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"Did you ever hear the story of the 'cute captain whomade his Jack-tars obey him without so much us a touch of the cat?"cried Robin.
Gump looked as if he were going to spring at the man who had dared to rebuke him on his own deck, and in the presence of others, for the swearer's loud voice had drawn some listeners to the spot. Robin saw the storm brewing, and with his quick wit managed to act as a lightning-conductor ere the fierce captain's fury had time to burst.
"Did you ever hear the story of the 'cute captain who over-reached his Jack-tars, and made them obey his will without so much as a touch of the cat?" cried Robin.
"Hold your tongue, boy," rudely growled the captain.
But Robin was not to be silenced when he had a good story to tell, especially when he had an object in telling it. He put himself between his brother and Gump, and went on with what the captain thought effrontery quite astounding.
"The captain was new to the ship, and the crew were a rough lot, a very rough lot, you see. So the captain got them together, and made a kind of short speech; perhaps you did so to your salts, though not such a very odd speech as was made by that very eccentric captain."
Even Gump's curiosity was slightly aroused; he was much more given to cursing and swearing than to making speeches, but he had spoken a few words to his men when assuming command.
"The captain said," continued Robin, "'My hearties, I've a favour to ask of you all.'"
"Ask a favour of his own tars! What a muff he must have been!" muttered Gump.
Robin went on with animation, as if unconscious of any interruption, or any probability of giving offence. "'Then,' said the captain, 'I ask you to let me swear the first oath on this ship.'"
"Not much to ask," said Gump, with a grim smile.
"Oh! But it was something," cried Robin, "for of course the tars agreed to do what the captain wished, and as he never swore the first oath, they had no chance of swearing at all!"
Captain Gump's anger, as Robin intended, was now turned upon him instead of his brother. The swearer was all the more provoked because some of the hearers laughed at the story, and glanced at him to see if the arrow had hit the mark. Gump began in a loud, fierce tone, "You're a young Jack-a—"
But Robin gave him no time to finish the sentence, adroitly ending the title in a way not intended by Gump—
"Jack of all trades, yes, that's what folk call me; and here is one of my tricks!" And with the agility of a cat, the youth sprang at one of the ropes of the ship, clambered up, and was looking laughingly down from the shrouds before Gump had sufficiently recovered from his surprise at the sudden feat to be able to utter a word.
Shelah O'More clapped her hands, and Miss Petty exclaimed:
"Robin was always climbing; he'll break his neck one of these days."
"The sooner the better!" grumbled Gump, as he walked to another part of the deck; but he spoke with a grin on his face. He could not refrain from a chuckle, Robin had so utterly taken him by surprise, and when an angry man has once been drawn into a laugh, or anything like it, it is difficult to him to resume his ill-humour.
Robin, having accomplished his object, swung himself down by a rope and rejoined his brother.
"Suppose that we enjoy the quiet of the saloon below, and leave the captain's red-heat time to cool down," said Robin playfully to Harold.
The brothers accordingly went below, and sat down to a game of chess. Harold gave grave attention to the game and won it: he was of a calm, self-possessed nature now, though fiery in earlier youth; but the excitement of the scene on deck filled Robin with mingled indignation and mirth, distracting his thoughts from the board. Robin moved his castle as if it were a knight, jumping over the heads of a couple of pawns, and captured his own queen by mistake in a very triumphant manner.
"Chess is too dull and sober a game for me!" exclaimed Robin, starting from his seat when Harold gave the inevitable checkmate; "I always feel inclined to go head-over-heels when I'm done, to recover from the strain of so much thinking!"
A BATTLE, AND ITS RESULT.
"I AM glad to see you able to come on deck, Miss Petty," said Harold, on the following morning, when the old lady, looking paler and more wrinkled than she had done on the preceding day, made her way to a bench. "We have had a wonderfully quiet night for the Channel; Neptune is treating us kindly."
"I don't know what you mean by a quiet night," was the peevish reply; "and his name is not Neptune but Gump."
Harold did not consider himself obliged to correct the old lady's mistake, and suppressed the smile which rose to his lips.
"I was as miserable as I could be!" continued Miss Petty. "I was boxed up in a swinging cage which would not keep steady for a minute, and with a cat for a companion!"
"A cat?" repeated Harold.
"Yes; a cat, a wild cat—a tiger cat!" exclaimed the Lammikin's guardian, looking angrily in the direction of Shelah, who was standing staring at the man at the wheel. "There were two berths—that's what they call them—one over the other. I've never had Master Robin's fancy for climbing, so I chose the lower berth for myself, and helped the child up to hers as well as I could. I bade Shelah keep quiet and go to sleep. I was just dropping off myself, in spite of the sickening motion of the ship, when down comes a foot on my nose, and before I have time to so much as cry out, there is Miss Mischief with a bang on the cabin floor, as if she had taken a flying leap, and had fallen flat on her face! She roared, and I left her to roar; I was not going to hoist her up again, to go tumbling about like a monkey. I've made up my mind to one thing; never—no, never—take charge of a child on ship-board again!"
