Island to see him, or

-met him occasionally at the store.</p>

-

-<p>Charlie’s religion was not something put upon

-him like lacker upon metal, but it was a part

-of him, as much so as the very blood in the

-chambers of his heart, or the pulse in his veins;

-it made him happy, and it was an instinct with

-him to communicate that which so blessed himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>

-to those he loved. It was not a task; he could

-not help it. ‘Twas just as much a part of his nature,

-as to press the hand or kiss the lips of those

-he loved.</p>

-

-<p>The period occupied by our narrative was long

-before the era of Sabbath schools, notwithstanding

-young people by no means grew up, in the days of

-our fathers, without religious instruction, and that

-of the most substantial kind; since <i>parents then</i>

-discharged, in respect to their children, the duties

-which are now but too often surrendered to Sabbath

-school teachers, and the material for mission

-schools, now so abundant, did not then exist.</p>

-

-<p>Parson Goodhue was accustomed, once a month,

-to assemble all the children, as also the older boys

-and girls, in the school-house on Saturday afternoon,

-and to put them the questions contained in

-the Westminster Catechism, previously committed

-to memory.</p>

-

-<p>Walter Griffin had made all his preparations for

-going to sea, as a green hand, in the Casco, with

-Isaac Murch; the ship was ready to sail Monday,

-for Cadiz. Walter having attended the catechising

-for the last time, when he saw all his schoolmates,

-and received a parting blessing from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>

-good minister, started up to Pleasant Cove, to take

-leave of Charlie, whom he met coming from the

-barn, where he had been tying up his oxen.</p>

-

-<p>“Good evening, Mr. Bell.”</p>

-

-<p>“Good evening, Walter. I was afraid you would

-go away without coming to see me.”</p>

-

-<p>“I couldn’t think of that, sir; I came up to the

-school-house, and then kept on.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then you are all dressed for Sabbath, and I

-shan’t let you go from here to-night; stop right

-here, and go to meeting with us in the morning.”</p>

-

-<p>“I fear I shall hinder you, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“Not a whit. Uncle Isaac has been helping me

-break up, and has just gone from here; we’ve done

-work enough for one day. I’m going to clean up

-and rest; come, go in; supper is about ready.”</p>

-

-<p>Walter assisted Charlie to milk, and do his

-chores, and as the twilight came on, they sat down

-together beneath a tree near the edge of a bank,

-where the brook met the waters of the bay.</p>

-

-<p>It was a most picturesque, lovely spot, one that

-Charlie dearly loved, and to which he never took

-any one who he knew was incapable of appreciating

-it; he didn’t like to have his chosen spots like

-an unfenced common, for everybody and everything

-to trample on.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>It was a warm evening, the first of September;

-the season had been moist and shady; not a leaf

-gave token of decay. Just above them they saw

-the white foam of the water, as it fell in broken

-wreaths of foam over the precipice, and caught

-again the gleam of it through the leaves, as with

-tranquil current it met the waters of the bay, rolling

-with a low ripple upon the white sand of the

-beach.</p>

-

-<p>They sat with their backs against a large oak

-that grew double, forking just above their heads,

-and thus, being rather flat than round, offered a

-convenient rest.</p>

-

-<p>“Walter,” said Charlie, putting his arm around

-the boy, and drawing his head on to his breast,

-“how do you like this spot?”</p>

-

-<p>“I think it is most beautiful. I could sit here

-all night and listen to that waterfall, and watch the

-moonbeams glancing on the water.”</p>

-

-<p>“The first time I ever saw this place, I came

-here alone, on very much such a night as this. I

-loved it then, and have loved it more and more ever

-since. I shall miss you very much, Walter; only

-think how many Sabbath days we’ve sat side by

-side in meeting; I hope there’s some good come of

-it all. Walter, do you ever pray?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>There was no reply, but a tear fell on Charlie’s

-hand; at length he said, “No, sir; I never did.”</p>

-

-<p>“But you say the Lord’s Prayer?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“Didn’t your mother learn you to say it when a

-child?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, sir; there ain’t any goodness in our folks;

-we are a hard, rough set; ain’t like other people;

-only think about wrestling, shooting, and falling

-timber. When Joe became religious, he wanted

-to have prayers Sabbath night; but father wouldn’t

-hear to it. Now he’s got a house of his own, he

-can do as he likes.”</p>

-

-<p>“But you are not a rough, thoughtless boy,

-Walter; you are a gentle, loving boy, and you

-think; all the Griffin there is in you, is on the outside;

-you love the woods, flowers, the waters, and

-this beautiful spot touches you, just as it does

-me.”</p>

-

-<p>Walter made no reply, but pressed Charlie’s

-hand.</p>

-

-<p>“And you love me?”</p>

-

-<p>“I do, Mr. Bell, with all my heart and soul.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then how can you help loving God, who made

-everything and everybody that you love and admire?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“I know I ought.”</p>

-

-<p>“Perhaps you don’t like to have me talk to you

-in this way.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir, I do; I could hear you talk forever.”</p>

-

-<p>“Walter, I don’t believe there was ever a boy

-in the world had more friends than you have.”</p>

-

-<p>“That is just what I was thinking myself, this

-very afternoon, when all the boys and girls came

-round me at the catechising, and seemed sorry to

-have me go away.”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t you think you owe a good deal to your

-Maker? and ought you not to tell him so?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir, I know I ought to; but I can’t.”</p>

-

-<p>“You could ask me to speak to the captain, and

-get you a chance to go in the Casco.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, sir, you, Mr. Rhines, and Uncle Isaac are so

-good, I don’t feel afraid to ask you anything.”</p>

-

-<p>“God is better.”</p>

-

-<p>“But he seems a great way off.”</p>

-

-<p>“He would seem near if you would go to him,

-and try to get acquainted. Besides, he has

-spoken first, and asked you to come.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m afraid you will think I am a very rude

-boy.”</p>

-

-<p>“You are like all boys, and all the rest of us,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>

-before we begin to think of better things. Now,

-Walter, there’s just one thing I want you to do.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is that, sir?”</p>

-

-<p>“You know I have been on the ocean somewhat,

-and know what it is to be there, and how

-sailor men feel, although you will soon know much

-more about the matter than I do. There is no

-time, as you will soon learn, when a sailor man

-spends his time so well as in the middle watch

-of a pleasant night, when it is fair weather and

-moderate&mdash;everything going along smooth. It

-is then, if a man has any conscience, it wakes up;

-if he has had good bringing up, and good instructions,

-they come to his mind; it is then his

-thoughts are homeward bound, and he thinks of

-parents, brothers, sisters, and all he loves best on

-earth. Then he travels over the whole ground,

-from childhood clear along. You’ll find it so.”</p>

-

-<p>“I expect I shall spend many an hour in that

-way, and then I shall think of you and all your

-kindness to me.”</p>

-

-<p>“It isn’t kindness, Walter; it is more than that.

-I have enjoyed it as much as you. There are

-some beautiful nights at sea, as well as dark and

-dismal ones. There will be nights just like this,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>

-when the moon will glance on the long swell just

-as it now does on the little ripple on that beach,

-and the stars will seem like so many eyes looking

-down upon you, and the royal will look in the

-shadow as if it reached the sky.”</p>

-

-<p>“I know I shall enjoy such nights, and wish

-them longer.”</p>

-

-<p>“They make up for a good many rough ones,

-and you can live them over many times. Well,

-when such a night comes, I want you, as you look

-on the moon and stars, to remember that as the

-same moon is shining on me, looking down on this

-little brook, and into the cove, so the same good

-heavenly Father is over us both; that then I shall

-look at that moon, and think of you; this little

-nook, the trees, and all we’ve said to one another

-here will travel out on the ocean to meet you;

-then perhaps you may think, I wonder if some

-good friend is not thinking of and praying for me;

-ought I not to do something for myself?”</p>

-

-<p>“I thank you for all these pleasant thoughts.

-I never thought of such things before. It is

-not the way Parson Goodhue talks to us about

-religion.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, he is a wise man. I can only talk in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>

-simple way, as it comes to me, and out of my

-heart.”</p>

-

-<p>“But you don’t talk to me like as anybody else

-does. Captain Rhines often gives me good advice,

-and so does Uncle Isaac, about not drinking, and

-getting into bad company, or being profane, and

-about saving my money. But you don’t, somehow,

-seem to give me advice, or ever mention those

-things. I like to have them take notice of me,

-and always thank them; but when you talk <i>with</i>

-me,&mdash;for you don’t seem to talk <i>at</i> me,&mdash;I want

-to put my arms right round your neck.”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t spoil a good mind, Walter.” And the

-boy actually embraced him. “People have different

-ways of looking at the same thing,” continued

-Charlie; “you wouldn’t want all your

-friends to be just alike&mdash;would you?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, indeed, sir, any more than I would want

-all the flowers to be of one form and color, or all

-the birds to look alike and sing the same song.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, if you only love Him who made and

-gave you everything half as well as you love me,

-who have done, and can do, very little for you, all

-these other matters will take care of themselves.”</p>

-

-<p>“Please talk some more, sir.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“It is time to go. We’ve been here a great

-while. They will all be a-bed.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, sir, we haven’t been here but a little

-while.”</p>

-

-<p>“How long do you think?”</p>

-

-<p>“Half an hour.”</p>

-

-<p>“We’ve been here an hour and a half; I know

-by the tide. It was high water when we sat

-down here. You see that white rock just breaking

-the water?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, when that rock is fairly out, it is two

-hours ebb. Walter, what makes you so bent upon

-going to sea? You might do well on a farm.

-Fred would, in the course of another year, take

-you in as partner. If you want money, I will lend

-it to you. Then you can be at home among your

-friends. Is it because you think you can make

-money faster?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, sir; I don’t think money is everything.

-There’s Isaac Murch, as straightforward, kind-hearted

-a fellow as ever lived,&mdash;as smart a man as

-was ever wrapped up in skin; but he thinks

-money is everything. He’ll give, too, especially

-to a good cause; but it comes hard. He’ll go<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>

-through a deal to get a dollar. I mean to have a

-good living,&mdash;I think that’s for every one who

-strives for it,&mdash;and earn my wages, wherever I

-am. I don’t believe in wasting, or any of your

-low stuff, but I had rather have friends who love

-me for my own sake, good health, enjoy myself,

-and have others enjoy themselves with me, than

-all the money in the world.”</p>

-

-<p>“Money won’t buy happiness, Walter.”</p>

-

-<p>“You know, sir, you were saying just now that

-you hoped you shouldn’t have to grind your broad-axe

-again for six years; you did so long to turn

-over some of this wild land, plant an orchard,

-have grain, fruit and flowers, and cattle in the

-pastures.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, and I felt more than I said.”</p>

-

-<p>“But haven’t you made pretty much all the

-property you have out of the sea?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yet you want to work on the land.”</p>

-

-<p>“Because I love to. I love to work with tools,

-but I want some time to plant and sow, and see

-things grow, whether I make anything or not; it’s

-my nature.”</p>

-

-<p>“So it’s my nature to go to sea. I wish you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>

-could see all the boats Flour (I mean Peterson)

-has made and rigged for me. I wouldn’t care if

-there was only land enough to build wharves to

-tie vessels up, to clean and grave their bottoms,

-and all the rest was water.”</p>

-

-<p>“But it is a hard life, and rude company. You

-are a quiet, thoughtful boy, and as affectionate as

-a woman.”</p>

-

-<p>“There’s a hard streak in all us Griffins; so I

-suppose there must be in me.”</p>

-

-<p>This was the boy Ned Gates was so much attached

-to, and helped do his work at the tan-yard,

-and respecting whom Mrs. Gates said he was too

-good to go to sea (this good lady seeming to think

-it best to have only bad men at sea).</p>

-

-<p>Naturally adapted to sea life, he was already

-(but little more than a boy) acting as second mate,

-and, by his keenness of perception, was the first

-to discern the whereabouts of the enemy.</p>

-

-<p>To say that Walter and Ned were intimate, and

-enjoyed themselves together, would be superfluous.

-They were fortunately in the same watch,

-slept in the same berth, and became more attached

-to each other every day. Ned was smart and ambitious,

-but light. He always aspired to furl the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>

-royal, which he could do well enough, when it was

-dry, at any rate, by furling the yard-arms first;

-but when it was wet, and a gale of wind, it was

-rather more than a match for him. At such times,

-Walter, who knew the ambition and grit of his

-little shipmate, and was unwilling to mortify him

-before the crew, would wait till he saw the sail

-blow away from him once or twice, and then run

-up and help him.</p>

-

-<p>Ned was very desirous of raising a cue, and

-even had dim visions of a beard. He sported a

-concern about three inches in length, and which

-very much resembled the appendage of a Suffolk

-pig. It was so short that Walter, who combed and

-dressed it for him when the rest of the watch

-were asleep, found it very difficult to make the

-eel-skin stay on, even with a clove hitch, and, to

-Ned’s great indignation, suggested that he should

-put some tar on it, in order to make the string

-stick. Walter, on the other hand, boasted a cue

-nearly a foot in length, and the rudiments of a

-beard.</p>

-

-<p>Whenever he shaved (which luxury he sometimes

-indulged in, by the solicitations of Ned, on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>

-Sunday morning in port, when the rest were

-ashore, to avoid disparaging remarks), Ned sat

-looking at him with the greatest reverence, and

-indulging in visions of the future, although, as yet,

-his lip was guiltless even of down.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER IX.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">THE GRIFFINS.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">THOSE of our readers who are familiar with

-the Elm Island stories have already known

-a good deal of the Griffin family in the persons

-of Joe and Henry, with a slight introduction to

-Walter and Will.</p>

-

-<p>Suppose, now, for the better understanding of

-Walter’s declaration, “there’s a hard streak in

-all of us Griffins,” we accompany Parson Goodhue

-(who is a great friend of the Griffins, and

-for whom Walter is named) in one of his parochial

-visits to the homestead.</p>

-

-<p>The good man, like most of the ministers of

-that day, had a farm of eighty acres, kept a

-horse, sheep, three cows, and a yoke of oxen,

-and did considerable work himself, always feeding

-his own cattle. He had, in addition, a wood

-lot of fifty acres. The parishioners were in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>

-habit of getting together in the fall, cutting his

-year’s stock of wood, and piling it up in the

-woods; when snow came they put their teams

-together and hauled it to the door, when the

-boys and young men assembled and cut it for

-the fire; on such occasions they came about

-noon, and had supper and a grand time at the

-parsonage in the evening, the girls coming about

-two o’clock, bringing with them abundant supplies

-and preparing the repast.</p>

-

-<p>The Griffin family consisted of eight persons&mdash;the

-parents and six children, all boys, Joseph,

-Henry, Walter, William, Edmund, and Winthrop.

-One hot forenoon, about eleven o’clock, and just

-after haying, Parson Goodhue, in all the glory

-of the snow-white wig, silk stockings, and polished

-silver shoe-buckles (which Lion Ben of Elm

-Island had presented to him after his adventure

-with the wild gander), was wending his way

-by a road that skirted the bank of the river, to

-Edmund Griffin’s. He was mounted on a very

-finely proportioned, snug built, calico-colored mare,

-a pacer. A large blue saddle-cloth protected

-his garments from the hairs (as he was quite fastidious

-about his dress), and he was provided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>

-with a capacious pair of saddle-bags, long experience

-having convinced the good man that it

-was a most proper precaution, when visiting the

-Griffins, to be well provided with saddle-bags.</p>

-

-<p>It is said, we know not with how much truth,

-that dappled horses are of superior intelligence,

-and can more easily be taught all kinds of tricks;

-and for this reason they are often found in the

-circus. However this may be, one thing is

-sure&mdash;that Parson Goodhue’s mare was intelligent

-enough, and vexed his soul to that extent

-he sometimes feared she received diabolical aid.

-But Dapple, as he called her, was such a capital

-roadster, carried him so easily, and was sound in

-wind and limb, that the parson, who dearly loved

-a good animal, bore it patiently.</p>

-

-<p>In those days the doors of all out-buildings

-were universally fastened with wooden latches,

-or buttons, as also a great proportion of the

-doors of the dwellings.</p>

-

-<p>There was not a door or gate upon the premises

-of her master, or any of his neighbors, but

-Dapple could and would open, a fence she could

-not get over, or a pair of bars she could not

-take down (unless they were pinned), provided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>

-a sufficient motive presented itself. Notwithstanding

-she had been reared from a colt in

-the family of a clergyman, under the very droppings

-of the sanctuary, received the best of instruction,

-and the best examples had been proposed

-for her imitation, she would appropriate without

-the least scruple; in short, though we grieve

-to say it, she was a downright, incorrigible, sneaking

-thief; she was no respecter of persons or

-character, but would steal from saint or sinner,

-rich or poor; she would even take from the

-widow Hadlock and Aunt Molly Bradish (that

-good old soul, when she was alive), walk right

-into poor Mrs. Yelf’s cornfield right before her

-eyes, because she knew that Robert was at sea,

-and the old lady could not get at her for rheumatism.</p>

-

-<p>Parson Goodhue lived so near to the meeting-house

-that he and his family always walked to

-meeting, thus Sabbath was a leisure day to her;

-and even on that day, when all other horses

-and good people were at meeting, and her good

-master was inculcating morality, she would (if

-she could get loose) take the opportunity to commit

-trespass; in short, she was the grief of her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>

-master and the pest of the parish, was covered

-with scars she had received for her misdeeds,

-and would have been killed had she belonged

-to any other person than Parson Goodhue, whom

-everybody loved. She would back up against

-a door and turn the buttons, would lift the latch

-or pull the string of one with her teeth, and

-break or get off any yoke or clogs that were

-put on her. The most singular part of the

-whole matter was, that she would sometimes

-go for a month peaceably, in the pasture, and

-the good parson would feel quite encouraged,

-hoping it was a radical reformation; when just

-as he began to solace himself with this idea, and

-accord her larger liberty, she would abuse it

-to act worse than ever. At one time Dapple

-had gone quietly in the pasture for nearly six

-weeks, and the hopes of her master were raised

-to the highest pitch. Adjoining the pasture was

-a most excellent piece of wheat, just full in the

-milk, belonging to Jotham Lancaster. Dapple

-had not been permitted for a long time to go

-out of a Sabbath day; but her conduct had been

-so unexceptionable, that her master determined

-to trust her, especially as there was a high<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>

-stone wall in good repair around the pasture. So,

-before going to meeting, he turned her out; when

-he returned at noon, he found her quietly feeding,

-and told Captain Rhines he verily believed Dapple

-had got over her tricks.</p>

-

-<p>“Hang her,” was his reply, “I wouldn’t trust

-her.”</p>

-

-<p>When the parson came home at night, there

-she was, in that beautiful field of wheat. If

-she had merely eaten what she wanted in one

-place, it might have been borne; but she had

-gone all over it, trampling down here and there,

-then lain down, and rolled in half a dozen places;

-and when found, was quietly feeding out in the

-grass. She had, with her teeth, flung off the top

-pole, pushed over the top rocks with her breast,

-and then jumped over.</p>

-

-<p>The next week John Rhines made a pair of iron

-fetters, to fasten one of her hind legs to one of her

-fore ones, permitting her to scuffle along and feed,

-but not to jump, and made a present of them to

-Mr. Goodhue, saying, “She can’t jump with these,

-I know.”</p>

-

-<p>Dapple now went quietly for some time. Captain

-Rhines said to her master, “I guess you’ve got

-her this time.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Vain delusion! she was probably meditating, in

-the “recesses of a mind capacious of such things,”

-upon the means and methods of evading this new device;

-that her meditations bore fruit was soon manifest.

-Parson Goodhue, returning from meeting

-in the afternoon, found her in the midst of his own

-corn. There was not a length of fence down; the

-bars were all up, and pinned, so that she could not

-remove them with her teeth. There was not a

-stone displaced in the wall, and the fetters were fast

-to her feet. As her master took down the bars to

-lead her out, he gazed upon her almost with fear;

-he was not superior to the superstitions of his day,

-and was almost apprehensive of some satanic

-agency.</p>

-

-<p>The story got abroad; John and Fred determined

-to watch her. They shut her up in the barn with

-nothing to eat, till she was very hungry, then

-turned her into the pasture just at night, and concealing

-themselves, kept watch. Dapple went to

-feeding, stopping every once in a while to look

-around and listen; at length, seeing or hearing no

-one, she made directly for the bars, and attempted

-to take them down with her teeth; but

-they were pinned at each end. She then tried to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>

-push them over by backing up against them; but

-they were braced by stakes nailed to the posts, and

-set in the ground; she then put her head between

-the lower bar and the one next to it above, sprung

-the two sufficiently to insert her shoulders, then her

-whole body, and shoved herself through, coming

-down whack on her side, while the bars sprung together

-as before; then getting up and shaking

-herself, with a look of profound satisfaction, was

-making for the corn, when she was accosted in

-not very flattering terms by her observers. John

-said he never saw anybody look more silly, or

-more worked, than she did.</p>

-

-<p>It was a matter of great surprise to the neighbors,

-and the town talk, that the mare never paid her respects

-to Joe Griffin, as in the fields of all others

-(except Captain Rhines’s, where Tige kept watch

-and ward) she ran riot; while Joe’s (whose land

-was new, just taken from the forest, and raised

-splendid crops of corn and grain) were unmolested

-by the common enemy; they were passed by

-to commit depredations on the fields of Charlie

-Bell, that adjoined.</p>

-

-<p>We will let our readers into the mystery. The

-second year after Joe worked his place, he got up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>

-very early one morning, just as the day broke, to go

-out gunning; there was Dapple in the corn for the

-first time. As Joe had recently moved into the

-neighborhood, she probably, as an old resident, felt

-it would be polite to call. Joe well knew the

-character of his visitor, and what he might expect

-in future. He, however, manifested not the least

-sign of anger; didn’t even throw a stone, or hit her

-with a stake; but turned her out, put up the fence,

-and went off gunning; not even mentioning the

-matter to his wife, who had not yet risen.</p>

-

-<p>Dapple, who had made up her mind to receive a

-pounding, thought Mr. Griffin was one of the best

-of men, and resolved to cultivate his acquaintance.</p>

-

-<p>Three nights after, she paid him another visit,

-and going along the fence, found the old gap but

-very indifferently mended; taking off some small

-poles with her teeth, she cleared the great bottom

-log at a jump; but the instant she touched the

-ground on the other side, it gave way beneath her

-feet, and she found herself in a pit. Bitter were

-her reflections; she accused herself of imbecility

-for not interpreting aright such forbearance in a

-Griffin; and awaited, with fear and trembling, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>

-approach of morning. Just as the day broke, she

-heard footsteps, and Joe made his appearance. A

-smile of satisfaction passed over his face, as he

-gave one look, and disappeared, returning soon

-with a shovel in one hand, and a bundle of long,

-tough beech withes in the other. Then, standing

-on the edge of the pit, he began most unmercifully

-to apply them, with all the strength and endurance

-of an arm that had scarcely its rival in the community.

-On head, rump, and ribs the horrible

-tempest fell. In vain poor Dapple kicked, and

-reared, and ran round the pit, which was not large

-enough for her to get out of reach of the blows.

-For an hour, without intermission, this terrible

-scourging continued, when, reeking with perspiration,

-Joe threw down the rod, and took up the

-shovel.</p>

-

-<p>Dapple expected nothing less than to be buried

-alive, and with death staring her in the face,

-remembered with compunction the manner in

-which she had abused the kindness of the good

-old man, and despised all his wise counsels. But

-her quick discernment soon discovered that Joe

-was about to dig the earth at one end to an inclined

-plane to let her out, and instantly all her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>

-remorse and resolutions for a better life were at

-an end.</p>

-

-<p>When he had graded the pit, as he thought, sufficiently,

-he administered a few blows with the flat

-of the shovel, and an energy that sent Dapple

-flying from the pit like a hen from a hawk, observing,

-as he went leisurely to work to fill up the

-hole, “Much obliged to you, neighbor, for this

-visit; call again the first opportunity.”</p>

-

-<p>When Joe had filled up the pit, he flung some

-brush over, took the pail, and went to milking,

-never mentioning the matter, even to his wife, till

-years afterwards.</p>

-

-<p>The mare never found opportunity to comply

-with Joe’s kind invitation. He might have left

-his crops out of doors for all her.</p>

-

-<p>Dapple mended her pace as she approached the

-rising ground on which the Griffin homestead was

-located, for she had often proved the hospitality

-of its stable and pastures. The buildings were

-situated on the summit of a hill, which rose quite

-abruptly from the river. The blazing sun poured

-down upon a house of enormous size, the lower

-rooms finished, the rest a shell. Not a tree or a

-bush, save one old stub, stood near it. There was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>

-not the least attempt at a garden, but, far out in

-the field, in the midst of the corn, cabbage, beets,

-carrots, and onions were growing, and peas now

-ripe in the pod.</p>

-

-<p>On one side of the front door was a goose-pen;

-on the other a molasses hogshead, into which an

-upright board conducted the rain water from the

-eaves. The only approach to anything in the

-shape of plants was some house leek (then considered

-a sovereign remedy for <i>corns</i>), in an old

-skillet.</p>

-

-<p>At a short distance from the end door was a

-small enclosure, made by driving stakes into the

-ground, in which were roots of wormwood, tansy,

-comfrey, lovage, and sweet agrimony, while an

-enormous hop-vine covered a great part of the

-front of the house. All about the door-yard were

-shingle bolts, bunches of shingles, old yokes, logs,

-sticks of hewn timber, drags, sleds, with the stakes

-in, broken and whole, and a brush-harrow was

-tipped up against the house, right under one of

-the front windows, while between them the skin

-of a bear, recently killed, was stretched and nailed

-to the clapboards.</p>

-

-<p>Beside the end door stood a leech, that had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>

-been set up in the spring, to make soap, and suffered

-to stand through the summer, as Mrs. Griffin

-liked to have weak lye to scour with. Within a

-gun-shot of the western end of the house stood

-the stub of a massive pine, which had been broken

-off about twenty-five feet from the ground, and

-was hollow, having the opening on the north-west

-side. In the cavity were augers, planes, saws,

-chisels, shovels, axes, and canting dogs, thrown

-together in most admirable confusion. The tools

-were of English make, and evidently of excellent

-temper, but covered with rust. From the dead

-limbs on the outside hung rusty scythes and a

-grain cradle. This was the Griffin tool-chest. An

-eighth of a mile from the house, down under the

-hill, was the well.</p>

-

-<p>In the rough climate of New England, the inhabitants

-were solicitous to place their buildings

-in a lee, either under the side of a hill, the protection

-of a wood, or to dispose the buildings themselves

-in such a manner as to give them a sheltered

-and sunny door and barn-yard. But here

-the barn was a great distance from the house, the

-buildings disposed without the least reference to

-shelter, as though the occupants were insensible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>

-to wind or weather. Yet in other respects everything

-betokened plenty and thrift; the walls were

-well built of rocks of great size, and handsomely

-laid up; the barns were large, and through the

-open doors the hay could be seen, brought so far

-over the floors that the mows nearly touched each

-other, leaving barely room to swing a flail.</p>

-

-<p>An immense log crib, the top covered with

-boards and shingles, where the long yellow ears

-of corn showed through the chinks, attested that

-the thrifty owner kept a year’s stock of bread on

-hand. On a scaffold of poles, laid over the high

-beams, bundles of last year’s flax were visible,

-while the number of milking-stools, hanging on the

-barn-yard fence, gave token of a large dairy.</p>

-

-<p>To complete the picture, four great hogs were

-rooting in the chips after thistle roots, and a white

-mare, with a sucking colt and two half-grown ones,

-was standing in the shade, on the north side of

-the house. As Parson Goodhue gained the summit

-of the hill, and was not far from the old stub,

-he saw approaching some one whose form was

-nearly concealed by a huge back-load of spruce

-poles, from twenty to twenty-five feet in length,

-and bearing in one hand an axe. As he flung<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>

-the poles from his shoulder, and stood erect, he

-caught sight of the minister.</p>

-

-<p>“Halloo, parson! Good morning. Glad to see

-you. <i>Hot</i>&mdash;ain’t it?”</p>

-

-<p>“Good morning, Edmund,” replied his visitor,

-apparently not the least disconcerted by the rudeness

-of the reception, and extending his hand,

-which the other enclosed in his great palm, and

-shook with a heartiness that caused the good man

-to reel in his saddle.</p>

-

-<p>“How are you, Elizabeth, and all the children?”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, so’s to be crawling. Lizzy always keeps

-herself worked down. ‘Tain’t so much the work,&mdash;though

-we milk seven cows, for Lizzy’s a master

-hand to turn off work, and real rugged,&mdash;but

-she’s forever scrubbing and scouring. I tell her

-‘tain’t a bit of use, but she will do it. Then father’s

-a good deal of care.”</p>

-

-<p>“How is the old gentleman?”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s real strong at the stomach; eats and

-sleeps as well as ever he did; but he sometimes

-has the rheumatics.”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER X.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">WHERE THE HARD STREAK CAME FROM.</p>

-

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">THIS was Edmund Griffin, the proprietor of

-seven hundred acres of excellent land, a very

-large stock of cattle, and money besides&mdash;the

-strongest man in town (leaving out Lion Ben, who

-was an exception to everybody), now that Captain

-Rhines and Uncle Isaac were getting in years.

-He was not remarkably tall, being barely six feet

-in his boots, but of vast proportions. There was

-no beauty about Edmund; his hair was coarse as

-rope-yarn, inclining to red, and, where it was not

-confined by a cue, bristling; his waist was small

-in proportion to the great breadth of his shoulders

-and hips, his joints large, his lips and teeth very

-prominent, which gave him the appearance of coming

-at you. The whole expression of his face was

-extremely rugged, and would have been fierce, had

-it not been neutralized by the kindly expression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>

-of a clear, mild eye. His voice, also, was rather

-loud and hearty than harsh in its tones. A skein

-of woollen yarn was tied round him for a belt, his

-breeches of dye-pot blue, and a flannel shirt that

-had once been bright red, but so bleached by the

-sun and perspiration as not to show any red save

-under the armpits and below the girdle, from a

-pocket in the breast of which stuck out the end

-of a purse made of a sheep’s bladder; his open

-collar revealed a finely-formed throat, and a breast

-covered with a thick mass of curling brown hair.

-This great, brawny man was possessed of remarkable

-mechanical genius. With those great fingers

-of his he could execute the nicest jobs, and he

-was constantly resorted to by the neighbors; and

-yet there was not a sled or cart on the premises

-that had a decent tongue in it; they were all

-made by cutting down a forked tree, and sticking

-in the fork with the bark on.</p>

-

-<p>“You’re getting fat, parson&mdash;fat as a porpoise;

-you don’t do work enough; you ought to have

-been in the woods with me this forenoon; ‘twould

-make the gravy run, and take some of the grease

-out of you.”</p>

-

-<p>“What are you going to do with those poles,

-Edmund?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Make pike-poles to drive logs with, in the fall

-freshet.”</p>

-

-<p>Parson Goodhue was much attached to Edmund

-Griffin, who had grown up under him, and whom

-he had married when he was but twenty and his

-wife nineteen, and, though now surrounded by a

-large family, was in the very maturity of his

-strength; for he well knew that, though the outside

-was as rough as the coat of the alligator,

-there was a noble and generous nature within, and

-a kindly heart throbbed beneath that hairy bosom

-and faded shirt.</p>

-

-<p>For many a long year he had been seeking his

-good, and striving in vain to impress him with

-religious ideas; but it was like lifting a wet cannon

-ball; he eluded all his efforts; he could find

-no chink in his armor. He was always at meeting

-with his family, rain or shine, and an attentive

-hearer. Anything, everything he would do for

-Parson Goodhue, except listen to religious conversation;

-<i>that</i> he would always avoid. He had no

-sympathy in that direction, nor his wife either,

-and the children naturally grew up with the same

-ideas. Even the old father, ninety years of age,

-and tottering on the verge of eternity, seemed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>

-have no notions beyond the present; and all his

-talk was about lifting, wrestling, and the Indian

-fights, in which he had played a most conspicuous

-part, and, though he could with difficulty get

-across the room, would, every few weeks, have his

-rifle brought to him, and clean and oil the lock.</p>

-

-<p>“Lizzy,” shouted Mr. Griffin, in a voice that

-might be heard a mile.</p>

-

-<p>This brought to the door a woman of a noble

-form, dark-brown hair, and one of the sweetest

-faces the eye ever rested upon, and, though evidently

-just from the cheese-tub, very neatly

-dressed.</p>

-

-<p>“Lizzy, here’s Parson Goodhue come to stay to

-dinner, and a fortnight longer, I hope.”</p>

-

-<p>“So do I,” was the reply of his wife, as she

-welcomed the visitor.</p>

-

-<p>“Let the mare go, parson; she knows the way

-to the barn; come, let’s go into the house.”</p>

-

-<p>“I rather think, Edmund, I had better hitch her

-to this stub; if she goes to the barn alone, she

-will certainly be in mischief;” but as the minister

-stepped forward, with the bridle in his hand, to

-execute his design, Griffin caught him by the

-shoulders, and exclaiming, “Bless me! where is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>

-the man going?” lifted and set him aside, as though

-he had been a feather; at the same time dropping

-a stone upon the trencher of a bear trap, the great

-jaws sprung together with a clang that caused

-Parson Goodhue to jump clear from the ground

-in mortal fear.</p>

-

-<p>“Goodness, Edmund, do you set bear-traps for

-your friends?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, parson; I’m sorry for your fright, but you

-see, we caught a bear last night, and the boys

-have been playing with the trap, and left it set.

-If you had got into it, ‘twould have broken your

-leg.”</p>

-

-<p>What a contrast between the outside and the

-inside of the house, where Elizabeth Griffin held

-undisputed sway! Silver was not brighter than

-the pewter on the shelves, and white as the snow

-flake were dressers and the nicely-sanded floor

-of the best room into which the visitor was ushered,

-where, seated in his arm-chair, was Joseph

-Griffin, the grandfather, a vast ruin, the

-great bones and cords of the old Indian-killer

-standing out in bold relief through the shrunken

-flesh.</p>

-

-<p>“Father’s master hard of hearing, and his eyesight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>

-has failed him a good deal,” said his son;

-“but otherways he’s just as bright as he ever

-was; knows all that’s going on, and all the young

-folks.”</p>

-

-<p>“Father,” he shouted, as they entered the

-room, “here’s Mr. Goodhue, come to see you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Glad to see him; give him a cheer.”</p>

-

-<p>“Good morning, Mr. Griffin,” said the minister,

-placing his chair close to the old gentleman; “you

-have been spared to a great age.”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Spared!</i> I never spared myself. I allers took

-the but-end of a log, and the bunt of a topsail.

-Nobody can say that Joe Griffin ever spared himself.

-Young man (Mr. Goodhue was on the wrong

-side of sixty), when I was of your age, I had more

-strength than I knew what to do with.”</p>

-

-<p>“I said you had lived to a great age.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; I’ve been here a good while. I was

-through the French and Indian wars. I was at

-the takin’ of Quebec, in ‘59, but I was too old for

-this last one.”</p>

-

-<p>“I trust, sitting here alone so much as you do,

-and knowing that you are living on borrowed

-time, that you often think on your latter end, and

-endeavor to prepare for it.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Leetle end; leetle end of what?”</p>

-

-<p>“I say, I hope you are prepared to go.”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t go anywhere; I can’t for the rheumatics,

-only to town meetin’, and then they put

-me into Isaac Murch’s wagin; before he had

-that, they hauled me on an ox sled.”</p>

-

-<p>“I mean, I hope you are prepared to die, and

-meet your Maker.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, die, is it? I never killed nobody (except

-in fair fight), and nobody ever killed me. I never

-abused my neighbors, or the cattle, and I think

-it’s everybody’s duty to live just as long as they

-kin. It’s an awful thing to kill yourself; when

-anybody has sich thoughts, they ought to put ‘em

-right out o’ their minds.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do you think that is all the preparation you

-need?”</p>

-

-<p>“I allers kept up good line fence, and give

-good weight and measure. I s’pose the less we

-do, the less there’s charged to us.”</p>

-

-<p>Mr. Goodhue now relinquished the effort in

-despair; as Uncle Isaac would have said, he could

-find nothing to nail to. The old man had grown

-up, like the beasts he hunted, without culture,

-and could neither read nor write. But, although<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>

-he found great difficulty in hearing, he could talk

-fast enough, and however impervious to religious

-sentiment, was shrewd enough in other matters.</p>

-

-<p>The subject which at that period most divided

-the opinions and agitated the minds of the people,

-was the state of affairs in France, and our relations

-to that nation. That nation having dethroned

-their king, and proclaimed liberty and equality,

-naturally expected to receive fraternal sympathy

-and aid from this country, and from the people

-whom they had aided in their recent struggle for

-liberty.</p>

-

-<p>The members in Congress were divided in

-sentiment on the subject. The people at large,

-especially the mercantile portion of the community

-(who were very much embittered against

-England on account of the impressment of seamen

-and the right of search), felt that the movement

-in France was resistance to arbitrary power, a

-struggle for self-government against oppression,

-and a mere carrying out of the principles of our

-own revolution, that we owed it to the cause of

-liberty, and were obligated in gratitude to aid

-them to the extent of entering into an offensive

-and defensive alliance, and declaring war with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>

-Great Britain. The party espousing these sentiments

-was large and influential, and a strong pressure

-was brought to bear upon the administration.

-To complicate matters still more, Genet, the French

-minister, a hot-headed, overbearing man, appealed

-to the prejudices and sympathies of the people,

-and, without the sanction or knowledge of the government,

-attempted to raise men and arms, and fit

-out privateers to prey on British commerce, and

-sell their prizes in American ports.</p>

-

-<p>On the other hand, Washington, and those of

-cooler heads and calmer judgment, shocked at the

-excesses of the French revolution, and having no

-confidence in the capacity of the French people

-for self-government, were as resolutely opposed to

-any interference. Old Mr. Griffin, in opposition

-to his son and the great majority of his neighbors,

-was of the latter party, and Mr. Goodhue was of

-the same opinion.</p>

-

-<p>“What’s that rapscallion’s name, parson, that’s

-come over here, and is kickin’ up sich a dust, and

-tryin’ to get us into a quarrel with the old country?”</p>

-

-<p>“Genet, the French minister,” replied Mr.

-Goodhue, rejoiced at the introduction of a topic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>

-in respect to which their sympathies were in

-unison.</p>

-

-<p>“A minister goin’ about tryin’ to stir up people

-agin their government, and to git up a war!”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s not a minister of the gospel, but a sort of

-ambassador.”</p>

-

-<p>“Wal, I wish my eye was as quick and my

-hand as steady as ‘twas once, and I had him within

-range of my rifle; I’d put an eend to his trampin’;”

-at the same time striking his cane violently on the

-floor. Captain Rhines was here t’other day, settin’

-right where you set, and sayin’ we never should

-got our liberty, if’t hadn’t been for them are

-French; that one good turn deserved another; and

-all that. I ups and tells him, I does, says I, the

-French waited till they see how the cat was goin’

-to jump, and that we were like to wear the old

-bull-dog out, and then comes in to bet on the winnin’

-horse. I telled him the French were well

-enough, but it wasn’t so much for any love to us

-they come; England had took Canada, and robbed

-‘em of their colonies, and now they wanted to pay

-her in her own coin, and help us get clear on ‘em;

-they’ll eny time send over troops to help the Irish

-when they undertake to rise.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“I think you are right in that, Mr. Griffin.”</p>

-

-<p>“If we should go into war with England now, it

-would make an eend of our leetle commerce; but

-if we go on as we’ve begun, in a few years we

-shall be able to fight our own battles, no thanks

-to eny on ‘em.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m perfectly willing to abide by the judgment

-of General Washington, Hamilton, and those who

-have carried us thus far. I believe Washington

-was raised up and divinely appointed to carry

-us through the revolutionary war, as evidently as

-Moses was to lead the children of Israel to the

-promised land.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s the talk, parson. I don’t know enything

-‘bout Moses, and them old characters, but I know

-‘bout Gineral Washington, cause I fought under

-him, when he was kernel; yes, I go in for the old

-horse that never balked at the steepest hill, but

-allus pulled, whether the load went, or whether

-other horses pulled or not.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, my old friend, the heart of the country

-rests safely on Washington.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then, parson, he’s a prayin’ man. Isaac Murch

-told me that; he said, that winter at Valley Forge,

-when the soldiers were barefoot, and suffered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>

-so much, there was an hour at noon when he

-couldn’t be seen; if an express came, he wouldn’t

-be disturbed; it was allers thought and said

-among the men, that he was at prayer. I allers

-thought them are the sort of men to foller.”</p>

-

-<p>“Certainly; because in following them we may

-hope for the aid of Him by whom they are guided.”</p>

-

-<p>“There’s a great many in this place, parson, if

-you allow that there’s any good thing in an Englishman,

-cry out, ‘Tory’!”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s too much the case, I know.”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t want to swaller an Englishman whole.

-I know they press our seamen, and are overbearin’;

-but, then, they press their own likewise, take

-a man from his own doorstep; but ‘tain’t the people,

-it’s the government, does that. They say this

-new man that’s come up&mdash;What’s his name?”</p>

-

-<p>“Bonaparte.”</p>

-

-<p>“That he’s goin’ to lick the English into shoe-strings.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then he’ll do what has not been done for the

-last two hundred years.”</p>

-

-<p>“I tell you it ain’t in ‘em, parson; it’ ain’t in

-the men that live on frogs and soup to lick the

-men that eat beef and pork, I don’t care who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>

-they’re led by. When I was payin’ for my place,

-I follered the sea a good deal. I have been in

-English ports and French ports; fought side by

-side with Englishmen, and aginst Frenchmen; and

-I don’t care who knows it, I like an Englishman

-better’n a Frenchman eny day. When it’s good

-weather at sea, and everything goin’ well, an Englishman

-is a grouty chap; he’ll growl at the wind,

-the ship, the grub, and the usage; but let there

-come a gale of wind, a raal tryin’ time, the lee

-riggin’ hangin’ in bights, men three or four hours

-on a yard tryin’ to smother a sail, or the ship

-sprung a leak and like to go down, I tell you,

-John Bull is there. The harder it blows, the

-blacker it looks, and the tougher it comes, the

-higher his spirit rises; then they’re a Protestant

-people, and that’s a thing goes a good ways with

-me.”</p>

-

-<p>Our readers may suspect that the old gentleman

-was not so obtuse in relation to religious

-matters as he appeared; an idea of this kind

-seemed to cross the mind of Mr. Goodhue, for he

-instantly attempted to introduce a religious conversation;

-but the old man shrunk from it as

-speedily as a turtle draws his head into the shell

-when apprehensive of danger.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>When Edmund Griffin returned to the kitchen,

-he said, “Come, wife, ain’t you going to do something?

-There ain’t a speck of fire on the hearth.”</p>

-

-<p>“What of that? I’ve got baked beans, brown

-bread, pies, and an Indian pudding in the oven,

-and I must put this cheese in press.”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Baked beans!</i> I want to kill some chickens,

-make a smother, and give the old gentleman a

-good tuck out.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, then, make me up a fire; the boys are

-all in the field.”</p>

-

-<p>He brought in a great log, and threw it on the

-hearth; then, bringing in a huge armful of wood,

-the moment he was inside the door, let drive

-right into the middle of the room, at the same time

-kicking the door to with his feet. Proceeding to

-put on the log, instead of using the great kitchen

-shovel to rake forward the ashes from the back,

-he put in his foot, and, after scraping out a hole,

-flung on the log with such force that the coals and

-ashes flew all over the room.</p>

-

-<p>“Edmund, what a splutter you do make! Do

-go and get the chickens. I had rather make two

-fires than clean up after you.”</p>

-

-<p>Taking the mare’s bridle on his arm, he put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>

-her in the barn; returning with the bridle in one

-hand, and a dish of corn in the other, he threw it

-among the fowls; as they were busily eating, he

-brought down the bridle on the flock with such

-force as to prostrate half a dozen, and picking them

-up, cut off their heads, and soon transferred them

-to the kitchen table.</p>

-

-<p>“Why, Edmund,” cried his wife, looking them

-over, “what a careless creature you are! Half of

-these are old hens; and, as sure as I live, you’ve

-killed Winthrop’s setting hen. She was just ready

-to hatch. He will cry his eyes out. I do wish I’d

-gone myself; the chickens are all lost, and we

-shall have to throw the hen away. She’s all skin

-and bone.”</p>

-

-<p>“Never mind, wife; the boy can set another.

-Have you got everything you want now?”</p>

-

-<p>“No. I want you to wash yourself, and put on

-a clean shirt and clothes. They’re on the bed.”</p>

-

-<p>“What’s the use, wife? I’m well enough.”</p>

-

-<p>“I tell you, you shan’t come to dinner looking

-so!” she exclaimed, pushing him into the bedroom,

-and pulling the skein of yarn from his

-waist.</p>

-

-<p>With a groan he obeyed, and, making him sit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>

-down on the edge of the bed, she combed out

-his cue, and tied it up with a black ribbon, instead

-of the eel-skin.</p>

-

-<p>Mr. Goodhue, who had a large family of his

-own, was very fond of children, and it was a

-curious sight to see Winthrop Griffin tugging

-the stately old minister by the hand, to see his

-fowl and playthings, his tame crow, and the woodchuck

-he had caught. The good man also sincerely

-sympathized with him respecting the loss

-of his hen and expected brood of chickens.</p>

-

-<p>Mrs. Griffin would have persuaded the minister

-to lie down after dinner; but as the boys

-were going to work in the field, he wished to

-read the Scriptures and have prayers before they

-went away, it being his constant custom. The

-parents and children all listened with the greatest

-respect and attention, but all attempts to engage

-the seniors in conversation of a religious nature

-were useless.</p>

-

-<p>After the evening meal, when Parson Goodhue

-prepared to depart, Dapple, true to her

-instincts, was found in a chamber over the stable

-where Griffin kept grain. She had gone up a

-flight of stairs, but all attempts to induce her to

-go down by the same were unavailing.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Look here, parson,” said Edmund; “let me

-knock her on the head, and take her for wolf

-bait&mdash;there’s a bounty on wolves,&mdash;and I’ll give

-you my roan colt, that’s worth a dozen of her.”</p>

-

-<p>But Mr. Goodhue entreated for the life of his

-beast. Griffin, then putting a great pile of hay

-on the stable floor beneath, took up the boards

-of the floor above, and forced her to jump down.</p>

-

-<p>“What a strange family,” said the good man

-to himself as he returned, his saddle-bags stuffed

-to their utmost extent. “I would be content

-with less respect and kindness shown to myself

-if they would only manifest some respect for my

-Master. How sad to see that old man so thoughtless!

-Well, the children are different. Joe is a

-good man,&mdash;there is certainly encouragement there,&mdash;and

-Walter takes after his mother; if she was

-anywhere else, she would be different.”</p>

-

-<p>In the course of the autumn, Dapple ended

-her eventful life; in trying to get over a fence

-with the fetters on, she got cast, and beat herself

-to death, thus dying as she had lived. Two

-days after, the parson, on going to his barn to

-feed his cattle, found a noble-looking roan horse

-in Dapple’s stall, a present from Edmund Griffin.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>In this slight glance at the Griffins, we have

-seen where the hard streak came from. That

-old grandfather’s was gradually diluted as it

-mingled with other and more kindly blood, till in

-Walter rudeness had become attempered to firmness,

-and nothing more.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XI.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">RECONNOITRING.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">IT was an overcast night; there was no moon;

-the stars were bright overhead, but around

-the edge of the horizon they were obscured by

-thin clouds, through which a star occasionally

-shone.</p>

-

-<p>The brigantine, with all sail set, was running

-in for the land, the dark outline of which could

-be dimly seen in the distance. The French had

-put out the light on Planier Island, and removed

-all the buoys from the shoals and reefs, that

-they might not be of advantage to the enemy;

-but the lights of the English frigate could be

-seen far ahead, as she also stood in for the land,

-her commander not dreaming he was followed by

-the vessel, so nearly his prize, and which he

-supposed effectually frightened from that locality.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“It would have been a very valuable prize to

-us, could we have taken her,” said the captain

-of the frigate to his lieutenant; (”and at one time

-I thought she was ours,) not merely as far as the

-value of her cargo was concerned; but we could

-have put a few guns aboard of her, and a crew,

-and she is so fast she would have taken everything

-on the coast; our prize-money would soon

-have amounted to something very handsome.”</p>

-

-<p>“Where did the Yankees learn to build such

-vessels? Before the war they couldn’t make

-their own mouse-traps.”</p>

-

-<p>“It was the war taught them; they wanted privateers

-to prey on our merchantmen and supply

-ships. They wanted sharp vessels to run into

-neutral ports, and escape our frigates, and they

-built them. Since they set up for themselves,

-they make rigging and duck, roll iron, and forge

-anchors, and there’s no telling where they will

-stop.”</p>

-

-<p>“We may catch her yet, if we could get her

-before the wind, where she could not run into

-shoal water, or have the good fortune to come

-across her in a calm.”</p>

-

-<p>“He’ll not come here again; he’s run too great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>

-a risk. He will be more likely to try Toulon;

-perhaps go round into the Bay of Biscay, to some

-of the ports on the other side.”</p>

-

-<p>The wind, which had blown very fresh all

-through the afternoon and first part of the night,

-had moderated to a good working breeze.</p>

-

-<p>As the watch on board the brigantine that

-brought twelve o’clock came on deck, a large

-rock was discovered right ahead; the topsail was

-hove to the mast, and the vessel became stationary.

-The captain, calling the whole crew aft,

-said to them, “Boys, I want to put a man on that

-rock, to watch this frigate and the sixty-four, see

-which way they stand in the morning, and where

-they go; also to look into the roadstead, and see

-what vessels are there, and how they lie; in short,

-to keep himself concealed, and get all the information

-he can. To-morrow night I’ll run in, and take

-him off. Who’ll volunteer?”</p>

-

-<p>Before the words were fairly out of his mouth,

-or any other could reply, Walter Griffin exclaimed,

-“I will go, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>Peterson had from Walter’s childhood cherished

-a great affection for him, and Walter loved

-the black with all his heart. It was at first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>

-a childhood liking (as children care very little

-about color), which increased as he grew older;

-and Peterson, by reforming his habits, became

-deserving of respect.</p>

-

-<p>Peterson was not merely a finished sailor and

-first-rate calker, but was also exceedingly ingenious

-in making kites, windmills, boats, sleds, carts,

-squirts, popguns, sawyers, and all those things

-that children and boys want; and no one but

-Uncle Isaac could equal him in the manufacture

-of bows and arrows.</p>

-

-<p>Peterson lived not far from Walter’s father.

-Every leisure day Walter was there; everything

-he wanted Peterson made, and, as he outgrew kites

-and bows, instructed him in wrestling, making

-sailor knots, and built him a skiff; when, therefore,

-he came to be shipmate with him, he felt

-that the boy was in a manner committed to him,

-and under his protection, and instantly interfered.</p>

-

-<p>“Massa cap’n, dat boy no fit to go; he too young;

-s’pose come gale ob wind; vessel driben to sea;

-no get him off long time; boy be frightened, die,

-p’rhaps starve. Hab to show hisself; den English

-man-o’-war take him; nebber see his farder or

-mudder no more. Boy no ‘sperience to know

-what to look for; me go, meself.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Walter, however, insisted upon going; he had

-a right to go; the captain called for volunteers,

-and he had volunteered, and was going.</p>

-

-<p>“But you too young, chile, for such ting.”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Young</i>,” replied Walter, in high dudgeon; “I

-shipped before the mast, and have a man’s wages,

-and can steer my trick, and do my duty.”</p>

-

-<p>“I can’t do without <i>you</i>, pilot,” said the captain.</p>

-

-<p>Several others had also intended to volunteer,

-and now came forward; but Walter had been too

-quick for them, and claimed his right.</p>

-

-<p>“Captain,” said Fred Williams, as he took leave

-of Arthur Brown, “you’ll find one of our young

-men aboard, Walter Griffin (he’s not much more

-than a boy, but he’s a choice one); I know him

-through and through. He never should have left

-me if I could have helped it; but he seems one

-of those made to go to sea. Put him anywhere,

-trust him with any matter, and he will give a good

-account of himself. You will find him better, on

-an emergency, than many older persons; for he

-belongs to an iron-sided race, and what he lacks

-in experience he will make up in mother wit.”</p>

-

-<p>All that the captain had seen of Walter went to

-corroborate Fred’s statement, and he determined

-to try him.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Little Ned now besought the captain to permit

-him to share the adventure with Walter, but he

-refused, telling him he had promised his mother

-not to expose him unnecessarily; that one was

-enough, and two would be more likely to attract

-attention.</p>

-

-<p>Ned turned away, with a tear in his eye, and

-walked forward. Flinging his arms round his

-friend’s neck, he said, “He won’t let me go, Walter.

-It’s too bad; we might have such a good

-time!”</p>

-

-<p>The boat was manned, and beef, bread, water,

-and raw pork put into her. The raw pork was in

-addition, as that could, on occasion, be eaten raw;

-and if the vessel should be blown off the coast, he

-might be left there a good while, and no fire could

-be made to cook, without attracting notice.</p>

-

-<p>The captain, after giving him his instructions,

-put into his hands a spy-glass. “There,” said he,

-“is a glass with which you can read letters three

-inches long a mile away.” He then shook hands

-with him at the side, bidding him take care of

-himself, and keep a bright lookout, while the tender-hearted

-black fairly shed tears.</p>

-

-<p>“Look out for de man-o’-war, sonnie. S’pose he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>

-ketch you, Peterson chase you all ober de world

-but he git you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Good by, dear Walter,” cried Ned, throwing

-his arms around his friend’s neck, as he stood up

-in the stern sheets to step on the rock.</p>

-

-<p>“Good by, Ned,” said Walter, returning the

-embrace.</p>

-

-<p>The provision and water were landed, and the

-boat pulled rapidly away. Walter sat down upon

-the rock, listening to the sound of the oars in the

-rowlocks, and watching the phosphorescence of the

-water as it flashed on their blades. All these

-tokens of departure, of little moment on ordinary

-occasions, now possessed not a little interest. He

-marked the ring of the iron, as the hook of the

-davit-fall went into the ring-bolt, and heard the

-man say, “Hoist away,” the creak of the blocks,

-and the slat of the canvas, as the sails filled, then

-the low, rushing sound of the vessel’s bow as it

-parted the water. It was a lonely moment to the

-brave boy, when the last low sound betokening

-companionship was lost in the dash of midnight

-waves, the gleam of her white canvas faded from

-his view, and he was left on the wild rock alone.

-He had never been taught to breathe a petition for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>

-protection, or to depend upon aught but himself.

-His conversation with Charlie by the brook constituted

-the only appeal of a religious nature ever

-made to his heart.</p>

-

-<p>He knew not the nature or extent of the rock

-on which he had been so unceremoniously deposited,

-and, clambering up to where he was above

-the flow of the tide, placed his provisions beside

-him, and determined to keep watch till the day

-broke, that he might have time to examine the

-place before he could be observed from any passing

-boat or vessel. Fearing, if he went to sleep,

-he might sleep too long, and finding a flat place on

-the rock, he paced back and forth, to keep himself

-awake.</p>

-

-<p>Little Ned, feeling very lonely in the absence

-of his watch-mate, attached himself to Peterson,

-between whom and Walter there was such a good

-understanding, in order that he might talk about

-Walter, Pleasant Cove, the Griffins, and all the

-people and boys he had become acquainted with

-there.</p>

-

-<p>The rock on which Walter was placed might

-have been, at low water, half an acre in extent,

-and irregular in its form, the eastern end rising<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>

-in a high bluff, with deep water around and close

-to it; but the western end sloped into long, ragged

-ridges, honeycombed by the everlasting dash

-of surf, and terminating in long reefs, upon which

-the sea broke with a continuous roar. Between

-these ridges were openings or coves, quite wide

-at the extremities of the reefs, shoaling and narrowing

-as they ran up into the main portion of the

-rock, in such a manner that it was easy to enter

-them in a boat between the breaking points, and

-land, in good weather, with perfect safety.</p>

-

-<p>The heads of these coves were filled with those

-materials the sea usually flings up&mdash;sea-weeds,

-shells, barrel staves, chips, planks, and broken

-pieces of vessels.</p>

-

-<p>On the eastern end of the rock was a patch of

-turf extending from the edge of the bold cliffs

-along the heads of the coves, covered with bushes

-and scrub trees, dwarfed by the sea winds, and

-thickly matted together.</p>

-

-<p>The sun had risen clear, bringing with it a moderate

-easterly breeze. The English frigate before

-referred to is passing within musket shot of the

-eastern extremity of the rock. A close observer

-might have noticed the branches of a pine bush<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>

-move in a direction opposite to the wind, and in a

-few moments the head of a man is cautiously

-thrust through the branches. It is Walter Griffin.

-He watches with keen eyes the course of the man-o’-war,

-and, as she increases the distance between

-them, crawls to the shelter of a ledge, and, resting

-his glass over it, watches her till she disappears

-from view. From his position he can command a

-view of the roadstead, the men-of-war lying at

-anchor in it, the forts, and the entrance to the

-port.</p>

-

-<p>At the head of one of the coves, in which there

-was a little beach of white sand, a portion of the

-stern frame of a vessel had, by the conjunction of

-a high tide and a gale of wind, been flung high on

-the rocks, extending from one side to the other,

-leaving a space of several feet between it and the

-beach. Here Walter had bestowed his water and

-food.</p>

-

-<p>Having made all the observation possible, he

-retired to this place, and, with some dry sea-weed

-for a bed, lay down for a nap, as he had been up

-the entire night.</p>

-

-<p>When he awoke, he espied a French fisherman,

-fishing among the kelp for rock-fish. Looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>

-cautiously around, to be sure that no vessel

-was in sight, he, after a while, succeeded in attracting

-his attention, and prevailing upon him

-to row into one of the passages between the

-rocks, where he met him.</p>

-

-<p>“Who are you?” asked the fisherman, resting

-upon his oars, and surprised to be addressed in

-his own language by one who, he perceived, was

-of another nation.</p>

-

-<p>“An American.”</p>

-

-<p>“Have you run away from the man-o’-war?”

-asked the Frenchman, taking him for some impressed

-American seaman, who had swum off

-from a British vessel.</p>

-

-<p>“No; I was put ashore here last night from an

-American vessel, that is trying to run the blockade,

-to watch the fleet; she will stand in for the

-land again to-night.”</p>

-

-<p>“The vessel they were chasing yesterday?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“We thought you were gone.”</p>

-

-<p>“We thought so ourselves, till the wind came.”</p>

-

-<p>“Men sometimes swim ashore from the fleet.

-I thought you had swam to the rock. I’ve got

-an Englishman in my house now who ran away

-a week ago.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Why don’t they take you prisoner?”</p>

-

-<p>“They don’t trouble the fishermen, and when

-they want fish, they pay for them; but our vessels

-and the Spaniards take ‘em without thanks

-or money.”</p>

-

-<p>“What time in the day is it?”</p>

-

-<p>“By the tide, about eleven o’clock.”</p>

-

-<p>“Could you take me ashore in your boat, so

-that I could have a good look at the fleet and

-harbor, and see the Englishman you spoke of,

-and bring me back after dark?”</p>

-

-<p>“I can take you ashore well enough, but

-bringing you back is another matter; the English

-have boats rowing around the roadstead in the

-night; if they saw me going out after dark, they

-would suspect something, and stop me.”</p>

-

-<p>“I would give a good deal to get inside the

-roadstead, and to see that deserter.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll do all I can to help you. I’ll take you

-along shore to one of the creeks where there is

-no watch kept, and set you off from there.”</p>

-

-<p>The Frenchman made Walter lie down in the

-bottom of the boat, covered him with sea-weed,

-and flung fish over him; he then put up his sail,

-and steered boldly into the roadstead. As he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>

-passed one of the English ships, he was hailed

-and asked for a mess of fish; he went alongside,

-and flung the fish on the grating of the

-side ladder, and receiving his money, kept on.</p>

-

-<p>“If they had known who was under these

-fish,” said the fisherman to Walter, pulling the

-sea-weed off from him, as they came under the

-guns of the French castle, “it would have put

-an end to my fishing.”</p>

-

-<p>He now conducted Walter to the observatory,

-situated on very high ground, in which was

-a powerful telescope, and from which he could

-track the frigate and sloop of war as they ran

-along the coast, and see perfectly the position

-of the ships in the roadstead. He found the

-flag-ship lay the farthest in, just out of range

-of the forts, and so moored as to completely command

-the channel. Having taken careful note

-of all these things, and made a rough draft on

-paper, he went to the fisherman’s house, where

-he found the English sailor, who informed him

-of many particulars that were important, and

-among other things, that a supply ship was

-daily expected on the coast and was eagerly

-looked for, as provisions were growing short

-in the fleet.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“What is her name?” asked Walter.</p>

-

-<p>“The Severn.”</p>

-

-<p>“Where has that frigate probably gone?”</p>

-

-<p>“To Toulon.”</p>

-

-<p>“And the sixty-four?”</p>

-

-<p>“Round the other side, to carry despatches.”</p>

-

-<p>“How big is the flag-ship?”</p>

-

-<p>“A hundred guns.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do they keep a keen lookout?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; it is no use to try to run by her at night;

-she wouldn’t leave you a stick to do it with.”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XII.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">DID I BEAR IT LIKE A MAN, WALTER?</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">IT was nearly one o’clock at night, when the

-brigantine hove to, off the rock, a boat put off,

-and the sharp voice of Ned, crying, “Are you there,

-Walter?” came over the waves. But it was now

-blowing fresh, the sky obscured by clouds, and no

-possibility of landing on the rock, which was

-white with foam, it being so small that the sea ran

-all round it. The boat, pulled by men who had

-been all their lives brought up among the surf,

-and accustomed to working around breakers, was

-backed in within two seas of the rock, and held

-there by the oars, while she stood almost on end.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, shipmate,” said Danforth Eaton, standing

-up in the stern sheets, with a coil of rope in his

-hand, “look out for the line, and jump for it.”</p>

-

-<p>Walter caught the line, and making it fast round

-his waist, flung himself into the surf, and was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>

-hauled aboard, where he was joyfully received by

-Ned, to whom one day and a portion of two nights

-had seemed a week.</p>

-

-<p>When the young captain had received Walter’s

-information, he complimented him very much for

-the shrewdness he had manifested; and as all were

-equally interested (the profits of the voyage being

-divided in this manner, the vessel, that is, the

-owners, drew a certain proportion, the captain,

-mates, and crew another, according to their rank),

-he spread the whole matter before the ship’s company.</p>

-

-<p>Said the young captain to his crew, “The wind

-is fair, and plenty of it; the tide also is with us,

-and sets up the harbor; we should go like a shot;

-the frigate and sixty-four are out of the way;

-there is no moon, and it is overcast; if they fire at

-us, they will have to fire by guess, for they can’t

-sight over the black cannon; probably we shall

-not have so many things in our favor again. I am

-in for trying it to-night; but I want your opinions,

-for we must run the risk of their broadsides.”</p>

-

-<p>“I reckon,” said Danforth Eaton, “that when

-we shipped aboard this craft, we knew what we

-had to kalkerlate on; we expect to get our profit

-out of our risk; I’m for trying it now.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>His opinion being assented to by the crew, the

-brigantine, with a spanking breeze and every sail

-set, was steered directly for the roadstead, a little

-over two miles distant. It seemed but a moment,

-so rapid was her progress, before the high lands of

-Marseilles were throwing their shadows before her

-path. Walter acting as second mate, his station

-was in his watch on deck, aft. He, however, still

-shared Ned’s berth, as the second mate was sick

-in his own. It was now his watch below; but in

-the present circumstances, no one felt any inclination

-to sleep, and he was, with all the rest of the

-crew, forward. At such a time, it is natural for

-those most acquainted to get together, and the

-men were divided into little knots, conversing in

-low tones. Walter, Enoch Hadlock, and Ben

-Peterson, having been schoolmates, and grown up

-together, formed one group, with Ned nestled close

-to the side of Walter.</p>

-

-<p>“Walter,” said Ben, “do you expect, if we

-make the run, and a heap of money, to have the

-second mate’s share, while he’s off duty?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, indeed; I have no right to it. He can’t

-help having a carbuncle. I wouldn’t take it if it

-was offered me. I wouldn’t be so mean.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“But if you’re doing second mate’s duty&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“The honor pays for that.”</p>

-

-<p>“Perhaps you think it is a stepping-stone. I

-hope it is.”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t know about that.”</p>

-

-<p>“We shall soon see what our young captain is

-made of,” said Eaton, as the dark hull and long

-masts of the ship of the line began to appear;

-“I only wish we were well through it.”</p>

-

-<p>A man-o’-war cutter was now seen on the lee

-bow.</p>

-

-<p>“What ship is that?” was the hail.</p>

-

-<p>“The Severn, supply.”</p>

-

-<p>Thus boats and ships were passed, the night

-being too dark, and the brigantine going too quick

-to admit of a close scrutiny. The name of the

-expected store-ship being given, also completely

-disarmed suspicion. They were now rapidly

-nearing the flag-ship, of a hundred guns&mdash;the

-last and most fearful ordeal. A death-like stillness

-now pervaded the brigantine, broken only by the

-rushing of the vessel through the water, the

-straining of the cordage, and the moan of the

-wind through the rigging.</p>

-

-<p>“Walter,” whispered Ned, “do you feel afraid?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“No, Ned; do you?”</p>

-

-<p>“I guess not; but I feel as I never did before.

-I wish we were doing something, and it was not

-so dreadfully still,” said the boy, putting his arm

-round his companion’s waist, as they sat side by

-side on the windlass, gazing through the darkness at

-the lights of the man-of-war. “Kiss me, Walter.”</p>

-

-<p>He put his arms round his friend, and pressed

-his lips to his cheek. So dark was the night now

-grown, and so rapid the passage of the vessel, that

-the stern lights of the ship bore over the cat-head

-of the brigantine.</p>

-

-<p>The young captain now took the helm, when a

-hail came from the ship that thrilled the blood of

-every man on board.</p>

-

-<p>“What ship is that? Reply, or I’ll sink you.”</p>

-

-<p>“The Severn, store vessel.”</p>

-

-<p>The ports of the man-of-war were triced up, and

-by the gleam of the battle lantern, the gunners

-could be seen standing by their pieces.</p>

-

-<p>“Ay, ay. Come to, under the stern, and report

-on board at six o’clock in the morning.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ay, ay,” was the reply; and “Hard a-lee!

-Haul aft the main sheet!” were shouted, in loud

-tones, on board the brigantine.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>The officer of the deck, who could distinguish

-nothing, hearing these orders, was for an instant

-deceived&mdash;an instant that was the salvation of

-the brigantine, going twelve knots under the combined

-force of wind and tide. Perceiving immediately

-that it was a ruse, he gave orders to fire.

-The horizon was lit up by the flash of guns, and

-the midnight stillness broken by the roar of cannon.

