Ben Hadden Part 5

Ben thought that he must indeed have a sharp pair of eyes, if he could see an object seventy miles off; yet he found that the officer was correct. All the men aloft now saw the mountains, and very soon they could be perceived by those on deck. Shortly after the sun rose, however, thin and light mists ascended, and veiled them from view.

Still the ship sailed on with a fair breeze, hour after hour, and no land appeared. Ben began to fancy that he must have been mistaken. He was somewhat surprised, therefore, when he was sent for into the captain's cabin.

"I find that you were the first to see land this morning, boy Hadden,"

said the captain in a kind tone. "There is no great merit in that, but after a long pa.s.sage it might be of much consequence, and I wish to reward you. You, however, rendered me a far greater service when you discovered the iceberg rounding Cape Horn. I shall not forget that. In the meantime I present you with a sovereign, to show you that I approve of your conduct on that and other occasions."

Ben, thanking the captain, left the cabin, highly pleased at the praise he had received, and very glad also to get the sovereign; not that he might spend it on himself, but that he might send it home to his mother; and he had some notion that he could do so by some means or other, but how, he could not tell. He would consult Mr Martin.

"Oh, it was to get that gold sovereign which made you so eager about going aloft of late," observed Tom, who was somewhat jealous of his companion.

"Yes. I wanted it to send to my mother," answered Ben quietly.

"But she can't want it. I never send my mother anything, nor does father, that I know of," exclaimed Tom. "Much better, Ben, to spend it like a man ash.o.r.e. We could have rare fun with it, depend on that."

"My mother is a widow, and that is one reason why she should want the money, though yours doesn't," said Ben. "Then, though I came to sea in the hope of finding Ned, I also came that I might get money to take care of mother in her old age; so I think it right to send her the first sovereign I have got, and I hope that it will be followed by many more."

"You are always talking about doing right in this thing and that; but how do you know what is right?" exclaimed Tom, vexed at the idea that he should not benefit, as he thought he ought to do, by the gift his messmate had received.

"How can you ask that?" said Ben. "Haven't we got the Bible to show us in the first place, and if we can't make up our minds clearly on the matter from it, which, I allow, is possible, then cannot we pray to be guided aright? and does not G.o.d promise that He will hear our prayers, and send the Holy Spirit to guide us?"

"Yes, I know all that," answered Tom, turning away. In truth, Tom ought to have known it as well as Ben, for his father had frequently told him the same; but, though he had heard, the words had pa.s.sed from one ear out at the other: he had not taken them in.

Early in the day the master had stated the hour at which the coast-line of South America would be seen; for the mountains Ben had discovered are several miles inland, and are many thousand feet high--indeed, the range of the Andes is one of the highest in the world. It now appeared at the hour the master said it would, standing up rocky and broken, from the very margin of the ocean. As the frigate drew nearer, the land looked very dry and barren, and utterly unworthy of the name it bears.

"If you were to see it in winter, just after the rains are over, you would speak very differently of it," observed Mr Martin, who had been there before. "Never judge of things, and, above all, of countries, at first sight. At the right time this country looks as green and fresh and beautiful a country as you need ever wish to see."

In the afternoon the frigate anch.o.r.ed in the bay of Valparaiso, which is lined by lofty hills, underneath one of which, and climbing up the sides, the town is built.

Ben was very anxious to go on sh.o.r.e, that he might inquire among all the sailors he could meet if any of them had heard anything of his brother Ned. Mr Charlton knew this, and arranged that he might have the opportunity of carrying out his plans as far as possible. Whenever a boat left for the sh.o.r.e, Ben was therefore allowed to go in her. Soon after their arrival, a boat in which Ben went was sent from the frigate under command of a midshipman, who had some commission to perform in the town. On leaving the boat, the midshipman said, "Two of you will remain as boat-keepers; the rest may step on sh.o.r.e, but are not to stray out of sight of the boat. Remember, these are the captain's orders."

"Ay, ay, sir," was the answer; but no sooner had the midshipman disappeared up the street, than the men all jumped on sh.o.r.e to look out for a grog-shop. Not one was to be seen, and on that account the place had been selected by the captain for the landing of the boat's crew. In vain they searched.

"Now, Ben Hadden, here's a job for you," said the c.o.xswain of the boat, when they had come back and sat down in rather a sulky mood. "Just you scud up the street, and bring us down a couple of bottles of arguardiente. You are certain to find some place where they sell it, and there's five shillings for yourself. I know you want money to send to your mother; Tom told me so. Very right in you. Come, be sharp about it, there's a good lad."

"Thank you, Brown," said Ben, not moving from his seat; "but you forget that Mr Manners said it was the captain's orders no one should go out of sight of the boat. Even if you were to offer me five pounds for mother, I couldn't go--"

"Oh, nonsense, boy!" answered Brown; "it isn't the money you care about, I know, but do it just to oblige us."

"No, no, Brown. I have been taught always to do right, whatever comes of it, and never to do wrong, even if it seems as if no harm would come of it," said Ben firmly.

"All right, I daresay, boy; but surely there's no harm in getting some grog in this hot weather," argued Brown.

"It's against orders, it's against the regulations, it's disobedience,"

returned Ben. "We were ordered not to go out of sight of the boat, and unless we do the arguardiente cannot be got."

"Oh, this is all shilly-shallying humbug!" exclaimed Brown angrily.

"Come, a couple of you, with me, and we'll have the liquor, and be back in a jiffy."

"Remember, Brown, if you do, and I am asked, I'll speak the truth, I'll warn you," said Ben undauntedly.