Harold looked concerned, but it was not on account of the trials endured by the guardian. He felt that poor Shelah had not a chance of learning the sweetness of Christian love whilst under the care of one who knew it only by name.
"I wish to speak to you on a different subject, Miss Petty," said Harold Hartley. "Captain Gump, I regret to say, resolutely sets his face against religious services here, and his commands are lawn on his deck. But no one can prevent Christian passengers from reading and praying together in the saloon, and I hope that some few will unite in asking for a blessing on all on board, and listening to a short exposition from the Word of God. Mrs. Evendale suggested our holding this little meeting, and we have fixed on twelve o'clock as our hour. Will you let us count you among our number?"
Miss Petty hesitated, but only for a moment. She cared not for religious meetings in themselves, but she knew that something of the sort was considered respectable even by the world. Theresa also wished to keep up close intercourse with the Hartleys, who were the only ones amongst the gentlemen on board who did not either treat her with silent neglect or make her the butt of rude jokes. To those unrestrained by Christian courtesy, it was difficult not to laugh at poor, selfish, silly Miss Petty, and the old dame and her Lammikin were already by-words on board.
"I should be charmed to come," said Miss Petty, "if there were any one else to take care of that mischievous magpie; one never knows what she will be at."
Shelah was busy at the moment in trying to uncoil a bit of rope, and pull it to pieces.
"Bring Shelah with you," suggested Harold.
Miss Petty shrugged her shoulders to express how impossible it would be to do anything, or listen to anything, if Shelah were allowed to be present. But the guardian made no other reply.
Mrs. Evendale was sitting in her former place, Robin not far-away, leaning over the side of the vessel as if watching the waves, but really absorbed in listening. While the widow was plying her needle, in a low melodious voice she was singing to herself, quite unconscious of a listener near. The air which she sang was plaintive and sweet:
MISSIONARY HYMN."For Thy sake,And in Thy name,We offerings make—Lord! Send down flame!"With Thy WordWe face the foe,We grasp the sword,—Lord! Speed the blow!"For Thy loveWe scatter grain;Lord! From aboveSend down the rain!"Through life's hourTo work be mine;The glory, power,The harvest—Thine!"
"Forgive me for listening," said Robin, as the song ceased; "I am passionately fond of music, and could listen to you for hours."
"Music is a great solace to me," said the lady. "It has been well observed that hymns are like wings,—they bear us up towards heaven."
"Is that hymn printed in any collection?" asked Robin.
"Scarcely could it be so," replied Mrs. Evendale, with a faint smile, "as it was the outcome of a sleepless hour last night."
"And the air also?" asked young Hartley.
"No; the simple air is one which I learned in childhood from my grandmother. She was of Italian birth, and sang what the Tuscan peasants sing."
"Might I ask you to sing again, and let my brother listen also?" said Robin, as Miss Petty and Harold approached. Shelah was kneeling on a bench at a little distance, looking at bits of brown sea-weed floating below in the sea.
Mrs. Evendale made room on her bench for Miss Petty, and again softly began to sing. But this time the lady chose a well-known English hymn in which the Hartleys could join. Theresa Petty would greatly have preferred gossip, in which she herself was an adept, for the most soul-elevating hymn could not lift her spirit from earth.
Instead of listening, Miss Petty sat watching the movements of Shelah, and before the first verse of the hymn was finished, the guardian started up with almost a scream.
"Oh! The mischievous minx! If she has not thrown her own hat overboard!"
"It's my boat; see how it floats!" cried Shelah, clapping her hands.
"You goose! You donkey!" exclaimed the indignant guardian. "Your new Leghorn—trimmed with real lace! Where are you to get another hat for the voyage?"
"Don't want one," cried Shelah saucily, shaking her fiery locks. The child thought her covering of thick, untidy hair quite sufficient for comfort.
"You may not want one now," observed Harold Hartley, "but the protection of a hat will be quite necessary when we encounter the heat of the tropics."
"You'll have sun-stroke, and coup-de-soleil, and fall down in a fit!" cried Miss Petty. "And what will your father and mother say to me after all the trouble I've taken with their child!"
Robin good-naturedly clapped his own wide-awake over the little girl's head; but the hat being much too large for Shelah, it extinguished her forehead and eyes, only arrested by the turned-up tip of her nose.
Shelah pulled off the wide-awake, and laughed as she flung it back to its owner.
"I think that I can improvise something which will at least keep out the heat," said Mrs. Evendale, after some minutes' consideration. "I have a round, fancy basket below, which is, I think, about the right size for the crown of a hat, and I could quilt a brim if I had proper materials. Ah! This will supply both the wadding and silk," and the lady drew from behind her a small red cushion which had been given for a comfort during the voyage. "The gay colour will not matter on the head of a child."