-But so well had the brigantine improved

-her opportunity, that but one or two of the forward

-guns were brought to bear on her.</p>

-

-<p>As the iron shower came hurtling on, and

-passed, a groan was heard near the foot of the

-main-mast. It came from little Ned, who was

-struck as he came aft with an order from the pilot.</p>

-

-<p>“Bear it like a man, Neddie,” cried Walter, as

-he held him in his arms. “Are you hurt much?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, bad, Walter.” And he fainted.</p>

-

-<p>“Take care of him,” said the captain, “till the

-vessel is brought to.”</p>

-

-<p>For a few moments every one was exerting

-himself to the utmost, in order to bring the vessel,

-under such a press of sail, to anchor under the

-guns of the castle of St. Nicolas.</p>

-

-<p>She was somewhat disabled, a round shot having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>

-cut off her main boom at the jaws to such an extent

-that it broke and fell on deck, carrying away

-the rail. Several shot had passed through the

-sails and bulwarks, one had cut off the tiller-head,

-and the mate had received a wound in the leg; so

-that the attention of the captain was fully occupied

-in taking care of the vessel.</p>

-

-<p>During this period, which, though really but a

-short time, seemed an age to Walter, he sat with

-his back against the main-mast, his arms around

-Neddie’s waist, and felt the warm blood oozing

-slowly through his fingers.</p>

-

-<p>The artillery now began to thunder from the

-castle at the boats of the fleet, which, enraged at

-the audacity and success of the enterprise, endeavored

-to follow and cut out the brigantine, but,

-finding the enemy aware of their designs, relinquished

-it.</p>

-

-<p>A boat was immediately sent to the castle for a

-surgeon, who, having restored Ned by stimulants,

-proceeded to examine his hurts, and ascertained

-that he had received a severe flesh wound in the

-thigh from a splinter, parts of which still remained

-in the wound. He had also received a musket

-ball in the groin, which, passing round the body<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>

-without breaking the bone, could be felt in the

-flesh of the back, near the spine. Being just beneath

-the skin, he pronounced neither of the

-wounds mortal.</p>

-

-<p>“Thank God for that!” exclaimed the captain.</p>

-

-<p>The surgeon wished to fasten him to the cabin

-table while he performed the operation; but Ned

-resisted this, declaring he could bear it if the captain

-would stand beside him, and Walter would

-hold his hand. The extraction of the splinters

-was more painful than even the cutting for the

-ball; but the little fellow bore it all with firmness,

-scarcely uttering a groan, and without aid from

-any of the means now in use to produce insensibility,

-they being at that period unknown.</p>

-

-<p>“Didn’t I bear it like a man, Walter?” asked

-Ned, when the operation was over.</p>

-

-<p>“Bravely,” answered Walter.</p>

-

-<p>The captain would not send Ned to the hospital,

-but hired a room for him in the house of Jacques

-Bernoux, the fisherman whose acquaintance Walter

-made on the rock, and sent Walter and Peterson

-alternately to take care of him, going daily

-himself to see him.</p>

-

-<p>Ned, who was as sweet-tempered as ambitious,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>

-had always been the pet of the crew, most of

-whom he had known while at Pleasant Cove;

-they were, therefore, always ready to watch of a

-night whenever needed, and there were so many

-of them that the duty was not at all burdensome.</p>

-

-<p>Boys of Ned’s age learn a language with great

-rapidity, and he soon began to pick up words,

-and talk with the people of the house. Nothing

-could exceed the kindness of Peterson to the little

-wounded fellow. He was so strong he could lift

-him easily, and, as he gradually recovered, made

-him many little messes (being a skillful cook) that

-were very grateful to the convalescent. Ned began

-to love his black friend dearly, and always

-called him James.</p>

-

-<p>To the surprise of all but the surgeon, Ned

-recovered a great deal faster than the first mate,

-Mr. Rogers, who was only wounded in the leg,

-the ball passing through. The wound continued

-to run, and seemed as if it never would heal,

-while Ned could walk across the floor with the

-aid of Walter.</p>

-

-<p>One day Ned was sitting in a chair, propped

-up with pillows, and eating, with the greatest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>

-relish, a nice breakfast Peterson had prepared for

-him. “James,” said he, laying down his knife and

-fork, “I’m glad I was wounded.”</p>

-

-<p>“Glad you wounded! Glad you hab so much

-pain, be sick so long, make de cap’n so much

-trouble, all ob us feel bad! Nebber hear sich ting

-afore.”</p>

-

-<p>“I didn’t mean I was glad of that, or that I

-should want to be wounded again; but I’m glad,

-now it’s over, I’ve been through it.”</p>

-

-<p>“I know what you tink; you tink, when you

-git home to Salem, farder, mudder so glad cause

-you wasn’t killed; den, when you walks in de

-street, all de people say, ‘Dere Ned Gates; he one

-smart boy; he been shipwrecked, almost starve

-on a raft; been wounded two times runnin’ de

-blockade; see what dat boy been through.’ Den

-all de boys dey open dere eyes wide and stare,

-say notin’.”</p>

-

-<p>“That is it, James. I <i>have</i> been through a

-good deal&mdash;haven’t I, for a boy no older than I

-am?”</p>

-

-<p>“Dat de Lord; he carry you through dat cause

-you good boy.”</p>

-

-<p>“I ain’t a very good boy, James.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“What de reason? Cap’n say you good boy,

-mate say you good boy, eberybody say so.”</p>

-

-<p>The brigantine, as she lay under the guns of

-the fort, was recognized by the officers of the

-blockading fleet as the vessel they had chased,

-and so nearly taken, and they determined she

-should not escape them a second time, therefore

-kept incessant watch.</p>

-

-<p>The roadstead of Marseilles is exposed to severe

-gales, during which, the blockading fleet were

-compelled to run to sea. The captain of the brigantine

-had made too much money to run any

-unnecessary risk in getting home; he, therefore,

-determined to wait for a gale of wind that should

-drive his antagonists to sea, before he attempted to

-run out. This gave time for Ned to recover sufficiently

-to go in the vessel. As the mate, Mr.

-Rogers, was not well enough to do duty, Walter

-was put in his place, which offended the second

-mate very much, who thought, and said to the

-captain, that the place belonged to him; to which

-the captain replied, that Griffin had run some risk

-in volunteering to go on the rock; that it was

-<i>principally</i>, if not entirely, due to his shrewdness

-in getting hold of the fisherman, and obtaining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>

-the information he did from the English sailor,

-that their adventure succeeded, and they were

-not sunk by the man-of-war. He therefore considered

-promotion no more than a suitable reward,

-especially as the second mate, though a good

-seaman, was not a navigator. Thus Walter experienced

-at the outset the benefit of knowledge,

-as well as of pluck and principle.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XIII.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">THE BASKET-MAKER.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">IT was a glad day to Ned, when he had so far

-recovered that the surgeon, yielding to his

-solicitations, told him he might go on board the

-vessel, spend most of the day, and come back

-at night.</p>

-

-<p>The fisherman’s house was not far from the pier.

-Walter and Peterson made a chair, by taking

-hold of each other’s wrists, and Ned, seated on

-it, with an arm round each of their necks, was

-taken on board.</p>

-

-<p>The weather was warm, and some blankets from

-Walter’s berth were spread on the hen-coop, and

-a pillow placed so that Ned could lie down or sit

-up, as he chose, see what was going on, and chat

-with his shipmates, who were all rejoiced to see

-him on board again. Peterson prepared his dinner,

-but Ned wanted to eat with the rest, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>

-seemed so much more sociable, having been compelled

-for so long a time to eat alone.</p>

-

-<p>It was just after dinner; Ned was sitting, propped

-up with pillows, the captain seated near by, watching

-him, when he noticed an old man, apparently

-over sixty years of age, in seaman’s dress, coming

-along the gangway plank. His hair, where it

-came outside his tarpaulin, was gray; he stooped

-very much, appearing feeble, and bore on his back

-a large number of articles manufactured of willows,

-and strung together by a cord.</p>

-

-<p>Approaching the captain, he deposited the bundle

-on the deck, evidently much fatigued, and

-asked, in English, if he would like to buy any of his

-work&mdash;market-baskets, knife-baskets, table-mats,

-ladies’ work-baskets, and many articles, merely

-ornamental, of superior workmanship and most

-beautifully stained.</p>

-

-<p>There was something in his whole demeanor

-that was both modest and prepossessing&mdash;quite

-the reverse of street-venders in general.</p>

-

-<p>“There,” said he, “is a market-basket that

-would be very handy on board ship; and here,”&mdash;producing

-a basket nearly square, and with partings

-in it for tumblers,&mdash;“is an article that would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>

-be very convenient on a cabin table, or in a ship’s

-pantry. Many of my articles are made for vessels’

-use, as I deal much with seafaring men.”</p>

-

-<p>Arthur Brown, who was of quick sympathies,

-was interested in the old gentleman, and touched

-by seeing a man of his years, apparently infirm,

-thus employed, felt inclined to converse, especially

-as he spoke English.</p>

-

-<p>“This is beautiful work,” he observed. “I have

-seen a great deal of it in England and Germany,

-where excellent work is made, but never any

-superior to this. You are surely master of your

-business.”</p>

-

-<p>“I should be, considering I have been at it for

-the greater part of my life since I was twelve

-years old, and we have no knowledge that any of

-our ancestors were ever anything but weavers of

-sallies,&mdash;that’s what we call the rods the baskets

-are made of.”</p>

-

-<p>“You seem infirm. Have you been sick?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, captain; I am worn down with wounds

-and hardships, but, most of all, with a sore heart.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then you’ve been a soldier?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, sir; a sailor. I was born in Lincolnshire,

-England, in the fens. There my forefathers all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>

-lived and followed their trade. A happier man,

-sir, the sun never shone upon than myself. I had

-an affectionate wife,&mdash;a right godly woman, and

-thrifty,&mdash;and three children. I employed four,

-sometimes five men. My oldest child was a boy.

-He worked in the shop. We paid our rent easy,

-and were getting along nicely, when, in the midst

-of all this happiness, I was pressed, torn from my

-family, and put aboard a hulk. Wouldn’t you

-think, sir, that would break a man down?”</p>

-

-<p>“I should, indeed, my friend,” replied Captain

-Brown, greatly moved, “and I feel for you, from

-the bottom of my heart.”</p>

-

-<p>The tears were running down little Ned’s

-cheeks as he sat propped up on the hen-coop.</p>

-

-<p>“It must have been long ago,” continued the

-captain.</p>

-

-<p>“Not so very long, sir. Only about ten years.”</p>

-

-<p>“Indeed!”</p>

-

-<p>“How old might you take me to be, sir?”</p>

-

-<p>“Sixty, or thereabouts.”</p>

-

-<p>“I am but forty-seven. Ought to be in my

-prime. But O, sir, to have a wife and family, and

-be forever separated from them, in a strange land,

-and not know whether they are dead or alive, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>

-whether they are in distress or not,&mdash;only to know

-that they are dead to you, and you to them,&mdash;it

-keeps gnawing at the heart-strings.”</p>

-

-<p>“It must, indeed. But how did you get clear

-from the navy?”</p>

-

-<p>“It was near the close of the American war.

-The frigate I belonged to was in action with a

-French seventy-four. I was wounded and flung

-overboard for dead. The cold water revived me,

-and I clung to the wreck of our spars, which were

-shot away. The French vessel won the battle,

-being a much heavier ship. I was picked up,

-brought ashore at Toulon, and lay a long time in

-the hospital, wishing for death; but I recovered,

-and since then have, though feeble, made a living

-by my trade. The people here are very kind.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is your name, my friend?”</p>

-

-<p>“Bell&mdash;John Bell, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, that is the name of the man who built

-this vessel, and is part owner.”</p>

-

-<p>“Indeed, sir, I hope he is a happier man than

-I am.”</p>

-

-<p>“He is a happy man, and deserves to be, for he

-tries to make others happy.”</p>

-

-<p>The captain bought a good many articles of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>

-basket-maker, and then sent him forward among

-the crew, who purchased so largely that there

-remained but very little to carry away. Peterson

-bought a work-basket for Captain Rhines’s wife,

-and Enoch Hadlock another for old Mrs. Yelf.</p>

-

-<p>Walter was away, for, as he could speak French,

-the captain had sent him to make some purchases

-for him. Walter, indeed, had plenty of business

-in this way, being spokesman for all hands.</p>

-

-<p>The captain insisted upon the basket-maker

-stopping to supper; but something in his appearance

-prevented him from offering him money as a

-gift,&mdash;he felt it might wound his feelings,&mdash;but

-he gave him a cordial invitation to come on board

-and eat or sleep, whenever his business led him in

-that direction. The next night, when Walter

-went over to see Ned, he mentioned the circumstance

-of the basket-maker’s coming on board,

-showed him his purchases, and told him he was an

-Englishman, and that his name was Bell. This

-excited Walter’s curiosity. He inquired further

-about it, and Ned, who had been deeply touched

-by the man’s pitiful story, repeated the whole conversation

-between him and the captain, word for

-word. When he concluded, Walter sat for a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>

-moments, with his hands clasped over his knees,

-as though striving to recall something.</p>

-

-<p>At length he said, “Ned Gates, as sure as you

-are lying on that bed, the basket-maker is our

-Charlie Bell’s father.”</p>

-

-<p>“Charlie Bell’s father?” said Ned, sitting bolt

-upright, and then screaming at the twinge the

-effort occasioned, because of his wound.</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, Charlie Bell’s father.”</p>

-

-<p>“But the man is an Englishman.”</p>

-

-<p>“So is Charlie Bell.”</p>

-

-<p>“I never knew that before.”</p>

-

-<p>“He was an English boy; came to Elm Island

-as poor as he could be, with some bad men,&mdash;but

-he didn’t know they were bad when he started,&mdash;that

-came to rob; but they came to the wrong

-place, for Lion Ben most killed ‘em, kept the boy,

-and brought him up. I’ve heard our Joe and Mr.

-Williams tell about it a thousand times.”</p>

-

-<p>“What if it should turn out to be so?”</p>

-

-<p>“I tell you it is so; I’m certain sure it is. His

-father was a basket-maker, and was pressed; I

-heard Mr. Williams say so; and when they were

-boys, Charlie, Mr. Bell, and John Rhines used to

-make baskets, and Mr. Williams sold ‘em at the mill;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>

-and when I first went to tend store for him, there

-were some of ‘em in the store.”</p>

-

-<p>“If your Joe or Mr. Williams were only here,

-we could ask them, and know all about it.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, Joe, they said, used to live on Elm Island

-half the time before he was married. I remember

-another thing Joe said.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is that?”</p>

-

-<p>“He said he made baskets of willows, and colored

-them red, blue, and green, real handsome,

-and said that was the way they did in England.”</p>

-

-<p>“But the basket-maker said, if I remember

-right, that it was about ten years ago, and that

-his son was large enough to work in the shop at

-light work. O, Walter, wouldn’t I be glad, and

-wouldn’t the captain be glad (when Mr. Bell

-saved our lives), to be the means of taking his

-father home to him?”</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t you think somebody else would be glad

-too, you little monkey, you?”</p>

-

-<p>“The boys didn’t sleep much that night, having

-worked each other up to such a state of excitement.

-In the morning Walter went on board, full

-of the news, and opened the whole matter to the

-captain, who was as much astonished as Ned; being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>

-entirely ignorant of the antecedents of Charlie,

-he supposed him a native of the country.

-After patiently listening with the deepest interest

-to all that Walter had to say, he acknowledged

-that the probabilities were very strong, but, much

-less sanguine, did not express a very decided

-opinion.</p>

-

-<p>“He said he had a wife and three children,” observed

-the captain; “what became of them? were

-they ever at Elm Island?”</p>

-

-<p>Walter had never heard them mentioned; but

-he was very young when Charlie came to Elm

-Island, and might not have heard half that occurred.

-Captain Brown turned the matter over in

-his mind, and conversed with Walter, who daily

-recollected some fresh corroborating circumstance,

-till at length he determined, the next time the basket-maker

-came on board, to broach the matter to

-him, even at the risk of exciting unfounded hopes.

-Day after day they expected his appearance; but

-he came not. Walter searched the streets and

-piers, but in vain.</p>

-

-<p>The time of year now drew on when periodical

-gales were expected, and the vessel would be

-likely to go to sea.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“He may be sick, Walter,” said Ned; “for he

-looked pale and half sick the day he was aboard.”</p>

-

-<p>“He may be dead,” said Walter; “and we

-never should know it, in this great city. I wish I

-had seen him; if he was Charlie Bell’s father, I

-could tell; I know I could see something of the

-look.”</p>

-

-<p>“I saw, when he pulled his hat off,” said Ned,

-“that his hair, where it was not gray, is the same

-color as Charlie’s.”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XIV.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">A STRANGE DISCOVERY.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap05">CAPTAIN BROWN had employed Jacques

-Bernoux, the French fisherman, to get the

-spy-glass Walter had forgotten and left on the rock,

-and he came on board, one morning, to bring it.</p>

-

-<p>“Do you know a man who goes about the

-piers and streets selling baskets? an old man,

-and an Englishman?” said Walter.</p>

-

-<p>“John Bell?”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s the name.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; pass his place every day going to my

-boat.”</p>

-

-<p>“Will you ask him to come on board the vessel

-to-morrow?” asked the captain.</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>Early the next morning the basket-maker

-made his appearance with a large burden of

-baskets; he had been so engaged manufacturing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>

-that it kept him out of the streets&mdash;the reason

-that Walter couldn’t find him.</p>

-

-<p>The captain, taking him into the cabin, said,

-“My friend, when you was here, a few days ago,

-you gave me some particulars of your life. This

-young man, Mr. Griffin, my mate, was not present;

-but having heard what then passed between us,

-he has not a doubt but that Charles Bell, who

-built and is part owner of this vessel, is your

-oldest son. As for myself, residing in another part

-of the country, I have no personal knowledge of

-the circumstances; but I must say that as related

-by him, they seem to me most probable.

-But you can hear what he has to say about it,

-and judge for yourself.”</p>

-

-<p>While the captain was speaking, the basket-maker

-became very pale, trembled, and big tears

-rolled down his hollow cheeks.</p>

-

-<p>“For the sake of Heaven, captain,” he exclaimed,

-“do not raise in this sad heart hopes that may

-have no foundation. I’ve made up my mind to

-endure the worst, as God shall give me strength,

-till I lay these bones in the grave.”</p>

-

-<p>“I am the last person to do that; but I have

-been turning the subject over in my mind ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>

-since you were here last, and the more I reflect

-upon the young man’s story, the more the probability

-of it grows upon me.”</p>

-

-<p>The basket-maker, hearing these words, made

-a sign to Walter, who gave him substantially the

-same statement he had made to Ned and the

-captain. The old man was deeply affected; he

-evidently saw strong grounds for believing the

-person described was his child, but was fearful

-of cherishing a premature hope.</p>

-

-<p>“I can bear what I have borne,” he said, “but

-the disappointment would drive me mad. You

-say, young man, that you have known this person

-intimately?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir, as well as it’s possible for one person

-to know another.”</p>

-

-<p>“And that his name is Charles?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“What’s his age?”</p>

-

-<p>“I think about twenty-three.”</p>

-

-<p>“My son, if living, would be twenty-three next

-Michaelmas. What sort of a looking man is this

-Charles Bell?”</p>

-

-<p>“Hair, eyes, and complexion just like yours,

-but he is not so large a man as you are.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Those are the features of my boy,” replied

-the old man, evidently gaining confidence as he

-continued his inquiries.</p>

-

-<p>“You say you didn’t know this Charles Bell

-when he first came to Elm Island, and this Mr.

-Rhines and his wife took him.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, sir; I was too young; but I’ve heard my

-brother talk about it.”</p>

-

-<p>“My boy,” said the old man, “was a most loving

-boy, very much attached to his mother. I don’t

-believe he would leave her and his brother and

-sister. You never heard him mention his parents

-or family&mdash;did you?”</p>

-

-<p>“This Charles Bell’s mother is dead. I never

-heard him speak of any brother or sister.”</p>

-

-<p>“How do you know his mother is dead?”</p>

-

-<p>“Because, sir, he went to St. John’s two or

-three years ago, brought her body from there, and

-buried it on his place, under an elm tree&mdash;a beautiful

-spot. I’ve seen it a hundred times.”</p>

-

-<p>The old man’s countenance fell. “It cannot

-be,” he said, “that my wife, with young children

-and small means, would leave England, and all her

-and my relations, and go to the colonies; and yet

-the time, circumstances, and personal appearance

-of the young man tally precisely.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“I know it’s your son,” said Walter; “nobody

-can make me believe it ain’t. He looks as much

-like you as my two hands look alike, saving the

-difference in age, and his voice is like yours.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do you expect to come here again, captain?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, if we get off clear this time, and can run

-the gantlet. You know it is all luck and chance

-with us.”</p>

-

-<p>“I can send a letter by you, and that will remove

-all doubts, and settle the whole matter.”</p>

-

-<p>“But I hoped you would feel sure enough to

-take passage with us. You can do better in the

-States than here.”</p>

-

-<p>“I could not bear to go over there expecting

-to meet a son, and be disappointed. I’m making

-a very good living here.”</p>

-

-<p>“I think you’d better go.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, captain, I’ve about as much as I can

-carry at present, and am somewhat confused. I

-will go about my regular business the rest of the

-day; that will steady my mind; and perhaps I may

-think of some question that this young man can

-answer, that will throw more light on the matter;

-and I will be on board again in the morning.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Resisting all solicitations to stop to dinner, the

-old man departed with his load.</p>

-

-<p>“I know it’s his son,” said Walter, as they were

-eating dinner. “I feel it in my bones, and I think

-we ought to persuade him to go.”</p>

-

-<p>“I have not much doubt,” replied the captain.

-“People are always emigrating from England to

-St. John’s and Canada. Her relatives might have

-gone, and taken her with them. I shall persuade

-him in the morning to go, if I can.”</p>

-

-<p>The second mate, who was a Marblehead man,

-and had listened to the conversation, now inquired,

-“Don’t all this crew belong right there?

-and wouldn’t they be likely to know more about

-it than Mr. Griffin? Most of them are much older

-than he is.”</p>

-

-<p>“To be sure they would,” cried Walter.

-“There’s Danforth Eaton helped clear Elm Island

-when Charlie Bell first came there; then there’s

-Peterson, and Enoch Hadlock,&mdash;what a ninny I

-was not to think of that before he went away!&mdash;there’s

-not <i>one</i> of them but knows more about

-his <i>first</i> coming there than I do.”</p>

-

-<p>Leaving his dinner, Walter ran forward, and

-soon returned, saying that Eaton knew all about it.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>When John Bell came on board the next morning,

-he seemed calm, collected, and much more

-hopeful. Sending for Eaton, the captain said to

-him, “Eaton, I want you to tell us all you know

-about Charles Bell’s coming to Elm Island, and

-about his parents, if you know or have heard anything

-about them, and I want you to begin at the

-bottom.”</p>

-

-<p>“What I know, cap’n, isn’t hearsay, but I had

-it all from his own lips.”</p>

-

-<p>“So much the better.”</p>

-

-<p>“You see, cap’n, about that time there was

-some Tories come up from the provinces&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“We know,” said the captain, interrupting

-him, “how he got to the island; but what we are

-most concerned to ascertain is, who his parents

-were, and how he came into the hands of those

-pirates (for they were no better) who brought

-him to Elm Island. Can you tell us anything

-about that?”</p>

-

-<p>“Reckon I kin tell you all about it; but I must

-tell it in my own way. If you keep putting in

-and interrupting me, I shall get all mixed up.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, go on.”</p>

-

-<p>“You see, arter this boy come on the island,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>

-Lion Ben he hires me and Joe Griffin, the next

-winter, to cut spars and clear land. Charlie Bell

-was a little, slender, half-starved, pitiful-looking

-creatur’, then, but he was willing and clever, and

-soon begun to pick up. Most of the winter he

-drove the team; but along in March, when it was

-bad hauling, he helped me chop. I tapped a

-maple, to have sap to drink while I was chopping.

-One day we comes into the woods arter dinner,

-and before we went to work, sot down by the sap

-tree, in the sun. I sets on a stump, same as where

-that stool is, and he on another, same as where

-that old gentleman is setting. I takes a good

-drink of the sap, and hands the dipper to him; says

-I, ‘Charlie, tell me your history, or part of it, like

-as you did Joe and Fred Williams.’ He didn’t want

-ter, but I coaxed him. Then he said, the way his

-father come to be pressed, was all through another

-man, that courted his mother when she was a

-gal, but she liked his father better; he couldn’t

-give her up, and allers hild that old grudge agin

-his father. He said his father had agreed to work

-for the government, and if he had only got his

-name on the roll, couldn’t have been touched any

-more than if he had been a peer of the kingdom.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>

-This feller, I forget his name&mdash;” “Robert Rankin,”

-said the basket-maker. “That’s it, old man,

-by jingo,&mdash;who thought, if he was out of the way,

-he could get her, after all,&mdash;told the press-gang,

-and they took him as he was on the road to the

-place where he would have been safe.”</p>

-

-<p>The tears were streaming down John Bell’s

-cheeks, and his hands were lifted in gratitude to

-Heaven; but he would not interrupt Eaton by a

-question.</p>

-

-<p>“He said, soon arter his father was gone, he

-was killed in an action, and his mother carried on

-the business for a while; but this feller kept prosecutin’

-her, and wantin’ her to have him, till she

-couldn’t stand it any longer. So she packed up

-everything, and went to St. John’s, where she had

-a brother; but when she got there, he’d gone to

-furrin parts, and she took sick and died. Then

-the boy, destitute and wandering about the streets

-and docks to pick up a living, fell inter the hands

-of them are reprobates, thinking they were honest

-fishermen, and went cook for them. The rest you

-say you know. Good as a story-book&mdash;ain’t it?”</p>

-

-<p>“Eaton,” said the captain, sternly, “this is Mr.

-Bell’s father.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“His <i>father</i>! Then he wasn’t killed. I didn’t

-dream of that, or I shouldn’t have spoken like as I

-did. I see now he favors him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Did he tell you,” asked the father, “what became

-of the other children?”</p>

-

-<p>“I axed him if there was any more of ‘em. He

-said his mother’s relations took ‘em.”</p>

-

-<p>There was an oppressive pause in the conversation

-after Eaton had gone forward. John Bell sat

-with his handkerchief over his face, while the others,

-respecting his emotions, were silent.</p>

-

-<p>“No doubt, there can be none,” he said, at

-length, “that my poor wife is dead&mdash;God only

-knows what she suffered, in poverty and among

-strangers; that two of my children&mdash;whether

-alive or dead I know not&mdash;are in England, and

-that the other is in America. I may yet see <i>him</i>.

-I ought to be thankful for that.”</p>

-

-<p>“Your son, Mr. Bell,” said the captain, “is well

-to do; able to provide you with every comfort;

-and, what is more, respected and beloved.”</p>

-

-<p>“And he owns land?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; six hundred acres.”</p>

-

-<p>“That seems like a dream to me, for none of our

-folks ever owned a foot of land. I always loved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>

-the earth, and loved to work on it, even when it

-was the freehold of another. I feel there may yet

-be some happiness in store for me.”</p>

-

-<p>“You are not an old man yet, Mr. Bell,” said

-the captain, “and good news and good spirits will

-make you ten years younger; so bring all your

-things on board, and prepare to go with us, the

-first gale that scatters the blockaders.”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t suppose there is any doubt now. I

-know there can’t be. Still, you know a person in

-my situation feels they can’t be too certain; and

-there is just one thing more that has come to

-mind since I was here. I would like to ask of this

-young man whether he ever noticed any scar on

-my son’s face.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir,” replied Walter; “it is on his right

-jaw, and close to his ear,&mdash;runs up behind the

-ear, into his hair.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then I’ll indulge no more in doubt. It would

-be ungrateful. I never shall forget when he received

-the cut that made that scar, it frightened

-me so. Though it was long ago, it seems but the

-other day.”</p>

-

-<p>“How did it happen, Mr. Bell?” asked Walter.</p>

-

-<p>“I suppose you never saw any basket rods

-growing?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“No, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“In England, we plant them in rows, three feet

-apart, and as straight as an arrow. They grow

-seven or eight feet high, and make a nice place

-for the children to play. I was cutting the sallies

-with a large knife, as sharp as a razor. My little

-children, with their cousins, who had come to see

-them, were playing hide-and-seek among the rows,

-when Charlie ran in the way of my knife, and I

-cut a dreadful gash in his cheek, that made that

-scar. And now I will leave you, and make my

-preparations for the voyage.”</p>

-

-<p>“Not till you have taken dinner with us,” said

-the captain; “and, Mr. Bell, I expect you to make

-the vessel your home, and sleep here whenever it

-suits your convenience.”</p>

-

-<p>“Thank you, captain. My quarters on shore

-are not so spacious or elegant that I should feel

-inclined to refuse so handsome and hearty an

-offer.”</p>

-

-<p>When the meal was concluded, Mr. Bell went on

-shore.</p>

-

-<p>“Only see,” said Walter, looking after him, as

-he went up the pier, “how quick he steps, and

-how much straighter he is.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“There’s a new heart in him,” said the captain.

-“He’s something to live for and look forward to

-now. In a week’s time he’ll be another man. As

-far as I am concerned, I had rather carry <i>him</i>

-home, than the richest cargo. And now, Mr. Griffin,

-run up and tell the good news to Ned.”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XV.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">HOMEWARD BOUND.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">NED had of late recovered rapidly, could walk

-quite well, and was on board the vessel

-very often, and went about the city some; but the

-doctor advised that he should not go on board the

-vessel to live till she was ready to sail. Ned had

-not seen Walter since his promotion, but Peterson

-had been up and informed him of it.</p>

-

-<p>“Well, Ned,” said Walter, as he entered the

-room, “it has turned out just as I told you it

-would; the basket-maker is Charlie’s father, and

-no mistake.”</p>

-

-<p>“I am so glad, Mr. Griffin! and he will go back

-with us&mdash;won’t he?”</p>

-

-<p>“Ned, my boy, just leave that handle off, and

-call me Walter, as you always did. It makes me

-sick.”</p>

-

-<p>“But you are mate now; Peterson told me so.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“What of that? When we are on board ship,

-call me what you like; but not when we are alone,

-as we are now, you little monkey,” patting his

-cheek.</p>

-

-<p>“We shan’t sleep together any more,” said Ned,

-in a desponding tone.</p>

-

-<p>“No, Ned, I shall have to live aft; and that is

-not the worst of it; we shall now be in different

-watches.”</p>

-

-<p>“I know it. I shall be in Mr. Baxter’s watch.

-And we used to have such good times in our

-watch on deck, talking about home, Pleasant Cove,

-and all the folks there. Walter, who do you like

-best of all the folks there, out of your own

-family?”</p>

-

-<p>“Charlie Bell.”</p>

-

-<p>“So do I, and well I might. He saved my life.

-Ain’t he handsome?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; and just as good as he is handsome. A

-first rate wrestler&mdash;there’s none of the young

-ones can throw him but John Rhines and Ben

-Peterson.”</p>

-

-<p>“What, this Ben aboard here?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m afraid, if I call you Walter all the time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>

-when we are alone, that I shall forget to put the

-Sir on sometimes before the men.”</p>

-

-<p>“If you do, I shan’t hit you on the head with a

-belaying pin.”</p>

-

-<p>“I tell you what I could do, Walter.”</p>

-

-<p>“What?”</p>

-

-<p>“I might swap watches with Enoch Hadlock.

-He is in your watch.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, you <i>could</i>, but I wouldn’t.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why not? Then we should be in the same

-watch again, and we could walk the deck, and

-talk, and have good times together, as we used to.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll tell you, Ned; if you should swap watches

-with Hadlock, and get into my watch, it would

-make trouble. If I happened to give you a soft

-job, and somebody else a hard one, they would say

-I was partial&mdash;made fish of one, and flesh of

-another.”</p>

-

-<p>“I never thought of that.”</p>

-

-<p>“We shouldn’t be together any more for being

-in the same watch. You would be forward, and I

-should be aft.”</p>

-

-<p>“Shouldn’t we be together when it was my

-trick at the helm?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, but we couldn’t talk. It is against the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>

-rules of the ship, and very unseamanlike, for an

-officer, or anybody, to make talk with a man at the

-helm. You couldn’t come aft to talk with me, and

-if I should go forward to talk with you, it would

-make growling directly, and set all the men

-against you.”</p>

-

-<p>“I see how it is,” said Ned, sadly. “The good

-times are all over. There’s going to be a great,

-high, solid wall, reaching clear up to the sky, built

-right up between us.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, not so bad as that, Ned. There will be

-cracks and chinks in it, where we can peek

-through, and boys must change into men some

-time or other.”</p>

-

-<p>“I suppose so, Walter; but I wish the change

-had not come quite yet.”</p>

-

-<p>“I wish so, too. There’s time enough for me

-these some years yet. But it would never have

-done for me to refuse the berth when it was

-offered me. It would have looked as though I did

-not know how to appreciate kind treatment, and I

-should never have had another offer. We can’t

-have everything and keep everything.”</p>

-

-<p>The ambitions, cares, and responsibilities of

-practical life lay a ruthless hand upon the sympathies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>

-and yearnings of young hearts, and the conversation

-of the boys may, to the minds of older

-persons who read these pages, recall similar experiences,

-when the relations of master and servant

-were rudely thrust between playfellows and near

-friends.</p>

-

-<p>“Cheer up, Ned,” said Walter, noticing the

-downcast looks of his friend; “we will sleep together

-once more, at any rate. I’m going to stay

-here to-night, and take you aboard with me in the

-morning; that’s the order.”</p>

-

-<p>When they were snug in bed, Ned lay for a

-long time silent. Walter thought him asleep, and

-had just begun to doze himself, when he was

-roused by Ned exclaiming, abruptly, “I’m sure I

-shouldn’t want to be a king.”</p>

-

-<p>“Nor I either; I don’t believe in ‘em; but what

-in the world has put that into your head just

-now?”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, I have been thinking over all the good

-times we’ve had when we were in the same

-watch, slept in the same berth, and ate out of the

-same kid. In good weather we could sit side by

-side under the lee of the boat, or under the rail,

-and talk and enjoy ourselves. In our forenoon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>

-watch below, we could comb each other’s hair,

-tie our cues, read and study navigation; then, being

-in the same watch, we always got liberty

-ashore together. Right in the midst of all these

-good times comes up this chief mate’s affair, takes

-you right away from me, and sticks you up on the

-quarter-deck. It’s no longer Ned and Walter; O,

-no; it’s Mr. Griffin and Gates. I can’t speak to

-you, for fear the men should think I was currying

-favor; you can’t speak to me, lest there should be

-growling about partiality. O, I shouldn’t want

-to be a king, to be stuck up for everybody to look

-at, and nobody to love. If people obeyed me, I

-should know it was because they couldn’t help it;

-if they pretended to love me, I should be sure

-they lied.”</p>

-

-<p>“But I ain’t a king, Ned.”</p>

-

-<p>“No; but you are a mate, and if just being a

-mate is going to make such an awful gap, what

-must being a king make? It must be a lonesome

-thing to be a king.”</p>

-

-<p>“What a queer fellow you are, Ned! I always

-thought you were about as spunky and ambitious

-a boy as I ever knew. You wouldn’t want to be

-a boy always&mdash;would you?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“No; I don’t know as I should want to be

-<i>always</i> a boy; but I don’t like stepping over the

-edge all of a sudden; at any rate, I don’t like to

-see everybody else stepping over, and leaving me

-to be boy alone.”</p>

-

-<p>“Perhaps you’ll get to be second mate next voyage,

-and then we can be together again.”</p>

-

-<p>“I might if I was older, or if I was only a Griffin,

-or a Murch, or a Rhines, who are as big when

-they are seventeen as others when they are men

-grown. Here you are, a great fellow, your feet

-sticking out of bed, while my toes are only down

-to your knees.”</p>

-

-<p>“But you are growing all the time; you can

-steer a good trick now, and do anything that

-your strength is equal to, as well as any man in

-the vessel; you must be patient, Ned.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, if I was only a little bigger, so that I could

-furl the royal in wet weather, or when it blows

-hard! I didn’t use to care so much for you, but

-I should so hate to have any of the crew come up

-to help me!”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll have a bunt-line rove for it.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, thank you; then I can handle it any time.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ned, do you think it is the beef makes the

-man?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Not altogether; but I think there must be

-more beef than I’ve got.”</p>

-

-<p>“That is a fault that will be daily mending: see

-how much you’ve done since you left home; you

-have obtained a very good knowledge of navigation.”</p>

-

-<p>“I shouldn’t have done so much, if I had not

-been wounded. I have had lots of time to study

-since I have been getting better; so there’s some

-good come out of it. That’s just what mother’s

-always saying&mdash;every thing is for the best. I

-wonder if she’d been here the night I was hit,

-if she would have thought <i>that</i> was for the

-best.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll warrant she’ll think it is all for the best,

-Ned, when you get home safe and sound.”</p>

-

-<p>“That she will, when she gets me in that old

-bed again, prays with me and kisses me. Ain’t

-I a great baby, Walter?”</p>

-

-<p>“Not a bit of it, Ned; you’re just right.”</p>

-

-<p>“I wish I was good, Wal, just to please my

-mother, it’s all she thinks about.”</p>

-

-<p>“I wish <i>I</i> was, just to please Charlie Bell; at

-any rate, we’ll do the best we can.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, Wal, it’s nothing at all to be good here,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>

-with such a crew as this, all nice, steady men,

-well brought up. You never sailed in an old

-country vessel&mdash;did you?”</p>

-

-<p>“No; I have only sailed with just such a crew

-as we have here, and part of them are the same

-men.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then you don’t know anything about it.

-Such a set of reprobates as we had in that ship

-I was cast away in, cursing, swearing, fighting

-all the time; the captain never came on deck

-without his pistols in his pockets; half the crew

-didn’t know who their father or mother was; the

-crew were fighting among themselves, and the

-captain quarrelling with his mates, full of liquor

-all the time; and such deviltry as they tried to

-put into my head! I tell you, Walter, there

-was not the least need of that ship being lost

-(and I heard Mr. Brown tell Captain Rhines the

-same thing); the men might have kept her free

-just as well as not; we were not far from land.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why didn’t they, then?”</p>

-

-<p>In the first place, the men were harassed to

-death, kept out of their watch, working up jobs

-all the time, and half starved; the captain’s idea

-seemed to be to keep them so used up that they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>

-wouldn’t have strength or pluck to rise and take

-the ship from him, and it came back on his own

-head; they hadn’t strength enough, when the

-ship sprung a-leak, to work the pumps; and besides,

-they were so worn out, and hated him so,

-that they were desperate, thought it was their

-turn now, and if they could only drown him,

-they didn’t care what became of themselves. I

-tell you, Wal, I think, when a boy is away from

-home, and thrown into bad places and bad

-company, it makes a good deal of difference

-how he’s been brought up, and whether he’s

-come of nice folks.”</p>

-

-<p>“I guess it does, Ned, because he has a good

-character to sustain, and thinks, when he’s tempted,

-‘How can I disgrace my folks? what would

-my parents, brothers and sisters say? and how

-would they feel if I should do this thing?’ Then

-there’s another thing comes of being well brought

-up.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is that, Wal?”</p>

-

-<p>“A boy that has been well brought up, and

-has learning, has hopes; he knows he can make

-something of himself, and means to; whereas

-those poor fellows, who, as you say, didn’t know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>

-who their fathers and mothers were, had no ambition

-or hope of ever rising, and so made up their

-minds to enjoy themselves after their own fashion.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s so, for I’ve heard them say so. There

-was one of them, my watch-mate, Dick Cameron,

-a very decent fellow when the rum was out of

-him, and I used to talk with him; but all he would

-say was, ‘It’s all well for you, who have learning,

-and friends, and a chance to be something; but it’s

-no use for me.’”</p>

-

-<p>“How big a man was Dick Cameron?”</p>

-

-<p>“What do you mean by that?”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, I mean, how much did he weigh?”</p>

-

-<p>“O, he was a stout, thick-set man&mdash;the strongest

-man in the ship, and always took the bunt of a

-sail. I shouldn’t wonder if he weighed nearly

-two hundred.”</p>

-

-<p>“Now, see; it’s just as I told you a while ago.

-It isn’t beef that makes a man, but it’s pluck,

-knowledge, and good principles.”</p>

-

-<p>“And friends.”</p>

-

-<p>“He’ll have friends if he has those things.

-They will raise him up friends anywhere. Here

-you are, fretting because you don’t weigh two

-hundred, like Dick Cameron, and are not twenty-one.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>

-But if anything should happen to the officers

-of this vessel, all this crew of twenty great,

-stout men, second mate and all, couldn’t get this

-vessel home. They would have to fall back on

-Ned Gates, if he hasn’t got any cue to speak of,

-and can’t furl the royal when it blows hard, and

-the sail is wet and heavy.”</p>

-

-<p>“I won’t whine any more, Walter.”</p>

-

-<p>“It wouldn’t make one farthing’s difference as

-to age or size, with such a crew as this, all neighbors.

-If you are only modest, and know your

-duty, they would take pride in seeing you go

-ahead.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, I won’t feel so any more. Let us talk

-about something else.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll tell you when we can get together, and it

-will be nobody’s business.”</p>

-

-<p>“When?”</p>

-

-<p>“When the voyage is up, then you can go home

-with me to my house.”</p>

-

-<p>“But shall we have time before the vessel goes

-again?”</p>

-

-<p>“Plenty. They will have to pick up a cargo.

-The articles to carry, many of them, have to be

-imported from other countries&mdash;the salt-petre

-from England or the East Indies.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Wouldn’t I like it? Wouldn’t I have the best

-time that ever was in this world?”</p>

-

-<p>“You better believe it.”</p>

-

-<p>“I shall see Charlie Bell and his wife, and the

-baby, Lion Ben, Uncle Isaac, and old Tige.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, and I’ll get Uncle Isaac, our Joe, and

-Charlie Bell to go hunting with us. It will be

-right in bear time, and about town-meeting time,

-and they’ll have a wrestling match. Our Joe is

-champion, but father can throw him; only he’s

-done wrestling in the ring. But I suppose, if any

-stranger came along, as Ricker did, he’d take hold,

-for the credit of the place. But father never saw

-the day he was so stout as grandfather. Did you

-ever see my grandsir?”</p>

-

-<p>“No, I never saw any of your folks but Joe.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, he’s an old man now, but you can see, by

-his great bones and cords, as big as an ox’s, what

-he was once. When Hen, and I, and Will were

-little boys, he used to get us up in the floor, and

-set us to wrestling.”</p>

-

-<p>“I shouldn’t think an old man would care about

-wrestling and such things.”</p>

-

-<p>“He ain’t old <i>inside</i>; no older than ever he was.

-O, I’ll tell you the funniest thing. You must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>

-know, we milk seven cows, and have awful big

-churnings. One rainy day mother had our great

-churn, full of cream, sitting in the chimney corner,

-because it was a rainy day, and father was going

-to churn for her. Grandsir he ties a string to

-the churn handle, sat in his chair, and held the

-end of it, and told us boys to jump over it, and

-see which could jump the highest. Every little

-while he would put the string up a little higher.

-It was Hen’s turn to jump, and just as he was

-going over, grandsir twitched up the string, and

-caught his feet. Over went the churn, the cover

-came out, and there was that cream all over the

-floor. Grandsir was too old to get out of the

-way; it filled his shoes full, ran into the fireplace,

-and soaked Hen all through in front before he

-could get up. The dog lay asleep before the fire.

-It ran all over him. He jumped up, and went all

-round the room, switching his tail, and flinging the

-cream over everything. We laughed; it frightened

-the baby; he began to scream, and you

-never saw such a scrape.”</p>

-

-<p>“What did your mother say?”</p>

-

-<p>“She didn’t say much. She is one of the best

-mothers that ever was, always one way. She isn’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>

-religious, like your mother, ‘cause there ain’t any

-religion in our folks. She is too good to have

-such a tearing set of boys round her.”</p>

-

-<p>“Will you go in the woods, and camp out? I

-never was in the big woods. There ain’t any

-woods round Salem.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, there’s woods enough round our way.

-It’s all woods. You can get bear’s grease enough

-to make your cue grow three inches a night, and

-eat bear’s meat till you grow big enough to fill up

-the boots of a second mate. Come, let’s go to

-sleep.”</p>

-

-<p>When they went on board in the morning, the

-wind was blowing fresh, and the sea beginning to

-heave into the roadstead.</p>

-

-<p>The captain made his way to the observatory

-(taking Walter with him), from which he enjoyed

-a view of the roadstead and all in it. Here he

-sat, watching the blockading fleet with all the interest

-with which a beleaguered rat contemplates

-the movements of his enemy, the cat. Ned Gates

-had been despatched to find Mr. Bell, and tell him

-to get his things on board the vessel, accompanied

-by the fisherman’s boy as pilot. Ned traversed

-alleys and by-ways, till, in the dark, damp basement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>

-of a squalid tenement he found the object

-of his search. It was a wretched place, the walls

-low and dripping with moisture; in one corner

-was a large trough, nearly full of water, in which

-the willow rods lay soaking, in order to make them

-pliable to work; the floor was littered with pieces

-of willows, of all colors, which had been trimmed

-off; the walls were hung all round with willows,

-stripped into thin shavings, and made into skeins.

-In another corner was a rough berth, built up

-like those on shipboard, where the old gentleman

-slept, and on a shelf, at the head of it, his Bible;

-evincing that, in his loneliness and sorrow, he

-found consolation in the Word of God. There was

-also a rusty stove, a few cooking utensils, a rickety

-table, and some rough chairs, made of willow

-with the bark on.</p>

-

-<p>The old gentleman was seated on a wooden platform,

-a little inclined, with his back against the wall,

-employed in finishing a basket of such delicate

-workmanship, such tastefully arranged and beautiful

-colors, as to elicit the most unbounded expressions

-of admiration from Ned.</p>

-

-<p>The old gentleman was evidently highly gratified

-with the praise bestowed upon his work.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“I am glad you like it,” said he; “I have spent

-a vast deal of time and work upon it; indeed, it is

-all I have done since I heard my son was living.

-I design it as a present for my daughter, if I am

-ever permitted to see her. It is said, self-praise

-goes but little ways; yet, when I was working at

-my trade in England, I had the reputation of doing

-the best work of any man in the fens, and that is

-saying a good deal. I used to think, when Charles

-was growing up, he would make a first-rate workman;

-but he has found better business than making

-baskets.”</p>

-

-<p>“He can do anything,” said Ned. “He can

-make a ship, a bedstead, or a fiddle.”</p>

-

-<p>“He takes that from his mother’s folks. They

-were shipwrights and joiners; but mine were all

-basket-makers, from the beginning. I’m going to

-take my tools, some basket-rods, and dye-stuffs; the

-rest I have given to a young man who learned his

-trade of me.”</p>

-

-<p>He then drew from a chest a pair of nice broad-cloth

-breeches, silk hose, and other things to correspond,

-a nice pair of shoes, with silver buckles,

-and, arraying himself, accompanied Ned on board

-the vessel.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>The gale increased as the day wore away.</p>

-

-<p>“There they go,” said the captain, as one of the

-frigates loosed her topsails and made sail.</p>

-

-<p>“I reckon,” said Walter, “they’ll find that when

-the cat’s away the mice will play.”</p>

-

-<p>The frigate was soon followed by another, till

-at length only the line-of-battle ship remained.

-Long she held on against a tremendous sea, till,

-at length, Walter, who had taken her bearings

-over a projecting point, exclaimed, “She drags;

-she will have to go.”</p>

-

-<p>In a few moments the men were seen mounting

-the rigging, and she also joined the rest. She,

-under short sail, drifted very fast to leeward. The

-frigates, carrying all the sail they could smother

-to, and sharper built, made desperate efforts to

-keep to windward, and did better, especially one

-which had been taken from the French, that outsailed

-all the rest; but they all gradually fell to

-leeward, leaving a clear offing.</p>

-

-<p>“Good by, dear friends,” said Captain Brown,

-highly elated with the turn matters were taking;

-“sorry to part, but your room is better than your

-company.”</p>

-

-<p>When the basket-maker made his appearance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>

-with Ned, he was scarcely recognized by the captain

-and Walter, so changed was his appearance,

-and so sprightly were his looks. Noticing their astonishment,

-he observed to the captain, “I had

-contrived to lay by a little, by prudence and hard

-work, for I couldn’t bear the thought of being a

-pauper in a foreign land, and that I might have

-somewhat to give me Christian burial; and I

-thought I would fix myself up a bit, that my son

-might not be ashamed of me, should I be spared to

-see him.”</p>

-

-<p>By twelve o’clock at night the gale moderated,

-the brigantine got under way, and as the sun rose

-was far beyond the reach of her enemies.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XVI.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">DEAR-BOUGHT WIT.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">NED had been accustomed, in all ordinary

-weather, to take his trick at the helm with

-the rest; but the captain would not permit it for

-the first fortnight out, greatly to the annoyance of

-Ned, who prided himself very much on being able

-to steer. Wheels were not in use then, and the

-old-fashioned tiller with which vessels were steered

-came against the hips, sometimes with a good deal

-of force, and the captain was fearful of causing

-Ned’s wound to break out again; neither would

-he permit him to stand his watch. All day he was

-on deck, pulled and hauled with the rest, and went

-aloft.</p>

-

-<p>As Ned didn’t care for turning in till nine, ten,

-or even twelve o’clock, of a pleasant night, when

-he had not been fatigued through the day, Mr.

-Bell&mdash;who was naturally inclined to make all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>

-inquiries possible about his son, and the new country

-to which he was going&mdash;sought out Ned in

-the pleasant evenings, and whiled away many an

-hour in conversation most interesting to both.

-Ned described the personal appearance of the son

-to his father, and also that of Lion Ben, told all the

-stories he had ever heard of his enormous strength,

-and his encounter with the pirates, recounted the

-beauties of Elm Island, of Charlie’s farm, and

-sketched the characters of Captain Rhines and

-Uncle Isaac. No doubt the virtues and attractions

-of Charlie received their just due in the description

-of so enthusiastic an admirer.</p>

-

-<p>“You say, Ned, that my son owns six hundred

-acres of land.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir; and a saw-mill on it; and the machinery

-came from England,&mdash;that is, the crank,

-saw, and mill chain.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, a man must be immensely rich to own

-so much land. There must be some mistake

-about it.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, sir, there ain’t; for Mr. Griffin, the mate’s

-brother, his next neighbor, told me so, and I’ve

-been in the mill. He owns more than that, sir;

-he owns part of this vessel, and part of the Casco<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>

-(a great mast ship of seven hundred tons), and one

-fourth of the Hard-scrabble; and he built the

-whole of them.”</p>

-

-<p>“I can’t understand how he came by so much

-money at his age, for he’s not much more than a

-boy now.”</p>

-

-<p>“Perhaps Lion Ben, Uncle Isaac, and Captain

-Rhines gave it to him, they think so much of him.”</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t believe that. People are not so fond

-of giving away money. There must be some mistake.

-All my forefathers have been prudent,

-hard-working people, and never one of them

-owned a foot of land.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, sir, I don’t know how it is, but I know <i>it

-is so</i>. I will call Danforth Eaton. He can explain

-it all, I dare say.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do, young man.”</p>

-

-<p>Eaton told Mr. Bell about the ventures that

-Charlie sent in the Ark, which gave him the first

-money he ever possessed; also about his learning

-the ship carpenter’s trade; and astonished the old

-gentleman by telling him that Charlie’s land cost

-only seventy-five cents an acre. He also told him

-about the building of the Hard-scrabble, and how

-much money she made. Upon these matters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>

-Eaton was an authority, as he had worked on all

-the vessels Charlie had built, and knew the whole

-matter from the beginning, whereas Walter Griffin

-was too young to be familiar with the events of

-Charlie’s boyhood, and the information of Ned was

-all second hand.</p>

-

-<p>As the voyage approached its termination, the

-excitement of the father increased. Ned was now

-able to stand his watch, and often, at twelve

-o’clock, the old gentleman would come on deck,

-and spend the remainder of the night talking with

-him and Eaton, and also with Peterson, whose acquaintance

-he had now made.</p>

-

-<p>When, by the captain’s reckoning, the vessel

-was nearly up with the land, and men were sent

-aloft to look out for it, he became quite nervous,

-thinking, perhaps, the happiness of possessing and

-meeting such a son was too great a boon. Again,

-he imagined that he might die before the vessel

-arrived, or that, after all, there might be some mistake.

-“God only knows what is in store for me,”

-he said, brushing the tear from his eye, as a joyous

-scream from the royal yard, in the shrill tones of

-Ned, proclaimed, “Land, O!”</p>

-

-<p>Let us now see what the unconscious object of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>

-all this solicitude is doing. He is about half way

-between his house and Uncle Isaac’s, walking at a

-smart pace, and with the air of one bound upon a

-long walk. It was early autumn. As he approached

-the house, he saw Uncle Isaac in the

-barn floor, winnowing grain in the primitive

-fashion.</p>

-

-<p>“Good afternoon, Charlie. Go into the house.

-I’ll be there in a moment. I’m almost through.”</p>

-

-<p>“I can’t stop, Uncle Isaac. I’m going farther.”</p>

-

-<p>“Where to?”</p>

-

-<p>“Over to Mr. Colcord’s, to look at a cow. He’s

-got seven. He told me I might have my pick of

-them for fifteen dollars.”</p>

-

-<p>“What! Jim Colcord?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>

-

-<p>“I wouldn’t have anything to do with him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why not?”</p>

-

-<p>“Because he’s the most narrow-contracted

-creetur that ever lived. He soaks out mackerel,

-and then takes the water to make hasty-pudding,

-in order to save the salt. Robert Yelf worked for

-him one year in haying time. Didn’t you never

-hear him tell about his jumping into the loaf of

-hot rye and Indian bread?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“No, sir; what did he do that for?”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll tell you. One day, his wife had cooked all

-her dinner in the brick oven, except some potatoes

-that she had baked in the ashes. She had baked

-beans, Indian pudding, a hind quarter of lamb, and

-a great loaf of rye and Indian bread in an iron

-pan that would hold a peck. He had a number of

-hands at work for him, getting hay. He’s rich

-the old screw, but so mean that he never allows

-himself or his family decent clothes, and always

-goes barefoot. He’s got a noble woman for a wife,

-too, as ever God made, and a nice family of children.”</p>

-

-<p>“I believe such men always get the best of

-wives.”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s a good deal so, Charlie, I guess. Well, as

-I was saying, coming into the house that day, just

-afore twelve o’clock, and seeing no pots or kettles

-on the fire, he took it into his head that his wife

-had made no preparation for dinner; that the

-men would come in at twelve, have to wait, and

-he should lose some time.”</p>

-

-<p>“Whereas,” said Charlie, “the dinner was all in

-the oven, and ready to be put on the table.”</p>

-

-<p>“Just so. He instantly began to jump up and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>

-down on the hearth, and curse and swear. His

-wife, who was scared to death of him, began to

-take the victuals out of the oven, to let him see

-it was all right. The first thing she came to was

-the great iron pan of rye and Indian bread, which

-she put down on the hearth. Thinking, in his passion,

-that this was all, he jumped right into it with

-his bare feet.”</p>

-

-<p>“I guess it burnt him some.”</p>

-

-<p>“I guess you’d think so; if there’s anything in

-this world that’s hot, or holds heat, it’s rye and

-Indian bread. It stuck between his toes, and

-scalded to the bone. He ran round the room,

-howling and swearing, and the tears running

-down his cheeks.”</p>

-

-<p>“Served him right.”</p>

-

-<p>“I think so. Now, if I were you, I wouldn’t

-have anything to do with him; he’ll cheat you,

-sure.”</p>

-

-<p>“I reckon I can tell a good cow when I see

-her.”</p>

-

-<p>“Perhaps you can; but he’s cheated as smart

-men as you are. Let me go and trade for you.”</p>

-

-<p>Charlie would by no means consent to that,

-but set off on his errand.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Well,” said Uncle Isaac, as they parted, “it is

-said, bought wit is good; perhaps it is, if you

-don’t buy it too dear.” When, at length, at the

-place, he was received by Colcord with the greatest

-cordiality; but Charlie saw that the house and

-all the surroundings accorded precisely with Uncle

-Isaac’s description of his character.</p>

-

-<p>Colcord himself was a meagre-looking being;

-although in years, he was barefoot, and so was

-his wife. Charlie also noticed that the small quantity

-of wood at the door seemed to be rotten windfalls

-and dead limbs of trees, though he possessed

-a large extent of very heavily timbered woodland.

-Three boys, whose dress barely served the purposes

-of decency, completed this singular family.

-The youngest, notwithstanding his rags and a certain

-timidity of expression (the result of hard

-usage), was a most intelligent, noble-looking boy,

-with whose face Charlie instantly fell in love; his

-heart went out to these boys.</p>

-

-<p>“I have known hardship and poverty,” he said

-to himself, “but I thank God I never had a father

-who, when I asked him for an egg, would give me

-a scorpion. <i>My</i> poor father did all in his power

-to give me schooling, and make my childhood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>

-happy.&mdash;You remember,” said Charlie to Mr.

-Colcord, “the talk we had some time since about

-cows, when you told me that for fifteen dollars

-I should have my pick out of seven. This is the

-day set, and I have come to look them over.”</p>

-

-<p>“Andrew,” said Colcord, to the oldest boy,

-“drive the cows into the yard.”</p>

-

-<p>After Charlie had examined each cow in succession,

-he said, “Mr. Colcord, here are but six cows;

-I was to have my choice of seven.”</p>

-

-<p>“It is true, Mr. Bell, I did say so; but when I

-came home and told my wife, she took on at such

-a rate about my selling <i>that</i> cow, that I’ve tied her

-up in the barn. She won’t consent to part with

-her; it would break her heart. You must excuse

-me there.”</p>

-

-<p>Charlie’s suspicions were roused in an instant.

-All that Uncle Isaac had told him in respect to the

-sharp practice of the man rushed at once to his

-recollection. He was determined to have that

-cow, at any rate, and instantly asked to see Mrs.

-Colcord, intending to make her a present, to reconcile

-her to the loss of the cow; but he was told she

-had gone away to spend the day.</p>

-

-<p>“The old rascal,” soliloquized Charlie, “has shut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>

-up his best cow, thinking I wouldn’t notice there

-were but six in the yard.&mdash;Mr. Colcord,” he said,

-“it was a fair contract between us. You agreed

-to let me take my pick of seven cows. I am here,

-according to agreement, with the cash. I’ll have

-that cow, or none.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, if I <i>must</i>, I must,” said the old man;

-“but my wife will cry her eyes out;” and he flung

-open the cow-house.</p>

-

-<p>Charlie felt so sure that this was the best cow

-of the herd, that he never stopped to examine her

-closely, asked no questions, didn’t even take hold

-of her teats, to see if she milked easy, or to examine

-the quality of the milk, but put a rope on

-her head, and drove her off, congratulating himself,

-all the way along, that he had outwitted the

-old sneak.</p>

-

-<p>“Guess Uncle Isaac won’t say any more about

-bought wit,” thought he. “Couldn’t have done

-better than that himself.”</p>

-

-<p>It was about the middle of the afternoon when

-Charlie reached home. At the usual time his

-wife went to the barn to milk, and began with the

-new comer.</p>

-

-<p>“She has got nice teats, and milks easy, at any

-rate,” said Mrs. Bell.</p>

-

-<div class="figcenter">

-     <img src="images/ill-232.jpg" width="450" height="277"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-     <div class="caption"><p class="pc"><span class="smcap">The Kicking Cow.</span> Page <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</p>

-</div></div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>The words were scarcely out of her mouth

-when the cow gave the pail a kick so vicious as to

-send it spinning over the floor, spattering her with

-milk.</p>

-

-<p>“It is because she is in a strange place, and is

-afraid of a stranger,” said Mrs. Bell; and, holding

-the pail in one hand, she continued to milk with

-the other. The cow began to kick, first with one

-leg and then the other, without an instant’s intermission,

-so that to milk was impossible.</p>

-

-<p>Charlie, who was in the barn-yard, milking the

-other cows, now came to the rescue. “I never

-saw a cow I couldn’t milk,” he said; and taking

-up one of her fore legs, fastened it to the rack

-with a rope. “Kick now, if you can.” Placing

-the pail on the floor, he began to milk with both

-hands; but the vicious brute, springing from the

-floor, fell over upon him, spilling the milk, breaking

-the bail of the pail, upsetting Charlie’s milking-stool,

-and leaving him at full length on the floor, in

-not the most amiable mood (for his wife could not

-refrain from laughing). He beat her to make her

-get up, but she was sullen, and get up she

-wouldn’t. He twisted her tail, but she wouldn’t

-start. He then, with both hands, closed her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>

-mouth and nostrils, strangling her till she was

-glad to jump up. Thinking she had got enough

-of it, he began again to milk, when away went the

-pail into the manger, and the milk into Charlie’s

-face. Provoked now beyond endurance, he beat

-her till she roared; but the moment he touched her

-teats, she began to kick as bad as ever. In short,

-all the way he could milk her at all was to fasten

-her to the stake next the side of the barn, build a

-fence on the other side, so that she couldn’t run

-around either way, then tie her hind legs together,

-milk her till she threw herself down, and then finish

-the operation as she lay.</p>

-

-<p>While all this was going on, the dog kept up a

-furious barking.</p>

-

-<p>“What is that dog barking about, Mary?”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m sure I don’t know. Perhaps there’s a

-skunk or a woodchuck under the barn.”</p>

-

-<p>If it was a skunk, he was peeping through a

-knot-hole in the back barn-door.</p>

-

-<p>As they came in with their milk, Joe Griffin was

-approaching the door, having come to borrow a

-chain and canting dog.</p>

-

-<p>Charlie now perceived that the cunning old

-wretch had shut up this pest, and feigned reluctance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>

-to part with her, on purpose to draw

-him on.</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t believe,” said Mrs. Bell, “but what his

-wife was at home all the time. He knew, if you

-spoke to her, she would tell you the whole truth,

-for she is an excellent woman.”</p>

-

-<p>Charlie resolved to keep the thing from the

-knowledge of every one, <i>especially</i> of Uncle Isaac,

-whose assertion, “He has cheated as smart men as

-you are,” recurred most unpleasantly to his recollection.</p>

-

-<p>“Mary,” said he,” we must not breathe a word

-of this to any soul,&mdash;father’s folks, Joe Griffin, or,

-above all, Uncle Isaac. I had rather pocket the

-loss than have it known that I got so taken in.

-I’ll dry her up, and fat her. She’s a large cow,

-and will make a lot of beef.”</p>

-

-<p>But such things will always, in some way or

-other, leak out. While Charlie imagined that himself

-and wife alone possessed the secret, it was

-known to half the town, and they were chuckling

-over it. Indeed, it had come to the ears of Lion

-Ben, on Elm Island, whose adopted son he was.</p>

-

-<p>A fortnight after the occurrences related, Fred

-Williams and Joe Griffin were standing in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>

-doorway of Fred’s store, when they espied Lion

-Ben coming from Elm Island in his big canoe,

-which he was forcing through the water with

-tremendous strokes.</p>

-

-<p>Landing, and dragging the heavy craft out of

-the water as though she was an egg-shell, he

-merely nodded to Joe and Fred, and proceeded

-with rapid strides in the direction of Charlie

-Bell’s.</p>

-

-<p>“What can that mean, Joe?” asked Fred. “He

-never spoke to us.”</p>

-

-<p>Fred was his brother-in-law, Joe one of his most

-intimate friends.</p>

-

-<p>“It means that he is angry. Didn’t you notice

-his face? I never saw him angry, though I’ve

-known him ever since I was a boy; but I’ve heard

-say he is awful when he rises. A common man

-would be no more in his hands now than a fly in

-the clutch of a lion.”</p>

-

-<p>Ben went directly into Charlie’s pasture, avoiding

-him, hunted around there till he found the

-kicking cow, and pulling a rope from his pocket,

-put it over her horns, and led her in the direction

-of Colcord’s. Uncle Isaac was butchering a lamb

-at his door when Ben came along with the cow,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>

-and was just about to speak to him; but catching

-one glimpse of his face, he dropped his knife, and

-pretending not to see him, walked into the barn.</p>

-

-<p>“Isaac,” cried his wife from the window. “<i>Isaac</i>,

-Ben has just gone by.”</p>

-

-<p>“I saw him.”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Saw</i> him; then why didn’t you speak to him,

-and ask him to come in, and stop to dinner?”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s got the cow Jim Colcord sold to Charlie.

-I guess he’s on his way to call the old viper to

-account for his trick. When he is in one of those

-rages you’d better go near a she catamount than

-him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Will he murder him?”</p>

-

-<p>“I hope not.”</p>

-

-<p>“It is some ways there. Ben can’t hold his

-passion long, and will most likely get over it somewhat

-before he gets there.”</p>

-

-<p>“If he don’t, much as I abhor the old creetur,

-I pity him.”</p>

-

-<p>When Ben arrived at Colcord’s the family were

-at dinner; seeing an ox cart in the barn-yard, he

-tied the cow to it. He entered the kitchen without

-knocking, where the family were seated at the

-dinner-table, seized old Colcord by the nape of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>

-neck, carried him, pale as a ghost, with eyes starting

-from their sockets, and too nearly strangled

-to scream, into the barn-yard; here Ben sat down

-upon the cart-tongue, flung his victim across his

-knees, and while he was alternately screaming murder,

-and begging for mercy, slapped him with

-his terrible paw, till the blood came through his

-breeches, while the family looked on, crying and

-trembling.</p>

-

-<p>Ben, as a redresser of wrongs, considered it his

-duty, not only to inflict punishment for his knavery

-in the matter of the cow, but likewise for the

-abuse he had for years inflicted upon his uncomplaining

-wife and children.</p>

-

-<p>When he had finished the castigation, he ordered

-him to bring the money Charlie paid him for the

-cow, and ten dollars additional for his trouble in

-whipping him. Colcord brought the money,

-but, fearing to approach Ben, put it on the cart

-tongue.</p>

-

-<p>After counting it, Ben called for a basin of

-water, soap, and a towel, observing, that he was

-accustomed to wash his hands after handling carrion,

-and informing him (after wiping his hands,

-as he hung the towel on the wheel of the cart)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>

-that, if compelled to come there again, he should

-most probably make an end of him.</p>

-

-<p>That night Charlie hunted the pasture over in

-vain for the cow; but the next morning Uncle

-Isaac came over, told him where the cow was, and

-handed him the money, which Ben had left with

-him on his return.</p>

-

-<p>“How did father find it out?” asked Charlie.</p>

-

-<p>“Captain Rhines told him.”</p>

-

-<p>“Who told Captain Rhines?”</p>

-

-<p>“I did.”</p>

-

-<p>“Who told you?”</p>

-

-<p>“Joe Griffin.”</p>

-

-<p>“How in the world came he, or anybody else,

-to know anything about it?”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s more than I know; but he said you

-had to build a fence round her, and tie her hind

-legs together to milk her, and when she couldn’t

-kick, she’d lie down.”</p>

-

-<p>“I bought wit pretty dear, Uncle Isaac.”</p>

-

-<p>“Not quite so dear as Jim Colcord did. They

-say he can’t sit down, and won’t be able to till

-snow flies.”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XVII.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">DEATH AND BURIAL OF TIGE RHINES.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">THERE is no animal that seems to be so

-closely allied to man as the dog. He lives

-in his master’s smiles, defends his person, guards

-his property, and is grateful for the smallest favors.</p>

-

-<p>In respect to other animals, they are naturally

-shy; we must attach them to us by food and

-caresses.</p>

-

-<p>Take, for instance, a kitten, born in the house,

-and her parents before her for generations; yet

-the moment it gets its eyes open, it will round up

-its back, and spit at the little boy or girl who approaches

-to fondle it, and must be wonted; but a

-puppy, why, the moment his eyes are open, he’s

-right on to you, and you have hard work to keep

-him from licking your face.</p>

-

-<p>When the family leaves the house, the cat will

-seldom, if ever, follow them, because she cares<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>

-more about the place than the people; but the

-dog’s home is where his master is.</p>

-

-<p>John Rhines’s dog, Tige, a Newfoundland of

-the largest size, possessed&mdash;as those who have

-read the Elm Island stories know&mdash;a sagacity

-greater than that which generally pertains even

-to that noble breed.</p>

-

-<p>Tige Rhines, as he was called, was known and

-loved by both young and old, the protector and

-playmate of all the children, and bore on his

-neck a broad brass collar, on which were inscribed

-the date of the year and the day on

-which he pulled little Fannie Williams from the

-bottom of the mill-pond, and many other things

-that he had done.</p>

-

-<p>For many years Tige had been gradually

-losing his activity, and was quite infirm with

-age. He had never been accustomed to leave the

-home of his master, except when sent upon some

-errand, with a basket or letter in his mouth, unless

-with some of the family; but after Mary

-and Elizabeth were married, he would once in

-a while go to visit each of them in the forenoon,

-stop to dinner and tea, see the babies, and go

-home at night. He would also go down to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>

-cove in front of the house, and play with the

-children of the neighborhood by the hour together.

-All through Fannie Williams’s childhood

-(whose life he saved) he was, whenever she

-came up to see him, which was generally once a

-month, sent home with her by Captain Rhines.

-But age, which comes alike upon dogs and men,

-had compelled him to relinquish all these pleasant

-excursions. His legs had grown stiff and

-crooked; his glossy black coat had become a

-dirty yellow, except along the back and at the

-roots of the tail; his intelligent eye was dim;

-and all around his eyes and nose gray hairs

-were plentifully scattered. It was with great

-difficulty he could walk; he would attempt sometimes

-to follow John to the barn, go part way

-there, and moan because he could get no farther;

-then John would go back and pat and comfort

-him. Everything that care and affection could

-do to render him comfortable and happy in his

-old age, was done by Captain Rhines and John.</p>

-

-<p>As the weather grew cooler, John made him

-a bed of sheep-skins with the wool on; for though

-once apparently insensible to cold, never hesitating

-in the dead of winter to plunge into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>

-waves, he now trembled before every blast.

-Captain Rhines would catch smelts and bring

-to him, for Tige was a dear lover of fish; John

-would put him in the cart, haul him down in the

-field, and put him in the sun, at the end of the

-piece where he was digging potatoes, and as

-the sun went down, cover him with his jacket.

-The children around brought him titbits, and

-all the dogs in the neighborhood came to visit

-him. He at length became so feeble it was with

-difficulty he could get out of his kennel. Mornings

-when John went to the barn to feed the

-cattle, he would bid him good morning; Tige

-would wag his tail and look wistfully in his face,

-unable to rise.</p>

-

-<p>One morning, John, as he passed the kennel,

-spoke, as usual; but not hearing the noise of Tige’s

-tail striking against the side of the house, he went

-back and looked in; he was stretched out, apparently

-asleep; he put his fingers in his mouth;

-there was no warmth. “He is dead! poor old

-Tige,” cried John; “there never was such a dog

-in this world, and never will be again. I never

-will love another dog;” and he burst into tears;

-“I don’t care if I do cry,” he said, at length,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>

-wiping away the tears; “he’s been my playmate,

-ever since I was a boy; has saved my life; and

-nobody sees me; but if Charlie and Fred were

-here, they would cry, too.”</p>

-

-<p>Captain Rhines was not yet up. John fed the

-cattle, and then went to the door of his bedroom.</p>

-

-<p>“Father.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is it, John?”</p>

-

-<p>“Tige’s dead.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m sorry; poor fellow! I’d give the best cow

-I’ve got in the barn to have him back as smart as

-he was once.”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>I’d</i> give them <i>all</i>, father.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, we’ve done all we could for him, John,

-and he’s gone where the good dogs go. It will

-make Ben feel bad; he and Tige were great

-friends.”</p>

-

-<p>“And Fannie, father.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes.”</p>

-

-<p>It was soon known in the neighborhood. About

-nine o’clock, Fannie Williams came in, now grown

-to be, by universal consent, the prettiest girl in

-town; industrious, capable, and, as Captain Rhines

-was accustomed to say, as good as she was handsome.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Is Tige dead, John?” she asked, taking the

-chair he proffered her.</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, Fannie.”</p>

-

-<p>She was silent for a few minutes, then began

-to cry.</p>

-

-<p>“Don’t cry, Fannie,” said John.</p>

-

-<p>“I know it’s foolish, but I can’t help it; you

-know he saved my life.”</p>

-

-<p>“That he did,” said the captain; “for I took you

-from his jaws, when he brought you to the shore.

