The History of Little Peter, the Ship Boy Part 2

"I don't know what duds mean, sir," answered Peter.

"Not know what duds mean, and you a sailor's son, as you tell me?

Clothes, to be sure," cried the captain, laughing again.

"I have got another suit for Sundays, when I go to church, sir,"

answered Peter.

The captain and old Jim laughed in chorus at the reply.

"We have no Sundays aboard here, and don't carry church steeples at our mast-heads," cried the former, again laughing at his own wit as he considered it.

He and his mate were in a merry mood, for they had just had one successful voyage, and as the weather was fine they hoped to make another. The captain himself had taken a parting-gla.s.s or two with his friends on sh.o.r.e. So little Peter found him and his mate in their best humour.

"Do you hear, boy?" cried the captain, seeing that Peter did not move; "go forward and see what they have got for you to do."

Peter did not know where forward was, but observing the direction in which the captain was looking, supposed it to be at the other end of the ship.

"I left my bundle down-stairs there, sir; shall I take it with me?" he asked.

Again the captain and mate laughed. Of course they felt their superiority to the poor ignorant little shepherd-boy.

"We have no down-stairs here, no more than we have Sundays; but your bundle is not to stop in my cabin, I should think. Get it and take it with you."

Peter, having got his bundle from below, went forward, accompanied by old Jim.

"Now, lads," said the latter to the four unkempt beings who formed the crew of the _Polly_, "here is a boy for you, and just see he don't go overboard or run away; the skipper is tired of getting lads to do your work."

The men looked at little Peter and grinned. "Now, boy," said old Jim, turning to Peter, "come below and I'll show you your berth. You must keep your eyes wide open, or may be you will not see it."

The mate descended through a small hatchway by an upright ladder into a dark place, where Peter, as he was bid, followed him. He could hear the mate's voice, but could not distinguish him in the gloom, which at first appeared impenetrable.

"Come here," cried the mate. "What, are you blind?"

Peter was stretching out his hands trying to grope his way. By degrees a glimmer of light which came down the hatchway enabled him to distinguish old Jim, and as his eyes became more accustomed to the gloom, he discovered that he was in a triangular-shaped place, with shelves on either side which formed the bunks or standing bed-places of the crew, the heel of the bowsprit making a division in the fore part.

Some chests were on the floor, and thick coats, sou'-westers, with numerous other articles, were hung up against the bulk-heads, which formed the third side of the forepeak.

"That's your berth," said old Jim, pointing to the foremost sleeping-place in the bow of the vessel. "The boy who has gone has left his blankets, so you will have the use of them. And mind when you are called you turn out pretty quick; we cannot have laggards aboard the _Polly_."

"Thank you, sir," said Peter, depositing his bundle in the dark, close-smelling bunk. "I am accustomed to be afoot by daybreak, to look after Farmer Ashton's sheep."

"You will have something different from sheep to look after; and night and day at sea are the same. All hands don't turn in and sleep till the sun is up, or the ship would be apt to lose her way."

A laugh at the mate's wit from some of the other men who had followed them into the forepeak, was heard out of the darkness. When the mate was gone, they gathered round Peter and began to amuse themselves at his expense. He, however, took their jeers quietly, not attempting to reply; indeed, as he did not clearly understand their meaning, the jokes generally fell harmless. Finding at length that they could not irritate him, they told him to go on deck to help Bill. Bill was the man who did duty as cook. Peter found him in the caboose; he was as black and grimy as a negro, with grease and coal-dust.

"They told me you wanted me, Bill," said Peter.

"Yes," growled Bill, "clean out those pots and wash up the dishes and plates in that tub. Here is some hot water for you."

Peter performed the work to the cook's satisfaction. He gave him some bread and a piece of bacon for his supper, as he had eaten nothing since the afternoon.

Peter was standing watching the moon, whose full orb as it rose in the sky shed a silvery light over the ocean, a spectacle novel and beautiful to him, when old Jim, in a gruff voice, told him to go and turn in.

Though he would infinitely have preferred remaining on deck, he did as he was bid.

He did not omit, before he took off his clothes, to kneel down and pray for protection for himself and all on board. No one saw the young boy in the att.i.tude of prayer, or he would not have escaped interruption, but Peter knew that G.o.d saw him and heard him. Young and humble as he was, and unpromising as were the manners of those among whom he had been thrown, he felt no fear. His mind was at rest. He climbed into his berth and was soon asleep.

CHAPTER THREE.

PERILS AT SEA.

The _Polly_ had made good progress on her voyage, the North Foreland had been rounded, and with a fair breeze under all sail she was running to the north. There were numerous other colliers, brigs and schooners and vessels of all sizes, scattered far and wide over the sea, some close at hand, others mere specks, their loftier canvas just rising above the clearly-defined horizon.

Poor Peter had had a hard life of it, ordered about by every one on board, often receiving an undeserved cuff and kick, or finding the end of a rope laid sharply across his shoulders when he did not understand an order which he had never before heard issued. His clothes and face and hands were now almost as dirty as those of his companions, although he did his best to keep them clean, but he had received a rope's-ending from the cook for taking fresh water for the purpose of washing himself, and he found that the salt water had little effect on his skin. But he did not complain. He had a source of comfort within him of which those around knew nothing. What grieved him most was the fearful language he heard hourly uttered, G.o.d's holy name profaned, foul oaths, and obscene conversation. Whenever he could he endeavoured to escape from it. He either tried to get on deck when his shipmates were below, or below when they were on deck--to get anywhere where they were not. Still, so persistent are depraved human beings under the influence of Satan, in showing their enmity to those who love G.o.d, and to G.o.d Himself, that they often followed him with their ribald shouts, and kept him forcibly down among them.