"I like gay colours," said Shelah; "I won't throw your hat into the sea."
Mrs. Evendale gave no hint that the basket was one which she prized, or that the cushion was one that she would miss; a weakness in her back making the pillow almost a necessary to the widow. Mrs. Evendale went down to the cabin for her workbox and basket, and after removing the handle from the latter, tried it on the head of Shelah O'More.
"Nothing could fit better," observed Miss Petty.
The widow then sat down to cut up her cushion, and begin a puzzling task for the benefit of a disagreeable child, who was not likely even to think of thanks.
To make the quilted covering took hours, but they were pleasant hours to the widow, for, as she plied scissors or needle, she and the Hartleys conversed together on the theme of that love to God which makes us love our brother also. It is that love which pours itself forth in deeds of kindness, as the sun sheddeth forth rays, and apparently with as little effort.
Miss Petty had gone down below, and Shelah for a time was quiet, making up for her restless night by having a sleep on the deck, wrapped up snugly in Mrs. Evendale's travelling rug.
When Shelah awoke, and Miss Petty's gay bonnet again appeared on deck, the hat was finished. It was certainly a most original hat, the colour of the cushion having been scarlet, and it was soft and sun-proof, and—at least, so thought Robin—had a peculiar grace of its own, imparted by the worker, not by the wearer.
"A regular cardinal's hat," observed Harold. "What do you say to Mrs. Evendale for her kindness?" he added, as the lady tied the strings firmly under the chin of the child, and then gave her a kiss, rather to the surprise of both Miss Petty and Shelah herself.
"I'll say she's a good kind woman," answered the girl.
"Oh! That's not the way to speak of a lady!" exclaimed Miss Petty, who prided herself on her knowledge of forms of politeness, and thought that the word "woman" conveyed an insult.
"I won't say it of you," observed Shelah.
"I hope not indeed!" exclaimed Miss Petty.
"I'll say you're a cross bad woman!" cried the saucy child, with a look of defiance.
Miss Petty had already almost exhausted her zoological vocabulary on her troublesome Lammikin, but she had still one shaft left. "You little toad!" she cried, seizing the child by the arm, and dragging her by force towards the companion ladder. "I will shut you up in the cabin, I will, and you shall have no dinner till you humbly beg my pardon."
Shelah resisted, struggled, kicked and roared, and Miss Petty had no easy task to get her downstairs; but her guardian was resolute, especially as she heard some of the passengers laughing at the battle, and laying bets as to who would win it.
"This is painful," observed Mrs. Evendale, who longed to interpose, but felt that she had no right to do so.
"Miss Petty will ruin that child's temper," said Harold.
"And crack her voice; just hear how she screams!" added Robin.
The roaring was too loud to go on very long. In about five minutes it was succeeded by silence, and Miss Petty emerged from below, much ruffled in temper, and very red in the face.
"I've shut her in—she can't get out—I'll bring her into order, it's the only way to deal with such wild beasts," said the guardian, seating herself by Mrs. Evendale, and fanning herself with her handkerchief after her fight.
"Miss Petty, would you allow me to try if I can bring Shelah to herself?" said Mrs. Evendale, in a gentle, courteous manner.
"You'll never manage a child, you are a deal too soft," observed Miss Petty.
"I have brought up children," began the bereaved mother, but she could not finish the sentence, her voice faltered, and her eyes filled with tears.
"Let Mrs. Evendale try how she can manage," said Robin; and he thought to himself, "I am sure, that one reproving look from that sweet face would have had more effect with me when I was a child, than any amount of beating and abuse."
"Oh! Let Mrs. Evendale try what she can do!" exclaimed Theresa, wishing from her heart that the stranger would take full possession of the child, so long as all the credit and profit pertaining to the office of a guardian should fall to her own share.
Mrs. Evendale rose, crossed part of the deck, and descended the companion ladder. She proceeded to No. 6, but found the sliding door of that cabin secured from without by a piece of strong tape.
With some difficulty, the lady unfastened the knot; she then pushed back the door and entered the cabin just in time to see Shelah's booted feet projecting inwards from the port-hole, which she blocked up with her little body. The next instant the feet vanished, the port-hole was clear, there was the sound of a splash in the sea below, and the terror-stricken lady rushed up on deck, with the cry, "A child overboard!" ringing in her ears.
TO THE RESCUE!
"A CHILD overboard! A child overboard!" How terribly that cry resounded over the ship, with a shriek from Miss Petty as the scarlet had disappeared under the waves! Every passenger then on deck rushed to the side of the vessel from whence he could look down on the scene of the catastrophe, uttering exclamations of horror.
Gump's loud voice was heard over all, giving orders to "Let off steam! Back the ship! Lower the boat!" For with all his faults, Gump was a true British seaman, and could not see a little girl drowned without at least making efforts to save her.