-I would cry as much as I had a mind to.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’m sure,” said Mrs. Rhines, “I don’t see

-what anybody could be made of, not to feel bad

-to lose such a good creature as Tige, even if he

-was a dumb animal. I used to feel just as safe

-with him, when Captain Rhines was at sea, and I

-left alone with the children, as though the men folks

-were round. When Captain Rhines was about home,

-or we had a hired man, he would lie under the big

-maple, or, if it was cold weather, in his house; but

-the very first night I was left alone, he would

-(without my saying a word to him) come right

-into the house, and, after I went to bed, stretch

-himself out before my bedroom door; it seemed as

-if he knew.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“<i>Knew!</i> I guess he did know,” said John; “only

-think how long he smelt us before we got here,

-when Charlie and I came from Portland, and how

-glad he was to see us! I thought he would have

-jumped out of his skin.”</p>

-

-<p>John persuaded Fannie to stop to dinner, as

-Tige was to be buried in the afternoon.</p>

-

-<p>“Where would you bury him, father?”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll tell you, John. Under the big maple,

-where he loved so much to lie in the hot summer

-days.”</p>

-

-<p>While this conversation was going on at Captain

-Rhines’s, Joe Griffin, Charlie, and Fred were

-expatiating upon the merits of Tige, and regretting

-his loss, in Fred’s store. Joe Bradish came

-in, and after listening a while to their conversation,

-broke in with, “Such a fuss about a dog&mdash;an

-old dog, that ought to have been knocked on

-the head years ago. Anybody would think it was

-a Christian you was lamenting about.”</p>

-

-<p>Fred was naturally of a warm temper, shared in

-the universal feeling of dislike to Bradish, and

-this rough remark, in his present state of feeling,

-was more than he could bear.</p>

-

-<p>“There <i>was</i> more Christianity in him than there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>

-ever was in <i>you</i>,” retorted Fred; “more in one of

-his nails than in your whole body. He saved the

-lives of three of us, when we went to sleep in the

-tide’s way, at Indian Cave. If it hadn’t been for

-him, I should have been as miserable to-day as

-Pete Clash. It will be news to me when I hear

-of your lifting a finger to help anybody. You

-may keep still or leave the store.”</p>

-

-<p>Bradish, without making any reply, went out.</p>

-

-<p>“You’ve lost his custom, I reckon,” said Charlie.</p>

-

-<p>“It won’t be much loss. He came in here the

-other day, lolling round, and upset the inkstand

-upon a whole piece of muslin. I was out of doors,

-and before I could get in, it went through the

-whole piece. He said he was master sorry, supposed

-he ought to buy something, and would take

-a darning-needle.”</p>

-

-<p>The three friends, with Fannie and Captain

-Rhines’s family, buried Tige beneath a large rock

-maple that stood on the side of the hill, in the

-edge of the orchard. It was all full of holes,

-where Ben and John had tapped it. Between its

-roots they had made many a hoard of apples; and

-here Tige had loved to lie, as it was a cool place,

-and from it he could see everything that moved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>

-upon the water. They put a stone at the grave,

-on which his noble deeds were recorded.</p>

-

-<p>John Rhines had long cherished a secret attachment

-to Fannie Williams; but the death of Tige

-occasioned a mingling of sympathies that brought

-matters to a focus, and after a short engagement

-they were married. Captain Rhines and his wife,

-with whom Fannie had been a favorite from childhood,

-were highly gratified; for since their daughters

-had married and gone, the large house seemed

-lonely, and this beautiful, lively, sweet-tempered

-girl was to them a perfect treasure.</p>

-

-<p>A week after the occurrences narrated, a stranger,

-in the dress of a working man, with his coat

-on his arm, came into Fred’s store, and called for

-some crackers and cheese, and half a pint of new

-rum.</p>

-

-<p>Fred placed before him the crackers and cheese,

-but told him he must go to the other store for the

-liquor. He then called for a quart of cider.

-After eating, drinking, and resting a while, and

-smoking his pipe, he took a piece of chalk from

-his pocket, and drew a line across the floor.

-“There,” said he, “the first man that steps over

-that line has got to take hold of me.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>This was altogether too much for Fred, who

-instantly stepped over the line. They went out

-before the door, and the stranger threw Fred in a

-moment, and several others who came in. The

-thing was noised abroad, and quite a crowd assembled,

-but they were careful not to step over the

-line. Fred sent for Charlie, and the stranger

-threw him. The matter was now getting serious;

-the reputation of the town was at stake.</p>

-

-<p>“Send for Joe Griffin,” said Uncle Isaac.</p>

-

-<p>Joe had gone up river after logs.</p>

-

-<p>“Then send for Edmund Griffin.”</p>

-

-<p>He had gone with Joe. A boy was now despatched

-for Joel Ricker, who brought back word

-that he was on Elm Island, doing some joiner-work

-for Lion Ben.</p>

-

-<p>“Then,” said Uncle Isaac, “we must send for

-the Lion. This fellow shan’t go off and make his

-brags that he has stumped the place, and got off

-clear. I’ll take hold of him myself first, though I

-haven’t wrestled these twenty-five year.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why haven’t we thought of John Rhines?”

-said Fred.</p>

-

-<p>“Sure enough,” said Uncle Isaac; “he’ll handle

-him.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“John,” said the captain, “has gone to Tom

-Stanley’s to buy a yoke of oxen; but I’ve got a

-horse that will go there and back in three quarters

-of an hour, if anybody will drive him.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll go,” said Fred.</p>

-

-<p>By the time John arrived, half the town was

-there. A ring was made before the door.</p>

-

-<p>“You’ve brought a man big enough this time,”

-said the stranger, looking up at John, who towered

-far above him.</p>

-

-<p>They took hold. John threw him as easily as

-he had thrown Fred, while shout after shout went

-up from the crowd, who had been holding their

-breath, in anxious suspense.</p>

-

-<p>“You <i>crushed</i> me down by main strength,” said

-the stranger; “but I would like to try you at

-arms’ length.”</p>

-

-<p>They took hold at arms’ length, and although

-the grapple was longer, John threw him twice.</p>

-

-<p>“You have stout men up in this place,” said he.

-“I am thirty years old next July, and this is the

-first time I’ve been thrown since I was nineteen.”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Men!</i>” said Uncle Isaac. “You have as yet

-wrestled only with boys. Our men all happen to

-be away.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“If you call these boys, I should like to see

-your men.”</p>

-

-<p>“Here comes one of them,” said Uncle Isaac,

-pointing towards the water.</p>

-

-<p>The eyes of the stranger, following the direction

-of his finger, rested upon the massive shoulders

-of Lion Ben, who was approaching the shore

-in his big canoe, pulling cross-handed, while Joel

-Ricker, with his tools in his lap, was sitting in the

-stern.</p>

-

-<p>They landed, wondering much at the crowd assembled.

-Ricker walked up the beach with his

-tools, while Ben followed, dragging the canoe with

-one hand over the gravel.</p>

-

-<p>The stranger gazed with dilating eyes, as he

-straightened up to his full proportions. Then he

-went to the canoe, but found himself unable to

-move it, even down hill.</p>

-

-<p>“What may I call your name, friend?” asked

-Uncle Isaac, approaching.</p>

-

-<p>“Libby&mdash;Lemuel Libby, from Black Pint, in

-Scarboro’.”</p>

-

-<p>Uncle Isaac then introduced him to Captain

-Rhines, John, and Lion Ben, at the same time informing

-him that they were the father and two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>

-sons. Libby gazed a moment upon these superb

-specimens of manly vigor, and resuming his

-clothes, said, “This is no place for common men,

-like me. I’ll make tracks for home.”</p>

-

-<p>“Not so, friend Libby,” said John. “Everything

-has been done fair and above-board. There’s

-no occasion for hardness. Spend the night with

-me. I’ll take the horse, and start you on your

-way in the morning.”</p>

-

-<p>“Neighbors,” said Captain Rhines, who was

-greatly delighted at the triumph of his son, “I

-invite you all to take dinner at our house to-morrow,

-at twelve o’clock; and Mr. Libby will stop

-and eat with us.”</p>

-

-<p>“The house won’t hold us, Benjamin,” said

-Uncle Isaac.</p>

-

-<p>“Well, the barn will. We’ll make two crews,

-and set two tables.”</p>

-

-<p>“John,” said Charlie, after the crowd had dispersed,

-“do you remember what you said so long

-ago?”</p>

-

-<p>“No. What was it?”</p>

-

-<p>“That you meant to be the greatest wrestler,

-and marry the handsomest girl. I don’t see but

-you are in a fair way to do both, if all tales are

-true.”</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">THE MEETING.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap13">LITTLE dreaming of the happiness in store

-for him, Charlie, having gathered in his

-harvest and husked his corn, now occupied himself

-in preparing to put a hedge around his

-mother’s grave.</p>

-

-<p>A <i>hedge</i>. How significant that word to him,

-reared amid the vales of Lincolnshire! It recalled

-all the associations of his childhood, and of the

-sunny spring mornings, when, sitting beneath the

-shelter of the hedge-rows, he watched the ducks

-sport in the pools below, while beside him the hens

-were scratching and burrowing in the warm earth

-beneath the bank for worms and grubs, and he, a

-happy, careless boy, was pounding a willow stick

-on his knee with the handle of his knife, to make

-the bark slip, for a whistle; listening to the birds

-in the hedge above him, and watching the mimic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>

-waves produced by the wind as it swept over

-the osiers.</p>

-

-<p>His intention was to surround the little promontory

-(around whose sides murmur the clear

-waters of the brook and the majestic elm that

-shadows it, whose pendent branches, with their

-extremities, approached within a few feet of the

-grave-stone) with hedge.</p>

-

-<p>Mr. Welch, several years before, had imported

-plants from England, and also ivy. It was from

-him he expected to obtain his plants&mdash;“quicks”

-Charlie called them&mdash;for he was no novice in

-hedging. The ivy he purposed to plant at the

-roots of the great elm.</p>

-

-<p>This occupation had revived all the associations

-of his boyhood, and fond recollections of other

-days, often bringing tears to his eyes.</p>

-

-<p>“A beautiful land is England,” said he, as he

-wiped the sweat from his brow and rested upon

-his spade; “and those sweet spots in the fens I

-shall never forget; but this is sweeter, for it is my

-own. What I do here, I do for myself, my wife,

-and little one.”</p>

-

-<p>That evening, as he sat with the babe in his

-lap, while his wife was clearing off the supper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>

-table, he said to her, “Mary, it don’t seem to look,

-or to be, just right that I should have a grave-stone

-for my mother, and none for my father,

-brother, and sister.”</p>

-

-<p>“But they are not buried here. You wouldn’t

-wish to put stones where there are no bodies.”</p>

-

-<p>“But I might have <i>something</i>. I’ve seen in the

-churchyards at home monuments with the names

-of people on them who were not buried under

-them, but had died at sea, or been killed in battle,

-as father was. I might do that.”</p>

-

-<p>“Why don’t you?”</p>

-

-<p>“I think I will; and the very next time the

-schooner goes to Boston, when I send for my

-quicks and ivy, I’ll inquire of Mr. Welch about it.”</p>

-

-<p>Here the conversation was interrupted by the

-entrance of John Rhines, with a letter in his

-hand.</p>

-

-<p>“Just give me that baby, and read this.”</p>

-

-<p>“If ever I was glad of anything in my life, I am

-of this,” said Charlie, when he had read the letter;

-“not on our account altogether, but Captain

-Brown’s, he was just starting in life, and there

-were so many looking at him; and how handsomely

-he speaks of Walter and little Ned!”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Ain’t it great?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; she’s paid for herself with the freight

-she carried out.”</p>

-

-<p>“I know it; and the back freight is all clear

-gain. There’s no loss, except the main boom and

-a boat.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll build another boat. I’ve got the stuff in

-the ship-yard, all seasoned. The boom won’t be

-much; he can buy the stick, and Danforth Eaton

-can make it. What did your father say? He was

-a long time making up his mind whether it would

-do to trust him with a vessel or not, and I know

-he’s been very anxious, though he said nothing.”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Say!</i> I only wish you could have seen him

-when I brought in the letter. Mother was just

-going to tie his cue; he glanced over it, jumped

-up, and cut round the house like a boy of sixteen;

-made me put the saddle on the mare, and in spite

-of all mother could do, went over to tell Uncle

-Isaac, with his hair all flying in the wind. Won’t

-they have a good time, talking it over?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; and I know just what they’ll say.”</p>

-

-<p>“What?”</p>

-

-<p>“They’ll say he’s turned out just as they expected,

-when it was all you, father, and I could do

-to get them started to build the vessel for him.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Don’t be too confident, Charlie; the old folks

-know a thing or two; remember the cow trade.”</p>

-

-<p>Charlie blushed, and in order to turn the conversation,

-remarked, as he looked again at the

-letter, “It seems he wants some beef and fish

-to make up his next cargo.”</p>

-

-<p>“Fred has got a lot on hand, just packed;

-father is going up in the Perseverance to take

-it up, settle up the voyage, and bring home the

-money. Have you heard the news, Charlie, Tom

-Bannister brought?”</p>

-

-<p>“No; what is it?”</p>

-

-<p>“Pete Clash and John Godsoe have turned up.”</p>

-

-<p>“They have?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes; Tom saw ‘em on board a Guineaman in

-Havana; they pretended not to know him, but

-he knew them. Just the place for them. Father

-says these Guineamen have a long gun in the

-hold, and mount it when they get outside, and

-are all pirates in disguise.”</p>

-

-<p>The country, especially around the sea-coast,

-was now in a prosperous condition. The settlements

-were pushed back to the head waters

-of the streams, roads made, townships surveyed,

-town incorporated, and vessels built; the timber<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>

-trade assumed vast proportions, and money was

-abundant, men began to break away from the rigid

-manners of the primitive times, and ape the style

-of dress and living that prevailed in England,

-which they had either seen or heard of.</p>

-

-<p>Great numbers of cattle were raised on the

-lands newly burnt over. Instead of driving the

-cattle to Brighton or Cambridge, as at the present

-day in seaport towns and country villages,

-they were butchered, and the beef packed at

-home, shipped to Spain and other countries of

-Europe, and smuggled into Cuba for the use

-of the Spanish slavers. Fred had added to his

-other business that of packing beef, and Uncle

-Isaac and Joe Griffin bought the cattle for him.

-He had imported a cooper, by the name of Wallace,

-from Standish, to make the barrels, who had taken

-three boys as apprentices, thus increasing the

-business of the place.</p>

-

-<p>Charlie, who as our readers know, was strongly

-attached to the cultivation of the soil, had neither

-engaged in vessel or boat building since the

-Arthur Brown was launched. John Rhines likewise

-found plenty of employment upon the home

-farm, occasionally working in the yard of Reed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>

-and Atherton, who came from Massachusetts, and

-set up ship-building, built vessels, and took them

-to Massachusetts for sale.</p>

-

-<p>Charlie, Fred, and John intended only to build

-vessels as they wanted them, and repair old ones,

-or aid some industrious, enterprising young man,

-who wanted a vessel.</p>

-

-<p>They were influenced to this line of conduct

-very much by the opinions of Uncle Isaac, who

-had a most wonderful power of making people

-think as he did; one reason of which was, that he

-never manifested the least assumption, and another,

-that he always placed matters in such a

-light that those with whom he conversed seemed

-to convince themselves.</p>

-

-<p>One day Uncle Isaac and the boys went pigeon

-shooting together; as they were sitting by the

-fire after dinner, he said. “Where did that corn

-come from that Seth Warren carried last vige in

-the Hard-scrabble?”</p>

-

-<p>“From North Carolina,” replied Fred.</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, and where did that cargo you are grinding

-now, that’s going into the logging camps, come

-from?”</p>

-

-<p>“From Baltimore.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Do you take in any corn now from round

-here?”</p>

-

-<p>“When I first began to trade, I used to take in

-a great deal; but now, except from yourself, Captain

-Rhines, Ben, Joe Griffin, and one or two

-more, I don’t get five bushels in a year; but I sell

-lots to the people round here.”</p>

-

-<p>“It seems to me, when a people get so much

-taken up with building vessels, fishing, cutting

-masts and ton timber, to send to England, that

-they have to go to the southerd to buy corn to

-export, feed their cattle in the logging swamps,

-bread their families, and fat their hogs, they are in

-rather a poor way; that there’s more talk than

-cider; that they ain’t getting rich so fast as they

-appear to be; when they raise but little except on

-burns, never hauling out their dressing, or

-ploughing the land, but keep going over and over,

-skimming and skimming, that by and by they

-will have a very poor set of carcasses left, and

-that if there should come a war, and all this exportation

-be stopped, there would be pretty blue

-times. I don’t pretend to know, but it appears to

-me that’s about the way things are done round

-here, and all over the District of Maine.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“I never thought of that before,” said Charlie.</p>

-

-<p>“Nor I either,” said John.</p>

-

-<p>“It’s just as Uncle Isaac says,” said Fred, “just

-to a T. When I first began to trade, almost

-everybody had a few bushels of corn to sell, some

-a good deal; and I never sold a bushel of corn, or

-meal, except to fishermen from some other place;

-if any of our people wanted corn, wheat or barley,

-they went to their neighbors.”</p>

-

-<p>“I have thought a good deal about it,” said Uncle

-Isaac, “and I’ve talked the matter over with

-Captain Rhines and Benjamin; it strikes them

-pretty much as it does me; they ought to be better

-judges than me, because they’ve had greater

-privileges. I helped about the Hard-scrabble and

-the Casco, because I wanted to start you boys,

-build up the place, and make business; but it

-never will do to have the eggs all in one basket,

-for all to be ship-builders, lumbermen, or fishermen.

-A ship don’t produce anything; she is herself a

-product, manned from the land, and victualled from

-the land; everything comes from the ground; we

-ourselves were made out of it; there must be farmers

-to feed the rest. I mean, for the future, to

-put my money into the land, except I see special

-reasons for helping somebody.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>When the Hard-scrabble was built, Captain

-Rhines and Ben rigged her, and made the sails, as

-also those of the Casco, and the Arthur Brown;

-but after Reed and Atherton began to build, a

-rigger and sail-maker came into the place. Charlie

-Bell built the first pair of cart wheels, that had

-an iron tire. Uncle Isaac and Captain Rhines

-for some time had the only wagons; but in a few

-years, carts and wagons were more common, and a

-blacksmith from Roxbury, who could do carriage

-work and make edge tools, bought out Peter

-Brock.</p>

-

-<p>The meeting between Captain Rhines and Arthur

-(his boy, as he called him), in Boston, was a

-most interesting one. The old captain was jubilant

-that all the owners were more than satisfied, and

-his own judgment, in respect to the capacity of

-the young captain, borne out by facts.</p>

-

-<p>Though by no means given to the melting mood,

-he met his protégé with moistening eyes. It is

-not within the province of language to describe

-the joy that thrilled the breast of Arthur Brown,

-and shone in every feature, as he put his hand in

-that of the captain, resulting from the consciousness

-that he had more than answered the expectations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>

-and justified the confidence reposed in him

-by his own friends and those of his father, especially

-of Captain Rhines, Charlie, Lion Ben, and

-the others who had risked their own lives to save

-his, and, not satisfied with this, had also jeopardized

-their property, to open before him a path to

-usefulness and honor.</p>

-

-<p>“Where are the boys?” asked Captain Rhines,

-after he had talked half an hour with Arthur.</p>

-

-<p>“They started for home in a coaster yesterday.

-I have shipped them all for the next voyage.”</p>

-

-<p>“Where is Peterson?”</p>

-

-<p>“Gone with them.”</p>

-

-<p>“Walter and little Ned?”</p>

-

-<p>“They went to Salem together after the vessel

-was discharged; are coming back to-morrow, expecting

-to go home with you, or whoever came

-up. Then you’re fully satisfied with me, captain?”</p>

-

-<p>“<i>Satisfied!</i> My dear boy, I should have been

-satisfied if you had done half as well. There’s

-not a shipmaster in the country but would be

-proud of much less than you have done.”</p>

-

-<p>“Mr. Bell and your sons are satisfied?”</p>

-

-<p>“Why, to be sure they are. I don’t know what

-they could be made of, if they are not.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Well,” said Arthur, laying both his hands on

-the captain’s shoulders, “I have brought home in

-this vessel that which will afford greater satisfaction

-to Mr. Bell, yourself and family, than all the money

-I have made this passage. I have brought home

-Mr. Bell’s father.”</p>

-

-<p>“You must be jesting, or have been deceived.

-His father has been in his grave for years.”</p>

-

-<p>“No; he was not killed, as was supposed, but

-carried a prisoner to France. He has told Eaton

-and Peterson the whole story of his impressment,

-just as they say Charlie told it; told his son’s age,

-looks, and the scar on his face. There’s no mistake&mdash;can’t

-be. You’ll say so when you see

-him.”</p>

-

-<p>“God ‘a mercy! Well, this is news indeed.

-But you didn’t mention it in your letter.”</p>

-

-<p>“His father didn’t want me to.”</p>

-

-<p>“Where is he?”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s gone to ride with Mr. Welch. I am to

-meet him there, and take tea, and then he is coming

-aboard.”</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll go there to tea. I have a standing invitation.

-Well, if I ain’t glad! What do you suppose

-Charlie was about when I came away?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“I’m sure I don’t know.”</p>

-

-<p>“He was getting ready to put a hedge round

-the spot where his mother lies; sent up by me to

-get the plants of Mr. Welch, and wanted me to

-talk with him about a monument that he wanted

-to put up to his father’s memory, and a brother

-and sister that he has heard died in England; and

-also to get some plans and bring home to him.

-And now, instead of the monumental plans, he’ll

-have the man himself.”</p>

-

-<p>[The Mr. Welch referred to here is a wealthy

-merchant and ship owner, an intimate friend of

-Captain Rhines, in whose employ he had sailed

-the greater part of his life. His son James, a

-young man of singular promise, but broken down

-by intemperance, was sent by his father to Elm

-Island in order to get him out of the way of temptation,

-and restored by the influence of Uncle

-Isaac.]</p>

-

-<p>“But,” continued Captain Rhines, “the boys

-will be home before us, will see Charlie, and let

-the cat out of the bag.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, they won’t; I’ve told them not to.”</p>

-

-<p>The Perseverance had now been away ten days,

-and Charlie was expecting to receive his “quicks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>”

-at her return. He had, in the spring, ploughed

-the ground intended for his hedge, and planted it

-with potatoes, to subdue the tough sward. Having

-dug the potatoes, and spaded in a heavy coating

-of manure, he was busily engaged (on one of

-those delightful autumn mornings when the hoar

-frost is melting from the grass, and dripping from

-the extremity of the leaves, and the muscles feel

-that joyous thrill which the season of the year

-inspires) in levelling the surface with a rake, removing

-the stones, twigs, and bark that had fallen

-from the elm. Feeling a hand laid lightly upon

-his shoulder, he raised his eyes, and looked Walter

-Griffin full in the face.</p>

-

-<p>“Why, Walter,” he exclaimed, taking both his

-hands, and struck with the expression of heartfelt

-joy which pervaded every feature, “how happy

-you look!”</p>

-

-<p>“I hope so. I’m sure I ought to.”</p>

-

-<p>“He ain’t any happier than I am,” said a voice

-that Charlie well knew; and stepping from behind

-the great tree, Ned Gates ran into his arms.</p>

-

-<p>“Why, Ned, how you have grown! I should

-hardly know you.”</p>

-

-<p>“Have I, truly, Mr. Bell?” replied Ned, excessively

-pleased.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Yes; and see what a cue he’s got,” said Walter,

-turning him round.</p>

-

-<p>“Be still, Wal; how you do like to poke fun

-at me.”</p>

-

-<p>“Mr. Bell,” asked Walter, “can you bear good

-news?”</p>

-

-<p>“I guess so.”</p>

-

-<p>“But you never had any such news as this.”</p>

-

-<p>“I stood it pretty well when the Ark made her

-great voyage, and when Isaac Murch made so

-much money in the Hard-scrabble. I guess I can

-stand this,” replied Charlie, thinking Walter was

-about to tell him how much the Arthur Brown had

-made.</p>

-

-<p>“O, it ain’t about money at all, but it’s something

-that will make you gladder than if you had

-a pile of gold as big as Elm Island.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then it must be that you have given your

-heart to God, Walter.”</p>

-

-<p>The tears came into Walter’s eyes in a moment.</p>

-

-<p>“And do you think so much of me, Mr. Bell?”</p>

-

-<p>“Just so much.”</p>

-

-<p>“Well, it is not that. <i>Your father has come.</i>”</p>

-

-<p>“My father, Walter, is dead, and I am preparing

-to put up a monument to his memory, right where

-we stand.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“You needn’t put up any monument, for he’s

-alive and well, and in Captain Rhines’s house

-this minute.”</p>

-

-<p>Charlie turned pale, staggered, and would have

-fallen to the ground, but was so near the elm that

-he fell against it. Walter put his arm around him,

-and he leaned his head on his friend’s shoulder.</p>

-

-<p>“What made you tell him that way?” asked

-Ned.</p>

-

-<p>“I didn’t mean to; but when he spoke to me

-about giving my heart to God, I didn’t know what

-I said.”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s over, now,” said Charlie, lifting his head

-from Walter’s shoulder.</p>

-

-<p>“He wasn’t killed, Mr. Bell,” said Ned, “though

-he was flung overboard for dead. The French

-picked him up, and we found him in Marseilles,

-selling baskets.”</p>

-

-<p>“I will go right up to Captain Rhines’s,” said

-Charlie. “You stop at the house till I come

-back.”</p>

-

-<p>“I must go home,” said Walter; “and Ned is

-going with me. I haven’t been home yet. I

-didn’t want anybody to bring this news but myself

-and Ned.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>When Charlie&mdash;his pale features still manifesting

-traces of the feelings which had mastered

-him&mdash;entered the sitting-room, the captain, taking

-him by the hand, pointed to the door of the parlor,

-which stood ajar.</p>

-

-<p>We will draw a veil over the meeting of father

-and son; but when, at the expiration of half an

-hour, they came out together, traces of tears were

-on the cheeks of both, but they were tears of joy.

-When Charlie presented his wife to his father, and

-placed the child in his arms, “I can now,” said the

-happy grand-parent, “say, in the words of old

-Jacob, ‘I had not thought to see <i>thy</i> face, and lo!

-God hath also showed me thy seed.’”</p>

-

-<p>As they sat side by side, the old gentleman with

-the child on his knee, Captain Rhines said,&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t see how anybody who ever saw Charlie

-could harbor any doubt about Mr. Bell’s being

-his father&mdash;they favor each other so much.”</p>

-

-<p>“Ah, captain,” was the reply, “put an old,

-faded, red shirt on me, all stained up with osier

-sap, a tarpaulin hat, a bundle of baskets on my

-back, and, more than all, the heart-broken look I

-wore then, you yourself couldn’t have found much

-resemblance.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>As they returned to Pleasant Cove by the road

-that wound along the slope of land towards the

-house, skirting the sugar orchard, the sun, which

-was now getting low, illuminated with its level

-rays the whole declivity, falling off in natural

-terraces to the shore, and flashed upon the foliage

-of the rock-maples, now red as blood. Indian

-Island, with its high cliffs rising up from the glassy

-bosom of the bay, the white trunks and yellow

-leaves of its masses of tall birch contrasting with

-the darker hues of the oak and ash, with which

-the edges of the bank were fringed, presented a

-mingling of tints most delightful.</p>

-

-<p>Mr. Bell, upon whom the glories of a New England

-forest in autumn produced all the effect of

-novelty, was, for a while, silent with wonder and

-delight.</p>

-

-<p>He at length exclaimed, “How grand, how

-beautiful! And is all this land and forest yours,

-my son?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, father, and a great deal more than you

-can see from here. I bought four hundred acres

-first, and two hundred more afterwards. Father,

-do you see that large island, with a cleared spot

-on the side of it?”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“With a house on it, that looks as though it

-were on fire, the sun is shining so bright on the

-windows?”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, that’s the one; that is Elm Island, where

-Lion Ben and his wife live, who have been a

-father and mother to me. God bless you, old

-Elm Island. What happy years I have spent on

-you!”</p>

-

-<p>They next proceeded to the little promontory,

-and Mr. Bell stood beside the grave of her from

-whom he parted, in bitterness of heart, when he

-was pressed on board the hulk at Sheerness.</p>

-

-<p>“Poor Mary! She starved&mdash;saw poverty and

-sorrow enough in this world; but I believe she

-is now experiencing infinitely more happiness than

-would be hers, were it in our power to call her

-from the grave to join us. I am glad, my son,

-that you have not set these quicks; we’ll make

-the hedge together. When I am gone, you can

-lay me in this beautiful spot beside her.”</p>

-

-<p>They sat together beneath the elm, talking, till

-the stars began to come out one after another;

-and when that night Charlie knelt down to pray,

-it was with a heart full to overflowing with gratitude

-and joy.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XIX.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">NED AMONG THE GRIFFINS.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">IF a boy ever enjoyed himself in this world,

-Ned Gates did among the Griffins. Their

-rough, but kindly, rollicking ways just suited his

-sanguine temperament, and he suited them, from

-the youngest to the oldest, and got through the

-crust at once. Indeed, there was everything a

-wide-awake boy would naturally like. There was

-a charm, in itself, about such a jolly house-full.

-Ned thought Edmund Griffin was a splendid man,

-his wife one of the best of women, and as for the

-old grandfather, despite his rough ways, he was a

-perfect treasure. Evenings, Ned would nestle to

-his side, and coax him to tell him stories about

-river driving, hunting, wrestling, and the Indian

-wars, in which he had taken a prominent part.</p>

-

-<p>Captain Brown had rewarded Jacques Bernoux

-very handsomely for the assistance he had rendered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>

-Walter, and induced him to come to the

-States, paying him seaman’s wages, and Walter

-brought him home with him. Three or four more

-never made any difference at Edmund Griffin’s.

-Jacques afforded much amusement by his attempts

-to speak English.</p>

-

-<p>Being a leisure time of year, and the harvest in,

-it was hunting, fishing, going to Elm Island,&mdash;Ned

-and Captain Rhines carried the news of Mr.

-Bell’s arrival to Ben and Sally,&mdash;going with Edmund

-Griffin and Joe up river, and coming down

-on the raft, breaking colts; and, to fill his cup of

-happiness to the brim, Ned shot a moose. The

-boys caught a bear in the trap, and Ned had an

-opportunity to taste of the meat, and grease his

-cue with the fat.</p>

-

-<p>There was another older person having a good

-time, and that was Mr. Bell. His things having

-been brought to the house, he drew from the recesses

-of an enormous chest the beautiful work-basket,

-and some articles of household use, that

-he had made while in Marseilles, and which had so

-excited the admiration of Ned. Mary was delighted&mdash;she

-had never seen anything half so

-beautiful.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“You can’t come up to that, Charlie,” said his

-father.</p>

-

-<p>“No, father, I can’t. I never saw any of your

-work so beautiful as this.”</p>

-

-<p>“I never had quite so strong a motive before,”

-said the old gentleman, smiling.</p>

-

-<p>The next day Charlie was called from home to

-run out a piece of land, and was absent nearly a

-week. Finding lumber and tools in the shop, his

-father made a trough to soak willow, a bench, and

-having cut some native willows by the brook for

-the frame, in order to economize the osiers, made

-a chair for the baby, and when Charlie returned,

-was busily at work making one high enough for

-the child to sit at table in.</p>

-

-<p>He was so much occupied with his work as not

-to notice his son, who stood in the door watching

-him.</p>

-

-<p>“Father,” said he, “I should think I had got

-back to Lincolnshire.”</p>

-

-<p>“This is a better place than the fens, Charles.

-I’ll tell you what I’ve been thinking about while

-at work here.”</p>

-

-<p>“What is it, father?”</p>

-

-<p>“All through my life, at home, I have been accustomed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>

-to look up to the quality, and the country

-squires who owned lands, with a sort of awe;

-and I have been thinking what a pleasant feeling

-it must be to own a piece of land that God made,

-and that I should, before I die, like to experience

-the feeling. Now, I have got a few pounds, that I

-managed to lay up while in France. Why couldn’t

-I buy a little piece of land, and have a little garden,

-and plant it? It would seem so pleasant to

-eat anything that grew on my own land. But perhaps

-you’ll think I’m getting childish, and that it’s

-an old man’s whim.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s just the way I used to feel at home,

-father; and when I came to this country, I couldn’t

-rest for thinking how I should ever come to own a

-piece of land. I would do it. Sam Edwards has

-a piece right on the shore he wants to sell. Part

-of it’s cleared. There’s a small piece between it

-and me that belongs to heirs, and is to be sold.

-I’ll buy it, and then yours will join mine.”</p>

-

-<p>“And I shall be a freeholder in my old age,

-after living a tenant all the best of my life,” said

-the old gentleman, highly gratified.</p>

-

-<p>“I’ll tell you what you can do, father. Next

-time the vessel goes to Marseilles, get Jacques to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>

-procure some sallies for you, set them on your

-land, and then you can have an osier holt, grow

-your own rods, and make all the baskets you like,

-to pass away the time in the long winters we have

-in this country.”</p>

-

-<p>“Do you think they would grow here?”</p>

-

-<p>“Anything will grow here, and there’s a swale

-on that place will suit them exactly.”</p>

-

-<p>The marriage of John Rhines and Fannie Williams

-added to the general satisfaction. The infare,

-or second-day wedding, took place at Captain

-Rhines’s, upon which occasion half the town were

-invited.</p>

-

-<p>Uncle Isaac and Joe Griffin met Walter and

-Ned at the infare, and there made an agreement

-to start the next week for the woods. Ned, who

-had been kept quite closely at school till he went

-to sea, and had never in his life shot anything

-larger than a pigeon or squirrel till he came to

-Pleasant Cove, was perfectly wild with the anticipation,

-and kept Walter awake so long talking

-about it, that he averred, if he didn’t keep still, he

-wouldn’t sleep with him.</p>

-

-<p>Charlie lent Ned a splendid gun, and they were

-busily employed running balls and making preparations.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>While the whole family at Edmund Griffin’s

-were spending an evening in playing “blind man’s

-buff” in the great kitchen, the old grandfather

-looking on and enjoying the sport as much as the

-rest, Joe, his face bathed in tears, came to announce

-that Uncle Isaac was dreadfully hurt, and

-could not live.</p>

-

-<p>“How did it happen?” inquired the grandfather,

-the first to recover from the effect produced

-by these sad tidings.</p>

-

-<p>“You know what a hand Uncle Isaac always

-was to work alone. He went into the woods to

-haul a large log, laid a skid, one end on the

-ground, the other on a stump, calculating to roll

-the log up with the cattle, so as to run the wheels

-under. He’s got a yoke of cattle that will do anything

-he tells them to. He stood behind the log,

-and spoke to the cattle, calculating to trig the log

-when it was up; but the chain broke, and the log

-came back on him.”</p>

-

-<p>“How did they know about it?” asked Edmund.</p>

-

-<p>“He spoke to the cattle, threw chips at them,

-and started them home with a part of the chain

-hanging to them; his wife knew something was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>

-wrong, got some of the neighbors to go, and

-they brought him home.”</p>

-

-<p>“He’s a very strong man; he may get over it.”</p>

-

-<p>“No, he can’t, father; both legs are broken, and

-he’s hurt otherways; the doctor says he can’t,

-though he may live some time. I must go, for

-I’m going to watch with him to-night.”</p>

-

-<p>“Tell ‘em, Joe, to send here, night or day; anything

-that we can do, it will be a privilege to

-do it.”</p>

-

-<p>As is the case when people feel deeply, little

-was said, and one after another silently slipped

-off to bed. As soon as Lion Ben and Sally heard

-of it, they came over and stopped at Captain

-Rhines’s. Ben, his father, and Joe Griffin gave

-up everything to take care of and watch with

-Uncle Isaac; for although the whole neighborhood

-offered and pressed their services, he preferred that

-they should take care of him. For some days he

-suffered intense pain, and was at times delirious;

-but as death approached, the pain subsided, his

-mind became perfectly clear, and the same hearty,

-kindly interest in the young that had ever been

-a prominent trait of his character, resumed its

-wonted sway. A few days before his death, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>

-sent for John Rhines, Charlie, Fred Williams,

-Walter, and Ned, preferring, as he was not able

-to talk with each one separately, to see them

-together.</p>

-

-<p>“Boys,” said he, “you have come to see the

-last of Uncle Isaac. John, won’t you turn that

-hour-glass. The sand is run out. We have spent

-a great many pleasant hours together; they are

-all over now; but I want to tell you that they

-have been as pleasant to me as to you. It is

-a great comfort to me that I have been spared

-to see my children, and you, who seem as near to

-me as my own children, grow up to be God-fearing,

-useful men in the world, and settled in

-life. It would have been a comfort to me to

-have seen Isaac once more; but you must tell him

-that his Uncle Isaac did not forget him in his

-last hours. I have been a strong and a tough

-man in my time. I never was thrown, seldom

-pulled up; very few could lift my load, plan work

-better, or bring more to pass with an axe or scythe.

-I never saw but one man who could outdo me

-in trapping game or with a rifle, and that was a

-Penobscot Indian, and my foster-brother, John

-Conesus. I have left my rifle with the walnut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>

-stock to him. I don’t fetch up these things in

-any kind of a boasting way, but only to say to

-you that all these matters that appeared great

-to me once, and no doubt do to you, seem very

-small now. What I like most to think about ain’t

-what I’ve done for myself, but to help others,

-especially to start young men, and get ‘em canted

-right, because any good done to the young always

-seemed to me to go a great ways. I always

-did love to set a scion in a young stock; it ain’t

-like grafting an old hollow tree, which, if it bears

-a little fruit, soon rots down or blows over. If,

-at your time of life, you feel and do thus, like as

-when you caught the fish and gave them to poor

-Mrs. Yelf, and when you tried to make a good

-boy of Fred here&mdash;”</p>

-

-<p>“We never should have done either,” said John,

-“if you hadn’t put it into our heads.”</p>

-

-<p>“More especially, if you should be owned of the

-Lord as a means of grace to some fellow-creetur,

-you will find they will be the pleasantest things to

-look back on, when you come to be where I am;

-more so than chopping, wrestling, and getting property,

-though they are all good in their place; such

-thoughts smooth a sick pillow wonderfully. Not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>

-that I put any dependence in them, but in the

-marcy of Him who gave me the heart to do

-them.”</p>

-

-<p>After resting a while, and taking some stimulant,

-he motioned for Walter and Ned to come near.</p>

-

-<p>“I hear that Captain Brown gives you a good

-name, Walter, and that you came home his first

-officer. We were about to go into the woods together

-when I was hurt. I used to think you

-loved to go into the woods with me.”</p>

-

-<p>“O, Uncle Isaac, the happiest hours of my life

-have been spent in the woods with you.”</p>

-

-<p>“We never shall go there again; I am going to

-a better place&mdash;to heaven. Walter, I hope we

-shall meet there. I haven’t strength to say

-more; but you will remember the talks we’ve had

-at the camp fire. So this is the little boy we took

-off the raft; he is not very little now, though.

-Don’t cry, my son,” he said, laying his hand upon

-Ned’s head, who had buried his face in the bed-clothes,

-and was sobbing audibly. “It seems to me

-I am the best off of the two.”</p>

-

-<p>“How <i>can</i> that be, Uncle Isaac, when you are

-hurt so dreadfully, while I am well?”</p>

-

-<p>“Because, my son, I have got about through; I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>

-have run all the risk, while you have just begun,

-have all the risk to run, and may be shipwrecked. <i>I</i>

-know what is before me&mdash;a better world; <i>you</i> don’t

-know what is before you. <i>I</i> have had all <i>my</i> trials;

-<i>yours</i> are to come. Captain Rhines tells me you

-have a Christian mother.”</p>

-

-<p>“Yes, Uncle Isaac, she’s the best mother that

-ever was.”</p>

-

-<p>“I had a praying mother; when I was younger

-than you I was torn from her, and carried away

-by the Indians. I never forgot her words; in the

-great woods, all alone, they came to mind, and

-through them I sought and found the Lord.”</p>

-

-<p>After parting with the boys, he seemed prostrated,

-fell into a doze, and passed away without

-a struggle.</p>

-

-<p>A few days after, Uncle Jonathan Smullen died,

-from decay of nature&mdash;a very clever man, and kind

-neighbor; and it was said of him, he never did

-anybody any harm; but Uncle Isaac was missed,

-and mourned by the whole community. The seed

-of good principles he had sown in the minds of

-young men kept coming up for years after he was

-in his grave, and was resown by those who received

-it from them, a hundred times; nor will

-their influence ever cease.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="break">

-

-<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XX.</h2>

-

-<p class="pch">A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap06">SCARCELY had Uncle Isaac been committed to

-the earth, when the nephew he had so longed

-to see arrived in the Casco, sick with the fever

-and ague. As the owners wished to send the vessel

-with despatch to one of the French West India

-islands, they, at Isaac’s request, put Ezra Aldrich

-in her as master. He was a native of the place,

-and relative of Isaac, but never much liked by his

-schoolmates, being an overbearing fellow.</p>

-

-<p>In his youth he went two voyages with Captain

-Rhines, and afterwards in English ships from Liverpool

-to Halifax.</p>

-

-<p>“I don’t see,” said Captain Rhines, “what Isaac

-wants to put him in her for.”</p>

-

-<p>The first mate was an acquaintance and shipmate

-of Aldrich, by the name of Percival, and, as

-Captain Rhines told his wife, as great a rascal as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>

-the captain. There was some difficulty in getting

-a crew, but, through the influence of Captain

-Rhines, who prevailed on Peterson and Danforth

-Eaton to ship, a crew was mustered. Being all

-young men from the neighborhood, who knew

-their duty and were able and willing to do it, they

-were at first rather amused than otherwise with

-the consequential airs and bluster of their new

-captain, in such strong contrast to the manners of

-Captain Rhines and Captain Murch.</p>

-

-<p>Aldrich seemed very much inclined to quarrel

-with Peterson, but having a wholesome dread of

-the strength of the black, restrained himself. By

-continual abuse, he at length irritated the good-natured

-negro to such a degree, that he said to

-him, “Lookee ‘ere, Massa Aldrich; ‘member when

-you little picaninny, runnin’ ‘bout barefoot; shirt

-flap he stick out behind; your farder haul staves

-on a hand-sled, your mudder dig clams; spose you

-gib me any more your jabber-juice, fling you ober

-de rail.”</p>

-

-<p>A week passed, when the captain, offended with

-Danforth Eaton, caught up the end of a rope to

-flog him. Eaton took up another.</p>

-

-<p>“What use do you intend to make of that rope,

-Eaton?” asked the captain.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Just the same use that you make of yours.”</p>

-

-<p>The captain was a school-mate of Eaton, and

-knew very well the result of a collision with him.

-But as they approached the land, the deportment

-of the captain entirely changed. While the vessel

-was being discharged, he bought soft bread, fresh

-meat, vegetables, and even fruit, for the men.

-Seamen are little disposed to remember injuries,

-and all old scores were now rubbed out.</p>

-

-<p>The cook having gone to the hospital sick, Peterson

-had taken his place.</p>

-

-<p>One evening, just as the men were about to

-turn in, the captain sent Peterson ashore with

-some letters. In the morning, when the crew

-turned out, he was among the missing. There

-was a good fire in the fireplace,&mdash;stoves were

-not in use then,&mdash;the tea-kettle on, coffee pounded

-in the mortar, some raw potatoes and onions peeled

-and sliced, slices of raw pork in the frying-pan,

-salt beef chopped in a kid,&mdash;everything prepared

-to make lob-scouse.</p>

-

-<p>“Was he not a drinking man?” inquired the

-captain.</p>

-

-<p>“He was once,” said Hurd, “but left it off years

-ago.”</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“Halloo! What’s this?” said George Hoyt.</p>

-

-<p>A handkerchief lay on the fender. They

-brought it aboard on the point of a boat-hook.</p>

-

-<p>“It’s Peterson’s,” said Elwell; “there’s his

-name on it.”</p>

-

-<p>“It’s just as I thought,” said the captain. “He

-drank last night; that waked up the old appetite,

-and as soon as he turned out this morning he went

-for more, and fell off the gangway plank.”</p>

-

-<p>A grappling was procured ashore, and the crew,

-under the direction of the captain, who was deeply

-moved, grappled for the body the greater part of

-the day, without success. In the meanwhile, the

-mate was making inquiries on shore.</p>

-

-<p>“The tide runs strong here,” said the captain;

-“it has swept him to sea.”</p>

-

-<p>“Poor Jim has gone, boys,” said Eaton, as,

-weary and dispirited, they sat down to supper.</p>

-

-<p>“Anybody wouldn’t have thought,” said Savage,

-“he’d a broke through, after being a steady man

-so long. The captain feels bad, but he’s done all

-a man could do.”</p>

-

-<p>“Jim Peterson,” said Eaton, brushing away a

-tear with the back of his hand, “was a black fellow,

-raal coal black, too,&mdash;a Guinea nigger, if you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>

-please; but if he’d been washed overboard, I’d a

-risked my life to save him quicker than for any

-shipmate I ever had; and I’m not all the one

-would have done it.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s so, Dan. I’m sure I never thought

-anything about his color.”</p>

-

-<p>“But I don’t believe anything about his getting

-drunk (though I’ve no doubt the captain

-thinks so); for I’ve seen him tried and tempted

-hard to weather, by old shipmates, time and time

-again. He went ashore to get something to put

-in the stew; a sober man might make a misdeal

-in a hurry. No power on earth will ever make

-me believe Jim was drunk.”</p>

-

-<p>“Then why didn’t he sing out?”</p>

-

-<p>“He might strike his head on something, and

-stun him. There’s a good many will feel bad when

-we carry the news home, besides his own folks.”</p>

-

-<p>“That’s so,” said Savage; “there’s nothing in

-the world that the Rhineses wouldn’t do for Peterson,

-and always would; and it was just so with the

-Griffins. I’ve heard that Peterson saved the captain’s

-life once. I remember one time a parcel

-of us boys got some withes, tied them together,

-and got a turn round Peterson’s waist when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>

-was so drunk he couldn’t chase us, and began to

-pull him round. First thing I knew, I got a clip

-side of my head that sent me a rod; when I picked

-myself up, I saw the boys, some on the ground,

-some runnin’, and Lion Ben right among ‘em. I

-put her for home, and never stopped till I got

-under mother’s bed; but the rim of my ear was

-cut through, and my head was swelled for a week.

-I tell you, I looked sharp for Lion Ben after that,

-whenever I wanted to have any fun with Peterson.”</p>

-

-<p>When the vessel arrived home, Captain Murch

-took charge, and Aldrich went back to Liverpool.</p>

-

-<p>Percival, the mate, got to drinking, and became

-a miserable fellow; went to Boston, and sailed

-before the mast, sometimes second mate, and after

-his brief elevation, again before the mast; till,

-becoming so notorious a drunkard that no captain

-would have him, he was employed as a lumper

-about the wharves in Boston.</p>

-

-<p>The next volume of this series, “<span class="smcap">The Young

-Deliverers</span>,” will explain the mystery attending

-the disappearance of Peterson, and present the

-characters of Walter and Ned in an entirely new

-light.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-</div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="sum">

-

-<p class="pn p4 large"><i>AMERICAN BOYS’ SERIES</i></p>

-

-

-<p class="pl2">Ninety-five copyright books for boys by noted American

-Authors</p>

-

-<div class="floatleft">

-     <img src="images/ad289.jpg" width="150" height="206"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="p2">The books selected for this series are all

-thoroughly American, by such favorite American

-authors of boys’ books as Oliver Optic,

-Elijah Kellogg, P. C. Headley, Captain Farrar,

-George M. Towle, and others, now made for

-the first time at a largely reduced price, in order

-to bring them within the reach of all. Each

-volume complete in itself.</p>

-

-<p class="p1"><span class="smcap">Uniform Cloth Binding</span> <span class="smcap">New Cover

-Design</span> <span class="smcap">Illustrated</span> Price per volume

-$1.00</p>

-

-<div class="ind">

-

-<p class="pad p2">1. <b>Adrift in the Ice Fields</b> By Capt. Chas. W. Hall</p>

-

-<p class="pad">2. <b>All Aboard, or Life on the Lake</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">3. <b>Ark of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">4. <b>Arthur Brown the Young Captain</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">5. <b>Boat Club, The, or the Bunkers of Rippleton</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">6. <b>Boy Farmers of Elm Island, The</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">7. <b>Boys of Grand Pré School</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>

-

-<p class="pad">8. <b>“B. O. W. C.,” The</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>

-

-<p class="pad">9. <b>Brought to the Front, or the Young Defenders</b> By Elijah

-Kellogg</p>

-

-</div>

-

-<p class="pad">10. <b>Burying the Hatchet, or the Young Brave of the Delawares</b>

-By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">11. <b>Cast Away in the Cold</b> By Dr. Isaac I. Hayes</p>

-

-<p class="pad">12. <b>Charlie Bell the Waif of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">13. <b>Child of the Island Glen</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">14. <b>Crossing the Quicksands</b> By Samuel W. Cozzens</p>

-

-<p class="pad">15. <b>Cruise of the Casco</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">16. <b>Fire in the Woods</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>

-

-<p class="pad">17. <b>Fisher Boys of Pleasant Cove</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">18. <b>Forest Glen, or the Mohawk’s Friendship</b> By Elijah

-Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">19. <b>Good Old Times</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span></p>

-

-<p class="pad">20. <b>Hard-scrabble of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">21. <b>Haste or Waste, or the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain</b>

-By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">22. <b>Hope and Have</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">23. <b>In School and Out, or the Conquest of Richard Grant</b> By

-Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">24. <b>John Godsoe’s Legacy</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">25. <b>Just His Luck</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">26. <b>Lion Ben of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">27. <b>Little by Little, or the Cruise of the Flyaway</b> By Oliver

-Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">28. <b>Live Oak Boys, or the Adventures of Richard Constable

-Afloat and Ashore</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">29. <b>Lost in the Fog</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>

-

-<p class="pad">30. <b>Mission of Black Rifle, or On the Trail</b> By Elijah

-Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">31. <b>Now or Never, or the Adventures of Bobby Bright</b> By

-Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">32. <b>Poor and Proud, or the Fortunes of Kate Redburn</b> By

-Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">33. <b>Rich and Humble, or the Mission of Bertha Grant</b> By

-Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">34. <b>Sophomores of Radcliffe, or James Trafton and His Boston

-Friends</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">35. <b>Sowed by the Wind, or the Poor Boy’s Fortune</b> By Elijah

-Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">36. <b>Spark of Genius, or the College Life of James Trafton</b> By

-Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">37. <b>Stout Heart, or the Student from Over the Sea</b> By Elijah

-Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">38. <b>Strong Arm and a Mother’s Blessing</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">39. <b>Treasure of the Sea</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>

-

-<p class="pad">40. <b>Try Again, or the Trials and Triumphs of Harry West</b> By

-Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">41. <b>Turning of the Tide, or Radcliffe Rich and his Patients</b> By

-Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">42. <b>Unseen Hand, or James Renfew and His Boy Helpers</b> By

-Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span></p>

-

-<p class="pad">43. <b>Watch and Wait, or the Young Fugitives</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">44. <b>Whispering Pine, or the Graduates of Radcliffe</b> By Elijah

-Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">45. <b>Winning His Spurs, or Henry Morton’s First Trial</b> By

-Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">46. <b>Wolf Run, or the Boys of the Wilderness</b> By Elijah

-Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">47. <b>Work and Win, or Noddy Newman on a Cruise</b> By Oliver

-Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">48. <b>Young Deliverers of Pleasant Cove</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">49. <b>Young Shipbuilders of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>

-

-<p class="pad">50. <b>Young Trail Hunters</b> By Samuel W. Cozzens</p>

-

-<p class="pad">51. <b>Field and Forest, or the Fortunes of a Farmer</b> By Oliver

-Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">52. <b>Outward Bound, or Young America Afloat</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">53. <b>The Soldier Boy, or Tom Somers in the Army</b> By Oliver

-Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">54. <b>The Starry Flag, or the Young Fisherman of Cape Ann</b> By

-Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">55. <b>Through by Daylight, or the Young Engineer of the Lake

-Shore Railroad</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">56. <b>Cruises with Captain Bob around the Kitchen Fire</b> By B. P.

-Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)</p>

-

-<p class="pad">57. <b>The Double-Runner Club, or the Lively Boys of Rivertown</b>

-By B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)</p>

-

-<p class="pad">58. <b>Ike Partington and His Friends, or the Humors of a Human

-Boy</b> By B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)</p>

-

-<p class="pad">59. <b>Locke Amsden the Schoolmaster</b> By Judge D. P. Thompson</p>

-

-<p class="pad">60. <b>The Rangers</b> By Judge D. P. Thompson</p>

-

-<p class="pad">61. <b>The Green Mountain Boys</b> By Judge D. P. Thompson</p>

-

-<p class="pad">62. <b>A Missing Million, or the Adventures of Louis Belgrave</b>

-By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">63. <b>A Millionaire at Sixteen, or the Cruise of the “Guardian

-Mother”</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">64. <b>A Young Knight Errant, or Cruising in the West Indies</b>

-By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">65. <b>Strange Sights Abroad, or Adventures in European Waters</b>

-By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span></p>

-

-<p class="pad">66. <b>Facing the Enemy The Life of Gen. Wm. Tecumseh Sherman</b>

-By P. C. Headley</p>

-

-<p class="pad">67. <b>Fight it Out on This Line The Life and Deeds of Gen.

-U. S. Grant</b> By P. C. Headley</p>

-

-<p class="pad">68. <b>Fighting Phil The Life of Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan</b> By

-P. C. Headley</p>

-

-<p class="pad">69. <b>Old Salamander The Life of Admiral David G. Farragut</b>

-By P. C. Headley</p>

-

-<p class="pad">70. <b>Old Stars The Life of Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchell</b> By P. C.

-Headley</p>

-

-<p class="pad">71. <b>The Miner Boy and His Monitor The Career of John Ericsson,

-Engineer</b> By P. C. Headley</p>

-

-<p class="pad">72. <b>The Young Silver Seekers</b> By Samuel W. Cozzens</p>

-

-<p class="pad">73. <b>Drake the Sea King of Devon</b> By George Makepeace Towle</p>

-

-<p class="pad">74. <b>Magellan</b>, or the First Voyage around the World By G. M. Towle</p>

-

-<p class="pad">75. <b>Marco Polo, His Travels and Adventures</b> By G. M. Towle</p>

-

-<p class="pad">76. <b>Pizarro, His Adventures and Conquests</b> By George M. Towle</p>

-

-<p class="pad">77. <b>Raleigh, His Voyages and Adventures</b> By George M. Towle</p>

-

-<p class="pad">78. <b>Vasco da Gama</b>, His Voyages and Adventures By G. M. Towle</p>

-

-<p class="pad">79. <b>The Heroes and Martyrs of Invention</b> By George M. Towle</p>

-

-<p class="pad">80. <b>Live Boys</b>, or Charlie and Nasho in Texas By A. Morecamp</p>

-

-<p class="pad">81. <b>Live Boys in the Black Hills</b> By Arthur Morecamp</p>

-

-<p class="pad">82. <b>Down the West Branch</b> By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar</p>

-

-<p class="pad">83. <b>Eastward Ho!</b> By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar</p>

-

-<p class="pad">84. <b>Up the North Branch</b> By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar</p>

-

-<p class="pad">85. <b>Wild Woods Life</b> By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar</p>

-

-<p class="pad">86. <b>Child of the Tide</b> By Mrs. E. D. Cheney</p>

-

-<p class="pad">87. <b>The Boys of Thirty-Five</b> By E. H. Elwell</p>

-

-<p class="pad">88. <b>Perseverance Island</b> By Douglas Frazar</p>

-

-<p class="pad">89. <b>Going West</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pad">90. <b>Little Bobtail</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<p class="pc1 large">NEW TITLES ADDED IN 1904</p>

-

-<p class="pad p1">91. <b>Fore and Aft</b> By Robert B. Dixon</p>

-

-<p class="pad">92. <b>Pocket Island</b> By Charles Clark Munn</p>

-

-<p class="pad">93. <b>Donald’s School Days</b> By Gen. O. O. Howard</p>

-

-<p class="pad">94. <b>Henry in the War</b> By Gen. O. O. Howard</p>

-

-<p class="pad">95. <b>All Adrift</b> By Oliver Optic</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span></p>

-

-<p class="pn p4 large">THE BOY CRAFTSMAN</p>

-

-<p class="pl6">Practical and Profitable Ideas for a Boy’s

-Leisure Hours</p>

-

-<p class="pc1 lmid">By A. NEELY HALL</p>

-

-<div class="floatleft">

-     <img src="images/ad293.jpg" width="150" height="201"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="pn">Illustrated with over 400 diagrams and

-working drawings 8vo Price, $2.00</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap05">EVERY real boy wishes to design and make

-things, but the questions of materials and

-tools are often hard to get around. Nearly all

-books on the subject call for a greater outlay of

-money than is within the means of many boys,

-or their parents wish to expend in such ways.

-In this book a number of chapters give suggestions

-for carrying on a small business that will

-bring a boy in money with which to buy tools

-and materials necessary for making apparatus

-and articles described in other chapters, while

-the ideas are so practical that many an industrious

-boy can learn what he is best fitted for in his life work. No work

-of its class is so completely up-to-date or so worthy in point of thoroughness

-and avoidance of danger. The drawings are profuse and excellent,

-and every feature of the book is first-class. It tells how to make a boy’s

-workshop, how to handle tools, and what can be made with them; how

-to start a printing shop and conduct an amateur newspaper, how to

-make photographs, build a log cabin, a canvas canoe, a gymnasium, a

-miniature theatre, and many other things dear to the soul of youth.</p>

-

-<div class="reduct">

-

-<p class="p1">We cannot imagine a more delightful present for a boy than this book.&mdash;<i>Churchman,

-N.Y.</i></p>

-

-<p>Every boy should have this book. It’s a practical book&mdash;it gets right next to

-the boy’s heart and stays there. He will have it near him all the time, and on every

-page there is a lesson or something that will stand the boy in good need. Beyond

-a doubt in its line this is one of the cleverest books on the market.&mdash;<i>Providence

-News.</i></p>

-

-<p>If a boy has any sort of a mechanical turn of mind, his parents should see that

-he has this book.&mdash;<i>Boston Journal.</i></p>

-

-<p>This is a book that will do boys good.&mdash;<i>Buffalo Express.</i></p>

-

-<p>The boy who will not find this book a mine of joy and profit must be queerly

-constituted.&mdash;<i>Pittsburgh Gazette.</i></p>

-

-<p>Will be a delight to the boy mechanic.&mdash;<i>Watchman, Boston.</i></p>

-

-<p>An admirable book to give a boy.&mdash;<i>Newark News.</i></p>

-

-<p>This book is the best yet offered for its large number of practical and profitable

-ideas.&mdash;<i>Milwaukee Free Press.</i></p>

-

-<p>Parents ought to know of this book.&mdash;<i>New York Globe.</i></p>

-</div>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p>

-

-<p class="pc2 elarge">PHILLIPS EXETER SERIES</p>

-

-<p class="pc mid">By A. T. DUDLEY</p>

-

-<p class="pc reduct">Cloth, 12mo Illustrated by Charles Copeland Price per volume, <b>$1.25</b></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc2 large">FOLLOWING THE BALL</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">HERE is an up-to-date story presenting American boarding-school life

-and modern athletics. Of course football is an important feature,

-but this is far more than a football book. It is a story of character formation

-told in a most wholesome and manly way. In this development athletics

-play an important part, to be sure, but are only one feature in carrying

-the hero, “Dick Melvin,” on to a worthy manhood.</p>

-

-<p class="reduct b2">“Mingled with the story of football is another and higher endeavor, giving the

-book the best of moral tone.”&mdash;<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p>

-

-<div class="floatleft">

-     <img src="images/ad294a.jpg" width="150" height="219"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="pc large">MAKING THE NINE</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">THIS story is lively and worth telling, and the

-life presented is that of a real school, interesting,

-diversified, and full of striking incidents,

-while the characters are true and consistent types of

-American boyhood and youth. The athletics are

-technically correct, abounding in helpful suggestions,

-soundly and wisely given, and the moral tone

-is high and set by action rather than preaching.</p>

-

-<p class="reduct b2">“The story is healthful, for, while it exalts athletics, it

-does not overlook the fact that studious habits and noble

-character are imperative needs for those who would win

-success in life.”&mdash;<i>Herald and Presbyter, Cincinnati.</i></p>

-

-<div class="floatright">

-     <img src="images/ad294b.jpg" width="150" height="206"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="pc large">IN THE LINE</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">TELLS how a stalwart young student won

-his position as guard, and at the same time

-made equally marked progress in the formation

-of character. It introduces the leading arguments

-for and against football in connection

-with the difficulties to be overcome before the

-hero’s father finally consents to allow his son to

-represent his academy in this way.</p>

-

-<p class="reduct">“The book gives boys an interesting story, much

-football information, and many lessons in true manliness.”&mdash;<i>Watchman,

-Boston.</i></p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc1 elarge">JACK TENFIELD’S STAR</p>

-

-<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">Martha James</span> Illustrated by Charles Copeland Large 12mo $1.00</p>

-

-<div class="floatleft">

-     <img src="images/ad295a.jpg" width="150" height="206"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="drop-cap05">JACK TENFIELD is a bright Boston boy, who,

-while preparing for college, is brought to face

-the fact that his father, a benevolent physician,

-and supposed to be well-to-do, had really

-left no estate. Jack resolutely defends his

-father’s memory, and makes the best of it. Circumstances

-bring much travel and many adventures,

-in all of which his generous, manly

-character rings true. That Jack is capable of

-being his “own star” well expresses the excellent

-thought of the book, which is remarkable

-for variety of well-told incidents.</p>

-

-<p class="reduct">“A clean, wholesome, enjoyable book.”&mdash;<i>The American

-Boy, Detroit, Mich.</i></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc1 elarge">Tom Winstone, “Wide Awake”</p>

-

-<p class="pc b2">By <span class="smcap">Martha James</span> Large 12mo Illustrated by W. Herbert Dunton $1.00</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">WE have often wished that we could secure a book for boys like the

-undying ones written by J. T. Trowbridge, and in “Tom Winstone”

-we have a young hero whose story is told in a way well worthy

-to be compared with the work of the older writer referred to. The

-sterling quality shown in “My Friend Jim” is all here, and “Tom,” an

-older boy, equally efficient in baseball, a foot race, or a noble action, is

-well worth knowing.</p>

-

-<p class="reduct b2">“Any healthy boy will delight in this book.”&mdash;<i>Living Church, Milwaukee, Wis.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pc elarge">My Friend Jim</p>

-

-<p class="pc">A Story of Real Boys and for Them</p>

-

-<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">Martha James</span> Large 12mo Illustrated

-by Frank T. Merrill $1.00</p>

-

-<div class="floatright">

-     <img src="images/ad295b.jpg" width="150" height="209"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03 p1">JUST the book to place in the hands of

-bright, active boys, and one that the

-most careful parents will be glad to use

-for that purpose. The loyal friendship

-springing up between Jim, the son of a mechanic,

-and a wealthy man’s son who is at

-Sunnyside farm for his health, has made the

-basis for some of the cleanest, brightest, and

-most helpful descriptions of boy life that we

-have ever read.</p>

-

-<p class="p1 reduct">“It is a book that boys will like and profit by.”&mdash;<i>Universalist

-Leader, Boston.</i></p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc2 elarge">TWO YOUNG INVENTORS</p>

-

-<p class="pc mid b1"><i>THE STORY OF THE FLYING BOAT</i></p>

-

-<div class="floatleft">

-     <img src="images/ad296a.jpg" width="150" height="210"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="pc2"><span class="smcap">By ALVAH MILTON KERR</span> Illustrated

-$1.25</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03 p1">HERE is a rattling good story; a tale of

-mystery, mechanism, and getting on in

-the world that will be a boy’s favorite for years.

-Two youths, both born inventors, make each

-other’s acquaintance as a result of misfortunes

-attending a Minnesota cyclone. Their efforts to

-perfect a flying-boat that shall not only skim the

-water, but rise into the air, result in the securing

-of a mechanical education. Mr. Kerr has

-solved the problem of a book that shall be

-intensely exciting and yet thoroughly wholesome.</p>

-

-<div class="reduct">

-<p class="p1">“The ingenuity and pluck of these two worthy heroes supply just the right

-material for the encouragement of ambitious youth.”&mdash;<i>Boston Beacon.</i></p>

-<p>“The book is full of life, incident, and stirring success.”&mdash;<i>Watchman, Boston.</i></p>

-<p>“The book is deeply interesting, at times intensely exciting, and yet thoroughly

-clean and wholesome throughout.”&mdash;<i>Portland Express.</i></p></div>

-

-

-<p class="pc1 elarge">YOUNG HEROES OF WIRE AND RAIL</p>

-

-<div class="floatright">

-     <img src="images/ad296b.jpg" width="150" height="207"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">By ALVAH MILTON KERR</span> Illustrated

-12mo Cloth $1.25</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03 p1">THE place which the sea once held in supplying

-thrilling tales of heroism and peril

-is now being largely usurped by that powerful

-agent of progress, the railway service, and with

-no lessening of interest. It is also very attractive

-to know how those who bear the vast

-responsibilities of this service perform their

-work and meet the fearful emergencies that

-may arise at any time.</p>

-

-<div class="reduct">

-

-<p>“The tone of the work is healthful and inspiring.”&mdash;<i>Boston

-Herald.</i></p>

-

-<p>“They are calculated to inspire boys to become manly, and incidentally they

-contain considerable valuable information.”&mdash;<i>Newark News.</i></p>

-

-<p>“An ideal book for a young boy is ‘Young Heroes of Wire and Rail.’”&mdash;<i>Episcopal

-Recorder, Philadelphia.</i></p></div>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span></p>

-

-<p class="pc1 elarge">THE GREGORY GUARDS</p>

-

-<p class="pc b2">By <span class="smcap">Emma Lee Benedict</span> Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill 12mo $1.25</p>

-

-<div class="floatleft">

-     <img src="images/ad297a.jpg" width="150" height="202"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">A YOUNG man of wealth is trustee for a

-fund to help boys and chooses six to pass

-the summer at his home on an island near New

-York. These lads of widely different temperaments

-in true boy fashion form a “club,”

-whose highest purpose it is to watch over the

-property and interests of their benefactor, and

-to which they give his name. All profit in great

-measure from a summer that is a turning point in

-their lives. A story of reaping good by doing

-good, bright and entertaining and full of life,

-incident, and good sense.</p>

-

-<p class="reduct">“It is a story along novel lines, and may be warmly

-commended.”&mdash;<i>St. Louis Globe-Democrat.</i></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc1 elarge b1">The Young Vigilantes</p>

-

-<div class="floatright">

-     <img src="images/ad297b.jpg" width="150" height="207"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="pc">A Story of California Life in the Fifties</p>

-

-<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">Samuel Adams Drake</span> Illustrated by L. J.

-Bridgman Price $1.25</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03">FEW men now remain who can describe the

-“Forty-Niners” from personal knowledge

-and experience, and the very best one of them

-is the noted historical writer, Col. Drake. One

-of two young chums in Boston yields to the excitement

-of the day and goes to California, partly

-at his friend’s expense. Later, the hero of the story

-is driven by injustice to make his way thither via

-the route across Nicaragua, befriended by an old

-sailor. A reunion and exciting experiences in San

-Francisco follow.</p>

-

-<p class="reduct">“The book is a bright, able, and wholesome contribution to the knowledge of

-our country’s progress.”&mdash;<i>Religious Telescope, Dayton, O.</i></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc1 elarge">Joe’s Signal Code</p>

-

-<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">W. Reiff Hesser</span> Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill $1.25</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03 p1">THIS book tells of the abandoning of a fine ship with its cargo in the

-Pacific Ocean. The leading characters, who are to leave in the last

-boat, had their escape cut off by its destruction, but succeed in saving the

-ship and lead a most interesting life for more than a year on a hitherto

-unknown island.</p>

-

-<p class="reduct">“The boys will enjoy it from cover to cover. The book is many degrees above

-the ordinary story.”&mdash;<i>American Boy, Detroit.</i></p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc2 mid b1">PATRIOTIC SERIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS</p>

-

-<div class="floatleft">

-     <img src="images/ad298.jpg" width="200" height="271"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="p2">“Lives of great men all remind us

-We can make our lives sublime.”</p>

-

-<p class="p1">The volumes included in this

-series tend to inculcate the spirit

-of patriotism and good citizenship.

