) OLIVER OPTIC'S 
 
 ARMY and NAVY STORIES. 
 
 OLIVER OPTIC'S 
 
 RIVERDALE STORIES. 
 
 Twelve volume*. Profusely illustrated from new 
 
 A Library for Youne and Old. in si* vol 
 
 " The wr 
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 now pi 1 1 ill.-. 
 about thru 
 era. The 
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 Gift of 
 
 Katheryn N. Newfield 
 Stephen 
 
 Specimen copies sent free T,y mail on appli- p^iaT^KfJhTJiSen^S^iS^ 
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 OLIVER OPTIC'S 
 
 LAKE SHORE SERIES. 
 
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 Switch Off; 
 
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 Oliver Optic owes his popularity to a pleasant 
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 grown hnv, and his hooks have therefore a fresh 
 ness and' racincss rarely attained hy his fellow 
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 Six VOLS., ILLUST. PER VOL., $1.25. 
 
 The Starry Flag; 
 
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 Breaking Away; 
 
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 Freaks of Fortune ; 
 
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 Down the River; 
 
 Or, Buck Bradford and his Tyrants. 
 
 These books are exciting narratives, and full of 
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 injury to the mind or heart of the youthful reader. 
 Webster Times. 
 
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 OLIVER OPTIC'S 
 
 WOODVILLE STORIES. 
 
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 Rich and Humble; 
 
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 i to in Min
 
 THE PLEASANT COVE SERIES. 
 
 THE 
 
 CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIJAH KELLOGG, 
 
 AUTHOR OP " LION BEN OF ELM ISLAND," " CHARLIE HELL, THE WAIF OF ELM ISLAND," 
 
 "THE ARK OF ELM ISLAND," "THE HOY-FARMERS OF ELM ISLAND," "THE 
 
 YOUNG SHIP-BUILDERS OF ELM ISLAND," "THE HARD-SCRABBLE OF 
 
 ELM ISLAND," "ARTHUR BROWN, THE YOUNG CAPTAIN," " TUB 
 
 YOUNG DELIVERERS," "THE CRUISE OF THE CA8CO," 
 
 "THE WHISl'EHINO PINE," "THE SPARK OF 
 
 GENIUS," "THE 8OPUOMORE8 OF 
 
 KADCL1FFE," ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTllATED. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHEES. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 LEE, SHEPARD AND DILLINGUAM. 
 
 1872.
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, 
 
 By LEE AND SHEPARD, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 
 19 Spring Lane.
 
 Jtotes* 
 
 TO BE COMPLETED IN SIX VOLS. 
 
 1. ARTHUR BROWN, THE YOCNG CAPTAIN. 
 
 2. THE YOUNG DELIVERERS. 
 
 3. THE CRUISE OF THE CASCO. 
 
 4. THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 (Others in Trepanation.) 
 
 47355G
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN incidentally 
 brings to view the shrewdness of those men 
 who laid the foundations of our commerce, 
 
 
 
 their dexterity in suiting means to ends, the 
 indomitable energy with which they grappled to 
 opportunities flung in their path by the advent 
 of foreign wars and the irregularities of trade, 
 while perils and obstacles that would have 
 crushed persons of laxer fibre, only roused them 
 to greater effort. 
 
 The story, however, is principally intended to 
 illustrate the influence of Christian sympathy 
 in respect to the most hardened characters, the 
 
 5
 
 6 PREFACE. 
 
 imperishable nature of good seed early sown 
 in. a young heart, the power of conscience and 
 early associations, the unbounded mercy of God, 
 and exhibits, in the person of a man stained 
 with blood" and steeped in crime, parental love 
 and solicitude for the highest welfare of his 
 child (like the flowers that bloom amid the scoriae 
 and ashes on the lip of an exhausted volcano), 
 surviving the wreck of all other virtues.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS 32 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 HOPING AGAINST HOPE 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAY 68 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING 87* 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE GODSOES 107 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH 124 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 STIRRING NEWS 149 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW 165 
 
 7
 
 8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 THE MADMAN'S PASS 184 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 THE OUTLAW'S HOME 194 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 WILLIE OF THE GLEN 206 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 THE VIPER WITHIN 217 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 THE DISCLOSURE 237 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 THE DECISION 249 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 A SURPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPRET 259 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 THE LOVE THAT CASTETH OUT FEAR 276 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 WILLIE GIVES AWAY HIS PLAYTHINGS 285 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 MAKING RESTITUTION 295 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD 306 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 WILLIE AND THE PILOT 330
 
 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTBODUCTOEY. 
 
 
 
 IN Port Royal Bay, Martinique, as near to each 
 other as they can swing at their anchors, lie 
 two vessels, both displaying the American flag, 
 but as unlike in build and size as can well be im 
 agined. The one is a large ship, enormously large 
 for that day, for it was at an early period in the 
 maritime history of the country, when most of the 
 ships were from one hundred and fifty to two 
 hundred and sixty tons, and some even as small 
 as a hundred, a few being built at Wiscasset for 
 the transportation of timber, and at some other 
 places on the coast, of greater capacity ; but they 
 were esteemed monsters, and people thronged to 
 see them as curiosities. But this vessel was seven 
 hundred tons, heavily sparred, with great breadth 
 
 9
 
 10 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 of beam, carrying a large amount of canvas, sharp 
 ends, of moderate depth, evidently, from her pro 
 portions, not a bad sailer, but constructed for the 
 purpose of transporting those immense masts that 
 then formed an article of traffic to Cadiz and other 
 ports for the use of the Spanish navies, and that 
 are not now to be found in the forests of New 
 England. Beside her lay a brigantine, French 
 built, beautifully modelled, constructed entirely 
 with reference to speed, carrying a long eighteen- 
 pounder on a pivot amidships, and her bulwarks 
 pierced for lighter guns. Both vessels were 
 deeply laden, the brigantine, in contrast with the 
 mast ship, reminding an observer of a greyhound 
 beside a huge Newfoundland. 
 
 Those familiar with the other volumes of the 
 series will at once recognize in the ship the Casco, 
 Captain Griffin, and in the brigantine the Langue- 
 doc, Captain Gates. The events here narrated 
 being more or less linked with the subject of the 
 preceding volume, some brief explanation of the 
 state of affairs is necessary to render the story 
 intelligible to the casual reader. 
 
 Walter Griffin, commander of the Casco, of 
 Pleasant Cove, had, on a previous voyage, by one
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 11 
 
 of the noblest acts of which humanity is capable, 
 incurred the deadly enmity of a planter at Mar 
 tinique, Henri Lemaire. Although owning sev 
 eral plantations on the island, and residing upon 
 one of them, Lemaire had been, for the greater 
 portion of his life, a pirate captain, and still 
 owned piratical vessels, which he fitted away 
 under the guise of slave ships, secreting the 
 plunder till sold at his plantations, meanwhile 
 supporting the character of a wealthy planter and 
 merchant. Concealing his intentions under the 
 mask of friendship, by means of a letter adroitly 
 worded, he succeeded in luring Captain Griffin 
 again to the island. 
 
 When, at length, he found that the Casco was 
 ready to sail from Trinidad, where she had gone 
 to complete her cargo, Lemaire despatched the 
 piratical brigantine Languedoc, belonging to him, 
 to lie off Trinidad, intercept the Casco, she hav 
 ing considerable specie on board, with orders to 
 massacre the whole ship's company, resigning the 
 entire plunder of the ship to his satellites, and 
 promising to the captain, in addition, a thousand 
 dollars in gold provided he killed Captain Griffin. 
 
 Some years before the circumstance here related,
 
 12 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 there came to Captain Griffin's native town a Nova 
 Scotia boy by the name of Peter Clash, who, after 
 residing there a short time, became so immoral and 
 troublesome that he was driven from the place, 
 enticing to run away with him an American boy 
 named John Godsoe. The two boys kept together, 
 went to sea, and, after many adversities, joined a 
 piratical crew. Clash became the captain of the 
 Languedoc, in Lemaire's employ, under the as 
 sumed name of Skillings, and Godsoe, his lieuten 
 ant, taking that of Arkwright. 
 
 In the Casco, as passenger, was a young man by 
 the name of John Rhines, son of one of her own 
 ers. Clash still cherished a bitter hostility towards 
 the inhabitants of Rhinesville and Pleasant Cove, 
 adjacent places, at the latter of which the Casco 
 was built, and especially by reason of some per 
 sonal matters in relation to John Rhines, whom he 
 hated as only the wicked can hate those of exalted 
 character and principles. 
 
 All that Clash knew at first was, that Lemaire 
 wished him to intercept and kill, if possible, the 
 captain and crew of an American ship, against 
 whose captain Lemaire held a grudge ; and it was 
 not the first thing of the kind he had done for the
 
 INTEODUCTORY. 13 
 
 old villain, who, for the greater part of his life, 
 had been engaged in the actual shedding of blood, 
 but now accomplished his designs, at less risk to 
 himself, by proxy. 
 
 When, however, Clash ascertained that this ship 
 was manned and officered by men from the very 
 place whose inhabitants he so sincerely hated, and 
 that John Rhines, the object of his boyish enmity, 
 was passenger in her, he needed not the incentive 
 of plunder to excite him to the utmost efforts in 
 furtherance of the purpose of his employer. All 
 the burning antipathies and hatred of his boyhood, 
 as though invigorated by a long repose, rose in 
 arms. He paced the cabin floor of the brigantine, 
 gnashing his teeth with rage, and swore that not 
 one of them, from the cook to the captain, should 
 be left to tell the story. Distrusting the willing 
 ness of his lieutenant to engage in the murder of 
 his old neighbors and schoolmates, he concealed 
 from him all the circumstances we have narrated. 
 
 In Martinique resided a black cooper, Pierre 
 Lallemont, a man of property, intelligence, and 
 thoroughly acquainted with his former master's 
 character and history, who had conceived the 
 most sincere affection for Captain Griffin, being
 
 14 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 attracted to him on account of the very act that 
 had roused the anger of Lemaire. This man, 
 fathoming the designs of the planter, informed the 
 captain of the peril that threatened him ; but the 
 American refused to credit it, and all the cooper 
 could effect was to persuade him to take on board 
 his vessel some small arms. With the shrewdness 
 pertaining to his nation, he put on board, as a ven 
 ture to sell again at home, rifles and ammunition 
 sufficient to arm five hundred men. With these, 
 aided by a resolute crew all accustomed to the use 
 of the weapon, he captured the brigantine in lieu 
 of being captured by her, killed Clash, and killed 
 or drowned all her officers and crew except God- 
 soe, who, battered, wounded, and more dead than 
 alive, was taken on board the ship without being 
 recognized by his captors, though recognizing 
 them at once. After some days, however, Rhines 
 recollected his features and recalled his name. 
 At length, filled with compunction for his past 
 crimes, he endeavored to atone for them in some 
 measure by aiding to place Lemaire in the hands 
 of Captain Griffin, who, running back to Mar 
 tinique in the brigantine, landed at Lemaire's 
 plantation in the night, and sent Godsoe ashore"
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 15 
 
 after him. Supposing his designs were accom 
 plished, he came on board the brigantine, when he 
 was seized and delivered up to the authorities of 
 the island, the captain permitting Godsoe to escape 
 at the same time in consideration of his services in 
 capturing Lemaire, who, being convicted by means 
 of papers 'found on board the brigantine and in his 
 house at Vauclin, the place where they were 
 concealed being revealed by Godsoe, was exe 
 cuted, and his ill-gotten booty, enormous quantities 
 of which were found concealed at his different 
 plantations, seized and sold at auction by the 
 government. The Languedoc, being claimed by 
 her captors, the authorities permitted them to 
 retain her. 
 
 Those bloody scenes were enacted on board the 
 two vessels on whose spars the last rays of the 
 setting sun are shining, as they lie quietly at 
 anchor in Fort Royal Bay. Yonder boat, pulling 
 off from the shore, belongs to the Casco. In the 
 stern-sheets are Captain Griffin, Captain Gates, 
 formerly his mate in the Casco, whom he now has 
 put in master of the Languedoc, with Richard 
 Cameron, who was second mate of the Casco, as 
 his first officer. The vessels are to sail in the
 
 16 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 morning, and they have been ashore to settle up 
 remaining business, and procure fruit, fresh vege 
 tables, and provisions. 
 
 Most of the characters introduced in this volume 
 are, in respect to many of our young readers, 
 familiar acquaintances, and we trust that, as the 
 tale proceeds, other connecting circumstances will 
 introduce themselves to the general reader. 
 
 It was no trifling labor in those days, with the 
 old-fashioned windlass and fcemp cables from twelve 
 to sixteen inches in circumference, a tackle being 
 required to hold the turn at the windlass, and two 
 or three hands to coil away the slack, to weigh 
 anchors as heavy as those of the Casco, she having 
 two down and well bedded. 
 
 As Captain Griffin had lost two of his men in 
 the action with the pirate, and must, moreover, man 
 the brigantine from the ship's crew, he was rather 
 short of hands, and had shipped four men belong 
 ing to a vessel that was condemned. Never had a 
 ship's company stronger motives to stimulate them 
 to effort to make a passage. With the exception 
 of the four men referred to, both officers and crew 
 belonged to Rhiuesville or Pleasant Cove. So 
 much time had been consumed in the action with
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 17 
 
 the Languedoc, the subsequent return to Fort 
 Royal, capture and trial of Lemaire, waiting for the 
 settling of his effects, and loading of the brigan- 
 tine, that their prolonged absence, they well knew, 
 would occasion great anxiety to their relatives at 
 home. They pictured to themselves the joyful 
 surprise it would produce when they should as 
 tonish them with an account of all that had 
 occurred. 
 
 " Merrithew," said Danforth Eaton, " I reckon 
 they'll open their eyes at home when they wake 
 up in the morning and see these two craft in Cap 
 tain Rhines's Cove. Old daddy Godsoe '11 hyper 
 for the shore quicker than he ever did before 
 when a vessel got in." 
 
 " If I was going to guess," said Merrithew, " a 
 good many other folks won't be far behind him ; 
 and I shouldn't wonder if there were some petti 
 coats streaming in the wind." 
 
 Long before the break of day the clank of the 
 windlass-pawls was heard on both vessels, and the 
 song of the seamen rose cheerily on the morning 
 air. There being a lack of men, the crew were 
 divided ; a portion of the Casco's crew went on 
 board the brigantine, weighed anchor, made sail at 
 2
 
 18 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 once, hove her to, and left her in charge of the 
 cook. 
 
 In the mean time, those left on board the ship 
 hove short on the anchors, loosed the topsails, 
 mast-headed and sheeted home the fore and miz- 
 zen ones. By that time the men had come on 
 board from the brigantine. The main-topsail was 
 hoisted, the anchors weighed by the united 
 strength of both crews and the officers, who, as it 
 was an emergency, went to the windlass with the 
 men. 
 
 While the ship lay to, and before the crews were 
 separated in order to be transferred to their respec 
 tive vessels, Lallemont came on board. 
 
 Captain Griffin instantly took the cooper by the 
 hand, and led^him forward among the men. 
 
 " Boys," said he, " the whole ship's company owe 
 their lives (in the providence of God) to this man. 
 Had I not been forewarned by him, we should have 
 been overhauled by the pirate in a defenceless 
 state and massacred. Take him by the hand and 
 thank him." 
 
 Having thus far, and' for the purposes of explana 
 tion, paid all due respect to the two captains in 
 addressing them before strangers by their well-
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 19 
 
 merited titles, we shall now take the liberty, as 
 the humor seizes us, or circumstances render it 
 appropriate, to make use of the old familiar names 
 of Walter and Ned. 
 
 As, pacing the deck, Walter looked back upon 
 Martinique fading in the distance, and the bold 
 outline of Diamond Rock at its southern extremity, 
 he reflected upon the great change that had taken 
 place in his situation and feelings within the last 
 few weeks. 
 
 At one time it seemed more than probable that 
 the ship and crew, himself and Ned, would fall a 
 prey to buccaneers, and their lives pay the forfeit 
 of his overweening confidence in the professions 
 of Lemaire. But now they were all on their home 
 ward passage, and Lemaire and his assassins had 
 met their deserved fate. 
 
 Walter had made large profits on his outward 
 cargo, and the vessel was loaded as deep as she 
 could swim with a cargo that he had bought at a very 
 low rate when Lemaire's hoards were broken open 
 and the contents sold at auction, though the vessel 
 belonged to the ship's company. He was also tak 
 ing home a quantity of specie, as his outward cargo 
 more than paid for the return one of the Casco, the
 
 20 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Languedoc's cargo having been purchased with 
 money found on board of her. 
 
 The only qualifying element mingled with this 
 cup of bliss was the reflection that, while his ar 
 rival would bring happiness to the greater portion 
 of his neighbors, he must carry home to two fami 
 lies the sad news of the death of those they were 
 anxiously expecting. Then his thoughts reverted 
 to John Godsoe and his probable future, and he 
 occupied himself in various surmises in respect to 
 it, whether he would abide by the resolutions he 
 had formed and expressed while wounded and on a 
 sick bed, and in the society of his early friends, or 
 if they would vanish with returning health, and he 
 go back to his old haunts, companions, and employ 
 ments. He had heard the remark of Danforth 
 Eaton to Merrithew in respect to Godsoe's father, 
 and well knew that the moment the old gentleman 
 heard of his arrival he would come to inquire if he 
 had seen or heard any tidings of his long absent 
 boy. 
 
 " There goes Ned," he said to himself, gazing 
 wistfully at the brigantine that, almost within hail 
 ing distance, was rapidly passing to windward. 
 He waved his hat to Ned, who instantly returned
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 21 
 
 the signal. " I wish you was here, old boy, to talk 
 over all these matters with me. This having two 
 brothers in different vessels is not a very agree 
 able arrangement." 
 
 It was something of a trial to Walter and Ned to 
 be separated. They had grown up together from 
 before the mast to their present positions, been in 
 the same watch, slept much of the time in the same 
 berth, spent their time together when on shore, and 
 had no secrets from each other. 
 
 " Was there ever a handsomer or a smarter craft 
 than that, Mr. Lancaster," said Walter to his mate, 
 pointing to the Languedoc, that, with all her canvas 
 set (the wind being light), was fast showing her 
 stern to the ship. 
 
 " Can't say as I ever saw any, cap'n, but there 
 will be others built as smart, for it will be but very 
 little while arter Charlie Bell gits a squint at that 
 craft before he copies her model ; he's mad on sharp 
 vessels, and hates mortally to build a full ship." 
 
 " You are right there, Lancaster," said John 
 Rhines, who just then came on deck ; " he got the 
 model of the Arthur Brown from a privateer that 
 he saw in Portland, or rather a vessel that had 
 been a privateer in the last war."
 
 22 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " But he improved on the model," said Lancas 
 ter, " for the Arthur outsails the privateer." 
 
 " I don't believe he can improve on the brigan 
 tine," said Walter. 
 
 " Yes, he will," replied John ; " he'll improve on 
 anything." 
 
 Notwithstanding the greater speed of the brig- 
 antine, the two vessels kept company very well 
 during the homeward passage, for the brigantine 
 was deeper in the water than the ship, as Captain 
 Griffin, finding that he could buy the merchandise 
 discovered on the plantation of Lemaire very cheap, 
 had put into her every pound he dared, and being 
 sharp it brought her low in the water ; whereas 
 the ship, being more burdensome, could carry her 
 self full without loading so deep. Thus in mod 
 erate weather the brigantine left the ship, and was 
 obliged to shorten sail at times to let her come 
 up ; but in heavy blows this sharp vessel, going 
 right through it and not rising much, was all 
 under water, and the ship, by reason of her great 
 breadth of beam, able to carry sail, had the advan 
 tage. 
 
 Captain Rhines, after abandoning the sea, de 
 voted himself, with as much energy and good
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 23 
 
 judgment, to the cultivation of the soil, as he ever 
 had to the business of his calling. Brought up in 
 boyhood on a farm, naturally attached to the soil, 
 he now, with means and time at his command, in 
 dulged those inclinations which the pressure of 
 circumstances had prevented, him from grati 
 fying in former years. His health was firm, and, 
 belonging to a race remarkable for physical power, 
 though past middle life, he still retained the 
 strength for which he had been distinguished in 
 his manhood, but slightly diminished by age. De 
 lighting in labor, he worked constantly with his 
 own hands, and nothing gratified him more than to 
 get his seed into the ground and his hay cut before 
 his neighbors, especially Edmund Griffin, between 
 whom and himself there existed a good-natured 
 rivalry. 
 
 The captain's land was high and warm, his fields 
 lying along a sunny slope by the water's edge, and 
 sheltered by dense woods on the north and north 
 west. It was the last week in April ; the captain 
 was breaking up a piece of ground for corn on the 
 highest and warmest portion of the slope, deter 
 mined to beat Edmund Griffin that year if possible. 
 If there was any kind of labor the captain loved
 
 24 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 more than another, it was to hold a breaking-up 
 plough. He said it was just like steering a ship. 
 On this occasion he was provided with six oxen, 
 Joel Kicker, a most accomplished teamster, whom 
 he had taken out of Charlie Bell's saw-mill for the 
 purpose, sending another man in his room, and 
 Tom Valentine to clear the plough, one of those 
 vast wooden affairs used in the days of our fathers, 
 but that would do the work nevertheless, if there 
 was only strength enough to haul them. The day 
 was fine, warm enough for comfort and not too 
 warm for the cattle, help abundant, an excellent 
 team, and the ground just wet enough to turn 
 well ; but with all these circumstances in his 
 favor, the captain, who prided himself upon his 
 skill in holding a breaking-up plough, made very 
 poor work. The ground was some rocky, sloped 
 moderately towards the bay, and one half the fur 
 rows must be turned up hill. The plough was 
 often out, necessitating frequent backing up of the 
 team, and many furrows on the upper side fell 
 back. Kicker said afterwards he never knew the 
 captain to make such poor work as he did that 
 day. 
 " I don't see what ails this plough," said the cap-
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 25 
 
 tain ; she don't go well at all ; and I had the irons 
 new laid this spring. The fellow has set the point 
 wrong somehow. Since old Uncle Elwell gave up 
 work there's nobody round here is worth a cent 
 to make plough-irons. Lengthen the chain, Tom, 
 and see if she won't crave the ground more." 
 
 The chain was lengthened and the chain was 
 shortened, the clevis was shifted, she was made 
 to land more and she was made to land less, but 
 still the work was no better done. 
 
 " It's in the set of the irons," said the captain. 
 " I'll have 'em altered to-morrow." 
 
 The fault, however, was not in the plough, nor 
 the work of the blacksmith ; but while the cap 
 tain's feet were in the furrow his mind was out 
 on the ocean, brooding over the long absence of 
 his son, Walter Griffin, Ned Gates, and the crew 
 of the Casco, in which nearly every family in the 
 neighborhood was represented. In vain he re 
 viewed the record of his long seafaring experi 
 ence to find a parallel case of so long detention 
 in so short a voyage, without fatal results. Thus 
 he canted the plough towards the land when he 
 should have canted it to the furrow, and to the 
 furrow when he should have canted it to the land,
 
 26 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 for his heart ached while his hands grasped the 
 hand es, and his thoughts were otherwhere. Of 
 all people, a seafaring community cherish most 
 decided opinions in regard to luck, and fortunate 
 individuals born under a lucky planet. 
 
 Captain Rhines, from his first going to sea, had 
 been peculiarly fortunate, and, though he ever held 
 to the opinion that luck consisted in a good look 
 out, such was not the belief of the neighbors. 
 They considered him a lucky man, and that what 
 ever he touched would prosper. The result of 
 this belief was, that everybody wanted to go with 
 him, and to be concerned with him, as he was a 
 man of most noble spirit, and would spare no effort 
 to aid an enterprising and worthy youth. A large 
 proportion of the captains in the community owed 
 rapid advancement to his good offices, having be 
 gun before the mast with him. 
 
 The most singular illustration of this belief in a 
 lucky star occurred when the captain, after, as he 
 thought, relinquishing forever a seafaring life, un 
 dertook to navigate a raft of boards to Cuba. 
 Half the young men in town rose up at once, and 
 wanted to share his fortunes ; and what was more 
 singular still, their parents made no objection, for
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 27 
 
 they said if Captain Ben Rhines undertook to 
 go to Cuba in a bread-trough, luck would go with 
 him. This sentiment extended even to property, 
 or speculations in which he was interested, and it 
 was a common saying, that, if Captain Rhines or 
 Lion Ben (his son) owned a share or a timber- 
 head in anything, it was insured. 
 
 The captain was passionately fond of gunning 
 and fishing ; knew all the shoals and banks where 
 the fish fed, the bait they preferred, and the time 
 of year and tide at which they were best taken. 
 But overlooking all these considerations, whenever 
 Captain Rhines brought home a boat-load of fish, 
 while others returned empty-handed, the neighbors 
 would say to each other, " Ah, that's just the 
 Rhines's luck." This notion, thoroughly inwrought 
 with the opinions of men, exerted a wonderful in 
 fluence in quieting the fears of the community, 
 thirty of whose members went to sea in the Casco, 
 and she overdue more than two months. They 
 did not know what to make of it, but guessed it 
 would all come out right ; everything the captain 
 had ever been concerned in always had ; and, 
 though some few began to say that perhaps his 
 luck was going to turn, the majority were still dis-
 
 28 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 posed to trust Providence and Captain Rhines. 
 But the captain was greatly disheartened himself, 
 though he put a good face on the matter, concealed 
 his anxiety from his family and the neighborhood, 
 and dreaded to go to the store or post-office, as 
 every person he met was ready to ask his opinion 
 in respect to the ship. 
 
 The sun was getting low, and the captain had 
 worried thus far through the day with a heavy 
 heart. A large rock lay in the furrow, that the 
 plough had gone over several times and skinned 
 the sod from, at the last bout canting it out of the 
 ground. 
 
 " Captain," said Valentine", " hadn't we better 
 stop the cattle, get the crowbars, and heave that 
 rock on top of the furrow ? " 
 
 "Let it be," said the captain, pointing to the 
 shore ; " that little boy of mine has just landed in 
 the cove ; he'll throw it out for us." 
 
 " Throw it out ! " said Tom ; " a rock big enough 
 for a yoke of oxen to haul." 
 
 " You'll see what you will see, Tom," replied 
 Joel Ricker, who, as some of our readers doubtless 
 recollect, had enjoyed actual experience of the 
 strength of Lion Ben, " when he puts them ere 
 pretty little shoulders of his down to it."
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 29 
 
 In a few moments the great bulk of Lion Ben 
 made its appearance. He was accompanied by bis 
 wife Sally, and carried in one hand a pail of sap 
 sugar and a pair of wild geese, a present for his 
 father. 
 
 " Glad to see you both, right glad," said the cap 
 tain, grasping their hands. " What's the news 
 from the island, Ben?" 
 
 " We are all well as can be." 
 
 " Glad to hear it ; good news is scarce nowadays. 
 How is it about the fowl ? " 
 
 "I was off in my float yesterday; shot three 
 wild geese and four whistlers. Joe Griffin was 
 over to Smutty Nose, and got five geese and a 
 seal. We wanted something from the store. Sal 
 ly wanted to do some trading, and it was a pleas 
 ant afternoon, so I thought we'd come across." 
 
 " Ben, there's a rock lies in the furrow just on 
 the fall of the hill. I wish you'd throw it out of 
 the furrow, as you go along." 
 
 " I will, father ; but have you heard from the 
 boys?" 
 
 " Not a word, Ben, of any kind, except that they 
 arrived at Martinique." 
 
 " That is strange ! "
 
 30 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 The rock, towards which Ben now proceeded, 
 was hidden from view by the inequality of the 
 ground; but when the team came round to the 
 spot, it was lying on the surface of the furrow, and 
 Ben and his wife were half way to the house. 
 
 " Well," said Tom Valentine, " ever since I was 
 a little shaver, I've heard the greatest stories about 
 Lion Ben, but I believe 'em all now ; and they say 
 his brother John is as stout as he is." 
 
 " No, he ain't," said the captain. " Make Ben 
 inad, and he'd lift John and his load ; but that's 
 not saying John ain't a very powerful man." 
 
 The horn now blew for supper. 
 
 " This ground is rooted up ; it ain't ploughed," 
 said the captain. " Take the plough to the house. 
 I'll have it to the blacksmith before I use it 
 again. Wife," said he, as he entered the kitchen, 
 " now if you want that turkey set, I'll put the eggs 
 under her before I wash myself." 
 
 " I guess I won't have her set to-night, Ben 
 jamin." 
 
 " Why not ? You asked me to do it this morn 
 ing." 
 
 " I know it ; but the dog's been howling dread 
 fully this afternoon ; they say it's a bad sign when
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 31 
 
 a dog howls. I'm afraid the turkey won't do 
 well." 
 
 " 0, wife, I didn't know you was so superstitious 
 as that ! " 
 
 " I don't believe there's anything in it ; but I'd 
 rather you would set her in the morning. Besides, 
 I've got to borrow a sitting of duck's eggs of the 
 widow Yelf, to put under a hen ; then you can set 
 both at once." 
 
 Whenever Ben and Sally came over from Elm 
 Island to his father's, it had always been a jovial 
 meeting ; but now it was otherwise, by reason of 
 the uncertainty in respect to the fate of the Casco, 
 which weighed upon the minds of all. Indeed, 
 Ben and Sally could very well have dispensed 
 with their errand at the^ store ; but it was the hope 
 that some news of the Casco had been obtained 
 that drew them to the main land, as they could 
 hear nothing on the island except through some 
 chance visitor.
 
 32 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 
 
 IN order that our young readers may under 
 stand the peculiar and trying circumstances 
 in.which all concerned in navigation were placed 
 at that time, it will be necessary to make. some 
 brief reference to the singular complications ex 
 isting between their native land and the great 
 European powers. 
 
 We could wish it might engage them to improve 
 whatever opportunities may be afforded them to 
 obtain an accurate knowledge of the events con 
 nected with the formation of the Federal Union, 
 and the remarkable manner in which, during its 
 infancy, it was preserved by divine Providence 
 from the dangers that threatened its existence, 
 both from civil dissensions and foreign enemies. 
 Perhaps all our young readers are aware, that in 
 the conflict with Great Britain for independence,
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 33 
 
 we were aided by France with men and money ; 
 that an alliance was formed between the latter 
 country and the United States, both in respect to 
 warlike and commercial purposes ; that the vessels 
 of one traded freely in the ports of the other, and 
 that American A^cssels enjoyed the privilege of 
 trade with their West India islands, carrying there 
 our lumber, fish, vegetables, and live stock, and 
 taking back sugar, molasses, coffee, spices, and 
 other products of those islands, and that this con 
 tinued after we had accomplished our indepen 
 dence. 
 
 In respect to the British and Spanish govern 
 ments, who held possessions in the West Indies, it 
 was not in accordance with their policy to permit 
 other nations to trade with their West India 
 islands or colonies, and they endeavored to pre 
 vent it by the most stringent laws, and to compel 
 the inhabitants of their colonies to trade only with 
 the mother country. This had also been the policy 
 of France, and of all European nations to a greater 
 or less extent. These regulations, however, were 
 always evaded. It is but a few .years, compara 
 tively, since the Spanish West India ports have 
 been made free to some extent, the policy of 
 3
 
 34 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Spain in respect to her colonies being extremely 
 rigid j yet there was an enormous smuggling trade 
 carried on with Cuba, and the other Spanish 
 islands, long before the revolution by the Ameri 
 cans, as those islands could never sustain them 
 selves without supplies from other sources ; and as 
 their inhabitants were often reduced to extremity 
 by hurricanes, earthquakes, or drought, the home 
 governments were compelled at such times to sus 
 pend their regulations for a while, and permit trade 
 with foreign countries. The governor generals of 
 the islands also were allowed a discretionary pow 
 er, and could give foreign vessels a license to trade, 
 or, in case of distress, permit them to discharge a 
 part or the whole of a cargo to repair, to sell suffi 
 cient to pay the expense of repairs ; and by the 
 connivance of the authorities of the islands, who 
 found their account in it, the captains would often 
 contrive to be in distress, discharge, sell, and load 
 again with the produce of the islands. 
 
 Our readers will recollect that Captain Rhines 
 got a license to trade of the captain general of 
 Cuba, when he was in the Ark. 
 
 Before the revolution, our vessels we being 
 colonies of Great Britain -had free access to the
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 35 
 
 British West India ports ; and what with free trade 
 to the British, plenty of smuggling to the Spanish, 
 and trade to the French islands, for they also 
 allowed trade in vessels of sixty tons, American 
 ship-owners were making large fortunes, and driv 
 ing a most profitable trade. 
 
 But after our separation from Great Britain, we 
 became, in respect to them, a foreign nation, and 
 this trade was cut off that is, cut off by the Eng 
 lish navigation laws cut off on paper. We had 
 no commercial connection with England by treaty 
 for many years after the war of the revolution. She 
 acknowledged our independence, and made a trea 
 ty of peace with us, but not of commerce. Our 
 vessels, to be sure, went to the English ports, and 
 English vessels came here, but it was only at the 
 pleasure of the British government, and in virtue 
 of regulations made from year to year. There 
 was no treaty, and England might at any time shut 
 her ports against us, or lay exorbitant duties. 
 We would not ask her to make a commercial treaty 
 with us, and she would not offer to make one. 
 But, though we were excluded by the English 
 navigation laws, in common with all foreign na 
 tions, from the West India islands, this did by no
 
 36 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 means stop all intercourse with those islands, for 
 the reasons already spoken of, and others we shall 
 now mention. 
 
 The English merchants and inhabitants of those 
 islands wanted the American produce, because the 
 Americans could, and would, supply them more 
 promptly, cheaply, and with articles of better qual 
 ity than their own people in Nova Scotia. Winter 
 or summer, sickly or healthy, only inform the Yan 
 kees there was a demand, and the American brigs 
 and schooners, loaded decks to the water, made 
 their appearance. They were also old acquaintan 
 ces, had traded together before the separation, and 
 were determined, if possible, to continue to do so. 
 There was another reason that rendered this trade 
 particularly valuable to the Americans. They 
 could sell cargoes at the English islands for cash, 
 go to Trinidad or some of the Dutch islands, and 
 buy molasses cheap, and, after purchasing a return 
 cargo, have money left. 
 
 At that period there was great poverty in the 
 States ; the country was oppressed with debt, and 
 the old Continental money not worth more than 
 ten cents to a dollar. Thus you see how strong 
 the motive was on the part of the Americans.
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 37 
 
 The great obstacles in the way of this clandestine 
 trade was, or, rather, would have been if they had 
 done their duty, the custom-house officers, govern 
 ors of the islands, and the English fleet on the 
 West India stations. But the custom-house offi 
 cers cared a great deal more about filling their 
 own pockets, and so did the governors, than they 
 did about his majesty's interest, or in carrying out 
 the regulations of the navigation act, which was, 
 that all trade to and from the British West Indies 
 must be in British-built vessels, owned by British 
 subjects, with the masters and two thirds of the 
 crew British. It was also the duty of the com 
 manding officer of the fleet to see that these regu 
 lations were enforced ; but they cared still less 
 about it, and left the matter to the governors and 
 custom-house officers ; and when Nelson, in 1783, 
 undertook to break up this system of connivance at 
 the violation of revenue laws, he drew down upon 
 him the wrath of all the custom-house officials, 
 merchants, and inhabitants of the islands. The 
 American captains, whose vessels he had seized, 
 instigated by them, sued him for damages, as he had 
 seized their vessels after the customs had admitted 
 them. His own superior officer refused to sustain
 
 38 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 him, and he dared not leave his ship for eight 
 weeks to go on shore, for fear of arrest on civil 
 suit. 
 
 It cost an American captain, at that time, five 
 joes (a Portuguese eight dollar gold piece) to 
 obtain permission to unload. This was the state 
 of affairs for many years after the war of inde 
 pendence. The Americans had access by treaty 
 to the French ports, both in Europe and the West 
 Indies. The Dutch had been friendly to the 
 Americans during the war of independence, per 
 mitted the American privateers to harbor in their 
 West India ports, and protected them ; but in the 
 last year of the war a commercial treaty was made 
 with them, affording access by treaty to their 
 home ports and West India islands, St. Eus- 
 tatia, St. Martin, CuraQoa. The United States 
 also were in treaty with Sweden, enjoyed access 
 to her home ports, and the West India island of 
 St. Bartholomew. With Denmark there was no 
 arrangement of any kind, but trade was permitted 
 with the Danish West India islands. 
 
 The United States were extremely anxious to 
 effect a commercial treaty with England, and to 
 obtain the freedom of her West India ports. It
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 39 
 
 was more profitable than all the other trade put 
 together. The English merchants were able to 
 give long credit, which, in the great scarcity of 
 money, was a very important matter. Notwith 
 standing the irritation caused by the war, they 
 were the same people, kindred by blood and edu 
 cation, and had always been accustomed to dealing 
 with each other ; but, for reasons that it would 
 carry us too far to state, the English government 
 repelled the advances that after a time were made 
 by the States, and refused to make any commercial 
 treaty ; and thus the matter rested. But when 
 the revolution broke out in France, a great change 
 in the disposition of the English government was 
 manifest ; Great Britain could not be unmindful of 
 the alliance, offensive and defensive, and the com 
 mercial treaty that had existed for years, between 
 the French government, just overthrown, and the 
 United States : they were also informed of the 
 sympathy manifested in the United States for the 
 new republic, against which they had now de 
 clared war. They recollected that in the war of 
 the revolution the American privateers had cap 
 tured six hundred and fifty English vessels ; that 
 since that period their merchant marine and the
 
 40 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 number of their seamen had vastly increased, and 
 should the United States make common cause with 
 the French republic, as was natural and probable, 
 the ocean would swarm with American and French 
 privateers, fitted out in American ports to prey 
 upon British commerce. In this altered state of 
 things, a commercial treaty was made between 
 England and the United States of America, in 
 which their East India ports were opened to 
 Americans. The British government also con 
 ceded the right to trade with their West India 
 islands in vessels of seventy tons burden ; but it 
 was coupled with conditions that the United 
 States could not accept, and thus the West India 
 trade remained as it was. 
 
 Prior to the conclusion of this treaty with Eng 
 land, and after the outbreak of the French revo 
 lution, was a most perilous and trying period for 
 American commerce. The French republic, that 
 succeeded the old monarchy, at first threw open 
 their ports to us, expected us to make common 
 caiise with them against Great Britain, and to 
 reciprocate the favors we had received from that 
 nation in the war of independence. England, on 
 the other hand, having command of the ocean, cap-
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 41 
 
 tured all neutral vessels bound to France or 
 French ports. American vessels were thus con 
 stantly exposed to seizure by the English; but 
 when, on the other hand, the French found that 
 the United States were to remain neutral, and 
 intended to make a commercial treaty with Eng 
 land, their privateers and men-of-war began to 
 capture all American vessels bound to English 
 ports. 
 
 But even this was not all. The Algerines were 
 the enemies of the human race, and only kept in 
 order by fear or bribery. When we were colonies 
 of Great Britain, American vessels that navigated 
 the Mediterranean were furnished with passports 
 from the English government, who paid a tribute 
 to the Barbary powers in order that their vessels 
 might not be molested ; but, as we were no longer 
 colonies of Great Britain, this protection, of course, 
 was withdrawn, and the Dey of Algiers, knowing 
 that, having no navy, the Americans were unable to 
 punish him, seized upon their vessels found in 
 the Mediterranean, and even in the Atlantic, and 
 the crews were made slaves. 
 
 In addition also to the Algerines were the 
 pirates that infested the West India islands and
 
 42 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 the Spanish Main. Thus the dangers arising from 
 storms, contagious diseases, and the ordinary 
 vicissitudes of their profession were the least of 
 the perils seamen of that day encountered. 
 
 We have introduced these statements that our 
 young readers may understand the position in 
 which masters and owners of vessels w^ere then 
 placed, the fearful risks run, the perils encoun 
 tered, and especially that when, having read in 
 books that the British and Spanish nations ex 
 cluded foreigners from all trade with their West 
 India colonies, and then, perhaps, in some newspa 
 per of the same period, see American vessels by 
 scores reported as arriving from those very 
 islands, they may understand that they obtained 
 entrance either by license from the governors, 
 bribery of the custom-house officers, false regis 
 ters, sailing under English or Spanish colors, or 
 some other of the many evasions known to sea 
 men, or, perhaps, as was often the case by reason 
 of the home governments, in some peculiar exi 
 gency on account of famines, necessity for lumber 
 or materials of war, opening the port for a short 
 time, for all those West India islands were, to a 
 greater or less extent, dependent for food, clothing,
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARTED IS. 43 
 
 and lumber to build their houses and sugar-mills, 
 hogsheads, boxes, and bags for their sugar and 
 other products, upon those nations whose tea and 
 coffee they sweetened. 
 