But Robin was the promptest of all; his coat was off in two seconds, and the third saw him over the side of the vessel before anything could be done with the boat. It was an exceedingly perilous leap from a steamer, but Robin had not given a thought to his own danger, he was absorbed in that of the child.
Close to where Mrs. Evendale had been seated was a life-buoy, fastened up in case of shipwreck. The lady's large scissors were lying on the seat close to Harold Hartley at the moment when the splash and the shriek made him start from his seat. With great rapidity, he seized the scissors and severed the cords that fastened the buoy. Then the young man threw it over the waves with such force and precision, that, though the motion of the vessel before it could be backed had carried it far beyond Robin, the belt fell splashing into the water not many yards from his arms, now extended in swimming.
"Does he see it? Yes, yes, he sees it; he'll be saved, his hand is on it. Oh, why are they so slow with the boat? There, there; do you see that red spot on the waters? the child's body must have risen to the surface! It's gone! Can you see it? No; it was just on the whitened line of the steamer's wake. The lad has got hold of the belt, but he'll never reach the place where the girl sank. He'd better give up the useless attempt to find her. There; they're lowering the boat at last!" Such exclamations were bursting from the lips of excited beholders, gazing anxiously across the heaving sea, that sea which looked so terribly wide, so fearfully deep.
Harold is the first to spring into the boat, the first to seize an oar; his anxiety is intense, but he does not utter a word, he rows as one rowing for life. Miss Petty is wildly rushing up and down the deck, uttering cries of distress, which she wishes to be heard and recorded. "Oh, my Lammikin! My darling! She'll be drowned, she'll be drowned! And what shall I say to her parents? It was not my fault—every one knows that it was not my fault; I never dreamed that the girl would throw herself through the port-hole into the sea!"
"Let us pray—let us pray for her and the noble boy who is risking his life for a fellow-creature!" exclaims Mrs. Evendale, clasping her hands. Her lips move in fervent supplication, while her eyes are still fixed on the waste of waters.
The boat is being steered towards the life-belt, which is itself moving in a backward direction towards the place where the scarlet spot disappeared. Happily the sea is unusually still.
"There is the scarlet speck again!" exclaims Mrs. Evendale.
"Where, where? I can see nothing but the frightful waves," cries Theresa, "the light so dazzles my eyes!"
No one on deck can now see the life-belt, for the boat is between it and the ship; but Captain Gump's stout form is standing on the bridge, his telescope is raised to his eye, and his loud voice is again heard.
"The life-belt is taken into the boat, but the boy, where is he? He must have dived for the child—fine fellow; he's a sailor every inch of him; he swims like a fish! But he's thrown his life away," the captain mutters to himself. "God help him!" It is the first prayer which Gump has uttered for many a day.
The words have scarcely escaped his lips when a loud cheer from the boat rings across the waters; it is evident that one at least has been found. Again the captain's excited voice is heard from the bridge.
"Ha, ha! They've found him at last, and he's grasping at something red; he'll not let go, if he dies for it! The boy holds on like grim death, but will his strength stand out till they get him in?"
Again came the shout from the boat—again and again—it told its own tale to the anxious gazers on the deck of the "Alligator." Then as the boat with its rescued ones sped back to the ship, Mrs. Evendale fell on her knees, and returned fervent thanks for two lives preserved. When she rose, Robin could be plainly distinguished in the boat, with bare head and dripping locks, engaged with Harold in chafing some one lying in the bottom of the boat, for the form of the child could not be seen.
"Let us get hot water, flannels, stimulants ready," cried Mrs. Evendale, and she hurried down to make preparations below for restoring a half-drowned child. Miss Petty never thought of offering assistance.
Captain Gump came down from his perch on the bridge, an expression of honest satisfaction on his rough face. He received from the boat the yet senseless form of Shelah, and put it into her guardian's arms, with "There—take better care of her," and then went up to the brothers who had just sprung on deck. Gump held out his brown, hairy hand to Robin, and gave the youth's a strong, hearty shake.
"I say, young man, you were born to be a sailor!" exclaimed the captain. "Up in the shrouds one day, diving under the sea the next, you're not the chap to be made into a missionary drudge."
"I hope that I am," quoth Robin Hartley.
"You'll take to that kind o' work, just as the flying fish takes to the air, a dash and a flash—then a splash—it's in the salt water again." Then turning toward Harold, the captain continued, "You too have played the man; I didn't look for such pluck in a parson. If you've set your heart on having a service to-morrow, it's Sunday, I won't say anything against it. I suppose that a parson without his preaching feels like a sailor without his ship."
In the meantime Shelah had been carried down to the cabin, Miss Petty loudly lamenting and crying, "Oh she's dead! My Lammikin is dead! But every one can witness that it was not my fault."