-The boys and girls of to-day are

-here made acquainted with the lives

-and characters of many noble men

-and women of this and other

-countries. The information is pleasantly

-and vividly imparted in the

-form of popular biography as well

-as fiction by well-known and popular

-writers.</p>

-

-<p class="p1"><span class="smcap">Uniform Cloth Binding New

-and Attractive Dies Illustrated</span>

-Price per volume $1.00</p>

-

-<div class="ind">

-

-<p class="pad p2">1. <span class="smcap">Bobbin Boy</span> The Early Life of

-Gen. N. P. Banks</p>

-

-<p class="pad">2. <span class="smcap">Border Boy</span> A Popular Life

-of Daniel Boone By W. H.

-Bogart</p>

-

-<p class="pad">3. <span class="smcap">Daring Deeds of the Revolution</span> By Henry C. Watson</p>

-

-<p class="pad">4. <span class="smcap">Dora Darling</span> or the Daughter of the Regiment By Jane G.

-Austin</p>

-

-<p class="pad">5. <span class="smcap">Dora Darling and Little Sunshine</span> By Jane G. Austin</p>

-

-<p class="pad">6. <span class="smcap">Father of his Country</span> A Popular Life of George Washington

-By Henry C. Watson</p>

-

-<p class="pad">7. <span class="smcap">Friend of Washington</span> A Popular Life of General Lafayette.

-By Henry C. Watson.</p>

-

-<p class="pad">8. <span class="smcap">Great Men and Gallant Deeds</span> By J. G. Edgar</p>

-

-<p class="pad">9. <span class="smcap">Great Peacemaker</span> A Popular Life of William Penn By

-Henry C. Watson</p>

-

-</div>

-

-<p class="pad">10. <span class="smcap">Great Expounder</span> Young Folks’ Life of Daniel Webster</p>

-

-<p class="pad">11. <span class="smcap">Good and Great Men</span> Their Brave Deeds and Works By

-John Frost, LL.D.</p>

-

-<p class="pad">12. <span class="smcap">Little Corporal</span> Young Folks’ Life of Napoleon Bonaparte

-By John Frost, LL.D.</p>

-

-<p class="pad">13. <span class="smcap">Mill Boy of the Slashes</span> Life of Henry Clay By John Frost</p>

-

-<p class="pad">14. <span class="smcap">Noble Deeds of American Women</span> Edited by J. Clement</p>

-

-<p class="pad">15. <span class="smcap">Old Bell of Independence</span> By Henry C. Watson</p>

-

-<p class="pad">16. <span class="smcap">Old Hickory</span> Life of Andrew Jackson By John Frost</p>

-

-<p class="pad">17. <span class="smcap">Old Rough and Ready</span> Young Folks’ Life of Gen. Zachary

-Taylor By John Frost, LL.D.</p>

-

-<p class="pad">18. <span class="smcap">Pioneer Mothers of the West</span> Daring and Heroic Deeds of

-American Women By John Frost, LL.D.</p>

-

-<p class="pad">19. <span class="smcap">Printer Boy</span> or How Ben Franklin made his Mark</p>

-

-<p class="pad">20. <span class="smcap">Poor Richard’s Story</span> A Popular Life of Ben Franklin By

-Henry C. Watson</p>

-

-<p class="pad">21. <span class="smcap">Paul and Persis</span> or the Revolutionary Struggle in the Mohawk

-Valley By Mary E. Brush</p>

-

-<p class="pad">22. <span class="smcap">Quaker among the Indians</span> By Thomas C. Battey</p>

-

-<p class="pad">23. <span class="smcap">Swamp Fox</span> Life of Gen. Francis Marion By John Frost</p>

-

-<p class="pad">24. <span class="smcap">Women of Worth whom the World Loves to Honor</span></p>

-

-<p class="pad">25. <span class="smcap">Young Invincibles</span> or Patriotism at Home. By I. H. Anderson</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc2 lmid b2"><b>Newly arranged Standard Collection of History, Biography,

-Heroism, and Adventure</b></p>

-

-<div class="floatright">

-     <img src="images/ad299.jpg" width="150" height="207"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p>Thirty favorites in new series New uniform

-cover design Attractive dies Fine cloth binding

-Illustrated Price per volume 75 cents.</p>

-

-<p>This series can truly be said to cover the world

-in its scope, as it chronicles heroic and daring exploits

-in all climes, told by an exceptionally strong

-list of authors. It is just the library to entertain

-and inform a live boy, and, while composed of

-books that arouse eager interest, is wholly free

-from cheap sensationalism.</p>

-

-<div class="ind">

-

-<p class="pad">1. <b>Adventures of Dick Onslow among

-the Redskins</b> By W. H. K. Kingston</p>

-

-<p class="pad">2. <b>African Crusoes, The</b> By Mrs. R. Lee</p>

-

-<p class="pad">3. <b>Among the Brigands</b> By Prof. James

-DeMille</p>

-

-<p class="pad">4. <b>Anthony Waymouth</b> By W. H. K. Kingston</p>

-

-<p class="pad">5. <b>Arctic Crusoe, The, Adventures on the Sea of Ice</b> By Percy

-B. St. John</p>

-

-<p class="pad">6. <b>Around the World in Eighty Days</b> By Jules Verne</p>

-

-<p class="pad">7. <b>Australian Crusoes, The</b> By Charles Rowcroft</p>

-

-<p class="pad">8. <b>Australian Wanderers</b> By Mrs. R. Lee</p>

-

-<p class="pad">9. <b>Cabin on the Prairie, The</b> By Dr. C. H. Pearson</p>

-

-</div>

-

-<p class="pad">10. <b>Cruise of the Frolic, The</b> By W. H. K. Kingston</p>

-

-<p class="pad">11. <b>Ernest Bracebridge; or School Boy Days</b> By W. H. K. Kingston</p>

-

-<p class="pad">12. <b>French Robinson Crusoe, The</b> By Alfred de Brehat</p>

-

-<p class="pad">13. <b>Golden Hair, a Tale of the Pilgrim Fathers</b> By Sir Lascelle

-Wraxhall</p>

-

-<p class="pad">14. <b>Life Boat, The</b> By R. M. Ballantyne</p>

-

-<p class="pad">15. <b>Lily and the Cross, The</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>

-

-<p class="pad">16. <b>Planting the Wilderness</b> By James D. McCabe, Jr.</p>

-

-<p class="pad">17. <b>Prairie Crusoe, The; or Adventures in the Far West</b> By

-Sir Lascelle Wraxhall</p>

-

-<p class="pad">18. <b>Sand Hills of Jutland, The</b> By Hans Christian Andersen</p>

-

-<p class="pad">19. <b>Twice Taken, a Tale of Louisburg</b> By Capt. Charles W. Hall</p>

-

-<p class="pad">20. <b>Twelve Nights in a Hunter’s Camp</b> By Rev. William Barrows</p>

-

-<p class="pad">21. <b>Whales We Caught, The, and How We Did It</b> By William H.

-Macy</p>

-

-<p class="pad">22. <b>Wild Scenes of a Hunter’s Life</b> By John Frost, LL.D.</p>

-

-<p class="pad">23. <b>Willis the Pilot, a Sequel to the Swiss Family Robinson</b>

-By Sir Lascelle Wraxhall</p>

-

-<p class="pad">24. <b>Winged Lion, The, or Stories of Venice.</b> By Prof. James De

-Mille</p>

-

-<p class="pad">25. <b>Winter in the Ice, A</b> By Jules Verne</p>

-

-<p class="pad">26. <b>Wreck of the Chancellor, The</b> By Jules Verne</p>

-

-<p class="pad">27. <b>Yarns of an Old Mariner</b> By Mary Cowden Clarke</p>

-

-<p class="pad">28. <b>Young Crusoe, The; or Adventure of a Shipwrecked Boy</b>

-By Dr. Harley</p>

-

-<p class="pad">29. <b>Young Middy, The</b> By F. C. Armstrong</p>

-

-<p class="pad b2">30. <b>Young Pioneers of the Northwest</b> By Dr. C. H. Pearson</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span></p>

-

-<div class="floatright">

-     <img src="images/ad300a.jpg" width="150" height="206"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="pc large">Famous Children</p>

-

-<p>By <span class="smcap">H. Twitchell</span> Illustrated $1.25</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03 p1">WE have here a most valuable book, telling

-not of the childhood of those who have

-afterwards become famous, but those who as

-children are famous in history, song, and story.

-For convenience the subjects are grouped as

-“Royal Children,” “Child Artists,” “Learned

-Children,” “Devoted Children,” “Child Martyrs,”

-and “Heroic Children,” and the names

-of the “two little princes,” Louis XVII., Mozart,

-St. Genevieve, David, and Joan of Arc are

-here, as well as those of many more.</p>

-

-

-<p class="pc2 elarge">The Story of the Cid For Young People</p>

-

-<p>By <span class="smcap">Calvin Dill Wilson</span> Illustrated by <span class="smcap">J. W. Kennedy</span> $1.25</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03 p1">MR. WILSON, a well-known writer and reviewer, has prepared from

-Southey’s translation, which was far too cumbrous to entertain the

-young, a book that will kindle the imagination of youth and entertain and

-inform those of advanced years.</p>

-

-<div class="floatleft">

-     <img src="images/ad300b.jpg" width="150" height="211"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p class="pc elarge">Jason’s Quest</p>

-

-<p>By <span class="smcap">D. O. S. Lowell</span>, A. M., M. D. Master in

-Roxbury Latin School Illustrated $1.00</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03 p1">NOTHING can be better to arouse the imagination

-of boys and girls, and at the same

-time store in their minds knowledge indispensable

-to any one who would be known as cultured,

-or happier than Professor Lowell’s way

-of telling a story, and the many excellent drawings

-have lent great spirit to the narrative.</p>

-

-<p class="pc2 elarge">Heroes of the Crusades</p>

-

-<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">Amanda M. Douglas</span> Cloth Fifty full-page illustrations $1.50</p>

-

-<p class="drop-cap03 p1">THE romantic interest in the days of chivalry, so fully exemplified by

-the “Heroes of the Crusades,” is permanent and properly so. This

-book is fitted to keep it alive without descending to improbability or

-cheap sensationalism.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc mid">BOOKS BY EVERETT T. TOMLINSON.</p>

-

-<hr class="full" />

-

-<p class="pc elarge b1">THE WAR OF 1812 SERIES</p>

-

-<div class="floatleft">

-     <img src="images/ad301.jpg" width="150" height="214"

-         alt=""

-         title="" />

-</div>

-

-<p>Six volumes Cloth Illustrated by A. B.

-Shute Price per volume reduced to $1.25</p>

-

-<p class="reduct">No American writer for boys has ever occupied

-a higher position than Dr. Tomlinson, and the

-“War of 1812 Series” covers a field attempted

-by no other juvenile literature in a manner that

-has secured continued popularity.</p>

-

-<p class="pn"><b>The Search for Andrew Field</b></p>

-<p class="pl1"><b>The Boy Soldiers of 1812</b></p>

-<p class="pli2"><b>The Boy Officers of 1812</b></p>

-<p class="pl3"><b>Tecumseh’s Young Brave</b></p>

-<p class="pl4"><b>Guarding the Border</b></p>

-<p class="pl5"><b>The Boys with Old Hickory</b></p>

-

-<p class="pc2 elarge">ST. LAWRENCE SERIES</p>

-

-<p class="p2 lmid">CRUISING IN THE ST. LAWRENCE</p>

-

-<p class="pl2">Being the third volume of the “St. Lawrence Series” Cloth

-Illustrated Price $1.50</p>

-

-<p class="reduct">Our old friends, “Bob,” “Ben,” “Jock,” and “Bert,” having completed

-their sophomore year at college, plan to spend the summer vacation cruising

-on the noble St. Lawrence. Here they not only visit places of historic interest,

-but also the Indian tribes encamped on the banks of the river, and learn

-from them their customs, habits, and quaint legends.</p>

-

-<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>PREVIOUS VOLUMES</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn large">CAMPING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE</p>

-<p class="pc large">Or, On the Trail of the Early Discoverers</p>

-

-<p class="pl4">Cloth Illustrated $1.50</p>

-

-<p class="pn1 large">THE HOUSE-BOAT ON THE ST. LAWRENCE</p>

-<p class="pc large">Or, Following Frontenac</p>

-

-<p class="pl4">Cloth Illustrated $1.50</p>

-

-<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>BY THE SAME AUTHOR</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn large">STORIES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION</p>

-

-<p class="pc">First and Second Series Cloth Illustrated $1.00 each</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span></p>

-

-<p class="pc2 xlarge">The Tide-Mill Stories</p>

-

-<p class="p1 lmid">By J. T. TROWBRIDGE</p>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="pc"><i>Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25</i></p>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid">Phil and His Friends.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">The hero is the son of a man who from drink got into debt, and, after having

-given a paper to a creditor authorizing him to keep the son as a security

-for his claim, ran away, leaving poor Phil a bond slave. The story

-involves a great many unexpected incidents, some of which are painful and

-some comic. Phil manfully works for a year cancelling his father’s debt,

-and then escapes. The characters are strongly drawn, and the story is absorbingly

-interesting.</p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid">The Tinkham Brothers’ Tide-Mill.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“‘The Tinkham Brothers’ were the devoted sons of an invalid mother. The

-story tells how they purchased a tide-mill, which afterwards, by the ill-will

-and obstinacy of neighbors, became a source of much trouble to them. It

-tells also how, by discretion and the exercise of a peaceable spirit, they at

-last overcame all difficulties.”&mdash;<i>Christian Observer, Louisville, Ky.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid">The Satin-wood Box.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“Mr. Trowbridge has always a purpose in his writings, and this time he

-has undertaken to show how very near an innocent boy can come to the

-guilty edge and yet be able by fortunate circumstances to rid himself of all

-suspicion of evil. There is something winsome about the hero; but he has

-a singular way of falling into bad luck, although the careful reader will

-never feel the least disposed to doubt his honesty.”&mdash;<i>Syracuse Standard.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid">The Little Master.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">This is the story of a schoolmaster, his trials, disappointments, and final

-victory. It will recall to many a man his experience in teaching pupils, and

-in managing their opinionated and self-willed parents. The story has the

-charm which is always found in Mr. Trowbridge’s works.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“Many a teacher could profit by reading of this plucky little schoolmaster.”&mdash;<i>Journal

-of Education.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid">His One Fault.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“As for the hero of this story ‘His One Fault’ was absent-mindedness.

-He forgot to lock his uncle’s stable door, and the horse was stolen. In

-seeking to recover the stolen horse, he unintentionally stole another. In

-trying to restore the wrong horse to his rightful owner, he was himself arrested.

-After no end of comic and dolorous adventures, he surmounted all

-his misfortunes by downright pluck and genuine good feeling. It is a noble

-contribution to juvenile literature.”&mdash;<i>Woman’s Journal.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid">Peter Budstone.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“Mr. J. T. Trowbridge’s ‘Peter Budstone’ is another of those altogether

-good and wholesome books for boys of which it is hardly possible to speak too

-highly. This author shows us convincingly how juvenile reading may be

-made vivacious and interesting, and yet teach sound and clean lessons.

-‘Peter Budstone’ shows forcibly the folly and crime of ‘hazing.’ It is the

-story of a noble young fellow whose reason is irreparably overthrown by

-the savage treatment he received from some of his associates at college.

-It is a powerful little book, and we wish every schoolboy and college youth

-could read it.”&mdash;<i>Philadelphia American.</i></p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<p class="pc2 xlarge">The Silver Medal Stories</p>

-

-<p class="p1 lmid">By J. T. TROWBRIDGE</p>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="pc"><i>Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25</i></p>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>The Silver Medal</b>, <span class="smcap">and other Stories</span>.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">There were some schoolboys who had turned housebreakers, and among

-their plunder was a silver medal that had been given to one John Harrison

-by the Humane Society for rescuing from drowning a certain Benton

-Barry. Now Benton Barry was one of the wretched housebreakers. This is

-the summary of the opening chapter. The story is intensely interesting in

-its serious as well as its humorous parts.</p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>His Own Master.</b></p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“This is a book after the typical boy’s own heart. Its hero is a plucky

-young fellow, who, seeing no chance for himself at home, determines to

-make his own way in the world.... He sets out accordingly, trudges to the

-far West, and finds the road to fortune an unpleasantly rough one.”&mdash;<i>Philadelphia

-Inquirer.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>Bound in Honor.</b></p>

-

-<p class="pbq">This story is of a lad, who, though not guilty of any bad action, has been

-an eye-witness of the conduct of his comrades, and felt “Bound in Honor”

-not to tell.</p>

-<p class="pbq">“A capital book in all respects, overflowing with all sorts of fun and

-adventure; just the sort of book, in short, that the young folks will be

-anxious to read and re-read with as much continuous interest as the most

-favored of their storybooks.”&mdash;<i>Philadelphia Leader.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>The Pocket Rifle.</b></p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“A boy’s story which will be read with avidity, as it ought to be, it is so

-brightly and frankly written, and with such evident knowledge of the temperaments

-and habits, the friendships and enmities of schoolboys.”&mdash;<i>New

-York Mail.</i></p>

-<p class="pbq">“This is a capital story for boys. It teaches honesty, integrity, and friendship,

-and how best they can be promoted. It shows the danger of hasty

-judgment and circumstantial evidence; that right-doing pays, and dishonesty

-never.”&mdash;<i>Chicago Inter-Ocean.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>The Jolly Rover.</b></p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“This book will help to neutralize the ill effects of any poison which children

-may have swallowed in the way of sham-adventurous stories and wildly

-fictitious tales. ‘The Jolly Rover’ runs away from home, and meets life as

-it is, till he is glad enough to seek again his father’s house. Mr. Trowbridge

-has the power of making an instructive story absorbing in its interest, and

-of covering a moral so that it is easy to take.”&mdash;<i>Christian Intelligencer.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>Young Joe</b>, <span class="smcap">and other Boys</span>.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“Young Joe,” who lived at Bass Cove, where he shot wild ducks, took

-some to town for sale, and attracted the attention of a portly gentleman

-fond of shooting. This gentleman went duck shooting with Joe, and their

-adventures were more amusing to the boy than to the amateur sportsman.</p>

-<p class="pbq">There are thirteen other short stories in the book which will be sure to

-please the young folks.</p>

-

-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p>

-

-<p class="pc2 xlarge"><span class="smcap">The Toby Trafford Series</span></p>

-

-<p class="pc1">BY</p>

-

-<p class="pc1 mid">J. T. TROWBRIDGE</p>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<table id="t01" summary="t01">

-

- <tr>

-  <td class="tdl"><i>Three Volumes</i></td>

-  <td class="tdc"><i>Cloth</i></td>

-  <td class="tdr"><i>Illustrated</i></td>

- </tr>

-

- <tr>

-  <td colspan="2" class="tdl"><i>Price per volume</i>.</td>

-  <td class="tdr"><i>$1.25</i></td>

- </tr>

-

-</table>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>The Fortunes of Toby Trafford.</b></p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“A new story by J. T. Trowbridge, is, like all Mr. Trowbridge’s fiction, the

-good wine that needs no bush. The plot is full of interest, and is still so

-natural that it all might happen in a thousand places. Its scenes and its

-people are everywhere; only few writers have Trowbridge’s eyes to see

-them. The hero is not an impossibly good boy, but he has manly instincts;

-and he is kept from follies and mistakes by the counsels of an excellent

-mother, and of his wise and noble-hearted schoolmaster. Boys will follow

-his career and his good and bad fortune with genuine interest.”&mdash;<i>Boston

-Budget.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>Father Brighthopes</b>; <span class="smcap">An Old Clergyman’s Vacation</span>.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“To the many friends which this book will doubtless gain it may be well

-to say that Father Brighthopes of the story gains that cheery name by his

-readiness to always see the bright and not the dark side of any difficulty,

-great or small. The few weeks which he spent with his friends, the Roydons,

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-writings of Trowbridge are too well known to require comment, since almost

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-which there is not a little humor as well as pathos.”&mdash;<i>Chicago Times.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>Woodie Thorpe’s Pilgrimage</b>, <span class="smcap">and other Stories</span>.</p>

-

-<p class="pbq">“The scenes are full of human interest and lifelikeness, and will please

-many an old reader, as well as the younger folks, for whose delectation it is

-intended. As in all the books of this author the spirit is manly, sincere,

-and in the best sense moral. There is no “goody” talk and no cant, but

-principles of truthfulness, integrity, and self-reliance are quietly inculcated

-by example. It is safe to say that any boy will be the better for reading

-books like this.”&mdash;<i>St. Botolph.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="pc"><i>For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price<br />

-by the publishers. Our Illustrated Catalogue sent free.</i></p>

-

-<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p class="pc elarge">Lothrop, Lee &amp; Shepard Co., Boston</p>