Alas! this is no uncommon scene on board, not only many a collier, but many a proud ship that sails over the ocean. Still, Peter had not read his Bible in vain. Influenced by G.o.d's Holy Spirit, he knew that he must return good for evil. Now and then, when a retort rose to his lips, he sought for grace to repress it, and he either remained silent or gave a mild reply. He persevered, too, in reading his Bible. Often when the lantern was lit in the forepeak, and the watch below were asleep, he would rise from his berth, and by its pale light sit on a chest beneath it and read from the sacred page, although he could with difficulty make out the words. At other times he would stow himself away forward, and opening his beloved book, draw comfort and consolation from it till he was summoned to some duty by one of his task-masters.

Two or three times he had stolen aloft unnoticed by those on deck, and read uninterruptedly for an hour or more, but the mate at length discovering him, called him down.

"I told you we don't allow idlers aboard," exclaimed old Jim, bestowing several cuts with a rope's-end on his shoulders. "Don't let me ever catch you again with your book aloft doing nothing, or overboard it goes; we don't want psalm-singers or Bible-readers among us. Remember my words."

Peter trembled with alarm for the safety of his book. The mate might put his threat into execution, and what could he do to prevent it? Yet he would fight hard before he would give it up, of that he was determined. At the same time he knew that he must obey orders, and he dare not again venture aloft to read. Even if he read on deck, he might run the risk of losing his book. Yet read he must. He asked for guidance and direction from above. The fear which had thus been aroused of losing his Bible made him consider how he could still better secure it. Hitherto he had carried it inside his shirt, with his waistcoat b.u.t.toned over it. He now determined to make a canvas case and sling it round his neck. One of the men had some canvas for mending his clothes.

Peter purchased a piece, together with some twine, with one of the few shillings he had in his pocket, and borrowed a sail needle from the mate, who lent it, not knowing the object it was for. Peter had watched the men at work, and by perseverance manufactured a case to his satisfaction, with a canvas strap to go round his neck. He could now carry his Bible night and day, and if summoned suddenly on deck, he would still have it with him, and should it enter the head of one of his shipmates to try and take it from his bunk while he was on deck, he would be disappointed. Peter now felt far more content than heretofore about the safety of his Bible. He had frequently to go into the captain's cabin to carry his meals from the caboose and to clean it out.

Generally Captain Hawkes took no notice of him, but one day, being in a facetious humour, he exclaimed, "Well, boy, have you got through your book yet?"

"No, sir," said Peter, "I don't expect to do so for a long time to come."

"Look sharp, then," said the captain; "you will never be a sailor till you have."

"I am afraid, sir, then, I never will become a sailor," said Peter, quietly.

"How so?" asked Captain Hawkes.

"Because I shall wish to read the book till the last day of my life. I want to read it to know how to live, and just as much to know how to die."

"We can live very well without it, I have a notion," said the captain; "but as to dying, that may be a different matter."

"Beg pardon, sir," said Peter, "but I have been taught that it is one and the same thing. If you like, sir, I'll read to you all about it from the book."

"No, no; I want none of your Bible reading," answered the captain.

"But, sir," said Peter, feeling a bold spirit rise within him, "if the ship was to go down, and we all were drowned, and had to stand before G.o.d, how those who had the words, 'Depart, ye accursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,' spoken to them would wish that they had listened to G.o.d's word, and been prepared to meet Him as their Judge."

"Get out of the cabin, you little canting hypocrite," exclaimed the captain, fiercely, for G.o.d's words uttered by the young boy had struck home to his conscience; but he "loved darkness rather than light, because his deeds were evil," and he sought to avoid the light.

Peter went on deck with a feeling of deep sorrow at his heart that the captain would not listen. He wished, however, that he had spoken to him rather of G.o.d's love to sinners than of his threatenings. "The mention of that great love might have touched his heart," he thought; "I will tell him of it another time."

He often tried when he could speak alone to any of the men to get them to allow him to read from his book; but he was told to keep it to himself, no one on board wanted it. He hoped, however, to succeed by perseverance; and perhaps when they found that he was becoming a smart and active sailor, and could lay out on the yards and reef and steer as well as any of them, they would be more ready to listen. He did his utmost, therefore, to learn his duty as a seaman. Old Jim began to treat him with less harshness than at first, and in his rough way gave him instruction in the art he wished to acquire; he taught him to box the compa.s.s and to steer, and even explained why various manoeuvres were performed. Still, when Peter began to speak about the Bible, or anything contained in it, he either turned a deaf ear or angrily told him to mind his own business.

The Tyne was at last reached, and Peter's wonder was excited by the large city he saw stretching up the hill, and the numerous other towns and villages which lined the banks of that important river, but still more by the numberless vessels taking in their cargoes of coal, shot down into their holds from the cliffs above them. Much as he wished it he was not allowed to go on sh.o.r.e, the captain suspecting that, like his predecessors, he might not return. Though he had harder work than ever, yet, having fewer task-masters, he was less ill-treated than before.