Shelah, however, was not dead, and restoratives diligently applied by Mrs. Evendale had their effect. The little girl sighed, shivered, sneezed, and then opened her eyes, looking around her with some surprise, trying to recall what had happened. Then her gaze remained fixed on the open port-hole, through which, by means of standing on a box, she had managed to clamber.
"There's where I squeezed through," said Shelah. "I didn't guess where I was going."
"Oh, my Lammikin! Why did you get out there?" cried Miss Petty, in a plaintive, expostulatory tone.
"'Cause you'd shut up the door," was the saucy reply. "I'll tell papa, I will, that you got me nearly a-drowned in the sea. Oh, it was so horrid! Guggle, guggle, guggle. I never thought I'd be fished up again."
The next day Shelah was lively and well and active as ever, though Miss Petty, who had become very nervous, would not trust her on deck. The sea had no more tamed the girl's spirit than it had washed out the freckles from her face. The waves were considerably rougher than they had been on the preceding day, and Miss Petty was obliged to keep her cabin, instead of attending morning service.
Harold's congregation was a small one. Robin had hoped that the captain himself might be present, but the rough seaman kept out of the way of a sermon, though he listened at a little distance to the singing of hymns. The music might well attract him, Mrs. Evendale's singularly sweet voice blending harmoniously with the deeper tones of the Hartley brothers.
Little Shelah sat fairly quiet at Mrs. Evendale's side, though not attending to preaching or prayer. The child's quietness was chiefly owing to her dumpy fingers being for some time busily engaged in picking the green braid off her new Sunday jacket, in hopes of making that braid into a fishing-line, to enable her to catch sharks and whales by a pin. When Robin noticed what Shelah was doing, he remembered the mother who never felt easy when her children were quiet, for she felt certain that they must be engaged in some mischief.
AN ATTEMPT TO SERVE.
UNDISCOURAGED by the fewness of his listeners, the young missionary threw his whole soul into his discourse. His theme was love, and his text was drawn from the first epistle of St. John.
First: love was traced to its Divine Fountain-head—the love of God, for GOD IS LOVE. Then the preacher showed its effect on those who are called the sons of God,—both as regarded their feelings towards the Saviour who bought them, and towards the brethren—beloved for His sake. When Harold spoke warmly and earnestly of the unselfish, or rather self-sacrificing love which is ready to give life itself for the brethren, every eye was turned towards Robin, for every one present thought of the terrible scene of the preceding day.
Then Harold went on to speak of the influence of love in removing the fear of death—"'Perfect love casts out fear.' Whether the Father's call come in the earthquake or the fire, or in the roaring of the stormy waves, love recognises the voice, love grasps the supporting hand, love looks upward to the Father's face, love rests on the Father's bosom."
After the service was over, Shelah was summoned to Miss Petty's cabin, and Mrs. Evendale went upon deck. The lady sat with her book in her hand, but her mind wandered from its pages. She thought how unutterably poor are those who know nothing of this love of which she had heard, those whose view of heaven is shut out by "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life."
The lady thought of the captain who was skilfully guiding the vessel towards an earthly port, yet who was himself steering blindly towards the rock of destruction; who was faithfully serving the shipowners who employed him, whilst utterly neglecting his duty towards his Maker, Preserver, and Redeemer. Mrs. Evendale silently prayed for the seaman, and conscience whispered to her soul, "Do not content yourself with praying for another, ask for yourself courage to speak to him some little word for God. Are you afraid? 'Perfect love casts out fear.'"
The thought was yet in the lady's mind when a shadow fell on her open page. She looked up, and saw Captain Gump before her.
"How is that little Flibberty Gibbet after her cold bath?" he inquired. "I have not seen her on deck to-day."
"Shelah is quite well," was the reply; "but Miss Petty is afraid of letting the child come up here without her, lest Shelah should again fall overboard and be drowned."
"Oh! She'll not try that trick a second time," said the captain, with a grim smile. "I thought yesterday that she would be a feast for the sharks, and so assuredly she would have been, but for that plucky young lad. I suppose that Miss Lammikin is mighty grateful to him for pulling her out of the sea."
"I have not noticed any particular sign of gratitude," answered the lady.
"Then the girl is not worth her salt!" said Gump with decision. "I can put up with a child's being wild—'tis nature—or silly, or mischievous, or spiteful as a cat; there's but one thing which I cannot put up with, whether in child or man, and that's ingratitude to a benefactor. Why, the very beasts are grateful; the dog licks the hand that feeds him. An ungrateful fellow is worse than a beast."
"Shelah is very young," observed Mrs. Evendale, "and probably hardly understands either what she owes to young Mr. Hartley, or how very great was the risk which he ran in order to save her. But if, when the girl grows up, she does not wish even to hear the story of her deliverance, if she care nothing for her preserver, and even when she mentions his name does so only in a way to insult him, if—"
"Come, come, Mrs. Evendale," interrupted the captain, "the child isn't so bad as to make us fancy her an ungrateful wretch like that!"
