The Little Savage Part 8

Shortly afterwards, the mate brought us up some of the fish which they had cooked for supper, and when we had eaten it we went to bed.

"This is the last night we shall sleep together, Nero," said I, kissing my favourite, and the thought brought tears into my eyes. "But it can't be helped." I was however soon fast asleep with my arm round the animal.

When I went out the next morning, I found that the weather was beautifully fine, the water smooth, and only rippled by a light breeze. As Mrs R. had not yet made her appearance, I went down to the bathing-pool, where I found all the men up and in full activity. The boat had been emptied out, the oars, masts, and sails, were on the rocks and the men were turning the bows to the seaward in readiness for launching her over the ledge of rocks. The dried birds lay in a heap by the side of the cask of rum, and the fish which had been baked were in a large kid. The six breakers were also piled up together, and the mate and some of the men were disputing as to how many of them should be filled with water. The mate wanted them all filled; the men said that three would be sufficient, as the boat would be so loaded. At last the mate gained his point, and the men each took a breaker, and went up to the cabin for the water. I went with them to fill the breakers, and also to see that they did no mischief, for they appeared very unruly and out of temper; and I was afraid that they would hurt Nero, who was at the cabin, if I was not there to prevent them; but with the exception of examining the cabin, and forcing themselves in upon Mrs Reichardt, they did nothing. When the breakers were full, which took at least half an hour, they did indeed try to catch the birds, and would have wrung their necks, but the males flew away, and the females I put into the bed-place that was screened off in the cabin, and near which Mrs Reichardt was sitting. They all appeared to have a great awe and respect for this woman, and a look from her was more effectual than were any words of the mate.

"We don't want you," said one of the men, as they went down to the bathing-pool with the breakers on their shoulders. "Why don't you keep up with the lady? You're quite a lady's man, now you've white trousers on."

The others who followed him laughed at this latter remark.

"I'm of no use up there, at present," said I; "and I may be down below."

The men set down the breakers on the rocks by the pool, and then, under the directions of the mate, prepared to launch the boat over the ledge. The masts of the boat were placed athwartships, under her keel, for her to run upon, and being now quite empty, she was very light. She was what they call a whale-boat, fitted for the whale fishery, pointed at both ends, and steered by an oar; she was not very large, but held seven people comfortably, and she was remarkably well fitted with sails and masts, having two lugs and a mizen. As soon as they were all ready, the men went to the side of the boat, and in a minute she was launched into the sea without injury. The mate said to me, as they brought her broadside to the ledge-- "Now, my lad, we don't want you any more; you may go up to the cabin till we are ready, and then we will send for you and the lady."

"Oh! but I can be of use here," replied I; "and I am of none up there."

The mate did not reply, and the men then went to the rum cask, and rolled it towards the boat; and when they had it on the ledge, they parbuckled it, as they term it, into the boat with a whale-line that they happened to have, and which was of great length. After the cask of rum was got in amidships, (and it took up a great deal of s.p.a.ce, reaching from one gunnel to the other, and standing high above the thwarts) they went for the breakers of water, which they put in, three before and three behind the cask, upon the floor of the boat.

"She will be too heavy," said one of the men, "with so much water."

"We can easily get rid of it," replied the mate. "If you had said she would be too heavy with so much liquor on board, you had better explained the matter; however, you must have your own ways, I suppose."

The next articles that they brought to stow away were the provisions. The kid of fish was put amidships on the breakers, and the dried birds, which they carried down in their arms, were packed up neatly in the stern-sheets. They were soon up to the gunnel, and the mate said, "You had better stow away forward now--there will be little room for the lady as it is."

"No, no, stow them all aft," replied one of the men, in a surly tone; "the lady must sit where she can. She's no better than we."

"Shall this go in?" said I, pointing to the coil of whale-line, and addressing the mate.

"No, no; we must leave that," replied one of the men in the boat; "we shall be wedged enough as it is; and I say, Jim, throw that old saw and the bag of nails out of the boat--we can have no use for them."

The masts were then stepped, and the rigging set up to the gunnel of the boat, the yards and sails handed in, and hooked on the halyards ready for hoisting. In fact the boat was now all ready for starting; they had only the iron kettle and two or three other articles to put in.