-</div>

-

-</div>

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-<pre>

-

-

-

-

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+  </head>
+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48904 ***</div>
+
+<div class="limit">
+
+<div class="sum">
+
+<div class="transnote p4">
+<p class="pc large">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:</p>
+<p class="ptn">&mdash;Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.</p>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<p class="pc4 large"><i>THE PLEASANT COVE SERIES.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pc1">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<h1 class="p4">ARTHUR BROWN,</h1>
+
+<p class="pc2 elarge">THE YOUNG CAPTAIN.</p>
+
+<p class="pc4 reduct">BY</p>
+
+<p class="pc4 mid">REV. ELIJAH KELLOGG,</p>
+
+<p class="pc small">AUTHOR OF THE ELM ISLAND STORIES&mdash;“LION BEN,” “CHARLIE BELL,”<br />
+“THE BOY-FARMERS,” “THE ARK,” “THE YOUNG SHIP-<br />
+BUILDERS,” “THE HARD-SCRABBLE.”</p>
+
+<p class="pc4"><i>ILLUSTRATED.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pc4 lmid">BOSTON:</p>
+<p class="pc lmid">LOTHROP, LEE &amp; SHEPARD CO.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="pc4 reduct">Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by<br />
+LEE AND SHEPARD,<br />
+in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.</p>
+
+<p class="pc4 reduct"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1898, by Elijah Kellogg.</span></p>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pc reduct"><i>All Rights Reserved.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pc reduct"><span class="smcap"><b>Arthur Brown.</b></span></p>
+
+<p class="pc4 reduct">Norwood Press:<br />
+Berwick &amp; Smith, Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="p4">PREFACE.</h2>
+
+<p class="pc2">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Notwithstanding</span> kindness is at times rewarded
+with ingratitude, and even positive injury, it is by
+no means so frequent an occurrence as persons
+naturally censorious, or whose minds have been
+soured by an unblest experience, would have us
+suppose.</p>
+
+<p>Benefits conferred usually excite gratitude, and
+sometimes, when the donors have passed away
+are repaid, with interest, to their posterity.</p>
+
+<p>The story of Arthur Brown presents a striking
+illustration of this principle. Lashed to a raft,
+perishing with cold and hunger in the edge of
+the surf, he is rescued by Captain Rhines, who,
+when a boy, poor and unable either to read or
+write, had been instructed and started in business<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+by Arthur’s father, who was afterwards lost
+at sea. The old captain, discovering, in the person
+he had perilled his life to save, the only son
+of his benefactor, receives him with open arms,
+with a nobility of soul that strengthens our faith
+in human nature, freely bestowing both time and
+property to aid the son and family of his benefactor,
+and repay the old debt. His efforts in
+this direction, together with those of the young
+man to help himself, at a most stirring period
+of our country’s history, the adventures growing
+out of those efforts, and the consequent development
+of character, will, we trust, prove interesting,
+and not without instruction.</p>
+
+<p>Some references have necessarily been made
+to characters of the “Elm Island Series,” the
+reasons for which are given in the introductory
+chapter, and the references so explained as to
+render the connection plain to the reader.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="sum">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<table id="toc" summary="cont">
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdrl"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap1">CHAPTER I.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Introductory.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER II.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">The Wreck and the Rescue.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER III.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">A Glad Surprise.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER IV.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Captain Rhines manifests his Gratitude.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER V.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt">“<span class="smcap">We were put into this World to help one Another.</span>“”</td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER VI.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">The Young Captain under Fire.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER VII.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Little Ned and his Mother.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER VIII.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Moonlight Conversation by the Brook.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER IX.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span><span class="smcap">The Griffins.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER X.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Where the Hard Streak came from.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XI.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Reconnoitring.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XII.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Did I bear it like a Man, Walter?</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XIII.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">The Basket-maker.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XIV.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">A Strange Discovery.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XV.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Homeward bound.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XVI.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Dear-bought Wit.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XVII.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Death and Burial of Tige Rhines.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XVIII.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">The Meeting.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XIX.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">Ned among the Griffins.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdchap">CHAPTER XX.</td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdt"><span class="smcap">A Mysterious Disappearance.</span></td>
+  <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td>
+ </tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<p class="pc4 xlarge">ARTHUR BROWN,</p>
+
+<p class="pc2 large">THE YOUNG CAPTAIN.</p>
+
+<p class="pc2">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<h2 class="pc2">CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">INTRODUCTORY.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">IN the series of books denominated the “Elm
+Island Stories” (commencing at the period
+when the old “Continental Congress,” which had
+fought the war of the revolution, was superseded
+by the Federal Government, and running through
+successive years) were introduced certain characters
+in whom our juvenile readers became so
+much interested, that they have assured us they
+could not abruptly surrender their acquaintance,
+at least not without some slight knowledge of
+their future prospects, especially as we were compelled
+to conclude our tale when most of them
+were on the very threshold of manhood. Desiring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+to gratify, and, at the same time, render them
+somewhat familiar with the history and progress
+of their native land in those snapping times included
+between the outbreak of the French revolution
+and the embargo, so prolific in gain and
+adventure to those possessing the enterprise, and
+daring to profit by them, and during which American
+commerce took such mighty strides, we must
+of necessity, at the commencement of this volume,
+make some slight reference to persons and places
+previously described. For the benefit of those
+who have not read the former series, we introduce
+a brief sketch, referring those who may desire
+more accurate knowledge to those books.</p>
+
+<p>Our old acquaintances can pursue, with this
+chapter, the course we used to adopt, when compelled
+to read one of Buckminster’s sermons aloud
+to the family, after having been twice to meeting,
+brought home the texts and heads of the
+sermon, and to Sabbath school&mdash;<i>skip</i>, skipped all
+we dared to, skipped all we could.</p>
+
+<p>The scene of the “Elm Island Stories” is laid
+in eastern Maine, when it was little better than
+a forest, save a rim of clearings and incipient
+towns along the sea-shore.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Captain Rhines, who lived on the shore at a
+place named from him and his ancestors Rhineville,
+but then a plantation unincorporated, was a
+noble specimen of a sea captain&mdash;shrewd, kindly,
+self-made, of a daring nature, controlled by clear,
+cool judgment.</p>
+
+<p>His son Ben, possessing all the sterling qualities
+of his father, is a giant in strength, and in
+the very prime of life. Though in general of
+most even temper, and only by long provocations
+excited to wrath, yet, when thoroughly roused,
+he was terrible; hence his name, <i>Lion Ben</i>. Becoming
+enamoured of Sally Hadlock, who will only
+marry him on condition that he relinquishes the
+sea, he buys Elm Island, situated among the breakers,
+six miles from the main land, and inaccessible
+at some periods by reason of the surf; fertile as to
+soil, and covered with a heavy growth of timber.
+With nothing to depend upon but their hands, and
+obliged to mortgage the island at the outset, this
+resolute pair sit down among the woods to
+achieve independence. He is greatly assisted in
+all his plans and purposes by Uncle Isaac Murch,
+a man in middle life, who, in boyhood, was captured
+by the Penobscot Indians, and adopted into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+their tribe&mdash;a most shrewd, resolute, genial being,
+with very strong attachment to youth, their
+unfailing friend and ally in every good purpose.</p>
+
+<p>While Lion Ben is cutting off the spars and raising
+crops to pay for the island, some plunderers
+from the British Provinces, seeing but one house
+on the island, and supposing they had but little resistance
+to encounter, landed and insulted Ben’s
+wife. She flies to her husband, who is at work
+near by in the woods, who encounters and nearly
+kills the intruders. Among them is an English
+orphan boy, by the name of Charlie Bell, who had
+shipped with them as cook, being ignorant of their
+character. He remains, and is adopted by Lion
+Ben. He turns out to be a boy of most excellent
+principle, of remarkable mechanical genius, and
+learns the trade of a ship carpenter; makes the
+acquaintance of Captain Rhines’s youngest boy,
+John, and of Fred Williams, the miller’s son.</p>
+
+<p>Fred is a boy naturally smart, and inclined to
+mischief. By associating with a miserable wretch
+by the name of Pete Clash, an importation from
+the Provinces, and another by the name of Godsoe,
+a home production, he is led into evil courses.
+These boys, while in the woods one day, plotting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+mischief against Uncle Isaac, being surprised by
+John Rhines, and finding that he will expose
+them, attempt to flog him; but he is rescued by
+his dog Tige, who tears Pete and Fred, injuring
+Fred so severely that he is at the point of death,
+which brings him to reflection and reform.</p>
+
+<p>Pete Clash, attempting to meddle with Uncle
+Isaac’s fish flakes, is caught by the old hunter
+in a wolf trap, and so threatened and frightened
+by him, that he leaves the place, together with
+Godsoe. John, Fred, and Charlie now became
+fast friends, and Uncle Isaac their mutual friend
+and adviser.</p>
+
+<p>John Rhines becomes a blacksmith, Fred works
+with his father in the mill. Charlie and John
+accumulate money by labor and ventures sent
+to the West Indies, and set up Fred in trade.
+These three boys, with another by the name of
+Isaac Murch, a protégé of Captain Rhines, <i>undertake</i>
+to build a vessel, and <i>do</i> build her, and send
+her to the French West Indies, calling her the
+Hard-scrabble, in commemoration of the desperate
+nature of the undertaking. She arrives at Martinique
+at a lucky moment, and pays for herself,
+and more too. They afterwards build another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+called the Casco, of larger dimensions, of which
+Isaac Murch becomes the master, surrendering the
+Hard-scrabble to another captain. Joe Griffin, to
+whom reference is made, is a friend of Lion Ben,
+a mighty man with an axe, a great wrestler,
+and kind-hearted, but a most inveterate practical
+joker.</p>
+
+<p>Walter Griffin, a younger brother of Joe, inheriting
+all the grit of this rugged race, enters the
+store of Fred Williams as a clerk; but the Griffin
+blood rebels under the monotony and constraint,
+and he takes to the water. Peterson, the
+black pilot, was for many years addicted to intemperance.
+During that period some roguish
+boys got him into a store when intoxicated,
+poured molasses on his head, then applied flour,
+alternating the layers, till his head was as large
+as a half bushel; for many years after which he
+was known by the nickname of Flour, but, having
+become a sober and industrious man, has
+accumulated property, is respected by the whole
+community, and the nickname is forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>The period at which this series commences
+is after the French revolution, when the star of
+Nelson was rising above the horizon, and Napoleon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+Bonaparte, a colonel of the artillery, was
+planting batteries at Toulon, and giving the English
+blockading fleet a taste of his quality.</p>
+
+<p>These young men are now in possession of
+capital. John Rhines is living at home with his
+father; Fred is engaged in trade, and just married
+to a daughter of Captain Rhines. Charlie Bell is
+living on a farm in a most beautiful spot, called
+“Pleasant Cove,” upon which he chanced to stumble
+one lovely night in summer while sailing,
+became enraptured with and bought it, married
+another daughter of the captain, and settled down
+on it in a log house, while it was a forest, has
+one child, now a babe, and having built the Casco
+on his own shore, hopes to be able to cultivate
+the soil (an occupation he dearly loves), and to
+carry out those ideas of taste and beauty which
+in childhood he had gathered from the vales and
+ancestral homes of his native land.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">THE WRECK AND THE RESCUE.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">IT was the middle of October, about ten o’clock
+in the forenoon; there was no rain falling, but
+it was blowing&mdash;O, how it was blowing!&mdash;a tearing
+gale from the south-west, which roared through,
+the tree tops, and there was a tremendous sea in
+the bay. But under the lee of Pleasant Point,
+entirely sheltered from the wind by the high land
+and the woods, a shooting match had just been
+abruptly broken off by Sol Chase (a boy of sixteen,
+who put up the turkeys) declaring that it
+was no kind of use to set up, if such marksmen
+as Joe Griffin and Uncle Isaac were going to
+shoot.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, Sol, we won’t fire any more,” said Joe;
+“you boys may do your own shooting.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let us do something we can all do,” said
+Charlie. “Uncle Isaac, let us play knives. I’ll
+blaze this pine tree for a mark.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Blaze a pine tree! Half of you won’t be able
+to hit the tree. Take the barn door.”</p>
+
+<p>“We haven’t got knives,” said Ricker.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got my hunting knife,” said Uncle Isaac;
+“one knife will do for the whole of us.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got an Indian tomahawk in the house,”
+said Charlie; “one that you gave me, Uncle
+Isaac, long ago.”</p>
+
+<p>A bull’s eye was marked out on the barn door;
+the knife was held by the point of the blade, and
+flung. Uncle Isaac, when, after the first two trials,
+he had ascertained his distance, hit the centre
+of the target every time; Joe Griffin nearly as
+often; Charlie, Fred, and John, who had at other
+times practised a good deal with Uncle Isaac and
+each other, twice out of three times.</p>
+
+<p>“It takes Walter Griffin to throw a knife. He’d
+hit that mark every time.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish he was here,” said Fred. “I feel,
+since he went to sea, as though about half of me
+was gone.”</p>
+
+<p>As to the rest, some hit within six inches;
+others didn’t hit the door; and others flung the
+knife so that it struck flatways, or on the end
+of the handle.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Now let’s throw the tomahawk,” said Charlie.</p>
+
+<p>In this game none of them could approach Uncle
+Isaac, who flung it with a force and precision
+that would soon have made a breach in Charlie’s
+barn door; but as the rest could not fling it with
+any accuracy, they soon tired of it.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll put up a mark for you, Uncle Isaac,” said
+Joe Bradish.</p>
+
+<p>He had a soft hat, bran new; put it on for the
+first time that day.</p>
+
+<p>“What will you give me for a shot at my hat,
+at six hundred yards?”</p>
+
+<p>“Three shillings.”</p>
+
+<p>“Done.”</p>
+
+<p>Bradish rolled his hat carefully up, and thrust it
+into a mortise in the post of a rail fence.</p>
+
+<p>“I thought I was to have the whole bigness of
+the hat to fire at; that’s a small mark for such a
+long distance.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s just like him,” said Charlie; “always
+doing some mean, underhand trick.”</p>
+
+<p>“You was to fire at the hat. There’s the hat.
+Now measure off the six hundred yards,” said
+Bradish.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t measure it that way,” said Uncle Isaac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+to the boys, who were about to measure in the
+direction that the hat was shoved into the hole.</p>
+
+<p>“What difference does it make?” asked Bradish.</p>
+
+<p>“’Cause it does. I’ve a right to fire in any
+direction I like, at six hundred yards.”</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Isaac fired, and the ball, just grazing the
+edge of the post, went through every fold of the
+hat crossways, the rifle ball whirling as it went,
+cutting it all to pieces.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve spoilt my new hat,” said Bradish, with
+a rueful face, holding it up, all full of holes, like a
+colander.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s what you get by trying to cheat: good
+enough for you,” was the cry.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the laugh subsided, when Will
+Griffin was seen coming on horseback at full
+speed, and as he drew near, he bawled out, “Uncle
+Isaac, Joe, Master Bell, Captain Rhines wants
+you to come just as quick as you can; there’s a
+vessel cast away&mdash;folks going to be drowned on
+the Brant rocks.”</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the cove, they found Captain
+Rhines, in the Perseverance, her sails close
+reefed and set, hatches fastened down, and the
+vessel hauled in against a perpendicular ledge,
+while he was holding her by a rope fast to a tree.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Jump aboard!” he cried. “There’s people on
+a raft, coming right in before the wind and sea, and
+they will go right into the breakers on the Brant
+rocks, except we can get them off. I happened
+to be looking with the glass, and saw them.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ll do what men can do,” said Uncle Isaac.
+“Hadn’t we better call at the island, and get Ben?
+It’s right on our road.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s a good thought. Wonder I didn’t think
+of it.”</p>
+
+<p>Ben had not noticed the raft, but he saw the
+schooner coming, and knew that it must be a matter
+of life and death that would bring men to the
+island in such a gale. Both he and Sally met
+them at the shore.</p>
+
+<p>“I want you, my little boy,” cried Captain
+Rhines, as the schooner luffed up beside the
+wharf, in the still water of Elm Island harbor.
+“There’s a raft coming before the wind and sea,
+with people on it, and a signal of distress flying.
+It’s breaking thirty feet high on the Brant rocks,
+and they will soon be in that surf, unless we take
+them off.”</p>
+
+<p>No more was said. Ben jumped aboard, and
+the schooner, close hauled, stood boldly out into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+that tremendous sea. The men all commenced to
+lash themselves. Charlie was forward. He had
+made the end of a rope fast to the foremast, and
+put it around his waist; but, before he could
+secure the other end, she shipped a sea over the
+bows, that filled her all full, and bore Charlie before
+it like a feather. In another instant it would
+have taken him overboard, when nothing could
+have saved him; but Joe caught him as he was
+going over the rail.</p>
+
+<p>“A miss is as good as a mile,” said Captain
+Rhines. “She shakes off the water like a Newfoundland
+dog. Ben, take the axe, and knock off
+the waist boards, and then the sea can have a fair
+chance to get out as fast as it comes in.”</p>
+
+<p>They were now nearing the raft, as it came rapidly
+down before the sea, while the crew of the
+schooner were endeavoring to cut athwart its
+path. Catching glimpses of it in moments when
+the raft and the schooner both chanced to be on
+the top of a sea at the same instant, they perceived
+that it was constructed of the yards and
+smaller spars of a vessel, with an elevation amid-ships,
+where an upright spar was secured by
+shrouds, on which an English flag was flying. On<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+this elevation were dark objects, that Captain
+Rhines (at home) had made out, with his glass, to
+be human beings.</p>
+
+<p>“If they are people, father,” said Ben, who,
+confident to hold himself against the sea, had gone
+into the bows, “they are dead; for there’s nothing
+moves, only as the sea moves it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps not, Ben. They are lashed, chilled,
+and most dead, but I’ve seen men brought to
+that apparently had but a few more breaths
+to draw.”</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments Ben shouted, “There’s folks
+there, four or six, I can’t tell which. I see one
+move his arm a little.”</p>
+
+<p>“What are we going to do?” asked Captain
+Rhines. “I thought there would be some one
+able to take a line and make it fast, and then we
+might tow them clear of the breakers and into
+some lee, where we could get them off; but if
+there’s nobody to take a line, we’ve got to carry
+one ourselves.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let the raft go by us,” said Ben, “and follow
+it up astern with the schooner. I’ll take a
+line in the canoe.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll go with you,” said Joe; but Charlie insisted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+upon sharing the peril with his father.
+They took in all but the foresail, reefed to the
+smallest possible dimensions, leaving only a little
+of the peak, as it was difficult to make the
+schooner go slow enough to keep from running
+on to the raft and knocking her to pieces; but by
+luffing into the wind they managed to keep her
+clear till Ben and Charlie got into the canoe, and
+with a small line reached the raft, to which was
+made fast a larger one, which they hauled to
+them and secured.</p>
+
+<p>There was no such thing as returning against
+that sea; they must take their chance with those
+they came to save. If the rope parted, or the
+little vessel failed to tow her charge clear of
+the surf, they were lost. During the interval
+occupied in fastening to the raft, it had made
+fearful progress towards the rocks, that could
+now be plainly seen ahead, the sea breaking on
+them in sheets of foam. Never was the clear
+judgment and resolute nature of Captain Rhines
+put to a severer test than now. He must carry
+sail enough to drive the Perseverance through
+the water with sufficient speed to clear the
+rocks. On the other hand, there was danger,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+if he carried too much sail, of either parting the
+rope, in which case Ben and Charlie, with those
+they went to save, would perish, or of taking the
+masts out of the schooner; and also danger of
+the seas boarding her over the stern.</p>
+
+<p>It was most fortunate for the crew of the
+schooner, that when they grappled to the raft
+they were a long distance off, and well over to
+the edge of the breakers, consequently had to
+work the raft but very little to windward. Every
+time the little vessel rose on one of those tremendous
+seas, when the raft was perhaps in the
+hollow of another, she quivered and trembled,
+and it seemed as if she must be crushed bodily
+down beneath the sea.</p>
+
+<p>“Isaac,” said the captain, who had one hand
+on the rope, “I think this will bear more strain.
+Unless we go ahead a little faster, we shall hardly
+clear that ragged point making out to the leeward.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid, Benjamin, it will take the mast
+out of her.”</p>
+
+<p>“So am I, but we must risk it. There’s no other
+way. It’s sartain death to go into that surf.”</p>
+
+<p>There was one other way. A stroke of the axe
+upon the “taut” rope, and the schooner, freed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+from her encumbrance, would have gone off like
+a bird from the ragged reef and boiling surf,
+leaving their comrades to perish; but no such
+thought could find lodgment in the bosoms of
+the men on board the Perseverance.</p>
+
+<p>“Give her the sail, Isaac,” said the captain;
+“it’s the only way.”</p>
+
+<p>Beneath the increased canvas, the schooner
+plunged and quivered, as though every timber
+would part company.</p>
+
+<p>They were near the breakers; the roar of the
+surf was terrible; every time the great wave
+rolled back, the black, ragged points of the rock
+could be seen for a moment. It was now but a
+couple of gunshots from them, and they were in
+the outer edge of the breaker. Not a word was
+spoken. Captain Rhines coolly eyed the surf,
+while he managed the helm with consummate skill.
+Slowly the noble little vessel drew along by the
+reef, but the raft was the length of the hawser
+farther in.</p>
+
+<p>“If that sea breaks on them, they are gone,”
+cried Captain Rhines, as a huge wall of water,
+thirty feet in height, came sweeping along, its
+overhanging edge white with foam.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Ben and Charlie each seized one edge of
+the canoe, evidently hoping, that though full
+of water, its buoyancy might support and aid
+them in swimming; but the wave broke just
+before it reached them, lifting the raft almost
+on end, flooding it with spray, buried them to
+their necks in water, and almost tore them from
+the raft, to which they clung by the shrouds of
+the upright spar, while the canoe was swept
+away. So near were they to the reef, that one
+end of the wave broke upon the rock, and the raft
+was covered with kelp torn from it by the force
+of the sea. While they were yet in the very edge
+of the broken water, the foremast breaking off
+four or five feet above deck, went over the bows.</p>
+
+<p>“Thank God!” exclaimed Captain Rhines; “had
+it gone three minutes sooner, we had all been
+lost.”</p>
+
+<p>Drifting along before the wind and sea, they
+gradually came into smoother water, when Ben,
+flinging himself overboard, swam to the schooner.
+With his aid they raised the broken spar, lashed
+it to the stump, and contrived to spread a portion
+of the sail.</p>
+
+<p>“Ben,” asked his father, “what have you got on
+the raft? Are they dead or alive?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“There’s four of them, father; one a black man,
+the cook or steward, for his hands are soft, a
+sailor, a boy fifteen or sixteen, and a young man,
+I should judge about twenty, who, I think, was
+mate of the vessel, by his dress. They have got
+just the breath of life in them; starved with cold
+and hunger, and nothing but skin and bones. I
+thought that sea would have killed them, but they
+are alive yet.”</p>
+
+<p>“God help them, but we can’t get to the island,
+or my cove, with this broken spar. We must run
+for Charlie’s.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let us run under the lee of Smutty Nose,”
+said Ben, “get rid of this raft, and take the bodies
+on board, then we can go faster, else they will be
+dead before we get there.”</p>
+
+<p>They luffed up under the island in smooth water,
+took Charlie on board, the dead and the living,
+and permitting the raft to go adrift, made all the
+sail they could spread for Pleasant Cove. They
+carried the nearly lifeless bodies into the cuddy,
+put them in berths, and covered them with
+clothes. There were flint, steel, and tinder aboard,
+but no wood. They took the bottom boards out
+of a berth and split them up to kindle, and Ben<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+cut up the handspikes, which were white oak, and
+split up the windlass.</p>
+
+<p>“Father,” said Charlie, “I’ll make a new and
+better one.”</p>
+
+<p>With this supply they soon had the little place
+warm enough. When they reached the cove they
+found John Rhines there. He had been away, and
+arriving home just after the party set out, had
+kept watch of their movements. It was twelve
+o’clock at night when they landed. The gale was
+over, the clouds had disappeared, and a clear
+moonlight made it nearly as light as day. The
+wet clothing was instantly stripped from the
+chilled limbs of the seamen; they were put into
+warm blankets, and hot applications made. So
+affecting was the sight of these living skeletons
+that Mary burst into tears.</p>
+
+<p>“Poor creatures! What they must have suffered!”
+she exclaimed. “They will die; they are
+as good as dead now.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, they ain’t,” replied the captain, who had
+been putting cold water down their throats with
+a spoon, and found that they swallowed. “Kill a
+chicken, Charlie; we’ll give them some broth by
+and by; too much would kill them as dead as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+stone. Now, Mary, a little supper or breakfast,
+whichever you call it, wouldn’t hurt the rest of us,
+after all we’ve been through this day and night.”</p>
+
+<p>The rising sun was pouring its light into the
+windows, as with grateful hearts they sat down
+to eat, the captain rising every few minutes to
+administer a spoonful of the warm broth to his
+patients. The clergyman and neighbors were
+sent for, and funeral services performed. Then
+the American flag was put over the coffins, and
+they were borne to the grave.</p>
+
+<p>“I wish we could have saved them,” said the
+captain; “but we will do all we can&mdash;give them
+Christian burial.”</p>
+
+<p>Charlie and Uncle Isaac made the coffins for the
+two who died, and Captain Rhines and John
+dug their graves. On the eastern side of the cove
+a perpendicular cliff rose abruptly from the soil,
+with a little strip of green turf between it and
+the beach. Here they were buried. The white
+man had the name of “J. Watts” tattooed on his
+right arm; the name of the black was afterwards
+ascertained to be John Davis, and Charlie cut the
+names into the cliff&mdash;a most enduring memorial.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">A GLAD SURPRISE.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">IN the course of three hours, it was evident
+that both of the rescued persons were reviving
+fast. Though unable to speak, they swallowed
+eagerly all that Captain Rhines thought proper to
+give; the expression returned to their eyes and
+features, and their limbs twitched with convulsive
+starts.</p>
+
+<p>“Charlie,” said the captain, “I’ll take these
+people home in the schooner.”</p>
+
+<p>“Leave them here, we can take care of them;
+and leave the schooner too. I’ll make a new mast
+and windlass for her.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is too much for Mary, with a young child,&mdash;two
+invalids to take care of.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, it ain’t, father; they will be all right, as
+soon as it will do to let them eat and drink.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll take the young man, at any rate, and you
+may have the boy.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>They wrapped him in a blanket, and he was
+so emaciated that Charlie took him in his arms
+as though he had been an infant, and put him
+into the whale boat.</p>
+
+<p>“Wife,” said the captain, the next morning, as
+he sat watching his charge, as he lay sleeping,
+after having eaten more than he had allowed
+him at one time before, “do you know that since
+this young man has come to himself a bit he
+looks very natural to me. I’ve seen him, or some
+of his folks, before.”</p>
+
+<p>“It wouldn’t be at all strange if you had, for
+you have been a traveller all your life.”</p>
+
+<p>“It beats all how familiar his features look;
+and the more I look at him, the more the likeness
+grows upon me. He’s the very image of
+somebody I’ve known and loved right well, but
+to save me, I can’t tell who. He’ll be strong
+enough to talk when he wakes, and I’ll know
+who he is, and all about it. Only see, Mary, how
+the color has come into his lips! they are not
+drawn apart as they were. See how his eyeballs
+are filled out, and his fingers; and his nose is
+not so sharp as it was. He’s doing first rate.”</p>
+
+<p>As the captain had predicted, the young man,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+who had been within a hair’s breadth of eternity,
+awoke a few minutes before noon, extremely
+weak, but free from stupor, and in partial possession
+of his faculties, and inquired where he
+was.</p>
+
+<p>“You are among friends, young man, and safe;
+make yourself easy. Where are you from?”</p>
+
+<p>“Salem.”</p>
+
+<p>“Salem! Was you born and brought up in
+Salem?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is your name?”</p>
+
+<p>“Brown, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is your father’s business?”</p>
+
+<p>“He was a shipmaster, but he is not living.”</p>
+
+<p>“Was his name Arthur?” cried the captain,
+more eagerly, his face flushing, and then becoming
+very pale.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“And was he cast away in the Roanoke on
+Abaco, and all hands lost?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just so, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“God bless you, my son,” shouted the captain,
+leaping from his chair, and grasping both hands
+of the seaman, while tears of gladness, streaming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+from his eyes, fell thick and fast on the pale
+features of his wondering guest; “your father
+was one of God Almighty’s noblemen; the first
+and best friend I ever had. All I am and all I’ve
+got in the world I owe to him. Didn’t you never
+hear him tell about Ben Rhines, the long-legged
+boy just out of the woods, with pine pitch sticking
+to him, that had to make his mark on the
+ship’s articles, that he learned to read and write,
+and made a shipmaster of?”</p>
+
+<p>“O, yes, sir, a great many times.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’m Ben Rhines, what there is left of
+him. Is your mother living? and what family did
+your father leave?”</p>
+
+<p>“My mother is living in Salem. Father left
+three children, two girls and myself; he also took
+a nephew to bring up after his father died.”</p>
+
+<p>“Did he leave property?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir. He owned a large part of the Roanoke,
+and there was no insurance on her. My
+mother was left poor; father wasn’t a man to lay
+up money.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, he had too large a heart. I’m glad of it.
+I’ve got enough for both, thank God! I thought
+I’d got enough to take me well through, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+shouldn’t try to make any more,&mdash;but I will.
+I’ll just give my mind to making money. I’ll make
+lots of it. I’ll go to sea again. I’ve got a glorious
+use for money now. But how came you in an
+English ship? Among all the friends your father
+had, and the hundreds whom, to my certain knowledge,
+he helped into business, was there not
+one who thought enough of his obligations to
+do for his son?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir. After father was lost, mother kept
+a boarding-house for masters and mates of vessels,
+and many of his former friends boarded
+with her, and set up our girls in a dry goods
+store. My cousin went into a grocery store. I
+was the youngest. When I left school I went on
+board a ship, belonging to a friend of father’s,
+as a cabin boy. He put me right along. I am
+only twenty-one last July, the fourteenth. The
+ship was sold in Liverpool; and by the captain’s
+good word, I got a mate’s berth in an English
+ship, knowing if I got across to Halifax, I could
+easily get home from there. The ship sprung a
+leak: the crew and second mate took the boats,
+nautical instruments, and nearly all the provisions,
+and left. They didn’t like the captain; he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+a hard man, and there had been quarrelling all
+the voyage. Finally they put on their jackets (they
+might have kept the ship free), and told him they
+had as many friends in hell as he had, and left.
+They offered to take me with them; but I thought
+it my duty to stick by the captain and the ship.”</p>
+
+<p>“But how came the cook, the seaman, and
+the boy to stick by you. Why didn’t they join
+the strongest party?”</p>
+
+<p>“The black was a slave in Jamaica. The captain
+took a liking to him, bought him when he
+was nineteen, and gave him his liberty. He
+wouldn’t leave the captain. The sailor was a
+townie and shipmate of mine in the other ship;
+the boy belongs in Salem, the son of one of our
+neighbors, and was also with me in the other
+ship, and a better boy never stepped on a vessel’s
+deck. We three stuck together. Captain
+Rhines, is there any way I can get a letter to
+my mother, to inform her of my safety, and also
+of the boy’s? She knows I was on my passage
+in the Madras to Halifax, and that it is time for
+the ship to arrive there, and if the crew are
+picked up or get ashore they will report us as
+lost.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“We have a mail now once a week. It will go
+day after to-morrow.”</p>
+
+<p>At this period of the conversation Mrs. Rhines
+came into the room, when the captain, rushing at
+her, half smothered her with kisses.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, what is the matter, Benjamin?” she exclaimed,
+noticing his flushed face, and the traces
+of tears on it.</p>
+
+<p>“Matter, Molly!” bursting out afresh; “the
+matter is, we’ve got another boy. You know,
+wife, how much you have heard me tell about Mr.
+Brown, the mate of the first square-rigged vessel
+I went to sea in, that did everything, and more
+too, for me?”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed, Benjamin, I guess I have.”</p>
+
+<p>“This is his boy, lying here on this lounge!&mdash;his
+only son, named for him.”</p>
+
+<p>“How glad I am, Benjamin!&mdash;glad on your
+account, and on my own, for the sake of his
+mother.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you think, wife, when I took his father
+by the hand, to bid him good by, as I was about
+to step aboard the James Welch as first officer
+(through and <i>only</i> through his means), I said, with
+a full heart, ‘Mr. Brown, how can I ever repay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+you?’ His reply was, ‘Ben, do by other young men
+you may fall in with, and who are starting in the
+world with nobody to help them, as I have by
+you.’ And now a kind Providence has put it in
+my power to save the life of his son, so help me
+God, if ever a debt was paid, principal, interest,
+and <i>compound</i> interest, this shall be. Kiss him,
+wife.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Rhines kissed the wasted cheek of the
+young man, and assured him that she was, equally
+with her husband, interested in his welfare, and
+rejoiced to receive him as a member of their
+household.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, Arthur,” said the captain, “you are our
+boy. You are just as much at home in this house
+as we are ourselves, and the more we can do for
+you the better we shall like it. John, here is
+your brother.”</p>
+
+<p>This whole-souled declaration elicited no reply.
+The young man, exhausted by the long and exciting
+conversation, had fallen asleep.</p>
+
+<p>“Poor boy! he is weak. Only see the great
+sores on him. See what a sight of little boils are
+coming out all over his arms.”</p>
+
+<p>“That, wife, is soaking in salt water so long;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+and the sores are where the ropes he was lashed
+with chafed him.”</p>
+
+<p>Utterly unable to keep the discovery confined
+to himself and family any longer, he mounted his
+horse, and rode full speed to tell Uncle Isaac and
+Charlie. When he reached Charlie’s, he found
+the boy (who was less accustomed to exposure)
+had recovered strength much more slowly than
+the mate. The moment he saw the captain, he
+wanted to know how Mr. Brown was getting
+along.</p>
+
+<p>“You like Mr. Brown?” said the captain, after
+replying to his question.</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Like</i> him, sir! You can’t help liking him.
+Every man on board liked him. The men wanted
+him to go with them in the boats; but they
+wouldn’t have the captain, and he thought it was
+his duty to stick by him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you think you will want to go to sea any
+more?”</p>
+
+<p>“I shall go if Mr. Brown goes. How can I get
+home, sir, when I get my strength again?”</p>
+
+<p>“It will be some time before you will be fit to
+go. When that time comes, I’ll get you home.”</p>
+
+<p>“Could I send a letter, when I am able to
+write?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Brown’s going to write to-morrow to his
+folks and yours. What is your name, my boy?”</p>
+
+<p>“Edward Gates, sir. They call me Ned on
+board ship.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are from Salem, too?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir. Mr. Brown and I live on the same
+street&mdash;King Street. His house is only four
+doors from mine.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you’ve always known him?”</p>
+
+<p>“O, yes, sir. I went to school with him. He
+was one of the big boys, and I was a little one. I
+used to say my lessons to him when the master
+was busy, and sometimes he kept school when the
+master was sick. Sometimes, when his father’s
+ship was in port, he would get her yawl boat, and
+give us little fellows a sail.”</p>
+
+<p>After the building of the Casco, Charlie had
+been enabled to gratify his taste for cultivating
+the soil and improving his place. The Hard-scrabble,
+under the command of Seth Warren, and the
+Casco, under that of Isaac Murch, had made profitable
+voyages. Charlie and John found themselves
+in possession both of means and leisure.
+Charlie had built a large house, roomy enough to
+contain his men whenever he wanted to build<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+more vessels, a barn, workshop, and other out-buildings.
+Hard wood stumps soon decay, white
+pine will last fifty years, and oak much longer
+than beech, maple or birch. The slope in front of
+the house presented a most enchanting view.
+Directly in front of the house was a most noble
+growth of forest trees, where the birch, beech,
+maple, and oak, in associate beauty, intermingled
+their huge trunks, covered with moss, and of such
+majestic height as to permit the buildings to be
+seen between their stems. A footpath wound
+among them to the outer edge, where, between
+their gnarled and twisted roots, gleamed the clear
+waters of Silver Spring.</p>
+
+<p>Almost any summer or autumn morning, about
+nine o’clock, you might see a gray squirrel sitting
+on one of the great tree roots, viewing himself in
+the transparent water, washing his face, and making
+his toilet by its aid. Scattered all along on
+the surface of the slope margining the beach
+were clumps and single trees, of peculiar beauty
+and vast size, which Charlie, by abstaining from
+the use of fire, had spared; thus preserving what
+it would have required seventy years, and a large
+outlay, to have obtained by planting.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Neither the mill nor the shop could be seen,
+except in one direction; that is, when you were
+directly in front, they were so embosomed in
+foliage, Charlie having left the growth around
+them, for he was in possession of ideas of taste
+and beauty, of which neither Captain Rhines,
+Uncle Isaac, or John had the least conception. It
+was a pleasant sight, as you sailed away in the
+summer, to obtain indistinct glimpses of the water
+between the tree trunks as it poured off the dam,
+listen to the click of the saw, and catch through
+the leaves the gleams of the carpenters’ axes;
+while far beyond, as the land gradually rose,
+large fields of corn and grain, with their vivid
+green, presented a most singular and beautiful
+contrast to the black limbs and barkless trunks of
+the girdled trees among which they lay, their hollow
+trunks&mdash;some standing upright, others fallen&mdash;affording
+a most excellent roost for the crows,
+who paid their respects to Charlie’s corn when it
+was in the blade.</p>
+
+<p>At the lower edge of an immense forest of maple
+and birch, from which every vestige of underbrush
+had been removed, were seen the walls of a
+sap camp; while, instead of a path leading to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+the house, marked by spotted trees, a carriage
+road had been made, so that Captain Rhines could
+ride back and forth in his wagon, and Parson
+Goodhue in his chaise&mdash;for he had arrived to
+that dignity. It was not, however, much like the
+vehicle bearing that appellation at the present
+time. The wheels and arms were large enough
+for a modern team wagon; the frame of the top
+was made of iron; instead of leather, it was covered
+with painted canvas, and on the sides were
+projections, like the wings of a bird, to throw off
+the mud.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie and Joe cut a footpath through the
+forest, between their farms, and put logs across
+the gullies and sloughs, so that they could go
+back and forth conveniently.</p>
+
+<p>Two other notable events occurred this year.
+You know Uncle Isaac was not a whit like most
+elderly people, any more than chalk is like cheese.
+There was nothing stereotyped about him. He
+made a cider mill, to replace his white oak beam
+and wooden maul. When he went to Thomaston
+to see General Knox’s mills, he saw a cider press,
+in which the cheese was pressed with wooden
+screws. The apples, also, instead of being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+pounded to pieces in a trough, with a wooden
+maul, were ground between nuts, made with
+grooves and projections fitting into each other,
+and turned by a horse. Uncle Isaac took the
+pitch of the thread of the screws, and when he
+came home made press and mill.</p>
+
+<p>Ben also, that fall, brought over to his father
+and Charlie a bushel of apples apiece, which he
+had raised from his young orchard.</p>
+
+<p>“What do you think now about making cider
+on Elm Island?”</p>
+
+<p>Charlie said, “I think, when you get ready,
+there will be a mill for you;” and told him what
+Uncle Isaac had done.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Isaac didn’t stop here. He made his
+wife and Sally Rhines a cheese-press, with screws.
+The way they pressed cheese before this was, to
+put a lever under the sill of the house, place the
+cheese under it, and then put rocks on the other
+end of the lever. At Ben’s suggestion, he also
+made a press to press hay. Before this, they carried
+it loose on board vessels, and couldn’t take
+any great amount, although, in Massachusetts,
+presses had come in use, and Ben had seen them.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">CAPTAIN RHINES MANIFESTS HIS GRATITUDE.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap04">NED and the mate now began to mend rapidly.
+In the enjoyment of abundant food and
+rest, inhaling the bracing air of autumn, and with
+all the fruit they chose to eat, their sunken
+cheeks filled out, the flesh covered their limbs,
+their muscles assumed their wonted vigor, and
+they rapidly regained all that buoyancy which
+pertains to youth and high health. Mrs. Rhines,
+Hannah Murch, and Mrs. Ben Rhines made them
+clothes. And thus arrayed, as the evenings were
+now getting of considerable length, they went
+around on social visits, with Charlie and John,
+among the neighbors, and over to Elm Island;
+made friends, and won good opinions every day.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Rhines, instead of manifesting any disposition
+to take them to Salem in the Perseverance,
+as he had promised at their arrival, said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+not a word about it. Instead he seemed very
+earnest in laying plans, and inventing amusements
+to make them contented where they were.
+One day it was a gunning excursion by water;
+again hunting in the woods. At another time
+he wanted them to help him about some harvesting,
+which they were more than willing to do,
+and seemed never so happy as when they were
+doing something for their benefactor.</p>
+
+<p>The captain’s line of conduct was a sore puzzle
+to John and Charlie, and indeed to all the
+family. The Perseverance must have a new mast
+and windlass before she could go to Salem. But
+although Charlie had made both, the captain
+would not let him put them in.</p>
+
+<p>One day Charlie, John, and Ben were together
+on the island, and this fruitful subject of conjecture
+came up.</p>
+
+<p>“Ben,” said John, “what do you suppose the
+reason is father don’t take Ned and Mr. Brown
+home? He said, when they were first picked
+up, that he would take them to Salem in the
+Perseverance as soon as they were fit to go.
+They are all right now, and want to see their
+folks.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“He seems,” said Charlie, “to have forgotten
+all about it. I don’t believe he wants to take
+them, for I’ve had the mast and windlass made
+these three weeks, and he won’t let me put
+them in.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Ben. “Father
+ain’t like most old folks. He likes to have young
+people around him. Mother says he talks hours
+and hours with Brown. Perhaps he don’t like to
+lose their company. If you want to know, Charlie,
+why don’t you and John ask him?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t like to.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, get Uncle Isaac to. He will ask in a
+moment; indeed, if there’s a special reason, I’ll
+warrant he knows it now.”</p>
+
+<p>“What seems more singular to me,” said
+Charlie, “is, that after telling how much he
+thought of Arthur’s father and mother, how
+much he was willing to do for his children, even
+to cut the last piece of bread in two, that he
+don’t <i>do something</i>&mdash;build him a vessel. I have
+got out board and ceiling plank at the mill, and
+deck plank all sawed out. It would be a capital
+time now to get a frame and set her up this
+fall, let her season through the winter, finish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+her in the summer, and rig her before cold
+weather.”</p>
+
+<p>“Benjamin,” said Uncle Isaac (as they shot
+into a thickly wooded cove to rest their backs,
+on their way home from a fowling excursion),
+laying his paddle across the float, and leaning
+both elbows on it, “why don’t you take these
+boys home? they want to go.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do they want to go?”</p>
+
+<p>“To be sure. Isn’t it natural they should want
+to see their parents and friends, after being at
+death’s door?”</p>
+
+<p>“But their parents know they are comfortable,
+and they hear from each other every week.”</p>
+
+<p>“That isn’t like seeing them. There’s another
+thing; the boys want to build a vessel for this
+young man, and so does Ben.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ben wants to, does he?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hum.”</p>
+
+<p>“He seems to be a nice, steady, well-informed
+young man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is that the way it strikes you, Isaac?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“The fact is, Isaac,” beginning to pick the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+leaves of a beech limb, which hung over the
+float, and chew them up, “I am ready and
+willing, and count it a privilege to do all I can
+for this boy, and his father’s family; but whether
+building a vessel, and putting him in her, is the
+<i>best</i> way to do it, I am not clear.”</p>
+
+<p>While they were engaged in this conversation,
+the boat had drifted under the limbs of a birch,
+that had never regained its upright position
+after being bent down by the ice and snow of
+the previous winter.</p>
+
+<p>“What have you got that’s good in that red
+box, Isaac?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got a chicken, boiled eggs, bread, butter,
+cheese, and doughnuts,” he replied, placing the
+box on the middle thwart of the boat, and removing
+the cover.</p>
+
+<p>“There’s something to wash it down,” said the
+captain, unrolling a jug, carefully wrapped in the
+folds of his long jacket. “That’s some of the
+coffee I brought home in the Ark; it’s warm,
+too. We might as well eat now as any time,
+for by the tide it can’t be far from noon.”</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Isaac twisted one of the long, slender
+limbs of the birch into a string, and making it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+fast to a thole-pin hole, it held the boat stationary,
+while the two friends, sitting face to face
+in the warm sunshine, gossipped and ate; and
+having eaten nothing since three o’clock that
+morning, evidently enjoyed the repast, the warm
+sunshine, and the sheltered nook, so highly as to
+wish to prolong the pleasure, and ate very deliberately,
+till the meal was brought to an abrupt
+termination by the entire consumption of the contents
+of both box and jug.</p>
+
+<p>“We were speaking, Isaac,” said the captain,
+“about this young man, and about building him
+a vessel. If I was able to build him one, fit her
+for sea, load her, and say to him, ‘Here, my boy,
+take her, and do the best you can for yourself
+and me;’ and then if he made a ‘funger,’
+pocket the loss, I would lay the keel to-morrow.
+But in doing that, I must be concerned with
+others, and risk other people’s money. Here are
+Ben, Fred, John, and Charlie, all ready to strike,
+only waiting for me to say the word; and Mr.
+Welch would take hold in a moment if I should
+say to him, ‘Here is a young man, who I think
+capable, wants a vessel built.’ Now, how do I
+know he is capable of taking charge of a vessel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+and managing business in these squally times,
+with the English and French pitching into our
+commerce, and pirates to boot? A master of a
+vessel must have grit and cool judgment&mdash;qualities
+that don’t always nor often go together. He’s
+very young, has been only one voyage and part of
+another as mate; of course has had but little experience.
+Some men make first-rate mates, but
+poor masters; others poor mates, but excellent
+masters. Then, if he should make a losing voyage
+of it, I should feel very bad, and the rest (though
+they did not say it) might feel that they had been
+brought into difficulties, and lost money through
+me.”</p>
+
+<p>“He is as old, and has had as much experience
+as Isaac had when he became master. You was
+keen enough for putting him ahead; far more
+than I was, though he is my own nephew, and has
+done splendidly. This young man has had the
+best of schooling, and ten times the privileges
+Isaac ever had.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Schooling! privileges!</i>” cried the captain;
+“I wouldn’t give <i>that</i> (snapping his fingers) for
+the schooling and privileges. What do they
+amount to, if the man hasn’t got <i>Indian suet</i>,&mdash;hasn’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+got the articles in him? They <i>help</i>, but
+they can’t put anything <i>into</i> a man. I knew Isaac
+from the egg. I watched him as he grew up.
+There’s a great deal in the <i>blood</i>. I knew the
+breed he came of, both sides. He sailed with me.
+I taught him, and knew him through and through,&mdash;knew
+he had the root of the matter in him.
+But in regard to this young man, I know only the
+father. If he takes after his father in mind, as he
+does in looks, he will be all right. But he may
+look like the father, and take after the mother. I
+don’t know anything about her or her people.”</p>
+
+<p>“You mean to help him, don’t you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Reckon I do, if my life is spared. But I
+could help him without building him a vessel, or
+involving other folks. I might give him a couple
+of thousand dollars in cash, and let him help himself;
+or say to him, ‘Arthur, go to Salem; see if
+some of your father’s friends, and the people
+you’ve sailed for, won’t build you a vessel. I’ll
+take an eighth or a fourth.’ I can help the
+mother,&mdash;that will be my own concern, and nobody’s
+business,&mdash;and I shan’t involve others, and
+risk their hard earnings.”</p>
+
+<p>“But he’s been here some time. You’ve had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+him in your house all the time, with opportunities
+for talking with him, and making up your mind.
+What do you think?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think well of him. I like him all round,
+think him capable, and, to tell the truth, that is
+what I’ve been backing and filling for so long,
+and keeping the boys back. I wanted <i>time</i> to
+make up my mind, and have you and the neighbors
+see and get acquainted with him, and find
+what you all thought of him.”</p>
+
+<p>“As far as my opinion is worth anything, I
+shouldn’t hesitate a moment. There’s one little
+thing just settles the matter in my mind.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is that, Isaac?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, his sticking by that captain. Here is a
+crew of men, the sweepings of Liverpool; they
+take the boats, compass, and other instruments,
+and shove off,&mdash;they’ve had trouble with the captain,
+and are down on him, and mean to have their
+revenge,&mdash;leaving him to shift for himself; the
+mate they like, and offer to take him with them&mdash;even
+coax him to go; they have provision, water,
+and instruments, and are not overloaded. In the
+boats, there’s no great risk; to remain, is almost
+certain death. He is under no particular obligations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+to the captain, who is an Englishman and a
+stranger, yet he sticks by him, because he thinks
+it his duty. If <i>that</i> ain’t pluck, principle, and
+Christianity,&mdash;if that ain’t real manhood, I wonder
+where you’d find it! There’s not one man in
+a hundred&mdash;no, not in a thousand&mdash;<i>would</i> or
+<i>could</i> have done it. And, Benjamin, ‘twill take a
+great deal to make me believe that a man who has
+got all <i>that</i> in him hasn’t all the other qualities
+that go to make up a man.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s just what his father would have done.
+Well, Isaac, I’ll take them to Salem. I’m acquainted
+there; have an old shipmate that knew
+his father. I’ll see the captain he’s been mate with,
+and if they speak well of him, we’ll go ahead.”</p>
+
+<p>“John,” said his father, on his return home,
+“clap the saddle on the horse, ride over to Charlie’s,
+and tell him he may get the schooner ready
+as soon as he likes; and tell Fred to get his fish
+and potash ready, for I’m going to Salem, and will
+take a freight to Boston, and bring back any goods
+he wants.”</p>
+
+<p>Captain Folger was sitting in his store just before
+noon, frequently looking at his watch, for the
+demands of appetite were pressing,&mdash;he had set<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+up a ship-chandler’s store, after having spent the
+greater part of life at sea,&mdash;when Captain Rhines
+entered, and most agreeably surprised him.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, Captain Ben!” exclaimed the old seaman,
+grasping his friend by the hand, “what good
+wind has blown you hither?”</p>
+
+<p>“I had business in Boston, and so called in here.
+It’s long since we’ve met. I hardly thought you’d
+know me so readily.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Know</i> you! Old shipmates don’t forget each
+other.”</p>
+
+<p>“So you’ve left off going to sea, and turned
+storekeeper!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; it’s the most natural thing an old shipmaster
+can do to turn ship-chandler, and have vessels
+and rigging to look after. I couldn’t be contented
+ashore in any other business. I own some
+navigation, and have that to look after. My shop
+is a loafing place for the old captains, and we
+fight our battles over again, spin our yarns, plan
+voyages, and keep each other’s spirits up. We
+heard about your going to Cuba on a raft, and
+it was agreed on all hands it was the smartest
+thing ever done in these parts, or anywhere. You
+ran a confounded risk, but they say you made
+your Jack out of it.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I made <i>something</i>.”</p>
+
+<p>“You knew Captain Brown, Arthur, who was
+lost on Abaco?”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Knew</i> him! I guess I did. He was the means
+of putting me into business.”</p>
+
+<p>“He was the means of putting a great many
+into business.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you know his son?”</p>
+
+<p>“What, young Arthur?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“To be sure. We’ve been much worried about
+him. The vessel he was in foundered, but he has
+been picked up, so his mother tells me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I picked him up, and brought him here not
+two hours ago. What kind of a young man is
+he?”</p>
+
+<p>“As fine a one as ever the sun shone upon; he
+is thought a great deal of here, both upon his
+father’s account and his own.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is there business in him, or only goodness?”</p>
+
+<p>“Both; as much of one as the other.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you know Captain Bates, who he was mate
+with?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will you introduce me to him?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Yes; he’ll be in here about two o’clock, with
+half a dozen more old web feet, that you know, or
+who have heard of you, and we’ll have a jolly time
+of it. But come,” looking at his watch, “it is grub
+time; go up to the house; you belong to me while
+you are here.”</p>
+
+<p>“I will dine with you; but I made an engagement
+with young Brown to meet me here at five
+o’clock, and I am to take tea with him.”</p>
+
+<p>Captain Rhines met Captain Bates at three
+o’clock, who, in reply to his questions in relation
+to young Brown, replied, “If you’ve got a frigate,
+give it to him.” When Arthur came, according to
+appointment, Ned Gates came with him.</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Rhines,” said Ned, “father and mother
+want you to come to our house, and stop with us
+while you are here.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s going to stay with us,” said Arthur.</p>
+
+<p>“No, he ain’t,” said Captain Folger; “he belongs
+to me. He can go to supper with Arthur,
+and he can dine to-morrow with you, Ned; but we
+are old shipmates, and the rest of the time he belongs
+to me.”</p>
+
+<p>Captain Rhines, while at Mrs. Brown’s, proposed
+that the whole family should go down and live<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+with him. But Mrs. Brown, who was a capable,
+energetic woman, many years younger than her
+husband, would by no means consent. She told
+him, in reply, that her daughters were doing well
+in their store; that though her husband left her
+no money, he had left the house clear of debt.
+That his nephew was learning a trade, and she
+was doing well keeping boarders, and could not
+consent, by any means, to live upon him, as she
+could not be happy in so doing; but as he had announced
+his intentions of helping Arthur to a vessel,
+she should feel under the greatest obligations.</p>
+
+<p>Before leaving, he compelled her to accept a
+check upon Mr. Welch for two thousand dollars,
+made the girls a present of five hundred more,
+and a hundred to George Ferguson, the nephew,
+without which, he declared, he could not sleep
+nights.</p>
+
+<p>Having accomplished this, he felt quite satisfied
+and happy; and began to talk with Arthur in relation
+to the intended vessel.</p>
+
+<p>“What kind of a vessel do you want, Arthur,
+and what trade do you want to go into?”</p>
+
+<p>“I should prefer, sir, always with submission
+to your better judgment, a sharp vessel, that will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+outsail the English cruisers, run the gantlet, and
+carry provisions and supplies to France. There
+will be risk, but I have an idea there will be corresponding
+profit.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s the talk, my boy,” cried the captain, delighted
+with a proposal so congenial to his own
+hardy and enterprising nature. “I only wish I
+was young enough to go into it myself. Now, if
+there’s a man in these United States that can
+build a clipper that will show a clean pair of heels
+to anything that swims, that man is Charles Bell.”</p>
+
+<p>It was just after dinner, of a pleasant afternoon,
+Charlie and his wife were seated in the sun, in the
+barn-door, husking corn, the sharp click of a
+horse’s feet that overreached was heard.</p>
+
+<p>“That’s father,” said Mary. “I know the click
+of the mare’s shoes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Charlie!” shouted the captain, never stopping,
+till the mare’s feet struck the heap of corn in the
+floor, sending the kernels in Mary’s face, “grind
+your broad-axe. Arthur Brown wants a vessel
+that will show her heels to the English frigates,
+run the blockade, and make the sweat stand on
+a dolphin’s nose to keep up.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am thankful,” cried Charlie, delighted, “that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+after so long a time I am to build something that
+is not a box.”</p>
+
+<p>“You can’t find a better model than the Hard-scrabble.”</p>
+
+<p>“Than the Hard-scrabble?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; she sails well when she is light, and
+with a free wind in ballast, Isaac says there’s
+nothing will catch her. Just give her more
+depth, so she can hold on, and put the sail on her,
+and I tell you she would streak it. You must
+have breadth to carry sail.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’ll do the best I can.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">“WE WERE PUT INTO THIS WORLD TO HELP ONE ANOTHER.”</p>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">IT was about eight o’clock Saturday night.
+Captain Rhines had sailed that morning for
+Boston.</p>
+
+<p class="pn">Mrs. Brown had finished her household business
+for the day, and was seated before a bright
+fire in a cosy little sitting-room, reserved for her
+private use. Her children were with her, the
+girls having closed the store earlier than usual,
+and with the beloved and rescued son and brother
+in the midst, they were talking over the exciting
+events of the week.</p>
+
+<p>“When I look back upon what has happened
+for the past two or three weeks,” said the happy
+mother, “it seems like a dream. There I was,
+day after day, and week after week, watching
+the papers, and no news of the vessel, a short<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+passage too. Then I got Captain Folger to write
+to Halifax, and the consignee wrote that they
+supposed the vessel was lost, as one of her boats,
+bottom up, had been found, and a bucket that
+had the vessel’s name on it. A husband and
+son both buried in the ocean. It tore open the
+old wounds, and they bled afresh; brought up
+all the anguish of your father’s loss anew. I
+felt it was more than I could bear. How I
+begged and plead with my heavenly Father for
+your life, Arthur, the widow’s only hope! And
+some how, whenever I rose from my knees, I
+felt better than when I knelt down; a feeling
+as though, some how or other, the cup would
+pass from me, seemed to take possession of me,
+and this feeling kept me, for the most part of
+the time, on my knees. I felt better and happier
+there than anywhere else.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you think, mother, when I came to be
+on that raft, provisions and water all gone, the
+captain raving mad and jumping overboard, my
+shipmates dying one after another, that I didn’t
+think of you, and that you were praying for me?
+Poor little Ned and I, our throats were so dry
+and parched we couldn’t speak so as to be heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+by each other above the winds and waves. I
+fell into a doze, and dreamed I saw a most beautiful
+grove of apple trees all in blossom, and a
+great long table spread under them, covered with
+piles and piles of meat, and great goblets, that held
+a gallon, full of the clearest water; and you was
+sitting at it, and saying, ‘Come, Arthur, this is
+all for you.’ I tried so hard to move towards
+you, it woke me; and I heard a shout, ‘Raft,
+ahoy! Is there anybody can take a line?’ Then
+I knew there was help. I tried to shout, but
+couldn’t. I could only raise my arm. Soon I
+heard something strike the raft; a voice shouted,
+‘All fast!’ and two men stood over us. They
+were Mr. Ben Rhines and Charlie Bell. They told
+me to keep my heart up, for they would stick by
+me; but I was so overcome I fainted away.”</p>
+
+<p>“Brother,” said Ellen, “didn’t you suffer terribly
+before you got so low as that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Tongue can’t describe it; but the thirst was
+the worst. But here I am now, sitting before
+this comfortable fire, in this old room where we
+have spent so many happy hours, with you all
+around me. I’m sure, as mother says, it seems
+like a dream to me.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“I hope,” said the widow, “such trials and
+such mercies will make us better; they certainly
+should.”</p>
+
+<p>“I feel that it has been good for me,” said
+Eliza. “I thought, when we were in that agony
+of uncertainty, ‘O that I, too, could pray with
+mother! that I had a right to, as I felt she had!
+But when Captain Rhines’s letter came, I did go
+to God with tears of thankfulness, and trust I
+was accepted.”</p>
+
+<p>“I thought, if my poor boy’s life could only be
+spared, even if he was a cripple, or injured for
+life, I could ask no more. And then to have
+him come home so well and happy, with such
+a friend as God has raised up for us all in Captain
+Rhines! Yet I can never think upon him
+and his kindness but it makes me reflect upon
+myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why so, mother?” said Arthur.</p>
+
+<p>“Your father was of most open and generous
+nature, far too much so for his own interest,
+and, as I then thought, for that of his family,
+while my disposition was very different. My
+parents were poor, and I was brought up by a
+relative, early taught hardship, knew the value<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+of money, and was naturally prudent. Your
+father would take the clothes off his back to put
+on anybody else. I used to go to sea with him,
+when we were first married; and when sailors
+came on board without clothes, he would give
+them clothing, fix them all up, and make them
+comfortable. I used to tell him, sometimes, that if
+they drank, gambled, and threw all their money
+away, they ought to suffer the consequences, and
+his first duty was to his family. But it was no
+use to reason with him; he couldn’t help it&mdash;couldn’t
+bear to see anybody suffer; and at length
+I refrained from saying anything on the subject,
+but tried to economize all I could, to offset his liberality.
+He never concerned himself about household
+matters, was gone a great part of the time,
+and left everything to me.</p>
+
+<p>“He would come home, and bring barrels of
+sugar and molasses for family use, and bags of
+coffee, and have them hauled up to the house;
+and also quantities of fine cloths from Europe and
+the East Indies for me and the children, and material
+for towels, curtains, and bedding. After he
+was gone, I would live as prudently as possible,
+sell a great part of the things sent home, and put
+by the money against time of need.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“After our third child was born, he began to
+alter gradually, and seemed to have different
+ideas, became more prudent, and, as he was a
+man of great business talent, began to accumulate,
+and soon owned a good part of the vessel, and,
+had he lived, would have become a wealthy man,
+but was taken away in a moment. There was no
+insurance on the ship or cargo, and all he had
+accumulated was gone, except this house. Then,
+being left a widow, with a young family, I found
+the benefit of the little I had saved.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure, mother,” said Eliza, “I don’t see
+what you have to reflect on, except with satisfaction.
+You were not saving for yourself, but for
+us children, and for father, had he lived to be old,
+and past labor.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, but I was so anxious that your father
+should lay up something for his family, that after
+he was gone, I felt that perhaps I had said more
+than I ought; sometimes, too, I would discourage
+him from doing for others, when it did not consist
+in giving money; when he would spend a great
+deal of time at sea in teaching some young man
+navigation, when, as I thought, he ought to have
+been asleep in his berth, or resting; often, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+he was on shore, and I wanted him to go with me,
+he would be running here and there, night and day,
+to get a vessel built for somebody, and oftentimes
+get small thanks for it, as I told him. Then he
+would say, ‘Harriet, we were put into this world
+to help each other; we ought not to feel vexed or
+disappointed if we do not always receive gratitude
+from those we have befriended, when we
+consider how ungrateful we are ourselves to our
+Maker, but do our duty.’ These things often
+came up in memory, after he was taken away, and
+I would have given anything if I had not said
+some things, and could have taken them back.”</p>
+
+<p>“But, mother,” said Ellen, “I don’t think you
+ought to feel so. You meant it for his good.”</p>
+
+<p>“I thought I did, at the time; but since then I
+have felt there was a good deal of selfishness at
+the bottom, that ought not to have been there;
+that your father felt it, and it pained him, for I
+could see a shade of sadness flit across his face,
+like a cloud across the sun in a spring morning.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t cry, mother,” said Arthur, putting his
+arm around her, and wiping away the tear that
+trembled on her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>“But when,” she continued, in a voice broken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+with emotion, “in the midst of my anguish about
+you, that letter came from Pleasant Cove, telling
+me your life had been saved by Captain Rhines
+(one of the very boys your father had worked so
+hard to help), so full of sentiments of affection for
+your father, and gratitude for the favors he had
+received from him, and a few days later your
+letter, telling me of their kindness to you and
+Ned, I was overcome.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, mother, I can’t tell you one half they did
+for me, because it can’t be told; for it was not
+only what they did, but the way they did it. It
+came so right out of the heart. They seemed to
+love to do it, and it was done with such looks and
+tones of love.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; and when that noble man came up here,
+and couldn’t do enough&mdash;wanted to take us all
+home with him&mdash;insisting upon it, didn’t I feel
+condemned for trying to hinder your father from
+helping others, and telling him he got small thanks
+for it? Here, now, is one of those very persons,
+becoming a father to his son, putting him right
+into business at once.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, mother, I’ve made up my mind to one
+thing&mdash;I’ll try to show myself my father’s son,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+and practise that which I approve of so much in
+others. I’ll let Captain Rhines, Mr. Ben, Charlie,
+John, and the others see that I am not deficient in
+gratitude. If God gives me life and strength, the
+grass shan’t grow on that vessel’s bottom. I’ll
+make her a happy vessel for sailors, and help
+every young man I can, as father told Captain
+Rhines to do when he asked him how he could
+repay him. And as he has helped me, whether I
+get any thanks for it or not, I’ll look higher than
+that for my reward,&mdash;I’ll get it in doing my duty.
+I’ll begin with my shipmate, little Ned Gates.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am glad to hear you talk thus, Arthur.
+Your father’s principle was the true one,&mdash;do
+right because it is right,&mdash;and from all I have
+seen, it generally bears the best fruit even in this
+life. There was your uncle David, just the opposite
+of your father; always saving for his children;
+so close as to be on the edge of dishonesty,
+if not actually dishonest; never had a thought or
+care for any one but himself or his own, and, just
+as he had amassed a large property, went into a
+great speculation in his old age for the sake of getting
+more, when he had more than enough already
+risked the whole, and lost the whole. Now, worn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+out, and broken down, without a house over his
+head, everybody says, ‘Served him right,’ and his
+children all poor, while your father’s good name
+and deeds have been money at interest for his
+family, and the bread he cast upon the waters has
+come back after many days.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mother, there’s one thing I want you to do before
+I go to sea.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is that, Arthur?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just send off these boarders,&mdash;no longer
+make a slave of yourself,&mdash;and take some comfort.
+The girls are doing well in the store;
+George supports himself; I am going to have
+business, and Captain Rhines has given you and
+the girls money; so there’s no need of working,
+and wearing your life out now.”</p>
+
+<p>“I couldn’t feel right, Arthur, if I were not
+earning something; a thousand dollars would soon
+be spent, come to sit down and live upon it; you
+may have hard luck at sea; the girls are doing
+well, to be sure, but they have got to return the
+money that friends loaned them to start with. I
+have put that thousand dollars in the bank, against
+a rainy day; besides, I have another reason for
+wishing to earn something.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“What is it?” asked Ellen.</p>
+
+<p>“I want to atone for past selfishness, and follow
+your father’s example in doing what little I can to
+help those poorer than myself. It’s but little I
+can do, to be sure, but I mean to do that little
+cheerfully, and I trust ‘twill be accepted. There
+is the mother of poor James Watts, who was on
+the raft, and died. She is poor, and bereft of all
+her dependence, for he was a good boy, and gave
+her all his earnings, while my child was spared,
+and friends raised up to help me; and I mean to
+do all I can to help and comfort her. I mean to
+act on your father’s principle, ‘Harriet, we were
+put into this world to help each other.’”</p>
+
+<p>“At any rate, mother, you need not have so
+large a family and work so hard; you can keep
+more help; you must gratify me in that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I will, my son.”</p>
+
+<p>At this period of the conversation, the servant
+announced that a young man wanted to see
+Arthur.</p>
+
+<p>“It is Ned; tell him to come in here. Good
+evening, Edward; sit down beside me; this is more
+comfortable than the raft.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed it is, sir.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“I suppose you hardly care to sail salt water
+any more, you’ve had such bad luck this time.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, yes, sir; old Captain Osborne tells me some
+people have all their bad luck at once, and that
+it’s a good sign when a man falls overboard before
+the vessel leaves the wharf, or is wrecked at the
+first going off. He says that ship was cursed.”</p>
+
+<p>“Was cursed!” said Mrs. Brown; “what did he
+mean by that?”</p>
+
+<p>“He says, marm, that he knew that captain; that
+he was a cruel man to sailors, abused and starved
+them (that I know to be true); that it was thought
+he had murdered men. Are you going again, Mr.
+Brown?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Edward. Captain Rhines and his folks
+are building me a vessel; I expect the keel is
+laid by this time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Can I go with you, sir?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, if your parents are willing.”</p>
+
+<p>“They are willing I should go with <i>you</i>, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“It will be some months before the vessel is
+ready; now, you better go to school, and get all
+the learning you can.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir; shall I study navigation?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I’ll teach you that on board ship. Study<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+arithmetic and book-keeping, learn to keep accounts
+and write a business hand, and study trigonometry
+and geography. If we live to get to
+sea in the ship, we won’t starve, or abuse anybody,
+nor pass any wrecks, and try not to have the
+vessel cursed. We know what it is, my boy, to
+starve, and to be helped in distress, and will do
+as we have been done by.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Brown, don’t you think the folks at Pleasant
+Cove and round there are the best folks that
+could be?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Ned.”</p>
+
+<p>“But don’t you think Charlie is handsome,&mdash;the
+handsomest man that ever was?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think Captain Rhines is handsome.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir; but Charlie Bell; is it any hurt for
+me to call him Charlie? They all down there call
+each other so, and somehow I seem to love him
+more when I don’t put the handle on.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, indeed; do you love me better when you
+don’t put on the handle?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir; because I have been used to calling
+you Mr. Brown, and it comes natural, and I
+couldn’t love you any better than I do.”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose, Ned, Charlie looks handsome to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+you, and Captain Rhines to me, because we had
+the most to do with them; but they are both
+really fine-looking men. Most people would think
+John Rhines a finer specimen of a man than
+Charlie. I have seen a great many men, but I
+never in all my life saw so fine a proportioned
+young man as John Rhines; if he lives, he’ll
+be almost as strong as Ben. Charlie is the handsomest,
+John the most manly.”</p>
+
+<p>“But, sir, do you know what I thought (I suppose
+I was wandering) after they took us off the raft, and
+I kind of came to? I opened my eyes, and Charlie
+was bending over the bed. I looked him right in
+the face; such a beautiful face, so much goodness in
+it, I thought I had got to heaven, and that an angel
+was hovering over me; and then, when I came
+to myself, he was so kind,&mdash;fed me with a spoon,
+took me in his arms, and put me in a chair, just as
+my mother would; and Ben Rhines, though he
+ain’t handsome, he is just as good as the rest.
+Uncle Isaac and Fred Williams, they are all just as
+good as they can be. I mean to go down there,
+and stay a month at Pleasant Cove, and Elm
+Island. They asked me to.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">THE YOUNG CAPTAIN UNDER FIRE.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">THE day is breaking. A vessel of two hundred
+and fifty tons lies completely enveloped
+in a dense, damp fog, and becalmed, off the
+coast of France, in the Mediterranean.</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible to discern an object twice the
+length of the vessel. Let us go alongside, and
+see if we can arrive at any conclusion respecting
+her character and business. She is evidently of
+American build, though she shows no colors; but
+spreading a cloud of canvas, modelled and rigged
+entirely with reference to speed, and though unarmed,
+with a much larger crew than would be
+required in the ordinary pursuits of commerce.
+The appearance of the crew as to dress is quite
+in contrast to that of a ship’s crew at the present
+time, for during the last forty years there has
+been a gradual change in the clothing of seafaring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+men, rendering it not only more comfortable,
+but much lighter.</p>
+
+<p>At that time, sailors wore, for head covering,
+tarpaulins. These were generally made by the
+men themselves at leisure moments on board
+ship. The process was this: as the course of
+trade in those days was chiefly to the West
+Indies, they procured the leaves of the dwarf
+palm, which they split into proper widths and
+platted, making the button, in the middle of the
+crown, of the same material, though some, as a
+matter of fancy, took the lead tags that came on
+bolts of canvas, and some a piece of money, and
+punching holes in the rim, began their work on
+that. After the braid was made, it was sewed
+together with ravellings of duck; then, if there
+was a pig killed on board, or a porpoise harpooned,
+they soaked the hat in the blood and
+let it dry, to make it stiff (this was sailors’ paste),
+then covered it with canvas, then mixed tar,
+grease, and salt water together, and daubed it
+with the composition to render it water-proof;
+but after a while they found that black paint
+was just as good, and much lighter. Then tarpaulins
+gave way to peaked red caps, Scotch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+caps, and finally the present dress was adopted.
+But the crew of the brigantine wore tarpaulins
+of still more ancient dates, and of enormous
+weight, made by covering thick wool hats with
+tar and canvas. The dress of landsmen at that
+time was breeches and long hose, but sailors
+wore trousers very wide at the bottom of the
+legs, the rule for the width, being the length of
+the foot; on their feet, for dress-up to go ashore,
+slippers that showed the joint of the great toe.
+Sheath knives were not worn, except occasionally
+by some Spanish sailor; they used large,
+square-pointed jack-knives of English manufacture,
+slung to the neck by a lanyard. The officers,
+both captain and mate, wore at sea short
+jackets. If a mate then had worn a long-tail
+coat, the sailors would have cut the tails off with
+their jack-knives. Every one of the ship’s company
+wore his hair in a cue, which was wound,
+when at sea, with an eel-skin, but with a ribbon
+when going ashore, and hung down the back.
+When at work it was frequently coiled around
+the top of the head and covered with the hat.
+Men prided themselves on the length of their cue,
+and in their watch below, watchmates combed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+out and tied up each other’s cues, and the cook
+or steward took care of the captain’s.</p>
+
+<p>She looks, for all the world, like a slaver. The
+use of copper on the bottom of vessels was scarcely
+known then, and as she rolls to windward,
+little spots of grease are seen floating on the
+water, and we perceive that her bottom is
+covered with a coat of tallow and soap, to increase
+her speed to the utmost.</p>
+
+<p>There is something in the appearance of the
+man who is climbing the main rigging that seems
+familiar. Looking more closely, we are delighted
+to recognize our old acquaintance Walter Griffin,
+now growing into a lithe, fine-looking young man.
+He is acting as second mate, that officer being
+sick with a carbuncle on the back of his neck,
+the pain of which made him nearly frantic.</p>
+
+<p>Walter was remarkably keen of sight and quick
+of hearing, and therefore went aloft as lookout, instead
+of a sailor. Although there was no possibility
+of discerning anything from the deck at any
+considerable distance, yet as the fog hung low, it
+was somewhat clearer aloft. There was also a
+probability that the fog might scale when the sun
+rose, or a breeze springing up sweep it away.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There is evidently great anxiety among the
+ship’s company to gain intelligence, for all hands
+are on deck, the men clustered as thick as bees
+on the forecastle. The mate, a stranger, paces
+the quarter-deck. As Walter goes aloft aft, and
+another man forward, he cautions them, if they
+see or hear anything, not to hail the deck, but
+make a signal. A real racer, and no mistake, this
+craft. Lashed to the bulwarks are huge sweeps,
+with which the numerous crew (for they are
+evidently picked men of large proportions) can
+move her with considerable speed in a calm.
+But what is she? Some slaver from the French
+islands, built in Baltimore, and trying to get
+home? But how comes Walter Griffin there?
+To increase our surprise, as we look at the men
+grouped together on the forecastle, we recognize,
+seated on the heel of the bowsprit, our old friend
+Peterson, the largest man of the crew, and just
+behind him his son, who is fast emulating the
+massive proportions of his sire; but the usually
+cheerful face of the black was clouded with
+anxiety. On the end of the windlass, with one
+arm flung over the bitt, sits Sydney Chase, on
+the shank of the best bower anchor George Warren,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+a brother of Seth; and leaning against the
+stock of the anchor, in whispered conversation
+with him, is another old acquaintance, Danforth
+Eaton, recalling Elm Island, with all its home-like
+associations and interests. We almost expect
+to see Uncle Isaac and Captain Rhines
+make their appearance next. Between the knight-heads
+is Enoch Hadlock, a brother of Sally
+Rhines. The rest of the crew are Pettigrews,
+Godsoes, Merrithews, Lancasters, Warrens, Athertons,
+and Elwells, all belonging to Rhinesville,
+Pleasant Cove, or thereabouts. While thus perplexed,
+we gaze, seeking for some clew to guide
+us and unravel the mystery, the vessel, having
+no steerage-way, swings lazily round in the tide,
+presenting her stern to full view, where we read
+“Arthur Brown, Pleasant Cove,” and recognize in
+the boy sitting on the foretop-gallant-yard, little
+Ned, and the next moment the manly, handsome
+face of Arthur Brown appears in the companion
+way.</p>
+
+<p>It is all out now. Charlie has ground his broad-axe
+to some purpose. This is the vessel built
+by the Hard-scrabble boys and Captain Rhines
+for Arthur Brown, the noble offering of a manly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+grateful heart, repaying to the son the debt
+incurred to the deceased parent, and bearing on
+her stern the name of him whose body sleeps
+beneath the waves that wash the cliffs of Abaco.
+What a contrast to the Hard-scrabble! what
+a testimony of the energy and progressive ideas
+of her builders! She is a model of symmetry
+and beauty; yet you can plainly see the lines
+of the West Wind, of famous memory. Charlie
+has put his whole soul in her; give her wind,
+she has evidently little to fear from the clumping
+British men-of-war.</p>
+
+<p>But there is not a breath of wind; she lies
+helpless off the port of Marseilles, which the
+English are blockading, deeply laden with a
+cargo, every article of which is contraband of
+war.</p>
+
+<p>It is the period when, after the outbreak of
+the French revolution, England had declared
+war against France, and, supreme at sea, was
+capturing the French West Indies, and blockading
+their home ports. The great majority of
+the people in this country, especially all the mercantile
+portion of the community, sympathized
+with France; they cherished a feeling of gratitude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+to her as our ally in the war of the revolution,
+a bitter hatred against England, growing
+out of the right of search, which she exercised in
+the impressment of seamen, which eventually led
+to the war of 1812.</p>
+
+<p>It was all the government could do, aided by
+the great personal influence of Washington, to
+restrain the country from entering into alliance
+with France against England, and coming to
+open hostilities. In this state of things, sharp
+vessels, manned by resolute men, conducted by
+skilful pilots, influenced by motives of friendship
+and self-interest on one side, and a bitter sense
+of oppression on the other, broke the blockade
+which Great Britain (whose fleets were scattered
+over a vast extent of ocean) attempted to maintain
+in respect to the French coasts and West
+Indies, and supplied them with both arms and
+provisions.</p>
+
+<p>This is the errand of the Arthur Brown to
+run the blockade of Marseilles, and accounts for
+the feeling of anxiety evident upon the faces
+of both officers and crew, since their fortunes
+are alike at stake, as each one, in lieu of wages,
+receives a share in the profits of the voyage,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
+and if captured breaking the blockade both ship
+and cargo would be confiscated. There was
+also another and more terrible cause for anxiety&mdash;the
+dread of impressment. The commanders of
+English ships were accustomed to take men by
+force from American vessels, claiming them as
+British, disregarding the custom-house protection,
+which declared them to be American citizens,
+sometimes even tearing them up, and they
+were dragged away to spend their lives in the
+British fleets. A terrible instance is on record,
+illustrating the dread which in the minds of
+seamen was connected with impressment. A
+fine, stalwart, young American seaman, being
+about to be taken by force from an American
+merchantman, under pretence that he was an
+Englishman, seeing no way of escape from a
+bondage worse than death, clasped the boarding
+officer in his arms and leaped overboard with
+him, when both sank, to rise no more till the
+great day of account.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of half an hour, in obedience to a
+signal from Walter, a man ascended the rigging,
+and, coming down, reported that Griffin was sure
+he heard a rooster crow, and also the sound of
+oars in a rowlock.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The tide, which was at the flood, had drifted the
+vessel to the neighborhood of a large rock, that
+was dimly seen through the fog. The captain
+called Peterson aft. “What rock is that, Peterson?”
+The black gave him the French name, and
+pointed it out to him on the chart.</p>
+
+<p>“Then we are right in with the land?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, massa cap’n; there’s another one inside
+this, right abreast the harbor.”</p>
+
+<p>Peterson, who was getting somewhat in years,
+having broken off his intemperate habits, and obtaining
+good and constant employment at home, had
+given up all thoughts of ever again going to sea;
+but Captain Rhines persuaded him to go in the
+“Arthur Brown” as pilot and interpreter. Peterson’s
+parents were Guinea negroes; but the boy was
+born in Martinique, where his parents were slaves,
+and was sold, when a child, to the master of a vessel
+that traded to Marseilles, during which time
+he became perfectly acquainted with the harbor.
+The French captain finally sold him to Captain
+Hadlock, the father of Sally Rhines, who sold him
+to Peterson, with whom he remained till slavery
+was abolished in New England.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Rhines had frequently availed himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+of his knowledge as pilot, well knew his worth and