"Captain, there are a good many such people in the world," observed the missionary lady, wondering to herself whether she would muster courage to say, "Thou art the man."
"I hope not," said Gump.
"I have been hearing this very day of generous, devoted, self-sacrificing love; I have been hearing of One who not only risked, but deliberately, of His own free will, gave up life to save the unworthy. Is it because the sacrifice is above our comprehension that men think that, where most gratitude is due, ingratitude is no sin?"
Captain Gump was silent for several seconds; Mrs. Evendale, who was almost trembling with nervousness, expected a burst of passion, perhaps an insulting retort. She did not realise what a power is often exercised by the beauty of holiness, the dignity of a life devoted to God, even over hardened natures like that of the rude seaman before her.
"I know what you're driving at," said the captain at last, speaking slowly and without anger. "I was told this sort of thing when I was a boy; but a rough sea-life has rubbed it all out, as the waves rub out marks in the sand. I have not so much as opened a Bible for twenty years or more."
"Would you like to see one again?" asked Mrs. Evendale, softly, laying her hand on the beautifully bound New Testament at her side.
"No time," said the captain more gruffly.
"Not time for two or three verses in the day! Even a busy man like you, Captain Gump, must find time for eating and sleeping, and you and I will both have to find time for dying. Would you accept this Testament from me?" The gift was proffered in so courteous a manner, that even the captain could not be angry.
"You can't spare it," said Gump, taking the little volume into his hand. Opening it, he perceived that there were passages in it marked, and double-marked, showing that the book had been much read, though the handsome binding was little injured.
"Oh! Yes, I can spare it," said Mrs. Evendale; "I have a complete Bible in the cabin below. I should be so glad if you could find half the comfort in the Gospel that I have done in times of bitterest sorrow."
The captain made no immediate reply; a double mark had drawn his attention to the words, "We love Him because He first loved us."
"I learned that verse when I was boy," Gump muttered half to himself; "but I've forgotten it, like everything else. Well, thank 'ee, madam, for your book; I'll have a look at it now and then, and maybe return it when we get to Alexandria, where the passengers must disembark."
The captain buried the small volume in one of his capacious pockets, for he did not choose that anyone else should see it in his hand. It was Mrs. Evendale's allusion to her own bitter sorrow that had touched one tender place in the sailor's heart, for he had noticed the deep mourning which she wore, and had heard that she was a widow, and childless. The captain himself had lost an only child; he had known the pain of bereavement, and thought to himself, "There must be something in a religion which can give comfort in such a trial."
Everyone on board noticed that from this time the captain's manner was more polite to Mrs. Evendale than to anyone else on board. He always placed her at meal-time at his right hand, and never swore in her presence. Indeed, Captain Gump now rarely swore at all, and that only when taken, as it were, by surprise. The captain made no objection to Harold's saying grace before meals, and, on the following Sunday, was present at Divine service. Gump said nothing of what was passing in his own mind; perhaps he could not have put his thoughts into words. Little did he imagine how many earnest prayers were offered up for him in his vessel, or how often in his behalf was pleaded the promise in 1 John v. 16:
"If any man see his brother sin a sin, which is not unto death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life for them which sin not unto death."
MALTA AND ITS KNIGHTS.
THE voyage continued for some time without any incident worth recording. Gibraltar's stately rock was passed, and favourable breezes sent the "Alligator" rapidly along the blue Mediterranean.
Mrs. Evendale gave a good deal of attention to Shelah, the only child on board, but with little apparent result, except that of rousing the jealousy of Miss Petty, who was annoyed at her charge preferring any one—indeed every one—to herself. Shelah, she knew, was old enough and sharp enough to convey impressions to her parents, which might prejudice them against the guardian, and so injure Miss Petty's chance of having her return voyage made easy and lucrative by the charge of other children. Miss Petty tried petting, but Shelah would not be petted by her.
"My Lammikin," once began Miss Petty, in the presence of several auditors, to whom she wished to give an idea of her tenderness towards her little charge.
"I'm not your Lammikin, you are Miss Wolf!" cried the saucy little girl, encouraged by a laugh from some of the bystanders.
The naughty Lammikin lost no opportunity of trying the patience of her poor guardian. Shelah sat down on Miss Petty's flower-trimmed bonnet, when it had been exchanged for the dinner-cap. Shelah got possession of her guardian's scissors, and snipped a fringe round the handkerchief which Miss Petty had dropped on the floor. The old lady found salt mixed in her tea, and had a good guess as to how it came there. There seemed to be no end of the Lammikin's pranks; but with Mrs. Evendale she never played any.