"And I'll break your head, if you do!" exclaimed Brown, springing out of the boat, followed by two of the other men, while the rest soon scattered themselves about the quay, leaving Ben sitting in the boat.

He, at all events, determined not to move, though the proper boat-keepers deserted their post. He sat on for some time, watching people pa.s.sing on sh.o.r.e: blacks, and brown men, the aboriginal natives of the country, and white people descended from Spaniards, in their varied and picturesque costumes; and two or three processions pa.s.sed, of priests, in white and purple dresses, and some in gold and scarlet, with banners of the Virgin Mary and saints, and crucifixes, and images, and bells tinkling, and men and boys chanting and swinging about incense, just as Ben had read used to be done in heathen days, but quite different to the custom of Protestant England. Some of the priests were going to visit the sick and dying, and others were on their way to attend funerals; indeed, there seemed to be a good deal of commotion on sh.o.r.e among the ecclesiastics. Ben could not, however, exactly tell what it all meant.

A considerable time thus pa.s.sed, and he wished that his shipmates would return to the boat, lest Mr Manners should come down before them. The boat had begun to move about a good deal lately, and Ben, on looking round, discovered that a heavy sea was rolling into the harbour.

Directly after this she struck with a loud noise against the stone pier.

Ben sprang to his feet, and with the boat-hook did his best to fend off the boat, shouting at the same time to the crew to come to his a.s.sistance; but they were too much occupied with what was going forward on sh.o.r.e to listen to him. Still he continued to exert himself to the uttermost, for he saw that, if he did not do so, the boat would be dashed to pieces. Again and again he shouted, till he was almost worn out with his labours. He might at any moment have jumped on sh.o.r.e, and left the boat to her fate; but he never thought of doing so. While he was thus engaged, he heard his name called, and, looking up, he saw the good-natured face of Mr Manners, who was watching him from the quay above.

"Why, boy Hadden, how comes it that you are left in the boat alone?" he asked. "Where are the rest?"

"There, sir," said Ben, pointing to where a few were to be seen.

The midshipman ran towards them, shouting out at the same time. They came, at length, very unwillingly.

"See, you have allowed the boat to be almost stove in!" exclaimed the generally quiet young midshipman. "Jump in, now, and keep her off.

Where are the rest?"

The men, after getting into the boat, were silent for some time. The midshipman repeated the question.

"Just round the end of that street," said one of the men. "Shall I go and call them, sir? What keeps them, I don't know."

"No," answered the midshipman firmly. "We will pull off a short distance, and wait for them. If they do not come down immediately, I will go on board without them."

The officer was just about to utter the words, "Give way!" when the missing men were seen hurrying down, with uneven steps, towards the quay. The boat put in, and took them on board. Their countenances were flushed, and their manner wild; but they did not venture to speak much.

The midshipman saw that they were endeavouring to conceal something, as they took their seats. "Heave those bottles overboard!" he exclaimed suddenly, when they had got a little way from the quay.

The men hesitated. "Not till they are empty," cried one. "Not till we have had what is in them," exclaimed another, putting a bottle to his lips.

The midshipman, a spirited lad, sprang from his seat, and, pa.s.sing the intervening men, with a boat-stretcher which he had seized dashed the bottle from the man's lips ere a drop could have been drunk. This so exasperated the already tipsy sailor, that he flung himself on the young officer, and, seizing him in his arms, threw him overboard.

Ben, though not in time to prevent this, jumped from the boat, holding on by one of the tiller-ropes, and grasped his young officer by the collar. "Haul us in, mates!" he cried. "You won't surely add murder to what that man has done!"

Even the worst men were somewhat sobered when they saw what had happened, and the other man who had the bottle to his lips stopped drinking; and, fearful of consequences to themselves, they began to haul the officer and Ben together on board.

"Quick! quick, mates! or it will be too late!" cried the c.o.xswain, who had remained on the quay, though he had been guilty of letting the other men go.

A dark object was seen in the water. It darted towards them.

"A shark! a shark!" was the cry.

Ben quickly sprang into the boat; but barely was Mr Manners hauled on board than a flash of white appeared, a huge mouth opened and closed again with a loud snap, and a shark darted away, disappointed of its prey. Even the most drunken of the men were sobered, and the bottles of spirit they had procured at so much risk were thrown overboard. The midshipman quickly recovered.

"They are all gone, sir," said the c.o.xswain in a humble tone. "The men hope that you won't say anything about what has happened."

"I would gladly avoid doing so, so far as I am myself concerned, although, no thanks to d.i.c.k Nolan, I am a living man, instead of a dead one in the body of a shark; but discipline must be maintained. I should be neglecting my duty if I did not report those who disobeyed orders. I shall speak of you in no vindictive spirit, and it will not be my fault if the man who threw me into the water receives the punishment which is justly his due: that punishment would be nothing short of death-- remember that, my men! I have been taught by a Book, which I wish that you all would read, to forgive my enemies and those who injure me; and therefore I will, for the sake of our loving Saviour, endeavour to save Nolan's life."

The men hung down their heads. This was a very different style of address from what they were accustomed to. No one expected it; even Ben, who had frequently been with Mr Manners, did not. The most hardened felt ashamed of themselves; they were certain that the young officer would not injure them if he could help it, but they also knew that he must report them.

At length the boat reached the ship, and Mr Manners went into the cabin to give an account of the mission on which he had been sent on sh.o.r.e.

Ben felt very anxious for the boat's crew; and the culprits, especially, felt very anxious for themselves. Ben forgot all about himself, and he did not suppose that he was likely to gain credit for the part he had acted. He was therefore very much surprised when he was sent for into the cabin.