"Shall we have the mizen?" inquired one of the men, pointing to the mast, which lay on the rocks.

"No, she steers quite as well without it," replied the mate. "We'll leave it. And now, lads, hand the oars in."

They were brought to the boat, but owing to the puncheon of rum in the centre, they could not lie flat, and after a good deal of arguing and disputing, four oars and a boat-hook were lashed to the gunnel outside, and the rest were left on the rocks.

At this time there was some consultation between the mate and some of the men--the mate being evidently opposed by the others. I could not hear what it was about, but the mate appeared very angry and very much annoyed. At last he dashed his hat down on the rocks in a great pa.s.sion, saying, "No good will come of it. Mark my words. No good ever did or ever will. Be it so, you are too many for me; but I tell you again, no good will come of it."

The mate then sat down on the rocks by himself, and put his head down on his knees, covering it with his hands.

The man with whom he had been disputing went to the others in the boat, and spoke to them in a low tone, looking round at me, to ascertain if I was within hearing.

After a minute or two they all separated, and then one of them said to me-- "Now, my lad, we're all ready. Go up to the cabin and bring down your bundle and her basket, and tell the lady we are waiting for her."

"There's the shovel," said I, "and the boat's sail--must I bring them down?"

"Oh yes, bring them down, and also two or three sealskins for the lady to sit upon."

Off I went on my errand, for I was delighted with the idea of leaving the island, and my patience had been almost exhausted at the time they had taken in the stowage of the boat. As I hastened up the path, I heard loud contention, and the mate's voice speaking very angrily, and I stopped for a short time to listen, but the noise ceased, and I went on again. I found Nero on the platform, and I stopped a minute to caress him. "Good bye, my poor Nero, we shall never see one another again," said I. "You must go back to the sea, and catch fish for yourself;" and the tears started in my eyes as I gave the animal a farewell kiss.

I then went into the cabin, where I found Mrs Reichardt sitting very quietly.

"They are all ready," said I, "and have sent me up for you but I am to bring down the boat's sail and some seal skins for you to sit upon. I can carry both if you can carry my bundle. Have you put the belt on?"

"Yes," replied she, "I am quite ready. I will carry the bundle, and the books and spy-gla.s.s, as well as my basket; but we must pack them close," added she, "and roll the sail up round the yard, or you will not be able to carry it."

We took the sail down, and got it ready for carrying, and I rolled up the two best seal skins, and tied them with a piece of fishing line, and then we were all ready. I shouldered my burden, and Mrs Reichardt took the other articles, as proposed, and we left the cabin to go down the path to the bathing-pool.

"Good bye, Nero--good bye, birds--good bye, cabin--and good bye, garden," said I, as I went along the platform; and having so done, and ordered Nero back with a tremulous voice, I turned my head in the direction of the bathing-pool. I stared and then screamed, dropping my burden, as I lifted up my hands in amazement-- "Look!" cried I to my companion. "Look!" repeated I, breathless.

She did look, and saw as I did--the boat under all sail, half a mile from the pool, staggering under a fresh breeze, which carried her away at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour.

They had left us--they had deserted us. I cried out, like a madman, "Stop! stop! stop!" and then, seeing how useless it was, I dashed myself on the rock, and for a minute or two was insensible.

"Oh!" groaned I, at last, as I came to my senses.

"Frank Henniker," said a sweet firm voice.

I opened my eyes, and saw Mrs Reichardt standing by me.

"It is the will of Heaven, and you must submit to it patiently," continued she.

"But so cruel, so treacherous!" replied I, looking at the fast-receding boat.

"I grant, most cruel, and most treacherous, but we must leave them to the judgment of G.o.d. What can they expect from him in the way of mercy when they have shewn none? I tell you candidly, that I think we are better in our present forlorn state upon this rock, than if in that boat. They have taken with them the seeds of discord, of recklessness, and intemperance, in an attempt which requires the greatest prudence, calmness, and unanimity, and I fear there is little chance of their even being rescued from their dangerous position. It is my opinion, and I thought so when I first knew they had found the cask, that liquor would prove their ruin, and I say again, that boat will never arrive at its destination, and they will all perish miserably. It has pleased G.o.d that they should leave us here, and depend upon it, it has been so decided for the best."