+reliability, and therefore insisted upon his going
+with Arthur Brown. No other person on board
+could speak a word of French, except Walter Griffin,
+and he not fluently, as he had learned it but
+a short time before, but was daily improving by
+conversation with Peterson.</p>
+
+<p>There was now a signal from the foremast,
+Ned Gates reporting that he heard blows as of a
+hammer on iron; and while all hands were anxiously
+listening, the sound of a boatswain’s whistle
+was faintly audible.</p>
+
+<p>“Man the sweeps,” cried the captain, running
+to the compass to note the quarter from which the
+sound came. Taking the helm himself, while the
+whole ship’s company applied their force to the
+sweeps, he steered in a direction opposite to that
+from which the sound that had so alarmed them
+proceeded. An hour thus passed without any
+repetition of the sounds, when the fog suddenly
+lifted, the sun broke out, and they found themselves
+almost within range of an English frigate
+on the port bow, while a sloop of war lay some
+miles off on the other quarter. The crew redoubled
+their efforts at the oars.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“It’s no use, boys,” said the mate; “you might
+as well put on your jackets; the frigate is getting
+out her boats; they’ll be alongside of us before
+we can sweep half a mile.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sweep away, men,” cried the young captain,
+who was coolly watching the clouds; “something
+may yet turn up in our favor.”</p>
+
+<p>The man-o’-war’s-men, well aware of the character
+of the chase by the efforts put forth to
+escape, and anticipating a rich prize, strained
+every nerve, coming down upon their helpless
+victim with the speed of an arrow. The sound
+of the oars in the rowlocks could now be distinctly
+heard as the two leading boats diverged,
+one making for the fore and the other for the
+main chains of the “Arthur.”</p>
+
+<p>An expression of bitter anguish passed over
+the face of Arthur, as he felt that all his fair
+prospects, the hopes of Captain Rhines and
+others who had so nobly stepped forth to aid
+and start him in life, were to be blighted in
+the bud.</p>
+
+<p>The boats were now close aboard, and the bowmen
+stood up to grapple the prize.</p>
+
+<p>“Pull, men, for your lives!” shouted the captain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+whose eye caught the sails; “there’s a breeze
+coming; <i>her length</i>, only her <i>length</i> ahead.”</p>
+
+<p>They exerted themselves to the utmost, while,
+in pure recklessness, Peterson burst into a song
+used by whalemen when towing a whale.</p>
+
+<p>Despite their efforts, the foremost boat gained
+the quarter, and flung a grappling; it caught.
+Just then a light air filled the loftier sails, although
+there was not a breath of wind on deck.
+Slight as it was, it was sufficient to shoot the
+swift craft ahead with accelerated speed, leaving
+one boat far astern, towing and well nigh
+upsetting the other. A sharp axe in the hand
+of Peterson descended upon the grappling warp,
+and the boat was left astern, as the increasing
+breeze filled, partially, the larger sails of the
+“Arthur.”</p>
+
+<p>A broadside burst from the side of the frigate;
+but the shot all fell far short, covering the water
+with foam.</p>
+
+<p>The breeze now sensibly increased. The direction
+in which it sprung up brought the frigate
+dead to windward.</p>
+
+<p>“Dis be a bully grappling,” said Peterson, taking
+up the now harmless implement. “Me take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+him home to Massa Rhines, to moor his boat
+with.”</p>
+
+<p>The light breeze, which propelled the swift
+brigantine with considerable velocity, was scarcely
+felt by the frigate; but as it gradually freshened
+she began to move through the water, and
+picking up her boats, crowded all sail in pursuit.
+But she had, during the light wind, lost
+much precious time, profiting by which the brigantine
+had increased the distance between them.</p>
+
+<p>But now the situation of things was entirely
+reversed. The frigate, though no match for the
+swift, sharp-built American, close-hauled on a
+wind; yet dead before it, her great bulk and
+vast cloud of sail rendered her superior; besides,
+as she could carry sail much longer, and the wind
+was every moment increasing, she would, after a
+while, drown the smaller vessel out. She was
+too near, at the outset, for the brigantine to haul
+on the wind, and endeavor to cross her bows, as
+already the shots from her guns began to fall
+uncomfortably near. The wind was blowing in
+squalls; when the squall struck, the frigate would
+gain, and almost heave her shot on board; when
+the wind slacked, the brigantine would gain.
+Directly ahead lay a cluster of islands, reefs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+and outlying rocks; one island was called Pomegues,
+the other Rataneau. These islands are now
+connected by a breakwater; then they were not.
+The brow of the young captain now wore an expression
+of great anxiety; he called the mate and
+Peterson to his councils.</p>
+
+<p>“We are doing all we can,” said the captain
+to his subordinates, “and as the wind increases
+we bury and she gains; her shot will soon be
+coming aboard.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see no way,” replied the mate, “but to
+haul our sheets aft, and endeavor to cross her
+bows. If we could once get him on a wind, we
+could shake him off.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then,” replied the captain, “she would run
+square down on us; it is useless to attempt that.
+What is your advice, pilot?” addressing himself
+to the black, who was too modest to obtrude his
+opinion upon his superiors.</p>
+
+<p>“Massa cap’n,” said the black, “dis darky know
+all dese rocks jes as little boy know his letters in
+de book. Dis island on de starboard hand, he Rataneau;
+bold water close along shore, till get down
+to de pint; den he shoal, many rocks, bad place.
+It low water now; we luff right round de pint
+ob de island, right in among de shoals and rocks.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Then we shall go ashore.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nebber you fear. Dis chile carry you clear.
+Dis darky know frigate no dare come in. We
+drew leben feet ob water. ‘Spose he draw twenty-fibe;
+he stand off good way; his shot no reach us.
+Den you be on de wind, close-hauled, beat up
+’twixt de islands and de main, hab smooth water;
+’spose frigate he try beat up too; he no do any
+ting; wid dis vessel on de wind, he nowhar.
+’Spose he beat up toder side; den he hab <i>rough
+water</i>; he do noting at all.”</p>
+
+<p>There was not much time for deliberation, for,
+even while they were speaking, a shot carried
+away the port davit, and splintered the planks of
+the stern.</p>
+
+<p>“If that shot had struck the main boom,” said
+the mate,&mdash;“and it did not lack much of it,&mdash;all
+had been up with us.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are right, pilot. Mr. Rogers, brace up
+the yards.”</p>
+
+<p>While this manœuvre was being executed, a
+succession of terrible screams arose from the forward
+part of the ship.</p>
+
+<p>“Some poor fellow is struck,” cried the captain;
+“run forward, Mr. Rogers, and see who it is.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The second mate was now heard singing out,
+“Avast hauling on that fore-brace. Slack it off
+handsomely.” Four or five men were at the same
+time seen running up the fore-rigging.</p>
+
+<p>In those days iron trusses to lower yards by
+(which they swing in all directions as easily as a
+door on its hinges) were not known; but they
+were made of rope, covered with leather, and very
+stiff. A man must be sent up to overhaul them
+when the yards were swung.</p>
+
+<p>Danforth Eaton went up to overhaul the weather-truss.
+The wind blew the end of his cue&mdash;he
+had the longest cue on board&mdash;into the hole of
+the cleat; it jammed fast, and the men bracing the
+yard hauled it in, pulling out the hair by the roots,
+starting the skin from the flesh, and well nigh
+breaking his neck.</p>
+
+<p>“Cut the blasted thing off,” cried the sufferer
+(his eyes bloodshot, and the tears streaming down
+his cheeks) to Walter, who was the first to reach
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Eaton never wore another cue, and his example
+was followed by a few of his shipmates; and at
+length cues went out of fashion altogether.</p>
+
+<p>The next shot fell wide; but as both vessels<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+were now brought nearer to the wind, it was evident,
+by the balls falling short, that the brigantine
+was increasing the distance between them, which
+became still greater as the man-of-war, afraid of
+the shoals, gave the island a wider berth, while
+the brigantine, under the skilful pilotage of the
+black, running as near as possible to the rocks,
+rounded the point of the island, gradually coming
+up more and more to the wind, till, having passed
+the last shoal, at a signal from Peterson, the yards
+were braced sharp, the main sheet hauled flat aft,
+and she shot out into a clear channel.</p>
+
+<p>“Dere,” cried the black (who had stood on the
+bow, with his eye glancing alternately from the
+water to the sails), as he flung his tarpaulin upon
+the deck, and wiped the sweat from his forehead,
+“where dat frigate now? Dis chile no see her,”
+he exclaimed, looking straight to windward.
+“You ole man, Peterson, you lose de eyesight.”</p>
+
+<p>A merry laugh went round, as the captain exclaimed,
+“You are looking the wrong way, Peterson.
+Look to leeward. Well done, my old pilot;
+reckon on a suit of clothes for yourself, and a
+dress for the old woman. I see you are all Captain
+Rhines recommended you to be, and more too.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Me tank you, massa cap’n; tank you, sar.
+Cap’n Rhines he know dis chile well as he know
+hisself; wind blow awful; big sea; take two men
+hold toder man’s hair on; ship scudding; Massa
+Rhines, he come on deck; ‘Mr. Strout!’ ‘Ay, ay,
+sar.’ ‘Who got de helm?’ ‘Flour, sar.’ (Dey call
+me Flour den.) He say, ‘Den I go below. Gib
+me call, any change in de weder.’ ‘Ay, ay, sar.’”</p>
+
+<p>“Here comes another,” said the mate, as a hundred
+gun ship, aroused by the firing, stood out
+from the roadstead of Marseilles.</p>
+
+<p>“Here comes Grandfather Bull,” cried the captain,
+proud of the sailing qualities of his craft.
+“On a taut bowline I wouldn’t fear their whole
+navy. Come along, old gentleman.”</p>
+
+<p>The fleets of Great Britain were at this time so
+fully occupied in all parts of the world, that but a
+small number of vessels could be spared to blockade
+the most important of the French ports, the
+heavier ships lying just out of range of the forts,
+and patrolling the roadstead with boats, while the
+lighter vessels scoured the coast. In bad weather
+they were obliged to ride it out in an open roadstead,
+or run to sea&mdash;a time always improved by
+the blockade-runners who were inside to get out,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+and by those outside, while the fleet was scattered,
+to run in.</p>
+
+<p>It was of the greatest importance for blockade-runners
+to ascertain the position of the fleet in the
+daytime, and, eluding the outside vessels, run by
+the others in the night, taking the chance of an
+attack from their boats, and a broadside. In making
+the coast in thick weather, they were always
+liable to find themselves, as in the present instance,
+in the very jaws of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing but her sweeps saved the “Arthur
+Brown,” by preventing the boats from boarding
+her, till the breeze came. The frigate, finding the
+chase was hopeless, tacked ship, and returned to
+the coast; but so far were the crew of the brigantine
+from relinquishing their purpose, that they
+kept in sight, and the moment the twilight came
+on, stood in for the land, guided by the frigate’s
+lights, while all was dark on board the brigantine.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">LITTLE NED AND HIS MOTHER.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">WHEN Walter Griffin flung down the yard-stick,
+and jumped over Fred Williams’s
+counter for the last time, he went directly on
+board the Casco, and made several voyages to
+Cadiz with Isaac Murch, who valued his services
+highly, and offered him promotion to remain with
+him; but arriving from a voyage while the “Arthur
+Brown” was building, the temptation to go
+in her on shares, and engage in all the perils and
+excitements attendant upon running the gauntlet
+of the enemy’s cruisers, proved perfectly irresistible
+to a boy of Walter’s sanguine, fearless nature;
+and, as the vessel would be launched and away
+before he could make another voyage and return,
+he resolved to wait for her.</p>
+
+<p>In order to make the most of his time, he went
+over to Elm Island to study navigation with Lion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+Ben, and then, by Captain Rhines’s advice, to
+Salem, where was a French family, who, having
+fled from their native country, during the revolution,
+in poverty, leaving their property behind,
+supported themselves by teaching French, giving
+music lessons, and employing themselves in
+any way which would bring the means of subsistence.
+They also found no lack of sympathy
+among the inhabitants, who, being a seafaring
+community, not only shared in the universal good
+will at that time felt towards the French, but
+also were naturally touched by the miseries of
+those who, having seen better days, and accustomed
+to every comfort, found themselves, in old
+age, poor and in a strange land.</p>
+
+<p>Fred Williams had an uncle in Salem, a tanner.
+Walter boarded with him, doing work enough in
+the tan-yard to defray the expense of his board.
+Thus, under the instruction of persons of culture,
+and in daily contact with them, he not only obtained
+a knowledge of the language, but learned
+to speak it properly, and in a manner quite different
+from the patois of Peterson, which, picked
+up from the lower class of people, was, however,
+fluent, coarse, and vulgar.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Salem, as our readers will recollect, was the
+home of Ned Gates, who, ready to like anybody
+who came from the neighborhood of Pleasant
+Cove, received Walter with open arms, insisted
+upon having him at his house to tea, and to stay
+all night, about half the time, and spent every
+spare moment he could get with him.</p>
+
+<p>Ned would go down to the yard and help
+Walter break bark, pull hides out of the pits,
+take out the spent tan, and hang up the sides
+of leather to dry, in order that his friend might
+have more time to study French, and stuck to
+him like his skin. Were they not going to be
+shipmates together, and share in perils?</p>
+
+<p>Ned’s parents never wanted him to go to sea,
+and did all in their power to prevent it; but finding
+his heart set upon it to such an extent that
+he was utterly indifferent to everything else, and
+unhappy, they yielded with the best grace possible.
+But when he was shipwrecked, and came
+so near perishing with hunger on the raft, they
+were greatly encouraged, thinking it would incline
+him to comply with their wishes and abandon
+the sea. Ned’s mother was not only a most
+affectionate parent, but a warm-hearted Christian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+woman. Like all Christian mothers, she had been
+accustomed to hear her little boy say his prayers,
+and continued the practice after he came to be
+a large boy. Ned would leave the light burning,
+and his mother would come up, sit by his bedside,
+hear him repeat the Lord’s Prayer, then
+kneel down beside the bed and pray herself.
+Ned was a good boy, and loved his mother dearly,
+but was full of life, and sometimes would do
+something out of the way, so much so, that his
+mother, after hearing him say his prayer, would
+get up, take the candle in her hand as though
+about to leave the room, observing, “Edward,
+you have been a bad boy, to-day; I don’t know as
+I ought to pray with you to-night.” This never
+failed to bring Ned to terms. He would own
+up, if it was any concealed mischief, confess, and
+promise amendment, for he could not bear to go
+to sleep till his mother had prayed with him;
+yet he was nearly sixteen years old, as smart
+a boy as ever went aloft to furl a royal or reeve
+signal halyards. When the crew abandoned the
+sinking ship, Ned, as we have before stated, preferred
+to stick by the captain.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Who says vulgarity, coarseness, and profanity
+are necessary concomitants of courage?</p>
+
+<p>“Edward,” said his mother, as he took the
+candle to go to bed, the first night after getting
+home from Pleasant Cove, “leave the light; I’ll
+come and get it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mother,” said he, after saying his prayers,
+“how nice it seems to be once more in the old
+bed, and say my prayers to you, as I used to do!”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope, Edward, you didn’t forget them while
+you were away from me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I never turned in a night without it; but I
+didn’t have any mother to come and get the light
+and kiss me when I got through.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope, my child, you did more than that.
+I hope, when you were undergoing such misery
+on that dreadful raft, you prayed to God in your
+own words, and out of your own heart.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I didn’t, mother.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not pray, when there seemed nothing but death
+before you&mdash;a child instructed as you have been?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, mother. I suppose you want me to tell
+you just as it was.”</p>
+
+<p>“Certainly, my child; but didn’t the captain,
+James Watts, or Arthur Brown?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“The captain was swearing part of the time,
+and crying the rest. One minute he’d say he
+knew some vessel would come along and take
+us off, and seem quite cheerful; the next minute
+he would wring his hands, and swear, and cry,
+and say we should all starve to death on that
+raft. After the little water and provision the
+men left us was gone, he took to drinking salt
+water. It made him crazy, just as Mr. Brown
+told him it would, for he said he had heard his
+father say so. Then he ran off on the idea that
+we were going to kill and eat him. If he saw
+us talking together, he would say we were plotting
+to kill him and drink his blood. Mr. Brown
+said the second mate told him that he passed a
+crew of men once on a wreck, and wouldn’t take
+any notice of their signals, though they hoisted
+a signal of distress, and now he was getting his
+pay for it. I suppose it was the idea he took in
+his head, that we would kill and eat him, that
+made him jump overboard in the night, when
+we were all asleep.”</p>
+
+<p>“That was awful; but didn’t Arthur Brown or
+James Watts ever call upon God?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not as I know of; what they did inside I don’t
+know, but I never heard them.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“It seems very strange to me that a boy
+brought up to know and respect all good things
+taught in the Catechism, and who never went to
+bed a night in his life, till he went from home,
+without saying his prayers, and having his mother
+pray with him, should be on a raft in the ocean,
+starving, death staring him in the face, and not
+call upon God. I can’t understand it; I should
+think that would be just the time, if ever in the
+world.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, it ain’t, mother, though it may seem
+strange to you. It seems strange to myself now;
+but I suppose, if I was in the same place, I should
+do just so again. I did think of my prayers, and
+said them, as I told you; but whenever I thought
+of doing anything more, it seemed to me so mean
+to pray to God because I was in a hard place,
+when I never did it when I wasn’t, that I couldn’t&mdash;I
+didn’t dare to. Then I was thinking, most of
+the time, about being taken off, watching for some
+vessel, or dreaming and thinking about eating and
+drinking.”</p>
+
+<p>“Dreaming about eating?”</p>
+
+<p>“O, yes, mother, that was the worst of it; when
+my tongue was so swelled, as big as two tongues,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+and I was so weak from hunger that I could hardly
+move, I’d fall into a doze, and dream that there
+was a great table set full of everything that I
+loved, and then wake up, and find it all a dream.
+One time I dreamed I was travelling on a road in
+a real hot day, and saw a little wood on the side
+of a hill. I went to it, and right between two
+great maple trees was a barrel sunk down in the
+ground, and full of clear, cold water. It was a
+boiling spring, and a flat stone right beside it.
+I thought I knelt down on the stone, and looked
+way down into the clear, beautiful water, saw
+grains of sand rolling over and over in it, and
+tried to drink; but whenever I got my parched
+lips close to the water, it went away, and in my
+struggles to reach it I woke; and there right before
+me was poor James Watts’s dead face, and Mr
+Brown looking so pale and ghostly I thought he
+was dead, and I all alone on the wide ocean.
+When I saw it was all a dream, I burst into tears;
+after that, began to grow stupid and wandering,
+and didn’t sense anything more till I found myself
+in a bed, and somebody putting water in my
+mouth; and don’t you think, mother, I went right
+back where I left off in my dream, and thought I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+was drinking out of that spring? but it was Charlie
+Bell’s wife putting water in my mouth. I tell
+you what it is, mother; people may think so who
+don’t know; but if they were in such a place,
+they would find it wasn’t a very nice time to be
+good.”</p>
+
+<p>“My dear boy,” replied his mother, affected to
+tears by the narration, “now that God has restored
+you to us, you have suffered so much, and seen
+what the life of a sailor is, and what they are exposed
+to, I hope you will never leave us again.
+You are all the son I have got&mdash;do stay with us
+and your sisters. You have had a good education;
+your father will take you right into the store
+with him, or he will set you up in business, when
+you are old enough. There is Henry Bradshaw,
+that you used to sit with in school; your old playmate;
+you used to love him, and was just like a
+brother with him. He is going into business
+soon. You can go with him, or you can learn a
+trade. Your father will send you to college&mdash;he
+will do anything for you to keep you at home. If
+you could only know what we underwent, after we
+heard the vessel was lost, and thought you were
+lost in her, and what a thanksgiving there was in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+the house after we got Captain Rhines’s letter,
+you certainly never would leave us again.”</p>
+
+<p>Ned was not taken by surprise, for he knew his
+mother’s heart, and loved her. It was no easy
+task to deny the plea of such a mother, under
+such circumstances, and the very first night of
+getting home, too. He lay a long time silent,
+with eyes shut fast. His mother saw the tears
+come out from under the closed lids, and, as she
+wiped them away, began to hope her desires were
+to be realized.</p>
+
+<p>“Mother,” at length he said, “you will think I
+am the worst, most hard-hearted boy that ever was
+in the world.”</p>
+
+<p>The mother trembled, but made no reply.</p>
+
+<p>“Mother, I must go to sea. I can’t, indeed, I
+can’t stay at home.”</p>
+
+<p>“But only think what you suffered, and how
+near you were to death.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I didn’t die, mother. I’m all right now,
+and heavier than I ever was in my life. I was
+weighed in Mr. Williams’s store the day before I
+left, and weighed ten pounds more than I ever did
+before, without my coat or waistcoat. Only think
+of that.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“But only think what you suffered!”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t people suffer at home, mother? Just
+see what Will Webb has suffered, all tied up in
+knots with rheumatism; and Tom Savage, with
+the spine complaint. I do believe, if I knew I
+should go through all I have been through the
+next voyage, I should have to go. Ain’t I a fool,
+mother?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think you are very foolish to leave a good
+home and kind parents without any necessity for
+such hardships. Only think of your cousin, poor
+James Ross, who fell from the main-mast and was
+killed, the very first day out.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, mother, perhaps he would have died if
+he had been at home. Captain Rhines says, when
+God wants a man, he’ll call him; and anybody is
+just as safe on the royal yard as on deck, or at
+home in his bed. Isn’t that so, mother?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know, my dear; I think I should a
+great deal rather have you at home in this bed.
+Suppose you are sick at sea. There is no one to
+take care of you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, mother, Captain Brown and Walter will.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Gates knelt down beside the bed, and
+prayed for submission to bear what she felt to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+a bitter trial&mdash;resigning a beloved, affectionate
+boy to the hardships and chances of a life at sea.</p>
+
+<p>“Mother,” said Ned, as she took the light in her
+hand to go down stairs, “isn’t Walter Griffin a
+splendid boy?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; too good a boy to go to sea.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">MOONLIGHT CONVERSATION BY THE BROOK.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap05">WALTER well deserved the praise lavished
+upon him by Ned. He had little resemblance
+to his brother Joe, or indeed any other
+member of the family, except in size. He was of
+large frame; Joe had great square jaws, high
+cheek bones, his hair coarse and bristling, and his
+joints large,&mdash;he was what is termed, in common
+parlance, double-jointed,&mdash;and, though exceeding
+agile, was loose-limbed, and somewhat awkward in
+his movements.</p>
+
+<p>Walter, on the other hand, was compactly
+built, graceful in all his movements; fair complexion,
+regular features, fine hair, that curled
+upon the least exertion, and something in the
+expression of his face that inspired confidence
+and attracted at once; though full of humor,
+he possessed not a particle of Joe’s fondness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+for practical jokes. Every whit as resolute and
+fond of rough sports as any of his race, he had
+what none of the rest possessed&mdash;imagination
+and sentiment; he was thoughtful, reflective, and
+a vein of almost feminine delicacy ran through
+his whole nature.</p>
+
+<p>All that Joe thought of, when he looked upon
+a noble maple, was, how much potash it would
+make, whether a keel-piece could be got out
+of it; or upon a majestic pine, how many boards
+it would scale.</p>
+
+<p>But Walter looked upon them with other eyes;
+the murmur of the streams and the glance of
+the river through the green foliage appealed
+to susceptibilities that did not exist in the
+breast of the other. In all other respects he
+was Griffin to the backbone. He was a universal
+favorite; all the boys loved Walter Griffin,
+and he loved them in return. He loved John
+Rhines, Fred Williams, and Uncle Isaac, but
+Charlie Bell was his ideal of perfection, and,
+though so much his senior, seemed nearer than
+all the rest. The thoughtful tenderness of
+Charlie’s nature touched an answering chord
+in that of Walter; he found something there, he
+could not find among his mates.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Charlie, trading with Fred, and owning a portion
+of the goods, was often in the store, and
+brought a good deal in contact with Walter;
+they naturally grew together.</p>
+
+<p>When he found Charlie was going to be married,
+he told John he was real sorry, because he
+knew he shouldn’t see so much of him, and he
+was afraid he wouldn’t love him so much. But
+he soon found, to his great gratification, that
+“the more angels in the heart, the more room.”</p>
+
+<p>No sooner was Charlie married than he bought
+a pew in the meeting-house, and asked Walter
+to sit with him (as Mr. Griffin had a large family,
+and their pew was always crowded), and frequently
+invited him to tea; he soon began to
+feel at home there, and found that he saw a
+great deal more of Charlie than when he was
+obliged to go on to Elm Island to see him, or
+met him occasionally at the store.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie’s religion was not something put upon
+him like lacker upon metal, but it was a part
+of him, as much so as the very blood in the
+chambers of his heart, or the pulse in his veins;
+it made him happy, and it was an instinct with
+him to communicate that which so blessed himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+to those he loved. It was not a task; he could
+not help it. ‘Twas just as much a part of his nature,
+as to press the hand or kiss the lips of those
+he loved.</p>
+
+<p>The period occupied by our narrative was long
+before the era of Sabbath schools, notwithstanding
+young people by no means grew up, in the days of
+our fathers, without religious instruction, and that
+of the most substantial kind; since <i>parents then</i>
+discharged, in respect to their children, the duties
+which are now but too often surrendered to Sabbath
+school teachers, and the material for mission
+schools, now so abundant, did not then exist.</p>
+
+<p>Parson Goodhue was accustomed, once a month,
+to assemble all the children, as also the older boys
+and girls, in the school-house on Saturday afternoon,
+and to put them the questions contained in
+the Westminster Catechism, previously committed
+to memory.</p>
+
+<p>Walter Griffin had made all his preparations for
+going to sea, as a green hand, in the Casco, with
+Isaac Murch; the ship was ready to sail Monday,
+for Cadiz. Walter having attended the catechising
+for the last time, when he saw all his schoolmates,
+and received a parting blessing from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+good minister, started up to Pleasant Cove, to take
+leave of Charlie, whom he met coming from the
+barn, where he had been tying up his oxen.</p>
+
+<p>“Good evening, Mr. Bell.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good evening, Walter. I was afraid you would
+go away without coming to see me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I couldn’t think of that, sir; I came up to the
+school-house, and then kept on.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you are all dressed for Sabbath, and I
+shan’t let you go from here to-night; stop right
+here, and go to meeting with us in the morning.”</p>
+
+<p>“I fear I shall hinder you, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not a whit. Uncle Isaac has been helping me
+break up, and has just gone from here; we’ve done
+work enough for one day. I’m going to clean up
+and rest; come, go in; supper is about ready.”</p>
+
+<p>Walter assisted Charlie to milk, and do his
+chores, and as the twilight came on, they sat down
+together beneath a tree near the edge of a bank,
+where the brook met the waters of the bay.</p>
+
+<p>It was a most picturesque, lovely spot, one that
+Charlie dearly loved, and to which he never took
+any one who he knew was incapable of appreciating
+it; he didn’t like to have his chosen spots like
+an unfenced common, for everybody and everything
+to trample on.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was a warm evening, the first of September;
+the season had been moist and shady; not a leaf
+gave token of decay. Just above them they saw
+the white foam of the water, as it fell in broken
+wreaths of foam over the precipice, and caught
+again the gleam of it through the leaves, as with
+tranquil current it met the waters of the bay, rolling
+with a low ripple upon the white sand of the
+beach.</p>
+
+<p>They sat with their backs against a large oak
+that grew double, forking just above their heads,
+and thus, being rather flat than round, offered a
+convenient rest.</p>
+
+<p>“Walter,” said Charlie, putting his arm around
+the boy, and drawing his head on to his breast,
+“how do you like this spot?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think it is most beautiful. I could sit here
+all night and listen to that waterfall, and watch the
+moonbeams glancing on the water.”</p>
+
+<p>“The first time I ever saw this place, I came
+here alone, on very much such a night as this. I
+loved it then, and have loved it more and more ever
+since. I shall miss you very much, Walter; only
+think how many Sabbath days we’ve sat side by
+side in meeting; I hope there’s some good come of
+it all. Walter, do you ever pray?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There was no reply, but a tear fell on Charlie’s
+hand; at length he said, “No, sir; I never did.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you say the Lord’s Prayer?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Didn’t your mother learn you to say it when a
+child?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir; there ain’t any goodness in our folks;
+we are a hard, rough set; ain’t like other people;
+only think about wrestling, shooting, and falling
+timber. When Joe became religious, he wanted
+to have prayers Sabbath night; but father wouldn’t
+hear to it. Now he’s got a house of his own, he
+can do as he likes.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you are not a rough, thoughtless boy,
+Walter; you are a gentle, loving boy, and you
+think; all the Griffin there is in you, is on the outside;
+you love the woods, flowers, the waters, and
+this beautiful spot touches you, just as it does
+me.”</p>
+
+<p>Walter made no reply, but pressed Charlie’s
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>“And you love me?”</p>
+
+<p>“I do, Mr. Bell, with all my heart and soul.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then how can you help loving God, who made
+everything and everybody that you love and admire?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“I know I ought.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps you don’t like to have me talk to you
+in this way.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir, I do; I could hear you talk forever.”</p>
+
+<p>“Walter, I don’t believe there was ever a boy
+in the world had more friends than you have.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is just what I was thinking myself, this
+very afternoon, when all the boys and girls came
+round me at the catechising, and seemed sorry to
+have me go away.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you think you owe a good deal to your
+Maker? and ought you not to tell him so?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir, I know I ought to; but I can’t.”</p>
+
+<p>“You could ask me to speak to the captain, and
+get you a chance to go in the Casco.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, sir, you, Mr. Rhines, and Uncle Isaac are so
+good, I don’t feel afraid to ask you anything.”</p>
+
+<p>“God is better.”</p>
+
+<p>“But he seems a great way off.”</p>
+
+<p>“He would seem near if you would go to him,
+and try to get acquainted. Besides, he has
+spoken first, and asked you to come.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid you will think I am a very rude
+boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are like all boys, and all the rest of us,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+before we begin to think of better things. Now,
+Walter, there’s just one thing I want you to do.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is that, sir?”</p>
+
+<p>“You know I have been on the ocean somewhat,
+and know what it is to be there, and how
+sailor men feel, although you will soon know much
+more about the matter than I do. There is no
+time, as you will soon learn, when a sailor man
+spends his time so well as in the middle watch
+of a pleasant night, when it is fair weather and
+moderate&mdash;everything going along smooth. It
+is then, if a man has any conscience, it wakes up;
+if he has had good bringing up, and good instructions,
+they come to his mind; it is then his
+thoughts are homeward bound, and he thinks of
+parents, brothers, sisters, and all he loves best on
+earth. Then he travels over the whole ground,
+from childhood clear along. You’ll find it so.”</p>
+
+<p>“I expect I shall spend many an hour in that
+way, and then I shall think of you and all your
+kindness to me.”</p>
+
+<p>“It isn’t kindness, Walter; it is more than that.
+I have enjoyed it as much as you. There are
+some beautiful nights at sea, as well as dark and
+dismal ones. There will be nights just like this,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+when the moon will glance on the long swell just
+as it now does on the little ripple on that beach,
+and the stars will seem like so many eyes looking
+down upon you, and the royal will look in the
+shadow as if it reached the sky.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know I shall enjoy such nights, and wish
+them longer.”</p>
+
+<p>“They make up for a good many rough ones,
+and you can live them over many times. Well,
+when such a night comes, I want you, as you look
+on the moon and stars, to remember that as the
+same moon is shining on me, looking down on this
+little brook, and into the cove, so the same good
+heavenly Father is over us both; that then I shall
+look at that moon, and think of you; this little
+nook, the trees, and all we’ve said to one another
+here will travel out on the ocean to meet you;
+then perhaps you may think, I wonder if some
+good friend is not thinking of and praying for me;
+ought I not to do something for myself?”</p>
+
+<p>“I thank you for all these pleasant thoughts.
+I never thought of such things before. It is
+not the way Parson Goodhue talks to us about
+religion.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, he is a wise man. I can only talk in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+simple way, as it comes to me, and out of my
+heart.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you don’t talk to me like as anybody else
+does. Captain Rhines often gives me good advice,
+and so does Uncle Isaac, about not drinking, and
+getting into bad company, or being profane, and
+about saving my money. But you don’t, somehow,
+seem to give me advice, or ever mention those
+things. I like to have them take notice of me,
+and always thank them; but when you talk <i>with</i>
+me,&mdash;for you don’t seem to talk <i>at</i> me,&mdash;I want
+to put my arms right round your neck.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t spoil a good mind, Walter.” And the
+boy actually embraced him. “People have different
+ways of looking at the same thing,” continued
+Charlie; “you wouldn’t want all your
+friends to be just alike&mdash;would you?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, indeed, sir, any more than I would want
+all the flowers to be of one form and color, or all
+the birds to look alike and sing the same song.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, if you only love Him who made and
+gave you everything half as well as you love me,
+who have done, and can do, very little for you, all
+these other matters will take care of themselves.”</p>
+
+<p>“Please talk some more, sir.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“It is time to go. We’ve been here a great
+while. They will all be a-bed.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, sir, we haven’t been here but a little
+while.”</p>
+
+<p>“How long do you think?”</p>
+
+<p>“Half an hour.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’ve been here an hour and a half; I know
+by the tide. It was high water when we sat
+down here. You see that white rock just breaking
+the water?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, when that rock is fairly out, it is two
+hours ebb. Walter, what makes you so bent upon
+going to sea? You might do well on a farm.
+Fred would, in the course of another year, take
+you in as partner. If you want money, I will lend
+it to you. Then you can be at home among your
+friends. Is it because you think you can make
+money faster?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir; I don’t think money is everything.
+There’s Isaac Murch, as straightforward, kind-hearted
+a fellow as ever lived,&mdash;as smart a man as
+was ever wrapped up in skin; but he thinks
+money is everything. He’ll give, too, especially
+to a good cause; but it comes hard. He’ll go<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+through a deal to get a dollar. I mean to have a
+good living,&mdash;I think that’s for every one who
+strives for it,&mdash;and earn my wages, wherever I
+am. I don’t believe in wasting, or any of your
+low stuff, but I had rather have friends who love
+me for my own sake, good health, enjoy myself,
+and have others enjoy themselves with me, than
+all the money in the world.”</p>
+
+<p>“Money won’t buy happiness, Walter.”</p>
+
+<p>“You know, sir, you were saying just now that
+you hoped you shouldn’t have to grind your broad-axe
+again for six years; you did so long to turn
+over some of this wild land, plant an orchard,
+have grain, fruit and flowers, and cattle in the
+pastures.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, and I felt more than I said.”</p>
+
+<p>“But haven’t you made pretty much all the
+property you have out of the sea?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yet you want to work on the land.”</p>
+
+<p>“Because I love to. I love to work with tools,
+but I want some time to plant and sow, and see
+things grow, whether I make anything or not; it’s
+my nature.”</p>
+
+<p>“So it’s my nature to go to sea. I wish you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+could see all the boats Flour (I mean Peterson)
+has made and rigged for me. I wouldn’t care if
+there was only land enough to build wharves to
+tie vessels up, to clean and grave their bottoms,
+and all the rest was water.”</p>
+
+<p>“But it is a hard life, and rude company. You
+are a quiet, thoughtful boy, and as affectionate as
+a woman.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a hard streak in all us Griffins; so I
+suppose there must be in me.”</p>
+
+<p>This was the boy Ned Gates was so much attached
+to, and helped do his work at the tan-yard,
+and respecting whom Mrs. Gates said he was too
+good to go to sea (this good lady seeming to think
+it best to have only bad men at sea).</p>
+
+<p>Naturally adapted to sea life, he was already
+(but little more than a boy) acting as second mate,
+and, by his keenness of perception, was the first
+to discern the whereabouts of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>To say that Walter and Ned were intimate, and
+enjoyed themselves together, would be superfluous.
+They were fortunately in the same watch,
+slept in the same berth, and became more attached
+to each other every day. Ned was smart and ambitious,
+but light. He always aspired to furl the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+royal, which he could do well enough, when it was
+dry, at any rate, by furling the yard-arms first;
+but when it was wet, and a gale of wind, it was
+rather more than a match for him. At such times,
+Walter, who knew the ambition and grit of his
+little shipmate, and was unwilling to mortify him
+before the crew, would wait till he saw the sail
+blow away from him once or twice, and then run
+up and help him.</p>
+
+<p>Ned was very desirous of raising a cue, and
+even had dim visions of a beard. He sported a
+concern about three inches in length, and which
+very much resembled the appendage of a Suffolk
+pig. It was so short that Walter, who combed and
+dressed it for him when the rest of the watch
+were asleep, found it very difficult to make the
+eel-skin stay on, even with a clove hitch, and, to
+Ned’s great indignation, suggested that he should
+put some tar on it, in order to make the string
+stick. Walter, on the other hand, boasted a cue
+nearly a foot in length, and the rudiments of a
+beard.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever he shaved (which luxury he sometimes
+indulged in, by the solicitations of Ned, on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+Sunday morning in port, when the rest were
+ashore, to avoid disparaging remarks), Ned sat
+looking at him with the greatest reverence, and
+indulging in visions of the future, although, as yet,
+his lip was guiltless even of down.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">THE GRIFFINS.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">THOSE of our readers who are familiar with
+the Elm Island stories have already known
+a good deal of the Griffin family in the persons
+of Joe and Henry, with a slight introduction to
+Walter and Will.</p>
+
+<p>Suppose, now, for the better understanding of
+Walter’s declaration, “there’s a hard streak in
+all of us Griffins,” we accompany Parson Goodhue
+(who is a great friend of the Griffins, and
+for whom Walter is named) in one of his parochial
+visits to the homestead.</p>
+
+<p>The good man, like most of the ministers of
+that day, had a farm of eighty acres, kept a
+horse, sheep, three cows, and a yoke of oxen,
+and did considerable work himself, always feeding
+his own cattle. He had, in addition, a wood
+lot of fifty acres. The parishioners were in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+habit of getting together in the fall, cutting his
+year’s stock of wood, and piling it up in the
+woods; when snow came they put their teams
+together and hauled it to the door, when the
+boys and young men assembled and cut it for
+the fire; on such occasions they came about
+noon, and had supper and a grand time at the
+parsonage in the evening, the girls coming about
+two o’clock, bringing with them abundant supplies
+and preparing the repast.</p>
+
+<p>The Griffin family consisted of eight persons&mdash;the
+parents and six children, all boys, Joseph,
+Henry, Walter, William, Edmund, and Winthrop.
+One hot forenoon, about eleven o’clock, and just
+after haying, Parson Goodhue, in all the glory
+of the snow-white wig, silk stockings, and polished
+silver shoe-buckles (which Lion Ben of Elm
+Island had presented to him after his adventure
+with the wild gander), was wending his way
+by a road that skirted the bank of the river, to
+Edmund Griffin’s. He was mounted on a very
+finely proportioned, snug built, calico-colored mare,
+a pacer. A large blue saddle-cloth protected
+his garments from the hairs (as he was quite fastidious
+about his dress), and he was provided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+with a capacious pair of saddle-bags, long experience
+having convinced the good man that it
+was a most proper precaution, when visiting the
+Griffins, to be well provided with saddle-bags.</p>
+
+<p>It is said, we know not with how much truth,
+that dappled horses are of superior intelligence,
+and can more easily be taught all kinds of tricks;
+and for this reason they are often found in the
+circus. However this may be, one thing is
+sure&mdash;that Parson Goodhue’s mare was intelligent
+enough, and vexed his soul to that extent
+he sometimes feared she received diabolical aid.
+But Dapple, as he called her, was such a capital
+roadster, carried him so easily, and was sound in
+wind and limb, that the parson, who dearly loved
+a good animal, bore it patiently.</p>
+
+<p>In those days the doors of all out-buildings
+were universally fastened with wooden latches,
+or buttons, as also a great proportion of the
+doors of the dwellings.</p>
+
+<p>There was not a door or gate upon the premises
+of her master, or any of his neighbors, but
+Dapple could and would open, a fence she could
+not get over, or a pair of bars she could not
+take down (unless they were pinned), provided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+a sufficient motive presented itself. Notwithstanding
+she had been reared from a colt in
+the family of a clergyman, under the very droppings
+of the sanctuary, received the best of instruction,
+and the best examples had been proposed
+for her imitation, she would appropriate without
+the least scruple; in short, though we grieve
+to say it, she was a downright, incorrigible, sneaking
+thief; she was no respecter of persons or
+character, but would steal from saint or sinner,
+rich or poor; she would even take from the
+widow Hadlock and Aunt Molly Bradish (that
+good old soul, when she was alive), walk right
+into poor Mrs. Yelf’s cornfield right before her
+eyes, because she knew that Robert was at sea,
+and the old lady could not get at her for rheumatism.</p>
+
+<p>Parson Goodhue lived so near to the meeting-house
+that he and his family always walked to
+meeting, thus Sabbath was a leisure day to her;
+and even on that day, when all other horses
+and good people were at meeting, and her good
+master was inculcating morality, she would (if
+she could get loose) take the opportunity to commit
+trespass; in short, she was the grief of her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+master and the pest of the parish, was covered
+with scars she had received for her misdeeds,
+and would have been killed had she belonged
+to any other person than Parson Goodhue, whom
+everybody loved. She would back up against
+a door and turn the buttons, would lift the latch
+or pull the string of one with her teeth, and
+break or get off any yoke or clogs that were
+put on her. The most singular part of the
+whole matter was, that she would sometimes
+go for a month peaceably, in the pasture, and
+the good parson would feel quite encouraged,
+hoping it was a radical reformation; when just
+as he began to solace himself with this idea, and
+accord her larger liberty, she would abuse it
+to act worse than ever. At one time Dapple
+had gone quietly in the pasture for nearly six
+weeks, and the hopes of her master were raised
+to the highest pitch. Adjoining the pasture was
+a most excellent piece of wheat, just full in the
+milk, belonging to Jotham Lancaster. Dapple
+had not been permitted for a long time to go
+out of a Sabbath day; but her conduct had been
+so unexceptionable, that her master determined
+to trust her, especially as there was a high<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+stone wall in good repair around the pasture. So,
+before going to meeting, he turned her out; when
+he returned at noon, he found her quietly feeding,
+and told Captain Rhines he verily believed Dapple
+had got over her tricks.</p>
+
+<p>“Hang her,” was his reply, “I wouldn’t trust
+her.”</p>
+
+<p>When the parson came home at night, there
+she was, in that beautiful field of wheat. If
+she had merely eaten what she wanted in one
+place, it might have been borne; but she had
+gone all over it, trampling down here and there,
+then lain down, and rolled in half a dozen places;
+and when found, was quietly feeding out in the
+grass. She had, with her teeth, flung off the top
+pole, pushed over the top rocks with her breast,
+and then jumped over.</p>
+
+<p>The next week John Rhines made a pair of iron
+fetters, to fasten one of her hind legs to one of her
+fore ones, permitting her to scuffle along and feed,
+but not to jump, and made a present of them to
+Mr. Goodhue, saying, “She can’t jump with these,
+I know.”</p>
+
+<p>Dapple now went quietly for some time. Captain
+Rhines said to her master, “I guess you’ve got
+her this time.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Vain delusion! she was probably meditating, in
+the “recesses of a mind capacious of such things,”
+upon the means and methods of evading this new device;
+that her meditations bore fruit was soon manifest.
+Parson Goodhue, returning from meeting
+in the afternoon, found her in the midst of his own
+corn. There was not a length of fence down; the
+bars were all up, and pinned, so that she could not
+remove them with her teeth. There was not a
+stone displaced in the wall, and the fetters were fast
+to her feet. As her master took down the bars to
+lead her out, he gazed upon her almost with fear;
+he was not superior to the superstitions of his day,
+and was almost apprehensive of some satanic
+agency.</p>
+
+<p>The story got abroad; John and Fred determined
+to watch her. They shut her up in the barn with
+nothing to eat, till she was very hungry, then
+turned her into the pasture just at night, and concealing
+themselves, kept watch. Dapple went to
+feeding, stopping every once in a while to look
+around and listen; at length, seeing or hearing no
+one, she made directly for the bars, and attempted
+to take them down with her teeth; but
+they were pinned at each end. She then tried to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+push them over by backing up against them; but
+they were braced by stakes nailed to the posts, and
+set in the ground; she then put her head between
+the lower bar and the one next to it above, sprung
+the two sufficiently to insert her shoulders, then her
+whole body, and shoved herself through, coming
+down whack on her side, while the bars sprung together
+as before; then getting up and shaking
+herself, with a look of profound satisfaction, was
+making for the corn, when she was accosted in
+not very flattering terms by her observers. John
+said he never saw anybody look more silly, or
+more worked, than she did.</p>
+
+<p>It was a matter of great surprise to the neighbors,
+and the town talk, that the mare never paid her respects
+to Joe Griffin, as in the fields of all others
+(except Captain Rhines’s, where Tige kept watch
+and ward) she ran riot; while Joe’s (whose land
+was new, just taken from the forest, and raised
+splendid crops of corn and grain) were unmolested
+by the common enemy; they were passed by
+to commit depredations on the fields of Charlie
+Bell, that adjoined.</p>
+
+<p>We will let our readers into the mystery. The
+second year after Joe worked his place, he got up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+very early one morning, just as the day broke, to go
+out gunning; there was Dapple in the corn for the
+first time. As Joe had recently moved into the
+neighborhood, she probably, as an old resident, felt
+it would be polite to call. Joe well knew the
+character of his visitor, and what he might expect
+in future. He, however, manifested not the least
+sign of anger; didn’t even throw a stone, or hit her
+with a stake; but turned her out, put up the fence,
+and went off gunning; not even mentioning the
+matter to his wife, who had not yet risen.</p>
+
+<p>Dapple, who had made up her mind to receive a
+pounding, thought Mr. Griffin was one of the best
+of men, and resolved to cultivate his acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>Three nights after, she paid him another visit,
+and going along the fence, found the old gap but
+very indifferently mended; taking off some small
+poles with her teeth, she cleared the great bottom
+log at a jump; but the instant she touched the
+ground on the other side, it gave way beneath her
+feet, and she found herself in a pit. Bitter were
+her reflections; she accused herself of imbecility
+for not interpreting aright such forbearance in a
+Griffin; and awaited, with fear and trembling, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+approach of morning. Just as the day broke, she
+heard footsteps, and Joe made his appearance. A
+smile of satisfaction passed over his face, as he
+gave one look, and disappeared, returning soon
+with a shovel in one hand, and a bundle of long,
+tough beech withes in the other. Then, standing
+on the edge of the pit, he began most unmercifully
+to apply them, with all the strength and endurance
+of an arm that had scarcely its rival in the community.
+On head, rump, and ribs the horrible
+tempest fell. In vain poor Dapple kicked, and
+reared, and ran round the pit, which was not large
+enough for her to get out of reach of the blows.
+For an hour, without intermission, this terrible
+scourging continued, when, reeking with perspiration,
+Joe threw down the rod, and took up the
+shovel.</p>
+
+<p>Dapple expected nothing less than to be buried
+alive, and with death staring her in the face,
+remembered with compunction the manner in
+which she had abused the kindness of the good
+old man, and despised all his wise counsels. But
+her quick discernment soon discovered that Joe
+was about to dig the earth at one end to an inclined
+plane to let her out, and instantly all her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+remorse and resolutions for a better life were at
+an end.</p>
+
+<p>When he had graded the pit, as he thought, sufficiently,
+he administered a few blows with the flat
+of the shovel, and an energy that sent Dapple
+flying from the pit like a hen from a hawk, observing,
+as he went leisurely to work to fill up the
+hole, “Much obliged to you, neighbor, for this
+visit; call again the first opportunity.”</p>
+
+<p>When Joe had filled up the pit, he flung some
+brush over, took the pail, and went to milking,
+never mentioning the matter, even to his wife, till
+years afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>The mare never found opportunity to comply
+with Joe’s kind invitation. He might have left
+his crops out of doors for all her.</p>
+
+<p>Dapple mended her pace as she approached the
+rising ground on which the Griffin homestead was
+located, for she had often proved the hospitality
+of its stable and pastures. The buildings were
+situated on the summit of a hill, which rose quite
+abruptly from the river. The blazing sun poured
+down upon a house of enormous size, the lower
+rooms finished, the rest a shell. Not a tree or a
+bush, save one old stub, stood near it. There was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+not the least attempt at a garden, but, far out in
+the field, in the midst of the corn, cabbage, beets,
+carrots, and onions were growing, and peas now
+ripe in the pod.</p>
+
+<p>On one side of the front door was a goose-pen;
+on the other a molasses hogshead, into which an
+upright board conducted the rain water from the
+eaves. The only approach to anything in the
+shape of plants was some house leek (then considered
+a sovereign remedy for <i>corns</i>), in an old
+skillet.</p>
+
+<p>At a short distance from the end door was a
+small enclosure, made by driving stakes into the
+ground, in which were roots of wormwood, tansy,
+comfrey, lovage, and sweet agrimony, while an
+enormous hop-vine covered a great part of the
+front of the house. All about the door-yard were
+shingle bolts, bunches of shingles, old yokes, logs,
+sticks of hewn timber, drags, sleds, with the stakes
+in, broken and whole, and a brush-harrow was
+tipped up against the house, right under one of
+the front windows, while between them the skin
+of a bear, recently killed, was stretched and nailed
+to the clapboards.</p>
+
+<p>Beside the end door stood a leech, that had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+been set up in the spring, to make soap, and suffered
+to stand through the summer, as Mrs. Griffin
+liked to have weak lye to scour with. Within a
+gun-shot of the western end of the house stood
+the stub of a massive pine, which had been broken
+off about twenty-five feet from the ground, and
+was hollow, having the opening on the north-west
+side. In the cavity were augers, planes, saws,
+chisels, shovels, axes, and canting dogs, thrown
+together in most admirable confusion. The tools
+were of English make, and evidently of excellent
+temper, but covered with rust. From the dead
+limbs on the outside hung rusty scythes and a
+grain cradle. This was the Griffin tool-chest. An
+eighth of a mile from the house, down under the
+hill, was the well.</p>
+
+<p>In the rough climate of New England, the inhabitants
+were solicitous to place their buildings
+in a lee, either under the side of a hill, the protection
+of a wood, or to dispose the buildings themselves
+in such a manner as to give them a sheltered
+and sunny door and barn-yard. But here
+the barn was a great distance from the house, the
+buildings disposed without the least reference to
+shelter, as though the occupants were insensible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+to wind or weather. Yet in other respects everything
+betokened plenty and thrift; the walls were
+well built of rocks of great size, and handsomely
+laid up; the barns were large, and through the
+open doors the hay could be seen, brought so far
+over the floors that the mows nearly touched each
+other, leaving barely room to swing a flail.</p>
+
+<p>An immense log crib, the top covered with
+boards and shingles, where the long yellow ears
+of corn showed through the chinks, attested that
+the thrifty owner kept a year’s stock of bread on
+hand. On a scaffold of poles, laid over the high
+beams, bundles of last year’s flax were visible,
+while the number of milking-stools, hanging on the
+barn-yard fence, gave token of a large dairy.</p>
+
+<p>To complete the picture, four great hogs were
+rooting in the chips after thistle roots, and a white
+mare, with a sucking colt and two half-grown ones,
+was standing in the shade, on the north side of
+the house. As Parson Goodhue gained the summit
+of the hill, and was not far from the old stub,
+he saw approaching some one whose form was
+nearly concealed by a huge back-load of spruce
+poles, from twenty to twenty-five feet in length,
+and bearing in one hand an axe. As he flung<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+the poles from his shoulder, and stood erect, he
+caught sight of the minister.</p>
+
+<p>“Halloo, parson! Good morning. Glad to see
+you. <i>Hot</i>&mdash;ain’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Good morning, Edmund,” replied his visitor,
+apparently not the least disconcerted by the rudeness
+of the reception, and extending his hand,
+which the other enclosed in his great palm, and
+shook with a heartiness that caused the good man
+to reel in his saddle.</p>
+
+<p>“How are you, Elizabeth, and all the children?”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, so’s to be crawling. Lizzy always keeps
+herself worked down. ‘Tain’t so much the work,&mdash;though
+we milk seven cows, for Lizzy’s a master
+hand to turn off work, and real rugged,&mdash;but
+she’s forever scrubbing and scouring. I tell her
+‘tain’t a bit of use, but she will do it. Then father’s
+a good deal of care.”</p>
+
+<p>“How is the old gentleman?”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s real strong at the stomach; eats and
+sleeps as well as ever he did; but he sometimes
+has the rheumatics.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">WHERE THE HARD STREAK CAME FROM.</p>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">THIS was Edmund Griffin, the proprietor of
+seven hundred acres of excellent land, a very
+large stock of cattle, and money besides&mdash;the
+strongest man in town (leaving out Lion Ben, who
+was an exception to everybody), now that Captain
+Rhines and Uncle Isaac were getting in years.
+He was not remarkably tall, being barely six feet
+in his boots, but of vast proportions. There was
+no beauty about Edmund; his hair was coarse as
+rope-yarn, inclining to red, and, where it was not
+confined by a cue, bristling; his waist was small
+in proportion to the great breadth of his shoulders
+and hips, his joints large, his lips and teeth very
+prominent, which gave him the appearance of coming
+at you. The whole expression of his face was
+extremely rugged, and would have been fierce, had
+it not been neutralized by the kindly expression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+of a clear, mild eye. His voice, also, was rather
+loud and hearty than harsh in its tones. A skein
+of woollen yarn was tied round him for a belt, his
+breeches of dye-pot blue, and a flannel shirt that
+had once been bright red, but so bleached by the
+sun and perspiration as not to show any red save
+under the armpits and below the girdle, from a
+pocket in the breast of which stuck out the end
+of a purse made of a sheep’s bladder; his open
+collar revealed a finely-formed throat, and a breast
+covered with a thick mass of curling brown hair.
+This great, brawny man was possessed of remarkable
+mechanical genius. With those great fingers
+of his he could execute the nicest jobs, and he
+was constantly resorted to by the neighbors; and
+yet there was not a sled or cart on the premises
+that had a decent tongue in it; they were all
+made by cutting down a forked tree, and sticking
+in the fork with the bark on.</p>
+
+<p>“You’re getting fat, parson&mdash;fat as a porpoise;
+you don’t do work enough; you ought to have
+been in the woods with me this forenoon; ‘twould
+make the gravy run, and take some of the grease
+out of you.”</p>
+
+<p>“What are you going to do with those poles,
+Edmund?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Make pike-poles to drive logs with, in the fall
+freshet.”</p>
+
+<p>Parson Goodhue was much attached to Edmund
+Griffin, who had grown up under him, and whom
+he had married when he was but twenty and his
+wife nineteen, and, though now surrounded by a
+large family, was in the very maturity of his
+strength; for he well knew that, though the outside
+was as rough as the coat of the alligator,
+there was a noble and generous nature within, and
+a kindly heart throbbed beneath that hairy bosom
+and faded shirt.</p>
+
+<p>For many a long year he had been seeking his
+good, and striving in vain to impress him with
+religious ideas; but it was like lifting a wet cannon
+ball; he eluded all his efforts; he could find
+no chink in his armor. He was always at meeting
+with his family, rain or shine, and an attentive
+hearer. Anything, everything he would do for
+Parson Goodhue, except listen to religious conversation;
+<i>that</i> he would always avoid. He had no
+sympathy in that direction, nor his wife either,
+and the children naturally grew up with the same
+ideas. Even the old father, ninety years of age,
+and tottering on the verge of eternity, seemed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+have no notions beyond the present; and all his
+talk was about lifting, wrestling, and the Indian
+fights, in which he had played a most conspicuous
+part, and, though he could with difficulty get
+across the room, would, every few weeks, have his
+rifle brought to him, and clean and oil the lock.</p>
+
+<p>“Lizzy,” shouted Mr. Griffin, in a voice that
+might be heard a mile.</p>
+
+<p>This brought to the door a woman of a noble
+form, dark-brown hair, and one of the sweetest
+faces the eye ever rested upon, and, though evidently
+just from the cheese-tub, very neatly
+dressed.</p>
+
+<p>“Lizzy, here’s Parson Goodhue come to stay to
+dinner, and a fortnight longer, I hope.”</p>
+
+<p>“So do I,” was the reply of his wife, as she
+welcomed the visitor.</p>
+
+<p>“Let the mare go, parson; she knows the way
+to the barn; come, let’s go into the house.”</p>
+
+<p>“I rather think, Edmund, I had better hitch her
+to this stub; if she goes to the barn alone, she
+will certainly be in mischief;” but as the minister
+stepped forward, with the bridle in his hand, to
+execute his design, Griffin caught him by the
+shoulders, and exclaiming, “Bless me! where is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+the man going?” lifted and set him aside, as though
+he had been a feather; at the same time dropping
+a stone upon the trencher of a bear trap, the great
+jaws sprung together with a clang that caused
+Parson Goodhue to jump clear from the ground
+in mortal fear.</p>
+
+<p>“Goodness, Edmund, do you set bear-traps for
+your friends?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, parson; I’m sorry for your fright, but you
+see, we caught a bear last night, and the boys
+have been playing with the trap, and left it set.
+If you had got into it, ‘twould have broken your
+leg.”</p>
+
+<p>What a contrast between the outside and the
+inside of the house, where Elizabeth Griffin held
+undisputed sway! Silver was not brighter than
+the pewter on the shelves, and white as the snow
+flake were dressers and the nicely-sanded floor
+of the best room into which the visitor was ushered,
+where, seated in his arm-chair, was Joseph
+Griffin, the grandfather, a vast ruin, the
+great bones and cords of the old Indian-killer
+standing out in bold relief through the shrunken
+flesh.</p>
+
+<p>“Father’s master hard of hearing, and his eyesight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+has failed him a good deal,” said his son;
+“but otherways he’s just as bright as he ever
+was; knows all that’s going on, and all the young
+folks.”</p>
+
+<p>“Father,” he shouted, as they entered the
+room, “here’s Mr. Goodhue, come to see you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Glad to see him; give him a cheer.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good morning, Mr. Griffin,” said the minister,
+placing his chair close to the old gentleman; “you
+have been spared to a great age.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Spared!</i> I never spared myself. I allers took
+the but-end of a log, and the bunt of a topsail.
+Nobody can say that Joe Griffin ever spared himself.
+Young man (Mr. Goodhue was on the wrong
+side of sixty), when I was of your age, I had more
+strength than I knew what to do with.”</p>
+
+<p>“I said you had lived to a great age.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; I’ve been here a good while. I was
+through the French and Indian wars. I was at
+the takin’ of Quebec, in ‘59, but I was too old for
+this last one.”</p>
+
+<p>“I trust, sitting here alone so much as you do,
+and knowing that you are living on borrowed
+time, that you often think on your latter end, and
+endeavor to prepare for it.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Leetle end; leetle end of what?”</p>
+
+<p>“I say, I hope you are prepared to go.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t go anywhere; I can’t for the rheumatics,
+only to town meetin’, and then they put
+me into Isaac Murch’s wagin; before he had
+that, they hauled me on an ox sled.”</p>
+
+<p>“I mean, I hope you are prepared to die, and
+meet your Maker.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, die, is it? I never killed nobody (except
+in fair fight), and nobody ever killed me. I never
+abused my neighbors, or the cattle, and I think
+it’s everybody’s duty to live just as long as they
+kin. It’s an awful thing to kill yourself; when
+anybody has sich thoughts, they ought to put ‘em
+right out o’ their minds.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you think that is all the preparation you
+need?”</p>
+
+<p>“I allers kept up good line fence, and give
+good weight and measure. I s’pose the less we
+do, the less there’s charged to us.”</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodhue now relinquished the effort in
+despair; as Uncle Isaac would have said, he could
+find nothing to nail to. The old man had grown
+up, like the beasts he hunted, without culture,
+and could neither read nor write. But, although<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+he found great difficulty in hearing, he could talk
+fast enough, and however impervious to religious
+sentiment, was shrewd enough in other matters.</p>
+
+<p>The subject which at that period most divided
+the opinions and agitated the minds of the people,
+was the state of affairs in France, and our relations
+to that nation. That nation having dethroned
+their king, and proclaimed liberty and equality,
+naturally expected to receive fraternal sympathy
+and aid from this country, and from the people
+whom they had aided in their recent struggle for
+liberty.</p>
+
+<p>The members in Congress were divided in
+sentiment on the subject. The people at large,
+especially the mercantile portion of the community
+(who were very much embittered against
+England on account of the impressment of seamen
+and the right of search), felt that the movement
+in France was resistance to arbitrary power, a
+struggle for self-government against oppression,
+and a mere carrying out of the principles of our
+own revolution, that we owed it to the cause of
+liberty, and were obligated in gratitude to aid
+them to the extent of entering into an offensive
+and defensive alliance, and declaring war with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+Great Britain. The party espousing these sentiments
+was large and influential, and a strong pressure
+was brought to bear upon the administration.
+To complicate matters still more, Genet, the French
+minister, a hot-headed, overbearing man, appealed
+to the prejudices and sympathies of the people,
+and, without the sanction or knowledge of the government,
+attempted to raise men and arms, and fit
+out privateers to prey on British commerce, and
+sell their prizes in American ports.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, Washington, and those of
+cooler heads and calmer judgment, shocked at the
+excesses of the French revolution, and having no
+confidence in the capacity of the French people
+for self-government, were as resolutely opposed to
+any interference. Old Mr. Griffin, in opposition
+to his son and the great majority of his neighbors,
+was of the latter party, and Mr. Goodhue was of
+the same opinion.</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that rapscallion’s name, parson, that’s
+come over here, and is kickin’ up sich a dust, and
+tryin’ to get us into a quarrel with the old country?”</p>
+
+<p>“Genet, the French minister,” replied Mr.
+Goodhue, rejoiced at the introduction of a topic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>
+in respect to which their sympathies were in
+unison.</p>
+
+<p>“A minister goin’ about tryin’ to stir up people
+agin their government, and to git up a war!”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s not a minister of the gospel, but a sort of
+ambassador.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wal, I wish my eye was as quick and my
+hand as steady as ‘twas once, and I had him within
+range of my rifle; I’d put an eend to his trampin’;”
+at the same time striking his cane violently on the
+floor. Captain Rhines was here t’other day, settin’
+right where you set, and sayin’ we never should
+got our liberty, if’t hadn’t been for them are
+French; that one good turn deserved another; and
+all that. I ups and tells him, I does, says I, the
+French waited till they see how the cat was goin’
+to jump, and that we were like to wear the old
+bull-dog out, and then comes in to bet on the winnin’
+horse. I telled him the French were well
+enough, but it wasn’t so much for any love to us
+they come; England had took Canada, and robbed
+‘em of their colonies, and now they wanted to pay
+her in her own coin, and help us get clear on ‘em;
+they’ll eny time send over troops to help the Irish
+when they undertake to rise.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“I think you are right in that, Mr. Griffin.”</p>
+
+<p>“If we should go into war with England now, it
+would make an eend of our leetle commerce; but
+if we go on as we’ve begun, in a few years we
+shall be able to fight our own battles, no thanks
+to eny on ‘em.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m perfectly willing to abide by the judgment
+of General Washington, Hamilton, and those who
+have carried us thus far. I believe Washington
+was raised up and divinely appointed to carry
+us through the revolutionary war, as evidently as
+Moses was to lead the children of Israel to the
+promised land.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s the talk, parson. I don’t know enything
+‘bout Moses, and them old characters, but I know
+‘bout Gineral Washington, cause I fought under
+him, when he was kernel; yes, I go in for the old
+horse that never balked at the steepest hill, but
+allus pulled, whether the load went, or whether
+other horses pulled or not.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, my old friend, the heart of the country
+rests safely on Washington.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then, parson, he’s a prayin’ man. Isaac Murch
+told me that; he said, that winter at Valley Forge,
+when the soldiers were barefoot, and suffered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+so much, there was an hour at noon when he
+couldn’t be seen; if an express came, he wouldn’t
+be disturbed; it was allers thought and said
+among the men, that he was at prayer. I allers
+thought them are the sort of men to foller.”</p>
+
+<p>“Certainly; because in following them we may
+hope for the aid of Him by whom they are guided.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a great many in this place, parson, if
+you allow that there’s any good thing in an Englishman,
+cry out, ‘Tory’!”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s too much the case, I know.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t want to swaller an Englishman whole.
+I know they press our seamen, and are overbearin’;
+but, then, they press their own likewise, take
+a man from his own doorstep; but ‘tain’t the people,
+it’s the government, does that. They say this
+new man that’s come up&mdash;What’s his name?”</p>
+
+<p>“Bonaparte.”</p>
+
+<p>“That he’s goin’ to lick the English into shoe-strings.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then he’ll do what has not been done for the
+last two hundred years.”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you it ain’t in ‘em, parson; it’ ain’t in
+the men that live on frogs and soup to lick the
+men that eat beef and pork, I don’t care who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+they’re led by. When I was payin’ for my place,
+I follered the sea a good deal. I have been in
+English ports and French ports; fought side by
+side with Englishmen, and aginst Frenchmen; and
+I don’t care who knows it, I like an Englishman
+better’n a Frenchman eny day. When it’s good
+weather at sea, and everything goin’ well, an Englishman
+is a grouty chap; he’ll growl at the wind,
+the ship, the grub, and the usage; but let there
+come a gale of wind, a raal tryin’ time, the lee
+riggin’ hangin’ in bights, men three or four hours
+on a yard tryin’ to smother a sail, or the ship
+sprung a leak and like to go down, I tell you,
+John Bull is there. The harder it blows, the
+blacker it looks, and the tougher it comes, the
+higher his spirit rises; then they’re a Protestant
+people, and that’s a thing goes a good ways with
+me.”</p>
+
+<p>Our readers may suspect that the old gentleman
+was not so obtuse in relation to religious
+matters as he appeared; an idea of this kind
+seemed to cross the mind of Mr. Goodhue, for he
+instantly attempted to introduce a religious conversation;
+but the old man shrunk from it as
+speedily as a turtle draws his head into the shell
+when apprehensive of danger.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When Edmund Griffin returned to the kitchen,
+he said, “Come, wife, ain’t you going to do something?
+There ain’t a speck of fire on the hearth.”</p>
+
+<p>“What of that? I’ve got baked beans, brown
+bread, pies, and an Indian pudding in the oven,
+and I must put this cheese in press.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Baked beans!</i> I want to kill some chickens,
+make a smother, and give the old gentleman a
+good tuck out.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, then, make me up a fire; the boys are
+all in the field.”</p>
+
+<p>He brought in a great log, and threw it on the
+hearth; then, bringing in a huge armful of wood,
+the moment he was inside the door, let drive
+right into the middle of the room, at the same time
+kicking the door to with his feet. Proceeding to
+put on the log, instead of using the great kitchen
+shovel to rake forward the ashes from the back,
+he put in his foot, and, after scraping out a hole,
+flung on the log with such force that the coals and
+ashes flew all over the room.</p>
+
+<p>“Edmund, what a splutter you do make! Do
+go and get the chickens. I had rather make two
+fires than clean up after you.”</p>
+
+<p>Taking the mare’s bridle on his arm, he put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+her in the barn; returning with the bridle in one
+hand, and a dish of corn in the other, he threw it
+among the fowls; as they were busily eating, he
+brought down the bridle on the flock with such
+force as to prostrate half a dozen, and picking them
+up, cut off their heads, and soon transferred them
+to the kitchen table.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, Edmund,” cried his wife, looking them
+over, “what a careless creature you are! Half of
+these are old hens; and, as sure as I live, you’ve
+killed Winthrop’s setting hen. She was just ready
+to hatch. He will cry his eyes out. I do wish I’d
+gone myself; the chickens are all lost, and we
+shall have to throw the hen away. She’s all skin
+and bone.”</p>
+
+<p>“Never mind, wife; the boy can set another.
+Have you got everything you want now?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. I want you to wash yourself, and put on
+a clean shirt and clothes. They’re on the bed.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the use, wife? I’m well enough.”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you, you shan’t come to dinner looking
+so!” she exclaimed, pushing him into the bedroom,
+and pulling the skein of yarn from his
+waist.</p>
+
+<p>With a groan he obeyed, and, making him sit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+down on the edge of the bed, she combed out
+his cue, and tied it up with a black ribbon, instead
+of the eel-skin.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodhue, who had a large family of his
+own, was very fond of children, and it was a
+curious sight to see Winthrop Griffin tugging
+the stately old minister by the hand, to see his
+fowl and playthings, his tame crow, and the woodchuck
+he had caught. The good man also sincerely
+sympathized with him respecting the loss
+of his hen and expected brood of chickens.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Griffin would have persuaded the minister
+to lie down after dinner; but as the boys
+were going to work in the field, he wished to
+read the Scriptures and have prayers before they
+went away, it being his constant custom. The
+parents and children all listened with the greatest
+respect and attention, but all attempts to engage
+the seniors in conversation of a religious nature
+were useless.</p>
+
+<p>After the evening meal, when Parson Goodhue
+prepared to depart, Dapple, true to her
+instincts, was found in a chamber over the stable
+where Griffin kept grain. She had gone up a
+flight of stairs, but all attempts to induce her to
+go down by the same were unavailing.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Look here, parson,” said Edmund; “let me
+knock her on the head, and take her for wolf
+bait&mdash;there’s a bounty on wolves,&mdash;and I’ll give
+you my roan colt, that’s worth a dozen of her.”</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Goodhue entreated for the life of his
+beast. Griffin, then putting a great pile of hay
+on the stable floor beneath, took up the boards
+of the floor above, and forced her to jump down.</p>
+
+<p>“What a strange family,” said the good man
+to himself as he returned, his saddle-bags stuffed
+to their utmost extent. “I would be content
+with less respect and kindness shown to myself
+if they would only manifest some respect for my
+Master. How sad to see that old man so thoughtless!
+Well, the children are different. Joe is a
+good man,&mdash;there is certainly encouragement there,&mdash;and
+Walter takes after his mother; if she was
+anywhere else, she would be different.”</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the autumn, Dapple ended
+her eventful life; in trying to get over a fence
+with the fetters on, she got cast, and beat herself
+to death, thus dying as she had lived. Two
+days after, the parson, on going to his barn to
+feed his cattle, found a noble-looking roan horse
+in Dapple’s stall, a present from Edmund Griffin.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In this slight glance at the Griffins, we have
+seen where the hard streak came from. That
+old grandfather’s was gradually diluted as it
+mingled with other and more kindly blood, till in
+Walter rudeness had become attempered to firmness,
+and nothing more.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">RECONNOITRING.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">IT was an overcast night; there was no moon;
+the stars were bright overhead, but around
+the edge of the horizon they were obscured by
+thin clouds, through which a star occasionally
+shone.</p>
+
+<p>The brigantine, with all sail set, was running
+in for the land, the dark outline of which could
+be dimly seen in the distance. The French had
+put out the light on Planier Island, and removed
+all the buoys from the shoals and reefs, that
+they might not be of advantage to the enemy;
+but the lights of the English frigate could be
+seen far ahead, as she also stood in for the land,
+her commander not dreaming he was followed by
+the vessel, so nearly his prize, and which he
+supposed effectually frightened from that locality.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“It would have been a very valuable prize to
+us, could we have taken her,” said the captain
+of the frigate to his lieutenant; (”and at one time
+I thought she was ours,) not merely as far as the
+value of her cargo was concerned; but we could
+have put a few guns aboard of her, and a crew,
+and she is so fast she would have taken everything
+on the coast; our prize-money would soon
+have amounted to something very handsome.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where did the Yankees learn to build such
+vessels? Before the war they couldn’t make
+their own mouse-traps.”</p>
+
+<p>“It was the war taught them; they wanted privateers
+to prey on our merchantmen and supply
+ships. They wanted sharp vessels to run into
+neutral ports, and escape our frigates, and they
+built them. Since they set up for themselves,
+they make rigging and duck, roll iron, and forge
+anchors, and there’s no telling where they will
+stop.”</p>
+
+<p>“We may catch her yet, if we could get her
+before the wind, where she could not run into
+shoal water, or have the good fortune to come
+across her in a calm.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’ll not come here again; he’s run too great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+a risk. He will be more likely to try Toulon;
+perhaps go round into the Bay of Biscay, to some
+of the ports on the other side.”</p>
+
+<p>The wind, which had blown very fresh all
+through the afternoon and first part of the night,
+had moderated to a good working breeze.</p>
+
+<p>As the watch on board the brigantine that
+brought twelve o’clock came on deck, a large
+rock was discovered right ahead; the topsail was
+hove to the mast, and the vessel became stationary.
+The captain, calling the whole crew aft,
+said to them, “Boys, I want to put a man on that
+rock, to watch this frigate and the sixty-four, see
+which way they stand in the morning, and where
+they go; also to look into the roadstead, and see
+what vessels are there, and how they lie; in short,
+to keep himself concealed, and get all the information
+he can. To-morrow night I’ll run in, and take
+him off. Who’ll volunteer?”</p>
+
+<p>Before the words were fairly out of his mouth,
+or any other could reply, Walter Griffin exclaimed,
+“I will go, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>Peterson had from Walter’s childhood cherished
+a great affection for him, and Walter loved
+the black with all his heart. It was at first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+a childhood liking (as children care very little
+about color), which increased as he grew older;
+and Peterson, by reforming his habits, became
+deserving of respect.</p>
+
+<p>Peterson was not merely a finished sailor and
+first-rate calker, but was also exceedingly ingenious
+in making kites, windmills, boats, sleds, carts,
+squirts, popguns, sawyers, and all those things
+that children and boys want; and no one but
+Uncle Isaac could equal him in the manufacture
+of bows and arrows.</p>
+
+<p>Peterson lived not far from Walter’s father.
+Every leisure day Walter was there; everything
+he wanted Peterson made, and, as he outgrew kites
+and bows, instructed him in wrestling, making
+sailor knots, and built him a skiff; when, therefore,
+he came to be shipmate with him, he felt
+that the boy was in a manner committed to him,
+and under his protection, and instantly interfered.</p>
+
+<p>“Massa cap’n, dat boy no fit to go; he too young;
+s’pose come gale ob wind; vessel driben to sea;
+no get him off long time; boy be frightened, die,
+p’rhaps starve. Hab to show hisself; den English
+man-o’-war take him; nebber see his farder or
+mudder no more. Boy no ‘sperience to know
+what to look for; me go, meself.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Walter, however, insisted upon going; he had
+a right to go; the captain called for volunteers,
+and he had volunteered, and was going.</p>
+
+<p>“But you too young, chile, for such ting.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Young</i>,” replied Walter, in high dudgeon; “I
+shipped before the mast, and have a man’s wages,
+and can steer my trick, and do my duty.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t do without <i>you</i>, pilot,” said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>Several others had also intended to volunteer,
+and now came forward; but Walter had been too
+quick for them, and claimed his right.</p>
+
+<p>“Captain,” said Fred Williams, as he took leave
+of Arthur Brown, “you’ll find one of our young
+men aboard, Walter Griffin (he’s not much more
+than a boy, but he’s a choice one); I know him
+through and through. He never should have left
+me if I could have helped it; but he seems one
+of those made to go to sea. Put him anywhere,
+trust him with any matter, and he will give a good
+account of himself. You will find him better, on
+an emergency, than many older persons; for he
+belongs to an iron-sided race, and what he lacks
+in experience he will make up in mother wit.”</p>
+
+<p>All that the captain had seen of Walter went to
+corroborate Fred’s statement, and he determined
+to try him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Little Ned now besought the captain to permit
+him to share the adventure with Walter, but he
+refused, telling him he had promised his mother
+not to expose him unnecessarily; that one was
+enough, and two would be more likely to attract
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>Ned turned away, with a tear in his eye, and
+walked forward. Flinging his arms round his
+friend’s neck, he said, “He won’t let me go, Walter.
+It’s too bad; we might have such a good
+time!”</p>
+
+<p>The boat was manned, and beef, bread, water,
+and raw pork put into her. The raw pork was in
+addition, as that could, on occasion, be eaten raw;
+and if the vessel should be blown off the coast, he
+might be left there a good while, and no fire could
+be made to cook, without attracting notice.</p>
+
+<p>The captain, after giving him his instructions,
+put into his hands a spy-glass. “There,” said he,
+“is a glass with which you can read letters three
+inches long a mile away.” He then shook hands
+with him at the side, bidding him take care of
+himself, and keep a bright lookout, while the tender-hearted
+black fairly shed tears.</p>
+
+<p>“Look out for de man-o’-war, sonnie. S’pose he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+ketch you, Peterson chase you all ober de world
+but he git you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good by, dear Walter,” cried Ned, throwing
+his arms around his friend’s neck, as he stood up
+in the stern sheets to step on the rock.</p>
+
+<p>“Good by, Ned,” said Walter, returning the
+embrace.</p>
+
+<p>The provision and water were landed, and the
+boat pulled rapidly away. Walter sat down upon
+the rock, listening to the sound of the oars in the
+rowlocks, and watching the phosphorescence of the
+water as it flashed on their blades. All these
+tokens of departure, of little moment on ordinary
+occasions, now possessed not a little interest. He
+marked the ring of the iron, as the hook of the
+davit-fall went into the ring-bolt, and heard the
+man say, “Hoist away,” the creak of the blocks,
+and the slat of the canvas, as the sails filled, then
+the low, rushing sound of the vessel’s bow as it
+parted the water. It was a lonely moment to the
+brave boy, when the last low sound betokening
+companionship was lost in the dash of midnight
+waves, the gleam of her white canvas faded from
+his view, and he was left on the wild rock alone.
+He had never been taught to breathe a petition for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+protection, or to depend upon aught but himself.
+His conversation with Charlie by the brook constituted
+the only appeal of a religious nature ever
+made to his heart.</p>
+
+<p>He knew not the nature or extent of the rock
+on which he had been so unceremoniously deposited,
+and, clambering up to where he was above
+the flow of the tide, placed his provisions beside
+him, and determined to keep watch till the day
+broke, that he might have time to examine the
+place before he could be observed from any passing
+boat or vessel. Fearing, if he went to sleep,
+he might sleep too long, and finding a flat place on
+the rock, he paced back and forth, to keep himself
+awake.</p>
+
+<p>Little Ned, feeling very lonely in the absence
+of his watch-mate, attached himself to Peterson,
+between whom and Walter there was such a good
+understanding, in order that he might talk about
+Walter, Pleasant Cove, the Griffins, and all the
+people and boys he had become acquainted with
+there.</p>
+
+<p>The rock on which Walter was placed might
+have been, at low water, half an acre in extent,
+and irregular in its form, the eastern end rising<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>
+in a high bluff, with deep water around and close
+to it; but the western end sloped into long, ragged
+ridges, honeycombed by the everlasting dash
+of surf, and terminating in long reefs, upon which
+the sea broke with a continuous roar. Between
+these ridges were openings or coves, quite wide
+at the extremities of the reefs, shoaling and narrowing
+as they ran up into the main portion of the
+rock, in such a manner that it was easy to enter
+them in a boat between the breaking points, and
+land, in good weather, with perfect safety.</p>
+
+<p>The heads of these coves were filled with those
+materials the sea usually flings up&mdash;sea-weeds,
+shells, barrel staves, chips, planks, and broken
+pieces of vessels.</p>
+
+<p>On the eastern end of the rock was a patch of
+turf extending from the edge of the bold cliffs
+along the heads of the coves, covered with bushes
+and scrub trees, dwarfed by the sea winds, and
+thickly matted together.</p>
+
+<p>The sun had risen clear, bringing with it a moderate
+easterly breeze. The English frigate before
+referred to is passing within musket shot of the
+eastern extremity of the rock. A close observer
+might have noticed the branches of a pine bush<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+move in a direction opposite to the wind, and in a
+few moments the head of a man is cautiously
+thrust through the branches. It is Walter Griffin.
+He watches with keen eyes the course of the man-o’-war,
+and, as she increases the distance between
+them, crawls to the shelter of a ledge, and, resting
+his glass over it, watches her till she disappears
+from view. From his position he can command a
+view of the roadstead, the men-of-war lying at
+anchor in it, the forts, and the entrance to the
+port.</p>
+
+<p>At the head of one of the coves, in which there
+was a little beach of white sand, a portion of the
+stern frame of a vessel had, by the conjunction of
+a high tide and a gale of wind, been flung high on
+the rocks, extending from one side to the other,
+leaving a space of several feet between it and the
+beach. Here Walter had bestowed his water and
+food.</p>
+
+<p>Having made all the observation possible, he
+retired to this place, and, with some dry sea-weed
+for a bed, lay down for a nap, as he had been up
+the entire night.</p>
+
+<p>When he awoke, he espied a French fisherman,
+fishing among the kelp for rock-fish. Looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+cautiously around, to be sure that no vessel
+was in sight, he, after a while, succeeded in attracting
+his attention, and prevailing upon him
+to row into one of the passages between the
+rocks, where he met him.</p>
+
+<p>“Who are you?” asked the fisherman, resting
+upon his oars, and surprised to be addressed in
+his own language by one who, he perceived, was
+of another nation.</p>
+
+<p>“An American.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you run away from the man-o’-war?”
+asked the Frenchman, taking him for some impressed
+American seaman, who had swum off
+from a British vessel.</p>
+
+<p>“No; I was put ashore here last night from an