In due time the island of Malta was reached, and, to the no small pleasure of the passengers, Captain Gump gave them leave to go on shore, strictly limiting, however, the time which they might spend on land. An amusing scene, familiar to those who have touched at Malta, occurred when the passengers first set foot on the historical island. A mob of porters, vehicle-drivers, and other jabbering candidates for employment, who look on pleasure-seekers as their natural prey, swarmed around.
Miss Petty, who knew not a word of Italian, and was frightened and confused by the bustle and noise, fought her way through the rabble as well as she could with the point of her parasol, holding by the hand Shelah, who mightily enjoyed the fun. Mrs. Evendale quietly followed behind, and, singling out a driver more respectable in appearance than the rest, gave him in Italian directions whither to drive.
"Oh, Mrs. Evendale, let us go shopping together!" cried Miss Petty. "I've heard that in Malta there are the sweetest things in silver and lace."
"I am afraid that I cannot accompany you, Miss Petty," said the widow, who was just about to step into the vehicle which she had hired. "My time here is very precious; I must take advantage of the only opportunity which I may ever have of visiting a dear friend, a great invalid, sent to Malta by the advice of the doctors."
"Then take Shelah with you, please do; I can't shop or enjoy anything in peace with this monkey always at my heels."
"I am sorry to have again to say no," replied Mrs. Evendale, who had taken her seat in the conveyance. "If my poor friend were in health, I should certainly take Shelah with me; but the lady is ill, may be dying. Shelah is too lively a child for a sick-room." The vehicle was driven away.
Lammikin turned down the corners of her mouth and looked cross; Miss Petty felt scarcely less so. "It's always the way with those saints," she muttered; "they are never ready to do me a service. Come, Shelah, we can manage for ourselves."
"I'll not go with you; I'll go with Robin!" cried Shelah.
But Robin was nowhere to be seen; he and Harold had landed before the ladies, and taken a different course. The Lammikin had no choice but to go with her guardian.
When the Hartley brothers touched land, Robin enthusiastically exclaimed, "How glorious it is to be in Malta, in Melita, the first spot trodden by an apostle's feet on which I have ever stood!"
"And what a splendid place it is," rejoined Harold, gazing up with interest at the noble buildings which give Malta the appearance of a collection of ancient fortresses. He thought of the olden times when those walls rang with the shouts of the gallant knights of St. John, who, with their fearless devotion, made their rocky island the bulwark of Christendom against the warriors of the Crescent.
"Gallant deeds have been done here," observed Harold, "which will make the name of the Knights of Malta illustrious to the end of time. What a brave stand they made against the tide of Moslem aggression when it came on Europe like a flood! They had inherited the spirit of the Crusaders of old."
"Harold, if you and I had lived in the time of Peter the Hermit," observed Robin, "I think that we both would have been off to Palestine to rescue the Holy Sepulchre; and if in the days when the Turks were trying by fire and sword to carry their false religion into the West, you and I would have taken the vows, and donned the white cross of the Knights of St. John."
"Perhaps we might have done so," replied Harold, "for we should not have understood better than others did in those times that our Lord's kingdom is not to be spread by earthly weapons. The warfare of the knights in the days of old is no bad type of that before us in India. All Christians should be crusaders, in the sense of bearing the Cross and fighting its battles; we missionaries, set apart and specially devoted to the noblest of warfares, may be called, if you will, the present Order of the Knights of St. John."
The idea took the fancy of Robin. "Had not the knights to take a special vow of purity and obedience," he said; "were they not to protect women, take up the cause of the oppressed, and fight against evil wherever they met it? This is exactly what we have to do. We have to set up our banner on a Rock. Our weapons are not sword nor spear, nor our armour the glittering casque and mail, but we have to wield the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and wear the breastplate of righteousness, and for a helmet the hope of salvation."
Harold smiled at the enthusiasm of his young brother. "One part of the comparison you have omitted," said he. "Do you not remember the knight's solemn night-watch beside his weapons before he was esteemed worthy to use them? For the missionary knight of St. John there is some preparation required corresponding to this."
"I am afraid that I have not thought enough of preparation," said Robin; "though I have prayed, and that from my heart. How would you have us keep our vigil?"
"By increased watchfulness, prayerfulness, and submission to whatever trials God may appoint," replied Harold. "Our Leader will not leave His warriors without discipline, often far more prolonged and painful than the night-watch of the Knights of St. John."
These words were often to recur to the mind of Robin, as if, when they were spoken, coming events had indeed cast their dark shadow before.
"Now, whither shall we first bend our steps?" said Harold.
"I don't care for seeing Romish cathedrals, still less for staring into shops when I've no money to spend," replied Robin. "I've been making inquiries as to how far it is to the memorable bay, where St. Paul and his companions are said to have landed after their shipwreck. I long to see the place, and have just time to go there if I make all speed."
"I am not sure whether you have time for the expedition," said Harold Hartley. "What if the 'Alligator' should steam off without you? I doubt whether Captain Gump would wait for the Queen herself."