"But," replied I, looking again at the boat, "I was tired of being here--I was so anxious to get off--and now to be left! And they have taken all our provisions, everything, even the fish in the pool. We shall starve."

"I hope not," replied she, "and I think not; but we must exert ourselves, and trust to Heaven."

But I could not heed her--my heart was bursting. I sobbed, as I sat with my hands covering up my face.

"All gone!" cried I. "No one left but you and I."

"Yes," replied she, "one more."

"Who?" cried I, looking up.

"G.o.d!--who is with us always."

Chapter XXIII.

I heard what she said, but my head was too confused to weigh the words. I remained silent, where I was. A few seconds elapsed, and she spoke again: "Frank Henniker, rise, and listen to me."

"We shall starve," muttered I.

As I said this, one of the male birds returned from the sea with a large fish, of which Mrs Reichardt took possession, as she had seen me do, and the gannet flew away again to obtain more. Immediately afterwards, the other two birds returned with fish, which were in a like way secured by my companion.

"See how unjust and ungrateful you are," observed she. "Here are the birds feeding us, as the ravens did Elijah in the wilderness, at the very time that you are doubting the goodness and mercy of G.o.d. There is a meal for us provided already."

"My head! my head!" exclaimed I, "it is bursting, and there is a heavy weight rolling in it--I cannot see anything."

And such was the fact: the excitement had brought on a determination of blood to the head, and my senses were rapidly departing. Mrs Reichardt knelt by my side, and perceiving that what I had said was the case, went into the cabin and brought out a cloth, which she wetted with water from the spring, and laid across my forehead and temples. I remained motionless and nearly senseless for half an hour, during which she continued to apply fresh cold water to the cloth, and by degrees I recovered from my stupor. In the meantime, the weather being so fine and the water smooth, the gannets continued to return with the fish they caught, almost all of which were taken from them by my companion, until she had collected more than a dozen fish, from half a pound to a pound weight, which she put away, so that the birds and seal might not devour them.

I was still in a half dozing state, when the breathing and cold nose of Nero touched my cheek, and the murmurings of my favourite roused me up, and I opened my eyes.

"I am better now," said I to Mrs Reichardt. "How kind you have been!"

"Yes, you are better, but still, you must remain quiet. Do you think that you could walk to your bed-place?"

"I'll try," replied I, and with her a.s.sistance I rose up; but, when I afterwards gained my feet, I should have fallen if she had not supported me; but, a.s.sisted by her, I gained my bed and sank down again.

She raised my head higher, and then applied the linen cloth and cold water as before.

"Try now," said she, "if you cannot go to sleep. When you awake again, I will have some dinner ready for you."

I thanked her and shut my eyes. Nero crawled to my bed-place, and with my hand upon his head, I fell asleep, and remained so till near sunset, when I awoke with very little pain in my head, and much refreshed. I found Mrs Reichardt by my side.

"You are better now," said she. "Can you eat any dinner? I must make friends with Nero, for he has been disputing my right to come near your bedside, and his teeth are rather formidable. However, I gave him the inside of the fish when I cleaned them, and we are better friends already. There is your dinner."

Mrs Reichardt placed before me some of the fish, broiled on the embers, and I ate very heartily.

"It is very kind of you," said I, "to be working for me, when I ought to be working for you--but you must not do it again."

"Only my share of the work when you are well," replied she; "but my share I always shall do. I cannot be idle, and I am strong enough to do a great deal; but we will talk about that to-morrow morning. You will be quite well by that time, I hope."

"Oh! I feel well now," replied I, "only I am very weak."

"You must put your trust in G.o.d, my poor boy. Do you ever pray to him?"

"Yes, I try a little sometimes--but I don't know how. Jackson never taught me that."

"Then I will. Shall I pray now for both of us?"

"Will G.o.d hear you? What was it that you said just before I forgot everything this morning?"

"I told you that there was another here besides ourselves, a good and gracious G.o.d, who is always with us and always ready to come to our a.s.sistance if we call upon him."

"You told me G.o.d lived beyond the stars."

"My poor boy, as if he were a G.o.d who was afar off and did not attend to our prayers! Such is not the case. He is with us always in spirit, listening to all our prayers, and reading every secret thought of our hearts."