 But there was no other cause that "so compli 
 cated the affairs of nations, introduced such risk 
 or confusion into mercantile affairs, opening some 
 ports that had been heretofore close sealed, and 
 shutting others that had been accessible, as war. 
 
 Great Britain was at war with France, and was 
 gradually bringing all the other monarchies of 
 Europe, already in spirit hostile to the French 
 republic, to become parties with her. In all wars 
 it was the custom and the law of nations that neu 
 trals, or, in other words, those nations that had 
 nothing to do with the quarrel, might continue 
 their trade with either or both the contending 
 parties as before on certa-in conditions, unless a 
 port was blockaded, in which case they were 
 liable to capture, and became a lawful prize. 
 They were not to carry to the ports of either 
 party articles that were contraband (or enemy's 
 property), under -which head was generally in 
 cluded warlike materials, arms, and whatever 
 might serve directly for the equipment of vessels
 
 44 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 or of armies: provisions were not in general con 
 sidered contraband, nor any other goods or metals 
 that have not been worked into the form of any 
 instrument or thing for the purpose of .war by land 
 or sea. 
 
 Our readers will see that this left out pro 
 visions, tar, pitch, masts, ship timber, ropes, 
 cables, tobacco, fish, and those very articles that 
 the Americans as neutrals could best furnish. 
 
 But Great Britain, being mistress of the ocean, 
 could do as she- pleased, and had always, in all her 
 wars, wherever she possessed the power, enumer 
 ated among contraband articles not only weapons 
 and those articles that might serve for the equip 
 ment of ships, but even the materials in their raw 
 state, as hemp, cordage, timber for ship building, 
 and, in the treaty that England made with 
 America in 1794, these articles were specified as 
 contraband; the clause in regard to provisions was 
 very adroitly worded. It provided that (as this 
 was a case where there might be doubt and diffi 
 culty in agreeing as to whether provisions were 
 contraband or not) whenever said articles, becom 
 ing contraband according to the existing law of 
 nations, shall for that reason be seized, they shall
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDI3. 45 
 
 not be confiscated, but the owners shall be com 
 pletely and speedily indemnified for the full value 
 of the articles, with a reasonable and mercantile 
 profit thereon, together with freight and also the 
 damage incident to such detention. 
 
 You will perceive that whether provisions were 
 contraband or not was to be determined by the 
 existing law of nations. Now, as Great Britain 
 possessed the power, and had always made pro 
 visions and everything, wrought or unwrought, 
 that could possibly be found in the equipment of 
 vessels, contraband, she defined her own practice 
 as being the standard of judging and the existing 
 law of nations, because it was her practice and for 
 her interest. The war with France, in which she 
 was now engaged, was different from all other 
 contests that had ever occurred between them ; it 
 was a bitter, implacable war, in which the fiercest 
 passions on both sides were called out. No sooner, 
 then, was war declared by France against England, 
 than the former threw open all the ports of her 
 colonies to the flag of every nation with whom she 
 was at peace, and shortly after issued orders to 
 the commanders of French naval vessels to seize 
 all neutral vessels bound to British ports ; and in
 
 46 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 one month after, the British government ordered 
 their cruisers to seize all vessels bound to French 
 ports with provisions, or to any port occupied by 
 the arms of France. It was far better, however, 
 to fall into the hands of the English, when bound 
 to a French port with provisions, than into the 
 hands of the French when bound to an English 
 port, because, according to the treaty of 1794, the 
 English were obligated to pay for your cargo, and 
 did pay, while the French did not ; and it was 
 downright robbery. The provision order was re 
 voked in Au'gust, by reason of the remonstrance 
 of the United States ; but, in November of the 
 same year, another order was issued, ordering 
 British cruisers to seize and bring in for adjudica 
 tion all ships laden with goods, the produce of 
 any of the French colonies, or carrying provisions 
 or other supplies for the use of such colonies. 
 
 These orders from Great Britain and France, 
 had they been enforced, would have cut up the 
 neutral trade, as it were, by the roots, but resulted 
 in opening the ports on both sides, and just in pro 
 portion as it made trade more dangerous, made it 
 more profitable, provided one was possessed -of 
 pluck to undertake it, and had the good fortune or 
 ability to run clear of the cruisers.
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 47 
 
 We will illustrate the operation of these princi 
 ples. The English have a naval station at Barba- 
 does, where are assembled a large fleet. Provis 
 ions are scarce on the island. The English supply 
 ships have some of them been captured by French 
 cruisers, or wrecked, and the fleet cannot move for 
 lack of provisions. By the British navigation laws 
 no trade is allowed with foreign vessels. At this 
 juncture an American brig, the Henry, from New 
 London, heaves in sight, laden, decks to the water, 
 with bread, pork, cheese, and onions. Does the 
 navigation act stand in the way long ? No, indeed. 
 The British admiral hastens to the door, saying, 
 
 " Good morning, Brother Jonathan ! Walk in, 
 and name your price. How are Mrs. Jonathan and 
 the children ? " 
 
 " Wai, she's so's to be about, and doing her 
 work ; but the children are kind o' fractious, and 
 she keeps herself dragged down all the time with 
 hard work." 
 
 " You ought not to let her work so hard. You 
 are well to do." 
 
 " So I tells her ; but she says there's a good 
 many mouths to fill, and a hard winter coming." 
 
 You see how war laughs at navigation acts;
 
 48 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 you perceive also, if thirty vessels started at the 
 same time with the Henry, and most of them have 
 been taken by French cruisers that she has run 
 away from, or had the good luck not to be seen by, 
 it makes her cargo worth all the more. 
 
 Take another instance, a real occurrence. The 
 English have taken Martinique from the French, 
 and have a large fleet there. Some of their ves 
 sels have been disabled in conflicts with the French 
 batteries ; there are eighteen topmasts, besides 
 yards and lower masts, needed, and not a spar on 
 the island, when an American mast ship, from Wis- 
 casset, arrives, with nearly a hundred spars, lower 
 masts, topmast-yards, bowsprits, and smaller spars. 
 Do you not think the American mast ship was wel 
 comed, and no impertinent questions in respect to 
 nationality asked ? 
 
 In order to illustrate the actual operation of the 
 British and French decrees, and their bearing 
 upon neutral trade, let us select real cases. 
 The schooner John Frederic, from New London, is 
 brought to on her passage by a British man-of-war, 
 and we trust her Britannic majesty will excuse us 
 for throwing the communication between them into 
 a conversational form, and thus departing from the 
 strict letter of the naval service.
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 49 
 
 
 
 " Where are you bound, Brother Jonathan ? " 
 
 "Well, I'm going to Guadaloupe, after a cargo 
 of sweetening." 
 
 " What does your cargo consist of? " 
 
 " Well, in the bottom of her, I've got iron in 
 bars, nails, hogshead shocks and heading, and on 
 deck staves. There's the papers ; you can see for 
 yourself." 
 
 After examining the schooner's papers, the officer 
 says, 
 
 " Call your men aft. I want to see if you've got 
 any subjects of her majesty." 
 
 The English government have always maintained 
 the doctrine that one born a subject of Great Brit 
 ain can never become an alien, "once a subject 
 always a subject," and, as they had the power, 
 so they claimed and exercised the right of taking 
 out of our vessels British seamen, although they 
 had been naturalized and had protections, because, 
 according to their theory, " once a subject always 
 a subject." He could never alienate himself by 
 his own act, and their becoming naturalized as 
 American citizens went for nothing with the Brit 
 ish government. This they called pressing, or im 
 pressment. 
 
 4
 
 50 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 The readers of the Elm Island stories know how 
 they managed the matter at home. Many of our 
 young readers may not know what a protection is. 
 It is a paper given to every sailor at the custom 
 house, describing his personal appearance and age 
 minutely, and declaring him to be a citizen of the 
 United States of America. But sailors are a care 
 less class, often lose their protections, and it is 
 not easy always to tell an American from an Eng 
 lishman or Scotchman. If an English officer found 
 a man on board an American vessel without a pro 
 tection, he would be sure to claim him as an Eng 
 lishman, and take him. On the other hand, if he 
 found one or more that were evidently Irish, 
 English, or Scotch, and were good rugged men, 
 although they had been naturalized, that would 
 make no difference ; he would take them, and 
 sometimes tear up their protections. It was often 
 the case that so many men would be taken out of a 
 crew that enough would not be left to handle the 
 vessel. Thus she would be delayed on her voyage, 
 and sometimes, in the event of a gale, lost ; and 
 oftentimes American citizens would be torn from 
 their homes and families, and dragged on board 
 British vessels, to fight in quarrels with which 
 they had no concern.
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 51 
 
 There was nothing that more embittered the 
 relations between the neutral powers and Great 
 Britain than this right of search and impressment 
 of seamen. 
 
 " They are all American born, and raised right 
 in our town, and here's the protections." 
 
 The officer, after examining the vessel's papers, 
 looking at the protections, and comparing the men 
 with the descriptions there given, and seeing no 
 opportunity for impressment, says, 
 
 " Well, you've nothing contraband. You can go 
 along." 
 
 No sooner had the schooner filled away than an 
 other sail, bearing the American flag, heaves in 
 sight. She is also ordered to heave to by the 
 frigate, and, when boarded, proves to be the brig 
 Presumpscot, also bound to Guadaloupe, loaded 
 with fish, corn, meal, beef, and pork. After ascer 
 taining the character of the brig's cargo, the Brit 
 ish officer says, 
 
 " You are a lawful prize. Every article of your 
 cargo is contraband. I shall put a prize crew on 
 board, and send you to Bermuda for adjudication." 
 
 " What right have you to stop me, break up my 
 voyage, subject me to loss, and the property of my
 
 52 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 owners to seizure ? Great Britain and the United 
 States are at peace, and I am a neutral, pursu 
 ing the same trade I've been in this four years. 
 Your quarrel with France is nothing to me. I 
 don't care which licks, or whether you use each 
 other all up, like the Kilkenny cats. Neutrals 
 have a right, by the law of nations, to trade with 
 both parties, if they don't carry fighting material, 
 which is contraband, or are caught running 
 blockade." 
 
 "But your cargo is contraband." 
 
 " No, it ain't ; provisions for the sustenance of 
 human life ain't contraband. They ain't like pow 
 der and shot, and things to fight with." 
 
 " But men can't fight without food can they ? " 
 
 " Nor they can't live without food can they ? 
 There are plenty of people in Guadaloupe that are 
 non-combatants; there are women and little chil 
 dren, Englishmen and Americans, that can't get 
 away. They've got a right to live haven't 
 they? and must have something to live on." 
 
 " The British government have made provisions 
 contraband." 
 
 " What right have they to do it ? Other nations 
 don't."
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 53 
 
 " The right of the strongest ; but, as there is 
 some doubt about provisions being contraband, his 
 majesty is graciously pleased to pay you the value 
 of your cargo, and a fair profit on the same, with 
 allowance for detentions." 
 
 " Yes ; but he won't pay me what I can get at 
 Guadaloupe, nor as much for detention as the de 
 tention is damage to me, nor half as much. Per 
 haps there'll be a dozen vessels there then, and I 
 must wait a month for my turn to come ; then, 
 after the thing is decided, wait a long time for my 
 pay, without money, myself and my men half 
 starved." 
 
 Thus you see the result of falling in with a Brit 
 ish cruiser when loaded with provisions, an article 
 not generally considered contraband. Let us now 
 select another instance that will bring out the 
 whole matter to an extent sufficient for our pres 
 ent purpose. 
 
 The French have now ascertained that the 
 United States have made a commercial treaty 
 with Great Britain, and a French privateer falls in 
 with the schooner Trident, of Salem, bound to Bar- 
 badoes. The instant the Frenchman ascertains 
 that the American is laden with provisions, bound
 
 54 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 to a British port, he addresses to him every oppro 
 brious epithet the French language supplies, calls 
 him a traitor to republican principles, and a rascal 
 for feeding those bloated aristocrats, and worthy 
 of being strung up to the yard-arm, puts a prize 
 crew aboard, and sends her into Guadaloupe. 
 The indemnity in this case is paid in depreciated 
 assignats, worth about as much as the old Conti 
 nental currency. 
 
 Having made this digression in order, if possible, 
 to make evident to our readers the position in 
 which neutrals were then placed in consequence 
 of methods adopted by Great Britain and France 
 to distress each other, we again resume the thread 
 of our story.
 
 HOPING AGAINST HOPE. 55 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HOPING AGAINST HOPE. 
 
 SCARCELY was supper despatched at Captain 
 Rhines's, when Charlie Bell and Fred Williams, 
 who had married daughters of Captain Rhines, 
 came ; soon after, Joe Griffin, the brother of 
 Walter. Thus were assembled the owners of the 
 Casco, not one of whom had been invited, but had 
 all, like Ben and Sally, been drawn by a natural 
 desire to find relief from the pressure of a com 
 mon anxiety, in conversation and mutual sym 
 pathy. 
 
 " Has anybody heard any news of the ship ? " 
 asked the captain, after greeting his guests. 
 
 All replied in the negative. They then began 
 to converse freely in respect to the probabilities of 
 the vessel ever arriving, during which were re 
 lated instances they had known, or heard of, in 
 regard to vessels that had been dismasted, or
 
 56 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 otherwise disabled, and finally arrived safe ; also of 
 crews that had saved themselves in boats, and 
 after drifting about on the ocean, been picked up, 
 carried to foreign ports, and when their friends 
 had given them up as lost, reached home. At 
 length Joe Griffin, turning to the captain, said, 
 
 "Captain Rhines, what do you think? Do you 
 feel as though we should ever see the boys again? " 
 
 " Yes, Joseph," replied the captain. " I don't 
 feel much doubt but we shall see them, and the ship, 
 too, although I neither expect to see the cargo or 
 to receive any proceeds from it." 
 
 " Where do you think they are, then ? " 
 
 "I think they've been taken by some French 
 cruiser. You know they were very friendly to us 
 at first, because they thought we would join them 
 in a war against Great Britain ; but when they 
 found we were neutral, and especially that we had 
 made a treaty with Great Britain, they began to 
 take our vessels wherever they could find them. 
 The least thing out of order in a bill of lading, or 
 the lack of a sea-letter, and they now make a prize 
 of a vessel at once. I saw a ship-owner to-day, of 
 Wiscasset, going home from Boston, where he has 
 been to see if he could find out anything about
 
 HOPING AGAINST HOPE. 57 
 
 some vessels that belong there, and are missing. 
 He says the French take our vessels whenever 
 they can find them, bound to any of the ports 
 that the English have taken from them and hold: 
 that they sometimes make a prize of the cargo, 
 and let the crew and ship go ; at other times 
 make a prize of both, and put the crew in jail. He 
 says they told him there were fifty Americans in 
 jail at Guadaloupe ; that the French sent them to 
 Barbadoes to exchange with the English for French 
 prisoners, arid that the English sent them back 
 again. At other times they rob the vessel of 
 what money she may have on board, and then let 
 her go. He showed me a letter, written by a 
 Salem captain to his owners. He says that when 
 a vessel arrives at a French island, the captain is 
 told that the republic needs his cargo, and will pay 
 him in the produce of the island, for which they fix 
 their own price, arid they also fix the price of the 
 vessel's cargo. They value the produce of the island 
 at double the sum for which it can be bought of any 
 merchant on the island, and they value the cargo of 
 the vessel at less than the first cost at home, and will 
 not allow him to sell to anybody else. He is then 
 presented with a written instrument, in which he
 
 58 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 acknowledges his entire approbation of the terms, 
 perfect satisfaction with the prices, and agreement 
 to the said bargain. He is then informed that he 
 must sign this, or he cannot leave the island ; and 
 to prevent his doing so, his sails are taken ashore. 
 The terms of payment are sometimes stipulated, 
 and sometimes not ; but whether the time is one 
 week or one month, none ever get their pay under 
 six months, and some not till after a longer time." 
 
 " Do you think that is the case with them, 
 father ? " said Ben. 
 
 " Yes, I think it is something of that kind. I 
 don't feel as though they had foundered at sea. I 
 should, perhaps, if it were ordinary times, they 
 have been gone so long ; but not now, because 
 there are so many ways for them to be detained. 
 They may have fallen in with a privateer, and been 
 carried to some French port, robbed, and left to 
 get home as they can, or they may have the vessel 
 given up to them. At any rate, I think there's no 
 danger of shipwreck, and that it's best to look on 
 the bright side. Through all my life I never have 
 been in the habit of borrowing trouble, arid I'm 
 not going to begin now." 
 
 While the men were thus conversing, the ladies
 
 HOPING AGAINST HOPE. 59 
 
 were employed with their sewing or knitting, listen 
 ing to the conversation, and occasionally joining in 
 it, or talking in low tones among themselves. 
 
 " I am sure," said Mrs.Rhines, "if we only get 
 the boys home safe, though we do lose the ship 
 and cargo, we never shall cry about that." 
 
 " True, Mary," said the captain, " though a 
 seven-hundred ton ship, with a valuable cargo, 
 and as much hard money as I think she must have 
 had in her, don't grow on every bush." 
 
 The young wife of John Rhines sat sewing and 
 jogging the cradle with her foot, while in her lap 
 lay a little kitten, sound asleep, half covered up in 
 her handkerchief. The expression of her counte 
 nance varied with the sentiments expressed by 
 the different speakers, and whenever discouraging 
 views seemed to prevail, tears trickled down her 
 cheeks, and she gazed wistfully upon the babe that 
 lay sleeping at her feet. 
 
 A singular contrast to the anxious feelings that 
 pervaded and agitated the entire company was 
 presented by the other occupants of the room ; 
 the kitten purring in the lap of her mistress, the 
 sweet occupant of the cradle smiling in his sleep, 
 and the great Newfoundland dog, old Tige's sue-
 
 60 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 cessor, but without a tithe of the intelligence of 
 its predecessor of glorious memory, whose brass 
 collar, on which was engraved a record of his 
 virtues, and of the lives he had saved, hung over 
 the mantel-piece, although he was a good water- 
 dog, and would bring anything ashore that the 
 captain shot. He lay with extended paws and 
 mouth wide open before the fire that had now 
 burned low. 
 
 Our young readers will bear in mind that at this 
 time the American people were very much divided 
 in sentiment in respect to the conduct to be pur 
 sued towards France. When the French people 
 destroyed the Bastile, overthrew the monarchy, 
 and proclaimed a republic, the feeling of sympathy 
 for them among the people of the United States 
 was deep and almost universal ; the aid received 
 from them when we were struggling for indepen 
 dence was gratefully remembered. Their declara 
 tion was considered as propagating the principles 
 of our own revolution, and Congress received a 
 minister from the republic. There were many, 
 however, who, from the very first, doubted whether 
 the French people were prepared for, and capable 
 of sustaining, a republican government.
 
 HOPING AGAINST HOPE. 61 
 
 The execution of the king, and the horrible 
 scenes that succeeded, confirmed them in these 
 opinions, and added many to their number. Thus 
 the nation was divided into two great parties, 
 whose bitter animosities brought it to the very 
 brink of civil war. One of these parties was en 
 thusiastic in favor of France, and of entering into 
 the most intimate relations with her, even to the 
 extent of fitting out privateers to prey upon 
 British- commerce. To this party belonged a 
 large portion of the mercantile community. Cap 
 tain Rhines, Lion Ben, and, indeed, all the company 
 assembled around his fireside, embraced the.se ex 
 treme views. The other party, with Washington 
 at its head, were in favor of neutrality, and pre 
 serving peace with both parties ; but the bitter 
 ness of this party struggle was now past. Captain 
 Rhines, and those who had cherished like views, 
 had been brought to see that France only wished to 
 make use of the American people and their re 
 sources ; that she desired no alliance, except an 
 offensive and defensive one, similar to the old 
 alliance of 1778, by which the United States were 
 bound to defend her West India islands in the event 
 of war with Great Britain ; and she would enter
 
 62 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 into no commercial treaty but upon such conditions. 
 These facts, revealed by the progress of events, 
 had cooled the zeal of those heretofore so preju 
 diced in favor of France. On the other hand, that 
 nation, though nominally at peace with us, enraged 
 at being foiled in her purpose of involving this 
 country in war, was not- only capturing our mer 
 chant vessels engaged in neutral trade, but im 
 pressing the masters and crews, and, in some 
 instances, inflicting lashes. 
 
 Thus you will notice that, in consequence of 
 having previously taken such decided ground in 
 favor of the French, Captain Rhines and his friends 
 shrunk from any very strong expressions of the con 
 trary opinion ; but there were no manifestations of 
 sympathy with, or attachment to, the French repub 
 lic, which would scarcely have been the case two 
 years before, when Genet, the minister despatched 
 from France, was received with ovations ; while, 
 in Boston, an ox, roasted whole, and covered with 
 mottoes and decorations, with the French and 
 United States flags displayed from the horns, was 
 drawn through the streets by sixteen horses, and 
 the children from all the schools, marshalled in 
 State Street, were each presented with a cake, 
 stamped with the words " Liberty and Equality."
 
 HOPING AGAINST HOPE. 63 
 
 The past history of France and the United 
 States of America furnishes a most graphic illus 
 tration of the sagacity of those statesmen who 
 doubted the capacity of the French people for 
 self-government. They inaugurated a republican 
 form of government with the most horrible butch 
 eries, and with a protest against all religious prin 
 ciple, about nine years after the United States had 
 established their independence. Their short-lived 
 republic was succeeded by a Directory, and that 
 by the iron rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon 
 being defeated and exiled, a new monarch was 
 placed on the throne by foreign bayonets. An 
 other republic is established for a brief period, 
 succeeded by another monarchy ; and now France 
 is once more a republic; but in what a condition? 
 Its monarch, who obtained his throne by treason 
 and murder, is an exile ; its armies crushed, its 
 capital has been besieged and taken, and an enor 
 mous tribute has been levied upon the nation 
 which is now in a state little short of anarchy 
 as the price of peace. 
 
 During all this period, though menaced by dan 
 gers both internal and external, the United States 
 of America, true to those principles with which
 
 64 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 they commenced their career, have gone steadily 
 forward, increasing in power and wealth, diffusing 
 among the people the blessings of education, civil 
 government, and religion; developing the re 
 sources of their vast territory ; welcoming the 
 oppressed of every nation, and creating happy 
 homes ; while it may well be doubted if the 
 French nation, with their disregard of the princi 
 ples of religion, learning and culture confined to 
 the higher classes, and the great body of the peo 
 ple sunk in ignorance, are one whit more capable 
 of maintaining a republican form of government in 
 1872 than they were in 1792. 
 
 " I tell you," said the captain, in reply to a ques 
 tion from Fred Williams, " there's no occasion to 
 be too much cast down about the boys ; they're 
 having a hard time, no doubt, and disagreeable, 
 but they'll worm through it. Walter Griffin has 
 got an old head on young shoulders ; he's a fore 
 casting boy, and he's a good boy, and when it 
 comes to the hardest he will go to God for aid and 
 will be guided, and Ned Gates is not much behind 
 him ; then he is patient, as well as resolute, and 
 won't do anything rash." 
 
 " He speaks French," said Lion Ben ; " both of
 
 HOPING AGAINST HOPE. 65 
 
 them do, as well as their mother tongue, and have 
 been a good deal among Frenchmen; know how 
 they feel, and just how to take them. They'll 
 make friends, and that goes a great way either at 
 home or abroad." 
 
 " I guess it does," said Captain Murch. " I could 
 see that when he was with me before the mast. 
 Old sailors are apt to be hard on a boy ; but every 
 man aboard loved Walter, and I think if they are 
 captured by a French privateer and carried into a 
 French port, that they will get clear, not without 
 loss of cargo and money, and will get the vessel 
 to come home in." 
 
 As these encouraging remarks dropped from the 
 two captains, a faint smile was visible on the fea 
 tures of the young wife, and a more hopeful spirit 
 seemed to pervade the whole company. 
 
 Captain Rhines, jiimping up, piled wood upon 
 the andirons, and then thrusting a part of the top 
 most shoot of a pine tree, covered with dry cones 
 full of pitch, under the forestick, the whole mass 
 burst into a blaze, and sparks began to fly all over 
 the room. 
 
 Tige fled for refuge under the table, and Fannie 
 5
 
 66 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Rhines, ejecting the kitten from her lap with little 
 ceremony, hastened to pull back the cradle. 
 
 " Why, Captain Rhines," said his wife, shaking 
 the sparks from her handkerchief, " you will burn 
 us all up." 
 
 " It's just as well to laugh as to cry, wife. I 
 want something a little more cheerful than a par 
 cel of ashes and a black backlog. Mary, you are 
 younger than your mother ; run down cellar and 
 bring up a pitcher of cider. Take a dish with 
 you, and get some of the old hay-yard apples. 
 I'll warrant you know where the barrel is." 
 
 " Yes, father, and I know where mother's cake 
 pot is, too." 
 
 " Rob it, girl, rob it. I'll give you a roving 
 commission among your mother's goodies, to take, 
 devour, and carry off." 
 
 "May I, mother?" 
 
 " Yes, take Charlie with you, and bring up 
 some mince pies. They're all on the broad shelf 
 in the milk-room. Ben will eat a whole one ; so 
 get enough." 
 
 "That I will, mother," said Ben; "haven't had 
 a mince pie for an age. We can't get fresh
 
 HOPING AGAINST HOPE. 67 
 
 meat on the island, except once in a great while 
 when we come oft', or kill something." 
 
 "I have got a quarter, Ben. I'll divide with 
 you when you go home." 
 
 " Thank you, father." 
 
 Through the influence of this good cheer and 
 their new-born hopes, the conversation became 
 quite animated, and they separated in much better 
 spirits than when they met.
 
 68 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAY. 
 
 T~1ATHER," said Lion Ben, after the depart- 
 J? ure of the company, " are you going to 
 plough to-morrow 1 " 
 
 "I think not, Ben, for the plough didn't go 
 well at all to-day. I shall have to send it to the 
 blacksmith." 
 
 " I was about to say, if you were, I'd help you." 
 
 " That would be fine ; come over to make us a 
 visit, and then be put to work ! " 
 
 " I had rather work than not. We shall enjoy 
 ourselves together, and I suppose you want to get 
 that piece of corn in before Edmund does his." 
 
 " I should have sprung like a tiger to do it 
 once, for by the time the ground could be got 
 ready, I should not be afraid to plant it ; but the 
 truth is, Ben, I feel so uneasy (though I don't let 
 on to your mother or Fannie), that I haven't the
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAT. 69 
 
 heart or ambition to work as usual. Would you 
 believe it, I haven't had my gunning float off this 
 spring, and here it is the last of April, nor 
 shot a bird. The sea-fowl come into the cove, and 
 go out again unharmed." 
 
 " You'll feel better, father, to be at work, and 
 so shall I. It will keep down uneasy thoughts ; 
 let Valentine take the plough to the smith in the 
 forenoon. I will go down and see Charlie, and in 
 the afternoon you and I will plough." 
 
 The family now retired to rest, with the excep 
 tion of Mrs. Rhines, who remained to discharge 
 some household duties. 
 
 " Mary," cried the captain, " why don't you come 
 to bed ? What are you doing so long down cel 
 lar?" 
 
 " I'm after some beef and potatoes for breakfast 
 in the morning. You know we've got company." 
 
 " Why didn't you let the girls do it when they 
 were here ? " 
 
 " I didn't think of it, Benjamin," said the good 
 woman, as she blew out the candle and took her 
 place beside her husband. " While I was down 
 cellar I looked at my soap. You know, husband, 
 I've always had the best luck of anybody in the
 
 70 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 neighborhood with soap. Since we've been mar 
 ried I've never had any trouble with it ; but this 
 year it hasn't come to soap at all ; there's no soap 
 to it ; it's nothing but grease and lye. Do you 
 think it's a forerunner, or any bad sign ? " 
 
 " Yes, it's a sign you had weak lye." 
 
 " But I set up the leach just as I always have, 
 put on hot water, and it stood a long time before I 
 drew the lye off." 
 
 " That may be, but you had poor ashes." 
 
 " Just the ashes we always had." 
 
 " You are much mistaken there, wife. Till this 
 winter we've burnt almost entirely elm, rock-maple, 
 oak, and black ash, that make the strongest ashes in 
 the world ; but this winter we've burnt beech, 
 white maple, white birch, and lots of pine wood. 
 That's what's the matter with the soap. Put some 
 potash in it, and it will be all right." 
 
 " Perhaps it will ; but I suppose, Benjamin, if 
 anything should befall, it is our duty not to mur 
 mur, but submit to the Lord's will, is it not, 
 husband ? " 
 
 " I suppose so ; but it will be time enough to 
 submit when we find out what the Lord's will is." 
 
 Captain Rhines was roused from slumber the
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAY. 71 
 
 succeeding morning, just as the gray dawn was 
 breaking, by a sound that jarred the house, and 
 made every window in it rattle. 
 
 " Mercy, husband ! " screamed Mrs. Rhines ; 
 "what is that?" 
 
 " Hark, Mary," said the captain, who, awaked 
 from a sound sleep, knew not what had waked him ; 
 " perhaps we shall hear it again." 
 
 In a few minutes it was repeated, and louder 
 than before. 
 
 " It's a gun, and no popgun either," shouted the 
 captain, leaping from the bed and rushing to the 
 door. Meantime the dog was barking furiously, 
 the baby crying with might and main, roosters 
 crowing and hens cackling in concert. The captain 
 encountered Ben in the sitting-room, and together 
 they hurried to obtain a view of the cove, from 
 whence 4he report seemed to proceed. The shore 
 of Captain Rhines's cove was quite bold, and as 
 
 they turned the corner of the house they espied 
 
 
 a bngantine within a short distance of the beach, 
 
 just preparing to anchor. The next moment the 
 smoke rose from a long gun amidships, and the 
 roar of the piece was heard. 
 
 " That gun was shotted, I know by the sound,"
 
 72 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 cried the captain, who was no novice in matters 
 of naval warfare. 
 
 " There goes the shot/' said Ben, pointing to the 
 ball, that was now seen ricochetting along the sur 
 face of the water to seaward. 
 
 " It's a French privateer," said the captain. 
 " She's French or Spanish built, if she does fly 
 American colors." 
 
 " There's two of them, father," cried Ben, as the 
 increasing light enabled him to descry another ves 
 sel some distance astern of t)ie brigantine ; " a 
 rousing big ship she is, too, and under her three 
 topsails." 
 
 " It's the Casco, Ben," shouted the captain ; " as 
 I'm a sinner, the big ship is the Casco." And, 
 running back to the house, he screamed, " The 
 Casco is coming into the cove." 
 
 Joined by Tom Valentine they ran for the beach. 
 Another gun was discharged from the brigantine, 
 and then the firing ceased. As they pulled away 
 they saw people from all directions, half dressed, 
 thronging to the shore. 
 
 " What can this Frenchman be firing for, and 
 with shot, too ? " said the captain. 
 
 " I don't know, father, I'm sure, but there's a
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAY. 73 
 
 fellow in the bunt of her topsail that I could take 
 my Bible oath is Sam Eveleth." 
 
 The crews of both the vessels were aloft, hand 
 ing the sails. 
 
 " Ease on your oar, Ben," said the captain. 
 " Let us pull a little nearer to the Frenchman." 
 
 As the boat came under the stern of the brigan- 
 tine, the captain, turning half round, looked Ned, 
 who was pacing the deck, square in the face. 
 
 " What on earth does this mean ! " he cried, 
 dropping his oar overboard in his astonishment. 
 " Ned Gates, can this be you ? and you, too, Dick 
 Cameron ? God bless you 1 " 
 
 " Captain Gates, if you please, sir," replied Ned, 
 straightening himself, aiid assuming a very impor 
 tant air. 
 
 " Captain of what ? " 
 
 " Of the piratical brigantine Languedoc." . 
 
 " How came you by her ? " said Ben. 
 
 " She was sent out to take us, but we took her." 
 
 " The dogs you did ! " said the captain. " Where 
 is my John?" 
 
 " There," replied Ned, pointing to a boat with 
 three men in her that was just leaving the Casco, 
 and pulling towards them.
 
 74 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Come aboard, captain. They'll be alongside in 
 a few minutes." 
 
 " Can't. I want to meet him. Come to the 
 house, Ned, as soon as you get ashore. Here 
 comes Charlie Bell, Fred Williams, and the whole 
 neighborhood at their heels. Hurrah ! " he shout 
 ed, spinning his hat into the water ; " my wife's 
 soap'll come now." 
 
 It was just as the captain had said. The whole 
 surface of the cove was covered with boats, skiffs, 
 gunning-floats, gundalows, and any kind of a craft 
 that would float, filled with men and boys, who, 
 roused from sleep by the firing, and recognizing 
 the ship, were hastening to welcome home rela 
 tives and friends. 
 
 " Give way, Ben," said the captain. " I see the 
 boy sitting in the stern-sheets of the boat. A 
 great. day this, bless the Lord! 0, what will his 
 mother and Fannie say?" 
 
 " What think John will say to the baby, father? " 
 
 " Don't tell him, Ben, for your life. That'll be a 
 surprise and a half." 
 
 The captain, who, during these weary months, 
 had concealed an aching heart beneath the sem 
 blance of cheerfulness in order to sustain the spir-
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAY. 75 
 
 its of his desponding wife and children, shed tears 
 of joy as he embraced his son. 
 
 " Don't think I ain't glad to see you, boys," said 
 he, turning to Enoch Hadlock and Eaton, whose 
 hands he grasped ; " but I was so glad to see this 
 boy of mine, I forgot everything and everybody 
 else. Your folks are all well, and I expect on their 
 way to see you." 
 
 While the boats lay side by side, a novel species 
 of craft came along. It was a huge log trough, 
 navigated by three boys, Will, Edmund, and 
 Winthrop Griffin, with strips of boards for pad 
 dles. Will was dressed, with the exception of 
 shoes and stockings, but the two younger boys 
 were in shirt and drawers, barefooted and bare 
 headed. 
 
 "Where are you going, boys?" said Ben. 
 
 " We're going to the ship, to see our Walter and 
 Henry." 
 
 " Well, get in with us, and set your old trough 
 adrift." 
 
 " We mustn't," replied Winthrop. " It's father's 
 trough that he waters the cattle in." 
 
 " How did you get it into the water ? " 
 
 " We tied a rope to it, and dragged it."
 
 76 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " There's some Griffin there," said Dan Eaton to 
 Hadlock, as the boys paddled away. 
 
 " John," said the captain, " we must go shake 
 hands with Walter ; but you can go ahead. I sup 
 pose you're dying to get ashore." 
 
 "It won't take but a moment, father. I'll go 
 back to the ship with you, and then we'll all go 
 home together." 
 
 On their return they met Joe Griffin, Charlie 
 Bell, and Fred Williams coming off. No sooner 
 had John Rhines greeted his wife, mother, and 
 sisters, than he noticed the cradle and its occu 
 pant. 
 
 " Whose baby is that, mother ? " he asked. 
 
 " Guess, John. Ain't it a nice one ? " 
 
 "Yes. 1 guess it's yours, Mary," turning to 
 Charlie Bell's wife. 
 
 " No ; guess again. Who does it look like ? " 
 
 " It's hardly large enough to tell. It looks like 
 my father. I know whose it is yours, Lizzie," 
 turning to Fred Williams's wife. 
 
 " It is yours, John," said his mother ; " and I 
 think he does favor his grandfather." 
 
 " Is it, Fannie, our baby ? " 
 
 " Yes ; what do you think of it? "
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DA. 77 
 
 " I think it is a little beauty ; but whaj a mite of 
 a creature ! " 
 
 "It is large enough for a six weeks' baby. 
 When he gets his nap out, and wakes up, you'll 
 see what a bright little fellow he is, and how much 
 notice he takes. He knows his mother already." 
 
 Some allowance must be made for a vivid imagi 
 nation in the grandmother, and to the precocity of 
 the babe. 
 
 " Husband, come to the table. It's past nine 
 o'clock, and we haven't been to breakfast yet. 
 Where's Ned Gates and Cameron? I expected 
 them." 
 
 " They," replied John, " have gone home with 
 Walter." 
 
 "Where are Charlie and Fred?" 
 
 "Here they come," said John. "I see them 
 through the window." 
 
 " Where's Tom Valentine ? " 
 
 "He had his breakfast, husband, three hours 
 ago." 
 
 At this juncture, Tom, putting his head into the 
 door, said, 
 
 " Captain, you've not laid out any work for me 
 to-day. Shall I harrow the ground we ploughed 
 yesterday ? "
 
 78 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " No, Tom, not a stroke of work shall you do 
 this blessed day." 
 
 " Hadn't I better take the plough to the black 
 smith's, so as to be ready for work to-morrow ? " 
 
 " Got a blacksmith of our own now," said the 
 captain, slapping John on the shoulder ; " and 
 there's a good shop, forge, and tools in the ship 
 yard. There shall not be an ox yoked nor a horse 
 harnessed to-day. Take care of the cattle, Tom, 
 and then go to see your mother, or your sweet 
 heart, or gunning, just which suits you best." 
 
 It was some time before the demands of appetite 
 were appeased, owing to the lateness of the break 
 fast hour. 
 
 " Who would have thought last night," said Ben, 
 " when we were trying to keep each other's hearts 
 up, that the very people we were so anxious about 
 would be safe and sound at home in the morn 
 ing?" 
 
 " Yes," said the captain, " especially when the 
 dog howled, and the soap didn't come." 
 
 "Be still, Captain Rhines," said his wife. "I 
 don't believe you was very much at ease in your 
 mind, any more than the rest of us." 
 
 "He wasn't, mother," said Ben; "it was all 
 put on."
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAY. 79 
 
 " I am easy now, at any rate ; but, John, what 
 did Ned put shot in his gun for ? " 
 
 " That was Dick Cameron's doings to make the 
 louder report. He said he meant to call the 
 watch, so that everybody in town would hear 
 the news." 
 
 " Come, John/-' said Charlie Bell, " tell us the 
 riddle. Where did this brigantine come from ? " 
 
 " Lemaire was so mad, because "Walter and Ned 
 got Peterson away from him, that he wrote that 
 letter just to lure him to Martinique, and then 
 sent this brigantine out to waylay him, capture 
 the ship, and butcher all hands ; but we turned 
 the tables on them, and took the pirate. Lemaire 
 owned the brigantine, and was an old pirate 
 himself." 
 
 John then related the whole affair of the con 
 flict, with which the readers of the previous vol 
 ume of the series are familiar. 
 
 " After you took her," said the captain, " did you 
 make the best of your way home ? If you did, 
 you've been an everlasting while on the passage." 
 
 " No, father. We went back, seized Lemaire, 
 and gave him up to the English authorities." 
 
 Martinique was at that time in the hands of the
 
 80 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 English, who had taken it from the French a few 
 months before. 
 
 What did they do with him? " 
 
 " They turned him over to the French courts, 
 and they hung him. The English didn't interfere 
 with the courts of justice, or the municipal authori 
 ties, and they permitted the merchants of the 
 island to trade with neutrals, and they allowed us 
 to keep the brigantine." 
 
 " Was there any cargo in her ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; she was in ballast, except her powder 
 and shot." 
 
 " She is deep now." 
 
 " That cargo belongs to the owners of the Casco. 
 Walter bought it when Lemaire's effects were sold. 
 The brigantine belongs to the ship's company of 
 the Casco." 
 
 " What does her cargo consist of? " 
 
 "All kinds of things tea, blankets, indigo, 
 saltpetre, spice, coffee, and ivory." 
 
 " Well, I'll give up ! I've been to sea ever since 
 I was a boy, and it's the first time I ever heard of 
 tea, blankets, and ivory as part of a West India 
 cargo." 
 
 " You see, father, Lemaire had two or three of
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAY. 81 
 
 those piratical vessels that passed for Guineamen. 
 They robbed East Indiamen, West Indiamen, and 
 vessels for Europe, and brought it all to him. 
 The hill back of his house was all honeycombed 
 with vaults where these cargoes were concealed ; 
 there were also just such places at his other plan 
 tations on the island. I can tell you that cargo is 
 worth the money; but it was bought mighty cheap." 
 
 " That was what took the time up, waiting for 
 this property to be sold, and Lemaire to be tried, 
 and all that was it ? " 
 
 " Yes, father." 
 
 " And I all the time thought some French 
 cruiser had captured you." 
 