+American vessel, that is trying to run the blockade,
+to watch the fleet; she will stand in for the
+land again to-night.”</p>
+
+<p>“The vessel they were chasing yesterday?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“We thought you were gone.”</p>
+
+<p>“We thought so ourselves, till the wind came.”</p>
+
+<p>“Men sometimes swim ashore from the fleet.
+I thought you had swam to the rock. I’ve got
+an Englishman in my house now who ran away
+a week ago.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Why don’t they take you prisoner?”</p>
+
+<p>“They don’t trouble the fishermen, and when
+they want fish, they pay for them; but our vessels
+and the Spaniards take ‘em without thanks
+or money.”</p>
+
+<p>“What time in the day is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“By the tide, about eleven o’clock.”</p>
+
+<p>“Could you take me ashore in your boat, so
+that I could have a good look at the fleet and
+harbor, and see the Englishman you spoke of,
+and bring me back after dark?”</p>
+
+<p>“I can take you ashore well enough, but
+bringing you back is another matter; the English
+have boats rowing around the roadstead in the
+night; if they saw me going out after dark, they
+would suspect something, and stop me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I would give a good deal to get inside the
+roadstead, and to see that deserter.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll do all I can to help you. I’ll take you
+along shore to one of the creeks where there is
+no watch kept, and set you off from there.”</p>
+
+<p>The Frenchman made Walter lie down in the
+bottom of the boat, covered him with sea-weed,
+and flung fish over him; he then put up his sail,
+and steered boldly into the roadstead. As he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+passed one of the English ships, he was hailed
+and asked for a mess of fish; he went alongside,
+and flung the fish on the grating of the
+side ladder, and receiving his money, kept on.</p>
+
+<p>“If they had known who was under these
+fish,” said the fisherman to Walter, pulling the
+sea-weed off from him, as they came under the
+guns of the French castle, “it would have put
+an end to my fishing.”</p>
+
+<p>He now conducted Walter to the observatory,
+situated on very high ground, in which was
+a powerful telescope, and from which he could
+track the frigate and sloop of war as they ran
+along the coast, and see perfectly the position
+of the ships in the roadstead. He found the
+flag-ship lay the farthest in, just out of range
+of the forts, and so moored as to completely command
+the channel. Having taken careful note
+of all these things, and made a rough draft on
+paper, he went to the fisherman’s house, where
+he found the English sailor, who informed him
+of many particulars that were important, and
+among other things, that a supply ship was
+daily expected on the coast and was eagerly
+looked for, as provisions were growing short
+in the fleet.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“What is her name?” asked Walter.</p>
+
+<p>“The Severn.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where has that frigate probably gone?”</p>
+
+<p>“To Toulon.”</p>
+
+<p>“And the sixty-four?”</p>
+
+<p>“Round the other side, to carry despatches.”</p>
+
+<p>“How big is the flag-ship?”</p>
+
+<p>“A hundred guns.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do they keep a keen lookout?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; it is no use to try to run by her at night;
+she wouldn’t leave you a stick to do it with.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">DID I BEAR IT LIKE A MAN, WALTER?</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">IT was nearly one o’clock at night, when the
+brigantine hove to, off the rock, a boat put off,
+and the sharp voice of Ned, crying, “Are you there,
+Walter?” came over the waves. But it was now
+blowing fresh, the sky obscured by clouds, and no
+possibility of landing on the rock, which was
+white with foam, it being so small that the sea ran
+all round it. The boat, pulled by men who had
+been all their lives brought up among the surf,
+and accustomed to working around breakers, was
+backed in within two seas of the rock, and held
+there by the oars, while she stood almost on end.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, shipmate,” said Danforth Eaton, standing
+up in the stern sheets, with a coil of rope in his
+hand, “look out for the line, and jump for it.”</p>
+
+<p>Walter caught the line, and making it fast round
+his waist, flung himself into the surf, and was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+hauled aboard, where he was joyfully received by
+Ned, to whom one day and a portion of two nights
+had seemed a week.</p>
+
+<p>When the young captain had received Walter’s
+information, he complimented him very much for
+the shrewdness he had manifested; and as all were
+equally interested (the profits of the voyage being
+divided in this manner, the vessel, that is, the
+owners, drew a certain proportion, the captain,
+mates, and crew another, according to their rank),
+he spread the whole matter before the ship’s company.</p>
+
+<p>Said the young captain to his crew, “The wind
+is fair, and plenty of it; the tide also is with us,
+and sets up the harbor; we should go like a shot;
+the frigate and sixty-four are out of the way;
+there is no moon, and it is overcast; if they fire at
+us, they will have to fire by guess, for they can’t
+sight over the black cannon; probably we shall
+not have so many things in our favor again. I am
+in for trying it to-night; but I want your opinions,
+for we must run the risk of their broadsides.”</p>
+
+<p>“I reckon,” said Danforth Eaton, “that when
+we shipped aboard this craft, we knew what we
+had to kalkerlate on; we expect to get our profit
+out of our risk; I’m for trying it now.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>His opinion being assented to by the crew, the
+brigantine, with a spanking breeze and every sail
+set, was steered directly for the roadstead, a little
+over two miles distant. It seemed but a moment,
+so rapid was her progress, before the high lands of
+Marseilles were throwing their shadows before her
+path. Walter acting as second mate, his station
+was in his watch on deck, aft. He, however, still
+shared Ned’s berth, as the second mate was sick
+in his own. It was now his watch below; but in
+the present circumstances, no one felt any inclination
+to sleep, and he was, with all the rest of the
+crew, forward. At such a time, it is natural for
+those most acquainted to get together, and the
+men were divided into little knots, conversing in
+low tones. Walter, Enoch Hadlock, and Ben
+Peterson, having been schoolmates, and grown up
+together, formed one group, with Ned nestled close
+to the side of Walter.</p>
+
+<p>“Walter,” said Ben, “do you expect, if we
+make the run, and a heap of money, to have the
+second mate’s share, while he’s off duty?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, indeed; I have no right to it. He can’t
+help having a carbuncle. I wouldn’t take it if it
+was offered me. I wouldn’t be so mean.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“But if you’re doing second mate’s duty&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“The honor pays for that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps you think it is a stepping-stone. I
+hope it is.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know about that.”</p>
+
+<p>“We shall soon see what our young captain is
+made of,” said Eaton, as the dark hull and long
+masts of the ship of the line began to appear;
+“I only wish we were well through it.”</p>
+
+<p>A man-o’-war cutter was now seen on the lee
+bow.</p>
+
+<p>“What ship is that?” was the hail.</p>
+
+<p>“The Severn, supply.”</p>
+
+<p>Thus boats and ships were passed, the night
+being too dark, and the brigantine going too quick
+to admit of a close scrutiny. The name of the
+expected store-ship being given, also completely
+disarmed suspicion. They were now rapidly
+nearing the flag-ship, of a hundred guns&mdash;the
+last and most fearful ordeal. A death-like stillness
+now pervaded the brigantine, broken only by the
+rushing of the vessel through the water, the
+straining of the cordage, and the moan of the
+wind through the rigging.</p>
+
+<p>“Walter,” whispered Ned, “do you feel afraid?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“No, Ned; do you?”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess not; but I feel as I never did before.
+I wish we were doing something, and it was not
+so dreadfully still,” said the boy, putting his arm
+round his companion’s waist, as they sat side by
+side on the windlass, gazing through the darkness at
+the lights of the man-of-war. “Kiss me, Walter.”</p>
+
+<p>He put his arms round his friend, and pressed
+his lips to his cheek. So dark was the night now
+grown, and so rapid the passage of the vessel, that
+the stern lights of the ship bore over the cat-head
+of the brigantine.</p>
+
+<p>The young captain now took the helm, when a
+hail came from the ship that thrilled the blood of
+every man on board.</p>
+
+<p>“What ship is that? Reply, or I’ll sink you.”</p>
+
+<p>“The Severn, store vessel.”</p>
+
+<p>The ports of the man-of-war were triced up, and
+by the gleam of the battle lantern, the gunners
+could be seen standing by their pieces.</p>
+
+<p>“Ay, ay. Come to, under the stern, and report
+on board at six o’clock in the morning.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ay, ay,” was the reply; and “Hard a-lee!
+Haul aft the main sheet!” were shouted, in loud
+tones, on board the brigantine.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The officer of the deck, who could distinguish
+nothing, hearing these orders, was for an instant
+deceived&mdash;an instant that was the salvation of
+the brigantine, going twelve knots under the combined
+force of wind and tide. Perceiving immediately
+that it was a ruse, he gave orders to fire.
+The horizon was lit up by the flash of guns, and
+the midnight stillness broken by the roar of cannon.
+But so well had the brigantine improved
+her opportunity, that but one or two of the forward
+guns were brought to bear on her.</p>
+
+<p>As the iron shower came hurtling on, and
+passed, a groan was heard near the foot of the
+main-mast. It came from little Ned, who was
+struck as he came aft with an order from the pilot.</p>
+
+<p>“Bear it like a man, Neddie,” cried Walter, as
+he held him in his arms. “Are you hurt much?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, bad, Walter.” And he fainted.</p>
+
+<p>“Take care of him,” said the captain, “till the
+vessel is brought to.”</p>
+
+<p>For a few moments every one was exerting
+himself to the utmost, in order to bring the vessel,
+under such a press of sail, to anchor under the
+guns of the castle of St. Nicolas.</p>
+
+<p>She was somewhat disabled, a round shot having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+cut off her main boom at the jaws to such an extent
+that it broke and fell on deck, carrying away
+the rail. Several shot had passed through the
+sails and bulwarks, one had cut off the tiller-head,
+and the mate had received a wound in the leg; so
+that the attention of the captain was fully occupied
+in taking care of the vessel.</p>
+
+<p>During this period, which, though really but a
+short time, seemed an age to Walter, he sat with
+his back against the main-mast, his arms around
+Neddie’s waist, and felt the warm blood oozing
+slowly through his fingers.</p>
+
+<p>The artillery now began to thunder from the
+castle at the boats of the fleet, which, enraged at
+the audacity and success of the enterprise, endeavored
+to follow and cut out the brigantine, but,
+finding the enemy aware of their designs, relinquished
+it.</p>
+
+<p>A boat was immediately sent to the castle for a
+surgeon, who, having restored Ned by stimulants,
+proceeded to examine his hurts, and ascertained
+that he had received a severe flesh wound in the
+thigh from a splinter, parts of which still remained
+in the wound. He had also received a musket
+ball in the groin, which, passing round the body<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+without breaking the bone, could be felt in the
+flesh of the back, near the spine. Being just beneath
+the skin, he pronounced neither of the
+wounds mortal.</p>
+
+<p>“Thank God for that!” exclaimed the captain.</p>
+
+<p>The surgeon wished to fasten him to the cabin
+table while he performed the operation; but Ned
+resisted this, declaring he could bear it if the captain
+would stand beside him, and Walter would
+hold his hand. The extraction of the splinters
+was more painful than even the cutting for the
+ball; but the little fellow bore it all with firmness,
+scarcely uttering a groan, and without aid from
+any of the means now in use to produce insensibility,
+they being at that period unknown.</p>
+
+<p>“Didn’t I bear it like a man, Walter?” asked
+Ned, when the operation was over.</p>
+
+<p>“Bravely,” answered Walter.</p>
+
+<p>The captain would not send Ned to the hospital,
+but hired a room for him in the house of Jacques
+Bernoux, the fisherman whose acquaintance Walter
+made on the rock, and sent Walter and Peterson
+alternately to take care of him, going daily
+himself to see him.</p>
+
+<p>Ned, who was as sweet-tempered as ambitious,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+had always been the pet of the crew, most of
+whom he had known while at Pleasant Cove;
+they were, therefore, always ready to watch of a
+night whenever needed, and there were so many
+of them that the duty was not at all burdensome.</p>
+
+<p>Boys of Ned’s age learn a language with great
+rapidity, and he soon began to pick up words,
+and talk with the people of the house. Nothing
+could exceed the kindness of Peterson to the little
+wounded fellow. He was so strong he could lift
+him easily, and, as he gradually recovered, made
+him many little messes (being a skillful cook) that
+were very grateful to the convalescent. Ned began
+to love his black friend dearly, and always
+called him James.</p>
+
+<p>To the surprise of all but the surgeon, Ned
+recovered a great deal faster than the first mate,
+Mr. Rogers, who was only wounded in the leg,
+the ball passing through. The wound continued
+to run, and seemed as if it never would heal,
+while Ned could walk across the floor with the
+aid of Walter.</p>
+
+<p>One day Ned was sitting in a chair, propped
+up with pillows, and eating, with the greatest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+relish, a nice breakfast Peterson had prepared for
+him. “James,” said he, laying down his knife and
+fork, “I’m glad I was wounded.”</p>
+
+<p>“Glad you wounded! Glad you hab so much
+pain, be sick so long, make de cap’n so much
+trouble, all ob us feel bad! Nebber hear sich ting
+afore.”</p>
+
+<p>“I didn’t mean I was glad of that, or that I
+should want to be wounded again; but I’m glad,
+now it’s over, I’ve been through it.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know what you tink; you tink, when you
+git home to Salem, farder, mudder so glad cause
+you wasn’t killed; den, when you walks in de
+street, all de people say, ‘Dere Ned Gates; he one
+smart boy; he been shipwrecked, almost starve
+on a raft; been wounded two times runnin’ de
+blockade; see what dat boy been through.’ Den
+all de boys dey open dere eyes wide and stare,
+say notin’.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is it, James. I <i>have</i> been through a
+good deal&mdash;haven’t I, for a boy no older than I
+am?”</p>
+
+<p>“Dat de Lord; he carry you through dat cause
+you good boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“I ain’t a very good boy, James.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“What de reason? Cap’n say you good boy,
+mate say you good boy, eberybody say so.”</p>
+
+<p>The brigantine, as she lay under the guns of
+the fort, was recognized by the officers of the
+blockading fleet as the vessel they had chased,
+and so nearly taken, and they determined she
+should not escape them a second time, therefore
+kept incessant watch.</p>
+
+<p>The roadstead of Marseilles is exposed to severe
+gales, during which, the blockading fleet were
+compelled to run to sea. The captain of the brigantine
+had made too much money to run any
+unnecessary risk in getting home; he, therefore,
+determined to wait for a gale of wind that should
+drive his antagonists to sea, before he attempted to
+run out. This gave time for Ned to recover sufficiently
+to go in the vessel. As the mate, Mr.
+Rogers, was not well enough to do duty, Walter
+was put in his place, which offended the second
+mate very much, who thought, and said to the
+captain, that the place belonged to him; to which
+the captain replied, that Griffin had run some risk
+in volunteering to go on the rock; that it was
+<i>principally</i>, if not entirely, due to his shrewdness
+in getting hold of the fisherman, and obtaining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+the information he did from the English sailor,
+that their adventure succeeded, and they were
+not sunk by the man-of-war. He therefore considered
+promotion no more than a suitable reward,
+especially as the second mate, though a good
+seaman, was not a navigator. Thus Walter experienced
+at the outset the benefit of knowledge,
+as well as of pluck and principle.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">THE BASKET-MAKER.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">IT was a glad day to Ned, when he had so far
+recovered that the surgeon, yielding to his
+solicitations, told him he might go on board the
+vessel, spend most of the day, and come back
+at night.</p>
+
+<p>The fisherman’s house was not far from the pier.
+Walter and Peterson made a chair, by taking
+hold of each other’s wrists, and Ned, seated on
+it, with an arm round each of their necks, was
+taken on board.</p>
+
+<p>The weather was warm, and some blankets from
+Walter’s berth were spread on the hen-coop, and
+a pillow placed so that Ned could lie down or sit
+up, as he chose, see what was going on, and chat
+with his shipmates, who were all rejoiced to see
+him on board again. Peterson prepared his dinner,
+but Ned wanted to eat with the rest, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>
+seemed so much more sociable, having been compelled
+for so long a time to eat alone.</p>
+
+<p>It was just after dinner; Ned was sitting, propped
+up with pillows, the captain seated near by, watching
+him, when he noticed an old man, apparently
+over sixty years of age, in seaman’s dress, coming
+along the gangway plank. His hair, where it
+came outside his tarpaulin, was gray; he stooped
+very much, appearing feeble, and bore on his back
+a large number of articles manufactured of willows,
+and strung together by a cord.</p>
+
+<p>Approaching the captain, he deposited the bundle
+on the deck, evidently much fatigued, and
+asked, in English, if he would like to buy any of his
+work&mdash;market-baskets, knife-baskets, table-mats,
+ladies’ work-baskets, and many articles, merely
+ornamental, of superior workmanship and most
+beautifully stained.</p>
+
+<p>There was something in his whole demeanor
+that was both modest and prepossessing&mdash;quite
+the reverse of street-venders in general.</p>
+
+<p>“There,” said he, “is a market-basket that
+would be very handy on board ship; and here,”&mdash;producing
+a basket nearly square, and with partings
+in it for tumblers,&mdash;“is an article that would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>
+be very convenient on a cabin table, or in a ship’s
+pantry. Many of my articles are made for vessels’
+use, as I deal much with seafaring men.”</p>
+
+<p>Arthur Brown, who was of quick sympathies,
+was interested in the old gentleman, and touched
+by seeing a man of his years, apparently infirm,
+thus employed, felt inclined to converse, especially
+as he spoke English.</p>
+
+<p>“This is beautiful work,” he observed. “I have
+seen a great deal of it in England and Germany,
+where excellent work is made, but never any
+superior to this. You are surely master of your
+business.”</p>
+
+<p>“I should be, considering I have been at it for
+the greater part of my life since I was twelve
+years old, and we have no knowledge that any of
+our ancestors were ever anything but weavers of
+sallies,&mdash;that’s what we call the rods the baskets
+are made of.”</p>
+
+<p>“You seem infirm. Have you been sick?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, captain; I am worn down with wounds
+and hardships, but, most of all, with a sore heart.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you’ve been a soldier?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir; a sailor. I was born in Lincolnshire,
+England, in the fens. There my forefathers all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+lived and followed their trade. A happier man,
+sir, the sun never shone upon than myself. I had
+an affectionate wife,&mdash;a right godly woman, and
+thrifty,&mdash;and three children. I employed four,
+sometimes five men. My oldest child was a boy.
+He worked in the shop. We paid our rent easy,
+and were getting along nicely, when, in the midst
+of all this happiness, I was pressed, torn from my
+family, and put aboard a hulk. Wouldn’t you
+think, sir, that would break a man down?”</p>
+
+<p>“I should, indeed, my friend,” replied Captain
+Brown, greatly moved, “and I feel for you, from
+the bottom of my heart.”</p>
+
+<p>The tears were running down little Ned’s
+cheeks as he sat propped up on the hen-coop.</p>
+
+<p>“It must have been long ago,” continued the
+captain.</p>
+
+<p>“Not so very long, sir. Only about ten years.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed!”</p>
+
+<p>“How old might you take me to be, sir?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sixty, or thereabouts.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am but forty-seven. Ought to be in my
+prime. But O, sir, to have a wife and family, and
+be forever separated from them, in a strange land,
+and not know whether they are dead or alive, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+whether they are in distress or not,&mdash;only to know
+that they are dead to you, and you to them,&mdash;it
+keeps gnawing at the heart-strings.”</p>
+
+<p>“It must, indeed. But how did you get clear
+from the navy?”</p>
+
+<p>“It was near the close of the American war.
+The frigate I belonged to was in action with a
+French seventy-four. I was wounded and flung
+overboard for dead. The cold water revived me,
+and I clung to the wreck of our spars, which were
+shot away. The French vessel won the battle,
+being a much heavier ship. I was picked up,
+brought ashore at Toulon, and lay a long time in
+the hospital, wishing for death; but I recovered,
+and since then have, though feeble, made a living
+by my trade. The people here are very kind.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is your name, my friend?”</p>
+
+<p>“Bell&mdash;John Bell, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, that is the name of the man who built
+this vessel, and is part owner.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed, sir, I hope he is a happier man than
+I am.”</p>
+
+<p>“He is a happy man, and deserves to be, for he
+tries to make others happy.”</p>
+
+<p>The captain bought a good many articles of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+basket-maker, and then sent him forward among
+the crew, who purchased so largely that there
+remained but very little to carry away. Peterson
+bought a work-basket for Captain Rhines’s wife,
+and Enoch Hadlock another for old Mrs. Yelf.</p>
+
+<p>Walter was away, for, as he could speak French,
+the captain had sent him to make some purchases
+for him. Walter, indeed, had plenty of business
+in this way, being spokesman for all hands.</p>
+
+<p>The captain insisted upon the basket-maker
+stopping to supper; but something in his appearance
+prevented him from offering him money as a
+gift,&mdash;he felt it might wound his feelings,&mdash;but
+he gave him a cordial invitation to come on board
+and eat or sleep, whenever his business led him in
+that direction. The next night, when Walter
+went over to see Ned, he mentioned the circumstance
+of the basket-maker’s coming on board,
+showed him his purchases, and told him he was an
+Englishman, and that his name was Bell. This
+excited Walter’s curiosity. He inquired further
+about it, and Ned, who had been deeply touched
+by the man’s pitiful story, repeated the whole conversation
+between him and the captain, word for
+word. When he concluded, Walter sat for a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+moments, with his hands clasped over his knees,
+as though striving to recall something.</p>
+
+<p>At length he said, “Ned Gates, as sure as you
+are lying on that bed, the basket-maker is our
+Charlie Bell’s father.”</p>
+
+<p>“Charlie Bell’s father?” said Ned, sitting bolt
+upright, and then screaming at the twinge the
+effort occasioned, because of his wound.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Charlie Bell’s father.”</p>
+
+<p>“But the man is an Englishman.”</p>
+
+<p>“So is Charlie Bell.”</p>
+
+<p>“I never knew that before.”</p>
+
+<p>“He was an English boy; came to Elm Island
+as poor as he could be, with some bad men,&mdash;but
+he didn’t know they were bad when he started,&mdash;that
+came to rob; but they came to the wrong
+place, for Lion Ben most killed ‘em, kept the boy,
+and brought him up. I’ve heard our Joe and Mr.
+Williams tell about it a thousand times.”</p>
+
+<p>“What if it should turn out to be so?”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you it is so; I’m certain sure it is. His
+father was a basket-maker, and was pressed; I
+heard Mr. Williams say so; and when they were
+boys, Charlie, Mr. Bell, and John Rhines used to
+make baskets, and Mr. Williams sold ‘em at the mill;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+and when I first went to tend store for him, there
+were some of ‘em in the store.”</p>
+
+<p>“If your Joe or Mr. Williams were only here,
+we could ask them, and know all about it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Joe, they said, used to live on Elm Island
+half the time before he was married. I remember
+another thing Joe said.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is that?”</p>
+
+<p>“He said he made baskets of willows, and colored
+them red, blue, and green, real handsome,
+and said that was the way they did in England.”</p>
+
+<p>“But the basket-maker said, if I remember
+right, that it was about ten years ago, and that
+his son was large enough to work in the shop at
+light work. O, Walter, wouldn’t I be glad, and
+wouldn’t the captain be glad (when Mr. Bell
+saved our lives), to be the means of taking his
+father home to him?”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you think somebody else would be glad
+too, you little monkey, you?”</p>
+
+<p>“The boys didn’t sleep much that night, having
+worked each other up to such a state of excitement.
+In the morning Walter went on board, full
+of the news, and opened the whole matter to the
+captain, who was as much astonished as Ned; being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+entirely ignorant of the antecedents of Charlie,
+he supposed him a native of the country.
+After patiently listening with the deepest interest
+to all that Walter had to say, he acknowledged
+that the probabilities were very strong, but, much
+less sanguine, did not express a very decided
+opinion.</p>
+
+<p>“He said he had a wife and three children,” observed
+the captain; “what became of them? were
+they ever at Elm Island?”</p>
+
+<p>Walter had never heard them mentioned; but
+he was very young when Charlie came to Elm
+Island, and might not have heard half that occurred.
+Captain Brown turned the matter over in
+his mind, and conversed with Walter, who daily
+recollected some fresh corroborating circumstance,
+till at length he determined, the next time the basket-maker
+came on board, to broach the matter to
+him, even at the risk of exciting unfounded hopes.
+Day after day they expected his appearance; but
+he came not. Walter searched the streets and
+piers, but in vain.</p>
+
+<p>The time of year now drew on when periodical
+gales were expected, and the vessel would be
+likely to go to sea.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“He may be sick, Walter,” said Ned; “for he
+looked pale and half sick the day he was aboard.”</p>
+
+<p>“He may be dead,” said Walter; “and we
+never should know it, in this great city. I wish I
+had seen him; if he was Charlie Bell’s father, I
+could tell; I know I could see something of the
+look.”</p>
+
+<p>“I saw, when he pulled his hat off,” said Ned,
+“that his hair, where it was not gray, is the same
+color as Charlie’s.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">A STRANGE DISCOVERY.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap05">CAPTAIN BROWN had employed Jacques
+Bernoux, the French fisherman, to get the
+spy-glass Walter had forgotten and left on the rock,
+and he came on board, one morning, to bring it.</p>
+
+<p>“Do you know a man who goes about the
+piers and streets selling baskets? an old man,
+and an Englishman?” said Walter.</p>
+
+<p>“John Bell?”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s the name.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; pass his place every day going to my
+boat.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will you ask him to come on board the vessel
+to-morrow?” asked the captain.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>Early the next morning the basket-maker
+made his appearance with a large burden of
+baskets; he had been so engaged manufacturing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>
+that it kept him out of the streets&mdash;the reason
+that Walter couldn’t find him.</p>
+
+<p>The captain, taking him into the cabin, said,
+“My friend, when you was here, a few days ago,
+you gave me some particulars of your life. This
+young man, Mr. Griffin, my mate, was not present;
+but having heard what then passed between us,
+he has not a doubt but that Charles Bell, who
+built and is part owner of this vessel, is your
+oldest son. As for myself, residing in another part
+of the country, I have no personal knowledge of
+the circumstances; but I must say that as related
+by him, they seem to me most probable.
+But you can hear what he has to say about it,
+and judge for yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>While the captain was speaking, the basket-maker
+became very pale, trembled, and big tears
+rolled down his hollow cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>“For the sake of Heaven, captain,” he exclaimed,
+“do not raise in this sad heart hopes that may
+have no foundation. I’ve made up my mind to
+endure the worst, as God shall give me strength,
+till I lay these bones in the grave.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am the last person to do that; but I have
+been turning the subject over in my mind ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+since you were here last, and the more I reflect
+upon the young man’s story, the more the probability
+of it grows upon me.”</p>
+
+<p>The basket-maker, hearing these words, made
+a sign to Walter, who gave him substantially the
+same statement he had made to Ned and the
+captain. The old man was deeply affected; he
+evidently saw strong grounds for believing the
+person described was his child, but was fearful
+of cherishing a premature hope.</p>
+
+<p>“I can bear what I have borne,” he said, “but
+the disappointment would drive me mad. You
+say, young man, that you have known this person
+intimately?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir, as well as it’s possible for one person
+to know another.”</p>
+
+<p>“And that his name is Charles?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s his age?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think about twenty-three.”</p>
+
+<p>“My son, if living, would be twenty-three next
+Michaelmas. What sort of a looking man is this
+Charles Bell?”</p>
+
+<p>“Hair, eyes, and complexion just like yours,
+but he is not so large a man as you are.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Those are the features of my boy,” replied
+the old man, evidently gaining confidence as he
+continued his inquiries.</p>
+
+<p>“You say you didn’t know this Charles Bell
+when he first came to Elm Island, and this Mr.
+Rhines and his wife took him.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir; I was too young; but I’ve heard my
+brother talk about it.”</p>
+
+<p>“My boy,” said the old man, “was a most loving
+boy, very much attached to his mother. I don’t
+believe he would leave her and his brother and
+sister. You never heard him mention his parents
+or family&mdash;did you?”</p>
+
+<p>“This Charles Bell’s mother is dead. I never
+heard him speak of any brother or sister.”</p>
+
+<p>“How do you know his mother is dead?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because, sir, he went to St. John’s two or
+three years ago, brought her body from there, and
+buried it on his place, under an elm tree&mdash;a beautiful
+spot. I’ve seen it a hundred times.”</p>
+
+<p>The old man’s countenance fell. “It cannot
+be,” he said, “that my wife, with young children
+and small means, would leave England, and all her
+and my relations, and go to the colonies; and yet
+the time, circumstances, and personal appearance
+of the young man tally precisely.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“I know it’s your son,” said Walter; “nobody
+can make me believe it ain’t. He looks as much
+like you as my two hands look alike, saving the
+difference in age, and his voice is like yours.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you expect to come here again, captain?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, if we get off clear this time, and can run
+the gantlet. You know it is all luck and chance
+with us.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can send a letter by you, and that will remove
+all doubts, and settle the whole matter.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I hoped you would feel sure enough to
+take passage with us. You can do better in the
+States than here.”</p>
+
+<p>“I could not bear to go over there expecting
+to meet a son, and be disappointed. I’m making
+a very good living here.”</p>
+
+<p>“I think you’d better go.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, captain, I’ve about as much as I can
+carry at present, and am somewhat confused. I
+will go about my regular business the rest of the
+day; that will steady my mind; and perhaps I may
+think of some question that this young man can
+answer, that will throw more light on the matter;
+and I will be on board again in the morning.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Resisting all solicitations to stop to dinner, the
+old man departed with his load.</p>
+
+<p>“I know it’s his son,” said Walter, as they were
+eating dinner. “I feel it in my bones, and I think
+we ought to persuade him to go.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have not much doubt,” replied the captain.
+“People are always emigrating from England to
+St. John’s and Canada. Her relatives might have
+gone, and taken her with them. I shall persuade
+him in the morning to go, if I can.”</p>
+
+<p>The second mate, who was a Marblehead man,
+and had listened to the conversation, now inquired,
+“Don’t all this crew belong right there?
+and wouldn’t they be likely to know more about
+it than Mr. Griffin? Most of them are much older
+than he is.”</p>
+
+<p>“To be sure they would,” cried Walter.
+“There’s Danforth Eaton helped clear Elm Island
+when Charlie Bell first came there; then there’s
+Peterson, and Enoch Hadlock,&mdash;what a ninny I
+was not to think of that before he went away!&mdash;there’s
+not <i>one</i> of them but knows more about
+his <i>first</i> coming there than I do.”</p>
+
+<p>Leaving his dinner, Walter ran forward, and
+soon returned, saying that Eaton knew all about it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When John Bell came on board the next morning,
+he seemed calm, collected, and much more
+hopeful. Sending for Eaton, the captain said to
+him, “Eaton, I want you to tell us all you know
+about Charles Bell’s coming to Elm Island, and
+about his parents, if you know or have heard anything
+about them, and I want you to begin at the
+bottom.”</p>
+
+<p>“What I know, cap’n, isn’t hearsay, but I had
+it all from his own lips.”</p>
+
+<p>“So much the better.”</p>
+
+<p>“You see, cap’n, about that time there was
+some Tories come up from the provinces&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“We know,” said the captain, interrupting
+him, “how he got to the island; but what we are
+most concerned to ascertain is, who his parents
+were, and how he came into the hands of those
+pirates (for they were no better) who brought
+him to Elm Island. Can you tell us anything
+about that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Reckon I kin tell you all about it; but I must
+tell it in my own way. If you keep putting in
+and interrupting me, I shall get all mixed up.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, go on.”</p>
+
+<p>“You see, arter this boy come on the island,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+Lion Ben he hires me and Joe Griffin, the next
+winter, to cut spars and clear land. Charlie Bell
+was a little, slender, half-starved, pitiful-looking
+creatur’, then, but he was willing and clever, and
+soon begun to pick up. Most of the winter he
+drove the team; but along in March, when it was
+bad hauling, he helped me chop. I tapped a
+maple, to have sap to drink while I was chopping.
+One day we comes into the woods arter dinner,
+and before we went to work, sot down by the sap
+tree, in the sun. I sets on a stump, same as where
+that stool is, and he on another, same as where
+that old gentleman is setting. I takes a good
+drink of the sap, and hands the dipper to him; says
+I, ‘Charlie, tell me your history, or part of it, like
+as you did Joe and Fred Williams.’ He didn’t want
+ter, but I coaxed him. Then he said, the way his
+father come to be pressed, was all through another
+man, that courted his mother when she was a
+gal, but she liked his father better; he couldn’t
+give her up, and allers hild that old grudge agin
+his father. He said his father had agreed to work
+for the government, and if he had only got his
+name on the roll, couldn’t have been touched any
+more than if he had been a peer of the kingdom.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+This feller, I forget his name&mdash;” “Robert Rankin,”
+said the basket-maker. “That’s it, old man,
+by jingo,&mdash;who thought, if he was out of the way,
+he could get her, after all,&mdash;told the press-gang,
+and they took him as he was on the road to the
+place where he would have been safe.”</p>
+
+<p>The tears were streaming down John Bell’s
+cheeks, and his hands were lifted in gratitude to
+Heaven; but he would not interrupt Eaton by a
+question.</p>
+
+<p>“He said, soon arter his father was gone, he
+was killed in an action, and his mother carried on
+the business for a while; but this feller kept prosecutin’
+her, and wantin’ her to have him, till she
+couldn’t stand it any longer. So she packed up
+everything, and went to St. John’s, where she had
+a brother; but when she got there, he’d gone to
+furrin parts, and she took sick and died. Then
+the boy, destitute and wandering about the streets
+and docks to pick up a living, fell inter the hands
+of them are reprobates, thinking they were honest
+fishermen, and went cook for them. The rest you
+say you know. Good as a story-book&mdash;ain’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Eaton,” said the captain, sternly, “this is Mr.
+Bell’s father.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“His <i>father</i>! Then he wasn’t killed. I didn’t
+dream of that, or I shouldn’t have spoken like as I
+did. I see now he favors him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Did he tell you,” asked the father, “what became
+of the other children?”</p>
+
+<p>“I axed him if there was any more of ‘em. He
+said his mother’s relations took ‘em.”</p>
+
+<p>There was an oppressive pause in the conversation
+after Eaton had gone forward. John Bell sat
+with his handkerchief over his face, while the others,
+respecting his emotions, were silent.</p>
+
+<p>“No doubt, there can be none,” he said, at
+length, “that my poor wife is dead&mdash;God only
+knows what she suffered, in poverty and among
+strangers; that two of my children&mdash;whether
+alive or dead I know not&mdash;are in England, and
+that the other is in America. I may yet see <i>him</i>.
+I ought to be thankful for that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your son, Mr. Bell,” said the captain, “is well
+to do; able to provide you with every comfort;
+and, what is more, respected and beloved.”</p>
+
+<p>“And he owns land?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; six hundred acres.”</p>
+
+<p>“That seems like a dream to me, for none of our
+folks ever owned a foot of land. I always loved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+the earth, and loved to work on it, even when it
+was the freehold of another. I feel there may yet
+be some happiness in store for me.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are not an old man yet, Mr. Bell,” said
+the captain, “and good news and good spirits will
+make you ten years younger; so bring all your
+things on board, and prepare to go with us, the
+first gale that scatters the blockaders.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t suppose there is any doubt now. I
+know there can’t be. Still, you know a person in
+my situation feels they can’t be too certain; and
+there is just one thing more that has come to
+mind since I was here. I would like to ask of this
+young man whether he ever noticed any scar on
+my son’s face.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir,” replied Walter; “it is on his right
+jaw, and close to his ear,&mdash;runs up behind the
+ear, into his hair.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’ll indulge no more in doubt. It would
+be ungrateful. I never shall forget when he received
+the cut that made that scar, it frightened
+me so. Though it was long ago, it seems but the
+other day.”</p>
+
+<p>“How did it happen, Mr. Bell?” asked Walter.</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose you never saw any basket rods
+growing?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“No, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“In England, we plant them in rows, three feet
+apart, and as straight as an arrow. They grow
+seven or eight feet high, and make a nice place
+for the children to play. I was cutting the sallies
+with a large knife, as sharp as a razor. My little
+children, with their cousins, who had come to see
+them, were playing hide-and-seek among the rows,
+when Charlie ran in the way of my knife, and I
+cut a dreadful gash in his cheek, that made that
+scar. And now I will leave you, and make my
+preparations for the voyage.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not till you have taken dinner with us,” said
+the captain; “and, Mr. Bell, I expect you to make
+the vessel your home, and sleep here whenever it
+suits your convenience.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, captain. My quarters on shore
+are not so spacious or elegant that I should feel
+inclined to refuse so handsome and hearty an
+offer.”</p>
+
+<p>When the meal was concluded, Mr. Bell went on
+shore.</p>
+
+<p>“Only see,” said Walter, looking after him, as
+he went up the pier, “how quick he steps, and
+how much straighter he is.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“There’s a new heart in him,” said the captain.
+“He’s something to live for and look forward to
+now. In a week’s time he’ll be another man. As
+far as I am concerned, I had rather carry <i>him</i>
+home, than the richest cargo. And now, Mr. Griffin,
+run up and tell the good news to Ned.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">HOMEWARD BOUND.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">NED had of late recovered rapidly, could walk
+quite well, and was on board the vessel
+very often, and went about the city some; but the
+doctor advised that he should not go on board the
+vessel to live till she was ready to sail. Ned had
+not seen Walter since his promotion, but Peterson
+had been up and informed him of it.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, Ned,” said Walter, as he entered the
+room, “it has turned out just as I told you it
+would; the basket-maker is Charlie’s father, and
+no mistake.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am so glad, Mr. Griffin! and he will go back
+with us&mdash;won’t he?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ned, my boy, just leave that handle off, and
+call me Walter, as you always did. It makes me
+sick.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you are mate now; Peterson told me so.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“What of that? When we are on board ship,
+call me what you like; but not when we are alone,
+as we are now, you little monkey,” patting his
+cheek.</p>
+
+<p>“We shan’t sleep together any more,” said Ned,
+in a desponding tone.</p>
+
+<p>“No, Ned, I shall have to live aft; and that is
+not the worst of it; we shall now be in different
+watches.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know it. I shall be in Mr. Baxter’s watch.
+And we used to have such good times in our
+watch on deck, talking about home, Pleasant Cove,
+and all the folks there. Walter, who do you like
+best of all the folks there, out of your own
+family?”</p>
+
+<p>“Charlie Bell.”</p>
+
+<p>“So do I, and well I might. He saved my life.
+Ain’t he handsome?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; and just as good as he is handsome. A
+first rate wrestler&mdash;there’s none of the young
+ones can throw him but John Rhines and Ben
+Peterson.”</p>
+
+<p>“What, this Ben aboard here?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid, if I call you Walter all the time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+when we are alone, that I shall forget to put the
+Sir on sometimes before the men.”</p>
+
+<p>“If you do, I shan’t hit you on the head with a
+belaying pin.”</p>
+
+<p>“I tell you what I could do, Walter.”</p>
+
+<p>“What?”</p>
+
+<p>“I might swap watches with Enoch Hadlock.
+He is in your watch.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, you <i>could</i>, but I wouldn’t.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why not? Then we should be in the same
+watch again, and we could walk the deck, and
+talk, and have good times together, as we used to.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you, Ned; if you should swap watches
+with Hadlock, and get into my watch, it would
+make trouble. If I happened to give you a soft
+job, and somebody else a hard one, they would say
+I was partial&mdash;made fish of one, and flesh of
+another.”</p>
+
+<p>“I never thought of that.”</p>
+
+<p>“We shouldn’t be together any more for being
+in the same watch. You would be forward, and I
+should be aft.”</p>
+
+<p>“Shouldn’t we be together when it was my
+trick at the helm?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, but we couldn’t talk. It is against the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+rules of the ship, and very unseamanlike, for an
+officer, or anybody, to make talk with a man at the
+helm. You couldn’t come aft to talk with me, and
+if I should go forward to talk with you, it would
+make growling directly, and set all the men
+against you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see how it is,” said Ned, sadly. “The good
+times are all over. There’s going to be a great,
+high, solid wall, reaching clear up to the sky, built
+right up between us.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, not so bad as that, Ned. There will be
+cracks and chinks in it, where we can peek
+through, and boys must change into men some
+time or other.”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose so, Walter; but I wish the change
+had not come quite yet.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish so, too. There’s time enough for me
+these some years yet. But it would never have
+done for me to refuse the berth when it was
+offered me. It would have looked as though I did
+not know how to appreciate kind treatment, and I
+should never have had another offer. We can’t
+have everything and keep everything.”</p>
+
+<p>The ambitions, cares, and responsibilities of
+practical life lay a ruthless hand upon the sympathies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+and yearnings of young hearts, and the conversation
+of the boys may, to the minds of older
+persons who read these pages, recall similar experiences,
+when the relations of master and servant
+were rudely thrust between playfellows and near
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>“Cheer up, Ned,” said Walter, noticing the
+downcast looks of his friend; “we will sleep together
+once more, at any rate. I’m going to stay
+here to-night, and take you aboard with me in the
+morning; that’s the order.”</p>
+
+<p>When they were snug in bed, Ned lay for a
+long time silent. Walter thought him asleep, and
+had just begun to doze himself, when he was
+roused by Ned exclaiming, abruptly, “I’m sure I
+shouldn’t want to be a king.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nor I either; I don’t believe in ‘em; but what
+in the world has put that into your head just
+now?”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I have been thinking over all the good
+times we’ve had when we were in the same
+watch, slept in the same berth, and ate out of the
+same kid. In good weather we could sit side by
+side under the lee of the boat, or under the rail,
+and talk and enjoy ourselves. In our forenoon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+watch below, we could comb each other’s hair,
+tie our cues, read and study navigation; then, being
+in the same watch, we always got liberty
+ashore together. Right in the midst of all these
+good times comes up this chief mate’s affair, takes
+you right away from me, and sticks you up on the
+quarter-deck. It’s no longer Ned and Walter; O,
+no; it’s Mr. Griffin and Gates. I can’t speak to
+you, for fear the men should think I was currying
+favor; you can’t speak to me, lest there should be
+growling about partiality. O, I shouldn’t want
+to be a king, to be stuck up for everybody to look
+at, and nobody to love. If people obeyed me, I
+should know it was because they couldn’t help it;
+if they pretended to love me, I should be sure
+they lied.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I ain’t a king, Ned.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; but you are a mate, and if just being a
+mate is going to make such an awful gap, what
+must being a king make? It must be a lonesome
+thing to be a king.”</p>
+
+<p>“What a queer fellow you are, Ned! I always
+thought you were about as spunky and ambitious
+a boy as I ever knew. You wouldn’t want to be
+a boy always&mdash;would you?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“No; I don’t know as I should want to be
+<i>always</i> a boy; but I don’t like stepping over the
+edge all of a sudden; at any rate, I don’t like to
+see everybody else stepping over, and leaving me
+to be boy alone.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps you’ll get to be second mate next voyage,
+and then we can be together again.”</p>
+
+<p>“I might if I was older, or if I was only a Griffin,
+or a Murch, or a Rhines, who are as big when
+they are seventeen as others when they are men
+grown. Here you are, a great fellow, your feet
+sticking out of bed, while my toes are only down
+to your knees.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you are growing all the time; you can
+steer a good trick now, and do anything that
+your strength is equal to, as well as any man in
+the vessel; you must be patient, Ned.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, if I was only a little bigger, so that I could
+furl the royal in wet weather, or when it blows
+hard! I didn’t use to care so much for you, but
+I should so hate to have any of the crew come up
+to help me!”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll have a bunt-line rove for it.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, thank you; then I can handle it any time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ned, do you think it is the beef makes the
+man?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Not altogether; but I think there must be
+more beef than I’ve got.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is a fault that will be daily mending: see
+how much you’ve done since you left home; you
+have obtained a very good knowledge of navigation.”</p>
+
+<p>“I shouldn’t have done so much, if I had not
+been wounded. I have had lots of time to study
+since I have been getting better; so there’s some
+good come out of it. That’s just what mother’s
+always saying&mdash;every thing is for the best. I
+wonder if she’d been here the night I was hit,
+if she would have thought <i>that</i> was for the
+best.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll warrant she’ll think it is all for the best,
+Ned, when you get home safe and sound.”</p>
+
+<p>“That she will, when she gets me in that old
+bed again, prays with me and kisses me. Ain’t
+I a great baby, Walter?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not a bit of it, Ned; you’re just right.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish I was good, Wal, just to please my
+mother, it’s all she thinks about.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish <i>I</i> was, just to please Charlie Bell; at
+any rate, we’ll do the best we can.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, Wal, it’s nothing at all to be good here,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+with such a crew as this, all nice, steady men,
+well brought up. You never sailed in an old
+country vessel&mdash;did you?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I have only sailed with just such a crew
+as we have here, and part of them are the same
+men.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you don’t know anything about it.
+Such a set of reprobates as we had in that ship
+I was cast away in, cursing, swearing, fighting
+all the time; the captain never came on deck
+without his pistols in his pockets; half the crew
+didn’t know who their father or mother was; the
+crew were fighting among themselves, and the
+captain quarrelling with his mates, full of liquor
+all the time; and such deviltry as they tried to
+put into my head! I tell you, Walter, there
+was not the least need of that ship being lost
+(and I heard Mr. Brown tell Captain Rhines the
+same thing); the men might have kept her free
+just as well as not; we were not far from land.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why didn’t they, then?”</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, the men were harassed to
+death, kept out of their watch, working up jobs
+all the time, and half starved; the captain’s idea
+seemed to be to keep them so used up that they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+wouldn’t have strength or pluck to rise and take
+the ship from him, and it came back on his own
+head; they hadn’t strength enough, when the
+ship sprung a-leak, to work the pumps; and besides,
+they were so worn out, and hated him so,
+that they were desperate, thought it was their
+turn now, and if they could only drown him,
+they didn’t care what became of themselves. I
+tell you, Wal, I think, when a boy is away from
+home, and thrown into bad places and bad
+company, it makes a good deal of difference
+how he’s been brought up, and whether he’s
+come of nice folks.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess it does, Ned, because he has a good
+character to sustain, and thinks, when he’s tempted,
+‘How can I disgrace my folks? what would
+my parents, brothers and sisters say? and how
+would they feel if I should do this thing?’ Then
+there’s another thing comes of being well brought
+up.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is that, Wal?”</p>
+
+<p>“A boy that has been well brought up, and
+has learning, has hopes; he knows he can make
+something of himself, and means to; whereas
+those poor fellows, who, as you say, didn’t know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+who their fathers and mothers were, had no ambition
+or hope of ever rising, and so made up their
+minds to enjoy themselves after their own fashion.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s so, for I’ve heard them say so. There
+was one of them, my watch-mate, Dick Cameron,
+a very decent fellow when the rum was out of
+him, and I used to talk with him; but all he would
+say was, ‘It’s all well for you, who have learning,
+and friends, and a chance to be something; but it’s
+no use for me.’”</p>
+
+<p>“How big a man was Dick Cameron?”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean by that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, I mean, how much did he weigh?”</p>
+
+<p>“O, he was a stout, thick-set man&mdash;the strongest
+man in the ship, and always took the bunt of a
+sail. I shouldn’t wonder if he weighed nearly
+two hundred.”</p>
+
+<p>“Now, see; it’s just as I told you a while ago.
+It isn’t beef that makes a man, but it’s pluck,
+knowledge, and good principles.”</p>
+
+<p>“And friends.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’ll have friends if he has those things.
+They will raise him up friends anywhere. Here
+you are, fretting because you don’t weigh two
+hundred, like Dick Cameron, and are not twenty-one.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+But if anything should happen to the officers
+of this vessel, all this crew of twenty great,
+stout men, second mate and all, couldn’t get this
+vessel home. They would have to fall back on
+Ned Gates, if he hasn’t got any cue to speak of,
+and can’t furl the royal when it blows hard, and
+the sail is wet and heavy.”</p>
+
+<p>“I won’t whine any more, Walter.”</p>
+
+<p>“It wouldn’t make one farthing’s difference as
+to age or size, with such a crew as this, all neighbors.
+If you are only modest, and know your
+duty, they would take pride in seeing you go
+ahead.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I won’t feel so any more. Let us talk
+about something else.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you when we can get together, and it
+will be nobody’s business.”</p>
+
+<p>“When?”</p>
+
+<p>“When the voyage is up, then you can go home
+with me to my house.”</p>
+
+<p>“But shall we have time before the vessel goes
+again?”</p>
+
+<p>“Plenty. They will have to pick up a cargo.
+The articles to carry, many of them, have to be
+imported from other countries&mdash;the salt-petre
+from England or the East Indies.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Wouldn’t I like it? Wouldn’t I have the best
+time that ever was in this world?”</p>
+
+<p>“You better believe it.”</p>
+
+<p>“I shall see Charlie Bell and his wife, and the
+baby, Lion Ben, Uncle Isaac, and old Tige.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, and I’ll get Uncle Isaac, our Joe, and
+Charlie Bell to go hunting with us. It will be
+right in bear time, and about town-meeting time,
+and they’ll have a wrestling match. Our Joe is
+champion, but father can throw him; only he’s
+done wrestling in the ring. But I suppose, if any
+stranger came along, as Ricker did, he’d take hold,
+for the credit of the place. But father never saw
+the day he was so stout as grandfather. Did you
+ever see my grandsir?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I never saw any of your folks but Joe.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, he’s an old man now, but you can see, by
+his great bones and cords, as big as an ox’s, what
+he was once. When Hen, and I, and Will were
+little boys, he used to get us up in the floor, and
+set us to wrestling.”</p>
+
+<p>“I shouldn’t think an old man would care about
+wrestling and such things.”</p>
+
+<p>“He ain’t old <i>inside</i>; no older than ever he was.
+O, I’ll tell you the funniest thing. You must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+know, we milk seven cows, and have awful big
+churnings. One rainy day mother had our great
+churn, full of cream, sitting in the chimney corner,
+because it was a rainy day, and father was going
+to churn for her. Grandsir he ties a string to
+the churn handle, sat in his chair, and held the
+end of it, and told us boys to jump over it, and
+see which could jump the highest. Every little
+while he would put the string up a little higher.
+It was Hen’s turn to jump, and just as he was
+going over, grandsir twitched up the string, and
+caught his feet. Over went the churn, the cover
+came out, and there was that cream all over the
+floor. Grandsir was too old to get out of the
+way; it filled his shoes full, ran into the fireplace,
+and soaked Hen all through in front before he
+could get up. The dog lay asleep before the fire.
+It ran all over him. He jumped up, and went all
+round the room, switching his tail, and flinging the
+cream over everything. We laughed; it frightened
+the baby; he began to scream, and you
+never saw such a scrape.”</p>
+
+<p>“What did your mother say?”</p>
+
+<p>“She didn’t say much. She is one of the best
+mothers that ever was, always one way. She isn’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+religious, like your mother, ‘cause there ain’t any
+religion in our folks. She is too good to have
+such a tearing set of boys round her.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will you go in the woods, and camp out? I
+never was in the big woods. There ain’t any
+woods round Salem.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, there’s woods enough round our way.
+It’s all woods. You can get bear’s grease enough
+to make your cue grow three inches a night, and
+eat bear’s meat till you grow big enough to fill up
+the boots of a second mate. Come, let’s go to
+sleep.”</p>
+
+<p>When they went on board in the morning, the
+wind was blowing fresh, and the sea beginning to
+heave into the roadstead.</p>
+
+<p>The captain made his way to the observatory
+(taking Walter with him), from which he enjoyed
+a view of the roadstead and all in it. Here he
+sat, watching the blockading fleet with all the interest
+with which a beleaguered rat contemplates
+the movements of his enemy, the cat. Ned Gates
+had been despatched to find Mr. Bell, and tell him
+to get his things on board the vessel, accompanied
+by the fisherman’s boy as pilot. Ned traversed
+alleys and by-ways, till, in the dark, damp basement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+of a squalid tenement he found the object
+of his search. It was a wretched place, the walls
+low and dripping with moisture; in one corner
+was a large trough, nearly full of water, in which
+the willow rods lay soaking, in order to make them
+pliable to work; the floor was littered with pieces
+of willows, of all colors, which had been trimmed
+off; the walls were hung all round with willows,
+stripped into thin shavings, and made into skeins.
+In another corner was a rough berth, built up
+like those on shipboard, where the old gentleman
+slept, and on a shelf, at the head of it, his Bible;
+evincing that, in his loneliness and sorrow, he
+found consolation in the Word of God. There was
+also a rusty stove, a few cooking utensils, a rickety
+table, and some rough chairs, made of willow
+with the bark on.</p>
+
+<p>The old gentleman was seated on a wooden platform,
+a little inclined, with his back against the wall,
+employed in finishing a basket of such delicate
+workmanship, such tastefully arranged and beautiful
+colors, as to elicit the most unbounded expressions
+of admiration from Ned.</p>
+
+<p>The old gentleman was evidently highly gratified
+with the praise bestowed upon his work.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“I am glad you like it,” said he; “I have spent
+a vast deal of time and work upon it; indeed, it is
+all I have done since I heard my son was living.
+I design it as a present for my daughter, if I am
+ever permitted to see her. It is said, self-praise
+goes but little ways; yet, when I was working at
+my trade in England, I had the reputation of doing
+the best work of any man in the fens, and that is
+saying a good deal. I used to think, when Charles
+was growing up, he would make a first-rate workman;
+but he has found better business than making
+baskets.”</p>
+
+<p>“He can do anything,” said Ned. “He can
+make a ship, a bedstead, or a fiddle.”</p>
+
+<p>“He takes that from his mother’s folks. They
+were shipwrights and joiners; but mine were all
+basket-makers, from the beginning. I’m going to
+take my tools, some basket-rods, and dye-stuffs; the
+rest I have given to a young man who learned his
+trade of me.”</p>
+
+<p>He then drew from a chest a pair of nice broad-cloth
+breeches, silk hose, and other things to correspond,
+a nice pair of shoes, with silver buckles,
+and, arraying himself, accompanied Ned on board
+the vessel.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The gale increased as the day wore away.</p>
+
+<p>“There they go,” said the captain, as one of the
+frigates loosed her topsails and made sail.</p>
+
+<p>“I reckon,” said Walter, “they’ll find that when
+the cat’s away the mice will play.”</p>
+
+<p>The frigate was soon followed by another, till
+at length only the line-of-battle ship remained.
+Long she held on against a tremendous sea, till,
+at length, Walter, who had taken her bearings
+over a projecting point, exclaimed, “She drags;
+she will have to go.”</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments the men were seen mounting
+the rigging, and she also joined the rest. She,
+under short sail, drifted very fast to leeward. The
+frigates, carrying all the sail they could smother
+to, and sharper built, made desperate efforts to
+keep to windward, and did better, especially one
+which had been taken from the French, that outsailed
+all the rest; but they all gradually fell to
+leeward, leaving a clear offing.</p>
+
+<p>“Good by, dear friends,” said Captain Brown,
+highly elated with the turn matters were taking;
+“sorry to part, but your room is better than your
+company.”</p>
+
+<p>When the basket-maker made his appearance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+with Ned, he was scarcely recognized by the captain
+and Walter, so changed was his appearance,
+and so sprightly were his looks. Noticing their astonishment,
+he observed to the captain, “I had
+contrived to lay by a little, by prudence and hard
+work, for I couldn’t bear the thought of being a
+pauper in a foreign land, and that I might have
+somewhat to give me Christian burial; and I
+thought I would fix myself up a bit, that my son
+might not be ashamed of me, should I be spared to
+see him.”</p>
+
+<p>By twelve o’clock at night the gale moderated,
+the brigantine got under way, and as the sun rose
+was far beyond the reach of her enemies.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">DEAR-BOUGHT WIT.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">NED had been accustomed, in all ordinary
+weather, to take his trick at the helm with
+the rest; but the captain would not permit it for
+the first fortnight out, greatly to the annoyance of
+Ned, who prided himself very much on being able
+to steer. Wheels were not in use then, and the
+old-fashioned tiller with which vessels were steered
+came against the hips, sometimes with a good deal
+of force, and the captain was fearful of causing
+Ned’s wound to break out again; neither would
+he permit him to stand his watch. All day he was
+on deck, pulled and hauled with the rest, and went
+aloft.</p>
+
+<p>As Ned didn’t care for turning in till nine, ten,
+or even twelve o’clock, of a pleasant night, when
+he had not been fatigued through the day, Mr.
+Bell&mdash;who was naturally inclined to make all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+inquiries possible about his son, and the new country
+to which he was going&mdash;sought out Ned in
+the pleasant evenings, and whiled away many an
+hour in conversation most interesting to both.
+Ned described the personal appearance of the son
+to his father, and also that of Lion Ben, told all the
+stories he had ever heard of his enormous strength,
+and his encounter with the pirates, recounted the
+beauties of Elm Island, of Charlie’s farm, and
+sketched the characters of Captain Rhines and
+Uncle Isaac. No doubt the virtues and attractions
+of Charlie received their just due in the description
+of so enthusiastic an admirer.</p>
+
+<p>“You say, Ned, that my son owns six hundred
+acres of land.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir; and a saw-mill on it; and the machinery
+came from England,&mdash;that is, the crank,
+saw, and mill chain.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, a man must be immensely rich to own
+so much land. There must be some mistake
+about it.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir, there ain’t; for Mr. Griffin, the mate’s
+brother, his next neighbor, told me so, and I’ve
+been in the mill. He owns more than that, sir;
+he owns part of this vessel, and part of the Casco<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+(a great mast ship of seven hundred tons), and one
+fourth of the Hard-scrabble; and he built the
+whole of them.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t understand how he came by so much
+money at his age, for he’s not much more than a
+boy now.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps Lion Ben, Uncle Isaac, and Captain
+Rhines gave it to him, they think so much of him.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t believe that. People are not so fond
+of giving away money. There must be some mistake.
+All my forefathers have been prudent,
+hard-working people, and never one of them
+owned a foot of land.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, sir, I don’t know how it is, but I know <i>it
+is so</i>. I will call Danforth Eaton. He can explain
+it all, I dare say.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do, young man.”</p>
+
+<p>Eaton told Mr. Bell about the ventures that
+Charlie sent in the Ark, which gave him the first
+money he ever possessed; also about his learning
+the ship carpenter’s trade; and astonished the old
+gentleman by telling him that Charlie’s land cost
+only seventy-five cents an acre. He also told him
+about the building of the Hard-scrabble, and how
+much money she made. Upon these matters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+Eaton was an authority, as he had worked on all
+the vessels Charlie had built, and knew the whole
+matter from the beginning, whereas Walter Griffin
+was too young to be familiar with the events of
+Charlie’s boyhood, and the information of Ned was
+all second hand.</p>
+
+<p>As the voyage approached its termination, the
+excitement of the father increased. Ned was now
+able to stand his watch, and often, at twelve
+o’clock, the old gentleman would come on deck,
+and spend the remainder of the night talking with
+him and Eaton, and also with Peterson, whose acquaintance
+he had now made.</p>
+
+<p>When, by the captain’s reckoning, the vessel
+was nearly up with the land, and men were sent
+aloft to look out for it, he became quite nervous,
+thinking, perhaps, the happiness of possessing and
+meeting such a son was too great a boon. Again,
+he imagined that he might die before the vessel
+arrived, or that, after all, there might be some mistake.
+“God only knows what is in store for me,”
+he said, brushing the tear from his eye, as a joyous
+scream from the royal yard, in the shrill tones of
+Ned, proclaimed, “Land, O!”</p>
+
+<p>Let us now see what the unconscious object of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>
+all this solicitude is doing. He is about half way
+between his house and Uncle Isaac’s, walking at a
+smart pace, and with the air of one bound upon a
+long walk. It was early autumn. As he approached
+the house, he saw Uncle Isaac in the
+barn floor, winnowing grain in the primitive
+fashion.</p>
+
+<p>“Good afternoon, Charlie. Go into the house.
+I’ll be there in a moment. I’m almost through.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t stop, Uncle Isaac. I’m going farther.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where to?”</p>
+
+<p>“Over to Mr. Colcord’s, to look at a cow. He’s
+got seven. He told me I might have my pick of
+them for fifteen dollars.”</p>
+
+<p>“What! Jim Colcord?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wouldn’t have anything to do with him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why not?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because he’s the most narrow-contracted
+creetur that ever lived. He soaks out mackerel,
+and then takes the water to make hasty-pudding,
+in order to save the salt. Robert Yelf worked for
+him one year in haying time. Didn’t you never
+hear him tell about his jumping into the loaf of
+hot rye and Indian bread?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“No, sir; what did he do that for?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you. One day, his wife had cooked all
+her dinner in the brick oven, except some potatoes
+that she had baked in the ashes. She had baked
+beans, Indian pudding, a hind quarter of lamb, and
+a great loaf of rye and Indian bread in an iron
+pan that would hold a peck. He had a number of
+hands at work for him, getting hay. He’s rich
+the old screw, but so mean that he never allows
+himself or his family decent clothes, and always
+goes barefoot. He’s got a noble woman for a wife,
+too, as ever God made, and a nice family of children.”</p>
+
+<p>“I believe such men always get the best of
+wives.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a good deal so, Charlie, I guess. Well, as
+I was saying, coming into the house that day, just
+afore twelve o’clock, and seeing no pots or kettles
+on the fire, he took it into his head that his wife
+had made no preparation for dinner; that the
+men would come in at twelve, have to wait, and
+he should lose some time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Whereas,” said Charlie, “the dinner was all in
+the oven, and ready to be put on the table.”</p>
+
+<p>“Just so. He instantly began to jump up and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+down on the hearth, and curse and swear. His
+wife, who was scared to death of him, began to
+take the victuals out of the oven, to let him see
+it was all right. The first thing she came to was
+the great iron pan of rye and Indian bread, which
+she put down on the hearth. Thinking, in his passion,
+that this was all, he jumped right into it with
+his bare feet.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess it burnt him some.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess you’d think so; if there’s anything in
+this world that’s hot, or holds heat, it’s rye and
+Indian bread. It stuck between his toes, and
+scalded to the bone. He ran round the room,
+howling and swearing, and the tears running
+down his cheeks.”</p>
+
+<p>“Served him right.”</p>
+
+<p>“I think so. Now, if I were you, I wouldn’t
+have anything to do with him; he’ll cheat you,
+sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“I reckon I can tell a good cow when I see
+her.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps you can; but he’s cheated as smart
+men as you are. Let me go and trade for you.”</p>
+
+<p>Charlie would by no means consent to that,
+but set off on his errand.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Well,” said Uncle Isaac, as they parted, “it is
+said, bought wit is good; perhaps it is, if you
+don’t buy it too dear.” When, at length, at the
+place, he was received by Colcord with the greatest
+cordiality; but Charlie saw that the house and
+all the surroundings accorded precisely with Uncle
+Isaac’s description of his character.</p>
+
+<p>Colcord himself was a meagre-looking being;
+although in years, he was barefoot, and so was
+his wife. Charlie also noticed that the small quantity
+of wood at the door seemed to be rotten windfalls
+and dead limbs of trees, though he possessed
+a large extent of very heavily timbered woodland.
+Three boys, whose dress barely served the purposes
+of decency, completed this singular family.
+The youngest, notwithstanding his rags and a certain
+timidity of expression (the result of hard
+usage), was a most intelligent, noble-looking boy,
+with whose face Charlie instantly fell in love; his
+heart went out to these boys.</p>
+
+<p>“I have known hardship and poverty,” he said
+to himself, “but I thank God I never had a father
+who, when I asked him for an egg, would give me
+a scorpion. <i>My</i> poor father did all in his power
+to give me schooling, and make my childhood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>
+happy.&mdash;You remember,” said Charlie to Mr.
+Colcord, “the talk we had some time since about
+cows, when you told me that for fifteen dollars
+I should have my pick out of seven. This is the
+day set, and I have come to look them over.”</p>
+
+<p>“Andrew,” said Colcord, to the oldest boy,
+“drive the cows into the yard.”</p>
+
+<p>After Charlie had examined each cow in succession,
+he said, “Mr. Colcord, here are but six cows;
+I was to have my choice of seven.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is true, Mr. Bell, I did say so; but when I
+came home and told my wife, she took on at such
+a rate about my selling <i>that</i> cow, that I’ve tied her
+up in the barn. She won’t consent to part with
+her; it would break her heart. You must excuse
+me there.”</p>
+
+<p>Charlie’s suspicions were roused in an instant.
+All that Uncle Isaac had told him in respect to the
+sharp practice of the man rushed at once to his
+recollection. He was determined to have that
+cow, at any rate, and instantly asked to see Mrs.
+Colcord, intending to make her a present, to reconcile
+her to the loss of the cow; but he was told she
+had gone away to spend the day.</p>
+
+<p>“The old rascal,” soliloquized Charlie, “has shut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+up his best cow, thinking I wouldn’t notice there
+were but six in the yard.&mdash;Mr. Colcord,” he said,
+“it was a fair contract between us. You agreed
+to let me take my pick of seven cows. I am here,
+according to agreement, with the cash. I’ll have
+that cow, or none.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, if I <i>must</i>, I must,” said the old man;
+“but my wife will cry her eyes out;” and he flung
+open the cow-house.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie felt so sure that this was the best cow
+of the herd, that he never stopped to examine her
+closely, asked no questions, didn’t even take hold
+of her teats, to see if she milked easy, or to examine
+the quality of the milk, but put a rope on
+her head, and drove her off, congratulating himself,
+all the way along, that he had outwitted the
+old sneak.</p>
+
+<p>“Guess Uncle Isaac won’t say any more about
+bought wit,” thought he. “Couldn’t have done
+better than that himself.”</p>
+
+<p>It was about the middle of the afternoon when
+Charlie reached home. At the usual time his
+wife went to the barn to milk, and began with the
+new comer.</p>
+
+<p>“She has got nice teats, and milks easy, at any
+rate,” said Mrs. Bell.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+     <img src="images/ill-232.jpg" width="450" height="277"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+     <div class="caption"><p class="pc"><span class="smcap">The Kicking Cow.</span> Page <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The words were scarcely out of her mouth
+when the cow gave the pail a kick so vicious as to
+send it spinning over the floor, spattering her with
+milk.</p>
+
+<p>“It is because she is in a strange place, and is
+afraid of a stranger,” said Mrs. Bell; and, holding
+the pail in one hand, she continued to milk with
+the other. The cow began to kick, first with one
+leg and then the other, without an instant’s intermission,
+so that to milk was impossible.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie, who was in the barn-yard, milking the
+other cows, now came to the rescue. “I never
+saw a cow I couldn’t milk,” he said; and taking
+up one of her fore legs, fastened it to the rack
+with a rope. “Kick now, if you can.” Placing
+the pail on the floor, he began to milk with both
+hands; but the vicious brute, springing from the
+floor, fell over upon him, spilling the milk, breaking
+the bail of the pail, upsetting Charlie’s milking-stool,
+and leaving him at full length on the floor, in
+not the most amiable mood (for his wife could not
+refrain from laughing). He beat her to make her
+get up, but she was sullen, and get up she
+wouldn’t. He twisted her tail, but she wouldn’t
+start. He then, with both hands, closed her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>
+mouth and nostrils, strangling her till she was
+glad to jump up. Thinking she had got enough
+of it, he began again to milk, when away went the
+pail into the manger, and the milk into Charlie’s
+face. Provoked now beyond endurance, he beat
+her till she roared; but the moment he touched her
+teats, she began to kick as bad as ever. In short,
+all the way he could milk her at all was to fasten
+her to the stake next the side of the barn, build a
+fence on the other side, so that she couldn’t run
+around either way, then tie her hind legs together,
+milk her till she threw herself down, and then finish
+the operation as she lay.</p>
+
+<p>While all this was going on, the dog kept up a
+furious barking.</p>
+
+<p>“What is that dog barking about, Mary?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure I don’t know. Perhaps there’s a
+skunk or a woodchuck under the barn.”</p>
+
+<p>If it was a skunk, he was peeping through a
+knot-hole in the back barn-door.</p>
+
+<p>As they came in with their milk, Joe Griffin was
+approaching the door, having come to borrow a
+chain and canting dog.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie now perceived that the cunning old
+wretch had shut up this pest, and feigned reluctance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+to part with her, on purpose to draw
+him on.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t believe,” said Mrs. Bell, “but what his
+wife was at home all the time. He knew, if you
+spoke to her, she would tell you the whole truth,
+for she is an excellent woman.”</p>
+
+<p>Charlie resolved to keep the thing from the
+knowledge of every one, <i>especially</i> of Uncle Isaac,
+whose assertion, “He has cheated as smart men as
+you are,” recurred most unpleasantly to his recollection.</p>
+
+<p>“Mary,” said he,” we must not breathe a word
+of this to any soul,&mdash;father’s folks, Joe Griffin, or,
+above all, Uncle Isaac. I had rather pocket the
+loss than have it known that I got so taken in.
+I’ll dry her up, and fat her. She’s a large cow,
+and will make a lot of beef.”</p>
+
+<p>But such things will always, in some way or
+other, leak out. While Charlie imagined that himself
+and wife alone possessed the secret, it was
+known to half the town, and they were chuckling
+over it. Indeed, it had come to the ears of Lion
+Ben, on Elm Island, whose adopted son he was.</p>
+
+<p>A fortnight after the occurrences related, Fred
+Williams and Joe Griffin were standing in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+doorway of Fred’s store, when they espied Lion
+Ben coming from Elm Island in his big canoe,
+which he was forcing through the water with
+tremendous strokes.</p>
+
+<p>Landing, and dragging the heavy craft out of
+the water as though she was an egg-shell, he
+merely nodded to Joe and Fred, and proceeded
+with rapid strides in the direction of Charlie
+Bell’s.</p>
+
+<p>“What can that mean, Joe?” asked Fred. “He
+never spoke to us.”</p>
+
+<p>Fred was his brother-in-law, Joe one of his most
+intimate friends.</p>
+
+<p>“It means that he is angry. Didn’t you notice
+his face? I never saw him angry, though I’ve
+known him ever since I was a boy; but I’ve heard
+say he is awful when he rises. A common man
+would be no more in his hands now than a fly in
+the clutch of a lion.”</p>
+
+<p>Ben went directly into Charlie’s pasture, avoiding
+him, hunted around there till he found the
+kicking cow, and pulling a rope from his pocket,
+put it over her horns, and led her in the direction
+of Colcord’s. Uncle Isaac was butchering a lamb
+at his door when Ben came along with the cow,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>
+and was just about to speak to him; but catching
+one glimpse of his face, he dropped his knife, and
+pretending not to see him, walked into the barn.</p>
+
+<p>“Isaac,” cried his wife from the window. “<i>Isaac</i>,
+Ben has just gone by.”</p>
+
+<p>“I saw him.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Saw</i> him; then why didn’t you speak to him,
+and ask him to come in, and stop to dinner?”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s got the cow Jim Colcord sold to Charlie.
+I guess he’s on his way to call the old viper to
+account for his trick. When he is in one of those
+rages you’d better go near a she catamount than
+him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will he murder him?”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope not.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is some ways there. Ben can’t hold his
+passion long, and will most likely get over it somewhat
+before he gets there.”</p>
+
+<p>“If he don’t, much as I abhor the old creetur,
+I pity him.”</p>
+
+<p>When Ben arrived at Colcord’s the family were
+at dinner; seeing an ox cart in the barn-yard, he
+tied the cow to it. He entered the kitchen without
+knocking, where the family were seated at the
+dinner-table, seized old Colcord by the nape of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+neck, carried him, pale as a ghost, with eyes starting
+from their sockets, and too nearly strangled
+to scream, into the barn-yard; here Ben sat down
+upon the cart-tongue, flung his victim across his
+knees, and while he was alternately screaming murder,
+and begging for mercy, slapped him with
+his terrible paw, till the blood came through his
+breeches, while the family looked on, crying and
+trembling.</p>
+
+<p>Ben, as a redresser of wrongs, considered it his
+duty, not only to inflict punishment for his knavery
+in the matter of the cow, but likewise for the
+abuse he had for years inflicted upon his uncomplaining
+wife and children.</p>
+
+<p>When he had finished the castigation, he ordered
+him to bring the money Charlie paid him for the
+cow, and ten dollars additional for his trouble in
+whipping him. Colcord brought the money,
+but, fearing to approach Ben, put it on the cart
+tongue.</p>
+
+<p>After counting it, Ben called for a basin of
+water, soap, and a towel, observing, that he was
+accustomed to wash his hands after handling carrion,
+and informing him (after wiping his hands,
+as he hung the towel on the wheel of the cart)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+that, if compelled to come there again, he should
+most probably make an end of him.</p>
+
+<p>That night Charlie hunted the pasture over in
+vain for the cow; but the next morning Uncle
+Isaac came over, told him where the cow was, and
+handed him the money, which Ben had left with
+him on his return.</p>
+
+<p>“How did father find it out?” asked Charlie.</p>
+
+<p>“Captain Rhines told him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who told Captain Rhines?”</p>
+
+<p>“I did.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who told you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Joe Griffin.”</p>
+
+<p>“How in the world came he, or anybody else,
+to know anything about it?”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s more than I know; but he said you
+had to build a fence round her, and tie her hind
+legs together to milk her, and when she couldn’t
+kick, she’d lie down.”</p>
+
+<p>“I bought wit pretty dear, Uncle Isaac.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not quite so dear as Jim Colcord did. They
+say he can’t sit down, and won’t be able to till
+snow flies.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">DEATH AND BURIAL OF TIGE RHINES.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">THERE is no animal that seems to be so
+closely allied to man as the dog. He lives
+in his master’s smiles, defends his person, guards
+his property, and is grateful for the smallest favors.</p>
+
+<p>In respect to other animals, they are naturally
+shy; we must attach them to us by food and
+caresses.</p>
+
+<p>Take, for instance, a kitten, born in the house,
+and her parents before her for generations; yet
+the moment it gets its eyes open, it will round up
+its back, and spit at the little boy or girl who approaches
+to fondle it, and must be wonted; but a
+puppy, why, the moment his eyes are open, he’s
+right on to you, and you have hard work to keep
+him from licking your face.</p>
+
+<p>When the family leaves the house, the cat will
+seldom, if ever, follow them, because she cares<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>
+more about the place than the people; but the
+dog’s home is where his master is.</p>
+
+<p>John Rhines’s dog, Tige, a Newfoundland of
+the largest size, possessed&mdash;as those who have
+read the Elm Island stories know&mdash;a sagacity
+greater than that which generally pertains even
+to that noble breed.</p>
+
+<p>Tige Rhines, as he was called, was known and
+loved by both young and old, the protector and
+playmate of all the children, and bore on his
+neck a broad brass collar, on which were inscribed
+the date of the year and the day on
+which he pulled little Fannie Williams from the
+bottom of the mill-pond, and many other things
+that he had done.</p>
+
+<p>For many years Tige had been gradually
+losing his activity, and was quite infirm with
+age. He had never been accustomed to leave the
+home of his master, except when sent upon some
+errand, with a basket or letter in his mouth, unless
+with some of the family; but after Mary
+and Elizabeth were married, he would once in
+a while go to visit each of them in the forenoon,
+stop to dinner and tea, see the babies, and go
+home at night. He would also go down to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>
+cove in front of the house, and play with the
+children of the neighborhood by the hour together.
+All through Fannie Williams’s childhood
+(whose life he saved) he was, whenever she
+came up to see him, which was generally once a
+month, sent home with her by Captain Rhines.
+But age, which comes alike upon dogs and men,
+had compelled him to relinquish all these pleasant
+excursions. His legs had grown stiff and
+crooked; his glossy black coat had become a
+dirty yellow, except along the back and at the
+roots of the tail; his intelligent eye was dim;
+and all around his eyes and nose gray hairs
+were plentifully scattered. It was with great
+difficulty he could walk; he would attempt sometimes
+to follow John to the barn, go part way
+there, and moan because he could get no farther;
+then John would go back and pat and comfort
+him. Everything that care and affection could
+do to render him comfortable and happy in his
+old age, was done by Captain Rhines and John.</p>
+
+<p>As the weather grew cooler, John made him
+a bed of sheep-skins with the wool on; for though
+once apparently insensible to cold, never hesitating
+in the dead of winter to plunge into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>
+waves, he now trembled before every blast.
+Captain Rhines would catch smelts and bring
+to him, for Tige was a dear lover of fish; John
+would put him in the cart, haul him down in the
+field, and put him in the sun, at the end of the
+piece where he was digging potatoes, and as
+the sun went down, cover him with his jacket.
+The children around brought him titbits, and
+all the dogs in the neighborhood came to visit
+him. He at length became so feeble it was with
+difficulty he could get out of his kennel. Mornings
+when John went to the barn to feed the
+cattle, he would bid him good morning; Tige
+would wag his tail and look wistfully in his face,
+unable to rise.</p>
+
+<p>One morning, John, as he passed the kennel,
+spoke, as usual; but not hearing the noise of Tige’s
+tail striking against the side of the house, he went
+back and looked in; he was stretched out, apparently
+asleep; he put his fingers in his mouth;
+there was no warmth. “He is dead! poor old
+Tige,” cried John; “there never was such a dog
+in this world, and never will be again. I never
+will love another dog;” and he burst into tears;
+“I don’t care if I do cry,” he said, at length,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>
+wiping away the tears; “he’s been my playmate,
+ever since I was a boy; has saved my life; and
+nobody sees me; but if Charlie and Fred were
+here, they would cry, too.”</p>
+
+<p>Captain Rhines was not yet up. John fed the
+cattle, and then went to the door of his bedroom.</p>
+
+<p>“Father.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is it, John?”</p>
+
+<p>“Tige’s dead.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sorry; poor fellow! I’d give the best cow
+I’ve got in the barn to have him back as smart as
+he was once.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>I’d</i> give them <i>all</i>, father.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, we’ve done all we could for him, John,
+and he’s gone where the good dogs go. It will
+make Ben feel bad; he and Tige were great
+friends.”</p>
+
+<p>“And Fannie, father.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>It was soon known in the neighborhood. About
+nine o’clock, Fannie Williams came in, now grown
+to be, by universal consent, the prettiest girl in
+town; industrious, capable, and, as Captain Rhines
+was accustomed to say, as good as she was handsome.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Is Tige dead, John?” she asked, taking the
+chair he proffered her.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Fannie.”</p>
+
+<p>She was silent for a few minutes, then began
+to cry.</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t cry, Fannie,” said John.</p>
+
+<p>“I know it’s foolish, but I can’t help it; you
+know he saved my life.”</p>
+
+<p>“That he did,” said the captain; “for I took you
+from his jaws, when he brought you to the shore.
+I would cry as much as I had a mind to.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure,” said Mrs. Rhines, “I don’t see
+what anybody could be made of, not to feel bad
+to lose such a good creature as Tige, even if he
+was a dumb animal. I used to feel just as safe
+with him, when Captain Rhines was at sea, and I
+left alone with the children, as though the men folks
+were round. When Captain Rhines was about home,
+or we had a hired man, he would lie under the big
+maple, or, if it was cold weather, in his house; but
+the very first night I was left alone, he would
+(without my saying a word to him) come right
+into the house, and, after I went to bed, stretch
+himself out before my bedroom door; it seemed as
+if he knew.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“<i>Knew!</i> I guess he did know,” said John; “only
+think how long he smelt us before we got here,
+when Charlie and I came from Portland, and how
+glad he was to see us! I thought he would have
+jumped out of his skin.”</p>
+
+<p>John persuaded Fannie to stop to dinner, as
+Tige was to be buried in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>“Where would you bury him, father?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you, John. Under the big maple,
+where he loved so much to lie in the hot summer
+days.”</p>
+
+<p>While this conversation was going on at Captain
+Rhines’s, Joe Griffin, Charlie, and Fred were
+expatiating upon the merits of Tige, and regretting
+his loss, in Fred’s store. Joe Bradish came
+in, and after listening a while to their conversation,
+broke in with, “Such a fuss about a dog&mdash;an
+old dog, that ought to have been knocked on
+the head years ago. Anybody would think it was
+a Christian you was lamenting about.”</p>
+
+<p>Fred was naturally of a warm temper, shared in
+the universal feeling of dislike to Bradish, and
+this rough remark, in his present state of feeling,
+was more than he could bear.</p>
+
+<p>“There <i>was</i> more Christianity in him than there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>
+ever was in <i>you</i>,” retorted Fred; “more in one of
+his nails than in your whole body. He saved the
+lives of three of us, when we went to sleep in the
+tide’s way, at Indian Cave. If it hadn’t been for
+him, I should have been as miserable to-day as
+Pete Clash. It will be news to me when I hear
+of your lifting a finger to help anybody. You
+may keep still or leave the store.”</p>
+
+<p>Bradish, without making any reply, went out.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve lost his custom, I reckon,” said Charlie.</p>
+
+<p>“It won’t be much loss. He came in here the
+other day, lolling round, and upset the inkstand
+upon a whole piece of muslin. I was out of doors,
+and before I could get in, it went through the