"I shall take care not to be late," cried Robin; "only lend me your watch."
Harold did so, and the active young Englishman went off at full speed.
"I must make some use of my time too," thought Harold; "the missionary knight should always be on duty; here are some of my shafts ready;" and he drew from his vest some small copies of single gospels in the Italian language, which he had brought from England for distribution in Malta.
"This is the Word of God," said the young missionary to an intelligent-looking man, who was engaged in selling fruit. Harold had learnt these few words in Italian from Mrs. Evendale, on purpose to use them thus.
But the man's hand was not stretched out to receive the precious gift; he shook his head, and said something in Italian which Harold could not understand, except that it implied refusal.
Nothing discouraged, the distributor went on his way, to find some more hopeful subject. He next tried a lad who had books under his arm. "He at least will be able to read," thought Harold.
"Bad book—forbidden by the priests," was the youth's reply in Italian.
The third person to whom a gospel was offered was a woman. She looked timidly round her, saw a Romish priest standing at the corner of the street, and hurried away.
"It is evident that Malta is not a place where the Scriptures are welcomed," thought Harold, sadly, as he replaced his rejected books in his vest. "Rome's constant opposition to the circulation of the Word of God amongst the poor is one of the clearest proofs that her doctrines will not bear its searching light."
Harold was near a shop, and remembering that he had lost his pen-knife, he went in to replace it by buying one which he chanced to see in the window. The trifling purchase was soon made; turning to quit the shop, Harold saw the seller of fruit by his side. The man furtively stretched out his hand, and Hartley, understanding the gesture, for nothing was said, placed in that hand the Gospel, which was received with a silent look of joy.
"One seed sown," thought Harold; "may the Lord give His blessing to it! I have heard that this island of Malta, now famed for its orange groves, was originally only bare rock, and that all its soil had to be conveyed in ships from the mainland. Such efforts were made to cultivate fruit, and such success attended the efforts. Shall the children of this world always be wiser than the children of light? Shall the energetic men of earth look on difficulties as 'things to be overcome,' whilst God's servants magnify them into impossibilities."
Harold's reflections were interrupted by Miss Petty's meeting him as he passed out of the shop. She looked flustered, excited, and eager.
"Oh! Dear Mr. Hartley, I'm so delighted to see you; you are the very person whom I wanted to meet!" she exclaimed. "Do just lend me twelve shillings at once, for I've spent my last sixpence already in lace. Malta, with its shops full of beautiful things, is the place to empty the purse of a Crœsus!"
"I am no Crœsus," said Harold; "and I have not so much as twelve shillings with me."
"Then lend me ten; I daresay that I can beat the jeweller down. I never in my life saw so perfect a brooch—a peacock in filagree silver."
"Excuse me, Miss Petty," said Harold smiling, "but would it not be well to resist even the temptation of buying a silver filagree peacock, rather than go into debt?"
"Oh! I want your money, not your preaching," cried Theresa. "There's Mr. Bolton coming, he does not keep such a tight grasp over his money; he'll lend the twelve shillings, I'm sure, and I'm just dying to get that brooch!"
Mr. Bolton was a careless, good-humoured young planter, who kept coin loose about his person. He was always joking at Miss Petty, paying her absurd compliments, and laughing at her behind her back because she had the folly to believe them. The young man on receiving her pathetic appeal, dived into his pocket, and pulled out a piece of gold. Miss Petty received it with childish delight, hurried into a neighbouring shop, and after a little while returned rejoicing in the possession of the peacock brooch, which she fastened into her collar.
"But where is your Lammikin, Miss Petty?" inquired Bolton. The question came with startling effect, as if awakening the guardian suddenly from an agreeable dream.
"Where?" she repeated, nervously looking to the right and the left, but neither on the right nor the left was to be seen a trace of Shelah. Miss Petty, absorbed in the purchase of silver and lace, had not given a thought to the restless child whose charge she had undertaken. The guardian was overcome with alarm at missing the baronet's daughter.
Then began a distressing search; Bolton accompanying poor Miss Petty, more for the sake of the fun of the thing than from any intention of giving her help. Theresa interrogated passers-by in English, rushed in and out of shops, and shouted the name of her charge till the street rang, and people stared at the crazy Inglezi.
"Let's get the crier to go about the town," suggested Bolton, laughing: "Lost—a Lammikin, a lively young Lammikin. Reward offered for her recovery—a shilling and a filagree silver brooch!"
"Oh, don't worry me!" exclaimed poor Miss Petty. Her trouble might well invite compassion. She wrung her hands, she cried, she sobbed, then again began asking every one whom she met whether he had seen a red-haired little girl in a scarlet hat.
The heat was great; the paved street reflecting the rays of the sun almost burned Miss Petty's thin boots, and sorely tried her now blistered feet.