 There was no lack of topics of conversation to 
 occupy the time ; and in ^the afternoon Walter, 
 Ned, and Cameron came, and stopped to tea. Cap 
 tain Murch came in just as the meal was over, and, 
 as the owners of the Casco were all present, Wal 
 ter gave them a particular account of the voyage. 
 When he had concluded, Captain Rhines said, 
 
 " I had hard work to persuade this young man 
 
 to take command of the ship. He was too young, 
 
 he said, without experience, and his capacity was 
 
 not equal to the responsibility and the handling of 
 
 6
 
 82 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 so much property ; and now see what he has done : 
 no man, old or young, could have been placed 
 in more trying circumstances, greater perils, or 
 where there was more need of good judgment 
 and a resolute heart, and he has come out of it 
 all with flying colors ; hung Lemaire, saved his 
 own life, the lives of his crew, and made a noble 
 vige. Why, 'the ship will pay for herself this trip, 
 you've made so much on the cargo you carried 
 out, while the cargo you've brought back comes 
 just in the right time. You have also shown most 
 excellent judgment in the selection of the brig- 
 antine's cargo ; that tea and indigo will go like hot 
 cakes ; and the saltpetre, there will be money made 
 on that ; we'll sell it to the English to make powder 
 to fight the French, or to the French to make 
 powder to fight the English, just which will pay 
 the most." 
 
 No sooner had the captain ceased speaking, 
 than Lion Ben and the others expressed the same 
 opinions. 
 
 . " 0, Captain Rhines," replied Walter, blushing, 
 "I am very glad you are satisfied with my pro 
 ceedings, and I feel very grateful for the opinions 
 you and the other owners have expressed; but
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAY. 83 
 
 you attribute altogether too much of the success 
 to me. A very small share of it is justly due to 
 me, but belongs of right to my officers and crew, 
 and Pierre Lallemont. What could I have. done 
 without Dan Eaton, Sewall Lancaster, Merrithew, 
 and a crew of born riflemen who had been brought 
 up to shoot deer on the jump, and sea-fowl on the 
 wing, and that were as cool under fire as veteran 
 soldiers? and what without such officers as Mr. 
 Cameron and Ned " 
 
 "Don't believe anything he says, Captain 
 Rhines ; don't pay any attention to him, Mr, Bell," 
 said Ned, every feature of his face beaming with 
 the delight he felt at this commendation of his 
 friend. "That is just like him give all the credit 
 to others, and take none himself. It's all his 
 work ; he planned it all out, and never said a word 
 to us. Cameron and myself thought he was crazy, 
 when it was blowing a gale of wind and he carry 
 ing sail till the masts were ready to go out of her, 
 trying to run away from the Languedoc ; and when 
 he found he couldn't do it, he called all hands aft, 
 and told us she was a pirate. And then, don't you 
 think, Captain Rhines, he wanted Cameron to take 
 charge of the ship, because he said Cameron had 
 had more experience ! "
 
 84 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " But Cameron was not fool enough to do it," 
 said Dick. " Never mind his blushing, captain ; he 
 deserves all the praise you can bestow, and what 
 is more, it won't hurt him." 
 
 " There's one thing we must do," said Captain 
 Rhines; "and that is, to tell all the masters of 
 vessels we fall in with what the .black cooper 
 did, and tell them to spread it, so that every 
 master that goes to Martinique and now the 
 English have got it, Ave shall be like to go there 
 more than ever will get Pierre Lallemont to do 
 his coopering." 
 
 " How strange it seems," said Fred Williams, 
 " too strange for belief, that Pete Clash, who has 
 lived right here among us, who John and I used 
 to play with, should turn pirate, come to be 
 captain of this brigantine, that Walter should kill 
 him, and that he could hold such deadly malice 
 towards his old schoolmates ! " 
 
 "Wai, children," said old Mrs. Hadlock, "you 
 see how the Lord sets one thing over against 
 another thing. Here was Clash trying to kill 
 people that never harmed him, and got killed 
 himself; and Walter and Captain Gates, they rim 
 the risk of their lives to rescue James Peterson,
 
 DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAY. 85 
 
 though he was a black man; and then another 
 black man, an utter stranger, interferes and saves 
 them and all the rest. It is wonderful, as good old 
 Aunt Molly Bradish would say if she was alive, 
 she's in a better place, I trust, than this wicked 
 world, the dealings of Providence, and how 
 things are ordered." 
 
 "Mr. Bell," said Ned, "you know, when we 
 went away, you was going to build a vessel for 
 Walter." 
 
 " Yes, Ned ; she's ceiled up, her decks are in 
 and her plank on ; she's going to be an extra 
 vessel, I tell you ; we have payed the whole frame 
 over with oil and tar, and we've bored all the 
 timbers and filled the holes with oil, everything is 
 in the yard to finish her, and the spars are all 
 made. We might have had her off, but we 
 wanted her to season." 
 
 " And were doubtful/' said Walter, " whether I 
 should ever get home to want her." 
 
 " That's just the reason," said Captain Ehines. 
 
 " Well, you may finish her as fast as you like. 
 The English have a large fleet at Martinique, and 
 want provisions, and if I can dodge the French 
 cruisers and get there, the sooner the better, 
 'twill be a good voyage."
 
 86 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Walter," said the captain, as they were about to 
 separate, " it seems there are more than thirty own 
 ers of the brigantine. Where .there are so many, 
 it will not be profitable for all to run her. Do you 
 go and see them all, and the heirs of the men that 
 were killed, and tell them Ben, myself, and John 
 will buy her ; that we will choose one man, they 
 may choose another, and those two choose a third, 
 to say what she's worth, 'and we'll abide by their 
 decision, and pay them the customary freight on 
 the cargo home ; and let us know what they say."
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 87 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 
 
 /CAPTAIN RHINES insisted that Cameron 
 V_y should stay there, but Walter took Ned home 
 with him. They had traversed about half of the 
 way between the captain's and Edmund Griffin's, 
 when they came across Will, Edmund, and Win- 
 throp, seated on the trough, their apology for a 
 boat, reeking with perspiration, and quite tired 
 out. They had made a rope fast to the trough, 
 and fastened a stake to the rope. Will and Ed 
 mund pulled by putting their breasts against the 
 stake, while Winthrop had made a standing noose 
 in the other end, that he threw over his yhoulder 
 and hauled by that. Excited by the news of the 
 ship's arrival, they had managed to get the trough 
 to the water very well, the ground for the greater 
 part of the way being descending ; but now it 
 was the reverse. They had accomplished their
 
 88 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 purpose, seen Walter and Henry, had their slide, 
 the excitement was over, and hauling such a sled 
 as that back was very much like work very 
 much indeed. 
 
 Just before Walter and Ned overtook them they 
 had come to the foot of a steep hill. At the sight 
 of this obstacle, Winthrop, who was quite young, 
 gave out. 
 
 " Will, I can't do any more ; my legs ache, and 
 I'm almost dead ; we never can get up this hill ; " 
 and he began to cry. 
 
 " Don't cry. Wint," said Will, wiping the little 
 fellow's tears away with his jacket-sleeve ; " this 
 is the last hill ; stick to it a little longer." 
 
 " I can't. I'm all tuckered out." 
 
 "I'll tell you what we'll do," said Edmund; "we'll 
 turn the trough over, sit down and rest a while ; 
 you'll feel better; and then we'll geta lot of stakes 
 out of the fence and put under it for rollers : you 
 can put them under, Wint, as fast as Will and I 
 haul it along ; and when we once get up this hill, 
 we'll do well enough. I'll give you my knife that's 
 got a dog on the handle if you'll be a good boy, 
 and not give up." 
 
 "Will you truly, Ed?"
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 89 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 They were thus resting when overtaken by 
 Walter and Ned. 
 
 " Why don't you go home and leave it," asked 
 Walter, " and get it some other time ? " 
 
 " It's the trough we water the cattle in," replied 
 Will, " and we want it in the morning. Joe's gone 
 up river to tell father you've come, and bring him 
 home. He'll scold if he finds the trough gone." 
 
 " He'll lick us," said Winthrop, beginning to cry 
 afresh. 
 
 " Don't cry," said Ned ; " we'll help yon." 
 
 " I'm not going to drag it; let's shoulder it/' said 
 Walter. 
 
 Ned and Walter taking the larger portion of it, 
 they managed to carry it. Winthrop, too short to 
 carry with the others, took the rope. There were 
 some sad exceptions to the wide-spread rejoicing- 
 consequent upon the arrival of .the ship. We re 
 fer to those whose children and relatives had fallen 
 in the death-grapple on the deck of the Langue- 
 doc, and who were overwhelmed with sorrow, 
 while their near neighbors were rejoicing at the 
 return of those respecting whom they had so long 
 been anxious.
 
 90 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 One of the young men slain Atherton was 
 comparatively a stranger in the place, though the 
 name was a common one in that vicinity. He 
 came into the town, about two years before his 
 death, from Canada, where his father, who was a 
 trapper, lived. The boy had always been engaged 
 in the same*business. Getting short of provisions 
 in one of his trapping excursions, he came into a 
 logging camp, where he. found Sam Holbrook, who 
 was cook to the gang. One was about as rough 
 as the other, and a friendship began between them, 
 in consequence of which, Atherton, when not trap 
 ping, made it his home with Sam, at Pleasant Cove, 
 where they spent the greatest part of their lei 
 sure time in rifle shooting, sometimes for turkeys, 
 and sometimes for bank bills ; and when Sam 
 shipped in the Casco, he persuaded Atherton to 
 ship as green hand. He was not of much use 
 on the passage out, except, being a powerful 
 man, to pull and haul about deck ; but when the 
 hour of conflict came, and the rifle was placed in 
 his hands, he was invaluable. Blaisdell and El- 
 well, however, born and bred in the town, were 
 integral portions of the community ; and the news 
 of their death affected deeply not merely their
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 91 
 
 parents and near relatives,. but the people at large, 
 especially that of Sam Elwell. His father had 
 been killed two years before, breaking a jam of 
 logs at the falls of the river j and he, the only child, 
 became the main dependence of his mother. 
 
 Sam was very highly respected and universally 
 beloved both for his personal qualities and the 
 tender affection he manifested for his mother, she 
 being left with a farm and a good stock of cattle, 
 although there were outstanding debts. 
 
 But no one among the whole circle of relatives 
 and friends was so sensibly touched by his death 
 as Walter' Griffin. Notwithstanding some differ 
 ence in age, they had been constant associates both 
 in school and out. Their fathers' farms joined, and 
 they were in the habit of changing works. Wal 
 ter would go over and hoe with Sam one day, and 
 the next Sam would return the favor. While the 
 Casco was loading for Martinique, Walter said to 
 him, 
 
 " Come, Sam, hurry up your harvesting. Pick 
 up some good boy to stay with your mother and 
 take care of the cattle this winter, and you go with 
 me in the ship. Stay here and you'll only eat up 
 all you've earned this summer. I'll put you in the
 
 92 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 way of making a great- deal more than you have 
 since your father died ; and you ought to do it if 
 all our Will says is true about a little girl that 
 don't live ten miles from Sewall Lancaster's." 
 
 " I don't see how you make that out, Walter ; 
 the wages of an ordinary seaman wouldn't amount 
 to anything." 
 
 " It is true the wages wouldn't amount to 
 much, but that is not all ; you've got a good many 
 fowl, a very likely five-year-old colt, butter, pota 
 toes, and other produce ; put them aboard, and 
 take them out there for a venture. Provisions of 
 all kinds are very high there, now it is war times, 
 and intercourse uncertain. The English have a 
 fleet and troops there, and depend pretty much 
 upon the States for supplies. You'll make more 
 in one trip than you can digging here in two 
 years, and bring home a barrel of sugar, a barrel 
 of molasses, and a bag of coffee to your mother." 
 
 " And be with you to boot ; that is the best part 
 of it." 
 
 " I'll tell you what is better still. You'll learn 
 seamanship, and I'll help you to rise as fast as you 
 become capable." 
 
 Upon this Sam set to work in earnest, got in
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 93 
 
 his harvest, and hired one of Peterson's boys to 
 take care of the barn, with the privilege of going 
 to school. He then put all the hens in coops, 
 except four and a rooster, barrelled up the pota 
 toes, leaving only enough for his mother to eat and 
 for seed in the spring, and also his onions. 
 
 The widow had a large yoke of oxen ; but in 
 March one of them walked off on the ice, broke 
 through, and was drowned in the bay. The neigh 
 bors loaned their cattle to Sam to plough his 
 ground, harrow it, and haul out his manure. He 
 made a crooked yoke and traced up the other in 
 order to plough between the rows of his corn in 
 hoeing time. This ox was now hog-fat, having 
 had the best of fall feed, and pumpkins arid pota 
 toes beside. He was in good order in the spring, 
 when his mate was drowned, and all the work he 
 had done since was to plough a few times among 
 the corn and potatoes. 
 
 There never was a smarter boy done up in skin 
 than Sam Elwell. His father, for some years be 
 fore his death, had in winters gone into the log 
 ging swamp, and in summers worked in saw-mills, 
 or on the river driving logs, as, being a very capa 
 ble and powerful man, he could earn money to pay
 
 94 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 for his land faster in that way than by working on 
 the land itself. Thus the boy had been early 
 trained to labor and responsibility. Till he was 
 sixteen years of age, the father was frequently at 
 home in the summer, generally once a fortnight or 
 month, hiring a man to carry on the place, with 
 whom Sam worked when not at school. After that 
 period he kept no help ; but Sam and his mother 
 managed everything, and the father was only at 
 home a few days in planting and through haying. 
 Thus he grew up dutiful, ambitious, and self-reli 
 ant. He had been a short trip whaling, from Cape * 
 Cod, and one voyage with Walter in the " Arthur 
 Brown," but after the death of his father, de- 
 
 # 
 
 voted himself to the care of his mother. Being 
 thus accustomed to plan for himself, he killed the 
 ox. The creature was large, heavy quartered, and 
 well fatted, making two barrels of mess beef. 
 He sold the rough, tallow, hide, and shins, and some 
 lambs, and. paid up the last year's tax ; bought his 
 mother a pair of shoes and a barrel of flour, also 
 some glass, and mended all the broken windows ; 
 cut up wood, and put it in the shed for winter; 
 hauled sea-weed from the beach, and banked up 
 the house to the windows to keep the frost from 
 the cellar.
 
 JOHN'S FIEST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 95 
 
 They had two hogs ; he killed the largest, 
 that, after taking out the hams and leaf lard, made 
 a barrel of mess pork, leaving the other for his 
 mother. 
 
 Walter lent him money to buy enough addition 
 al pork of the neighbors to fill two barrels more. 
 These articles, with some butter and the horse, 
 were put aboard the ship as his venture. Before 
 deciding to go with Walter, he had bargained for 
 some stones for his father's grave ; and in order 
 to pay for them and leave a little money for his 
 mother's expenses during his absence, and in the 
 event of sickness, he went on board the Casco 
 half clothed. This coming to the knowledge of 
 Henry Griffin, Eaton, and Lancaster, who were in 
 the same watch, they divided with him. He was 
 the only boy in the vessel, and lacked two months 
 and three days of being twenty-one at the time he 
 was killed. There was not a dry eye in that ship's 
 company when his body was launched overboard 
 from the lee gangway of the Casco. 
 
 These reminiscences in respect to the early life 
 of the boy he had so dearly loved, his brief life at 
 sea and violent death, passing through the mind 
 of Walter on his way from Captain Ehines's, re-
 
 96 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 called the resolution he had previously formed of 
 visiting his mother at an early hour the next 
 morning. They even followed him to his pillow, 
 and kept him wakeful long after Ned was sound 
 asleep. He reflected that he had persuaded him to 
 go with him in the vessel, and that Sam was killed 
 in consequence of receiving in his own breast the 
 blow destined for himself. He recalled also the 
 surprise and delight of Sam at the bountiful re 
 turns of his venture, and with what pleasure he 
 anticipated the fyappiness in store for his mother 
 when he should get home ; that her last words 
 were, " Walter, take good care of my boy, for he's 
 a dear good boy, and all the child I've got ; " and 
 they went to his heart like a knife. Now that 
 dutiful, affectionate boy was sleeping in the ocean, 
 and in the morning he was to call upon his mother, 
 whose wounds he knew would bleed afresh when 
 she saw him. As they rose from the breakfast 
 table the next morning, Walter saw Peterson and 
 his son going by with a cart, and both he and Ned 
 went out to hail them. 
 
 " Where are you going, James ? " asked Walter. 
 
 Instead of replying, the kindly negro grasped 
 their hands and wept. At length he said, "I'm
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 97 
 
 gwine to de ship, Massa Walter, to get poor Sam's 
 things ; de mate gwine 'board wid me. 0, Massa 
 Walter, Massa Ned, what a pity ! dat poor boy ! 
 and you lubbed him so much ! " 
 
 " True, James ; but what must it be for his 
 mother ! I'm going to see her this morning ; but 
 I'll wait till you have taken the things there. I 
 couldn't bear to be in the house when they 
 come." 
 
 " Walter," said Mrs. Elwell, as he entered the 
 house, " you are come to see a lonely, broken 
 hearted woman ; but don't think I'm not glad to 
 see you because I weep, and excuse me for calling 
 you Walter, for this trouble takes me right back 
 to the time when you used to come in with your 
 dinner-pail, and books under your arm, to call my 
 poor boy to go to school with you ; for you were 
 just like brothers, and always sat together. Sam 
 would look out of the east window and say, ' Moth 
 er, make haste and put up my dinner. Walter's 
 coming down the rye-field hill ; ' and then you'd 
 go off together so loving." 
 
 " We loved each other as well as we could, and 
 he lost his life trying to save mine. I almost 
 thought you would feel that I ought not to have 
 7
 
 98 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 persuaded him to go in the vessel where he lost 
 his life." 
 
 " No, Walter ; you did it to help him, and, as 
 you thought, for the best. We don't any of us 
 know what is in store for us. Do you remember 
 when you and Sam were little mites of things, 
 coming in and getting the fire shovel to dig up a 
 little hackmatack that you found in the swamp, but 
 you couldn't get it up, came in crying, and took 
 on so, that I went and dug it up for you ? " 
 
 " Yes, I remember it just as well as though it 
 happened yesterday ; and I'll tell you where we set 
 it right by the end door, close to a lilac bush." 
 
 " Well, it's there now ; and though it has grown 
 to a large tree, shaded and killed out the lilac, yet, 
 as I look at it, it seems as though the roots were 
 in my heart, for trouble brings everything up. I 
 think now what happy days those were. I didn't 
 know it then, though, but thought I wanted the 
 little boy to grow up. Did my poor boy suffer 
 much ? " 
 
 " No, marm. I don't think he sensed anything." 
 
 " How long did he live after he was hurt ? " 
 
 11 A little over four hours." 
 
 "Couldn't he speak?"
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 99 
 
 " No, marm. By the time the fight was over, and 
 we could attend to him, and know who was hurt 
 and who was not, for we were all fighting for 
 our lives, he had lost so much blood he was 
 nearly lifeless, and I don't think he knew or 
 suffered anything." 
 
 " I know, Walter, it don't make any difference 
 where the body lies, for the Lord can find it ; but 
 still, it seems dreadful to have friends buried in 
 the ocean. When my husband was killed, it seemed 
 a great satisfaction to get his body, though it was 
 so mangled with logs and rocks : and I can go to 
 his grave, and think that in God's time I shall lie 
 beside him ; but I shall never have that consola 
 tion in regard to Samuel. There's his chest 
 James Peterson brought. I haven't had courage 
 to open it. I don't think I shall till Mary comes. 
 I suppose you knew he was engaged to Mary 
 Colcord." 
 
 " Yes, he told me about it." 
 
 " She's coming down to stop with me to-night." 
 
 After taking leave of Mrs. Elwell, Walter spent 
 the rest of the forenoon in obtaining the opinion 
 of the crew in respect to selling the Languedoc, 
 found them disposed to sell, and leave it out to 
 referees.
 
 100 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Captain Rhines, Lion Ben, and John had told 
 Walter that they should choose Captain John 
 Savage ; the ship's company chose Seth Storer ; 
 and they two chose Nat Edwards, to appraise the 
 vessel and estimate the freight on the cargo then 
 in the brigantine. In the afternoon Ned and Wal 
 ter went to Captain Rhines's. 
 
 This life is a checkered scene. While some are 
 entering, others are leaving it ; while some are 
 rejoicing in meeting friends they scarcely expected 
 ever to see again, others are crushed beneath a 
 weight of sorrows, and mourning over new-made 
 graves. So thought Walter, as, while passing 
 through the entry of Captain Rhines, he listened to 
 the loud laughter proceeding from the sitting-room. 
 
 "I wonder what they are having such a good 
 time about," said Ned. 
 
 " It's plain they've lost no friends here," said 
 Walter. " I'm going to peek." 
 
 Walter pushed gently upon the door that was 
 ajar, enough to look in upon the merry company, 
 too much occupied with their own affairs to notice 
 them. John Rhines was standing on the hearth, 
 and his wife was endeavoring to put the baby in 
 his arms; but her husband held back, saying,
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 101 
 
 " Don't, Fannie, don't ; I shall let it fall." 
 
 The rest of the family were standing around 
 laughing, and urging her to make him take it ; 
 while old Mrs. Hadlock, who was rather feeble, 
 sat leaning forward in her chair, her spectacles 
 shoved up on her forehead, as much interested as 
 any of the group. The kitten, excited by the 
 racket, stood on her hind feet, holding by one 
 fore paw to Fannie's gown, and with the other 
 striving to reach the baby's long dress. 
 
 " If that was my baby," said Cameron, " I don't 
 believe anybody would have to coax me to take it." 
 
 " Take it, John," said his wife ; " you know 
 you've got to learn to hold it." 
 
 "Wait till it's bigger, Fannie." 
 
 " Poh ! Hold out your hands, and I'll put him in." 
 
 John at length held out his hands, every finger 
 of which was separated to its greatest extent. It 
 was a funny sight to see this great fellow, now 
 considered the strongest man in town, except 
 Lion Ben and Edmund Griffin, holding that little 
 bit of a baby with trepidation and anxiety in every 
 feature, and bending over as if supporting some 
 great weight. 
 
 "I should think that baby weighed one hun-
 
 102 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 dred and fifty, by the face he makes up," said the 
 captain. 
 
 " I should think it was a barrel of pork," said 
 Lion Ben. " Is it heavy, John ? " 
 
 " Do take it, Fannie. I shall let it fall ; I know 
 I shall. I feel it slipping. It will fall on the 
 hearth." 
 
 " Let me have it," said the Lion, taking the 
 infant from John, much to his relief, who now drew 
 a long breath. 
 
 " There, John, that's the way to hold a baby ; " 
 and placing it on the palm of his right hand, he 
 put the other behind it, sitting it partially upright. 
 This sight occasioned greater merriment than the 
 other ; the head and shoulders of the infant only 
 occupied the centre of his palm, while the fingers 
 extended beyond, and Ben's great thumb, larger 
 than the baby's arm, stuck up over its head. 
 
 Old Mrs. Hadlock laughed till her spectacles 
 dropped on the floor and the tears ran down her 
 cheeks. 
 
 " Just look at that thumb ; just look at it will, 
 you ? " cried Cameron. " Mrs. Rhines, there was 
 a law in my country, that a man might beat his 
 wife if he didn't use a stick larger than his
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. Page 102.
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 103 
 
 % 
 
 thumb.' Ben might beat you with a sled-stake 
 according to that." 
 
 " I don't feel the least mite afraid of him/' said 
 Sally. 
 
 At this Walter and Ned, unable longer to restrain 
 themselves, joined in the merriment, and, flinging 
 the door wide open, entered the room. 
 
 " Seems to me you're having kind of a nice time 
 here," said Walter. 
 
 " That's so," said the captain. " We're putting 
 John through the manual learning him how to 
 hold the baby; but he's dreadful dull! Never 
 saw a green hand, trying to steer, half so awk 
 ward." 
 
 " It's so little, Walter," said John, " I was afraid 
 to take hold of it for fear I should hurt it, and 
 afraid if I didn't it would fall on the hearth." 
 
 " Little ! " said the captain ; " it's as large as 
 you was at the same age, and not much smaller 
 than Ben." 
 
 " 0, father, I never was so small as that ! " 
 
 " Yes, you was ; if you don't believe me, ask 
 your mother." 
 
 " Captain," said Walter, " I think the wind is 
 hauling to north-east."
 
 104 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 
 
 " Then we must start the vessels in the morn 
 ing." 
 
 " I have seen the men ; they will be on hand by- 
 sunrise." 
 
 " What did they say about selling ? " 
 
 " They were all willing. I told them you would 
 choose Captain Savage ; they said they would 
 choose Seth Storer. I went to see them. They 
 chose Nat Edwards." 
 
 " Those are all good men." 
 
 " I went to see Edwards ; he will stand. I told 
 them they had better go on board the brigantine 
 and see her to-day, as we should start her the mo 
 ment the wind came fair, and gave them a copy of 
 my bills of lading. They've gone aboard the ves 
 sel this afternoon." 
 
 " There's that iron," said John ; " if the ship's 
 going away, it must come ashore this afternoon." 
 
 " What iron ? " asked the captain. 
 
 " A lot of old iron, father, that I bought in Trini 
 dad that is, what Sam Holland didn't fling at the 
 pirates' heads. Just what we want to go into the 
 spars of this vessel, and to strap dead-eyes, and for 
 the bobstays. Father, I wish you could have heard 
 or seen that creature. I don't think he knows
 
 JOHN'S FIRST LESSON IN BABY-TENDING. 105 
 
 what fear is. There the bullets were flying round 
 his head ; he didn't mind them more than though 
 they had been peas. There was an anvil among 
 the old iron, with the horn broken ofi'. He took it 
 right up over his head, as though it didn't weigh 
 ten pounds, and, screeching out, ' Stan' from un 
 der ! ' flung it down on the head of a nigger that 
 was climbing up the side, smashed his head all to 
 pieces, broke the boat's thwart in two, and went 
 right through her bottom. Though we were fight 
 ing for our lives, I couldn't help laughing to hear 
 him screech, ' There ! didn't I tell you you'd git 
 hurted if you didn't stan' from under ? ' ' 
 
 " Come," said Ben, " let us go and get that iron ; 
 take father's scow. We'll bring it all at once, and 
 get back by supper time." 
 
 No sooner had they gone than Captain Rhines 
 brought out four guns, and began to wash out the 
 barrels and oil the locks ; then, setting them up in 
 the corner to dry, he went to the shore to over 
 haul his gunning-float, and stop some rents made 
 by the sun. 
 
 The younger portion of the community around 
 Pleasant Cove and Rhinesville cherished the idea 
 that John Rhines was nearly as strong as Lion
 
 106 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Ben, notwithstanding Joe Griffin, Captain Rhines, 
 and the older people all shook their heads when 
 the idea was broached, as it frequently was ; but 
 when they came to handle the iron, and put it into 
 the scow, Walter and Ned found the older people 
 knew best, and never again instituted comparisons 
 between Lion Ben and other men.
 
 THE GODSOES. 107 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE GODSOES. 
 
 AS the party came up from the shore, after 
 landing the iron, John 'made a signal to 
 Walter to lag behind, and led the way into a 
 rough shed that stood near the edge of the bank, 
 where Captain Rhines kept his nets, fishing-lines, 
 decoys, boats' sails, paint-pots, and other gear. 
 John turned a half-hogshead tub bottom up, and 
 they sat down upon it. 
 
 "I've been trying, Walter, ever since we got 
 home, to catch you alone. Now, tell how you man 
 aged it with old Mr. Godsoe." 
 
 " I didn't manage it at all ; I haven't seen him." 
 
 " How is that ? I should think, if he missed you 
 at the shore, he would have come up to your house 
 as fast as his old legs would carry him." 
 
 " Well, he was in a terrible way, he and his wife 
 both, when they heard that we were attacked by a
 
 108 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 pirate, and that the captain of her was Pete Clash, 
 because they knew that their John went with him, 
 and that they kept together for years afterwards, 
 because some of our boys saw both of them on 
 board a Guineaman, and told them about it. The 
 old gentleman posted right off to find me, but I 
 had gone down to see Sam's mother. He asked 
 father whether I had seen or heard anything of 
 John, or if he was on board the pirate with Clash. 
 Father said I hadn't said anything about seeing 
 him, and, if he had been on board the vessel, of 
 course I would have said something about it. He 
 then went to Danforth Eaton, and said to him, 
 ' Danforth, you know my poor boy went off with 
 Clash, and that the only time we ever heard from 
 him they were together. Do you think he was 
 aboard that vessel ? Now, Danforth, if you know 
 anything about it, tell me, for anything is better 
 than this dreadful doubt that has been wearing on 
 his mother and me for years.' Danforth said he 
 replied, ' No, uncle, I know he wasn't there, or I 
 should have seen him, and I should certainly have 
 known him.' This served to pacify him, and he 
 gave it up." 
 
 " I wonder what Dan would say if we should
 
 THE GODSOES. 109 
 
 tell him he wanted to knock John on the head with 
 the boat's tiller after he was wounded, and was his 
 doctor for weeks." 
 
 " Since that I have dodged the old gentleman." 
 
 " I should have thought your folks would have 
 questioned you." 
 
 " They did. When I came home, mother said, 
 ' Mr. Godsoe has been here to see you, to inquire 
 for John. He was afraid he might have been 
 aboard that vessel with Pete Clash.' I replied 
 that they were all negroes, Portuguese, French 
 men, and Spaniards, except Pete Clash, and a man 
 who called himself Richard Arkwright, and said 
 that he hailed from Shields, England ; and that 
 ended the matter, as far as seeking information 
 from me was concerned ; but there's the supper 
 horn. Let us go." 
 
 Although Walter congratulated himself upon 
 being relieved from further questioning, the anx 
 iety of Mr. Godsoe was not allayed by conversing 
 with Eaton and Mrs. Griffin, neither were his fears, 
 that his prodigal son might have been one of the 
 brigantine's crew, entirely removed, as we shall 
 perceive, if, leaving the merry company at the 
 captain's, we join ourselves to the circle around
 
 110 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 his fireside. Mr. Godsoe and his wife were in 
 good circumstances, the parents of a numerous 
 family, and, though on the declivity of life, still 
 vigorous. Although in the spring and fall afflicted 
 somewhat with rheumatism, the old gentleman 
 could still perform a good day's work, while his 
 wife, who was younger, could spin, weave, milk, 
 and make butter with the best. They were uni 
 versally respected for their sincere piety and 
 neighborly qualities. The old gentleman had been 
 a sailor in his youth, but early abandoned the pur 
 suit to till the soil. Edward, the youngest child, 
 an intelligent, industrious young man, of excellent 
 disposition, and unmarried, lived with his par 
 ents. These three, together with a hired man in 
 the summer, and female help occasionally, com 
 posed the home circle, the remaining children, 
 with the exception of John, being married, and 
 settled not far off. The misconduct and absence 
 of their youngest son were sources of great anxiety. 
 Nevertheless, they were in general cheerful, being 
 sustained by the consolations of religion, and never 
 ceased to hope and pray for his reformation and 
 return. It was the custom of the family to per 
 form the evening devotions directly after supper.
 
 THE GODSOES. Ill 
 
 " Edward," said the old gentleman, as they rose 
 from the table, " hand me the Bible and my 
 glasses." 
 
 He read Psalm cxvi. They were accustomed 
 to read the Scriptures in course. After pouring 
 out his heart in prayer, he said, 
 
 " Them are good words, wife. Seems as though 
 they were just made a-purpose for us at this pres 
 ent time to hold us up, they're so kind of hearten 
 ing. David says he means to pray to God just as 
 long as he lives, because he feels he ain't talking 
 in the air, but the Lord listens and hears to him, 
 just as he has many times afore. I ain't any 
 scholar, but I take it he means to say that where 
 he's found help he intends to keep going, and to 
 let the Lord know he's sensible of his goodness. 
 That's nateral, to go to the friend that's allers stuck 
 by us, afore seeking to strangers. How is that, 
 wife ? Does it strike you that way ? " 
 
 " Yes, husband, because 4ae says arterwards that 
 he was in great distress, and the Lord took him 
 out of it." 
 
 " All our children, except John, have been a raal 
 blessing and comfort to us. We believe the Lord 
 has heard our prayer for them, and that Edward,
 
 112 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Isaac, and, Mary have given their hearts- to him; 
 and as I read that psalm, it seemed to say to me 
 that if we keep going to the Lord, that has done 
 so much for us, and are thankful for all that's past, 
 he'll remember this poor boy of ours, and if he 
 don't see fit to restore him to us, will have mercy 
 on his soul ; or if he's dead, to hope the Lord has 
 forgiven his sins ; for we did our duty by him as 
 far as we knew." 
 
 " Father," said Edward, " you don't think John 
 was in the brigantine do you ? " 
 
 " 0, Mr. Godsoe," said his wife, " I never can 
 believe our boy would turn pirate, and try to kill 
 his own folks. He never was like Peter Clash ; 
 and before he came here, and when John used 
 to have the Griffin boys, Isaac Murch, and John 
 Rhines for playmates, and before he took to going 
 with that old man-of-wars-man, Dick Halpin, he 
 was a good boy, and obedient." 
 
 " As for saying, wife, that I believe our boy was 
 one of those pirates, I can't ; but here's where it 
 is : we know he went away with Clash to Nova 
 Scotia, because the captain they went with told 
 me so ; we know too that Tom Banister saw them in 
 the West Indies but a few years ago ; so we know
 
 THE GODSOES. 113 
 
 they kept together, and were shipmates then 
 aboard a Guineaman. Merrithew says four of the 
 pirates jumped overboard out of the boat when Sam 
 Holland flung down the scalding water. Sewall 
 Lancaster shot a man off the cross-trees they never 
 found, though he fell on deck ; and there might be 
 a good many more killed, and flung overboard by 
 the pirates themselves, or that jumped overboard. 
 What wouldn't I give to be downright sartain that 
 he wasn't among those missing ! I don't believe 
 it, wife ; I don't believe it, Edward ; still there's 
 that terrible doubt, gnawing, gnawing ever since 
 I heard that Pete Clash was captain of that 
 vessel." 
 
 "0. husband, do you remember how dreadful 
 sick John was when he was a year old, and how 
 worried we were for fear he would die? How 
 little we knew then of all the heartaches that in 
 nocent babe would some time give us. Often now, 
 when I see mothers crying, and taking on as 
 though their hearts would break over some little 
 infant, I think it is not allers the bitterest tears 
 that are shed on the grave, or around the coffin." 
 
 The sudden and unusual excitement begotten 
 by the roar of the Languedoc's long eighteen was
 
 114 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 not destined soon to subside ; everything now went 
 with a rush. No sooner had Walter and Ned 
 taken leave, than Captain Rhines said, 
 
 " Now we must turn in right off; there's plenty 
 to do in the morning. John, I've cleaned the 
 guns; there's some broken flocks of wild geese 
 round the bay, though the heft of 'em are gone. 
 I haven't shot a bird this spring felt too down 
 hearted. You and I must be off by three o'clock, 
 and see if we can't get some geese, or whistlers, 
 or something." 
 
 " Can't I go, father? " said Ben. 
 
 " No, you're too big ; the float won't hold us. 
 We must be back to breakfast, for I must have 
 that piece of corn in before Edmund Griffin gets 
 his in." 
 
 " Then I'll help get the Casco under way," said 
 Ben ; " then, Sally, we must go home. It is time 
 I was ploughing." 
 
 The sun was little over an hour high, the next 
 morning, when Mrs. Rhines, looking from the 
 kitchen window, exclaimed, 
 
 " Here comes John and his father, with a back- 
 load of some kind of birds, and breakfast ain't 
 ready."
 
 THE GODSOES. 115 
 
 "Four geese, seven whistlers, and one duck," 
 said the captain, as they threw down their birds. 
 " Ought to got two more geese, but John's gun 
 missed fire. Went over to Smutty Nose, just 
 threw the tolers into the edge of the water, for 
 the whistlers were right in sight, and hid behind 
 a clump of bushes ; they swam right in. We 
 cut away, and got seven ; wasn't fifteen minutes. 
 Breakfast ready, wife ? " 
 
 " Almost. Ben hasn't come yet." 
 
 "Well, he's coming. They've hove up the an 
 chor, and made sail on the ship. I saw him sit 
 down to his oars just as we hauled the float up. 
 I don't see where Bicker is ; he was to be here to 
 help plough. Here he comes." 
 
 As soon as the meal was despatched, John took 
 his hat, and saying, " Good by, Ben and Sally ; I 
 shall be over to the island before a week," pre 
 pared to leave. 
 
 " Where are you going, John ? " asked the 
 captain. 
 
 " To the ship-yard. Charlie wants me to do the 
 iron-work of the ship. Joe Griffin's going to help 
 me till his farming comes on." * 
 
 " Going to work so soon! " said his mother. "I
 
 116 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 thought we should have had you at home a little 
 while." 
 
 " Charlie has put eighty men on the vessel ; they 
 are as thick as they can work ; want to get the 
 vessel out to Martinique, and away again, before 
 the hurricane months come. I shall be at home 
 every night, mother." 
 
 " Can't go, Ben," said the captain ; " got to help 
 eat a goose." 
 
 " We must go, father ; we're needed at home." 
 
 " Nonsense ! Lucy is as good as a man to look 
 out, and a great deal better than some men." 
 
 " We've been away a good while ; there's lambs 
 and calves coming along, and Lucy has a good 
 deal of milk to take care of; the children are 
 young, and will think something has happened." 
 
 It was one of those beautiful, balmy spring 
 mornings, that people who have passed the merid 
 ian of life generally contrive to mar the enjoy 
 ment of, by declaring it to be a weather-breeder, 
 and too fine to last. 
 
 The Casco and the Languedoc were slowly 
 rounding the point that formed one side of the 
 cove, for the wind was light, the ship bound to 
 Portland, the brigantine to Boston. Lion Ben pull-
 
 THE GODSOES. 117 
 
 ing out of the cove, the blades of his oars glisten 
 ing in the sun as he lifted them from the water ; 
 robins and sparrows eagerly searching the earth 
 for worms, as Ricker and Tom Valentine took the 
 plough from the cart and straightened the cattle 
 in the furrow. 
 
 " I declare," said the captain, as he threw off his 
 coat and grasped the plough-handle, " this plough 
 hasn't had anything done to her after all, and we 
 carried her home on purpose. The boys' coming 
 home has knocked everything else out of my 
 head. Can't break the day's work ; she must go 
 now ; sorry though. I wanted to make good work 
 to-day." 
 
 The captain did make excellent work, however. 
 There were no balks, the furrow was laid over flat 
 and suent, while the robins, abandoning the ground 
 previously ploughed, kept close to the captain's 
 heels, to catch the worms and grubs he unearthed. 
 
 " Why, this plough goes better than she did the 
 other day," he said, after the first bout. " Why, 
 she goes first rate," said he, after two bouts more ; 
 " the chain must be hooked different." 
 
 " The chain is hooked just exactly where it was 
 before," said Tom "in the next link to the 
 swivel."
 
 118 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Then the clevis has been shifted." 
 
 " No, sir ; the clevis is just where it was when 
 we left work the other day." 
 
 " Then what under heavens makes so much dif 
 ference in her going ? Now she turns first rate ; 
 then she made miserable work of it." 
 
 " Guess I know," said Ricker, " what's done it." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " I think the pint of her was crooked, and that 
 big gun that was fired the other morning straight 
 ened it. It let a melancholy old ' gentleman of my 
 acquaintance know that his boy had got home." 
 
 " Is that so ? " 
 
 " Bet a gallon of cider on it, captain." 
 
 " Won't take you up ; 'fraid I should lose the 
 cider. How is Charlie getting along?" said the 
 captain, when he met John at the supper table. 
 
 " He's got his house full of men, and part of 
 them sleep in the barn, and some go home nights ; 
 the riggers came this forenoon, brought the rig 
 ging in a sloop from Portland all fitted, and the 
 sails; have set the masts, and will put the rigging 
 over the mast-heads to-morrow. They are going 
 to load and rig her on the stocks, and bend her 
 sails. There's a crowd of them, I tell you calk-
 
 THE GODSOES. 119 
 
 ers, riggers, blacksmiths, and carpenters, all at 
 work together." 
 