I was silent for some time, thinking upon what she had told me; at last I said-- "Then pray to him."

Mrs Reichardt knelt down and prayed in a clear and fervent voice, without hesitation or stop. She prayed for protection and support in our desolate condition, that we might be supplied with all things needful for our sustenance, and have a happy deliverance from our present position. She prayed that we might be contented and resigned until it should please him to rescue us--that we might put our whole trust and confidence in him, and submit without murmuring to whatever might be his will. She prayed for health and strength, for an increase of faith and grat.i.tude towards him for all his mercies. She thanked him for our having been preserved by being left on the desolate rock, instead of having left it in the boat with the seamen. (This surprised me.) And then she prayed for me, entreating that she might be the humble instrument of leading me to my Heavenly Father, and that he would be pleased to pour down upon me his Holy Spirit, so that I might, by faith in Christ, be accepted, and become a child of G.o.d and an inheritor of eternal bliss.

There was something so novel to me and so beautiful in her fervency of prayer, that the tears came into my eyes, and about a minute after she had finished, I said-- "I now recollect, at least, I think I do--for the memory of it is very confused-that my mother used to kneel down by me and pray just as you have done. Oh, how I wish I had a mother!"

"My child," replied she, "promise me that you will be a good and obedient son, and I will be a mother to you."

"Will you? Oh! how kind of you. Yes, I will be all you wish; I will work for you day and night if it is necessary. I will do everything, if you will but be my mother."

"I will do my duty to you as a mother most strictly," replied she; "so that is agreed upon. Now, you had better go to sleep, if you can."

"But I must first ask you a question. Why did you thank G.o.d for the seamen having left us here, instead of taking us with them?"

"Because the boat was overloaded as it was; because the men, having liquor, would become careless and desperate, and submit to no control; and therefore I think there is little or no chance of their ever arriving anywhere safe, but that they will perish miserably in some way or another. This, I consider, is the probability, unless the Almighty in his mercy should be pleased to come to their a.s.sistance, and allow them to fall in with some vessel soon after their departure."

"Do you think, then, that G.o.d prevented our going with them on purpose that we might not share their fate?"

"I do! G.o.d regulates everything. Had it been better for us that we should have gone, he would have permitted it; but he willed it otherwise, and we must bow to his will with a full faith, that he orders everything for the best."

"And you say that G.o.d will give us all that we ask for in our prayers?"

"Yes, if we pray fervently and in faith, and ask it in the name of Jesus Christ; that is, he will grant all we pray for, that is good for us, but not what is not good for us; or when we ask anything, we do not know that we are asking what is proper or not--but he does. We may ask what would be hurtful to us, and then, in his love for us, he denies it. For instance, suppose you had been accustomed to pray, you must have prayed G.o.d that he would permit you to leave this island in the boat, as you are so anxious to go away; but supposing that boat is lost, as I imagine it will be, surely it would have been a kindness in G.o.d, who knew that it would be lost, not to grant your prayer. Is it not so?"

"Yes, I see now, thank you; now I will go to sleep--good-night."

Chapter XXIV.

I awoke the next morning quite recovered from my illness of the day before, and was out of the cabin before Mrs Reichardt, who still remained behind the screen which she had put up after I had gone to sleep. It was a beautiful morning, the water was smooth, and merely rippled with a light breeze, and the sun shone bright. I felt well and happy. I lighted a fire to broil the fish for breakfast, as there was a sufficiency left, and then got my fishing-lines ready to catch some larger fish to reinhabit my pond at the bathing pool. Mrs Reichardt came out of the cabin and found me playing with Nero.

"Good morning, dear mother," said I, for I felt most kindly towards her.

"Good morning, my dear boy," replied she. "Are you quite well?"

"Quite well; and I have got my lines all ready, for I have been thinking that until the birds come, we must live on fish altogether, and we can only take them in fine weather like this; so we must not lose such a day."

"Certainly not. As soon as we have breakfasted, we will go down and fish. I can fish very well, I am used to it. We must both work now; but first go for your Bible, that we may read a little."

I did so, and after she had read a chapter she prayed, and I knelt by her side; then we breakfasted, and as soon as we had breakfasted, we set off to the bathing-pool.