+whole piece. He said he was master sorry, supposed
+he ought to buy something, and would take
+a darning-needle.”</p>
+
+<p>The three friends, with Fannie and Captain
+Rhines’s family, buried Tige beneath a large rock
+maple that stood on the side of the hill, in the
+edge of the orchard. It was all full of holes,
+where Ben and John had tapped it. Between its
+roots they had made many a hoard of apples; and
+here Tige had loved to lie, as it was a cool place,
+and from it he could see everything that moved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>
+upon the water. They put a stone at the grave,
+on which his noble deeds were recorded.</p>
+
+<p>John Rhines had long cherished a secret attachment
+to Fannie Williams; but the death of Tige
+occasioned a mingling of sympathies that brought
+matters to a focus, and after a short engagement
+they were married. Captain Rhines and his wife,
+with whom Fannie had been a favorite from childhood,
+were highly gratified; for since their daughters
+had married and gone, the large house seemed
+lonely, and this beautiful, lively, sweet-tempered
+girl was to them a perfect treasure.</p>
+
+<p>A week after the occurrences narrated, a stranger,
+in the dress of a working man, with his coat
+on his arm, came into Fred’s store, and called for
+some crackers and cheese, and half a pint of new
+rum.</p>
+
+<p>Fred placed before him the crackers and cheese,
+but told him he must go to the other store for the
+liquor. He then called for a quart of cider.
+After eating, drinking, and resting a while, and
+smoking his pipe, he took a piece of chalk from
+his pocket, and drew a line across the floor.
+“There,” said he, “the first man that steps over
+that line has got to take hold of me.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This was altogether too much for Fred, who
+instantly stepped over the line. They went out
+before the door, and the stranger threw Fred in a
+moment, and several others who came in. The
+thing was noised abroad, and quite a crowd assembled,
+but they were careful not to step over the
+line. Fred sent for Charlie, and the stranger
+threw him. The matter was now getting serious;
+the reputation of the town was at stake.</p>
+
+<p>“Send for Joe Griffin,” said Uncle Isaac.</p>
+
+<p>Joe had gone up river after logs.</p>
+
+<p>“Then send for Edmund Griffin.”</p>
+
+<p>He had gone with Joe. A boy was now despatched
+for Joel Ricker, who brought back word
+that he was on Elm Island, doing some joiner-work
+for Lion Ben.</p>
+
+<p>“Then,” said Uncle Isaac, “we must send for
+the Lion. This fellow shan’t go off and make his
+brags that he has stumped the place, and got off
+clear. I’ll take hold of him myself first, though I
+haven’t wrestled these twenty-five year.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why haven’t we thought of John Rhines?”
+said Fred.</p>
+
+<p>“Sure enough,” said Uncle Isaac; “he’ll handle
+him.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“John,” said the captain, “has gone to Tom
+Stanley’s to buy a yoke of oxen; but I’ve got a
+horse that will go there and back in three quarters
+of an hour, if anybody will drive him.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll go,” said Fred.</p>
+
+<p>By the time John arrived, half the town was
+there. A ring was made before the door.</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve brought a man big enough this time,”
+said the stranger, looking up at John, who towered
+far above him.</p>
+
+<p>They took hold. John threw him as easily as
+he had thrown Fred, while shout after shout went
+up from the crowd, who had been holding their
+breath, in anxious suspense.</p>
+
+<p>“You <i>crushed</i> me down by main strength,” said
+the stranger; “but I would like to try you at
+arms’ length.”</p>
+
+<p>They took hold at arms’ length, and although
+the grapple was longer, John threw him twice.</p>
+
+<p>“You have stout men up in this place,” said he.
+“I am thirty years old next July, and this is the
+first time I’ve been thrown since I was nineteen.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Men!</i>” said Uncle Isaac. “You have as yet
+wrestled only with boys. Our men all happen to
+be away.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“If you call these boys, I should like to see
+your men.”</p>
+
+<p>“Here comes one of them,” said Uncle Isaac,
+pointing towards the water.</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of the stranger, following the direction
+of his finger, rested upon the massive shoulders
+of Lion Ben, who was approaching the shore
+in his big canoe, pulling cross-handed, while Joel
+Ricker, with his tools in his lap, was sitting in the
+stern.</p>
+
+<p>They landed, wondering much at the crowd assembled.
+Ricker walked up the beach with his
+tools, while Ben followed, dragging the canoe with
+one hand over the gravel.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger gazed with dilating eyes, as he
+straightened up to his full proportions. Then he
+went to the canoe, but found himself unable to
+move it, even down hill.</p>
+
+<p>“What may I call your name, friend?” asked
+Uncle Isaac, approaching.</p>
+
+<p>“Libby&mdash;Lemuel Libby, from Black Pint, in
+Scarboro’.”</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Isaac then introduced him to Captain
+Rhines, John, and Lion Ben, at the same time informing
+him that they were the father and two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>
+sons. Libby gazed a moment upon these superb
+specimens of manly vigor, and resuming his
+clothes, said, “This is no place for common men,
+like me. I’ll make tracks for home.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not so, friend Libby,” said John. “Everything
+has been done fair and above-board. There’s
+no occasion for hardness. Spend the night with
+me. I’ll take the horse, and start you on your
+way in the morning.”</p>
+
+<p>“Neighbors,” said Captain Rhines, who was
+greatly delighted at the triumph of his son, “I
+invite you all to take dinner at our house to-morrow,
+at twelve o’clock; and Mr. Libby will stop
+and eat with us.”</p>
+
+<p>“The house won’t hold us, Benjamin,” said
+Uncle Isaac.</p>
+
+<p>“Well, the barn will. We’ll make two crews,
+and set two tables.”</p>
+
+<p>“John,” said Charlie, after the crowd had dispersed,
+“do you remember what you said so long
+ago?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. What was it?”</p>
+
+<p>“That you meant to be the greatest wrestler,
+and marry the handsomest girl. I don’t see but
+you are in a fair way to do both, if all tales are
+true.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">THE MEETING.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap13">LITTLE dreaming of the happiness in store
+for him, Charlie, having gathered in his
+harvest and husked his corn, now occupied himself
+in preparing to put a hedge around his
+mother’s grave.</p>
+
+<p>A <i>hedge</i>. How significant that word to him,
+reared amid the vales of Lincolnshire! It recalled
+all the associations of his childhood, and of the
+sunny spring mornings, when, sitting beneath the
+shelter of the hedge-rows, he watched the ducks
+sport in the pools below, while beside him the hens
+were scratching and burrowing in the warm earth
+beneath the bank for worms and grubs, and he, a
+happy, careless boy, was pounding a willow stick
+on his knee with the handle of his knife, to make
+the bark slip, for a whistle; listening to the birds
+in the hedge above him, and watching the mimic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>
+waves produced by the wind as it swept over
+the osiers.</p>
+
+<p>His intention was to surround the little promontory
+(around whose sides murmur the clear
+waters of the brook and the majestic elm that
+shadows it, whose pendent branches, with their
+extremities, approached within a few feet of the
+grave-stone) with hedge.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Welch, several years before, had imported
+plants from England, and also ivy. It was from
+him he expected to obtain his plants&mdash;“quicks”
+Charlie called them&mdash;for he was no novice in
+hedging. The ivy he purposed to plant at the
+roots of the great elm.</p>
+
+<p>This occupation had revived all the associations
+of his boyhood, and fond recollections of other
+days, often bringing tears to his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>“A beautiful land is England,” said he, as he
+wiped the sweat from his brow and rested upon
+his spade; “and those sweet spots in the fens I
+shall never forget; but this is sweeter, for it is my
+own. What I do here, I do for myself, my wife,
+and little one.”</p>
+
+<p>That evening, as he sat with the babe in his
+lap, while his wife was clearing off the supper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+table, he said to her, “Mary, it don’t seem to look,
+or to be, just right that I should have a grave-stone
+for my mother, and none for my father,
+brother, and sister.”</p>
+
+<p>“But they are not buried here. You wouldn’t
+wish to put stones where there are no bodies.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I might have <i>something</i>. I’ve seen in the
+churchyards at home monuments with the names
+of people on them who were not buried under
+them, but had died at sea, or been killed in battle,
+as father was. I might do that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why don’t you?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think I will; and the very next time the
+schooner goes to Boston, when I send for my
+quicks and ivy, I’ll inquire of Mr. Welch about it.”</p>
+
+<p>Here the conversation was interrupted by the
+entrance of John Rhines, with a letter in his
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>“Just give me that baby, and read this.”</p>
+
+<p>“If ever I was glad of anything in my life, I am
+of this,” said Charlie, when he had read the letter;
+“not on our account altogether, but Captain
+Brown’s, he was just starting in life, and there
+were so many looking at him; and how handsomely
+he speaks of Walter and little Ned!”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Ain’t it great?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; she’s paid for herself with the freight
+she carried out.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know it; and the back freight is all clear
+gain. There’s no loss, except the main boom and
+a boat.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll build another boat. I’ve got the stuff in
+the ship-yard, all seasoned. The boom won’t be
+much; he can buy the stick, and Danforth Eaton
+can make it. What did your father say? He was
+a long time making up his mind whether it would
+do to trust him with a vessel or not, and I know
+he’s been very anxious, though he said nothing.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Say!</i> I only wish you could have seen him
+when I brought in the letter. Mother was just
+going to tie his cue; he glanced over it, jumped
+up, and cut round the house like a boy of sixteen;
+made me put the saddle on the mare, and in spite
+of all mother could do, went over to tell Uncle
+Isaac, with his hair all flying in the wind. Won’t
+they have a good time, talking it over?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; and I know just what they’ll say.”</p>
+
+<p>“What?”</p>
+
+<p>“They’ll say he’s turned out just as they expected,
+when it was all you, father, and I could do
+to get them started to build the vessel for him.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Don’t be too confident, Charlie; the old folks
+know a thing or two; remember the cow trade.”</p>
+
+<p>Charlie blushed, and in order to turn the conversation,
+remarked, as he looked again at the
+letter, “It seems he wants some beef and fish
+to make up his next cargo.”</p>
+
+<p>“Fred has got a lot on hand, just packed;
+father is going up in the Perseverance to take
+it up, settle up the voyage, and bring home the
+money. Have you heard the news, Charlie, Tom
+Bannister brought?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; what is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Pete Clash and John Godsoe have turned up.”</p>
+
+<p>“They have?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; Tom saw ‘em on board a Guineaman in
+Havana; they pretended not to know him, but
+he knew them. Just the place for them. Father
+says these Guineamen have a long gun in the
+hold, and mount it when they get outside, and
+are all pirates in disguise.”</p>
+
+<p>The country, especially around the sea-coast,
+was now in a prosperous condition. The settlements
+were pushed back to the head waters
+of the streams, roads made, townships surveyed,
+town incorporated, and vessels built; the timber<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>
+trade assumed vast proportions, and money was
+abundant, men began to break away from the rigid
+manners of the primitive times, and ape the style
+of dress and living that prevailed in England,
+which they had either seen or heard of.</p>
+
+<p>Great numbers of cattle were raised on the
+lands newly burnt over. Instead of driving the
+cattle to Brighton or Cambridge, as at the present
+day in seaport towns and country villages,
+they were butchered, and the beef packed at
+home, shipped to Spain and other countries of
+Europe, and smuggled into Cuba for the use
+of the Spanish slavers. Fred had added to his
+other business that of packing beef, and Uncle
+Isaac and Joe Griffin bought the cattle for him.
+He had imported a cooper, by the name of Wallace,
+from Standish, to make the barrels, who had taken
+three boys as apprentices, thus increasing the
+business of the place.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie, who as our readers know, was strongly
+attached to the cultivation of the soil, had neither
+engaged in vessel or boat building since the
+Arthur Brown was launched. John Rhines likewise
+found plenty of employment upon the home
+farm, occasionally working in the yard of Reed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>
+and Atherton, who came from Massachusetts, and
+set up ship-building, built vessels, and took them
+to Massachusetts for sale.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie, Fred, and John intended only to build
+vessels as they wanted them, and repair old ones,
+or aid some industrious, enterprising young man,
+who wanted a vessel.</p>
+
+<p>They were influenced to this line of conduct
+very much by the opinions of Uncle Isaac, who
+had a most wonderful power of making people
+think as he did; one reason of which was, that he
+never manifested the least assumption, and another,
+that he always placed matters in such a
+light that those with whom he conversed seemed
+to convince themselves.</p>
+
+<p>One day Uncle Isaac and the boys went pigeon
+shooting together; as they were sitting by the
+fire after dinner, he said. “Where did that corn
+come from that Seth Warren carried last vige in
+the Hard-scrabble?”</p>
+
+<p>“From North Carolina,” replied Fred.</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, and where did that cargo you are grinding
+now, that’s going into the logging camps, come
+from?”</p>
+
+<p>“From Baltimore.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Do you take in any corn now from round
+here?”</p>
+
+<p>“When I first began to trade, I used to take in
+a great deal; but now, except from yourself, Captain
+Rhines, Ben, Joe Griffin, and one or two
+more, I don’t get five bushels in a year; but I sell
+lots to the people round here.”</p>
+
+<p>“It seems to me, when a people get so much
+taken up with building vessels, fishing, cutting
+masts and ton timber, to send to England, that
+they have to go to the southerd to buy corn to
+export, feed their cattle in the logging swamps,
+bread their families, and fat their hogs, they are in
+rather a poor way; that there’s more talk than
+cider; that they ain’t getting rich so fast as they
+appear to be; when they raise but little except on
+burns, never hauling out their dressing, or
+ploughing the land, but keep going over and over,
+skimming and skimming, that by and by they
+will have a very poor set of carcasses left, and
+that if there should come a war, and all this exportation
+be stopped, there would be pretty blue
+times. I don’t pretend to know, but it appears to
+me that’s about the way things are done round
+here, and all over the District of Maine.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“I never thought of that before,” said Charlie.</p>
+
+<p>“Nor I either,” said John.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s just as Uncle Isaac says,” said Fred, “just
+to a T. When I first began to trade, almost
+everybody had a few bushels of corn to sell, some
+a good deal; and I never sold a bushel of corn, or
+meal, except to fishermen from some other place;
+if any of our people wanted corn, wheat or barley,
+they went to their neighbors.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have thought a good deal about it,” said Uncle
+Isaac, “and I’ve talked the matter over with
+Captain Rhines and Benjamin; it strikes them
+pretty much as it does me; they ought to be better
+judges than me, because they’ve had greater
+privileges. I helped about the Hard-scrabble and
+the Casco, because I wanted to start you boys,
+build up the place, and make business; but it
+never will do to have the eggs all in one basket,
+for all to be ship-builders, lumbermen, or fishermen.
+A ship don’t produce anything; she is herself a
+product, manned from the land, and victualled from
+the land; everything comes from the ground; we
+ourselves were made out of it; there must be farmers
+to feed the rest. I mean, for the future, to
+put my money into the land, except I see special
+reasons for helping somebody.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When the Hard-scrabble was built, Captain
+Rhines and Ben rigged her, and made the sails, as
+also those of the Casco, and the Arthur Brown;
+but after Reed and Atherton began to build, a
+rigger and sail-maker came into the place. Charlie
+Bell built the first pair of cart wheels, that had
+an iron tire. Uncle Isaac and Captain Rhines
+for some time had the only wagons; but in a few
+years, carts and wagons were more common, and a
+blacksmith from Roxbury, who could do carriage
+work and make edge tools, bought out Peter
+Brock.</p>
+
+<p>The meeting between Captain Rhines and Arthur
+(his boy, as he called him), in Boston, was a
+most interesting one. The old captain was jubilant
+that all the owners were more than satisfied, and
+his own judgment, in respect to the capacity of
+the young captain, borne out by facts.</p>
+
+<p>Though by no means given to the melting mood,
+he met his protégé with moistening eyes. It is
+not within the province of language to describe
+the joy that thrilled the breast of Arthur Brown,
+and shone in every feature, as he put his hand in
+that of the captain, resulting from the consciousness
+that he had more than answered the expectations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>
+and justified the confidence reposed in him
+by his own friends and those of his father, especially
+of Captain Rhines, Charlie, Lion Ben, and
+the others who had risked their own lives to save
+his, and, not satisfied with this, had also jeopardized
+their property, to open before him a path to
+usefulness and honor.</p>
+
+<p>“Where are the boys?” asked Captain Rhines,
+after he had talked half an hour with Arthur.</p>
+
+<p>“They started for home in a coaster yesterday.
+I have shipped them all for the next voyage.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where is Peterson?”</p>
+
+<p>“Gone with them.”</p>
+
+<p>“Walter and little Ned?”</p>
+
+<p>“They went to Salem together after the vessel
+was discharged; are coming back to-morrow, expecting
+to go home with you, or whoever came
+up. Then you’re fully satisfied with me, captain?”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Satisfied!</i> My dear boy, I should have been
+satisfied if you had done half as well. There’s
+not a shipmaster in the country but would be
+proud of much less than you have done.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Bell and your sons are satisfied?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, to be sure they are. I don’t know what
+they could be made of, if they are not.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Well,” said Arthur, laying both his hands on
+the captain’s shoulders, “I have brought home in
+this vessel that which will afford greater satisfaction
+to Mr. Bell, yourself and family, than all the money
+I have made this passage. I have brought home
+Mr. Bell’s father.”</p>
+
+<p>“You must be jesting, or have been deceived.
+His father has been in his grave for years.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; he was not killed, as was supposed, but
+carried a prisoner to France. He has told Eaton
+and Peterson the whole story of his impressment,
+just as they say Charlie told it; told his son’s age,
+looks, and the scar on his face. There’s no mistake&mdash;can’t
+be. You’ll say so when you see
+him.”</p>
+
+<p>“God ‘a mercy! Well, this is news indeed.
+But you didn’t mention it in your letter.”</p>
+
+<p>“His father didn’t want me to.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where is he?”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s gone to ride with Mr. Welch. I am to
+meet him there, and take tea, and then he is coming
+aboard.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll go there to tea. I have a standing invitation.
+Well, if I ain’t glad! What do you suppose
+Charlie was about when I came away?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“I’m sure I don’t know.”</p>
+
+<p>“He was getting ready to put a hedge round
+the spot where his mother lies; sent up by me to
+get the plants of Mr. Welch, and wanted me to
+talk with him about a monument that he wanted
+to put up to his father’s memory, and a brother
+and sister that he has heard died in England; and
+also to get some plans and bring home to him.
+And now, instead of the monumental plans, he’ll
+have the man himself.”</p>
+
+<p>[The Mr. Welch referred to here is a wealthy
+merchant and ship owner, an intimate friend of
+Captain Rhines, in whose employ he had sailed
+the greater part of his life. His son James, a
+young man of singular promise, but broken down
+by intemperance, was sent by his father to Elm
+Island in order to get him out of the way of temptation,
+and restored by the influence of Uncle
+Isaac.]</p>
+
+<p>“But,” continued Captain Rhines, “the boys
+will be home before us, will see Charlie, and let
+the cat out of the bag.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, they won’t; I’ve told them not to.”</p>
+
+<p>The Perseverance had now been away ten days,
+and Charlie was expecting to receive his “quicks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>”
+at her return. He had, in the spring, ploughed
+the ground intended for his hedge, and planted it
+with potatoes, to subdue the tough sward. Having
+dug the potatoes, and spaded in a heavy coating
+of manure, he was busily engaged (on one of
+those delightful autumn mornings when the hoar
+frost is melting from the grass, and dripping from
+the extremity of the leaves, and the muscles feel
+that joyous thrill which the season of the year
+inspires) in levelling the surface with a rake, removing
+the stones, twigs, and bark that had fallen
+from the elm. Feeling a hand laid lightly upon
+his shoulder, he raised his eyes, and looked Walter
+Griffin full in the face.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, Walter,” he exclaimed, taking both his
+hands, and struck with the expression of heartfelt
+joy which pervaded every feature, “how happy
+you look!”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope so. I’m sure I ought to.”</p>
+
+<p>“He ain’t any happier than I am,” said a voice
+that Charlie well knew; and stepping from behind
+the great tree, Ned Gates ran into his arms.</p>
+
+<p>“Why, Ned, how you have grown! I should
+hardly know you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have I, truly, Mr. Bell?” replied Ned, excessively
+pleased.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Yes; and see what a cue he’s got,” said Walter,
+turning him round.</p>
+
+<p>“Be still, Wal; how you do like to poke fun
+at me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Bell,” asked Walter, “can you bear good
+news?”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess so.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you never had any such news as this.”</p>
+
+<p>“I stood it pretty well when the Ark made her
+great voyage, and when Isaac Murch made so
+much money in the Hard-scrabble. I guess I can
+stand this,” replied Charlie, thinking Walter was
+about to tell him how much the Arthur Brown had
+made.</p>
+
+<p>“O, it ain’t about money at all, but it’s something
+that will make you gladder than if you had
+a pile of gold as big as Elm Island.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then it must be that you have given your
+heart to God, Walter.”</p>
+
+<p>The tears came into Walter’s eyes in a moment.</p>
+
+<p>“And do you think so much of me, Mr. Bell?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just so much.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, it is not that. <i>Your father has come.</i>”</p>
+
+<p>“My father, Walter, is dead, and I am preparing
+to put up a monument to his memory, right where
+we stand.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“You needn’t put up any monument, for he’s
+alive and well, and in Captain Rhines’s house
+this minute.”</p>
+
+<p>Charlie turned pale, staggered, and would have
+fallen to the ground, but was so near the elm that
+he fell against it. Walter put his arm around him,
+and he leaned his head on his friend’s shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>“What made you tell him that way?” asked
+Ned.</p>
+
+<p>“I didn’t mean to; but when he spoke to me
+about giving my heart to God, I didn’t know what
+I said.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s over, now,” said Charlie, lifting his head
+from Walter’s shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>“He wasn’t killed, Mr. Bell,” said Ned, “though
+he was flung overboard for dead. The French
+picked him up, and we found him in Marseilles,
+selling baskets.”</p>
+
+<p>“I will go right up to Captain Rhines’s,” said
+Charlie. “You stop at the house till I come
+back.”</p>
+
+<p>“I must go home,” said Walter; “and Ned is
+going with me. I haven’t been home yet. I
+didn’t want anybody to bring this news but myself
+and Ned.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When Charlie&mdash;his pale features still manifesting
+traces of the feelings which had mastered
+him&mdash;entered the sitting-room, the captain, taking
+him by the hand, pointed to the door of the parlor,
+which stood ajar.</p>
+
+<p>We will draw a veil over the meeting of father
+and son; but when, at the expiration of half an
+hour, they came out together, traces of tears were
+on the cheeks of both, but they were tears of joy.
+When Charlie presented his wife to his father, and
+placed the child in his arms, “I can now,” said the
+happy grand-parent, “say, in the words of old
+Jacob, ‘I had not thought to see <i>thy</i> face, and lo!
+God hath also showed me thy seed.’”</p>
+
+<p>As they sat side by side, the old gentleman with
+the child on his knee, Captain Rhines said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t see how anybody who ever saw Charlie
+could harbor any doubt about Mr. Bell’s being
+his father&mdash;they favor each other so much.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, captain,” was the reply, “put an old,
+faded, red shirt on me, all stained up with osier
+sap, a tarpaulin hat, a bundle of baskets on my
+back, and, more than all, the heart-broken look I
+wore then, you yourself couldn’t have found much
+resemblance.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As they returned to Pleasant Cove by the road
+that wound along the slope of land towards the
+house, skirting the sugar orchard, the sun, which
+was now getting low, illuminated with its level
+rays the whole declivity, falling off in natural
+terraces to the shore, and flashed upon the foliage
+of the rock-maples, now red as blood. Indian
+Island, with its high cliffs rising up from the glassy
+bosom of the bay, the white trunks and yellow
+leaves of its masses of tall birch contrasting with
+the darker hues of the oak and ash, with which
+the edges of the bank were fringed, presented a
+mingling of tints most delightful.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bell, upon whom the glories of a New England
+forest in autumn produced all the effect of
+novelty, was, for a while, silent with wonder and
+delight.</p>
+
+<p>He at length exclaimed, “How grand, how
+beautiful! And is all this land and forest yours,
+my son?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, father, and a great deal more than you
+can see from here. I bought four hundred acres
+first, and two hundred more afterwards. Father,
+do you see that large island, with a cleared spot
+on the side of it?”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“With a house on it, that looks as though it
+were on fire, the sun is shining so bright on the
+windows?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, that’s the one; that is Elm Island, where
+Lion Ben and his wife live, who have been a
+father and mother to me. God bless you, old
+Elm Island. What happy years I have spent on
+you!”</p>
+
+<p>They next proceeded to the little promontory,
+and Mr. Bell stood beside the grave of her from
+whom he parted, in bitterness of heart, when he
+was pressed on board the hulk at Sheerness.</p>
+
+<p>“Poor Mary! She starved&mdash;saw poverty and
+sorrow enough in this world; but I believe she
+is now experiencing infinitely more happiness than
+would be hers, were it in our power to call her
+from the grave to join us. I am glad, my son,
+that you have not set these quicks; we’ll make
+the hedge together. When I am gone, you can
+lay me in this beautiful spot beside her.”</p>
+
+<p>They sat together beneath the elm, talking, till
+the stars began to come out one after another;
+and when that night Charlie knelt down to pray,
+it was with a heart full to overflowing with gratitude
+and joy.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">NED AMONG THE GRIFFINS.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">IF a boy ever enjoyed himself in this world,
+Ned Gates did among the Griffins. Their
+rough, but kindly, rollicking ways just suited his
+sanguine temperament, and he suited them, from
+the youngest to the oldest, and got through the
+crust at once. Indeed, there was everything a
+wide-awake boy would naturally like. There was
+a charm, in itself, about such a jolly house-full.
+Ned thought Edmund Griffin was a splendid man,
+his wife one of the best of women, and as for the
+old grandfather, despite his rough ways, he was a
+perfect treasure. Evenings, Ned would nestle to
+his side, and coax him to tell him stories about
+river driving, hunting, wrestling, and the Indian
+wars, in which he had taken a prominent part.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Brown had rewarded Jacques Bernoux
+very handsomely for the assistance he had rendered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+Walter, and induced him to come to the
+States, paying him seaman’s wages, and Walter
+brought him home with him. Three or four more
+never made any difference at Edmund Griffin’s.
+Jacques afforded much amusement by his attempts
+to speak English.</p>
+
+<p>Being a leisure time of year, and the harvest in,
+it was hunting, fishing, going to Elm Island,&mdash;Ned
+and Captain Rhines carried the news of Mr.
+Bell’s arrival to Ben and Sally,&mdash;going with Edmund
+Griffin and Joe up river, and coming down
+on the raft, breaking colts; and, to fill his cup of
+happiness to the brim, Ned shot a moose. The
+boys caught a bear in the trap, and Ned had an
+opportunity to taste of the meat, and grease his
+cue with the fat.</p>
+
+<p>There was another older person having a good
+time, and that was Mr. Bell. His things having
+been brought to the house, he drew from the recesses
+of an enormous chest the beautiful work-basket,
+and some articles of household use, that
+he had made while in Marseilles, and which had so
+excited the admiration of Ned. Mary was delighted&mdash;she
+had never seen anything half so
+beautiful.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“You can’t come up to that, Charlie,” said his
+father.</p>
+
+<p>“No, father, I can’t. I never saw any of your
+work so beautiful as this.”</p>
+
+<p>“I never had quite so strong a motive before,”
+said the old gentleman, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>The next day Charlie was called from home to
+run out a piece of land, and was absent nearly a
+week. Finding lumber and tools in the shop, his
+father made a trough to soak willow, a bench, and
+having cut some native willows by the brook for
+the frame, in order to economize the osiers, made
+a chair for the baby, and when Charlie returned,
+was busily at work making one high enough for
+the child to sit at table in.</p>
+
+<p>He was so much occupied with his work as not
+to notice his son, who stood in the door watching
+him.</p>
+
+<p>“Father,” said he, “I should think I had got
+back to Lincolnshire.”</p>
+
+<p>“This is a better place than the fens, Charles.
+I’ll tell you what I’ve been thinking about while
+at work here.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is it, father?”</p>
+
+<p>“All through my life, at home, I have been accustomed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>
+to look up to the quality, and the country
+squires who owned lands, with a sort of awe;
+and I have been thinking what a pleasant feeling
+it must be to own a piece of land that God made,
+and that I should, before I die, like to experience
+the feeling. Now, I have got a few pounds, that I
+managed to lay up while in France. Why couldn’t
+I buy a little piece of land, and have a little garden,
+and plant it? It would seem so pleasant to
+eat anything that grew on my own land. But perhaps
+you’ll think I’m getting childish, and that it’s
+an old man’s whim.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s just the way I used to feel at home,
+father; and when I came to this country, I couldn’t
+rest for thinking how I should ever come to own a
+piece of land. I would do it. Sam Edwards has
+a piece right on the shore he wants to sell. Part
+of it’s cleared. There’s a small piece between it
+and me that belongs to heirs, and is to be sold.
+I’ll buy it, and then yours will join mine.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I shall be a freeholder in my old age,
+after living a tenant all the best of my life,” said
+the old gentleman, highly gratified.</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you what you can do, father. Next
+time the vessel goes to Marseilles, get Jacques to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>
+procure some sallies for you, set them on your
+land, and then you can have an osier holt, grow
+your own rods, and make all the baskets you like,
+to pass away the time in the long winters we have
+in this country.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you think they would grow here?”</p>
+
+<p>“Anything will grow here, and there’s a swale
+on that place will suit them exactly.”</p>
+
+<p>The marriage of John Rhines and Fannie Williams
+added to the general satisfaction. The infare,
+or second-day wedding, took place at Captain
+Rhines’s, upon which occasion half the town were
+invited.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Isaac and Joe Griffin met Walter and
+Ned at the infare, and there made an agreement
+to start the next week for the woods. Ned, who
+had been kept quite closely at school till he went
+to sea, and had never in his life shot anything
+larger than a pigeon or squirrel till he came to
+Pleasant Cove, was perfectly wild with the anticipation,
+and kept Walter awake so long talking
+about it, that he averred, if he didn’t keep still, he
+wouldn’t sleep with him.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie lent Ned a splendid gun, and they were
+busily employed running balls and making preparations.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>While the whole family at Edmund Griffin’s
+were spending an evening in playing “blind man’s
+buff” in the great kitchen, the old grandfather
+looking on and enjoying the sport as much as the
+rest, Joe, his face bathed in tears, came to announce
+that Uncle Isaac was dreadfully hurt, and
+could not live.</p>
+
+<p>“How did it happen?” inquired the grandfather,
+the first to recover from the effect produced
+by these sad tidings.</p>
+
+<p>“You know what a hand Uncle Isaac always
+was to work alone. He went into the woods to
+haul a large log, laid a skid, one end on the
+ground, the other on a stump, calculating to roll
+the log up with the cattle, so as to run the wheels
+under. He’s got a yoke of cattle that will do anything
+he tells them to. He stood behind the log,
+and spoke to the cattle, calculating to trig the log
+when it was up; but the chain broke, and the log
+came back on him.”</p>
+
+<p>“How did they know about it?” asked Edmund.</p>
+
+<p>“He spoke to the cattle, threw chips at them,
+and started them home with a part of the chain
+hanging to them; his wife knew something was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>
+wrong, got some of the neighbors to go, and
+they brought him home.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s a very strong man; he may get over it.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, he can’t, father; both legs are broken, and
+he’s hurt otherways; the doctor says he can’t,
+though he may live some time. I must go, for
+I’m going to watch with him to-night.”</p>
+
+<p>“Tell ‘em, Joe, to send here, night or day; anything
+that we can do, it will be a privilege to
+do it.”</p>
+
+<p>As is the case when people feel deeply, little
+was said, and one after another silently slipped
+off to bed. As soon as Lion Ben and Sally heard
+of it, they came over and stopped at Captain
+Rhines’s. Ben, his father, and Joe Griffin gave
+up everything to take care of and watch with
+Uncle Isaac; for although the whole neighborhood
+offered and pressed their services, he preferred that
+they should take care of him. For some days he
+suffered intense pain, and was at times delirious;
+but as death approached, the pain subsided, his
+mind became perfectly clear, and the same hearty,
+kindly interest in the young that had ever been
+a prominent trait of his character, resumed its
+wonted sway. A few days before his death, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>
+sent for John Rhines, Charlie, Fred Williams,
+Walter, and Ned, preferring, as he was not able
+to talk with each one separately, to see them
+together.</p>
+
+<p>“Boys,” said he, “you have come to see the
+last of Uncle Isaac. John, won’t you turn that
+hour-glass. The sand is run out. We have spent
+a great many pleasant hours together; they are
+all over now; but I want to tell you that they
+have been as pleasant to me as to you. It is
+a great comfort to me that I have been spared
+to see my children, and you, who seem as near to
+me as my own children, grow up to be God-fearing,
+useful men in the world, and settled in
+life. It would have been a comfort to me to
+have seen Isaac once more; but you must tell him
+that his Uncle Isaac did not forget him in his
+last hours. I have been a strong and a tough
+man in my time. I never was thrown, seldom
+pulled up; very few could lift my load, plan work
+better, or bring more to pass with an axe or scythe.
+I never saw but one man who could outdo me
+in trapping game or with a rifle, and that was a
+Penobscot Indian, and my foster-brother, John
+Conesus. I have left my rifle with the walnut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>
+stock to him. I don’t fetch up these things in
+any kind of a boasting way, but only to say to
+you that all these matters that appeared great
+to me once, and no doubt do to you, seem very
+small now. What I like most to think about ain’t
+what I’ve done for myself, but to help others,
+especially to start young men, and get ‘em canted
+right, because any good done to the young always
+seemed to me to go a great ways. I always
+did love to set a scion in a young stock; it ain’t
+like grafting an old hollow tree, which, if it bears
+a little fruit, soon rots down or blows over. If,
+at your time of life, you feel and do thus, like as
+when you caught the fish and gave them to poor
+Mrs. Yelf, and when you tried to make a good
+boy of Fred here&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>“We never should have done either,” said John,
+“if you hadn’t put it into our heads.”</p>
+
+<p>“More especially, if you should be owned of the
+Lord as a means of grace to some fellow-creetur,
+you will find they will be the pleasantest things to
+look back on, when you come to be where I am;
+more so than chopping, wrestling, and getting property,
+though they are all good in their place; such
+thoughts smooth a sick pillow wonderfully. Not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>
+that I put any dependence in them, but in the
+marcy of Him who gave me the heart to do
+them.”</p>
+
+<p>After resting a while, and taking some stimulant,
+he motioned for Walter and Ned to come near.</p>
+
+<p>“I hear that Captain Brown gives you a good
+name, Walter, and that you came home his first
+officer. We were about to go into the woods together
+when I was hurt. I used to think you
+loved to go into the woods with me.”</p>
+
+<p>“O, Uncle Isaac, the happiest hours of my life
+have been spent in the woods with you.”</p>
+
+<p>“We never shall go there again; I am going to
+a better place&mdash;to heaven. Walter, I hope we
+shall meet there. I haven’t strength to say
+more; but you will remember the talks we’ve had
+at the camp fire. So this is the little boy we took
+off the raft; he is not very little now, though.
+Don’t cry, my son,” he said, laying his hand upon
+Ned’s head, who had buried his face in the bed-clothes,
+and was sobbing audibly. “It seems to me
+I am the best off of the two.”</p>
+
+<p>“How <i>can</i> that be, Uncle Isaac, when you are
+hurt so dreadfully, while I am well?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because, my son, I have got about through; I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>
+have run all the risk, while you have just begun,
+have all the risk to run, and may be shipwrecked. <i>I</i>
+know what is before me&mdash;a better world; <i>you</i> don’t
+know what is before you. <i>I</i> have had all <i>my</i> trials;
+<i>yours</i> are to come. Captain Rhines tells me you
+have a Christian mother.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Uncle Isaac, she’s the best mother that
+ever was.”</p>
+
+<p>“I had a praying mother; when I was younger
+than you I was torn from her, and carried away
+by the Indians. I never forgot her words; in the
+great woods, all alone, they came to mind, and
+through them I sought and found the Lord.”</p>
+
+<p>After parting with the boys, he seemed prostrated,
+fell into a doze, and passed away without
+a struggle.</p>
+
+<p>A few days after, Uncle Jonathan Smullen died,
+from decay of nature&mdash;a very clever man, and kind
+neighbor; and it was said of him, he never did
+anybody any harm; but Uncle Isaac was missed,
+and mourned by the whole community. The seed
+of good principles he had sown in the minds of
+young men kept coming up for years after he was
+in his grave, and was resown by those who received
+it from them, a hundred times; nor will
+their influence ever cease.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="break">
+
+<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+
+<p class="pch">A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap06">SCARCELY had Uncle Isaac been committed to
+the earth, when the nephew he had so longed
+to see arrived in the Casco, sick with the fever
+and ague. As the owners wished to send the vessel
+with despatch to one of the French West India
+islands, they, at Isaac’s request, put Ezra Aldrich
+in her as master. He was a native of the place,
+and relative of Isaac, but never much liked by his
+schoolmates, being an overbearing fellow.</p>
+
+<p>In his youth he went two voyages with Captain
+Rhines, and afterwards in English ships from Liverpool
+to Halifax.</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t see,” said Captain Rhines, “what Isaac
+wants to put him in her for.”</p>
+
+<p>The first mate was an acquaintance and shipmate
+of Aldrich, by the name of Percival, and, as
+Captain Rhines told his wife, as great a rascal as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>
+the captain. There was some difficulty in getting
+a crew, but, through the influence of Captain
+Rhines, who prevailed on Peterson and Danforth
+Eaton to ship, a crew was mustered. Being all
+young men from the neighborhood, who knew
+their duty and were able and willing to do it, they
+were at first rather amused than otherwise with
+the consequential airs and bluster of their new
+captain, in such strong contrast to the manners of
+Captain Rhines and Captain Murch.</p>
+
+<p>Aldrich seemed very much inclined to quarrel
+with Peterson, but having a wholesome dread of
+the strength of the black, restrained himself. By
+continual abuse, he at length irritated the good-natured
+negro to such a degree, that he said to
+him, “Lookee ‘ere, Massa Aldrich; ‘member when
+you little picaninny, runnin’ ‘bout barefoot; shirt
+flap he stick out behind; your farder haul staves
+on a hand-sled, your mudder dig clams; spose you
+gib me any more your jabber-juice, fling you ober
+de rail.”</p>
+
+<p>A week passed, when the captain, offended with
+Danforth Eaton, caught up the end of a rope to
+flog him. Eaton took up another.</p>
+
+<p>“What use do you intend to make of that rope,
+Eaton?” asked the captain.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Just the same use that you make of yours.”</p>
+
+<p>The captain was a school-mate of Eaton, and
+knew very well the result of a collision with him.
+But as they approached the land, the deportment
+of the captain entirely changed. While the vessel
+was being discharged, he bought soft bread, fresh
+meat, vegetables, and even fruit, for the men.
+Seamen are little disposed to remember injuries,
+and all old scores were now rubbed out.</p>
+
+<p>The cook having gone to the hospital sick, Peterson
+had taken his place.</p>
+
+<p>One evening, just as the men were about to
+turn in, the captain sent Peterson ashore with
+some letters. In the morning, when the crew
+turned out, he was among the missing. There
+was a good fire in the fireplace,&mdash;stoves were
+not in use then,&mdash;the tea-kettle on, coffee pounded
+in the mortar, some raw potatoes and onions peeled
+and sliced, slices of raw pork in the frying-pan,
+salt beef chopped in a kid,&mdash;everything prepared
+to make lob-scouse.</p>
+
+<p>“Was he not a drinking man?” inquired the
+captain.</p>
+
+<p>“He was once,” said Hurd, “but left it off years
+ago.”</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Halloo! What’s this?” said George Hoyt.</p>
+
+<p>A handkerchief lay on the fender. They
+brought it aboard on the point of a boat-hook.</p>
+
+<p>“It’s Peterson’s,” said Elwell; “there’s his
+name on it.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s just as I thought,” said the captain. “He
+drank last night; that waked up the old appetite,
+and as soon as he turned out this morning he went
+for more, and fell off the gangway plank.”</p>
+
+<p>A grappling was procured ashore, and the crew,
+under the direction of the captain, who was deeply
+moved, grappled for the body the greater part of
+the day, without success. In the meanwhile, the
+mate was making inquiries on shore.</p>
+
+<p>“The tide runs strong here,” said the captain;
+“it has swept him to sea.”</p>
+
+<p>“Poor Jim has gone, boys,” said Eaton, as,
+weary and dispirited, they sat down to supper.</p>
+
+<p>“Anybody wouldn’t have thought,” said Savage,
+“he’d a broke through, after being a steady man
+so long. The captain feels bad, but he’s done all
+a man could do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Jim Peterson,” said Eaton, brushing away a
+tear with the back of his hand, “was a black fellow,
+raal coal black, too,&mdash;a Guinea nigger, if you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>
+please; but if he’d been washed overboard, I’d a
+risked my life to save him quicker than for any
+shipmate I ever had; and I’m not all the one
+would have done it.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s so, Dan. I’m sure I never thought
+anything about his color.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I don’t believe anything about his getting
+drunk (though I’ve no doubt the captain
+thinks so); for I’ve seen him tried and tempted
+hard to weather, by old shipmates, time and time
+again. He went ashore to get something to put
+in the stew; a sober man might make a misdeal
+in a hurry. No power on earth will ever make
+me believe Jim was drunk.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then why didn’t he sing out?”</p>
+
+<p>“He might strike his head on something, and
+stun him. There’s a good many will feel bad when
+we carry the news home, besides his own folks.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s so,” said Savage; “there’s nothing in
+the world that the Rhineses wouldn’t do for Peterson,
+and always would; and it was just so with the
+Griffins. I’ve heard that Peterson saved the captain’s
+life once. I remember one time a parcel
+of us boys got some withes, tied them together,
+and got a turn round Peterson’s waist when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>
+was so drunk he couldn’t chase us, and began to
+pull him round. First thing I knew, I got a clip
+side of my head that sent me a rod; when I picked
+myself up, I saw the boys, some on the ground,
+some runnin’, and Lion Ben right among ‘em. I
+put her for home, and never stopped till I got
+under mother’s bed; but the rim of my ear was
+cut through, and my head was swelled for a week.
+I tell you, I looked sharp for Lion Ben after that,
+whenever I wanted to have any fun with Peterson.”</p>
+
+<p>When the vessel arrived home, Captain Murch
+took charge, and Aldrich went back to Liverpool.</p>
+
+<p>Percival, the mate, got to drinking, and became
+a miserable fellow; went to Boston, and sailed
+before the mast, sometimes second mate, and after
+his brief elevation, again before the mast; till,
+becoming so notorious a drunkard that no captain
+would have him, he was employed as a lumper
+about the wharves in Boston.</p>
+
+<p>The next volume of this series, “<span class="smcap">The Young
+Deliverers</span>,” will explain the mystery attending
+the disappearance of Peterson, and present the
+characters of Walter and Ned in an entirely new
+light.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="sum">
+
+<p class="pn p4 large"><i>AMERICAN BOYS’ SERIES</i></p>
+
+
+<p class="pl2">Ninety-five copyright books for boys by noted American
+Authors</p>
+
+<div class="floatleft">
+     <img src="images/ad289.jpg" width="150" height="206"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="p2">The books selected for this series are all
+thoroughly American, by such favorite American
+authors of boys’ books as Oliver Optic,
+Elijah Kellogg, P. C. Headley, Captain Farrar,
+George M. Towle, and others, now made for
+the first time at a largely reduced price, in order
+to bring them within the reach of all. Each
+volume complete in itself.</p>
+
+<p class="p1"><span class="smcap">Uniform Cloth Binding</span> <span class="smcap">New Cover
+Design</span> <span class="smcap">Illustrated</span> Price per volume
+$1.00</p>
+
+<div class="ind">
+
+<p class="pad p2">1. <b>Adrift in the Ice Fields</b> By Capt. Chas. W. Hall</p>
+
+<p class="pad">2. <b>All Aboard, or Life on the Lake</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">3. <b>Ark of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">4. <b>Arthur Brown the Young Captain</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">5. <b>Boat Club, The, or the Bunkers of Rippleton</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">6. <b>Boy Farmers of Elm Island, The</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">7. <b>Boys of Grand Pré School</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>
+
+<p class="pad">8. <b>“B. O. W. C.,” The</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>
+
+<p class="pad">9. <b>Brought to the Front, or the Young Defenders</b> By Elijah
+Kellogg</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p class="pad">10. <b>Burying the Hatchet, or the Young Brave of the Delawares</b>
+By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">11. <b>Cast Away in the Cold</b> By Dr. Isaac I. Hayes</p>
+
+<p class="pad">12. <b>Charlie Bell the Waif of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">13. <b>Child of the Island Glen</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">14. <b>Crossing the Quicksands</b> By Samuel W. Cozzens</p>
+
+<p class="pad">15. <b>Cruise of the Casco</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">16. <b>Fire in the Woods</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>
+
+<p class="pad">17. <b>Fisher Boys of Pleasant Cove</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">18. <b>Forest Glen, or the Mohawk’s Friendship</b> By Elijah
+Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">19. <b>Good Old Times</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="pad">20. <b>Hard-scrabble of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">21. <b>Haste or Waste, or the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain</b>
+By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">22. <b>Hope and Have</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">23. <b>In School and Out, or the Conquest of Richard Grant</b> By
+Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">24. <b>John Godsoe’s Legacy</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">25. <b>Just His Luck</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">26. <b>Lion Ben of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">27. <b>Little by Little, or the Cruise of the Flyaway</b> By Oliver
+Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">28. <b>Live Oak Boys, or the Adventures of Richard Constable
+Afloat and Ashore</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">29. <b>Lost in the Fog</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>
+
+<p class="pad">30. <b>Mission of Black Rifle, or On the Trail</b> By Elijah
+Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">31. <b>Now or Never, or the Adventures of Bobby Bright</b> By
+Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">32. <b>Poor and Proud, or the Fortunes of Kate Redburn</b> By
+Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">33. <b>Rich and Humble, or the Mission of Bertha Grant</b> By
+Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">34. <b>Sophomores of Radcliffe, or James Trafton and His Boston
+Friends</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">35. <b>Sowed by the Wind, or the Poor Boy’s Fortune</b> By Elijah
+Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">36. <b>Spark of Genius, or the College Life of James Trafton</b> By
+Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">37. <b>Stout Heart, or the Student from Over the Sea</b> By Elijah
+Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">38. <b>Strong Arm and a Mother’s Blessing</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">39. <b>Treasure of the Sea</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>
+
+<p class="pad">40. <b>Try Again, or the Trials and Triumphs of Harry West</b> By
+Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">41. <b>Turning of the Tide, or Radcliffe Rich and his Patients</b> By
+Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">42. <b>Unseen Hand, or James Renfew and His Boy Helpers</b> By
+Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="pad">43. <b>Watch and Wait, or the Young Fugitives</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">44. <b>Whispering Pine, or the Graduates of Radcliffe</b> By Elijah
+Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">45. <b>Winning His Spurs, or Henry Morton’s First Trial</b> By
+Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">46. <b>Wolf Run, or the Boys of the Wilderness</b> By Elijah
+Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">47. <b>Work and Win, or Noddy Newman on a Cruise</b> By Oliver
+Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">48. <b>Young Deliverers of Pleasant Cove</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">49. <b>Young Shipbuilders of Elm Island</b> By Elijah Kellogg</p>
+
+<p class="pad">50. <b>Young Trail Hunters</b> By Samuel W. Cozzens</p>
+
+<p class="pad">51. <b>Field and Forest, or the Fortunes of a Farmer</b> By Oliver
+Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">52. <b>Outward Bound, or Young America Afloat</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">53. <b>The Soldier Boy, or Tom Somers in the Army</b> By Oliver
+Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">54. <b>The Starry Flag, or the Young Fisherman of Cape Ann</b> By
+Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">55. <b>Through by Daylight, or the Young Engineer of the Lake
+Shore Railroad</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">56. <b>Cruises with Captain Bob around the Kitchen Fire</b> By B. P.
+Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)</p>
+
+<p class="pad">57. <b>The Double-Runner Club, or the Lively Boys of Rivertown</b>
+By B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)</p>
+
+<p class="pad">58. <b>Ike Partington and His Friends, or the Humors of a Human
+Boy</b> By B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)</p>
+
+<p class="pad">59. <b>Locke Amsden the Schoolmaster</b> By Judge D. P. Thompson</p>
+
+<p class="pad">60. <b>The Rangers</b> By Judge D. P. Thompson</p>
+
+<p class="pad">61. <b>The Green Mountain Boys</b> By Judge D. P. Thompson</p>
+
+<p class="pad">62. <b>A Missing Million, or the Adventures of Louis Belgrave</b>
+By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">63. <b>A Millionaire at Sixteen, or the Cruise of the “Guardian
+Mother”</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">64. <b>A Young Knight Errant, or Cruising in the West Indies</b>
+By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">65. <b>Strange Sights Abroad, or Adventures in European Waters</b>
+By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="pad">66. <b>Facing the Enemy The Life of Gen. Wm. Tecumseh Sherman</b>
+By P. C. Headley</p>
+
+<p class="pad">67. <b>Fight it Out on This Line The Life and Deeds of Gen.
+U. S. Grant</b> By P. C. Headley</p>
+
+<p class="pad">68. <b>Fighting Phil The Life of Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan</b> By
+P. C. Headley</p>
+
+<p class="pad">69. <b>Old Salamander The Life of Admiral David G. Farragut</b>
+By P. C. Headley</p>
+
+<p class="pad">70. <b>Old Stars The Life of Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchell</b> By P. C.
+Headley</p>
+
+<p class="pad">71. <b>The Miner Boy and His Monitor The Career of John Ericsson,
+Engineer</b> By P. C. Headley</p>
+
+<p class="pad">72. <b>The Young Silver Seekers</b> By Samuel W. Cozzens</p>
+
+<p class="pad">73. <b>Drake the Sea King of Devon</b> By George Makepeace Towle</p>
+
+<p class="pad">74. <b>Magellan</b>, or the First Voyage around the World By G. M. Towle</p>
+
+<p class="pad">75. <b>Marco Polo, His Travels and Adventures</b> By G. M. Towle</p>
+
+<p class="pad">76. <b>Pizarro, His Adventures and Conquests</b> By George M. Towle</p>
+
+<p class="pad">77. <b>Raleigh, His Voyages and Adventures</b> By George M. Towle</p>
+
+<p class="pad">78. <b>Vasco da Gama</b>, His Voyages and Adventures By G. M. Towle</p>
+
+<p class="pad">79. <b>The Heroes and Martyrs of Invention</b> By George M. Towle</p>
+
+<p class="pad">80. <b>Live Boys</b>, or Charlie and Nasho in Texas By A. Morecamp</p>
+
+<p class="pad">81. <b>Live Boys in the Black Hills</b> By Arthur Morecamp</p>
+
+<p class="pad">82. <b>Down the West Branch</b> By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar</p>
+
+<p class="pad">83. <b>Eastward Ho!</b> By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar</p>
+
+<p class="pad">84. <b>Up the North Branch</b> By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar</p>
+
+<p class="pad">85. <b>Wild Woods Life</b> By Capt. C. A. J. Farrar</p>
+
+<p class="pad">86. <b>Child of the Tide</b> By Mrs. E. D. Cheney</p>
+
+<p class="pad">87. <b>The Boys of Thirty-Five</b> By E. H. Elwell</p>
+
+<p class="pad">88. <b>Perseverance Island</b> By Douglas Frazar</p>
+
+<p class="pad">89. <b>Going West</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pad">90. <b>Little Bobtail</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<p class="pc1 large">NEW TITLES ADDED IN 1904</p>
+
+<p class="pad p1">91. <b>Fore and Aft</b> By Robert B. Dixon</p>
+
+<p class="pad">92. <b>Pocket Island</b> By Charles Clark Munn</p>
+
+<p class="pad">93. <b>Donald’s School Days</b> By Gen. O. O. Howard</p>
+
+<p class="pad">94. <b>Henry in the War</b> By Gen. O. O. Howard</p>
+
+<p class="pad">95. <b>All Adrift</b> By Oliver Optic</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="pn p4 large">THE BOY CRAFTSMAN</p>
+
+<p class="pl6">Practical and Profitable Ideas for a Boy’s
+Leisure Hours</p>
+
+<p class="pc1 lmid">By A. NEELY HALL</p>
+
+<div class="floatleft">
+     <img src="images/ad293.jpg" width="150" height="201"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="pn">Illustrated with over 400 diagrams and
+working drawings 8vo Price, $2.00</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap05">EVERY real boy wishes to design and make
+things, but the questions of materials and
+tools are often hard to get around. Nearly all
+books on the subject call for a greater outlay of
+money than is within the means of many boys,
+or their parents wish to expend in such ways.
+In this book a number of chapters give suggestions
+for carrying on a small business that will
+bring a boy in money with which to buy tools
+and materials necessary for making apparatus
+and articles described in other chapters, while
+the ideas are so practical that many an industrious
+boy can learn what he is best fitted for in his life work. No work
+of its class is so completely up-to-date or so worthy in point of thoroughness
+and avoidance of danger. The drawings are profuse and excellent,
+and every feature of the book is first-class. It tells how to make a boy’s
+workshop, how to handle tools, and what can be made with them; how
+to start a printing shop and conduct an amateur newspaper, how to
+make photographs, build a log cabin, a canvas canoe, a gymnasium, a
+miniature theatre, and many other things dear to the soul of youth.</p>
+
+<div class="reduct">
+
+<p class="p1">We cannot imagine a more delightful present for a boy than this book.&mdash;<i>Churchman,
+N.Y.</i></p>
+
+<p>Every boy should have this book. It’s a practical book&mdash;it gets right next to
+the boy’s heart and stays there. He will have it near him all the time, and on every
+page there is a lesson or something that will stand the boy in good need. Beyond
+a doubt in its line this is one of the cleverest books on the market.&mdash;<i>Providence
+News.</i></p>
+
+<p>If a boy has any sort of a mechanical turn of mind, his parents should see that
+he has this book.&mdash;<i>Boston Journal.</i></p>
+
+<p>This is a book that will do boys good.&mdash;<i>Buffalo Express.</i></p>
+
+<p>The boy who will not find this book a mine of joy and profit must be queerly
+constituted.&mdash;<i>Pittsburgh Gazette.</i></p>
+
+<p>Will be a delight to the boy mechanic.&mdash;<i>Watchman, Boston.</i></p>
+
+<p>An admirable book to give a boy.&mdash;<i>Newark News.</i></p>
+
+<p>This book is the best yet offered for its large number of practical and profitable
+ideas.&mdash;<i>Milwaukee Free Press.</i></p>
+
+<p>Parents ought to know of this book.&mdash;<i>New York Globe.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="pc2 elarge">PHILLIPS EXETER SERIES</p>
+
+<p class="pc mid">By A. T. DUDLEY</p>
+
+<p class="pc reduct">Cloth, 12mo Illustrated by Charles Copeland Price per volume, <b>$1.25</b></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc2 large">FOLLOWING THE BALL</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">HERE is an up-to-date story presenting American boarding-school life
+and modern athletics. Of course football is an important feature,
+but this is far more than a football book. It is a story of character formation
+told in a most wholesome and manly way. In this development athletics
+play an important part, to be sure, but are only one feature in carrying
+the hero, “Dick Melvin,” on to a worthy manhood.</p>
+
+<p class="reduct b2">“Mingled with the story of football is another and higher endeavor, giving the
+book the best of moral tone.”&mdash;<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p>
+
+<div class="floatleft">
+     <img src="images/ad294a.jpg" width="150" height="219"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="pc large">MAKING THE NINE</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">THIS story is lively and worth telling, and the
+life presented is that of a real school, interesting,
+diversified, and full of striking incidents,
+while the characters are true and consistent types of
+American boyhood and youth. The athletics are
+technically correct, abounding in helpful suggestions,
+soundly and wisely given, and the moral tone
+is high and set by action rather than preaching.</p>
+
+<p class="reduct b2">“The story is healthful, for, while it exalts athletics, it
+does not overlook the fact that studious habits and noble
+character are imperative needs for those who would win
+success in life.”&mdash;<i>Herald and Presbyter, Cincinnati.</i></p>
+
+<div class="floatright">
+     <img src="images/ad294b.jpg" width="150" height="206"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="pc large">IN THE LINE</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">TELLS how a stalwart young student won
+his position as guard, and at the same time
+made equally marked progress in the formation
+of character. It introduces the leading arguments
+for and against football in connection
+with the difficulties to be overcome before the
+hero’s father finally consents to allow his son to
+represent his academy in this way.</p>
+
+<p class="reduct">“The book gives boys an interesting story, much
+football information, and many lessons in true manliness.”&mdash;<i>Watchman,
+Boston.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc1 elarge">JACK TENFIELD’S STAR</p>
+
+<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">Martha James</span> Illustrated by Charles Copeland Large 12mo $1.00</p>
+
+<div class="floatleft">
+     <img src="images/ad295a.jpg" width="150" height="206"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="drop-cap05">JACK TENFIELD is a bright Boston boy, who,
+while preparing for college, is brought to face
+the fact that his father, a benevolent physician,
+and supposed to be well-to-do, had really
+left no estate. Jack resolutely defends his
+father’s memory, and makes the best of it. Circumstances
+bring much travel and many adventures,
+in all of which his generous, manly
+character rings true. That Jack is capable of
+being his “own star” well expresses the excellent
+thought of the book, which is remarkable
+for variety of well-told incidents.</p>
+
+<p class="reduct">“A clean, wholesome, enjoyable book.”&mdash;<i>The American
+Boy, Detroit, Mich.</i></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc1 elarge">Tom Winstone, “Wide Awake”</p>
+
+<p class="pc b2">By <span class="smcap">Martha James</span> Large 12mo Illustrated by W. Herbert Dunton $1.00</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">WE have often wished that we could secure a book for boys like the
+undying ones written by J. T. Trowbridge, and in “Tom Winstone”
+we have a young hero whose story is told in a way well worthy
+to be compared with the work of the older writer referred to. The
+sterling quality shown in “My Friend Jim” is all here, and “Tom,” an
+older boy, equally efficient in baseball, a foot race, or a noble action, is
+well worth knowing.</p>
+
+<p class="reduct b2">“Any healthy boy will delight in this book.”&mdash;<i>Living Church, Milwaukee, Wis.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pc elarge">My Friend Jim</p>
+
+<p class="pc">A Story of Real Boys and for Them</p>
+
+<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">Martha James</span> Large 12mo Illustrated
+by Frank T. Merrill $1.00</p>
+
+<div class="floatright">
+     <img src="images/ad295b.jpg" width="150" height="209"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03 p1">JUST the book to place in the hands of
+bright, active boys, and one that the
+most careful parents will be glad to use
+for that purpose. The loyal friendship
+springing up between Jim, the son of a mechanic,
+and a wealthy man’s son who is at
+Sunnyside farm for his health, has made the
+basis for some of the cleanest, brightest, and
+most helpful descriptions of boy life that we
+have ever read.</p>
+
+<p class="p1 reduct">“It is a book that boys will like and profit by.”&mdash;<i>Universalist
+Leader, Boston.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc2 elarge">TWO YOUNG INVENTORS</p>
+
+<p class="pc mid b1"><i>THE STORY OF THE FLYING BOAT</i></p>
+
+<div class="floatleft">
+     <img src="images/ad296a.jpg" width="150" height="210"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="pc2"><span class="smcap">By ALVAH MILTON KERR</span> Illustrated
+$1.25</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03 p1">HERE is a rattling good story; a tale of
+mystery, mechanism, and getting on in
+the world that will be a boy’s favorite for years.
+Two youths, both born inventors, make each
+other’s acquaintance as a result of misfortunes
+attending a Minnesota cyclone. Their efforts to
+perfect a flying-boat that shall not only skim the
+water, but rise into the air, result in the securing
+of a mechanical education. Mr. Kerr has
+solved the problem of a book that shall be
+intensely exciting and yet thoroughly wholesome.</p>
+
+<div class="reduct">
+<p class="p1">“The ingenuity and pluck of these two worthy heroes supply just the right
+material for the encouragement of ambitious youth.”&mdash;<i>Boston Beacon.</i></p>
+<p>“The book is full of life, incident, and stirring success.”&mdash;<i>Watchman, Boston.</i></p>
+<p>“The book is deeply interesting, at times intensely exciting, and yet thoroughly
+clean and wholesome throughout.”&mdash;<i>Portland Express.</i></p></div>
+
+
+<p class="pc1 elarge">YOUNG HEROES OF WIRE AND RAIL</p>
+
+<div class="floatright">
+     <img src="images/ad296b.jpg" width="150" height="207"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">By ALVAH MILTON KERR</span> Illustrated
+12mo Cloth $1.25</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03 p1">THE place which the sea once held in supplying
+thrilling tales of heroism and peril
+is now being largely usurped by that powerful
+agent of progress, the railway service, and with
+no lessening of interest. It is also very attractive
+to know how those who bear the vast
+responsibilities of this service perform their
+work and meet the fearful emergencies that
+may arise at any time.</p>
+
+<div class="reduct">
+
+<p>“The tone of the work is healthful and inspiring.”&mdash;<i>Boston
+Herald.</i></p>
+
+<p>“They are calculated to inspire boys to become manly, and incidentally they
+contain considerable valuable information.”&mdash;<i>Newark News.</i></p>
+
+<p>“An ideal book for a young boy is ‘Young Heroes of Wire and Rail.’”&mdash;<i>Episcopal
+Recorder, Philadelphia.</i></p></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="pc1 elarge">THE GREGORY GUARDS</p>
+
+<p class="pc b2">By <span class="smcap">Emma Lee Benedict</span> Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill 12mo $1.25</p>
+
+<div class="floatleft">
+     <img src="images/ad297a.jpg" width="150" height="202"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">A YOUNG man of wealth is trustee for a
+fund to help boys and chooses six to pass
+the summer at his home on an island near New
+York. These lads of widely different temperaments
+in true boy fashion form a “club,”
+whose highest purpose it is to watch over the
+property and interests of their benefactor, and
+to which they give his name. All profit in great
+measure from a summer that is a turning point in
+their lives. A story of reaping good by doing
+good, bright and entertaining and full of life,
+incident, and good sense.</p>
+
+<p class="reduct">“It is a story along novel lines, and may be warmly
+commended.”&mdash;<i>St. Louis Globe-Democrat.</i></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc1 elarge b1">The Young Vigilantes</p>
+
+<div class="floatright">
+     <img src="images/ad297b.jpg" width="150" height="207"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="pc">A Story of California Life in the Fifties</p>
+
+<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">Samuel Adams Drake</span> Illustrated by L. J.
+Bridgman Price $1.25</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03">FEW men now remain who can describe the
+“Forty-Niners” from personal knowledge
+and experience, and the very best one of them
+is the noted historical writer, Col. Drake. One
+of two young chums in Boston yields to the excitement
+of the day and goes to California, partly
+at his friend’s expense. Later, the hero of the story
+is driven by injustice to make his way thither via
+the route across Nicaragua, befriended by an old
+sailor. A reunion and exciting experiences in San
+Francisco follow.</p>
+
+<p class="reduct">“The book is a bright, able, and wholesome contribution to the knowledge of
+our country’s progress.”&mdash;<i>Religious Telescope, Dayton, O.</i></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc1 elarge">Joe’s Signal Code</p>
+
+<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">W. Reiff Hesser</span> Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill $1.25</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03 p1">THIS book tells of the abandoning of a fine ship with its cargo in the
+Pacific Ocean. The leading characters, who are to leave in the last
+boat, had their escape cut off by its destruction, but succeed in saving the
+ship and lead a most interesting life for more than a year on a hitherto
+unknown island.</p>
+
+<p class="reduct">“The boys will enjoy it from cover to cover. The book is many degrees above
+the ordinary story.”&mdash;<i>American Boy, Detroit.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc2 mid b1">PATRIOTIC SERIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS</p>
+
+<div class="floatleft">
+     <img src="images/ad298.jpg" width="200" height="271"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="p2">“Lives of great men all remind us
+We can make our lives sublime.”</p>
+
+<p class="p1">The volumes included in this
+series tend to inculcate the spirit
+of patriotism and good citizenship.
+The boys and girls of to-day are
+here made acquainted with the lives
+and characters of many noble men
+and women of this and other
+countries. The information is pleasantly
+and vividly imparted in the
+form of popular biography as well
+as fiction by well-known and popular
+writers.</p>
+
+<p class="p1"><span class="smcap">Uniform Cloth Binding New
+and Attractive Dies Illustrated</span>
+Price per volume $1.00</p>
+
+<div class="ind">
+
+<p class="pad p2">1. <span class="smcap">Bobbin Boy</span> The Early Life of
+Gen. N. P. Banks</p>
+
+<p class="pad">2. <span class="smcap">Border Boy</span> A Popular Life
+of Daniel Boone By W. H.
+Bogart</p>
+
+<p class="pad">3. <span class="smcap">Daring Deeds of the Revolution</span> By Henry C. Watson</p>
+
+<p class="pad">4. <span class="smcap">Dora Darling</span> or the Daughter of the Regiment By Jane G.
+Austin</p>
+
+<p class="pad">5. <span class="smcap">Dora Darling and Little Sunshine</span> By Jane G. Austin</p>
+
+<p class="pad">6. <span class="smcap">Father of his Country</span> A Popular Life of George Washington
+By Henry C. Watson</p>
+
+<p class="pad">7. <span class="smcap">Friend of Washington</span> A Popular Life of General Lafayette.
+By Henry C. Watson.</p>
+
+<p class="pad">8. <span class="smcap">Great Men and Gallant Deeds</span> By J. G. Edgar</p>
+
+<p class="pad">9. <span class="smcap">Great Peacemaker</span> A Popular Life of William Penn By
+Henry C. Watson</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p class="pad">10. <span class="smcap">Great Expounder</span> Young Folks’ Life of Daniel Webster</p>
+
+<p class="pad">11. <span class="smcap">Good and Great Men</span> Their Brave Deeds and Works By
+John Frost, LL.D.</p>
+
+<p class="pad">12. <span class="smcap">Little Corporal</span> Young Folks’ Life of Napoleon Bonaparte
+By John Frost, LL.D.</p>
+
+<p class="pad">13. <span class="smcap">Mill Boy of the Slashes</span> Life of Henry Clay By John Frost</p>
+
+<p class="pad">14. <span class="smcap">Noble Deeds of American Women</span> Edited by J. Clement</p>
+
+<p class="pad">15. <span class="smcap">Old Bell of Independence</span> By Henry C. Watson</p>
+
+<p class="pad">16. <span class="smcap">Old Hickory</span> Life of Andrew Jackson By John Frost</p>
+
+<p class="pad">17. <span class="smcap">Old Rough and Ready</span> Young Folks’ Life of Gen. Zachary
+Taylor By John Frost, LL.D.</p>
+
+<p class="pad">18. <span class="smcap">Pioneer Mothers of the West</span> Daring and Heroic Deeds of
+American Women By John Frost, LL.D.</p>
+
+<p class="pad">19. <span class="smcap">Printer Boy</span> or How Ben Franklin made his Mark</p>
+
+<p class="pad">20. <span class="smcap">Poor Richard’s Story</span> A Popular Life of Ben Franklin By
+Henry C. Watson</p>
+
+<p class="pad">21. <span class="smcap">Paul and Persis</span> or the Revolutionary Struggle in the Mohawk
+Valley By Mary E. Brush</p>
+
+<p class="pad">22. <span class="smcap">Quaker among the Indians</span> By Thomas C. Battey</p>
+
+<p class="pad">23. <span class="smcap">Swamp Fox</span> Life of Gen. Francis Marion By John Frost</p>
+
+<p class="pad">24. <span class="smcap">Women of Worth whom the World Loves to Honor</span></p>
+
+<p class="pad">25. <span class="smcap">Young Invincibles</span> or Patriotism at Home. By I. H. Anderson</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc2 lmid b2"><b>Newly arranged Standard Collection of History, Biography,
+Heroism, and Adventure</b></p>
+
+<div class="floatright">
+     <img src="images/ad299.jpg" width="150" height="207"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Thirty favorites in new series New uniform
+cover design Attractive dies Fine cloth binding
+Illustrated Price per volume 75 cents.</p>
+
+<p>This series can truly be said to cover the world
+in its scope, as it chronicles heroic and daring exploits
+in all climes, told by an exceptionally strong
+list of authors. It is just the library to entertain
+and inform a live boy, and, while composed of
+books that arouse eager interest, is wholly free
+from cheap sensationalism.</p>
+
+<div class="ind">
+
+<p class="pad">1. <b>Adventures of Dick Onslow among
+the Redskins</b> By W. H. K. Kingston</p>
+
+<p class="pad">2. <b>African Crusoes, The</b> By Mrs. R. Lee</p>
+
+<p class="pad">3. <b>Among the Brigands</b> By Prof. James
+DeMille</p>
+
+<p class="pad">4. <b>Anthony Waymouth</b> By W. H. K. Kingston</p>
+
+<p class="pad">5. <b>Arctic Crusoe, The, Adventures on the Sea of Ice</b> By Percy
+B. St. John</p>
+
+<p class="pad">6. <b>Around the World in Eighty Days</b> By Jules Verne</p>
+
+<p class="pad">7. <b>Australian Crusoes, The</b> By Charles Rowcroft</p>
+
+<p class="pad">8. <b>Australian Wanderers</b> By Mrs. R. Lee</p>
+
+<p class="pad">9. <b>Cabin on the Prairie, The</b> By Dr. C. H. Pearson</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p class="pad">10. <b>Cruise of the Frolic, The</b> By W. H. K. Kingston</p>
+
+<p class="pad">11. <b>Ernest Bracebridge; or School Boy Days</b> By W. H. K. Kingston</p>
+
+<p class="pad">12. <b>French Robinson Crusoe, The</b> By Alfred de Brehat</p>
+
+<p class="pad">13. <b>Golden Hair, a Tale of the Pilgrim Fathers</b> By Sir Lascelle
+Wraxhall</p>
+
+<p class="pad">14. <b>Life Boat, The</b> By R. M. Ballantyne</p>
+
+<p class="pad">15. <b>Lily and the Cross, The</b> By Prof. James DeMille</p>
+
+<p class="pad">16. <b>Planting the Wilderness</b> By James D. McCabe, Jr.</p>
+
+<p class="pad">17. <b>Prairie Crusoe, The; or Adventures in the Far West</b> By
+Sir Lascelle Wraxhall</p>
+
+<p class="pad">18. <b>Sand Hills of Jutland, The</b> By Hans Christian Andersen</p>
+
+<p class="pad">19. <b>Twice Taken, a Tale of Louisburg</b> By Capt. Charles W. Hall</p>
+
+<p class="pad">20. <b>Twelve Nights in a Hunter’s Camp</b> By Rev. William Barrows</p>
+
+<p class="pad">21. <b>Whales We Caught, The, and How We Did It</b> By William H.
+Macy</p>
+
+<p class="pad">22. <b>Wild Scenes of a Hunter’s Life</b> By John Frost, LL.D.</p>
+
+<p class="pad">23. <b>Willis the Pilot, a Sequel to the Swiss Family Robinson</b>
+By Sir Lascelle Wraxhall</p>
+
+<p class="pad">24. <b>Winged Lion, The, or Stories of Venice.</b> By Prof. James De
+Mille</p>
+
+<p class="pad">25. <b>Winter in the Ice, A</b> By Jules Verne</p>
+
+<p class="pad">26. <b>Wreck of the Chancellor, The</b> By Jules Verne</p>
+
+<p class="pad">27. <b>Yarns of an Old Mariner</b> By Mary Cowden Clarke</p>
+
+<p class="pad">28. <b>Young Crusoe, The; or Adventure of a Shipwrecked Boy</b>
+By Dr. Harley</p>
+
+<p class="pad">29. <b>Young Middy, The</b> By F. C. Armstrong</p>
+
+<p class="pad b2">30. <b>Young Pioneers of the Northwest</b> By Dr. C. H. Pearson</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="floatright">
+     <img src="images/ad300a.jpg" width="150" height="206"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="pc large">Famous Children</p>
+
+<p>By <span class="smcap">H. Twitchell</span> Illustrated $1.25</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03 p1">WE have here a most valuable book, telling
+not of the childhood of those who have
+afterwards become famous, but those who as
+children are famous in history, song, and story.
+For convenience the subjects are grouped as
+“Royal Children,” “Child Artists,” “Learned
+Children,” “Devoted Children,” “Child Martyrs,”
+and “Heroic Children,” and the names
+of the “two little princes,” Louis XVII., Mozart,
+St. Genevieve, David, and Joan of Arc are
+here, as well as those of many more.</p>
+
+
+<p class="pc2 elarge">The Story of the Cid For Young People</p>
+
+<p>By <span class="smcap">Calvin Dill Wilson</span> Illustrated by <span class="smcap">J. W. Kennedy</span> $1.25</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03 p1">MR. WILSON, a well-known writer and reviewer, has prepared from
+Southey’s translation, which was far too cumbrous to entertain the
+young, a book that will kindle the imagination of youth and entertain and
+inform those of advanced years.</p>
+
+<div class="floatleft">
+     <img src="images/ad300b.jpg" width="150" height="211"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="pc elarge">Jason’s Quest</p>
+
+<p>By <span class="smcap">D. O. S. Lowell</span>, A. M., M. D. Master in
+Roxbury Latin School Illustrated $1.00</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03 p1">NOTHING can be better to arouse the imagination
+of boys and girls, and at the same
+time store in their minds knowledge indispensable
+to any one who would be known as cultured,
+or happier than Professor Lowell’s way
+of telling a story, and the many excellent drawings
+have lent great spirit to the narrative.</p>
+
+<p class="pc2 elarge">Heroes of the Crusades</p>
+
+<p class="pc">By <span class="smcap">Amanda M. Douglas</span> Cloth Fifty full-page illustrations $1.50</p>
+
+<p class="drop-cap03 p1">THE romantic interest in the days of chivalry, so fully exemplified by
+the “Heroes of the Crusades,” is permanent and properly so. This
+book is fitted to keep it alive without descending to improbability or
+cheap sensationalism.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc mid">BOOKS BY EVERETT T. TOMLINSON.</p>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<p class="pc elarge b1">THE WAR OF 1812 SERIES</p>
+
+<div class="floatleft">
+     <img src="images/ad301.jpg" width="150" height="214"
+         alt=""
+         title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Six volumes Cloth Illustrated by A. B.
+Shute Price per volume reduced to $1.25</p>
+
+<p class="reduct">No American writer for boys has ever occupied
+a higher position than Dr. Tomlinson, and the
+“War of 1812 Series” covers a field attempted
+by no other juvenile literature in a manner that
+has secured continued popularity.</p>
+
+<p class="pn"><b>The Search for Andrew Field</b></p>
+<p class="pl1"><b>The Boy Soldiers of 1812</b></p>
+<p class="pli2"><b>The Boy Officers of 1812</b></p>
+<p class="pl3"><b>Tecumseh’s Young Brave</b></p>
+<p class="pl4"><b>Guarding the Border</b></p>
+<p class="pl5"><b>The Boys with Old Hickory</b></p>
+
+<p class="pc2 elarge">ST. LAWRENCE SERIES</p>
+
+<p class="p2 lmid">CRUISING IN THE ST. LAWRENCE</p>
+
+<p class="pl2">Being the third volume of the “St. Lawrence Series” Cloth
+Illustrated Price $1.50</p>
+
+<p class="reduct">Our old friends, “Bob,” “Ben,” “Jock,” and “Bert,” having completed
+their sophomore year at college, plan to spend the summer vacation cruising
+on the noble St. Lawrence. Here they not only visit places of historic interest,
+but also the Indian tribes encamped on the banks of the river, and learn
+from them their customs, habits, and quaint legends.</p>
+
+<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>PREVIOUS VOLUMES</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn large">CAMPING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE</p>
+<p class="pc large">Or, On the Trail of the Early Discoverers</p>
+
+<p class="pl4">Cloth Illustrated $1.50</p>
+
+<p class="pn1 large">THE HOUSE-BOAT ON THE ST. LAWRENCE</p>
+<p class="pc large">Or, Following Frontenac</p>
+
+<p class="pl4">Cloth Illustrated $1.50</p>
+
+<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>BY THE SAME AUTHOR</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn large">STORIES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION</p>
+
+<p class="pc">First and Second Series Cloth Illustrated $1.00 each</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="pc2 xlarge">The Tide-Mill Stories</p>
+
+<p class="p1 lmid">By J. T. TROWBRIDGE</p>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pc"><i>Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25</i></p>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid">Phil and His Friends.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">The hero is the son of a man who from drink got into debt, and, after having
+given a paper to a creditor authorizing him to keep the son as a security
+for his claim, ran away, leaving poor Phil a bond slave. The story
+involves a great many unexpected incidents, some of which are painful and
+some comic. Phil manfully works for a year cancelling his father’s debt,
+and then escapes. The characters are strongly drawn, and the story is absorbingly
+interesting.</p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid">The Tinkham Brothers’ Tide-Mill.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“‘The Tinkham Brothers’ were the devoted sons of an invalid mother. The
+story tells how they purchased a tide-mill, which afterwards, by the ill-will
+and obstinacy of neighbors, became a source of much trouble to them. It
+tells also how, by discretion and the exercise of a peaceable spirit, they at
+last overcame all difficulties.”&mdash;<i>Christian Observer, Louisville, Ky.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid">The Satin-wood Box.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“Mr. Trowbridge has always a purpose in his writings, and this time he
+has undertaken to show how very near an innocent boy can come to the
+guilty edge and yet be able by fortunate circumstances to rid himself of all
+suspicion of evil. There is something winsome about the hero; but he has
+a singular way of falling into bad luck, although the careful reader will
+never feel the least disposed to doubt his honesty.”&mdash;<i>Syracuse Standard.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid">The Little Master.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">This is the story of a schoolmaster, his trials, disappointments, and final
+victory. It will recall to many a man his experience in teaching pupils, and
+in managing their opinionated and self-willed parents. The story has the
+charm which is always found in Mr. Trowbridge’s works.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“Many a teacher could profit by reading of this plucky little schoolmaster.”&mdash;<i>Journal
+of Education.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid">His One Fault.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“As for the hero of this story ‘His One Fault’ was absent-mindedness.
+He forgot to lock his uncle’s stable door, and the horse was stolen. In
+seeking to recover the stolen horse, he unintentionally stole another. In
+trying to restore the wrong horse to his rightful owner, he was himself arrested.
+After no end of comic and dolorous adventures, he surmounted all
+his misfortunes by downright pluck and genuine good feeling. It is a noble
+contribution to juvenile literature.”&mdash;<i>Woman’s Journal.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid">Peter Budstone.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“Mr. J. T. Trowbridge’s ‘Peter Budstone’ is another of those altogether
+good and wholesome books for boys of which it is hardly possible to speak too
+highly. This author shows us convincingly how juvenile reading may be
+made vivacious and interesting, and yet teach sound and clean lessons.
+‘Peter Budstone’ shows forcibly the folly and crime of ‘hazing.’ It is the
+story of a noble young fellow whose reason is irreparably overthrown by
+the savage treatment he received from some of his associates at college.
+It is a powerful little book, and we wish every schoolboy and college youth
+could read it.”&mdash;<i>Philadelphia American.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="pc2 xlarge">The Silver Medal Stories</p>
+
+<p class="p1 lmid">By J. T. TROWBRIDGE</p>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pc"><i>Six Volumes. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25</i></p>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>The Silver Medal</b>, <span class="smcap">and other Stories</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">There were some schoolboys who had turned housebreakers, and among
+their plunder was a silver medal that had been given to one John Harrison
+by the Humane Society for rescuing from drowning a certain Benton
+Barry. Now Benton Barry was one of the wretched housebreakers. This is
+the summary of the opening chapter. The story is intensely interesting in
+its serious as well as its humorous parts.</p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>His Own Master.</b></p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“This is a book after the typical boy’s own heart. Its hero is a plucky
+young fellow, who, seeing no chance for himself at home, determines to
+make his own way in the world.... He sets out accordingly, trudges to the
+far West, and finds the road to fortune an unpleasantly rough one.”&mdash;<i>Philadelphia
+Inquirer.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>Bound in Honor.</b></p>
+
+<p class="pbq">This story is of a lad, who, though not guilty of any bad action, has been
+an eye-witness of the conduct of his comrades, and felt “Bound in Honor”
+not to tell.</p>
+<p class="pbq">“A capital book in all respects, overflowing with all sorts of fun and
+adventure; just the sort of book, in short, that the young folks will be
+anxious to read and re-read with as much continuous interest as the most
+favored of their storybooks.”&mdash;<i>Philadelphia Leader.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>The Pocket Rifle.</b></p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“A boy’s story which will be read with avidity, as it ought to be, it is so
+brightly and frankly written, and with such evident knowledge of the temperaments
+and habits, the friendships and enmities of schoolboys.”&mdash;<i>New
+York Mail.</i></p>
+<p class="pbq">“This is a capital story for boys. It teaches honesty, integrity, and friendship,
+and how best they can be promoted. It shows the danger of hasty
+judgment and circumstantial evidence; that right-doing pays, and dishonesty
+never.”&mdash;<i>Chicago Inter-Ocean.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>The Jolly Rover.</b></p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“This book will help to neutralize the ill effects of any poison which children
+may have swallowed in the way of sham-adventurous stories and wildly
+fictitious tales. ‘The Jolly Rover’ runs away from home, and meets life as
+it is, till he is glad enough to seek again his father’s house. Mr. Trowbridge
+has the power of making an instructive story absorbing in its interest, and
+of covering a moral so that it is easy to take.”&mdash;<i>Christian Intelligencer.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>Young Joe</b>, <span class="smcap">and other Boys</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“Young Joe,” who lived at Bass Cove, where he shot wild ducks, took
+some to town for sale, and attracted the attention of a portly gentleman
+fond of shooting. This gentleman went duck shooting with Joe, and their
+adventures were more amusing to the boy than to the amateur sportsman.</p>
+<p class="pbq">There are thirteen other short stories in the book which will be sure to
+please the young folks.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="pc2 xlarge"><span class="smcap">The Toby Trafford Series</span></p>
+
+<p class="pc1">BY</p>
+
+<p class="pc1 mid">J. T. TROWBRIDGE</p>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<table id="t01" summary="t01">
+
+ <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><i>Three Volumes</i></td>
+  <td class="tdc"><i>Cloth</i></td>
+  <td class="tdr"><i>Illustrated</i></td>
+ </tr>
+
+ <tr>
+  <td colspan="2" class="tdl"><i>Price per volume</i>.</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><i>$1.25</i></td>
+ </tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>The Fortunes of Toby Trafford.</b></p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“A new story by J. T. Trowbridge, is, like all Mr. Trowbridge’s fiction, the
+good wine that needs no bush. The plot is full of interest, and is still so
+natural that it all might happen in a thousand places. Its scenes and its
+people are everywhere; only few writers have Trowbridge’s eyes to see
+them. The hero is not an impossibly good boy, but he has manly instincts;
+and he is kept from follies and mistakes by the counsels of an excellent
+mother, and of his wise and noble-hearted schoolmaster. Boys will follow
+his career and his good and bad fortune with genuine interest.”&mdash;<i>Boston
+Budget.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>Father Brighthopes</b>; <span class="smcap">An Old Clergyman’s Vacation</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“To the many friends which this book will doubtless gain it may be well
+to say that Father Brighthopes of the story gains that cheery name by his
+readiness to always see the bright and not the dark side of any difficulty,
+great or small. The few weeks which he spent with his friends, the Roydons,
+wrought a change in their daily life as marked as it was pleasant. The
+writings of Trowbridge are too well known to require comment, since almost
+everyone is familiar with his straightforward, simple style, underlying
+which there is not a little humor as well as pathos.”&mdash;<i>Chicago Times.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pn1 lmid"><b>Woodie Thorpe’s Pilgrimage</b>, <span class="smcap">and other Stories</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="pbq">“The scenes are full of human interest and lifelikeness, and will please
+many an old reader, as well as the younger folks, for whose delectation it is
+intended. As in all the books of this author the spirit is manly, sincere,
+and in the best sense moral. There is no “goody” talk and no cant, but
+principles of truthfulness, integrity, and self-reliance are quietly inculcated
+by example. It is safe to say that any boy will be the better for reading
+books like this.”&mdash;<i>St. Botolph.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pc"><i>For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price<br />
+by the publishers. Our Illustrated Catalogue sent free.</i></p>
+
+<p class="pc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pc elarge">Lothrop, Lee &amp; Shepard Co., Boston</p>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48904 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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