 Walter returned from Portland the same night 
 that the captain got through planting his corn, 
 having left his mate to finish discharging the 
 Casco, and bring her back. Not having made up 
 their minds what to do with her, they saved port 
 charges by keeping her at home ; and she wanted 
 some repairs, which they could make cheaper at 
 the yard of Charlie Bell than at Portland. Wal 
 ter now put on a check shirt, and went to work 
 with the rest on his vessel, a brigantine of three 
 hundred tons, but as yet without a name ; built for 
 speed, as that was now the great requisite. A better 
 illustration of American enterprise than was fur 
 nished by the fitting away of that vessel it would 
 be difficult to find. Along the bilge on both sides 
 were calkers driving oakum; below them, men 
 paying seams with pitch, and covering the whole 
 surface of the plank with brimstone and tar the 
 best they could do for a bottom in those days. 
 On deck, riggers were sending yards aloft, and 
 blacksmiths driving bolts. 
 
 Into a large bow port, made for the purpose, 
 barrels of pork, beef, lard, and bread were going ;
 
 120 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 and up the sides corn, meal, fish, and beans ; yet 
 there was no confusion ; all was systematized ; each 
 man had his work, each gang their boss. There 
 was no plugging of bolt-heads, planing wales, or 
 planks, or any of the nice finish that is now put on 
 vessels ; broadaxe, adze, and foreplane did the 
 work ; oil, lampblack, or bright varnish served for 
 paint. 
 
 While Walter was at Portland, Captain Rhines, 
 Ben, and John had bought the Languedoc ; they 
 had also made an arrangement with Ned, before 
 he left, to take a quarter and become master, pro 
 vided they bought her. They now met at Captain 
 Rhines's, together with the owners of the Casco, 
 to talk over matters in regard to both vessels. 
 
 " Friends/' said the captain, " when Jonathan 
 Elwell was killed, a few years ago, he hadn't paid 
 for his place ; there was most three hundred dol 
 lars back. After his death, Sam brought it down 
 to two hundred ; but now he is dead, poor boy, 
 and she is left alone, and, more than that, very 
 poor, with nothing but her thirds of that place, that 
 she can't carry on. Her husband was killed, made 
 no will, and the place fell to Sam. He was killed, 
 made no will, and the place belongs to Uncle Sam
 
 THE GODSOES. 121 
 
 Elwell, Jonathan's brother, the nearest kin. She 
 wants to stay there ; the place is dear to her. The 
 ship has made a profitable vige ; paid for herself; 
 all our relatives have come home safe. What say 
 you to buying that place (Elwell don't want it ; 
 will sell it cheap, because it is encumbered with 
 the widow's thirds), and giving her a right-out 
 deed of it?" 
 
 " I say amen to it, with all my heart," replied 
 Walter. 
 
 " And I," responded Lion Ben, Charlie Bell, and 
 Captain Murch. Fred Williams also assented 
 with great readiness. 
 
 " I'll tell you," said the captain, " how it is : 
 no other spot can ever seem to her like that. Her 
 husband sleeps there ; she has spent a great many 
 happy years there before her trouble came ; there 
 is the orchard Sam set out, and everything she 
 sees reminds, her of him. Some folks couldn't 
 bear to stay there, and be reminded of their loss ; 
 but it ain't so with her. I've known her from a 
 girl, and know her mind on such things. To take 
 her away from there would break her heart. The 
 next thing," he continued, " is to know what we 
 shall do with this brigantine, now we've got her."
 
 122 THE CHILD OP THE BLAND GLEN. 
 
 " I suppose," said Ben, " we must have her regis 
 tered, and make an American vessel of her, enti 
 tled to all the rights and privileges of an American 
 vessel, before we can do much with her, especially 
 in these ticklish times, when very little respect is 
 paid to the papers of any neutral vessel." 
 
 " There's no foreign built vessel can be regis 
 tered," said the captain, " even if bought by Amer 
 icans, except she has been condemned as a prize, 
 or been wrecked and repaired at an expense of 
 the greater part of her value, so as to make her, to 
 all intents, American built. We shall have to pe 
 tition Congress." 
 
 " There'll be a long tail to that," said Ben. 
 
 " We can petition right off, and send it to Con 
 gress ; in the mean time, obtain a certificate of 
 ownership from the custom-house, a sea letter, 
 and run her under that. If it was only war out 
 right, and all it lacks is just the name, she 
 would make a splendid privateer. Wouldn't she 
 pick a vessel out of a convoy as a hawk takes a 
 pigeon out of a flock, right in the face and eyes of 
 the men-of-war, and show them a clean pair of 
 heels afterwards?" 
 
 " How .shall we get that name off of her ? " said
 
 THE GODSOES. 123 
 
 John. " French built and with a French name, 
 she would stand a poor chance to fall in with an 
 English man-of-war." 
 
 " How would you go to work if you wanted to 
 change your own name ? " 
 
 " Petition the Great and General Court." 
 
 " You must petition Congress in regard to a 
 vessel." 
 
 " What shall we call her ? " asked Ben. 
 
 " She was named before after a province of 
 France, suppose we call her the ' Massachusetts.' "
 
 124 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 
 
 IT was about eleven o'clock at night when Lion 
 Ben was awakened by the barking of his dog, 
 and shortly after some one tapped on his bedroom 
 window. 
 
 " Who's there ? " 
 
 " John and Walter." 
 
 " Any bad news ? " said Ben, as he opened the 
 door. 
 
 " No, but we couldn't get time to come to the 
 island in the daytime, so came in the night. It is 
 snapping times over there, I tell you ; corn and 
 flour going down the main hatchway, beef and pork 
 coming into the bow port, riggers setting up rig 
 ging, and Peterson driving oakum." 
 
 " What sent you over here this time of night ? " 
 
 " 0, necessity, the mother of invention. Charlie 
 wants you to cut him launching-ways on the
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 125 
 
 island. He's thinned off the big trees round the 
 cove, and it's bad hauling such sticks, this time 
 of year, any distance on wheels over rough 
 ground. They will have to be rousing Jbig sticks, 
 because the vessel is to be loaded ; but he says 
 there are trees on the upper end of the island 
 that you can cut, roll into the water, and tow 
 right to the stern of the vessel." 
 
 " How big does he want '.em ? " 
 
 " He don't know. Says he never saw a ves 
 sel loaded on the stocks ; but he's bound to do 
 it, and leaves you to judge of the size." 
 
 " I suppose they ought to be twelve by fifteen 
 or eighteen inches. But what makes him load on 
 the stocks?" 
 
 "Because," said Walter, "it will save time, and 
 handling over stuff. When she's finished, she's 
 loaded. The English are short of supplies, the 
 French privateers have captured so many of their 
 vessels, and the sooner I get . there the more I 
 shall get. Besides, I want to get away from 
 there before the hurricane months. I would also 
 like to oblige the English admiral. He treated 
 us handsomely; gave up the Languedoc to us 
 when he might just as well have kept her; said
 
 126 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 he had heard of the treaty between Great Britain 
 and the United States, and was glad of it." 
 
 " Charlie wants you to build the ways," said 
 John, " so, as to have the vessel launched the mo 
 ment she is ready." 
 
 " But who's going to do my farming ? and my 
 sheep must be sheared." 
 
 " He says, if you'll only boss the job, see to 
 cutting the sticks, getting them over, building the 
 ways, and get the vessel all ready to launch (be 
 cause he's got enough to do to finish up the car 
 penter work), he'll send Thorndike and Harry 
 Williams over to do your farming; Joel Ricker 
 and Joe Griffin to help you cut and hew the 
 sticks of timber." 
 
 " What sloop is that lying at the yard ? " 
 
 " A New London sloop, loaded with corn to go 
 into the vessel." 
 
 " Is the rudder hung ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " What are the riggers about ? " 
 
 " Setting up rigging ; going to bend sails to 
 morrow." 
 
 "How is father?" 
 
 " Happy as a clam at high water ; proud as a
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 127 
 
 peacock because lie got done planting before Ed 
 mund Griffin. Such driving times just suit him ; 
 says it is almost as good as being at sea." 
 
 The vessel was at last ready, cargo on board, 
 sails bent, crew shipped, and their dunnage in 
 the forecastle. Sewall Lancaster was mate, Henry 
 Griffin second mate, and among the crew were 
 three men who were in the Casco. 
 
 Some boys will doubtless read this book who 
 never saw a vessel, many who never saw one 
 launched, and many more who have seen vessels 
 launched, who could not for the life of them tell 
 how it is performed. 
 
 Let us look on while Lion Ben and Captain 
 Rhines, with a gang of carpenters to assist them, 
 proceed to lay the ways. 
 
 Where there is an abundant depth of water, ves 
 sels are almost universally set up with the stern 
 to the water ; but, where the water is shoal, and 
 there is risk of their striking the bottom, they are 
 set up the other way, and launched bow foremost. 
 The reason of this is, that vessels are fuller forward 
 than aft, and when they are launched stern fore 
 most, plunge deeper than when launched the other 
 way.
 
 128 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Now, this vessel was very sharp aft. Charlie 
 had exerted himself to the utmost to make a fast 
 sailer, a real racer, in order that she might stand a 
 better chance of escaping the French and English 
 cruisers, according as she might be bound to 
 French or English ports. 
 
 There was not a great depth of water at his 
 yard ; he had, therefore, as the vessel was so sharp, 
 and would plunge deep, set her up to launch bow 
 foremost. 
 
 The keel of a vessel sits on blocks about four 
 feet apart and three feet in height, and as the 
 keel is " shoe," and all in the neighborhood of two 
 feet in depth, this affords distance sufficient be 
 tween the bottom of the vessel and the ground to 
 work under the bottom. These blocks on the 
 upper side slope about five eighths of an inch to a 
 foot. The vessel is kept upright by shores on 
 each side ; she is placed as near the edge of the 
 water at high tide as is possible, and not interfere 
 with working, that is, provided she sits on the 
 ground as Charlie Bell's vessel did. Sometimes 
 there is a wharf or platform built over the water, 
 and the vessel is built on that. In that case the 
 ways do not require to be so long.
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 129 
 
 The first thing that Lion Ben and his carpenters 
 did, was to place the large sticks he had brought 
 from Elm Island, in parallel lines, each side of the 
 vessel, and under her bottom from her stern-post, 
 down on to the beach, at low water ; the ends that 
 would be under water were kept down with 
 stones, and they were strongly fastened together 
 by cross-ties, to prevent their spreading, and 
 thoroughly blocked beneath, that they might not 
 spring or settle, as they were to bear the whole 
 weight of the vessel and her cargo. These tim 
 bers were made smooth on the upper surface, 
 laid with a perfectly true slope into the water 
 at an angle of seven eighths of an inch to a foot ; 
 this is called the sliding plank, because the vessel 
 slides on it into the water. A ribbon of wood, 
 five inches square, was now fastened to the outer 
 edge of this timber, and braced by a great num 
 ber of shores, one end of which rests on the 
 ground and against posts driven into the soil, 
 and the other ends are confined to the ribbon. 
 This ribbon is to form a groove, in order to pre 
 vent the cradle, which is to slide on this timber, 
 from running off sidewise. The whole surface 
 of this timber is generally smeared with tallow, 
 9
 
 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 soap, and oil. Lion Ben and Captain Bhines, 
 however, strewed flax-seed on the timber with 
 the grease, which, when it is ground and made 
 hot by the friction, is the best of lubricants, because 
 it is all available, and in warm weather, grease 
 often strikes into the wood before the vessel starts, 
 leaving the surface dry. These timbers are the 
 sliding planks on which the vessel is to run, and 
 are about as far apart as one sixth of the width of 
 the vessel. Now for the cradle, in which the ship 
 is to set, and that is to run on this track : two 
 large timbers, called bilgeways, nearly as long as 
 the vessel, were now placed on this track, having 
 the under sides well greased ; directly over this, 
 on the vessel's bottom, a board was slightly 
 fastened, then blocks were laid on these bilge- 
 ways, and on these planks to fill up between the 
 bilgeways and the board fastened to the bottom, 
 and at each end towards the bow and stern, where 
 the distance is greater by reason of the crook of 
 the vessel, short shores are placed, the bottoms 
 of them spiked to the bilgeways, and the top end 
 resting against a plank that reaches the board on 
 the bottom ; this cradle was then confined by 
 cross-ties, that it might not spread. Chains are
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 131 
 
 used now. but iron was not so plenty with Charlie. 
 The cradle is now made and brought up to the 
 vessel's bottom, but it is all loose ; it is therefore 
 necessary, by some method, to bring the weight 
 of the vessel on it, and make it fit tight to her 
 bottom. 
 
 Lion Ben and his crew now went to making 
 oaken wedges, about ttiree inches wide and a foot 
 in length ; they made scores of them with the 
 broadaxe. They are all made by machinery now. 
 They stuck these wedges all along on both sides 
 of the vessel, between the upper plank on the 
 bilgeways and the board on the vessel's bottom-, 
 and drove them slightly in with a maul, just 
 enough to keep them there ; this brought the 
 cradle to fit snug to the vessel's bottom. They 
 now fastened two short shores, called dog-shores, 
 to the bilgeways and to the sliding plank, in order 
 to hold the vessel when the blocks should be taken 
 from under her, and that she might not start before 
 they were ready for her. The vessel was now 
 ready for launching ; yes, and ready for sea. 
 
 Our young readers probably know that there is 
 a great difference in the height to which the tide 
 flows. Between the low and high course of tides,
 
 132 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 there may be three feet difference. On our coast, 
 a northerly wind also shrinks the tide, driving it 
 out, while an easterly wind increases it. The 
 highest, or spring tides, as they are called, come 
 on the new and the full moon. 
 
 As Charlie's vessel was sharp and loaded, and 
 the water at his yard not of great depth, it was 
 important that he should fake all the advantage 
 possible of the tide ; and the night tide being the 
 highest, she was to be launched in the night ; and 
 as it was new moon, there would not be much 
 light. 
 
 Great was the excitement among the boys as the 
 eventful time drew near, for various and substan 
 tial reasons. In the first place, launching a vessel 
 loaded, rigged, and ready for sea, was something 
 they had never seen or heard of; and the story was, 
 she was not going to stop, after she started on the 
 ways, till she got to the West Indies. She was to 
 be launched bow foremost, a thing that nobody 
 there had ever seen done but Captain Rhines, not 
 even Charlie Bell, and to crown the whole, she 
 was to be launched in the night. Most devoutly did 
 they wish it might be fair weather, and watched 
 every cloud in the sky, as, rain or shine, they knew
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 133 
 
 it must come off, and they had some plans of their 
 own that a rain would sadly derange, if not defeat. 
 
 The site of Charlie's yard was on the south-west 
 side of the long point that formed one side of the 
 harbor of Pleasant Cove. He had been very 
 sparing of the timber in the vicinity of his yard, 
 cutting a tree only when he fell short of a stick 
 of timber, and never cutting anything for wood, 
 as he did not wish to expose his yard to the 
 violence of the northerly winds. Thus the shores 
 were fringed with trees, and the place encom 
 passed with forest, a space sufficient for the yard, 
 and a good road to it, only having been cleared. 
 
 Born in a land where wood was scarce and pro 
 portionately prized, he disliked to cut a tree, and 
 abhorred the wholesale destruction of the forest, 
 that was going on all around him. 
 
 The morning of the day on the evening of which 
 the launch was to come off, dawned beautifully. 
 All were busily engaged making the final prepara 
 tions ; Lion Ben and his crew greasing the ways, 
 putting a shore here and a block there; carpenters 
 putting ringbolts into the decks, making cleats 
 and belaying-pins ; the crew at work upon the 
 rigging, getting cables aboard and coiling them
 
 134 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 away, slushing the masts and clearing up decks ; 
 the cook, with a fire in the galley, was scouring the 
 rust from his coppers, and roosters crowing lustily 
 in the coops. Charlie was cutting port-holes for 
 some wooden guns called quakers, that were 
 intended to scare the cruisers with a show of 
 force. There were six on a side, but for the sake 
 of looks, port-holes were painted the whole length 
 of the vessel. Thus engaged, he noticed there 
 seemed to be a great many boys flitting round. 
 First came Bobby Smullen, then Tim Lancaster, 
 then three Chase boys, Edmund Griffin and Win- 
 throp, and at last Will Griffin, Fred Williams's clerk. 
 
 " Will," said Charlie, " how came you out of the 
 store ? " 
 
 " Mr. Williams gave me a holiday, as Walter was 
 going away." 
 
 By and by along came Tom Merrithew, two 
 Thaxter boys, and Henry Valentine. They all sat 
 down together on a stick of timber, apparently 
 waiting for something, with the exception of 
 Bob Smullen and Tim Lancaster, who had perched 
 themselves on a high rock, that formed the ex 
 tremity of the long point. At length the two 
 boys began to clap their hands, when the rest
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 135 
 
 all hurried to join them, and looking up from 
 his work, Charlie saw a boat rounding the point, 
 in which were Ben Rhines, Jr., his mother, and 
 Thorndike. Delighted, Charlie ran to meet them. 
 
 " 0, mother ! I'm so glad to see you, and Bennie, 
 too ; and Mary will be so glad ! " 
 
 As most of our readers know, Chai'lie had been 
 brought up on Elm Island, and loved Lion Ben and 
 his wife with all his heart, they having adopted 
 him when he supposed himself <m orphan. Ben, 
 Jr., was then a baby, and Charlie took care of him 
 a great part of the time, and was all the play 
 mate he had ; and Bennie loved Charlie as well as 
 Charlie loved his father and mother. Ben now 
 joined the boys, who had evidently been expecting 
 him, and a long and animated consultation ensued, 
 at the conclusion of which Ben came along where 
 Charlie was at work, and said, " Charlie, would 
 you let us build some fires to-night, to see the 
 vessel go off; there won't be much of any moon, 
 only star-light." 
 
 " Yes, you may build as many fires as you like ; 
 the ground is soaking wet ; fires can't run ; only 
 don't build them near the vessel, or near the 
 chips."
 
 136 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " May we have some chips ? " 
 
 " Yes, you may have all the chips you want ; 
 only you must carry them off, and make your fires 
 away from the vessel." 
 
 "May we have some dead wood out of the 
 woods ? " 
 
 " Yes, all you want. I shall want some light to 
 see to launch by." 
 
 The boys were all activity now. Will Griffin 
 set out for homo* on the run, while the others 
 began to pile up the chips in heaps, selecting the 
 largest billets. Never were boys who had occa 
 sion to make a blaze blessed with better material, 
 or a greater abundance of it. Two vessels had 
 been built before at this yard the Casco and the 
 Arthur Brown. At the present time, such chips 
 as the boys used would be sold at a high price for* 
 firewood ; but then -they were suffered to lie and 
 rot, except that, once in a while, Charlie hauled a 
 load to the house to kindle his fire ; or when any 
 neighbor wanted a load of wood in haying time, 
 and couldn't stop to pick it up in the woods, he 
 helped himself. There were also large billets, 
 sawed from the ends of timber and planks, for 
 there was very little economy exercised then in
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 137 
 
 cutting or using timber ; they took the best, and 
 flung away the sap wood. 
 
 In all directions through the woods that sur 
 rounded the yard and bordered the cove, lay 
 trunks and tops of white oak, rock maple, and pine 
 trees. Some had been blown up by the wind, 
 others had been cut when Charlie fell short of 
 timber, wanted some particular sticks, and couldn't 
 stop to go to a distance for more. Perhaps the 
 root, the butt, or one'-arm had been taken, arid the 
 rest of the tree lay there. In another place a 
 large tree had been cut, found hollow, or rotten, 
 was condemned and abandoned. 
 
 N 
 
 In about half an hour Will Griffin returned with 
 his father's oxen and a sled with boards on the 
 bottom, and instantly, from behind logs and bushes, 
 appeared any quantity of narrow axes. Carts had 
 now become common enough at Pleasant Cove ; 
 everybody who kept oxen had an ox-cart, and 
 there were many wagons ; but the boys had evi 
 dently taken the sled for the convenience of load 
 ing large logs, and, besides, the oxen were large 
 and strong, and the sled would slip quite easily 
 over the chips in the yard arid the wet moss and 
 roots of trees in the forest. It seemed the boys
 
 138 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 had, when nobody knew it, formed a most mag 
 nificent plan, arranged all the details, and system 
 atized their operations as thoroughly in respect 
 to their anticipated sport, as Charlie Bell and 
 Lion Ben had in finishing and launching the brig- 
 antine. 
 
 One thing, at least, was manifest : that nothing 
 could be done till Ben Uhines arrived, whom, 
 although only in his eighth year, they depended 
 upon for spokesman. Alexander Chase had charge 
 of the gang that were cutting the large logs in the 
 woods Sam Merrithew those collecting the chips, 
 and Henry Valentine those who built the pens for 
 the fires, while Will Griffin drove the team. At 
 Charlie's request, they built one pen on the end 
 of the point, to give light by which to pick up the 
 timber and planks of the cradle, that would go 
 adrift when the vessel was launched. They had 
 not only a numerous crew, but a strong one, for 
 most of the boys were large, and all accustomed to 
 hard work. They manifested no small degree of 
 ingenuity in their proceedings, which were con 
 ducted in silence, with the greatest earnestness 
 and gravity, much to the amusement of the men, 
 M'ho took note of their proceedings. They built
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 139 
 
 square enclosures with logs notched together, six 
 feet high, placing the largest logs at the bottom, 
 and tapering off, as the enclosure went up, with 
 those of smaller size. Inside, on the ground, they 
 built two large arches, with billets and blocks of 
 dry timber, with openings oil the top for the fire 
 to pass through, and to make a draft ; on top of 
 this they piled all sorts of combustible mate 
 rials, chips, limbs of trees, brush, intermixed 
 with a large proportion of billets and logs, in 
 order that the flame might be both brilliant and 
 lasting. The arches were then filled with shav 
 ings, pitch knots, and pine cones, that when dry 
 are full of pitch, and very inflammable. 
 
 Their expectation was, that the lighter material 
 in the pen would flame up at first, make a bright 
 glare, and then the oak, rock maple, and ash logs, 
 of which the enclosures themselves were composed, 
 burning more slowly, would prolong it. 
 
 To the great delight of the boys, Charlie de 
 puted Ben to invite them all to dine with him after 
 the carpenters were through, and Will Griffin to 
 take his oxen to the barn and feed them. Captain 
 Rhines, Lion Ben, Charlie, and Joe Griffin kept on 
 with their work, while the rest went to dinner, in 
 order to eat with the boys.
 
 140 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 In the edge of the woods, at some distance from 
 the vessel, stood two trees, a pine and a hemlock, 
 perfectly dead and dry. The pine was nearly bare 
 of both limbs and bark ; a tall, naked shaft, full of 
 holes bored by the yellow-hammers for nest places ; 
 but the hemlock waS scrubby, presenting a vast 
 mass of dry limbs, the lower ones almost within 
 reach of the hand. 
 
 When the Casco was built, a spruce pole had 
 been spiked to the trees, and a kettle hung to heat 
 pitch, and the heat of the fire had killed the roots. 
 
 " 0, boys," said Tom Merrithew, " let's wall these 
 trees in, and set them on fire. The logs are right 
 here ; we shan't need to haul 'em ; we can roll 'em 
 right on to the work. Won't there be a roaring 
 and crackling in the old hemlock ! " 
 
 " And the pine ; the fire will go clear to the tip 
 top on it," said Alexander Chase. 
 
 " Charlie won't let us," said Tim Lancaster. " He 
 want's 'em to bile pitch for the vessel's bottom." 
 
 " No, he don't," said Bob Smullen ; " he's got a 
 brick place, and a great kettle in it on the pint, 
 and don't boil here now." 
 
 " Bennie," said Tom, " ask him if we may." 
 
 " Ask him yourself."
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 141 
 
 " He won't let me, if I ask him ; but he will 
 you." 
 
 " I don't want ter." 
 
 " Bennie," said Will, " you know that lead cannon 
 I've got ? " 
 
 Yes." 
 
 " I'll give you that, if you will." 
 
 " When will you give it to me ? " 
 
 " When you go to carry home with you." 
 
 " To keep for my ownty downty ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, I will." 
 
 At the dinner table Ben sat beside his mother. 
 
 " Mother," he whispered, when about half 
 through dinner, and told her what he wanted. 
 " Will you ask him for me, marm ? " 
 
 " Ask him yourself, Bennie. If Charlie can do it, 
 he'll do it for you as quick as for me." 
 
 Ben, getting up in Charlie's lap, put his arms 
 round his neck, and apparently met with no diffi 
 culty in obtaining his suit. They had built their 
 enclosure of logs round both trees, and made their 
 arch of billets of wood, when a bright thought 
 struck Will Griffin, as he said, all of a heap. 
 
 " Fellers ! fellers ! " he screamed ; " hear to me.
 
 142 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 There's lots of empty tar barrels lying round the 
 yard. Let's pile 'em up on this arch, ever so high. 
 You better believe that will make a blaze, and 
 we'll keep it for the last going off." 
 
 This proposal was received with a universal 
 shout of assent, and Bennie was forthwith de 
 spatched on another errand to Charlie, and with 
 equal success. They knocked both heads out of 
 the lower tier of barrels, placed them over holes 
 in the tops of the wooden arches, and filled the 
 arches and barrels with shavings and brush, then 
 set other barrels on top of these, making the pile 
 narrower as they went up. The pyramid was soon 
 beyond their reach ; but they procured a long lad 
 der, a single block, and a rope to hoist the barrels, 
 spiked poles to the trees to keep the barrels in 
 place, and piled them, in a single tier, up the 
 whole length of the ladder, then put their coppers 
 together, and bought some powder. Edmund 
 Griffin coaxed some from Joe, and Bennie from his 
 grandfather and Uncle John ; then they nailed 
 pieces of boards on the old pine, as there were no 
 limbs to climb by. Will Griffin went up as far as 
 he durst, till the old tree began to grow rotten, and 
 filled some of the holes, made by the yellow-ham-
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 143 
 
 mers, with powder, and plugged them up with 
 treenails, that were lying about the yard. 
 
 This busy day was now wearing to a close. Will 
 went home with the oxen, while a portion of the 
 others built a brush camp, collected brush to lie 
 on, and wood for a fire, while the rest dug clams 
 for their supper, and to eke out the other provis 
 ions they had brought from home. One reason that 
 makes me think this affair of the boys was planned 
 long beforehand, is, that Bennie now produced a 
 peck of doughnuts, two custard pies, and some 
 cold boiled beef. When Will returned, he also 
 brought a keg of milk and some butter in a tin 
 pail. 
 
 Making a fire, they sat around it, laughed, ate, 
 and talked till the stars came out. 
 
 They now proceeded to make the final arrange 
 ments. Since Bennie had been so exceedingly use 
 ful, and, as it were, the hinge upon which the suc 
 cess of the enterprise had turned, the honor of 
 lighting the grand beacon was assigned to him. 
 Bobby Smullen and Tim Lancaster were to light 
 the one on the end of the point. The piles nearest 
 the ship were to be kindled the moment the order 
 was given to wedge up. That on the point, when
 
 144 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 the order was given to knock away the dog-shores, 
 and the great beacon after she was off, when the 
 folks had nothing else to look at, and to afford them 
 light to go home by. 4 
 
 At this stage of proceeding came three more 
 boys, fine appearing, but with clothes so patched 
 and worn that it was impossible to distinguish the 
 original cloth of which they were made. Although 
 they brought no provisions, came so late, and after 
 the work was all done, they were evidently ex 
 pected guests, and most cordially received. The 
 boys seemed to vie with each other in making them 
 welcome, and pressing them to eat. 
 
 The readers of " Arthur Brown " cannot have 
 forgotten old Jim Colcord, to whom Lion Ben ad 
 ministered condign punishment, and washed his 
 hands afterwards, for cheating Charlie Bell in a 
 cow. Well, these were his boys. He kept them 
 at work every moment, wouldn't let them go to 
 school, half starved them, and they would have 
 been naked had it not been for the efforts of an ex 
 cellent mother, who could not go to meeting herself 
 in the winter for want of clothes. Colcord was . 
 wealthy, but an inveterate miser, and utterly des 
 titute of principle.
 
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 145 
 
 The children, however, took after their mother, 
 and every boy in the neighborhood loved them 
 and pitied their hard lot. Unable to come in the 
 daytime, they had stolen away in the evening, and 
 were received with open arms by their young 
 friends, who wondered to see how rapidly the food 
 they placed before them disappeared, for they 
 ate like famished wolves. 
 
 All hands now flung themselves upon the brush, 
 and were soon sound asleep, having first piled 
 wood upon the fire, in order that they might have 
 some coals when they waked. 
 
 They were awakened by a terrible yell from 
 Will Griffin. They found him standing on one leg, 
 and holding up the other, while Joe was- looking at 
 him and holding in his hand a pine stick, the end 
 of which was blazing. 
 
 " What did you burn me for, Joe ? You're a 
 great fellow.." 
 
 " To wake you up. If you calc'late to see that 
 vessel run off, you'd better be moving." 
 
 " What time is it?" cried Tom Merrithew. 
 
 " It's more than half past ten. It's high tide at 
 nineteen minutes past eleven, and the tide's ahead 
 of the almanac." 
 10
 
 146 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 The boys scrabbled up, each seized a firebrand, 
 and ran to the vessel. 
 
 The carpenters were all there, the crew on 
 board, the topsail hoisted up and sheeted home, 
 the top-gallant sail hanging in the clew-lines, the 
 jib loosed, but not hoisted, and the stops cast off 
 the mainsail, all ready to run up. 
 
 In a few moments Qharlie gave the order, 
 " Wedge up." The carpenters then, on each side 
 of the vessel, commenced to drive the long rows 
 of wedges between the bilgeways and the vessel, 
 with might and main, putting one on top of the 
 other, where they went slack. 
 
 The boys applied brands to the piles of combus 
 tibles around the vessel, and the tremendous blaze 
 made every part of it and the surrounding forms 
 visible. 
 
 " There's Sewall Lancaster," said Colcord, 
 " standing between the knight-heads, with a bottle 
 of rum. He's going to name her." 
 
 The great power of so many wedges transferred 
 the weight of the ship, in a great measure, to the 
 cradle; the shores were all removed, and the 
 blocks on which the keel rested were now split 
 out with iron wedges, and the whole weight of the
 
 THE MIDNIGHT LAUNCH. 147 
 
 vessel rested on the cradle and sliding planks, 
 which were slippery with grease. All that pre 
 vents her from starting are the dog-shores, for the 
 wind is fair, and a light breeze filling the topsail. 
 
 " Knock away the dog-shores ! " is the order. 
 
 " This vessel is named the Osprey ! " shouted 
 Lancaster, taking a drink from the bottle, and then 
 breaking it on the bow. 
 
 She began to move faster, and the smoke to rise 
 from the ways beneath the tremendous pressure. 
 Walter waved his hat in adieu, and a great shout 
 arose from the crowd as the swift vessel plunged 
 into her native element, flinging the spray high 
 over her bows. Just as she arose on the return 
 wave pushed before her, the boys applied the 
 torch, and the flame, streaming skyward, illumined 
 the whole horizon, and enabled the spectators, who 
 crowded to the end of the point, to discern for 
 some time the departing vessel. They could hear 
 the creak of the blocks', and see the men distinctly 
 as they hoisted the mainsail, and hear the noise of 
 the hanks on the stay as the jib was run up, and 
 continued to watch the gleam of her canvas till 
 she disappeared in the distance. 
 
 The people had remained so long watching the
 
 148 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 vessel, and talking about her after she had disap 
 peared, that the fires had burned low, and the 
 darkness seemed tenfold greater to eyes dazzled 
 by the recent blaze. They were groping along 
 stumbling over bushes, timbers, and one another, 
 when Bennie lighted the grand beacon. An in 
 tense glare was instantly flung over the whole 
 yard, penetrating far into the recesses of the for 
 est, and which the older people instantly improved 
 to gain the main road, while the others gathered 
 round the blazing mass. 
 
 The boys shouted themselves hoarse, and hugged 
 each other, as the flames, fed by the blazing tar, 
 and urged on by the wind, swept in one vast sheet 
 through the massive limbs of the old hemlock, and 
 then, darting up the pine, exploded the powder, 
 shivering the whole top of the tree, and sending 
 the treenails, like skyrockets, through the air, 
 blazing as they went.
 
 STIRRING NEWS. 149 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 STIRRING NEWS. 
 
 r| WE sun was rising when the guests, including 
 JL all who chose to come, rose from the table at 
 Charlie Bell's, and as Captain Rhines, his wife, and 
 John ascended the elevation upon which the house 
 was situated, they espied the Casco about half way 
 between Elm Island and the cove, but the Osprey 
 was nowhere to be seen. 
 
 " Well," said the captain, " I've been about some, 
 seen vessels launched stern foremost, bow fore 
 most, and sideways, and partly loaded when they 
 were launched ; but this is the first time I ever 
 saw a vessel make sail on the stocks, with a man 
 at the helm, a light in the binnacle, and keep right 
 on for her port of destination." 
 
 It was near noon before the Casco came to an 
 chor in the cove, as the wind that was fair for the 
 brigantine to go was ahead for her. She was also
 
 150 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 short-handed, arid in charge of the second mate, 
 the captain, mate, and three of her crew having 
 come home in a coaster, and gone to sea in the 
 brigantine. She was, therefore, under short sail, 
 to conform to the smallness of the crew, and be 
 cause she was without ballast, though an exceed 
 ing stiff vessel, and made very little progress till 
 flood tide in the forenoon. 
 
 Lion Ben and Sally reached Elm Island about 
 four in the afternoon. 
 
 " No place like home, Sally, after all," said Ben. 
 " I wouldn't live over there if they would give 
 me the whole village. I do hope now I shall be 
 quiet, undisturbed, and able to attend to my own 
 affairs." 
 
 They were met at the shore by three little boys, 
 Joseph, William, and Enoch Enoch, only two 
 years of age, accompanied by Lucy Manchester, a 
 cousin of Sally, who was hired for the summer. 
 
 " Well, Lucy," said Sally, " how did you get 
 along all alone last night?" 
 
 " 0, very well. I felt a little lonesome after Mr. 
 Thorndike and you went off'; but then 1 thought 
 to myself, How many weeks has Mrs. Rhines staid 
 here alone ! I won't be a fool."
 
 STIRRING NEWS. 151 
 
 " That's the way, Lucy. Nothing like having a 
 good resolution." 
 
 " Did Thorndike wash the sheep while he was 
 here ? " asked Ben. 
 
 "Yes, sir; he washed them day before yester 
 day, and turned them in the little pasture, because 
 he said it was clean and dry, with no bushes to 
 pull their wool off." 
 
 The captain and his family retired early that 
 evening, having been broken of their rest the 
 greater part of the night before. He was aroused 
 at three o'clock by a violent knocking at the door, 
 and, upon opening it, was confronted by a stranger 
 on horseback, who evidently had been assailing 
 the door with the butt of his whip. 
 
 " What do you want, friend ? " asked the captain. 
 
 " Does Captain Benjamin Rhines live here ? " 
 
 " Yes ; that's my name." 
 
 " Is there any other man of that name in this 
 place ? " 
 
 -" I have a son of that name." 
 
 " Do they call him Lion Ben? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Did you ever sail in the employ of James 
 Welch, of Boston?"
 
 152 ' THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Yes, more than twenty years." 
 
 "Enough said. Then this belongs to you," 
 drawing a letter from his pocket, " and I've rode 
 night and day to bring it." 
 
 " Come in," said the captain. " I'll call up my 
 man to take your horse." 
 
 "I don't believe I can get off without help; I've 
 grown to the saddle." 
 
 The captain aided him to dismount, and the 
 stranger stretched himself upon the lounge, while 
 the captain glanced at the letter. His face flushed 
 as he read, and, hastily thrusting it into his pocket, 
 he turned to the stranger, saying, 
 
 " Friend, my wife is getting up, and will have 
 some breakfast for you in a few minutes." 
 
 " The greatest favor you can do me, captain, 
 is "to let me go to bed. It's sleep I need most 
 of all." 
 
 After showing him to a sleeping-room, the cap 
 tain sat down to read the letter more at leisure, 
 after which he called up his son. 
 
 " John, here's a letter from Mr. Welch ; came by 
 express. He's very intimate with Mr. Hammond, 
 the English consul. There's a gentleman at the 
 consul's who has just come over on a visit. Mr.
 
 STIRRING NEWS. 153 
 
 Welch, out of friendship to the consul, has shown 
 him much attention, and in return this man has told 
 him a great secret that there's a terrible scarcity 
 in Great Britain ; people starving to death in Eng 
 land and Ireland ; frequent riots ; mobs parading 
 the streets with flags, and the motto on them, 
 ' Bread or Blood ; ' that the English government 
 are going to open their ports for the importation 
 of provisions free of duty ; that the matter is de 
 termined, and will surely be done, : is, in fact, as 
 good as done, will receive the king's signature, 
 be proclaimed and known here in the course of a 
 month. The man rode night and day to bring the 
 letter, though he don't know what's in it. Mr. 
 Welch wants us to send the Casco to Boston as 
 soon as possible, for the moment it's known there'll 
 be a rush, and the first that get there will make 
 the money." 
 
 "What an everlasting cargo she will carry, 
 father ! But she wants repairs." 
 
 " She'll do well enough for a summer passage, 
 only calk her waterways, stop a leak there is under 
 the bowsprit, and make a new pawl-bitt. Do you 
 go right down and see Peterson; tell him to go 
 right aboard with his tools. He, our Ben, and I
 
 154 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 can do the calking. Then go to Joe Griffin's and 
 Charlie's, and get them to go to work on the bitt. 
 Breakfast will be ready by the time you get back ; 
 but don't let on to anybody what the hurry is 
 about." 
 
 " 0, husband," said Mrs. Rhines, " I do not think 
 you ought to drive so at your time of life." 
 
 " My time of life ! I'm just as good for a hard 
 drag as ever I was." 
 
 " That can never be, husband. Only think how 
 much you've been through, and of your age ! " 
 
 " I tell you it's so, Mary. The old mill cracks a 
 little when I first get out of bed in the morning, 
 but as soon as I begin to sweat, I limber right up. 
 But what's going to become of my hoeing ; that's 
 what I'm thinking on. Valentine can't do it all, 
 and there's no such thing as hiring help round here 
 for love or money." 
 
 Lion Ben and his family sat long at the supper 
 table, Lucy telling him what work Thorndike had 
 done in his absence, while he and Sally informed 
 her of everything interesting in respect to the 
 launching. Lion Ben retired to rest with pleasant 
 anticipations of quiet enjoyment on his beloved 
 island.
 
 STIRRING NEWS. 155 
 
 The next day was devoted to sheep-shearing. 
 The whole flock were in the tie-up, from whence 
 he took one as he wanted, and after shearing let 
 it run. It was an occasion of great interest to the 
 children whenever their father went to the tie- 
 up to get a sheep; they all seized hold of the 
 creature, grunted and tugged ; and in their own 
 estimation contributed essentially to getting it 
 into the barn floor, and holding it still for their 
 father to shear. They were also very much ex 
 cited at an operation performed upon the lambs, 
 which consisted in cutting off a portion of their 
 tails, and then with the shears making a hole and 
 notch in one ear of each lamb. This is for a 
 mark, to distinguish property ; as each man has his 
 own mark, which is entered in the town record. 
 There would have been no need of Ben's marking 
 his sheep, living as he did by himself were it 
 not that in the summer he occasionally put part 
 of them away to pasture.. 
 
 The children cried and made a great ado when 
 they saw the blood run, especially as three of the 
 lambs were cossets, and had eaten of their bread 
 and drank of their cup, and they begged him to 
 desist. In order to quiet them, the father had
 
 156 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 been obliged to make Bennie a pair of launching- 
 ways, bilgeways, and wedges. This sent them 
 off to the shore, where Bennie re-enacted the pro- 
 cess he had witnessed at Charlie's yard with the 
 Sea-foam, one of Charlie's old boats that he had 
 fallen heir to, and you could hear him sing out, 
 " Wedge up ! knock away the dog-shore ! " all over 
 the island ; and then all four would scream and clap 
 their hands, as she plunged into the water. Ben, 
 however, did not gain much by his expedient, as 
 every time he finished shearing a sheep he was 
 obliged to go to the launching. 
 
 It had now got to be eleven o'clock in the fore 
 noon. Sally and Lucy Manchester were washing 
 at the brook beneath the yellow-birch, where a 
 kettle was set in a stone arch the first time 
 they had washed at the brook that spring, being 
 tempted by the beauty of the warm, sunshiny 
 day. Ben, in the barn floor, was busily employed, 
 occasionally pausing to listen to a favorite tune of 
 his, that Sally was singing, as she spread the 
 clothes on the grass. The eve swallows without, 
 and the barn swallows within, were keeping up a 
 constant twittering ; while right in the sun, before 
 the doors, a whole bevy of hens were burrowing
 
 STIREING NEWS. 157 
 
 in the earth, dusting their feathers, rolling over 
 on one side and stretching out one leg, then roll 
 ing over on the opposite side and stretching out 
 the other, prating the while, as hens are wont to 
 do, when everything is agreeable and they are 
 happy. It was a scene of rural quiet and loveli 
 ness, such as this giant of a man, utterly devoid 
 of fear, of indomitable energy, terrible when 
 roused, but susceptible as a woman to all gentle 
 emotions, most dearly loved. 
 
 The tune to which he was listening suddenly 
 ceased, and raising his head, he saw John within 
 three feet of him. 
 
 "Drop that sheep, Ben, and put the shears in 
 the brace, over the barn door." 
 
 "Why so, John?" 
 
 " Because you can't stay here any longer, and 
 shear sheep; you've got to go with me over to 
 the main land, and help fit away the Casco." 
 
 " I won't." 
 
 "You must, I tell you; read that," giving him 
 the letter. 
 
 As Ben read the letter, his countenance as 
 sumed a most rueful expression, at which John 
 could not help laughing.
 
 158 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " You're a great fellow, Ben. I should think 
 you would jump at the chance." 
 
 " I tell you I can't. Here's my sheep all 
 washed, and part of 'em sheared ; my corn must be 
 hoed, and there's no help to be got. We're carry 
 ing this vessel business too far, for all people 
 think of is building vessels, fishing, and lumber 
 ing; they don't raise anything; buy all their corn 
 and flour south ; by and by there'll be a famine, 
 and bread will be as high here as it is in England, 
 and higher too, if they drain the country." 
 
 " What's the use to talk ? you know the ship 
 must go. Father's in the same fix, but he's got to 
 pull off his jacket and go to calking her ; and she's 
 got t& have a new foremast. You own an eighth 
 of her ; if she gets out there among the first, she'll 
 make you more money than your whole island, 
 sheep, cattle ? and all are wor^h. Open the tie-up 
 door, and let the sheep run and shear themselves 
 in the bushes ; you won't be gone long, and can 
 hoe the corn after you get back." 
 
 " I'll shear the sheep, Ben," said Sally, who had 
 been reading the letter. " I can shear a sheep as 
 well as you or anybody else." 
 
 " You shan't do any such thing, Sally."
 
 STIRRING NEWS. 159 
 
 " Yes, I will. I used to shear sheep when we 
 were so poor, and before the boys got large enough ; 
 and there's nobody to look at me on this island. 
 Finish that one you are at work on, and mark the 
 lambs ; by that time I'll have dinner ready, and 
 you can be off." 
 
 " Sally, you can never shear them all. Why, 
 there's forty to shear now." 
 
 " Yes, I can. You thought I couldn't make the 
 sails for the ' Hard-scrabble/ but 1 did." 
 
 " We'll help marm," said Bennie. " We'll bring 
 the sheep out, and hold 'em for her." 
 
 " Hold 'em ! " said John. " If a sheep should flop 
 her tail, she'd knock you over." 
 
 Mr. Welch had said in his letter that he had 
 plenty of corn and flour in store, but if they could 
 procure any beans, peas, beef, butter, and pork, 
 to put them on board. 
 
 While the ship was repairing, Fred Williams 
 scoured the neighborhood, and got together suf 
 ficient provisions to put the ship in light ballast. 
 But the question now was, how to obtain men 
 enough to get her to Boston. Part of the crew 
 who came home' in her had already gone in the 
 Osprey, and the remainder, who were, m.ost of
 
 160 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 them, married men, had farms, and wanted to take 
 care of their crops. They could not be prevailed 
 on to go, and in relation to the younger* portion, 
 they said they were at home only two days before 
 they went off to Portland, and wanted more time 
 at home ; but all expressed a readiness to join the 
 ship in Boston when she was loaded. 
 
 Peterson had a vessel to calk, and couldn't go ; 
 Joe Griffin wouldn't leave his farming. At length 
 they persuaded Edmund Griffin, the strongest man 
 in town except Lion Ben, to go, and our old acquain 
 tance, Sam Holland. * Taking advantage of a fair 
 wind, these, with Lion Ben, John, Captain Rhiues, 
 Captain Murch, and Charlie Bell, put three topsails, 
 spanker, and jib on her, run her into Light-house 
 Channel, Boston harbor, and came to anchor. It 
 was a small crew, as far as numbers went ; but, 
 with the exception of Charlie Bell and Captain 
 Murch, the other five might safely be counted as 
 eleven men, as far as strength was concerned, 
 although they could not pull so many ropes at 
 once. 
 
 They went ashore on one of the islands, and 
 hired some fishermen, who were 'digging bait, to 
 help work the ship up to town, for there were no 
 steam-tugs then.
 
 STIRRING NEWS. 161 
 
 Leaving Captain Murch to take c.are of and load 
 his ship, they started for home the next afternoon 
 in a coaster. When Lion Ben reached the island 
 Sally had sheared the sheep, and, to his great 
 joy, the corn and potatoes were hoed. In perfect 
 amazement he walked over the ground, and going 
 into the house, said, 
 
 " Sally, how did you get this corn hoed ? " 
 
 " How do you know but I hoed it ? " 
 
 " That's impossible." 
 
 " 1 know, father," said Bennie. " One day the 
 wind was fair, and me and mother took the boat, 
 and went right over to grandsir's cove ; me steered ; 
 then she went to Mr. Thaxter's, and she coaxed 
 him to let John and Henry come and hoe. I went 
 with her, and they gave me a kitten." 
 
 " Sally, you're worth your weight in gold." 
 
 " That's just what mother used to tell me ; so I 
 guess it must be true." 
 
 There was much talk around Pleasant Cove in 
 respect to the haste in which the Casco was fitted 
 away, and as many different opinions as individu 
 als. Finally, as no information could be obtained 
 from the parties most interested, all settled down 
 in the belief that she had obtained a very profitable 
 11
 
 162 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 charter, provided she was ready to sail at a certain 
 time. The Massachusetts, formerly the Lan- 
 guedoc, being already in Boston, was loaded and 
 despatched in a short time after the ship. 
 
 The Casco had been out sixteen days, when the 
 news flew like wildfire along the seaboard that the 
 ports of Great Britain had been opened by act of 
 Parliament; and forthwith the following notice 
 appeared in the papers: 
 
 " Extract of an Act of Parliament just passed. 
 
 "And whereas it is likewise expedient, under 
 the present circumstances, to permit, for a limited 
 time, the importation of certain other provisions 
 into Great Britain in British ships belonging to 
 persons of any kingdom or state in amity with his 
 majesty, and navigated in any manner whatever, 
 without payment of any duty whatever, be it 
 therefore further enacted by the authority afore 
 said, it shall and may be lawful for any persons 
 whatever to import into Great Britain, from any 
 port or place whatever, in any British ship or 
 vessel, or in any other ship or vessel belonging to 
 persons of any kingdom or state in amity with his 
 majesty, and navigated in any manner whatever,
 
 STIRRING NEWS. 163 
 
 any beans called kidney or French beans, tares, 
 lentils, calivances, and all other sorts of pulse ; 
 also beef, pork, mutton, veal, salted or alive, bacon, 
 butter, cheese, potatoes, fowl, eggs, and game, 
 without the payment of any duty whatever, at all 
 times before the expiration of six weeks from the 
 commencement of the next session of Parliament, 
 anything in any act or acts of Parliament to the 
 contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding." 
 
 Parliament met in February. It was now July, 
 and the act had been in force four or five weeks 
 before the news arrived here. Never was there 
 such commotion along the seaboard. Vessels on 
 the stocks were hurried off, and, as it would be 
 almost a year before the time would expire, keels 
 were laid, and vessels of all sizes hastily built, in 
 hopes of getting a slice of this good luck. Mean 
 while, in consequence of the excessive drain, pro 
 visions at home rose to exorbitant prices. 
 
 Everybody now perceived the reason of the 
 haste in respect to the Casco and the brigantine. 
 But amid all this tumult Lion Ben was quietly at 
 work in his field, Captain Rhines getting his hay, 
 and Charlie making improvements on his farm,
 
 164 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 going over to Elin Island with John, or to Wolf 
 Island to look after his pet foxes and bears. He 
 had five on the island now, having bought a mate 
 for the one he put on, and there were three cubs. 
 Occasionally Charlie took a tramp in the woods to 
 look up some timber, as they were intending to set 
 up a vessel in the fall for Cameron, take time to 
 build her, and make her an extra vessel; and 
 when there came a rainy day, John went into the 
 blacksmith's shop to work upon fastening, as Charlie 
 had made his model, and he knew the dimensions 
 of the vessel they were to build. 
 
 After haying they had news that the Casco and 
 Massachusetts had obtained the highest prices for 
 their cargoes, the brigantine, though sailing after 
 wards, arriving before the ship, and that both 
 had been chartered by the English for Antigua, to 
 be convoyed by British men-of-war. 
 
 In two months there were so many vessels 
 despatched from all quarters of America and the 
 British provinces that provisions were lower in 
 England than in the States, and many of the last 
 shippers met with tremendous losses. 
 
 Charlie and John, indeed, wanted to set up an 
 other vessel right off; but Captain Rhines told 
 them it was only a spurt, and would soon be over.
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 165 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 
 
 rainy season, the period for squalls and 
 _1_ stormy winds, was now approaching; and, 
 just as the sun was sinking below the horizon, the 
 Osprey, bearing before her bows a sheet of foam, 
 the water bubbling through the lee scuppers, and 
 with sp.ars and rigging strained to their utmost 
 tension, passing Point Arlet, entered the bay of 
 Port Royal, her captain carrying every inch of 
 canvas to reach his anchorage before night, as the 
 weather was threatening and squally. Upon en 
 tering the harbor, he found it occupied by a large 
 portion of the British West India squadron. He 
 was instantly boarded, and ordered to anchor be 
 tween the two seventy-fours Majestic and Bellona. 
 Seated upon the quarter-deck, after the brigantine 
 was secured to her moorings, the sails furled, ropes 
 coiled, and all but the anchor watch below, he
 
 166 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 gazed upon the great hulks and frowning batteries 
 of the men-of-war, directly under whose guns his 
 little vessel lay, and which seemed but a boat in 
 comparison. In view of his utter helplessness, he 
 could not but feel somewhat anxious in respect to 
 the treatment he might receive in the morning. 
 He recalled instances he had known of American 
 captains going to French ports and being in 
 formed that they must sell their cargo for twen 
 ty per cent, less to the governor of the island than 
 they could obtain for it of the merchants in the 
 place, give for the produce of the island double 
 its market price, and not be allowed to leave till 
 they accepted these terms. He also remembered 
 that the English themselves sent sixteen American 
 vessels, found at Martinique when they captured 
 it the year before, to Dominica for adjudication, 
 where they were acquitted, but the costs were in 
 some cases half the cargo ; and he was ready to 
 accuse himself of thoughtlessness in thus volunta 
 rily placing himself where there was no way of 
 escape, when he might have kept the sea, and 
 gone to some Danish or Spanish island. But he 
 soon ascertained that his fears were imaginary. 
 The English admiral, and the military governor of
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 167 
 
 Martinique, General Prescott, treated him with 
 the same courtesy as when he was there before, 
 and manifested no disposition to break the engage 
 ment entered into at that time. The demand for 
 provisions was even greater than when he loft. 
 American vessels preferred to go to France rather 
 than to the French or English West India islands. 
 
 Since information of the treaty between Great 
 Britain and the United States, American vessels in 
 the French islands had been exposed to all sorts of 
 indignities, especially if they were captured when 
 bound to a French island that had been captured 
 by the English, in which case their cargoes were 
 confiscated and the crews imprisoned. They also 
 ran great risk of capture in going to the English 
 islands, because there were large numbers of small 
 French privateers that swarmed round the West 
 Indies, always ready to pounce upon them, the 
 captains of which obtained information in relation 
 to vessels that were expected from the French 
 residents on those islands, with whom they man 
 aged to keep up communication. 
 
 In respect to vessels bound to France, the risk 
 was less, as, even if captured by British cruisers, 
 the cargoes were paid for. In the single month of
 
 168 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 February one hundred and forty-four American 
 vessels got safely into the harbor of Bordeaux. 
 
 Probably Walter would not have set out on a 
 West India voyage had he not been confident in 
 the speed of his vessel to enable him to escape the 
 French privateers, though he could only judge of 
 that before trial by her proportions, as seen on the 
 stocks, and by the fact that he knew Charlie Bell 
 had exerted himself to the utmost to construct a 
 vessel that should outsail, if possible, the Arthur 
 Brown ; and nobly did the Osprey justify the confi 
 dence reposed in her by her young captain ; for, 
 like the strong-pinioned bird from which her name 
 was derived, she had distanced everything on the 
 passage. It was but twelve days from the time 
 she spread her wings on the stocks at Pleasant Cove 
 till she folded them in the harbor of Port Royal. 
 
 In consequence of the circumstances and em 
 barrassments referred to, provisions were scarce 
 and high ; but the price was still further increased 
 by the reverses that the English had experienced. 
 Although vastly inferior in naval force, the French 
 had eluded the vigilance of their cruisers, and 
 transported a large body of troops to Guadaloupe, 
 had recovered many of the islands previously cap-
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 169 
 
 tured from them by inciting insurrection among 
 the blacks and aboriginal inhabitants, compelling 
 the English to confine their efforts to self-defence. 
 
 The whole garrison of St. Lucia, forced by the 
 French to evacuate that island, had arrived at 
 Martinique a few days before the Osprey. 
 The English military governor not only allowed 
 Walter the high price at which provisions were 
 then held, but the discharging of his cargo was 
 greatly facilitated. As the launches of the men-of- 
 war came alongside, the hatches were opened, and 
 the cargo discharged directly into them, and car 
 ried to the respective vessels of the fleet to which 
 they belonged, the remainder to the store-ship ; he 
 received hard money in payment. The vessel was 
 nearly discharged, when Lallemont came along 
 side. 
 
 " I had no thought of meeting you, captain," 
 said the delighted black. " I should not have rec 
 ognized the vessel ; but I saw the American flag, 
 and, as I knew your people generally take sugar or 
 molasses, was on the lookout for a coopering job." 
 
 "You, of course, would have anything in my 
 power to give ; but you know the island is in Eng 
 lish hands, and they don't allow foreigners to carry
 
 170 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 from their islands. I ana to receive cash for my 
 cargo, and shall either have to go to Trinidad and 
 buy molasses, or go home in ballast, although I 
 don't intend to buy molasses if I can get anything 
 else." 
 
 " Why not ? You always have." 
 
 " Because affairs have changed altogether. Be 
 fore the war we brought lumber and live stock, 
 and cargoes that were very bulky in proportion to 
 their value ; built vessels very full and burden 
 some, and piled heavy deck-loads on them ; and, as 
 the passage is short, a few days longer didn't make 
 much difference in the expense- Molasses and 
 sugar, also, were bulky cargoes, and the vessels, 
 being burdensome, could carry a large quantity ; 
 but now it is altogether another matter. We want 
 vessels that are built for sailing, to dodge the 
 cruisers, and they can't take back these bulky car 
 goes at a profit. They answer very well for our 
 outward cargoes, as we bring provisions, arms, or 
 powder, which are far more valuable in proportion 
 to their bulk." 
 
 " I understand how it is ; but I don't believe the 
 English governor means to interfere very much 
 with the affairs of the island, or to destroy the
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 171 
 
 trade of it. He has not interfered with municipal 
 affairs, and everything goes on very much as it 
 did before, only the duties are collected by English 
 custom-house officers. They are very lenient and 
 courteous to the inhabitants, a large portion of 
 whom were loyalists, and did all they could to 
 assist them in gaining possession of the island, and 
 will aid them in keeping it, and they must have 
 trade. I think you will get permission to buy a 
 cargo here and take it away. If you do, let me know, 
 and I can assist you." 
 
 As Lallemont had anticipated, Walter experi 
 enced no difficulty in obtaining the license he 
 desired to trade, and sent his mate to seek the 
 negro and inform him of it. The next afternoon 
 the latter came on board. 
 
 " Captain," said he, " there is a harbor on the 
 north-eastern side of the island, called Cul-de-sac 
 du Galion. There is a creek makes up into the 
 land, and the River Galion empties into it. There 
 is no difficulty in going into this creek with a vessel 
 the size of yours, if piloted by one thoroughly 
 acquainted, and bringing out three fourths of a 
 cargo. I am well acquainted with a planter Avho 
 lives up this river some miles, who would load you
 
 172 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 at a very much less rate than you could purchase 
 a cargo for here, or at St. Pierre, provided you 
 will go after it." 
 
 " Will he sell me the articles I want ? " 
 
 "He'll sell you anything that the island pro 
 duces, and what he has not, or has not in sufficient 
 quantity, he'll procure. But you'll have to take 
 your vessel as far as possible up the creek, then 
 boat the cargo down river to it, till you put into 
 her all the depth of water will allow you to take 
 out, and then boat down the rest." 
 
 " That will be pretty severe work for white men 
 in this climate." 
 
 " But you can take your time for it ; he will 
 feed your men while they are at the plantation, 
 give you all the vegetables you can consume while 
 here, and you will get your cargo for half price ; 
 yes, and less." 
 
 " But why don't he bring it down himself? " 
 ""He can't. In the natural course of things, 
 this produce would be brought down to the har 
 bor in lighters, and carried in drogers to St. 
 Pierre, Trinity Bay, or Port Royal. But when 
 the English attacked the island last year, the 
 French general took part of his slaves to work on
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 173 
 
 the fortifications, and those of them that were not 
 killed and did not die of disease ran away to the 
 mountains ; and after it was taken by the English, 
 they seized the rest, that is, all that were able 
 bodied, and put them on board their ships of war ; 
 so he has only a few young boys, and old, worn-out 
 men and women, that can do some work in the 
 field, but are not fit to handle a lighter." 
 
 "Has he lighters?" 
 
 " Yes ; plenty of them." 
 
 " Will he furnish a pilot to take the vessel into 
 the creek and out ? " 
 
 " I'll pilot the vessel myself, and I'll let you have 
 one of my servants to pilot the lighters up and 
 down the river." 
 
 " Walter consulted the crew, offering them 
 extra pay, as it was no part of their duty to 
 lighter cargo from a plantation. He found them 
 ready for the work, and the next morning went 
 with Lallemont to see Monsieur Chavelot, and 
 bargained with him for rum, indigo, coffee, cocoa, 
 annotto, logwood, and ginger ; the necessities to 
 which the planters were reduced by war and the 
 interruptions consequent upon it, enabling him to 
 take his choice of the produce of the island at 
 low prices.
 
 174 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Walter now weighed anchor and entered the 
 Cul-de-sac du Gallon. He found a good and quite 
 spacious harbor, although obstructed at its mouth 
 by shoals, sand-spits, and reefs of corals ; present 
 ing, however, no obstacles to the native pilots. 
 
 Lallemont pressed the brigantine so far up the 
 creek, that there was no way of return except by 
 warping out stern foremost; the passage, though 
 of sufficient depth, being so narrow as barely to 
 admit the launches alongside. 
 
 The second mate Henry Griffin now took 
 the crew, and, with Lallemont's negro, went up the 
 river for cargo, and Walter was left with only his 
 mate and the cook. 
 
 " Captain," said Sewall Lancaster, " what do 
 you suppose has become of that chap you let 
 run last vige, and saved from getting his neck 
 stretched ? " 
 
 " I don't know. I asked Lallemont ; he said he 
 didn't know anything about him." 
 
 " He'll take good kere and give this port a wide 
 berth. I expect he's jined some other gang, and is 
 cuttin' throats somewhere. It never seemed just 
 the thing to me to let a pirate run when you'd got 
 your fingers on his throat."
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 175 
 
 " If we hadn't, we never should have hung 
 Lemaire." 
 
 In the morning, when Walter turned out, he 
 found a letter, lying on the cabin floor, directed 
 to him. Breaking the seal, he perceived, with 
 equal interest and amazement, that it was from 
 the very man who had been, the subject of con 
 versation between himself and Lancaster the even 
 ing before John Godsoe. He informed Walter 
 that, having ascertained his intention of returning 
 hither with a cargo of provisions, he had kept 
 himself informed in respect to arrivals, and then 
 went on to say that, although no one could be 
 more sensible of his guilt and unworthiness to 
 associate with, or even come into the presence of, 
 virtuous persons than himself, yet he entreated 
 him as he would aid a penitent man, and one % 
 whom he knew in happier days, to make some 
 slight amends for his crimes to meet him at 
 twilight on the following evening, and, if it was not 
 asking too great a favor, go with him to his abode 
 in the mountains. The place designated for the 
 meeting was a clump of bushes on the northern 
 bank of the Galion, out of the midst of which rose 
 a large rock with two peaks, and from a cleft in the 
 top of one of them a wild fig tree was growing.
 
 176 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 It was evident to Walter that Godsoe had 
 maintained the resolution, formed when leaving the 
 Languedoc, to abandon his former pursuits and 
 companions ; otherwise he would not have sought 
 his company, or expressed sorrow for his past 
 crimes. 
 
 " I'll go," he said, " and, as I need forgiveness 
 and hope for mercy myself, do all that in me lies 
 to strengthen his good intention." 
 
 Going on deck, he easily distinguished the land 
 mark referred to in the letter, being quite con 
 spicuous, as it abutted on the river, and was sur 
 rounded by cultivated fields. Taking the glass, he 
 could discern the fig tree, and the seam in the cliff 
 into which it had thrust its roots. Neither the 
 mate nor cook had seen, heard, or knew anything 
 in respect to the letter. The day seemed long to 
 Walter, as there was little to occupy his attention 
 while the crew were absent, and he waited with im 
 patience the appointed hour. The sun was setting 
 as Walter left the vessel for the place, that was 
 three fourths of a mile distant; and finding it unoc 
 cupied, he sat down upon a fragment of rock among 
 the bushes. It was not long before his ear caught 
 the sound of oars in a rowlock, and through the
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 177 
 
 deepening twilight he discovered a boat contain 
 ing one person, who was Bulling along under the 
 shadow of the bank. It was Godsoe. The pirate 
 . wrung the extended hand of Walter convulsively, 
 exclaiming, in a voice broken with emotion, 
 
 " This, captain, is more than I had any right to 
 ask more than I hardly dared to expect that 
 you would go so far for a wretch like me." 
 * " I could not do less, and be a Christian, or even 
 a man. It is the duty, and ought to be the desire, 
 of every one to help his fellow-man ; and a towns 
 man and neighbor surely has a still stronger 
 claim." 
 
 " And you will go with me to my place, for I 
 dare not remain longer here'." 
 
 " I came with that intention." 
 
 "Then let us hasten to where we can talk in 
 safety." 
 
 The moon was rising, and Godsoe pulled slowly 
 and cautiously under the shadow of the bank, on 
 which was a large coffee plantation. For some 
 time they had heard the roar of a waterfall, and 
 now came to the mouth of a large and impetuous 
 stream, tributary to the Galion. The waters being 
 confined between high banks, an eddy current was 
 12
 
 178 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 formed along the shore. Taking advantage of this 
 circumstance, Godsoe pulled to the foot of the 
 fall, and, hauling the boat on shore, concealed it 
 amid a dense growth of bamboos, guava trees, and 
 cedars, that fringed the bank. 
 
 " Is this water good to drink ? " asked Walter. 
 
 " No ; absolutely poisonous. This island is a 
 curious place. There are about forty rivers that 
 come from the bowels of these mountains, beside* 
 a multitude of brooks like this, and not half of 
 them are fit to drink from. In many places they 
 have to drink rain water, when a river flows right 
 before the door. It was so here ; for on the bank 
 is an abandoned plantation ; you can see the rain 
 water cisterns there yet. I expect this island was 
 made by earthquakes, for they have them now, 
 once in a while, and it is all mixed up big hills 
 and little hills, mountains and gullies, flung together 
 any how ; and the springs spurt from the hills and 
 mountains just as though they were squat out. 
 You needn't lack drink, however," he continued. 
 A long vine was hanging between two trees just 
 over their heads, and of three or four inches in 
 diameter. Drawing a heavy knife from his belt, 
 he severed the vine, bidding Walter put the end
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 179 
 
 to his lips, which he did, and drew from it the sap 
 in abundance, completely quenching his thirst. 
 
 " It tastes precisely like cold water," said 
 Walter. 
 
 " But it will quench thirst a great deal longer." 
 
 As Godsoe returned his knife to its sheath, Wal 
 ter observed that he was completely armed in 
 other respects. 
 
 " I am somewhat tired, and quite warm ; let us 
 rest a while in the shelter of the old mill-house," 
 said Godsoe ; " it will never do for you, not being 
 used to this climate, to sit in the dew and moon 
 light." 
 
 Walter was by no means unaccustomed to the 
 wonderful clearness of the atmosphere and the 
 brilliancy of nights in the tropics ; but he had 
 hitherto spent them on the coast, or at anchor in 
 some harbor. 
 
 The machinery of this old mill had been turned 
 by a wheel, driven by water brought from the 
 brook above the fall, in a sluice cut in the ground, 
 but now completely grown over, and almost con 
 cealed by vegetation of different kinds. The roof 
 of the building was whole, but one side was en 
 tirely open to the weather, offering no obstruction to
 
 180 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 the view ; and Walter could not repress an excla 
 mation of delight, as, seated upon a stone roller, 
 that had once served to grind the cane, he gazed 
 upon the landscape, and the luxuriant vegetation 
 revealed and silvered by moonlight of sufficient 
 intensity to bring out the most minute features of 
 the scene near at hand bamboos in clumps, cocoa- 
 nut palms, figs, orange, pimento, and coffee trees, 
 now grown wild ; and here and there an immense 
 cotton-wood, or a tropical birch, shooting up among 
 the crumbling walls of the old mansion and out 
 buildings ; while numerous mocking-birds, whose 
 unrivalled melody affected Walter with all the 
 charm of novelty, responded to each other from 
 every quarter of the forest. 
 
 After remaining some time silent, in deference 
 to his companion, who seemed completely entranced 
 by a scene so new to him, Godsoe said, 
 
 " Now, captain, tell me something about the dear 
 old spot. How did you find, and how did you leave, 
 father and mother, my brothers and sisters ? How 
 did you get along and manage to keep my secret, 
 after they found out that Clash was master of the 
 Languedoc?" 
 
 Walter then related to him all that had trans-
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 181 
 
 pired at Pleasant Cove, and the conversation that 
 had taken place between his own parents and Mr. 
 Godsoe, and also between Mr. Godsoe, Eaton, and 
 Sewall Lancaster. 
 
 " Who, of the Pleasant Cove boys, have you now 
 among your crew, that ever knew, or would have 
 been likely to have recognized me, had I come on 
 board your vessel ? " 
 
 " I have none that ever knew you. except Sewall 
 Lancaster and Henry Griffin. I think Lancaster 
 would know you now ; you look very different 
 since getting well." 
 
 " I was afraid how it might be, and therefore 
 came under the stern in a boat, and flung the letter 
 into the cabin window." 
 
 " It was a great mystery to me by what means 
 that letter came on board. Are there many 
 abandoned plantations like this on the island?" 
 
 " Hundreds of them. Some of them have been 
 abandoned for sixty years, and their sites could 
 now be scarcely discerned. It don't take long in 
 this climate for the land to go back to forest. It 
 is not ten years since this place was cultivated, 
 and you see how it has grown up ; all these trees 
 but the birches and cotton-woods have grown since
 
 182 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 then. I suppose you know all about this island 
 that it was a very rich place once ; so much so, 
 that they didn't care whether they paid gold and 
 silver, or bartered produce for a cargo." 
 
 " No ; I know nothing about its history." 
 
 " It's pretty well run down now, though, since 
 the English have taken Canada, and so many of 
 the other French islands, the trade of which all 
 came here. I suppose you know how they first 
 got to raising coffee." 
 
 "No ; I do not." 
 
 "The Dutch made a present of two coffee-trees 
 to the French government. They put them in the 
 royal Garden of Plants at Paris. From these they 
 took two suckers, and 'sent an officer by the name 
 of Desclieux to Martinique to plant them. The 
 vessel got short of water, and all hands were put 
 on short allowance ; but Desclieux shared his water 
 with the two coffee-suckers, though he was nearly 
 dead when the vessel got in. The suckers were 
 planted, and grew; and from them sprung all the 
 coffee since raised on the Island of Martinique. 
 You have the story for what it's worth. I got it 
 from an old Frenchman, who said his father was in 
 the vessel. But it is time we were away. We have
 
 WALTER MEETS THE OUTLAW. 183 
 
 a long and difficult path before us ; but I have a 
 couple of .sure-footed beasts tethered close by.'' 
 
 Leaving the mill, he soon returned, leading two 
 mules prepared for the road. Strapped to the 
 saddle of each was one of those short cloaks worn 
 by the inhabitants of the West Indies to keep off 
 the night dew. 
 
 As they gained an elevation commanding a view 
 of the place they had left, Walter stopped his 
 beast, and turned to take one more look at the 
 tumbling water, the walls of the old plantation 
 buildings, and the ocean bathed in moonlight. 
 
 " Never did I behold anything so lovely. Why 
 should any one abandon a spot like this ? Surely 
 happiness could be found here if anywhere." 
 
 " Happiness," said his companion, sadly, " comes 
 from within, not from without. I was happy once 
 on the rough soil of Maine, sung as I drove the 
 cows to pasture, as I hoed the corn, or faced the 
 north wind, and waded through the drifts to school ; 
 but since then I've learned that a stinging con 
 science can make of Paradise a hell."
 
 184 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE MADMAN'S PASS. 
 
 ESUMING- their journey, they crossed the 
 road leading from La Trinite to the southern 
 part of the island and harbor of Port Royal, and 
 made for the terrible fastnesses of the mountains 
 that occupy the centre of the island, in a short 
 time entering upon a tract of country so broken as 
 to prevent riding abreast, entirely precluding con 
 versation. So rugged was the path, at one time 
 winding around the side of a mountain, along a 
 narrow ledge where a misstep would have been 
 death, or passing between lofty precipices through 
 defiles so narrow that there was barely room for 
 the mule to pass ; again descending into ravines 
 over declivities of smooth rock, where the beast, 
 thrusting forward its fore feet, was compelled to 
 slide on its haunches. Godsoe cautioned his com 
 panion not to attempt to guide the mule in the
 
 THE MADMAN'S PASS. 185 
 
 least, but rather trust to the instinct of the animal^ 
 that would, if left alone, carry him safely through. 
 
 So far from becoming less rugged, the path, as 
 they proceeded, assumed a wilder and more terrific 
 character. The mountains, conical in shape, in 
 creased in altitude, while the valleys became mere 
 ravines, and the streams torrents; for rains had 
 begun to fall, and the roar of waters mingled with 
 the thunder of rocks plunging from mountain sum 
 mits to the depths below. 
 
 Through all these obstacles Godsoe held on his 
 way without the hesitation of a moment. After 
 crossing a valley of greater width than usual, afford 
 ing relief to the riders by its level surface of elastic 
 turf, their farther progress, it seemed to Walter, 
 was completely barred by a wide stream that 
 flowed along the roots of a mountain ridge, which 
 rose to a great height, its summit broken into 
 irregular peaks, clothed in a veil of mist. His 
 companion, on the other hand, dashed directly into 
 the stream, the bed of which proved to be hard, 
 and the water shallow. For more than half an 
 hour Godsoe rode in the channel of the stream, till 
 he at length emerged from it at the mouth of a 
 chasm in this rampart of rock, whose fearful gloom,
 
 186 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 in such sudden and startling contrast with the 
 brilliancy without, was so repulsive that Walter, 
 in momentary trepidation, involuntarily drew rein. 
 Upon a closer inspection he perceived that what, 
 in the surprise of the moment, he had mistaken for 
 the mouth of a cavern, leading he knew not where, 
 was in reality the entrance of a pass. 
 
 " What think you of this ? " said Godsoe, noticing 
 his trepidation. 
 
 " I never was among mountains," was the reply, 
 " or saw one, except from the ship's deck or the 
 mast-head, till I was at Vauclin, and I know not 
 how to express what I feel ; but it seems to me just 
 as though the Almighty had taken this island up, 
 broken it over his knee, and flung it down, and it 
 had never got back to its first shape. I should be 
 almost afraid it would shut up on me when I was 
 going through." 
 
 Indeed, the features of the pass might well have 
 suggested the illustrations used by Walter, for the 
 walls of the chasm were neither perpendicular nor 
 arched, as is often the case in mountain defiles, but 
 receding, and the fissure wedge-shaped, as though 
 the entire mass of rock, with its superincumbent 
 earth and forest, had been cleft in twain and flung
 
 THE MADMAN'S PASS. 187 
 
 apart. Wherever the eye could penetrate the 
 gloom, corresponding hollows and protuberances 
 were perceived upon the opposite cliffs, evincing 
 that they had at some period been united. The 
 soil above was clothed with a dense forest of mighty 
 trees ; the cabbage palm, cotton-wood, bullet tree, 
 and fig flung their branches across the gorge, while 
 myriads of parasitical plants connected tree with 
 tree and branch with branch : vines hanging in 
 loops, and twisted around each other till they were 
 as large as a man's leg, formed, 'at the point where 
 the cliffs were crowned with soil, and growth com 
 menced, a canopy of foliage that excluded every 
 ray of light, and not even a solitary firefly, that so 
 abound in the tropics, illuminated the gloom. The 
 mules, that, champing the bit, had with difficulty 
 been restrained, now plunged into the defile, with 
 an alacrity that betokened the approaching end of 
 their journey. 
 
 " Shut your eyes for a few moments," said God- 
 soe. 
 
 Walter did so, and found, upon opening them 
 again, that in those places where the canopy of fo 
 liage was thinnest, he could catch some glimpses 
 of the path, that was barely wide enough for two 
 mules to pass abreast.
 
 188 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Hold up your legs," cried Godsoe. The warn 
 ing was needed, for the mule path wound round 
 great boulders, where the legs of the rider were 
 liable to be crushed between either the boulders or 
 the sides of the pass, or torn by the jagged roots 
 of trees that had fallen from above, over whose 
 trunks the mules clambered, much to the surprise 
 of Walter, who, his eyes having become accus 
 tomed to the darkness, could now perceive the na 
 ture of the obstacles that obstructed the way. 
 
 Reared among cattle, accustomed from boyhood 
 te horses, he had enjoyed abundant opportunities 
 to become acquainted with the intelligence of that 
 animal ; but, mounted for the first time upon the 
 back of a mule, he was astonished at the resolute 
 endurance and wonderful sagacity manifested by 
 this most useful though oftentimes vicious and 
 stubborn beast. The feeling of awe and gloom in 
 spired by the darkness, manifold obstacles, and the 
 consciousness that rocks or trees, loosened or un 
 dermined by the recent rains, might at any instant 
 descend, was still farther increased by a hoarse 
 and hollow moaning, that seemed to issue from the 
 ground, and come up beneath the very feet of the 
 beasts, requiring very little aid from imagination 
 to convert it into something not of earth. 

 
 THE MADMAN'S PASS. 189 
 
 " This is a fearful place," said Walter. 
 
 " It is, truly, in the night," said Godsoe, coming 
 to a halt. " Your idea of its closing up on one 
 never occurred to me ; but twice have I come to its 
 mouth, yet afraid to enter, lest the Almighty should 
 commission some rock, tree, or the solid cliifs them 
 selves, to fall on my head, and bring me, my hands 
 dripping with innocent blood, to his judgment-seat. 
 All night long have I paced the ground, or, wrap 
 ping myself in my cloak, lay down upon the bank of 
 the brook, tortured by remorse, till the day broke." 
 
 " But you were no farther from God outside the 
 pass than within it. He could just as well have 
 put his finger on you beside the brook as here, or 
 have caused it to overflow you. Beyond his 
 reach you can never be, or where he is not." 
 
 " Ah, captain, am I ignorant of that ? Have I not 
 been taught it at my mother's knee ? But it don't 
 come home and find a man in the sunshine, as here 
 in company, or when excited, as when alone in 
 midnight darkness, or when the stars are looking 
 down upon you, like the eyes of God, reading your 
 very soul. I tell you there would not be such 
 wretches as I am, and as Clash was, were we not 
 able to shove out of sight the idea of God, and all 
 sense of his presence."
 
 190 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " You need not say as Pete Clash was. It was 
 only his body I killed." 
 
 " Captain, I've walked the deck of that Langue- 
 doc in the middle watch, after a day of butchery, 
 and when my soul has been in heaps ; sins of boy 
 hood, little sins, great mountainous sins, all flung 
 one upon another, like the hills and mountains 
 we've come through, Then I've looked up and 
 seen the moon travelling along so calm, unfeeling, 
 and pure, and said to myself, ' You never sinned, 
 you never disobeyed, never went one hair'sbreadth 
 from the path chalked out for you ; there's nothing 
 gnawing your vitals. Curse you, I hate you.' Then 
 I've shook my fist at it, and raved because I could 
 not pull down and trample it under my feet. You 
 never had any such feelings." 
 
 " I hope not. I love the moon, stars, trees, and 
 all the things that God has made, because I love 
 the Being that made 'em. I want to have the eyes 
 of God looking into my soul, I want him to hold ine 
 in the palm of his hand, and I believe he does. 
 God bless the full moon, for it was the moon that 
 first taught me to know and love its Maker. 
 Is there any name to this pass ? " asked Wal 
 ter, for his pure nature revolted at the wild and
 
 THE MADMAN'S PASS. 191 
 
 self accusing words wrung from Godsoe by the 
 workings of remorse, and he wished to change the 
 character of the conversation. 
 
 " They call it the Madman's Pass." 
 
 " Did some one go mad in it ? " 
 
 " Not exactly that ; but the tradition is, that, 
 many years ago, a planter, named Tricolet, with 
 several others, was hunting wild hogs in a ravine 
 between the two mountains that form the sides of 
 this pass, when the ground opened beneath his 
 feet. He caught by a vine that hung from a tree, 
 and clasping it with hands and feet, hung over the 
 abyss. When the shock of the earthquake had 
 passed, and his companions had recovered from 
 their terror, they heard his screams, and, venturing 
 to the edge of the cleft on their hands and knees, 
 caught hold of the vine, and hauled him to the top 
 of the bank. He was stupid at first, but raving 
 mad in a week, making it necessary to confine him ; 
 and in three months he died." 
 
 " What is that mournful sound, that seems to 
 come from the ground ? " 
 
 " It does come from the ground. It's water 
 forcing its way among rocks and roots. It is said 
 that the stream we crossed was large and deep in
 
 192 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 ancient times ; but the earthquake that broke the 
 back of the island let all its water through this 
 pass. In the course of time rains, hurricanes, and 
 slighter shocks of earthquakes brought down earth, 
 trees, and rocks from the mountains, that filled the 
 bottom of the chasm, dammed the water, and turned 
 a portion of it back to its natural channel, while 
 the rest found its way through between the rocks; 
 and that is the cause of the noise you hear, and 
 likewise of the shallowness of the original stream." 
 
 The path began now to descend and widen ; the 
 foliage, less dense, to admit some rays of light. 
 Suddenly they came upon the trunk of a tree that 
 lay across the road, and, looking up, Walter beheld, 
 with a feeling of relief, the cloudless sky, studded 
 with stars, the tree in its descent having torn away 
 the network above them. 
 
 Leaving the pass as suddenly as they had en 
 tered it, Walter looked down upon a broad and 
 fertile vale, hemmed in by mountain ranges, while 
 a torrent, flashing in the moonlight, and so near the 
 path as to fling spray on the neck of the mule, 
 poured its waters down the declivity. 
 
 " That," said Godsoe, " is the stream we heard 
 moaning beneath our feet. It is lively enough 
 now, however."
 
 THE MADMAN'S PASS. 193 
 
 " Because it's glad to escape from Madman's 
 Pass," said Walter, whose feelings were in unison 
 with the wild uproar of the waters. 
 
 The moon, that had now clambered to high 
 heaven, poured down upon this enchanted valley 
 a flood of light, that, defined and concentrated, as 
 it were, by a dark background of mountains shag 
 gy with forests, brought out its loveliest features. 
 Over its whole surface were scattered in great 
 profusion trees, whose beauty was only equalled 
 by their variety, in clumps or singly, as Nature 
 had planted them, alternated with cultivated open 
 ings, and rows of coffee trees and palm trees, whose 
 uniformity added by contrast both beauty and 
 variety, while the torrent, that had forgotten its 
 fury, and exchanged its fo.aming eddies for a more 
 gentle flow, wound in links of silver through the 
 vale, here gleaming radiant on the breast of night, 
 there hidden beneath embowering foliage. 
 
 " There," said Godsoe, as the feet of the mule 
 splashed in its clear current, " is water you may 
 safely drink, pure as ever bubbled from the earth 
 or fell from the heavens." 
 13
 
 194 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE OUTLAW'S HOME. 
 
 FOR some distance after leaving the bed of the 
 stream the ground preserved its level, then 
 began gradually to ascend in the direction of the 
 mountain range that bounded the opposite side of 
 the glen. Entering a grove of trees by a path so 
 narrow that the branches swept in their recoil the 
 flanks of the mules and the persons of their riders, 
 they caught glimpses of a light that seemed to 
 proceed from the centre of a slight elevation lying 
 at the mountain's base. Upon a nearer approach, 
 Walter was surprised to find that he had mistaken 
 a house for a hillock, so entirely was it embosomed 
 in foliage and covered with twining plants. 
 
 A negro, who had fallen asleep on his watch, 
 roused by the voice of his master, came out to 
 take the mules. They found a bountiful repast 
 awaiting, for which their rough, long ride for it
 
 THE OUTLAW'S HOME. 195 
 
 was nearly daybreak had given them keen appe 
 tite. As Godsoe was ushering his guest to bed, 
 he opened the door of the adjoining room, and 
 beckoned him to enter. In a sound slumber lay a 
 child, apparently about six years of age. 
 
 "Does that face remind you of anybody? " asked 
 his host, holding the light in such a manner as to 
 fling its rays upon the face of the sleeper. 
 
 "Yes, truly." 
 
 "Of whom?" 
 
 " Your father." 
 
 " So it appears to me." 
 
 " He is the very image of him, bating the differ 
 ence in age." 
 
 It was nearly noon when Walter left his bed, 
 and, finding that Godsoe had not yet risen, he 
 gratified his curiosity by inspecting the building 
 that he had mistaken the night before for the 
 handiwork of nature, and also the grounds immedi 
 ately around it. It was of one story, with no ceil 
 ing overhead, but open to the boarding of the roof, 
 like a barn. One very large room served for sit 
 ting-room dining-room, and parlor, occupying the 
 centre of the house, with large lattices at each 
 end in lieu of glass, and shutters to exclude rain.
 
 196 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 The sleeping-rooms were on each side, and the 
 partitions between them and the main hall only 
 breast high, with the evident design of permitting 
 a free circulation of air, coolness in that climate 
 being the great requisite. The kitchen was a 
 separate building. There were neither carpets 
 nor cushions, the lounges and chairs all having 
 openwork backs and seats. Stepping from the 
 door, he found the walls were laid up with 
 rough stone obtained on the spot. A piazza ex 
 tended around three of its sides, the posts of 
 which and the rough walls afforded a lodgment 
 for the tendrils of a vast variety of running vines, 
 embowering it in a dense mass of foliage ; and, 
 whether planted with a view to ornament or for 
 the sake of concealment, they rendered it an object 
 of rare beauty. In some places it was covered 
 with masses of flowers, the scarlet cordea and 
 South Sea rose alternating with foliage of the most 
 vivid green, for the rains had for some time before 
 commenced falling. The grenadilla, passion flower, 
 wild licorice, yam, vanilla bean, and many creep 
 ing plants contributed to form this network of 
 verdure. 
 
 In addition to the vegetation covering the walls,
 
 THE OUTLAW'S HOME. 197 
 
 it was except on the back side, where a garden 
 extended to a perpendicular cliff environed with 
 trees, the approach being by a narrow path through 
 a forest of mango, logwood, and almond trees, with 
 here and there a mahawa, displaying both red and 
 yellow blossoms. 
 
 Walter found that the glen, seen from this com 
 manding position, was by no means reft of any 
 portion of its beauty when contemplated by the 
 light of day. It lay in the form of an ellipse, 
 bounded on two sides by ranges of mountains 
 shooting up at intervals into peaks, with narrow 
 valleys between, and he could easily trace the path 
 of the brook by the long lines of feathery bamboos 
 and other plants that fringed its banks, as it wound 
 through the glen, approaching in one of its curves 
 quite near the house, till at length, assuming a 
 southerly direction, it disappeared through a 
 break in the hills. 
 
 Upon entering the house, he found the table 
 spread for dinner, and Godsoe waiting for him. A 
 negro woman, Aunt Dinah, placed before them 
 coffee, oranges, and bananas, and they began to 
 eat and converse. 
 
 "Do you carry on a plantation?" asked Walter; 
 " make sugar and molasses ? "
 
 198 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " No ; it would not be possible to. get a large 
 crop of sugar or molasses to market. I keep a 
 few negroes, and raise some little coffee and ginger. 
 The land is capable, however, of producing enor 
 mous crops." 
 
 "I don't see how anything can be got to 
 market." 
 
 " A mule will carry two hundred weight on its 
 back through the Madman's Pass ; we fasten them 
 together, putting a horse ahead. All I expect or 
 care to do is to hold my own. The most profit is 
 made on cattle and hogs, for which there is always 
 a ready sale ; and the labor of taking care of them 
 is lighter, and there is an abundance of pasture in 
 the glen and mountains. I kill my own pork, 
 beef, and mutton; raise plantain enough to feed 
 and fatten the hogs, also plantain, yams, and po 
 tatoes for the negroes. All I have to buy is a few 
 red herrings and salt fish for them to eat with 
 their vegetables, a few shoes, and some coarse 
 cloth." 
 
 ''I suppose the cattle can be driven through 
 the pass." 
 
 " Yes ; and when there's a scarcity of herrings 
 or codfish, I jerk beef for the servants."
 
 THE OUTLAW'S HOME. 199 
 
 " There must be an outlet to some other road, 
 or, at any rate, to the coast ; the brook finds its 
 way, of course, to the sea, or some river." 
 
 " True ; but for the greater part of the way 
 it .flows through an impassable bog; yet after 
 the rains come, we can carry in a launch li-ght 
 loads for a short time to a road that runs to Port 
 Royal, where the stream is obstructed by rocks, 
 and no longer navigable." 
 
 " What becomes of affairs when you are away ? 
 Have you an overseer ? " 
 
 " Yes, a Guinea negro ; but I have taught him 
 to read, write, and cipher ; and he is an excellent 
 mechanic can make and mend when it is 
 necessary." 
 
 " Is he a slave ? " 
 
 " He was, but I gave him his freedom, and hire 
 him." 
 
 The servant now brought in sweet potatoes, 
 yams, rice, and, with an air of proud satisfaction, a 
 barbecued pig, with a banana in its mouth. 
 
 That favorite West Indian dish is prepared as 
 follows : the pig is first stuffed and highly sea 
 soned with peppers, different spices, and herbs; 
 then a hole is dug in the ground and filled with
 
 200 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 hot rocks ; on these is placed a frame of wicker- 
 work, called a barbecue, and the pig, wrapped in 
 plantain leaves, placed on it, and the hole filled 
 with earth. It is thus cooked by hot vapor, and 
 every particle of the juice retained in the meat. 
 Walter pronounced it the best mess he ever 
 tasted. 
 
 While they were eating, the child Walter had 
 seen asleep the night before came bounding into 
 the room, and flung his arms around his father's 
 neck, hugging and kissing him in a perfect aban 
 don of delight. Walter could not but remark the 
 expression of sadness strangely blended with affec 
 tion that sat upon the features of Godsoe as he re 
 turned the caresses of the boy. 
 
 " Father, Willie didn't think you'd got up. Come 
 see my things my cocoanut, father, and Nan's 
 little kids. I've been seeing 'em." 
 
 " By and by, my little boy ; but go and shako 
 hands with Captain Griffin." 
 
 The boy looked steadfastly at Walter for a few 
 moments, and then, instead of grasping the hand 
 extended by him, ran into his arms. Walter, one 
 of a large family of children, and well versed in 
 their ways, took the boy upon his knee.
 
 THE OUTLAW'S HOME. 201 
 
 " You are white," said the little chatterer, " and 
 just like me and father. Have you any little boys 
 where you live ? Have they got red cheeks like 
 you?" 
 
 " He never saw a white man before," said God- 
 soe, " other than myself. Strange that he should 
 feel so much at home with you." 
 
 " So you have a garden have you ? " 
 
 " Yes ; a real nice garden. Nato made it for 
 me ; but I told him, and I helped." 
 
 " Who's Nato ? " 
 
 " He's Nato, our Nato. Nato's real strong ; he 
 can lift the big hoe what Nicholas uses, and he can 
 climb trees ; he gets cocoa-nuts, he'll get you some. 
 Johnnie can't ; he ain't big enough." 
 
 " Who is Johnnie ? " 
 
 " He's Johnnie. Don't you know Aunt Dinah's 
 Johnnie ? " 
 
 " What does Johnnie do ? " 
 
 "Do? He don't do nothing. He plays long o' 
 me. Nato scours knives, feeds the cows and 
 turtles, brings wood, and helps Aunt Dinah. Will 
 you go see my things ? " 
 
 " Yes, some time.'" 
 
 The little fellow now ran out, crying, "Willie
 
 202 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN 
 
 loves you," but returned in a few moments, bring 
 ing three grenadillas (a fruit somewhat resembling 
 a cucumber ; juicy, slightly acid, and full of seeds), 
 and laid them beside Walter's plate. Godsoe, tak 
 ing one, cut off the end, put sugar in it, and, after 
 stirring up the pulp with a spoon, handed it to his 
 guest. 
 
 " I perceive," said he, after tasting it, " the little 
 boy knows what is good." 
 
 All at once the room became dark, then suddenly 
 illuminated by a flash, succeeded by a peal of thun 
 der. This was followed by drops falling heavily 
 on the roof; and then the rain came down in tor 
 rents, resembling the pouring of water from buck 
 ets, rather than ordinary rain. 
 
 Willie, perceiving that there was no possibility 
 of exhibiting his treasures while the rain lasted, 
 stretched himself upon a lounge, and began to 
 gape. His father placed a pillow under his head, 
 and in a few moments he was sound asleep. 
 
 " This is the kind of weather we have here," said 
 Godsoe. "Just before you arrived it rained a 
 fortnight. Now we shall have showers, with fine 
 weather, till August ; then will come torrents of 
 rain, squalls, thunder and lightning, and perhaps
 
 THE OUTLAW'S HOME. 203 
 
 hurricanes, till November. Look, captain," said 
 Godsoe, pointing to the child, who, undisturbed by 
 the peals of thunder, or the dash of rain on the roof, 
 lay buried in slumber, still grasping in his hand a 
 joint of sugar-cane, having fallen asleep while 
 sucking it. " How sweetly he sleeps ! Seldom do I 
 ride or walk to any considerable distance but I see 
 some wholesome vine clasping the tree whose very 
 touch is poison, displaying from those deadly 
 branches its clusters of rich fruits. -Even thus it 
 seems to me when, as just now, he,puts his little 
 arms around my neck, and presses his lips to mine. 
 Like a dagger to my heart comes the thought, 
 'How would he loathe and shrink in horror from the 
 blood-stained wretch who begat him, did he know 
 and was he capable of understanding his true 
 character ! ' ' 
 
 Without experience of the workings of remorse 
 in strong and desperate natures, Walter was at 
 loss for a reply, and a long and embarrassing 
 silence succeeded. At length he asked, 
 
 " How is it that you can live here, raise cattle 
 and crops, buy and sell, and not be liable to 
 arrest? " 
 
 " It is supposed that all on board the Languedoc
 
 204 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 were killed. Lemaire has been executed, and the 
 French authorities are satisfied." 
 
 " But there are many people on the island who 
 have known you for years, and must know that 
 you are here now, or certainly will if you continue 
 openly to live here and hold property, and it will 
 come to the ears of the authorities." 
 
 " Captain," replied Godsoe, " do you think, when 
 you carried Henri Lemaire in irons before the gov 
 ernment, told them he was a pirate, and offered 
 evidence of it, that you told them anything they 
 did not know before ? " 
 
 " Certainly I do." 
 
 " You are very much mistaken. You made it 
 public, and compelled them to take notice of it. 
 If I should be often at Port Royal and St. Pierre, 
 make -myself conspicuous, so that people would be 
 gin to talk and say, ' There goes Dick Arkwright, 
 Lemaire's old lieutenant/ they might stir in the 
 matter, although about a quarter part of the island, 
 including this region, is forest, mountain, and glen, 
 full of runaway negroes and desperate characters, 
 well armed, who understand right well the neces 
 sity of making common cause ; and it wouldn't be 
 a very safe operation to take a man out of these
 
 THE OUTLAW'S HOME. 205 
 
 glens. There were more than one pair of eyes on 
 us the night we came through the Madman's Pass, 
 and quick ears listened to the tread of the mules ; 
 there were rocks and logs, a touch of the hand 
 would loosen, that would crush a hundred men. 
 Martinique, captain, is not Maine or Massachusetts, 
 and the people here are divided into Loyalists and 
 Republicans, some plotting to keep the English 
 here, others to deliver the island up to Victor 
 Hughes, and have something else to do than con 
 cern themselves about an affair that has gone by."
 
 206 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 WILLIE OP THE GLEN. 
 
 THE clouds now disappeared as suddenly as 
 .they had gathered; the sun broke forth, a 
 rainbow spanned the heavens ; the roar of the brook 
 increased to a torrent, and was heard throughout 
 the house as it thundered from the precipices of 
 the Madman's Pass, bearing along gravel, rocks, 
 and trees. 
 
 " I am compelled," said his host, " to leave you 
 for the rest of the afternoon, but shall return at 
 night." 
 
 After the departure of Godsoe, Walter, tempted 
 by the coolness of the atmosphere, determined to 
 walk over the glen, and soon came upon the over 
 seer, who was directing some negroes planting 
 hedges of logwood to confine the cattle that fed in 
 the vale. Returning to the house by a different 
 path from the one he had followed at first, he came
 
 WILLIE OP THE GLEN. 207 
 
 upon "Willie, Johnnie, and Nato busily engaged in 
 play, and, unobserved, sat down in the shade to 
 watch them. 
 
 The negroes were barefooted, bareheaded, and 
 naked in other respects, with the exception of tow 
 trousers extending to the knees. Walter thought 
 he had never witnessed a more comical sight than 
 was here presented. The brook, encroaching on 
 the land, in process of time had cut out a little 
 cove, narrow and quite deep, but the water shal 
 low. On one side of it was a clump of bamboos, 
 fifty feet in height, forming a most delightful 
 grove ; on the other towered a ceiba tree, that Wal 
 ter, though accustomed from boyhood to the sight 
 of large trees, gazed upon with admiring interest. 
 
 It was, as he afterwards ascertained from God- 
 soe, forty feet in circumference at the spur roots. 
 These roots extended so far from the tree, and to 
 such a height on the trunk, as to resemble but 
 tresses. It was fifty-six feet to the limbs that 
 spread out in a horizontal direction to a great ex 
 tent ; but the most singular thing in connection 
 with this tree, and that appeared most wonderful 
 to Walter, was the great abundance of parasitical 
 .plants that were feeding upon and nourished by
 
 208 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 it. Hundreds of wild pines grew on the largest 
 limbs. . 
 
 Probably all our readers are familiar with the 
 pine-apple, and the tuft of pointed leaves that 
 crown its extremity. Now, imagine to yourself a 
 tree whose limbs extend almost at right angles 
 with the trunk more than fifty feet, and growing 
 upon them tufts of foliage similar to that upon the 
 pine-apple, and from thence named wild pines ; 
 their roots twined around the bark of the tree. The 
 leaves are three and a half feet long and three 
 inches wide at the base, stiff, pointed, and edged 
 with thorns ; they are also concave, so that all the 
 dew or rain that falls upon them is conducted to 
 the base of the plant, where is a cavity that will 
 hold two quarts of water before it will run over. 
 The leaves that bulge at the bottom, to form this 
 cell, contract above it, thus shading the contents 
 and keeping the water cool. It bears a red 
 flower. 
 
 Perhaps some boys have, after a shower or heavy 
 dew, looked into the hollow between the leaves of 
 a stalk of corn, and seen the water standing there. 
 It is so in the folds of the pine. Thus has Provi 
 dence, in these burning climates, placed wells on
 
 WILLIE OF THE GLEN. 209 
 
 trees for the birds, tree-frogs, and thirsty travel 
 lers. In addition to this, there were vines that 
 had also taken root on the branches, twining from 
 limb to limb ; some of them, running down the 
 trunk of the tree, had root in the ground ; others 
 were on the way. 
 
 Perhaps you may ask, ' How did these vines and 
 wild pines get to the branches of the tree ? ' Well, 
 that is the very question Walter put to Godsoe 
 when they met. 
 
 Godsoe told him that the seeds were carried by 
 the wind to the trees, and^took root in the moss of 
 the bark, as other seeds are wont to root in the 
 ground. 
 
 Walter's attention wss now drawn from the tree 
 by a great noise among the little folks, and, looking 
 into the mouth of the cove, he espied Willie seated 
 in a shell that had once covered the back of a tur 
 tle. Two pieces of flat cedar were secured to the 
 sides, coming together at an acute angle forward 
 and aft, thus rendering the affair more buoyant 
 and less liable to upset. The two little negroes, 
 breast high in the water on each side, were shov 
 ing the boat and its occupant rapidly to and fro, 
 while Willie was shouting, at the top of his voice, 
 14
 
 210 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 and encouraging his sable attendants to still 
 greater efforts. 
 
 " That is the last thing I should ever have 
 thought of making a craft of," said Walter ; " it 
 beats our boys' watering-trough out and out." 
 
 It was not long before they hauled the boat 
 on shore, and set out together for the house. 
 Walter was about to follow, when he saw them 
 returning, Willie leading a large monkey by a 
 chain, Nato and Johnnie a goat, followed by two 
 kids nearly milk white. 
 
 It was evidently their, intent, as well as Wal 
 ter could gather from their conversation, to give 
 both the monkey and the kids a sail in the turtle 
 shell. 
 
 They had nearly reached the bank, when the 
 monkey, in his antics, slipped the strap, to which 
 the chain was attached, over his posterior, and 
 made a straight wake for the ceiba tree, pursued 
 by Willie and the negroes, who abandoned the- 
 goat to assist him. Catching a vine that hung 
 nearly to the ground, the monkey was upon one 
 of the lower limbs in a moment ; then he began to 
 chatter .and make faces at his pursuers. 
 
 The goat, on the other hand, began to feed ;
 
 WILLIE OF THE GLEN. 211 
 
 but the moment the children approached, she also 
 took to her heels, and, followed by her kids, ran 
 up the mountain, where it was impossible for the 
 children to follow her. 
 
 Willie now caught a glimpse of Walter. Turning 
 to him, he seized his new friend by the hand, and 
 led him beneath the great tree a favorite resort 
 for the boys, who played hide and find around its 
 spur roots. 
 
 " Captain Griffin," cried the little fellow, " don't 
 you think, Peter's runned away into the tree, and 
 won't come down. When I tell him to come right 
 straight down, he makes faces at me and scolds. 
 I told him if he'd come down I'd give him some 
 sugar. He came most down. Now he's gone way 
 up to the top." 
 
 Willie now importuned Walter to go and see 
 his things. 
 
 " I want to look at the boat first," said Walter. 
 Measuring it with his hands, he made it within a 
 few inches of four feet in length. 
 
 " That was a big turtle that owned that shell. 
 Where do the turtles come from ? " 
 
 All the children knew in respect to it was, that 
 when the overseer went down the brook in the
 
 212 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 launch, he sometimes brought back turtles. The 
 cedar was fastened to the shell with strips of cane 
 passed through holes bored in the edge of the 
 shell. 
 
 "Who made it?" asked Walter. 
 
 " Nato's father," said Willie. He then took 
 Walter to see his garden and his cocoa-nut, that 
 was a few inches above ground. 
 
 " Did you plant this, Willie ? " 
 
 "Nato dug the hole for me, but I put it in, and 
 hoed the ground over it." 
 
 There are three round spots in one end of a 
 cocoa-nut, where the shell is soft. One of these 
 places is easily pierced. Removing the earth with 
 his fingers, Walter found the sprout had made its 
 way at this point. There were in the enclosure 
 sour sops, two banana plants, an orange tree, and a 
 mango ; but Willie was evidently more interested 
 in his cocoa-nut than all the rest, because he had 
 planted it. He now insisted upon showing Walter 
 two green turtles, that were kept in a little yard, 
 protected from the sun, and destined for the table. 
 
 Having gratified his curiosity, Walter returned 
 to the house, flung himself upon a lounge, and fell 
 asleep. He was aroused by a persistent scream-
 
 WILLIE OF THE GLEN. 213 
 
 ing near the house. The noise increasing, he went 
 to the lattice. After he had left them, the children 
 were at a loss how to amuse themselves. They 
 had anticipated a great deal of pleasure in giving 
 the monkey and the kids a sail in the boat; but 
 the monkey was in the top of the tree, and the 
 goat and kids had betaken themselves to the moun 
 tains. In this dearth of resources they went to 
 the yard, and began to ride on the backs of the 
 turtles. Becoming excited with their sport, they 
 opened the gate, and let out the biggest turtle, in 
 order to have a more extended ride, mounting by 
 turns, those not riding urging him forward by 
 pricking the part not covered by shell with cactus 
 thorns. Influenced both by instinct and a desire 
 to escape from his tormentors, the turtle made the 
 best of his way towards the brook. They hallooed 
 at him, told him he was going the wrong way ; still 
 he kept on ; they then got before him, struck at 
 him with sticks, and made fearful threats that they 
 would get a sword and cut him in two : then they 
 fell to coaxing him, and Willie began to cry. No 
 use; the turtle kept on, unawed by threats, un 
 moved by tears. To increase their distress, they 
 now saw the other one coming to join his com-
 
 214 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 panion. Nato and Johnnie caught hold of his 
 fore legs, and tried to hold him back, while Willie 
 caught up a stick and began to pound him on the 
 back, the tears running down his cheeks, and all 
 three screaming at the top of their voices. 
 
 The monkey, meanwhile, seated on the topmost 
 branch of the tree, had contemplated their efforts 
 with the most intense interest till the moment 
 Willie began to pound the turtle on the back; 
 then, descending from his elevation, he also seized 
 a stick, and applied it with right good will to the 
 creature's head, showing his teeth, and making his 
 shrill screams heard above all the rest. 
 
 The strength of the children was nearly ex 
 hausted, and the turtle was within ten feet of the 
 water. Walter had crossed the threshold to assist 
 them, when aunt Dinah, followed by Lillie and 
 Luna (two girls, who worked with the field hands, 
 picking and cleaning coffee, and peeling ginger 
 root), rushed down the hill, screaming as though 
 life was at stake. In a moment they turned both 
 the animals on their backs, effectually arresting 
 their progress, the monkey lifting and screaming 
 just as he saw the others. It was evident, how 
 ever, that, with all his cunning and power of imita-
 
 WILLIE OF THE GLEN. 215 
 
 tion, the mischievous imp was deficient in fore 
 cast ; for the moment the turtle was turned, aunt 
 Dinah flung her skirt over him, and enveloping 
 him in its folds that ho could not bite, made him a 
 prisoner. 
 
 " He fum my country, massa cap'n," said aunt 
 Dinah. " Massa fetch him in de vessel." 
 
 She now began soundly to rate Nato and 
 Johnnie. 
 
 " Warrar fu you ope de gate, you young debbils ; 
 let de turtle out. S'pose dey go in de ribber ; fes 
 water kill 'em ; nebber see um more. Den massa 
 smash you heads, cut you backs." 
 
 Willie, however, now came to the rescue of his 
 companions, averring that he set the matter afoot, 
 opened the gate with his own hands, and that Nato 
 and Johnnie were not in the least to blame. 
 
 Aunty now turned upon him. 
 
 " What fu you tink you fader say, Massa Willie, 
 wen he cum home, see de turtles he want git fat 
 fu mek de soup, on dere backs ? " 
 
 Walter settled this affair by sending Nato for a 
 rope, that he made fast to the hind legs of the 
 turtle, and all taking hold, they were easily drawn 
 up the hill to the yard.
 
 216 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Willie, relieved from his difficulty in respect to 
 the turtles, and grateful for the aid of Walter, was 
 more attached to him than ever ; hugged, kissed, 
 and brought to him a jelly cocoa-nut. 
 
 "Wasn't Peter a good monkey, Captain Griffin? 
 I s'pose he wants to play in the trees, and look 
 round ; but he come and helped us keep the turtle 
 from going away. Don't you think he was real 
 good ? " 
 
 " Yes. I don't suppose you would like to have 
 a strap round you, and be chained in the house all 
 the time." 
 
 Willie now ran off to get Peter some sugar-cane. 
 It was dark when Godsoe returned. Walter re 
 lated to him the pranks of the children. It brought 
 a faint smile to his face, the first Walter had seen 
 there ; indeed, though evidently highly prizing 
 the company of his guest, an air of melancholy, 
 amounting, at times, to anguish, pervaded his 
 countenance.
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN. 217 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN. 
 
 SUPPER being ended, Godsoe led the way 
 to the piazza. After some conversation in 
 respect to the prices of sugar, indigo, molasses, 
 and other products of the island, also of boards, 
 staves, and fish, Godsoe remarked, 
 
 " Captain, you said, the other night, as we 
 were on our way here, that you loved the moon 
 because it was the occasion of your loving the 
 Being who made it. Didn't you always love 
 him?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " You have never committed crimes, and could 
 not have carried about in your breast a feeling of 
 guilt that made you dread, hate, and wish to avoid 
 him." 
 
 " Yes, I did." 
 
 " What were you ever guilty of, pray ? "
 
 218 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Of not loving him of ingratitude. If any one 
 did me the slightest favor, my gratitude knew no 
 limits ; it kindled at once a kindly feeling in my 
 heart towards them ; I knew no rest till I mani 
 fested it, and was ever on the watch to repay the 
 obligation ; but to Him, the author of my life, my 
 friends, my opportunities, my every comfort, I felt 
 not one particle of gratitude ; I never got any 
 nearer to the cause than the effect, and drank of 
 the stream while I despised the fountain that gave 
 it birth." 
 
 " Was that of much account ? Could it inflict 
 pain ? It seems to me like the prick of a pin to 
 the tortures that rack me." 
 
 " It was enough to make me feel that I was at 
 variance with myself, -my Maker, and a discordant 
 element among the creations of his hands ; for they 
 obeyed, while I disobeyed. I could neither escape 
 from the presence of God nor be happy in it, and 
 I had something of the feeling that you expressed 
 in regard to the worlds above us, though I did not 
 feel that bitterness you speak of, and wish to tram 
 ple them under my feet ; but I can see that I had 
 a principle that might, with suitable encourage 
 ment, very well have travelled thus far."
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN.. 219 
 
 " You don't feel so now. What could the moon 
 have to do with changing your opinions ? " 
 
 " It was not my opinions that were changed ; it 
 was my feelings. My opinions were well enough 
 before. I knew what I ought to do, but I didn't 
 want to do it." 
 
 " Well, with your feelings, then." 
 
 " I don't know as you'll understand me if I at 
 tempt to tell you ; perhaps will think it is all ima 
 gination." 
 
 " Try it, captain." 
 
 '' I will on one condition that you will drop the 
 ' captain/ and call me Walter." 
 
 " I will if you wish it." 
 
 " When you were my prisoner on board the Lan- 
 guedoc, you must often have heard John Rhines 
 and myself speak of Charlie Bell, an English boy, 
 who came adrift at Elm Island, and whom Lion Ben 
 took pity on and brought up." 
 
 " Yes, indeed ; it seemed to me that you were 
 talking about him a good part of the time." 
 
 " Well, I loved him as I never loved any one 
 else, for he is not only as good as he can be, but 
 tries to make everybody else so. He has bought 
 Pleasant Cove, and the land for a good distance
 
 220 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 around it ; has made a farm of it, and was living 
 there when I first began to go to sea. I went up 
 to bid him good by before I sailed in the Arthur 
 Brown, and after supper we took a walk to the 
 shore. You know the lay of the land round 
 there." 
 
 " Know it ! every inch of it. Many a pickerel 
 have I caught in the pond on the back part of the 
 lot ; many's the time I've drank out of Cross-root 
 Spring, and glad enough have I been to get under 
 the lee of the Long Point, after having been out 
 fishing with my father in November." 
 
 "Then you remember where the brook comes 
 into the cove." 
 
 " It falls over a sharp ledge just above the bank, 
 and there's a yellow birch tree on the south-west 
 
 side of the bank or was once." 
 
 i 
 
 " It is there still. Do you recollect a large oak 
 on the other side ? " 
 
 " Yes ; it's forked, and used to be the great acorn 
 tree for all us boys." 
 
 " Well, we sat down that night on the edge of 
 the bank, and leaned our backs against that very 
 tree. It was a beautiful night, the moon shining 
 on the brook and the waters of the bay just as it
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN. 221 
 
 is shining to-night on yonder stream. I felt tender, 
 because I was going to leave home and him ; could 
 hardly keep the tears back ; and then he talked to 
 me about giving my heart to God, so as nobody 
 else ever did, or could at least to me." 
 
 "How did he talk?" 
 
 " He asked me if I ever thought anybody could 
 make anything, or do anything, unless they had 
 the idea of it first in their own mind ; say, for in 
 stance, a man was going to build a vessel, paint a 
 picture, or make a machine ; must not the idea of 
 the vessel, the picture, and the machine be in him 
 before he painted the one or made the other ? I 
 told him yes. He then asked me if I did not think 
 that He who made the woods, the water, the rain 
 bow, and the sunshine, alt that is delightful to 
 the eye and pleasant to the ear, gave us par 
 ents, friends, and benefactors, must not be more 
 lovely still, as the painter is always greater than 
 his picture, the mechanic than his work ? ' Yes/ 
 I said. Then he asked me if I loved that Being. 
 I couldn't reply, for I knew I didn't, and was 
 ashamed to own I didn't. Then he asked me if 
 I ever prayed to Him ; and I had to say no. 
 He said many other things, but the last was this :
 
 222 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 ' Walter, there will be nights at sea, just like this, 
 when the moon will glance on the long swell 
 just as it does on the little ripple of that brook. 
 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 brook, and into the cove, so the same 
 heavenly Father is over us both; that then I 
 shall look at that moon ; this little brook, the trees, 
 and all we've said to each other, 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.' " 
 
 " Did you tell him you would ? " 
 " No ; he didn't ask me to promise." 
 " But some moonlight night, after you got to 
 sea, you did it." 
 
 " Not till many a moon had risen and set, and 
 then on the land." 
 
 " How came you to do it then ? " 
 
 " I don't know. I had thought of it, again and 
 
 again resolved I would, but, when the moment 
 
 came, thought I was not fit to pray. But that 
 
 night. I was ashore in France, camping out with
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN. 223 
 
 Ned Gates in an old ruin. I looked at the moon, 
 and thought of home and Charlie Bell. Still the 
 old objections came up as before. I had been 
 trying to leave off one thing and another I knew 
 was wrong, in order to make myself more worthy 
 to go to God ; but all at once the thought came to 
 me like a flash of light, * It's no use trying to 
 wash yourself in dirty water; the longer you 
 wash the worse you will look, and the viler you 
 will become. Go to Christ, just as you are. He 
 only can cleanse you.' I knelt right down on the 
 spot, and repeated the Lord's Prayer ; and from 
 that night I kept on till I began to love God, and 
 find enjoyment in everything by which I obtained 
 a glimpse of him." 
 
 " That might do for you, an innocent boy, who 
 had always obeyed his parents, and his conscience 
 as guiltless of crime as the birds that flew over 
 his head. But neither moon, stars, nor words that 
 man could utter, would avail to quiet the tumult 
 of a soul steeped in sin." 
 
 " It was not the moon or the words that made 
 me acquainted with God, but the spirit of his grace, 
 which made use of both." 
 
 " But if you knew Charlie Bell was right, why 
 didn't you ask before ? "
 
 224 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " I suppose I wanted to find some way out 
 myself, and was too proud to be under obliga 
 tions. It took me a long time, and cost a great 
 many struggles, before I could realize that out of 
 nothing comes nothing, and for a sinful man to try 
 to make himself better without help from God, is 
 only washing himself in dirty water; but when 
 fruitless efforts had taught me that, and I was will 
 ing to go humbly to my Maker for forgiveness 
 and cleansing through the blood of atonement, I 
 found both." 
 
 " Do you believe the blood of Christ can cleanse 
 from all sins ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " From murder ? " 
 
 "Yes; I suppose a man is not forgiven because 
 his sin is greater or less, but because he repents, 
 and seeks pardon through Christ. Sin is a princi 
 ple ; it is one thing in reality, just as the wind is 
 one element ; blow from which quarter of the com 
 pass it will, it is only a variation of the wind ; so 
 lying, stealing, murder, are variations of the same 
 principle ; because sin is the transgression of the 
 law. When you took the cheese from Parson Good- 
 hue's saddle-bags, when you stole Uncle Isaac's
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN. 225 
 
 red chalk, and when you drew the knife to mur 
 der, you broke the law ; for the same law that says, 
 ' Thou shalt not steal/ says also, ' Thou shalt not 
 kill ; ' and nothing but repentance and faith in Christ 
 can save you from its penalty, or ease that agony 
 which is stamped on your very face, and is driv- 
 ing*you mad; but it is not the sort of absolution 
 the priest here will give you for a doubloon rub 
 the sum all off the slate, and be ready for a new 
 murder. No; it strikes at the very root of the 
 principle, and fills the heart with love to God, and 
 man made in his image." 
 
 " But is not the wretch who has done all this 
 evil, caused this world of agony to others, to 
 suffer anything, to pay any penalty. Is merely 
 leaving off his wicked practices, getting down on 
 his knees and saying over words of prayer, to 
 square the yards and send him off again with clean 
 papers and a flowing sheet? I can't believe 
 that." 
 
 " It must be more than saying a form of words ; 
 it must be real, heartfelt sorrow for the sin against 
 God and man ; and if he is sincere, he will receive 
 an inward experience of forgiveness from God, 
 that must be felt, but cannot be described ; and as 
 15
 
 226 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 far as man is concerned, he must make restitution, 
 if it is in his power." 
 
 "That is impossible in my case. I cannot re 
 store the life I have taken away, nor the property, 
 for the owners are either dead or unknown to me, 
 except in respect to some few persons around 
 home ; but it seems to me as though the man him 
 self who did the wrong ought to suffer for the 
 wrong." 
 
 " No penance that you can perform, or suffering 
 that you can endure, will atone for sins against 
 God, or relieve your anguish ; it must come from 
 above.; you are only beating yourself against the 
 bars of your cage ; you must beg for mercy of 
 God." 
 
 " How do you know all this ? You speak as 
 though you had not a doubt." 
 
 " I know it from the Bible and my own ex 
 perience." 
 
 " But you never stole or murdered, and there 
 fore have had no experience in respect to the for 
 giveness of those things." 
 
 " I have had experience of the forgiveness of 
 my sins ; if I have stopped short of robbery and 
 murder, I have cherished the principle that, when 
 it is carried out, produces those results."
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN. 227 
 
 " But the Bible mentions some sins in particu 
 lar ; it says in so many words, that no murderer 
 hath eternal life abiding in him." 
 
 " No sinners of any kind, and no persons how 
 ever upright, have eternal life abiding in them, 
 till they exercise faith in Christ ; and no murderer 
 hath eternal life abiding in him, either while he is 
 a murderer, or has the disposition that would lead 
 him to murder, or break God's law in any other 
 way ; but when he repents, receives forgiveness 
 through Christ, the past is forgiven and forgot 
 ten. God looks at what he is, not at what he has 
 been." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that one who has led the 
 life I have can be forgiven, and have his peace of 
 mind restored, as though he had not done any of 
 these things ? " 
 
 " That is, you mean to ask whether, if you 
 should now repent and obtain forgiveness, you 
 would feel just as you would had you grown up 
 at home ; as John Rhines, myself, and your brother 
 Edward, who have obeyed our parents, been moral 
 in our lives, and injured nobody." 
 
 " Ah, now you've come to the point." 
 
 " No ; because that's neither Scripture nor com-
 
 228 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 mon sense. I meant that as far as God, his favor 
 and his forgiveness, are concerned, there's no rak 
 ing back; but whether you will forgive yourself is 
 quite another matter. Paul was forgiven, but he 
 never could forgive himself, because he had per 
 secuted the church of God was a murderer ; ibr 
 if he didn't actually kill with his own hands, he, by 
 aiding, abetting, yes, causing, was in one sense a 
 murderer. No, John; you can never be in this 
 life what you would have been if you had not 
 done as you have. You will carry the scars to 
 your grave, but if you repent you will leave them 
 there." 
 
 "I'm glad of it. I ought to suffer; I want to 
 suffer; I am willing. It is not what befalls me 
 that I am most concerned about; but it is the 
 wickedness of it, the infernal disposition, the 
 hatred and ingratitude to God and to the best of 
 parents, and abuse of all the privileges a boy 
 could have. When I think of all that has been 
 done for me by God and man, recollect that I 
 became a ringleader of men that grew up like the 
 brutes, and half of them knew not who their par 
 ents were, and then read in the Bible of Paul's 
 calling himself the chief of sinners, I think, What
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN. 229 
 
 did he do in comparison with me ? He killed good 
 men, and sent them to heaven ; but I've killed men 
 with all their sins on their heads. 0, I cannot feel 
 that there is forgiveness for me in this life or after 
 it. This viper that stings me ain't in the body ; it 
 won't fall off with the flesh ; wherever I go it will 
 follow ; ride as fast as I will, it sits behind me on 
 the horse. I know from the Bible that there are 
 some who have gone so far that there's no hope 
 for them. It seems to be my case; and for this rea 
 son, which appears to me a good reason. Perhaps 
 you recollect the talk there was between us while 
 I lay wounded and a prisoner on board your 
 vessel." 
 
 " Perfectly." 
 
 " At that time I resolved that I would reform 
 my life. Don't you think, I hadn't been ashore 
 one fortnight when I received a message asking 
 me to come to Trinity Bay. I went, and found 
 Juan Eomero, Lemaire's overseer, and three or 
 four of my old acquaintances with him; they 
 wanted me to take charge of the Greyhound, a 
 vessel that Romero is concerned in, and that was 
 then lying at the Isle of Pines. I told them out 
 right, that although I should betray no man or
 
 230 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 men, I was done with the old business forever. 
 They tried to persuade me, made me large offers in 
 respect to sharing the plunder, and when they 
 found that wouldn't do, threatened to expose and 
 hunt me till they brought me to the scaffold. I 
 told them they ought to know me better than to 
 think to frighten me, and to go ahead with their 
 information ; I had rather go to the scaffold than 
 go with them." 
 
 " That was nobly said." 
 
 " Well, I flattered myself that peace of con 
 science would follow reformation of life ; but so far 
 from feeling better, I feel worse ; torture, instead 
 of diminishing, increases. While I was robbing, 
 murdering, associating with incarnate devils, and 
 steeped in rum, I was subject to remorse only at 
 intervals ; but now it is all the time. I sometimes 
 fear I shall go mad. When I was on board your 
 vessel I tried to drown myself, and had no fear of 
 eternity. Now I fear most of all that I shall go 
 mad, and kill myself. I do from the heart appre 
 ciate your kindness ; neither will I deny that a 
 lingering hope that it was not too late, and the 
 expectation of obtaining some relief by talking 
 with a- man I knew feared God, led me to ask this
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN. 231 
 
 meeting with you ; but it is of no use ; else why 
 don't I feel better in proportion as I do better ? " 
 
 " No, John/' replied Walter, deeply affected, 
 " it is not so ; you have pored over this matter here 
 alone so long, and while you were feeble from 
 wounds, that your judgment is warped. If you 
 could look back upon your past life without re 
 morse, I should consider it sure proof of utter ruin ; 
 but you have pain, if not peace, and I draw di 
 rectly opposite and the most encouraging conclu 
 sions, from these results, of reformation. I have 
 always felt that the providence of God placed you 
 in my hands. I felt that the Spirit of God was at 
 work on your heart when you was my prisoner. 
 Very few men would have met you alone at twi 
 light, as I did, in a strange land. I might well 
 have suspected it was a plan like that of Lemaire, 
 an ambush to revenge past injuries ; but holding 
 the opinions I did, your letter only confirmed them, 
 and I resolved on the instant to go." 
 
 " It is your kind heart and generous nature that 
 make you believe what you so much desire. If 
 it were so, would fear, torture, and despair go 
 hand in hand with reformation ? " 
 
 " Surely ; that is always so ; a man never knows
 
 232 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 how far he has gone astray till he begins to return. 
 It is just like repairing an old vessel ; you think 
 before you open her that she will need but 
 slight repairs, a few timbers in the counter, some 
 graving pieces, or perhaps new water-ways, and a 
 few top timbers ; but every rotten timber taken out 
 brings to view another rotten one, till you end 
 with condemning her altogether." 
 
 " It seems very much like that, I must confess ; 
 and that is what makes reformation appear so 
 hopeless to me. I feel that the ship must be 
 condemned." 
 
 " You are no worse, only you have begun to look 
 at yourself in a new light ; indeed, you are better, 
 for the first step heavenward is to be convinced 
 of ill desert. You know that you may go down 
 into a vessel's hold when the hatches are on, and 
 you may imagine that ship is clean and in good 
 order because you can see nothing amiss ; but let 
 the main hatch be lifted a little, a few rays of light 
 admitted, and you find that she is foul and every 
 thing in disorder, and it becomes more evident in 
 proportion as more light is admitted. That is just 
 the way with you ; so long as you were surrounded 
 by ruffians, constantly excited by adventures, and
 
 THE VIPER WITHIN. 233 
 
 battles, steeped in rum, you were enabled to stifle 
 the voice of conscience and all considerations in 
 respect to retribution, for the greater part of the 
 time the hatches were on, and the light that was 
 in you was darkness. But the providence of God 
 flung you into my hands, brought you to the brink 
 of the grave ; his Spirit touched your heart, and 
 you began to reform : the more you reformed, the 
 worse you seemed, because every effort increased 
 the sensitiveness of conscience and those longings 
 of the soul for reunion with God implanted by the 
 Spirit, and which you were striving to satisfy by 
 outward reformation. 
 
 " I feel that is true," replied Godsoe. 
 
 " Well, you have got just as far in that way as I 
 did at first, and just as near to any real comfort as 
 you will ever get, and the sooner you go on your 
 knees and beg for mercy, the better." 
 
 " But the idea of such a wretch as I am going 
 to God!" 
 
 " You are not going to God out of Christ, a con 
 suming fire, but to God in Christ, reconciling the 
 world to himself; you are going in the name of 
 that Saviour who came to call, not the righteous, 
 but sinners to repentance, and who on the cross
 
 234 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 prayed for his murderers, saying, Father, forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do." 
 
 " But the idea of such a being as I am going 
 into the presence of a holy God ! " 
 
 " But you have never yet been out of his pres 
 ence. When you laid your plans you laid them un 
 der his eye ; you never raised your hand to give the 
 fatal blow but under his inspection, and the cries of 
 your victims went up into his ears." 
 
 v 
 
 " I did not realize his presence then ; now I do. 
 Besides, actually speaking to him seems quite 
 another thing from merely doing things before 
 him ; it strikes a greater dread." 
 
 " You never yet uttered a word he didn't hear. 
 When you shook your fist at the moon he created 
 to give you light, you cursed him to his face." 
 
 " But why confess to him. I can't inform him 
 of anything, for he knows every thought of my 
 heart and act of my life." 
 
 " That he knows it you can't help ; but you can 
 confess and pray to him or not, just as you please ; 
 therefore your confession of sin and entreaty for 
 pardon is obedience to hirn who has commanded con 
 fession, and will not confer grace till it is sought, 
 though he causes the sun to shine and the rain to
 
 THE VIPEE WITHIN. 235 
 
 fall upon those who neither ask nor thank him 
 for it." 
 
 " If I was fit to pray ! I am so wicked ! " 
 
 " That is the very reason you should pray, for 
 you will never be any better till you do." 
 
 " I'm afraid, I'm so wicked." 
 
 " But you were not afraid to be wicked, to kill 
 your fellow-men and curse your Maker to bis face : 
 then, when there was everything to fear, you knew 
 no fear; now, when there is nothing to fear, but 
 everything to encourage, you tremble." 
 
 " I don't know ; it looks dark." 
 
 " How did you learn to swim when you was 
 a boy?" 
 
 " Why, by going into the water and trying to 
 paddle." 
 
 " Then it seems you went in before you could 
 swim." 
 
 " To be sure. I went in to learn ; couldn't learn 
 without." 
 
 " And learned by going in ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Well, you've got to go to Christ while you 
 are a sinner, just as you went into the water be 
 fore you could swim. Every man who is rejoicing 
 in Christ to-day went to him in his sins."
 
 236 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " What, go just as I am ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and as you go you will be cleansed ; as 
 were the lepers who left their leprosy on the road. 
 John, will you kneel down with me while I pray 
 to God?" 
 
 " With all my heart." 
 
 They knelt down together. Walter pleaded with 
 tears for the salvation of his companion ; and when 
 he concluded, Godsoe exclaimed, " God, be mer 
 ciful to me a sinner." 
 
 -
 
 THE DISCLOSUEE. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE DISCLOSURE. 
 
 " Y I iHERE is another subject lies near my heart," 
 said Godsoe, " and tortures me to a degree 
 scarcely inferior to that arising from the viper 
 within, which, whenever it is not swallowed up in 
 the greater anguish, causes me many a bitter 
 pang. I wish to consult with you in relation to 
 it ; but it is getting late, and perhaps you would 
 like to turn in." 
 
 " No ; I am not in the least sleepy ; besides, I 
 must return to-morrow, and this is the last oppor 
 tunity that you will have." 
 
 " To-morrow ! Must you return so soon ? I hoped 
 you would stay at least a week." 
 
 "I would cheerfully do it, but my time is not 
 my own ; it belongs to my owners." 
 
 " But with such mates and men as you have, the 
 work will go on as well as though you were 
 there."
 
 238 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " The work might, but there may be some ques 
 tions arise in respect to the planter ; he may not 
 get the cargo along fast enough ; besides, it don't 
 look well for a captain to be absent from his ship 
 in a. foreign port, nor is it well." 
 
 " I wished to speak about Willie, whom I love 
 most tenderly, and in respect to whom I am most 
 sorely tried." 
 
 " Is his mother living ? " 
 
 " No ; she is in a world where I fear 1 can 
 never go." 
 
 Taking Walter by the arm, Godsoe led him to 
 the garden, that extended from the house to the 
 mountains ; there, in a most lovely spot beneath 
 the shadows of the cliff, embosomed in foliage, and 
 surrounded by a hedge of penguin plants, was a 
 grave, the stone at its head bearing the simple 
 word Clara. Near at hand, arid within the hedge, 
 was a seat built of stone, upon which they seated 
 themselves. 
 
 " Many an hour," said Godsoe, " do I spend here, 
 reflecting upon the many happy days I have spent 
 with her whose bones lie mouldering there, before 
 I had stained my soul with innocent blood." 
 
 " Of what country was she ? "
 
 THE DISCLOSURE. 239 
 
 4k 
 
 " Scotland. She was an only daughter." 
 " Where did you get acquainted with her ? " 
 " In Nova Scotia. Her father lived at the north 
 part of the island; was concerned in the slave 
 trade, and also in trading on the' coast of Africa 
 for palm oil, gold dust, and ivory. He had two 
 children, a sou and a daughter. The son I never 
 saw : he was master of a vessel, and died of the 
 coast fever in the Bight of Benin. Mr. Living, 
 ston, my wife's father, in searching for some run 
 away negroes, stumbled upon this glen, and con 
 ceiving a great liking for the spot, bought it, and 
 remained here. Having relatives in Nova Scotia, 
 and wishing to obtain goods of a particular kind 
 to barter on the African coast for slaves and the 
 produce of the country, he came to Halifax in a 
 brig that he owned, the Lennox, the same vessel 
 in which his son died, bringing his daughter with 
 him, to visit his relatives. Mr. Livingston took a 
 great liking to me, and invited me to his house, 
 where I staid till the vessel sailed again for the 
 coast of Africa. He was then building the Langue- 
 doc for a Guineaman. Clash and myself went 
 in the Lennox; the second mate died on the 
 coast, and four of the crew. If a vessel goes up
 
 240 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 an African river, it is sure death to more or less 
 of her crew." 
 
 " So I have always heard." 
 
 " You see, there is so much decaying vegeta 
 tion ; then a cloud will come up, and it will rain 
 in torrents ; then the sun come out hot enough to 
 scald the very flesh from your bones. I obtained 
 the second mate's berth. In the mean time an 
 attachment sprang up between me and Clara, which 
 Mr. Livingston encouraging, we were married." 
 
 " By a Catholic priest ? " 
 
 " No ; we went on board an English man-of-war 
 at St. Lucia to find a Protestant clergyman. I then 
 became first mate, and Clash second. I was now 
 very happy. I had an excellent wife, a real, sincere 
 Christian, as good as my mother. I loved her with all 
 my heart. Mr. Livingston was very much attached 
 to me. Willie was born. I had the promise of a cap 
 tain's berth the next voyage, and by means of ven 
 tures was accumulating property, considered my 
 self completely reformed, and began to cherish the 
 expectation of going home at some future period." 
 
 " And with all these encouraging prospects you 
 turned pirate." 
 
 " It was to save my life. When I arrived home,
 
 THE DISCLOSUBE. 241 
 
 I found Mr. Livingston down with the yellow 
 fever. He grew rapidly worse, and died in my 
 arms. He had some liabilities incurred by bad 
 voyages, and it was judged best to dispose of the 
 Languedoc. She was sold to Lemaire, of whom 
 Mr. Livingston had borrowed money. Lemaire 
 run her as a Guineaman ; but she was in reality a 
 pirate, taking a cargo of slaves occasionally, to 
 keep up appearances." 
 
 " I thought she was an older vessel than your 
 account makes her." 
 
 " Old ! She's only seven or eight years old, and 
 is built of St. Domingo mahogany and cedar." 
 
 " What did you do after Mr. Livingston's 
 death?" 
 
 " He made no will, and his property fell to my 
 wife. I continued to run the brig ; but on my 
 second voyage after Mr. Livingston's death, I was 
 overhauled when only two days' sail from the 
 coast, bound to Guadaloupe, by a piratical vessel 
 under the guise of a slaver, that belonged to 
 Lemaire. They robbed the vessel, killed all the 
 crew but one man, killed the second mate, and 
 then gave myself, Clash, and this man our choice 
 death, or joining them." 
 16
 
 242 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Why didn't you leave them the first oppor 
 tunity ? " 
 
 "Ah! why didn't I? It was just the life that 
 suited Clash, and his solicitations, the company in 
 which I found myself, and indulgence in liquor, 
 from which I had in a good measure abstained 
 since my marriage, roused all my evil passions 
 afresh. I took a fearful oath, and joined them. 
 The vessel was then burnt." 
 
 " Where did you go next ? " 
 
 "We went on a cruise, took a Spanish vessel 
 bound to Spain, with a rich cargo and specie. My 
 share of the plunder amounted to more than I had 
 earned all my life before ; but now every dollar of 
 it is a dagger. The vessel then ran for Marti 
 nique, made the island at ten o'clock in the morn 
 ing, lay off and oa till night, and then ran for 
 Vauclin. When off the Pass du Galion, we took 
 the boat and pulled for home, and related that we 
 had been captured by a pirate, the vessel burnt, 
 and all the rest killed. On the passage, the cap 
 tain of the vessel that captured us a Spaniard, 
 and cousin to Lemaire, who was a Spaniard, his 
 real name being Ruis told me that he had 
 spoken a vessel whose captain informed him that
 
 THE DISCLOSUEE. 243 
 
 the Languedoc was at Vauclin, having lost her 
 captain and lieutenant in a fight with an English 
 armed brig ; and that he would use his influence 
 to get the master's berth for me, and that of lieu 
 tenant for Clash. So, three days after our arrival, 
 we went over to see Lemaire." 
 
 " 1 suppose you knew Lemaire." 
 
 "Knew him? Yes; I had met him often at Mr. 
 Livingston's, and indeed had sold the Languedoc 
 to him." 
 
 " How did he receive you ? " 
 
 " As smooth as oil ; offered me a captain's berth 
 directly. I declined, but proposed Clash for 
 master, and myself for mate, or lieutenant, as they 
 called it." 
 
 " What made you do that ? " 
 
 " I thought if Pete was captain, he would have 
 a larger share of the guilt than I." 
 
 " I declare, the difference is so little I cannot 
 perceive it." 
 
 " Nor I, either, now ; but I remember, at the 
 time, feeling it was not quite so bad to be second, 
 as principal." 
 
 " I have not the least doubt you were captain, 
 after all."
 
 244 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " You are not much out of the way there, for 
 Pete was not much of a seaman ; he generally 
 yielded everything to me in bad weather, or in 
 a trying time ; but sometimes he was obstinate, 
 and would have his own way. It was so the day 
 we overhauled you ; it was in spite of all I could 
 say, that he persisted in heaving-to to leeward, 
 thus giving you the weather-gage, and the oppor 
 tunity that you improved so well." 
 
 " Did your wife know anything of all this ? " 
 " No ; she would have fled from me with horror. 
 She, however, noticed my increasing fondness for 
 liquor, and often talked with me about it. Thus 
 I went and came on these expeditions ; she all 
 the while supposing I was engaged in the slave 
 trade,- the vessel occasionally bringing a cargo of 
 them. But 0, what a horrible life it was ! I was 
 constantly deceiving the wife I really loved. This 
 virtuous, noble-minded woman lay in the bosom of 
 a murderer. Night and day, when I laid down 
 and when I rose up, I carried in my bosom this 
 fearful secret. My wife divined, I could very well 
 perceive, that something was preying upon me, 
 and often noticed that my -cheerfulness was gone, 
 and that I did not appear at all as I used to."
 
 THE DISCLOSURE. 245 
 
 " Suppose you had declined to go any more, and 
 remained at home." 
 
 " They would have suspected, and assassinated 
 me ; indeed, Lemaire was always suspicious of me ; 
 hired a man to do it once, but I was too quick for 
 the fellow, and killed him. I had about made up 
 my mind to take my wife and child and go to 
 some other country, when she was taken from me. 
 Now here I am with the child. He is a most af 
 fectionate, obedient boy, but is growing up in 
 ignorance, his only associates the negroes and 
 their children, and I am greatly distressed about 
 him." 
 
 "Get into the vessel and go home with me to 
 your parents, child and all." 
 
 " That cannot be. When Danforth Eaton and 
 Sewall Lancaster come to see me close at hand, 
 and hear me talk, they would recognize me as the 
 man who was lieutenant of the Languedoc, and so 
 would half the crew; and this would kill my 
 parents. I could not live in a community where I 
 felt that I was pointed at and hated. With what 
 abhorrence would the mother of Sam Elwell, and 
 Mary Colcord, to whom he was engaged, the 
 friends and relatives of Blaisdell and Atherton,
 
 246 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 look upon me ? They would consider me as the 
 one who led on the murderers of their children ; 
 I should go about like Cain, with a brand upon my 
 brow; people would flock from all parts, and 
 beset my path, and the whole community rise up, 
 with one consent, to curse the murderer of his 
 own townsmen and schoolmates. My absence and 
 the uncertainty in regard to my fate is a constant 
 source of anxiety to my parents, but my presence 
 would be worse. 0, friend, the way of transgress 
 ors is hard, harder than the path of duty ; once 
 get into the whirlpool ; and there's no stopping. I 
 am an outcast from God and society." 
 
 Walter could not deny the truth of this state 
 ment, and was silent. 
 
 " It matters little what becomes of a reprobate 
 like myself, in comparison with this boy ; but that 
 his young life and his future prospects should be 
 marred and tainted by his connection with me is 
 terrible to reflect upon. Should I, as you wish, go 
 home with you, taking him with me, the very chil 
 dren at school, in the petty quarrels that are fre 
 quently arising among themselves, would twit him 
 with being the son of a pirate. I have, however, 
 for some months been thinking of this method.
 
 THE DISCLOSURE. 247 
 
 It is a common thing for people here to send chil 
 dren to France for education. Planters in Cuba 
 often send them to Maine and Massachusetts to 
 learn the English language, and modes of doing 
 business. If this boy should grow up here, even 
 if he could be educated, he would be good for 
 nothing ; northern people living in this climate 
 lose their energy ; they are not like those brought 
 up among the frost and snow. You know New 
 England people are thrifty, and never object to 
 making an additional dollar. By your account, 
 my father is hale and hearty, mother still more so ; 
 they are both fond of children, and are not worried 
 by their noise. Edward is also a lover of little 
 ones, and of most affectionate disposition. Why 
 couldn't you take Willie home with you, and to 
 them, tell them he is a child of a friend of yours 
 in Martinique, and his name is Willie Arkwright ; 
 that his mother, who was the daughter of a Scotch 
 planter, is dead ; that the opportunities for school 
 ing there are poor; ask them to send him to 
 school, board him, treat him as they would a child 
 of their own, and set their own price, and his 
 father will pay the bills ? In that case the boy 
 ,would grow up with his grandparents, with New
 
 248 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 England habits, and with the neighbors' boys, 
 enjoy the same privileges that I once enjoyed, and, 
 I hope, make a better use of them. What do you 
 think of it?" 
 
 " Can you live without him ? He is all you have 
 to love all your society." 
 
 "It will be like tearing out my heart to part 
 with him ; but I can do it, for I love him far better 
 than myself. Think of it to-night, and we will 
 talk further before you go in the morning. Long 
 before I fell into your hands I had thought of this 
 matter, and almost concluded to send him to Scot 
 land, among his mother's relatives."
 
 THE DECISION. 249 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 THE DECISION. 
 
 " TOHN," said Walter, when they met the next 
 O morning, " I have not slept much during the 
 night for thinking of your affairs, and my opinion 
 is, that there would be no difficulty in arranging 
 with your parents to take the child by his present 
 name ; or, if they were not willing, some of the 
 neighbors, I think our folks, would do it, or John 
 Rhines. But I am of the firm opinion that the best 
 way, and the only way, in which you will ever 
 obtain the blessing of God, is the straightforward 
 one. Let me take him right to your parents, and 
 say, ' This boy is your grandson, John's child.' " 
 
 " Then you might as well let out the whole, for 
 Willie is as bright as a silver dollar, and would be 
 sure, after he became acquainted, to tell his grand 
 father that his father's name was Richard Ark- 
 wright, and his name used to be Willie Arkwright,
 
 250 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 and that his father went in the. Languedoc, and he 
 had a toy boat named after and rigged like her." 
 
 " You have got to have it come out, or 'give up 
 the idea of sending the child to Pleasant Cove ; for 
 the moment he gets there, every old wife will cry 
 out, ' That child is Godsoe all over ; ' and when they 
 learn his name, putting the two things together, 
 the name and the looks, they will know at once 
 that the man by the name of Arkwright in the 
 Languedoc was the father of the boy, and was 
 John Godsoe ; and the probability is, that when 
 the matter comes to be talked about, Danforth 
 Eaton, Lancaster, Henry Griffin, and half of the 
 crew will say, ' Well, I declare, I allers thought 
 that man looked natral ; and come to think of it, 
 and look back, I believe, yes, I know, it was him." 
 
 " I see how it is ; but if I send him home by you 
 as Willie Godsoe, then my parents will inquire, 
 and you must tell them the whole matter what I 
 have been and what I have done." 
 
 " They will feel better to know the worst than 
 to be in the state of mind they now are, or will be 
 provided you should send Willie home by the 
 name of Arkwright." 
 
 "Why so?"
 
 THE DECISION. 251 
 
 " Because your father is a man of clear percep 
 tions, has been a sailor for many years, knows 
 what sailors are, with what readiness they change 
 their names, and the temptations they have to 
 encounter, and is now half inclined to believe that 
 you was on board the Languedoc with Clash, was 
 killed, and flung overboard by your shipmates, or 
 jumped over of your own accord, and so your 
 body was not found and recognized by us." 
 
 " How do you know that ? " 
 
 " I know by what Eaton told me he said to him, 
 and what John Rhines told me he said to him. 
 Now, as Christian people, they certainly would 
 rather know that you was alive, than to believe 
 that you had died with all your sins upon your 
 head, because while there's life there's hope of 
 repentance, or to be in a state of suspense and 
 terrible foreboding, worse than reality. If you 
 send him home under the name of Arkwright, 
 your parents will conclude at once that you are 
 still pirating." 
 
 " Why will they think so?" 
 
 " When at home, I avoided your father for fear 
 he would question me. He came to our house 
 when I was away, and asked mother whether I had
 
 252 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 said anything about John being in the vessel with 
 Clash ; and she wanted to know what she should 
 say to him in case he came again when I was 
 gone. I told her that the ship's company of the 
 Languedoc were all negroes, Portuguese, and 
 Spaniards, with the exception of Pete Clash, and 
 a man who called himself Richard Arkwright, and 
 tha^he hailed from Shields, England. He knows 
 that I let that man escape on account of his aiding 
 to convict Lemaire. Lancaster told him so. Now, 
 the moment he looks upon this child, sees your 
 features in him, hears that his name is Arkwright, 
 he and your mother will put this and that together, 
 and conclude that it is your child, probably an 
 illegitimate one ; that you have sent him home for 
 them to take care of in order to get rid of him, 
 having plenty of money that you have obtained 
 by piracy ; that you are going on in the same 
 accursed business, 'and perhaps have taken up 
 with some French or negro woman as miserable 
 as yourself." 
 
 " It is just as I told you before ; when a man 
 once begins to sin, there's no way of getting out ; it 
 is like men I've seen struggling in the undertow, 
 flung forward by one sea towards the shore, and
 
 THE DECISION. 253 
 
 backward by the next, and so washed back and 
 forth till they were drowned, and that too within 
 a gunshot of the beach. I must send him to Scot 
 land, where nothing is known of my past life, and 
 where no questions will be asked, to his great-uncle 
 Andrew Livingston, and give up the idea of send 
 ing him to his grandparents, and giving him a New 
 England training in a godly family, and putting a 
 little money into the hands of my parents in their 
 old age the only way I can as some recompense 
 ,for having left them just as I was old enough to be 
 of some use, and also of accomplishing some other 
 things in the way of restitution, that lay near my 
 heart." 
 
 "No, John ; you are excited, tempest-tossed, worn 
 out with slow torture. Now listen calmly to me. 
 One standing on the shore is in a better con 
 dition to judge than the poor man in the undertow. 
 You must do as Christian did when he and Pliable 
 got into the Slough of Despond, as you and I have 
 read of a hundred times, in Pilgrim's Progress." 
 " I don't see what you are driving at." 
 " You recollect, when they fell into the Slough 
 both tried hard to get out; Christian struggled 
 towards the little wicket gate, but Pliable towards
 
 254 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 the City of Destruction, got out on that side, and 
 went back to his old haunts, to wrath and ruin, 
 while Christian got out on the other side, and went 
 through the wicket gate to the Delectable Moun 
 tains. Now be ruled by me. I don't pretend to 
 any great wisdom, or set myself up as a teacher ; 
 but I know what right and wrong are, and, I trust, 
 what it is to love God. Let me take Willie to the 
 vessel with me to-day, openly, and tell all hands it 
 is John Godsoe's child ; that you are living here 
 as a planter ; that you were married to an excellent 
 woman, but she has been dead some years ; that 
 this is your only child, and you want him to go to 
 his grandfather and have the privilege of school 
 ing, learn to work, and take care of himself. They 
 will appreciate that, will see that the boy resembles 
 your folks, and all will be right as far as they 
 are concerned. To begin with, let him stay two 
 nights, get acquainted with the crew, and come 
 back with my guide ; that will make him willing to 
 go when the time comes." 
 
 "But" 
 
 " Let me get through ; only answer these ques 
 tions. Have you ever prayed to God, and made 
 confessions ? "
 
 THE DECISION. 255 
 
 " Yes ; but it seemed like merely saying over a 
 form of words ; nothing followed ; just like talk 
 ing in the air." 
 
 " That is because you have been struggling to 
 wards the wrong side, like Pliable. The time has 
 now come to do something else. It is of no use to 
 confess to God, without at the same time doing 
 right towards man, as far as is in your power. 
 That religion that consists in praying, screeching, 
 and outside forms, and don't make a man honest, 
 square, and upright, will never take the sting from 
 the conscience, and isn't worth a rotten rope-yarn. 
 You may pray, fast, and do penance, if you like ; 
 but He who has said, ' Honor thy father and thy 
 mother ' will neither hear, answer, nor give you 
 peace, till you in the first place do your duty by 
 your father and mother. Now, as soon as I am 
 gone, sit down and write a letter to your father; 
 tell him your whole history since you left home ; 
 who your wife was, and what she was ; what you 
 are doing here ; that you were Richard Arkwright 
 (for he will ask me, and I shall tell him. I never 
 told a lie in my life, and I shan't begin now) ; tell 
 him of your penitence, of your confession to God ; 
 that you have abandoned your mode of life, and are
 
 256 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 resolving to persevere ; ask his forgiveness, and 
 an interest in his and your mother's prayers. No 
 danger but they will keep the secret ; and in a few 
 years you may go home and see them ; for if Dan- 
 forth Eaton and the others didn't recognize you 
 when on board the vessel, nor myself, only John 
 Rhines, they certainly won't then ; and, perhaps, 
 as they are all young men, and Maine people are 
 all the time going west, they may every one be 
 gone. Do that, and if I know anything of God's 
 ways, or of his dealings with a sinful man, it won't 
 be long that you'll be talking in the air, and feeling 
 that nothing comes of it." 
 
 " I feel that your words are true ; they go right 
 to my conscience. I will do it, though it is a 
 bitter pill." 
 
 " It seems that it is harder for you to send this 
 child home as Willie Godsoe, and confess to your 
 parents, than it was to God." 
 
 " It certainly is." 
 
 " That shows that the confession to God was not 
 sincere and real ; didn't break down your pride of 
 heart ; but when confession to God results in doing 
 your duty to man, because.it is his command and 
 right, that is going to the root of the matter."
 
 THE DECISION. 257 
 
 " But you told me to pray to God just as I was ; 
 didn't say anything about confessing to father and 
 mother." 
 
 " Because I knew that was beginning at the right 
 end, and what would come of it. Sincere praying 
 will make a man leave off sinning, as sinning will 
 make him leave off praying ; and I knew if you 
 kept on praying you would be shown a way out 
 somewhere." 
 
 " But in respect to the child himself, suppose 
 you tell everybody his name is Godsoe, and he 
 says it is Arkwright, what will people make of 
 that?" 
 
 " I think you make more of that than is neces 
 sary. The child has never heard himself called 
 by any name but that of Willie, except once in a 
 while. He always calls you father. If you tell 
 him his name is Willie Godsoe, and he is called so 
 all the time he is on board the vessel, he will for 
 get the other name, especially when he comes to 
 be with his grandparents and Edward, and hear 
 them called so." 
 
 " I intend now to resume my real name. I will 
 tell Willie so, and tell the negroes and overseer to 
 17
 
 258 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 call me by that name ; so he will get used to it be 
 fore the vessel gets away." 
 
 " Does this William, as you call your overseer, 
 know that, while pretending to be a slave-trader, 
 you were a pirate ? " 
 
 " Yes ; he might have betrayed me any time, if 
 he had wanted to." 
 
 "Are you not, or, rather, have you not been 
 afraid of his doing it ? " 
 
 " Afraid of his betraying me ? No more than I 
 am of betraying myself. If there is a being in the 
 world that loves me, it is him. Perhaps you would 
 be less surprised should I tell you how I came 
 by him." 
 
 " I should really like to know the reason you 
 have for reposing so much confidence in him. 
 Lemaire reposed all confidence in Jean Baptiste, 
 yet, to my certain knowledge, Jean was watching 
 for an opportunity to cut his throat, and probably 
 would, if I had not seized Lemaire, and delivered 
 him up to the civil authorities." 
 
 "Aunt Dinah has her breakfast on the table. 
 I will tell you after we get through eating."
 
 A SUEPEISE ON BOARD THE OSPEEY. 259 
 
 CHAPTEE XYI. 
 
 A SURPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPREY. 
 
 WHEN the) 7 had concluded the meal, they sat 
 down beneath the ceiba tree, and Godsoe 
 said, 
 
 " Lemaire, as you know, had several planta 
 tions, stocked with large gangs of negroes. On 
 his home place, at Yauclin, negroes lasted a long 
 time, because he oversaw everything himself, fed 
 well, worked his hands moderately, took good care 
 of them when sick, and watched the overseers and 
 drivers closely, to be sure that they did not abuse or 
 maim the negroes. This was not done from prin 
 ciple or human feeling, for he had neither, but 
 policy, for when they were past labor he killed 
 them off. Once in a while, when his passion got 
 the better of his avarice, he shot one, just as he 
 came near killing Baptiste, because Peterson got 
 away."
 
 260 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Kill his worn-out negroes just as anybody 
 would knock an old horse on the head ? though 
 some wouldn't do that ; my father wouldn't, rough- 
 spoken as he is." 
 
 " Yes, he killed 'em, or -had 'em killed, though 
 he didn't knock 'em on the head ; but he kept an 
 old negro, who was nobody knew how old, for 
 head butcher." 
 
 " I should have thought the law would have 
 taken hold of him or is there no law on this 
 island ? " 
 
 " There is none too much ; but it was not 
 known, that is, could not be proved, but all the 
 negroes and everybody else believed that he em 
 ployed this old darky to kill them with negro 
 poison ; they judged by the symptoms, that are 
 well known to the blacks. He used to send him 
 on to his other plantations, and, whenever he 
 came, some old negroes were sure to drop off." 
 
 " What is negro poison ? " 
 
 " Well, negroes are strange creatures ; for all 
 they appear so stupid, they are cunning enough, 
 and know how to accomplish their ends. They are 
 acquainted with a great many deadly poisons, as 
 deadly as arsenic or prussic acid poisons that
 
 A SURPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPRET. 261 
 
 work quick, and that work slow. I know only a 
 few of them. One is the bitter cassava. They 
 squeeze out the juice from the root, and let it fer 
 ment like beer. After it stands a while it sours, 
 and breeds a small worm. When they want to 
 kill anybody they cut this worm into little pieces, 
 and conceal a piece under one of their nails, then 
 persuade the person to eat or drink with them, and 
 drop the piece of worm into the coffee or liquor, 
 or put it into a banana or orange, and the person 
 is sure to die. Another is the arsenic bean, and 
 an alligator's gall." 
 
 " And so he kept that old darky for a poisoner. 
 That is horrible. I should have thought he would 
 have been afraid of his poisoning him." 
 
 " That would have broken up ther old darky's 
 business." 
 
 " If negroes know so much about these things, 
 I should think they would be always poisoning 
 their masters and one another." 
 
 " They often do ; but it is only a few of them 
 that have this knowledge, and the rest are scared 
 to death of them, and call them obeah men. As I 
 was saying, the negroes lasted a good while at 
 Vauclin ; but on the other plantations, where the
 
 262 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 overseers were old pirates that had been his lieu 
 tenants, and were removed from his inspection, the 
 negroes were hardly used, wore out fast, and had 
 to be frequently renewed. One year he had been 
 taking up a good deal of new land at the north 
 end of the island : sickness broke out among the 
 negroes, and they died like sheep with the mur 
 rain. Lemaire sent Pete Clash and myself in the 
 Languedoc to the coast, with orders to get a cargo 
 of negroes and bring them to Vauclin, in order 
 that he might stock his own plantation and sell the 
 rest. The greater part of them were Gold Coast 
 negroes, the most savage and resolute of all the 
 African tribes. One day, just before they arrived, 
 when we let too many of them up on deck at once, 
 they rose on us. William (Cubina they called 
 him), who was a chief in his own country, led them 
 on. We mastered them with a great deal of diffi 
 culty, after a hard fight, and killing a good many 
 of them. William was wounded badly. Under 
 ordinary circumstances we should have flung him 
 overboard ; but we had lost so many that we con 
 cluded to let him alone, in hopes he would get well, 
 as he was a very powerful fellow, and the value 
 was in him ; but when we got in, and Lemaire
 
 A SURPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPREY. 263 
 
 looked at him, he didn't think much of him; 
 thought he was so cut to pieces he would never 
 make an able-bodied man, and said we ought to 
 have flung him overboard. I asked him if he 
 would give him to me. He said yes." 
 
 " I suppose you pitied him." 
 
 " Not I. There was no feeling in me then ; but 
 I thought differently from Lemaire ; thought he 
 would get well, be sound, and, as he was a giant 
 in strength and size, and resolute withal, would 
 make a first-rate hand, and would be a great bar 
 gain ; and so it turned out." 
 
 " What did you do with him ? " 
 
 " It was in the rainy season ; the brook was 
 high. I put him into an ox-cart, and hauled him 
 to it, then put him into a boat and carried him to 
 the plantation. Clara immediately conceived the 
 greatest liking to that negro ; pitied him and cried 
 over him like a child. The negro had been sullen 
 before, and acted as though he didn't want and 
 didn't mean to get well ; and although he couldn't 
 understand one word of French or English, he 
 knew what her tears meant well enough, took my 
 wife's hand and kissed it, thanking her as plainly 
 as signs and looks could show. She took the
 
 264 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 whole charge, only getting a surgeon once from a 
 French man-of-war. He recovered very slowly; 
 was very feeble all through the rainy season, but, 
 when the dry weather came, began to gain very 
 fast, and manifested so much attachment for my 
 wife that I began to like him, and was, moreover, 
 mightily pleased with my bargain, for in December 
 he was worth two thousand dollars." 
 
 " What did Lemaire say ? " 
 
 " He was a good deal worked up about it. In 
 order not to be behindhand of my wife, I taught 
 him to read, write, and keep accounts, and soon 
 found his head was a good deal better than mine. 
 Through the influence of my wife, he became a 
 Christian, and a real one too, and she would have 
 him christened. He was greatly attached to Wil 
 lie, who was a baby, and, after he got strong 
 enough, held him half the time, and wanted to be 
 called William, too ; so we gratified him, and called 
 one William and the other Willie. I became more 
 and more attached to him, and at length gave him 
 his freedom." 
 
 " Since you have told me all these things I don't 
 wonder that you put confidence in him." 
 
 " I could not feel thus if he was a slave, because
 
 A SUEPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPREY. 265 
 
 when you hold a man as a slave, you do him (at 
 any rate in his opinion) the greatest of injuries, 
 and, no matter how many other favors you do him, 
 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, show him 
 a prospect of obtaining his freedom by cutting his 
 master's throat, and he'll do it." 
 
 " He must have been greatly moved when your 
 wife died." 
 
 " The tears come into his eyes now at the men 
 tion of her name. I hope you won't be offended, 
 but I told him what you said to me the other 
 night about praying to God ; and he said that was 
 just his experience." 
 
 " The gospel of Christ is just one thing for all, and 
 to all, high or low, black or white ; they all drink 
 from the same spring to quench the same thirst. 
 Did you tell him you were engaged in piracy ? " 
 
 " No ; he found it out, I suppose, through Lalle- 
 mont. All the negroes have ways of communica 
 tion that white people know nothing of. But he 
 kept the secret, and used to beg of me, with tears, 
 to leave off; and, when I had those seasons of re 
 morse that I have told you about, and was not 
 under the influence of liquor, I would promise 
 him to leave them whenever I could see a way to
 
 266 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 do it safely, and really meant to ; but, after my wife 
 died, I drank more, and became worse than ever." 
 The party now set out for the vessel, William 
 and Walter on mules, and Willie on an ass, that 
 was his special property. The little fellow was 
 delighted with the idea of going to see a vessel, 
 and the white sailors, and talking with them ; for 
 he spoke three languages English, French, and 
 the negro dialect, a strange mixture of French and 
 African, that he had picked up from associating 
 with them. His father had told him that his name 
 was Willie Godsoe, and there was less difficulty 
 met with in that particular than his father or Wal 
 ter had counted on, for the following reasons: 
 When in a family a child begins to put words to 
 gether, and try to talk, the father, mother, brothers 
 and sisters, relatives and visitors, resolve them 
 selves into a committee to aid and give it practice. 
 They are ceaselessly teaching it to repeat its name, 
 and how old it is, till the constant repetition stamps 
 it upon the mind. As Willie's mother died when 
 he was very young, and his father was away a 
 great part of the time, leaving him to the care of 
 Aunt Dinah, he had not been subjected to this 
 process, and the name of Arkwright not an easy
 
 A SURPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPREY. 267 
 
 one for a child to pronounce had never been made 
 prominent, especially as visitors were rarely seen 
 at the glen ; he seldom heard it mentioned ; but it 
 was Willie, Massa "Willie, from morning till night 
 with the negroes. 
 
 Walter found the pass that had seemed so 
 fearful in the night a most romantic place, being 
 in a great degree stripped of its terrors by day 
 light. When they reached the vessel, Walter said 
 to Lancaster, 
 
 " Sewall, take a good look at this little fellow, 
 and tell me if he favors anybody you ever saw." 
 
 After a moment's scrutiny, Lancaster said, " Why, 
 yes ; he looks like the Godsoes like old Uncle 
 Godsoe cut down. Can he speak English ? " 
 
 " Try him." 
 
 "How old are you, my little man?" 
 
 " I'm six years old." 
 
 " What is your name ? " 
 
 " Willie." 
 
 " Willie what ? " 
 
 " Father said my name was Willie Godsoe." 
 
 " Whew ! " exclaimed Lancaster in astonishment ; 
 " is that so ? " 
 
 "Yes, Sewall," replied Walter, "that's John
 
 268 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Gqdsoe's child. He's living on a plantation in the 
 mountains. I've just come from his house." 
 
 " Then he's turned up at last ! What sort of a 
 chap is he ? " 
 
 " A real steady man, with a plantation and 
 negroes ; well off; was married to a first-rate wo 
 man, a Scotch woman ; but she's dead, and he 
 wants to send this boy to his grandfather, to go to 
 school and learn to work, be brought up in our 
 ways ; and we must do all we can to make him 
 contented, and take a liking to us while he is 
 here, in order that he may be willing to go with 
 us when the time comes." 
 
 It was nearly dark when they arrived on board 
 the vessel ; the men had knocked off work, and 
 were eating under an awning on the forecastle. 
 Henry Griffin, the second mate, was aloft ; when he 
 came down they had supper in the cabin. Willie 
 conceived a great liking for Henry Griffin right 
 away, who took him forward among the crew after 
 supper, and told them he was John Godsoe's boy, 
 and old Uncle Godsoe's grandson. 
 
 The crew were too young to remember anything 
 of John personally, but they were all well ac 
 quainted with his father, knew that every time a
 
 A SURPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPREY. 269 
 
 vessel arrived, he was excited with the hope of 
 hearing from his son, and were familiar with the 
 story of his going away with Pete Clash. Sailors, 
 of all men, delight in petting children. Willie 
 found himself the centre of attraction, and thought 
 he had never seen such good folks before ; indeed, 
 he had never seen so many white people in all 
 his life. The men were greatly excited and in 
 terested, principally on the grandfather's account, 
 who was universally respected and beloved. 
 
 " Won't the old gentleman kill the fatted calf," 
 said Sydney Chase, " when he comes to see this 
 boy?" 
 
 " The best of it is," said Sam Dinsmore, " he 
 has been so worried for fear he was in that brig- 
 antine with Clash ; and now he'll find he ain't 
 no pirate at all, but a well-behaved, well-to-do 
 planter." 
 
 " I expect," said Bill Shed, " father Godsoe'll 
 make a pilgrimage out here to see him, as old 
 Jacob went down to Egypt. I'd go for nothing 
 in the vessel that was to bring him here." 
 
 " So would I," said John Thaxter ; " there'd be 
 no trouble in manning her from Pleasant Cove." 
 
 Walter found William a very intelligent, Chris-
 
 270 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 tian man, and was extremely pleased with him. 
 The black told him a good many things in relation 
 to Godsoe's wife, that made it evident she was a 
 woman of strong mind and ardent piety. When 
 it was time to turn in, Willie who, after his 
 mother's death, and the almost constant absence 
 of his father, had been in a great degree under 
 the care of the overseer wanted to sleep with 
 William, and said his prayers to him with a readi 
 ness that showed it was his common practice. 
 Two launches filled with sugar lay at the stern of 
 the vessel that night ; one of them had been 
 brought down by the Osprey's crew, assisted by 
 two of Lallemont's men, he having sent two in 
 stead of one. They were both Guinea negroes, 
 and could not speak a word of English, but could 
 speak negro French fast enough. They had been 
 some time in the country, and the greater part of 
 the time engaged in loading vessels ; and one of 
 them, Gondebaud, was a great singer, the other, 
 Jules, not much inferior. 
 
 The second launch was entirely manned by 
 negroes, not one of whom kept on the plantation 
 could speak any English. Monsieur Chavelot, not 
 being able to supply all the articles wanted, had
 
 A SURPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPREY. 271 
 
 obtained them from other planters, who, being, by 
 reason of the war, short of money, and knowing 
 they could not receive their pay till the vessel was 
 loaded, had sent down this launch, manned by their 
 own negroes, with a Frenchman as pilot and cap 
 tain of it. There were eight negroes in the 
 whole. When, therefore, all hands turned to, in the 
 morning, to hoist the sugar and other cargo on 
 board, Willie found employment enough. Perfect 
 ly at home with the negroes, and familiar with 
 their language, which was precisely similar to 
 that of Nato and Johnnie, he was down in the 
 launches among them, talking with them, and 
 munching cane and bananas that they gave him ; 
 then he would go down in the hold, where the 
 second mate and men were stowing sugar, and run 
 to tell William and Walter what he had seen and 
 heard. 
 
 When these sources of amusement were exhaust 
 ed, he would coax William to put him into the 
 boat that was made fast to the stern, and shoving 
 her the length of the rope, sail back and forth ; it 
 seemed as though he -would never tire of this 
 sport, it was so superior to sailing in the turtle 
 shell in the brook at home ; but he wished Nato
 
 272 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 and Johnnie could be with him, and that his father 
 and Aunt Dinah could see him. His happiness 
 culminated when William, getting into the boat 
 with him, pulled it up and down the creek. Ne 
 groes are extremely fond of salt fish, salt beef, and 
 herrings, and devour them with the greatest 
 eagerness; probably their food, consisting so 
 largely of sweets, becomes insipid, and these 
 articles supply a relish ; they are also very fond of 
 American ship bread. 
 
 It was necessary to work in the heat of the day 
 in order to discharge the launches. Walter there 
 fore, afraid his men would get sick, and wishing 
 to ease their labor, told the negroes in the 
 launches, who had nothing to do except hook the 
 can-hooks and look on, that if they would turn to 
 and help hoist the sugar on board, and stow it in 
 the hold, he would give them a good tuck-out on 
 salt beef morning and night, from the vessel's cop 
 pers, with hard bread, and as many biscuit as they 
 could carry in the crown of the tall palm-leaf hats 
 they wore. This offer was gladly accepted, and 
 they took hold with a will, striking up a song the 
 moment they manned the fall, in which the gener 
 osity of the buckra captain and the toothsomeness 
 of beef and bread were duly extolled.
 
 A SURPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPREY. 273 
 
 As Walter, seated on the hencoop, under the 
 awning, was watching the progress of the work, 
 he was in no small measure astonished by hearing 
 the following ditty issuing from the lips of a 
 Guinea negro, tattooed from head to foot, and 
 who could not speak English, and was entirely 
 ignorant of the signification of the words uttered, 
 while the others joined with the greatest zest in 
 the chorus: 
 
 "Three sailors eat from out de kid, 
 Ben Bolt, and Jack, and Richard Fid. 
 ' Shipmates,' cries Jack, ' twig what I've found ; 
 For don't you see dese ribs are round ? ' 
 
 Chorus. Ole hoss, ole hoss, how come you here? 
 
 When, strange to say, from out de bone 
 A holler voice did make its moan : 
 ' From Saccarap to Portland pier 
 Lumber I've hauled for many a year.' 
 
 Chorus. Ole hoss, ole hoss, &c. 
 
 * Till killed with work, and much abuse, 
 I'm salted down for sailors' use. 
 The sailors den dey curse my bones, 
 And turn me over to Davy Jones.' 
 
 Chorus. Ole hoss, ole hoss, &c." 
 18
 
 274 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Walter asked them, through William, where 
 they got the song; they said they learned the 
 words from hearing the white sailors sing them, 
 when lying in the launches beside the American 
 vessels. 
 
 As for Willie, he clapped his hands, screamed, 
 and coaxed Gondebaud to sing it over and over 
 again, till he got it by heart, and then told the 
 negroes what the buckra song meant, having him 
 self been enlightened on the subject by Walter. 
 When night came, and Henry Griffin was done 
 work, he took Willie on his knee, and told him 
 about Pleasant Cove, and his grandfather and 
 grandmother, and the boys there, and what they 
 did; and about Beunie Rhines, and the bonfires they 
 had when they launched the Osprey ; about Char 
 lie Bell's bears, deer, and foxes ; going to school, 
 beech nutting, and building camps in the woods, 
 till Willie got so much excited and interested, 
 that he declared he meant to ask his father to let 
 him go to America, and go to school with Win- 
 throp Griffin. 
 
 When it was time to go to bed, he decided to 
 sleep with Henry, under the awning on deck. In 
 the morning he didn't want to go home, and tried
 
 A SURPRISE ON BOARD THE OSPREY. 275 
 
 to coax William to stay longer, and failing in this, 
 consoled himself with the determination to ask his 
 father to let him go to see his grandfather. Henry 
 had told how fast the vessel would sail, and what 
 a nice thing it would be to see her, with all sail 
 spread, going through the water like everything, 
 till the little fellow could think of nothing else 
 but Pleasant Cove, Bennie Rhines, Elm Island, 
 and ships under sail going through the water " like 
 everything ; " and the brook, the turtle shell, Nato 
 and Johnnie, were well nigh despised in com 
 parison. 
 
 The Osprey was now dropped down into the 
 bay to deep water, and Walter made an appoint 
 ment with William to meet him at the abandoned 
 plantation, where he would make a farewell visit 
 to Godsoe, and take Willie.
 
 276 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE LOVE THAT CASTETH OUT FEAR. 
 
 WILLIE had large stories to tell Nato and 
 Johnnie when he returned, and about the 
 awful sight of white men he had seen, and what 
 great, large, tall men they were ; and about the 
 song, the buckra song, that Gondebaud and Jules 
 sung. They wanted him to say it to them ; so he 
 said it, word for word ; then they went in a body 
 to Aunt Dinah, and repeated it to her, and she 
 improvised a tune for it directly, and taught them 
 to sing it. They got under the ceiba tree and 
 made the glen resound with " Old boss," while the 
 monkey, unable to do more, uttered his shrillest 
 screams by way of accompaniment. 
 
 " How many white men was there ? " said 
 Johnnie. 
 
 Willie couldn't count, so undertook to enlighten 
 his sable attendants after his own fashion. He
 
 THE LOVE THAT CASTETH OUT FEAR. 277 
 
 had mastered the names of every one on board ; 
 he therefore got a calabash and a parcel of tama 
 rind stones. " Look here, Nato and Johnnie," said 
 he ; " Willie'll tell you how many there be ; that's 
 Mr. Lancaster," flinging a tamarind stone into the 
 calabash. " That's Mr. Thaxter," flinging another, 
 till he had dropped in as many stones as the ship's 
 company consisted of. Willie, however, could not 
 count above ten, and there were seventeen stones 
 in the calabash ; so he told them there were as 
 many as his fingers and thumbs and seven more ; 
 and then, for the better explanation of it, he placed 
 the stones all along in a row on the ground. Nato 
 thought they must be funny men to have such 
 funny names. Then Willie told them about sailing 
 in the boat, about the vessel, and the rope-ladders 
 for the men to go up on the masts by, and how 
 tall the masts were, as tall as a cabbage palm, 
 also about the yards and sails, and that there were 
 as many ropes as there were hairs on Aunt 
 Dinah's head. He then told them that the vessel 
 was hollow inside, and about the men stowing the 
 cargo. Johnnie then proposed that they should 
 play load the vessel. So they went to William, 
 and got him to saw up a whole lot of bamboo
 
 278 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 into short pieces, to represent casks of rum and 
 sugar. 
 
 The launch that was used to convey goods 
 down the brook lay at the water's edge ; boards 
 were laid from the ground to her gunwale, and 
 they rolled the casks into her, Willie crying out, 
 " Cut that hogshead ; there, that'll do ; now roll 
 him bung up." Then he would sing out again, 
 " Put your back to that cask and shove him on 
 end, and put some dunnage under him ; a hogs 
 head won't go under that beam ; put a barrel 
 there." 
 
 Godsoe was very much pleased with the ac 
 count that Willie gave him of his visit. He asked 
 Willie if he would like to go in the vessel, with 
 Captain Griffin, to see his grandparents and go to 
 school. Willie replied that he would, but he 
 wanted his father to go with him. 
 
 " I cannot go with you, Willie, but I will come 
 over afterwards." 
 
 " I'll tell you what makes me want to go to 
 school, father." 
 
 " What is the reason, Willie ? " 
 
 " 'Cause, father, Captain Griffin read me a story 
 in a book, a real nice story, about Indians. I want
 
 THE LOVE THAT CASTETH OUT FEAR. 279 
 
 to learn to read, so as to read pretty stories. Did 
 you ever see any Indians, father ? " 
 
 " Yes, plenty of them." 
 
 " Won't they kill me ? " 
 
 " No, they don't kill folks now." 
 
 " Has grandfather got a gun ? " 
 
 " Yes, he used to have three." 
 
 " Well, father, if an Indian should go to kill me, 
 grandfather 'd fire the gun, bang, bang, and kill 
 him right stone dead, so he'd never want to kill 
 any more little boys." 
 
 " Yes, indeed, I guess he would." 
 
 " Father, Henry told me about the little boys 
 there is over there Bennie Rhines, John Bell, 
 and a Williams boy. He said they would play 
 with me. I should like to play with white boys 
 better than Nato and Johnnie. But, father, if I 
 go away, who will you have to play with? You 
 ain't got any little boy but me, and there won't 
 be nobody for you to play with." 
 
 The tears sprang to Godsoe's eyes. 
 
 " What makes you cry, father ? 'Cause I am 
 going away ? " 
 
 " Only something I was thinking about, dear ; " 
 and he turned the conversation by telling Willie 
 he wanted to see his garden.
 
 280 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Although Godsoe had promised Walter that he 
 would write to his parents, it was only after a 
 severe struggle that he brought himself actually 
 to set about it ; but when he once commenced, he 
 made thorough work shrunk not from a full 
 confession of his guilt, without the least attempt 
 at palliation, and concluded with suing for forgive 
 ness of his parents, and an interest in their prayers. 
 
 But when he had accomplished it, he was 
 conscious of feelings that he never had known 
 before. Gradually and almost imperceptibly that 
 gnawing sense of guilt, and shrinking from the 
 presence and contemplation of God, became less 
 and less pungent, and faded out as darkness melts 
 into day ; that vague, indefinite feeling predom 
 inating in and connected with the act of prayer, 
 and which rendered it a form of words spoken to 
 the air, diminished, and was, he knew not when or 
 how, succeeded by one of personal interest and 
 communion ; even as on the limbs of the beech the 
 old leaves are pushed off, and replaced by the new, 
 and barren branches clothed with life and verdure. 
 Prayer, to the performance of which he had been 
 at first impelled by agony of conscience, desire 
 of relief, the commands of Scripture, the prompt 
 ings of the Spirit, and persuasion of his friend,
 
 THE LOVE THAT CASTETH OUT FEAR. 281 
 
 and had entered upon with a feeling akin to that 
 with which the seaman plunges from the wreck 
 settling beneath him, into the foaming surf, was 
 now but the gratification of an inward longing 
 pregnant with results. 
 
 All along the borders of the horizon, the black 
 clouds of apprehension and despair were fast 
 ebbing away, and their edges reddened with the 
 light of approaching day. 
 
 William, noticing the gradual change in the 
 expression of Godsoe's features, in virtue of that 
 spiritual affinity uniting those who have drank 
 at the same fountain, interpreted right well its 
 meaning. Cherishing for Godsoe an affection only 
 inferior to that he had felt for his departed mis 
 tress, he refrained from speaking, but with joy 
 ful anticipation besought the Lord. 
 
 It was the tenth morning since the departure 
 of Walter, and William was eating his breakfast, 
 when Aunt Dinah came in. 
 
 " William," she said, " warra you tink kum ober 
 our massa ? " 
 
 " Wha for you say dat ? " 
 
 " Massa nebber laf dese days in de mornin ; he 
 hab sorry look ; dis mornin he talk to hisself, and 
 he face shine like de sun on de water."
 
 282 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Den he found de glory ob de Lord." 
 
 "Warradat?" 
 
 " You know how missus' face look dat day she 
 die?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Dat de ting massa found ; you want find 
 youself." 
 
 Having sent the negroes into the field with the 
 driver, William was at work upon the launch, as 
 the time was approaching when it could be made 
 available in the transportation of coffee. Hearing 
 footsteps behind him, he turned and saw Godsoe 
 rapidly approaching. One glance at his face con 
 firmed the relation of Dinah ; the cloud of sadness 
 that had so long hung over his features was gone ; 
 they were lit up with an expression of heartfelt 
 joy he had never seen there before. 
 
 " Massa, hab de good Lord open de door ob life 
 dis mornin ? " 
 
 " He has." 
 
 " You see de glory ob de Lord ? " 
 
 " Yes ; it seems to me everything looks dif 
 ferent from last night. The trees, the brook, the 
 mountains, and birds, seem to be praising God, 
 and my soul to praise him most of all."
 
 THE LOVE THAT CASTETH OUT FEAR. 283 
 
 " Dey all does gib him de glory, massa ; for de 
 Bible say, dat wha he made 'em for." 
 
 " That is what he made me for, but I have never 
 done it before. I've been doing something very 
 different." 
 
 There had been no change in nature ; the ma 
 terial universe moved on in perfect harmony, 
 obedient to the directions of Infinite Wisdom ; 
 forests and mountains, rivers and birds of the 
 air, praised as ever the hand that, created 
 them ; but this forgiven sinner saw them with 
 new eyes ; perceived, both in them and in him 
 self, what he never perceived before, and could 
 say, ' One thing I know: that. whereas I was blind, 
 now I see." And his joyous emotions imparted 
 even to dead matter a tongue and utterance. 
 While thus a new man, in virtue of a new prin 
 ciple imparted, he beheld the name and attributes 
 of his Maker graven on the clouds, imprinted on 
 the leaves, and whispered in the winds of heaven. 
 From the pages of his written word, no more a 
 sealed book, beamed a clearer light; its threat- 
 enings no longer terrified, while its promises 
 ministered consolation and hope. 
 
 " William," he said, " as I came out from my
 
 284 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 chamber this morning, and the sun streamed over 
 the mountains, it seemed to me I felt as Jacob did, 
 when, after wrestling all night, the sun rose upon 
 him, and he passed over Penuel." 
 
 In answer to his inquiries, he told the black, 
 that when greatly discouraged, he read the pas 
 sages that contain the declaration of God to Sol 
 omon, in which he is told, notwithstanding his 
 sins, God will not rend the kingdom entirely from 
 his son Rehoboam, but will leave him one tribe, on 
 account of his covenant with David his father. 
 He said he felt, if God would show such favor to a 
 wicked prince on account of his grandfather, per 
 haps he would have mercy on him, whose parents 
 were constantly interceding for him, and that it 
 encouraged him to persevere in prayer for himself. 
 
 This tide of joyous emotions did not continue 
 at the flood ; moments of depression and bitter 
 reflections in relation to the past at times inter 
 rupted its flow, as clouds that in spring time cross 
 the track of the sun ; but Godsoe had thoroughly 
 learned the path to the mercy-seat, and they yield 
 ed to prayer and meditation. He looked forward 
 with fond anticipations to his meeting with Walter 
 that was now close at hand.
 
 WILLIE GIVES AWAY HIS PLAYTHINGS. 285 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 WILLIE GIVES AWAY HIS PLAYTHINGS. 
 
 WHEN the time fixed by William to meet 
 Walter at the deserted plantation was 
 near at hand, Willie besought his father to let 
 him accompany the overseer. Godsoe, however, 
 told him that William was going in the night, in 
 order to meet Captain Griffin in the morning, and 
 return in the course of the day. The little boy 
 therefore resolved to watch for and meet him at 
 the mouth of the pass, and, determined to mani 
 fest his sense of obligation to the captain for all 
 the attention shown him on board the vessel, 
 exerted himself to receive his friend in a suitable 
 manner. He procured all the fruits and nuts then 
 in season, and there is no time in the year in 
 that climate in which more or less of various kinds 
 cannot be obtained, and having placed them in 
 a basket, got Nicholas to carry them on his head
 
 286 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 as far into the pass as he thought best to ven 
 ture himself. When informed by his father that 
 it was nearly time for the travellers to make their 
 appearance, he resorted to the spot, accompanied 
 by Nato and Johnnie, where they found abun 
 dant amusement in launching bamboos, that had 
 been broken by the wind, into the foam of the 
 waterfall, and varying the amusement by occa 
 sionally helping themselves from the tempting 
 contents of the basket. They all set up a great 
 shout when the captain and William came into 
 view. Willie whispered to Captain Griffin that 
 his father had killed the big turtle which tried to 
 run away, and they were going to have some of it 
 for dinner, because he was^ coming, and insisted 
 that both himself, and William should dismount 
 and partake of the refreshments they had pro 
 vided under the shadow of a projecting cliff, in 
 which they were fain to gratify him. Scarcely 
 had they commenced to eat, having turned the 
 mules loose to graze at will, when they saw God- 
 soe coming to join them, being too impatient to 
 await the arrival of Walter. The former greeted 
 his friend with a smile and grasp of the" hand that 
 fully confirmed all Walter had heard from William
 
 WILLIE GIVES AWAY HIS PLAYTHINGS. 287 
 
 in respect to the change that had taken place in 
 the feelings and views of Godsoe during his 
 absence. 
 
 " You now understand," said Walter, the mo 
 ment they were alone, " why love to God brings 
 us to love the things he has made." 
 
 *' I have, indeed, learned many things," was the 
 reply, " and, among others, that obedience is 
 sweet." 
 
 Godsoe, knowing that Walter would make but 
 a short tarry when he came again, had prepared 
 everything in advance. He had sent fowls, plan 
 tain, bananas, cocoa-nuts, oranges, and many nuts 
 and preserves, down the brook to Port Royal, as 
 presents for his parents, and for Walter and the 
 crew to eat on the passage, also two goats for 
 milk. 
 
 Willie now began to dispose of his treasures 
 preparatory to departure ; his mocking bird he 
 gave to William, his parrot to Johnnie, and Peter 
 to Nato. His garden was committed to the care 
 of his father, especially the cocoa-nut tree, which 
 Godsoe promised to pay special attention to, and 
 write Willie in relation to its growth and welfare. 
 His goat and kids he intrusted to William, and
 
 288 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 was about to give the turtle-shell boat to Nato and 
 Johnnie, as joint property, but Aunt Dinah in 
 terfered. 
 
 " Gib' him to me, Massa Willie ; gib your ole 
 Aunty Dinah something for 'member you by, 
 when you is gwine away." 
 
 " What you want a boat for, Aunt Dinah ? " 
 
 " Ise want him fur put Qua in " (Qua was 
 Aunt Dinah's baby). " S'pose you gib him to de 
 chil'n, dey drown deyselves ; no hoi' dem bot; 
 s'pose you gib him me ; me git Nic'las make 
 'em big boat, jes like buckra boat, out de cot 
 ton tree." 
 
 " Well, Auntie Dinah, I'll give it to you." 
 
 "Tank you, Massa Willie, Ise take off de 
 wood, den Ise stuff him, mek him sof fur lilly 
 picaninny." 
 
 He gave his hens to Aunt Dinah, and peacocks 
 to Luna. 
 
 " Do you expect to return here, Captain Grif 
 fin?" asked Godsoe. 
 
 " Probably I shall, although I shall make no 
 agreement without first consulting the owners; 
 the planters will load me, and are anxious for me 
 to come."
 
 WILLIE GIVES AWAY HIS PLAYTHINGS. 289 
 
 " Can you make it profitable ? " 
 
 " Yes ; this voyage, if I get home, and am not 
 taken by some cruiser, will be very profitable." 
 
 " Then, of course, you'll come again." 
 
 " That doesn't follow, because this time I had 
 agreed with the English commanding officer to 
 bring a cargo of provisions for cash, and with 
 that cash I've bought of the planters who were 
 short of money for half price ; but if I should 
 come here again with a cargo on my own hook, 
 they might not allow me to trade at all ; or if they 
 did, I should have to barter for the produce of the 
 island, which would not pay as well as going to 
 France, because even if I am captured by an Eng 
 lish cruiser, they will treat me well, and pay for 
 my cargo ; but if I am taken coming here or going 
 from here, by a French cruiser, they'll be so mad 
 because I'm trading with an island the English 
 have taken from them, that they would confiscate 
 my cargo, perhaps my vessel, call me all the bad 
 names the French language affords, and imprison 
 me to boot. But if the English would agree to 
 take another load of provisions, I'd venture to 
 make the bargain, because, when I got the cash, I 
 could go to Trinidad and buy molasses." 
 19
 
 290 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Won't this fleet want provisions just as much 
 in a few weeks ? " 
 
 " That is what I expect ; and I don't think, if I 
 should come out here after the hurricane months 
 are over, I should run much risk of not obtaining 
 a high price in cash for my cargo. Their provis 
 ions have got to come principally from America ; 
 there's a great scarcity in England, and they can 
 get nothing from the Baltic." 
 
 " Why don't you take the Languedoc ? Then 
 you may laugh at the cruisers." 
 
 " She sails like the wind, but is so sharp she 
 won't carry enough, except of some article that 
 brings a very high price. It is better to load her 
 with powder or arms, and run the blockade." 
 
 " You don't know how hard it is to part with 
 this child, but I know it is for his good ; and 
 if you only come back and tell me how he got 
 there, and what father and mother said, and all the 
 particulars, it will be a great comfort, and aid me 
 very much to sustain the loss of his society. Since 
 his mother's death I have been, when at home, his 
 playmate, his nurse. He has slept with me, ac 
 companied me wherever I have been on the 
 island, and made, as it were, a part of myself;
 
 WILLIE GIVES AWAY HIS PLAYTHINGS. 291 
 
 but I don't want him to grow up among slaves, 
 to be waited upon till all the nerve and pith is 
 taken out of him. He don't know what slave means 
 yet ; Nato and Johnnie are his playmates and 
 equals ; " massa " means nothing as yet to him ' r I 
 don't mean it ever shall, for I despise the whole 
 thing, and always did. I think it is as bad for the 
 master as the slave, and would free them all to 
 morrow, if I could." 
 
 " Why can't you ? " 
 
 "Because they belong to the child, to the es 
 tate, and not to me. I might sell them, and turn 
 the money into the estate ; but they are better off 
 with me than anywhere else, and it would be 
 doing them an injury. But," taking Walter by 
 the hand, " it is not the trial it would have been 
 once. To have been left alone at one time a prey 
 to remorse, to pace the floor, wander around the 
 glen without object or hope, wake out of sleep in 
 terror, the sweat starting from every pore, I 
 should have gone mad, drowned reflection in rum, 
 or gone back to old comrades and practices. But 
 I am no longer afraid of myself or my Maker ; no 
 longer fear to be alone ; shall receive letters from 
 home, watch the progress of Willie, feel that I
 
 292 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 have done the best thing for him, attend to my 
 business, and earn money honestly to make a good 
 use of it, render all around me happy, even if at 
 times the past comes up to trouble me, and see 
 God in his work and in his word." 
 
 " It makes a vast difference, John, when a man's 
 iocs are no longer those of his own household, and 
 he is not all the time trying to run away from 
 himself." 
 
 " I think I had some experience of that ; but the 
 house is habitable now, and I'm not afraid to 
 take the hatches off, for the viper's teeth are 
 drawn." 
 
 " I suppose there's no particular need of char 
 ging you to take good care of that garden and 
 cocoa-nut tree." 
 
 " Take care of it ! I tell you the roots of that 
 tree are in my heart; that tree, that the little 
 boy planted, his hands have handled, and the 
 ground his little feet have so often trodden, will 
 be very. dear to me ; I shall take care of that spot 
 myself. There's one thing, however, I want to 
 mention to you before it slips my memory." 
 
 What is that ? " 
 
 " I don't mean Willie shall ever come back here.
 
 WILLIE GIVES AWAY HIS PLAYTHINGS. 293 
 
 I want him to forget all about it, and have his asso 
 ciations altogether in America, though I don't tell 
 him so now ; and in my letters to him, I shall grad 
 ually drop any references to persons and things 
 here. I haven't forgotten the little garden I used 
 to make at home, and how proud I used to be 
 when my harvest came, how sweet the taste of 
 the things I had raised myself, and how happy I 
 felt when all the folks praised them, and how I 
 loved the trees I used to bring out of the woods 
 and set out. All these things come back to me 
 just like water flowing out of a sluice, now that I 
 have given my heart to God, and things start up 
 that I have not thought of for years, since I wrote 
 that letter to father and mother ; just like a new 
 growth, as I have seen the fire-weed, and the 
 pigeon-weed, and a hundred other plants that you 
 don't often see, which come upon land that's been 
 burnt over. Well, I've been burnt over, and feel 
 new all over. The fact is, Walter, I've been born 
 over again ; I know I have ; just as sure of it as a 
 man that's been sick, and got well, is that he is 
 well." 
 
 " That's so," said Walter ; " he don't need to ask 
 the doctor if he's well."
 
 294 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Where was I ? When I get to talking about my 
 feelings, and what has been done in me and for me, 
 1 don't know where to stop. I feel just as Sam 
 Gilky did when he experienced religion. You 
 know Sam Gilky the cooper in our town, that used 
 to make so many mackerel and beef barrels for 
 Uncle Isaac." 
 
 " Yes, indeed ; he's making 'em yet." 
 
 " Well, Sam came into meeting and said he felt 
 like a new cask, double hooped. That's the way 
 I feel." 
 
 " You wanted to mention something to me."
 
 MAKING KESTITUTION. 295 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MAKING RESTITUTION. 
 
 I recollect now what I was talking about. 
 , I know how these early feelings stick and 
 hang. Now I want you to tell father to put 
 Willie right in with the boys, and not to use the 
 money I shall send by you to buy broadcloth or 
 kerseymere, or even satinet; but for mother to 
 weave him fulled cloth trousers, waistcoat, and 
 jacket ; knit his stockings and color 'em in the dye- 
 pot, red stockings, mittens, and comforter next 
 winter, just as she used to for me when I was a 
 little boy. Not to jbet him, and make a fool of 
 him, or let on that his father is rich, or that he 
 will have property ; but let him go beech-nutting, 
 acorning, Ashing, and into the woods with the 
 neighbors' boys, dig a hole in the ground and 
 hoard apples ; and next spring let him have a gar 
 den, and as he gets older a cosset lamb, hens, and
 
 296 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 ducks ; set them, and raise chickens, and learn to 
 work. They won't find the least trouble in get 
 ting him to work, for he is naturally active. He 
 worships me, and if they tell him that when I was 
 a boy I worked and helped father in the field, that 
 will be enough ; he'll be as keen for work as the 
 monkey was the other day for helping turn over 
 the turtle." 
 
 " You say he never will come back to Marti 
 nique. Is not his property here ? " 
 
 " Yes ; but I am executor of the estate, and have 
 power given me by will to sell real estate and per 
 sonal property. I cannot give the slaves their 
 freedom, because in the eye of the law they are 
 property ; but I can sell them or anything else for 
 the child, and invest the money for him; and I 
 intend to do so. I have also real estate and money 
 that Mr. Livingston gave me after the death of his 
 son. He gave me, by deed, the property that 
 would have fallen to his son if he had lived, and 
 the property his son possessed in his own right, 
 and that his father became heir to at young Liv 
 ingston's death. I shall dispose of that too. I 
 can't get up any affection for this place or people. 
 As I told you before, I can't forget home and boy-
 
 MAKING RESTITUTION. 297 
 
 hood ; and I want the old folks to drive it into 
 Willie, as it was driven into me. I want him dyed 
 in the wool, and in fast colors. You think that 
 ceiba tree is something great ; but it don't begin 
 with the rock maple on Cole's Hill, in our western 
 pasture, the first week in June. I tell you there 
 used to be a glory on that tree when I was going 
 after the cows, and the sun was saying ' good 
 night ' to it." 
 
 " Why, John, I never heard you talk half so 
 much before, since I've known you. Didn't know 
 you could." 
 
 " 'Cause I've got up on the hill in our pasture, 
 and the air revives me. I tell you, Walter, give 
 me the great, thick woods ; the pines, oaks, beeches, 
 and maples ; the surf on the shore ; the corn break 
 ing out of the husk in October ; the grain, grass, 
 and apples ; men like Lion Ben, Edmund Griffin, 
 Captain Rhines, and John, and Uncle Isaac Murch 
 in his day ; men that would take these miserable, 
 gabbling, yellow, smoke-dried, grinning Frenchmen 
 one in each hand, and smash their heads together ; 
 men that have strength in their arms, brains in 
 their heads, and principle in their hearts ; men 
 who, attacked at every disadvantage, and outnum-
 
 298 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 bered ten to one, could take the Languedoc, and 
 you may have your negroes, Frenchmen, cocoa-nuts, 
 oranges, custards, apples, spices ; yes, sugar and 
 molasses to boot." 
 
 " Well, I will do it, and just as you wish." 
 
 " There's only one thing I want him ever to 
 imitate me in.'' 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 " Love of work. Whatever else folks at home 
 may think and say of me, nobody can say or will 
 say that I was shiftless or lazy ; or as was said of 
 Tom Gardner, after he was drowned, that they 
 missed him only at meal times. I say nothing in 
 respect to religious matters, because there's no 
 need of it ; they'll do by him as they did by me ; 
 but they will not have the rugged, wilful nature 
 to deal with in him that they had in me. Hell 
 kindly take restraint and good counsel. Yet I had 
 to knuckle, after all, and I thank God for it, and 
 that I'm not ashamed of it. You don't know any 
 thing about it, Walter ; you was always a good boy. 
 One man's experience is different from another's. 
 You stand and stare at me with those sharp eyes 
 of yourn ; but I can tell you, the things that are 
 put into a boy when he's little, they grow into
 
 MAKING RESTITUTION. 299 
 
 him ; they are there, though they may be covered 
 over. I've found it so. On board ship, there's 
 nothing like having the ground tackle good ; and 
 these good principles that a boy gets thus early, 
 when his mother puts him to bed, and when his 
 father takes him on his knee, and that goes in with 
 a kiss, they become clinched around the riding 
 bitts of his soul, and they'll hold him when the 
 water's all thick with sand, and right in the break 
 ers. The vessel may start her anchors, drift a 
 good ways into the very edge of the surf; people 
 looking on give her up for lost ; but when she's 
 almost ashore, and comes to drag her anchors up 
 hill, they'll fetch her up. There are some things 
 in relation to others I wish to trouble you with. 
 First, this letter to my father. You'll give it to 
 him when no one is present, or none but mother. 
 Tell him not to open it before others. Here is. a 
 letter to Parson Goodhue. In it I've told him 
 about taking the cheese from his saddle-bags and 
 putting the grindstone instead of it, and stealing 
 apples from his orchard, and a crowbar from his 
 barn." 
 
 " What did you want of the crowbar?" 
 
 " I wanted a little anchor for a boat I had. I
 
 300 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 dared not carry it to Peter Brock, for fear he 
 would ask me where I got it ; so I got a sailor that 
 1 knew, who went in the old sloop Elizabeth, to 
 get it made in Portland ; then had to tell father a 
 pack of lies as to how I came by it. Well, I've 
 asked his forgiveness, and in a keg that you'll 
 find when you get on board I've put one hundred 
 dollars, as restitution." 
 
 " A hundred dollars ? Why, the cheese wasn't 
 worth two dollars, and all you took would be more 
 than covered by a pound note. I should think 
 that was restitution with a vengeance." 
 
 "Didn't Zaccheus restore fourfold?" 
 
 "Yes; but that's twenty fold." 
 
 " The good old man don't have so much that it 
 will hurt him." 
 
 " I suppose it came easy." 
 
 " I suppose you mean by robbery. No ; it came 
 by hard knocks and honest dealing ; there's no 
 blood on it ; not a dollar that I shall send by you 
 came by any such practices. You'll find this 
 money wrapped and marked. In another parcel, 
 twenty dollars to Hannah Murch, Uncle Isaac's 
 widow, for that piece of red chalk and a draw- 
 shave I stole when he was putting a porch on
 
 MAKING RESTITUTION. 301 
 
 our house. I remember when I was aboard the 
 Languedoc, hearing you and John Rhines telling 
 about his going with Charlie Bell and Fred Williams 
 to get fish for old Mrs. Yelf ; and if I am not mis 
 taken, you said the old lady was still living and 
 poor." 
 
 " Yes ; that is so." 
 
 " Well, you'll find two hundred dollars for her." 
 
 "What is that for?' 
 
 " Because she is a nice old woman ; has had a 
 hard time all her life with a drunken husband ; has 
 given me many a*piece of sweet cake, and many a 
 warm doughnut, right from the kettle ; and because 
 when old Uncle Yelf got dead drunk, and was 
 lying on a pile of boards behind the mill, Clash 
 and I shaved his head, painted his face with lamp 
 black and red ochre, just as we had heard Uncle 
 Isaac say the Indians were painted, carried him 
 home in the twilight, and set him at his door, then 
 knocked, and hid, frightening his wife half to 
 death." 
 
 " I should think money was plenty with you, to 
 give it away at this rate." 
 
 "Money? Come, go with me." Godsoe took 
 him by the arm, and conducted him behind the
 
 302 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 great cliff that rose in the rear of the house. In 
 a few minutes they came to a precipice from which 
 hung a vast mass of creeping plants of various 
 kinds. Bidding Walter follow him, he forced a 
 passage through the network of foliage, and they 
 entered a natural fissure in the rock along which 
 they passed for several feet, till their progress was 
 arrested by a heap of stones that apparently had 
 fallen from the sides of the cavern. Godsoe, re 
 moving some of these, discovered a secret door 
 leading to a cavern beneath, but perfectly dark. 
 Godsoe, descending, drew a steel and flint from 
 some familiar place of deposit, and after strik 
 ing a light, invited Walter to descend. He found 
 himself in a receptacle about six feet square, but 
 not of sufficient height to admit of standing erect. 
 Here, flung together in heaps, without any attempt 
 at order, were gold and silver coins of different 
 nations, precious stones, and gold and silver orna 
 ments of all kinds, similar to those he had seen in 
 the hollow timber on board the Languedoc, although 
 there were no arms. Walter gazed with astonish 
 ment upon the mass of treasure. 
 
 " Here," said Godsoe, " is gold and silver that 
 came of blood. The boy has property enough to
 
 MAKING KESTITUTION. 303 
 
 maintain him in affluence, the knowledge of which, 
 till habits of self-reliance and industry are formed, 
 would only be of injury to him. I have sufficient 
 to afford me every comfort of life here, or else- 
 Avhere, and can, by cultivating this glen, increase 
 it at will without touching this. I cannot restore 
 it to the owners, for they are dead, nor to the heirs, 
 for I don't know them ; therefore, you need not be 
 surprised that I should not be particular about a 
 few dollars in making restitution in respect to the 
 only persons to whom it is possible to make it. I 
 thought myself fortunate when I obtained all this 
 wealth by such means ; but within the last few 
 weeks I have found what it is not in the power of 
 wealth, however obtained, to bestow. Indeed, I 
 know not what to do with this treasure ; but if I 
 cannot restore it, I trust I shall be forgiven." 
 
 "Providence," replied Walter, "will doubtless 
 provide some way; you know the negro saying, 
 ' When de cow's gdt no tail, God Almighty brushes 
 off de flies." 
 
 When they returned to the house, they found 
 Willie surrounded by a most attentive audience, 
 composed of his usual attendants, Nato, Johnnie, 
 and, in addition, Aunt Dinah, Luna, and four or five
 
 304 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 other little darkies, the children of Nicholas and 
 Adam. Willie was relating to them the wonderful 
 stories he had heard on board the vessel about 
 bears, moose, deer, wolves, catamounts, wolverines, 
 and Indians, about their scalping people, and 
 burning them alive. He was just in the middle 
 of a story about a bear that had taken a hog in 
 his fore paws, and was walking off with him, 
 standing up on his hind legs ; the bear, according 
 to Willie, being as tall as the house, when the 
 attention of the audience was diverted by the 
 most fearful screams. Qua Aunt Dinah's baby 
 was asleep in a wooden tray, for she had not yet 
 constructed her cradle, the tray sitting on the 
 ground at her feet. Just behind her was the 
 monkey, fastened by a chain to his bench. Peter, 
 not being particularly interested in the story, had 
 ascertained, by sundry stretchings, that he could 
 probably reach the tray. While Aunty was oc 
 cupied listening to Willie, he let himself quietly 
 to the ground, and extending his body to the 
 utmost limit his chain would permit, succeeded 
 in reaching the edge of the tray with his toe-nails, 
 and gradually drew it along the ground towards 
 him, till, fastening his nails in the picaninny's 
 head, he dragged it from the tray, the blood
 
 MAKING RESTITUTION. 305 
 
 oozing from scratches inflicted by its claws, and 
 the baby screeching with might and main. Had 
 this happened the day after, instead of the day 
 before, Willie's departure, Peter would probably 
 have gone where wicked monkeys go. As it was, 
 he received from the hands of the enraged mother 
 a sound thrashing. 
 
 The next morning the mules were brought up, 
 and preparation made for immediate departure. 
 The money to which we have referred, with 
 several hundred dollars additional to be given 
 to Godsoe's father for Willie's expenses, a bag 
 of coffee, one of sugar, and everything Godsoe 
 could think of for Willie's comfort, and presents 
 for Walter, were placed on baggage mules. 
 Willie wanted his father to go with them to the 
 vessel ; but he was not willing, accompanying 
 them, however, through the pass. 
 
 When they separated, Godsoe said to Walter, 
 " You have been the best friend to me that ever 
 one was to another." 
 
 At the abandoned plantation Walter found his 
 boat, according to previous arrangements, and 
 the company passed down the river, and to 
 the Osprey, at her more distant anchorage. 
 20
 
 306 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 
 
 THEY had a long pull out of the creek to the 
 vessel, for she lay some distance from the 
 shore, broad off in the bay. The sea breeze had 
 blown fresh during the afternoon, and made quite 
 " a chop of sea." The boat, deeply laden with 
 the articles that had been sent by Godsoe and her 
 own crew, plunged deeply as the men forced her 
 into a head-beat sea, being anxious to get on board, 
 not having had their supper. The spray that flew 
 from the blades of the oars and from the bow wet 
 them considerably, coming full in the faces of those 
 seated in the stern-sheets. Willie had never been 
 on any extent of water larger than the brook. 
 The waves, capped with white foam, and the 
 pitching and rocking of the boat, that at times 
 stood pretty well on one end, and the spray flying 
 in his face, were all new to him, and quite a rude
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 307 
 
 and strange experience for a little boy, never from 
 home a day at a time, or a single night, in his life, 
 and among comparative strangers. Most little 
 boys in the same circumstances would have been 
 terrified enough, and cried to go home. Willie 
 looked a little wild at first ; but when he saw that 
 no one else appeared to regard it, he brushed off 
 the water, put his hands over the side of the boat, 
 laughed, and chattered all the way to the vessel. 
 He had already obtained a new idea, and found 
 that the water of the sea was salt. He asked 
 Captain Griffin why it was, who replied that he 
 did not know, which astonished Willie very much, 
 as previously he had thought Captain Griffin knew 
 everything. It was dusk when they reached the 
 vessel, and the cook had supper ready. 
 
 Our readers must recollect that, although Willie 
 was a bright, resolute, intelligent little boy, as far 
 as natural qualifications extended, he was only 
 six years old, had never been placed in circum 
 stances to obtain the knowledge which, even at that 
 tender age, is acquired in a large family, and by 
 being in society, where children go to school, or to 
 the homes of their relatives and neighbors, have 
 grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and brothers,
 
 308 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 and are always learning from them and their play 
 mates, and seeing, day by day, and learning the 
 use and name of some new thing a tree, bird, 
 beast, flower, or persons. But Willie was born in 
 the glen, and had never, till the first time he came 
 on board the vessel with Captain Griffin, been 
 away from it, except to ride to the mountain with 
 ' his father. His grandfather having died when he 
 was a babe, and his mother when a mere child, his 
 only companions were his father and the negroes ; 
 but till Godsoe was taken prisoner by Walter, and 
 abandoned his piratical cruises, he was seldom at 
 home ; and Captain Griffin was the first white per 
 son, except his father, he had ever seen, for he 
 had no distinct recollection of his mother. You 
 may think this singular ; so it is ; but there were 
 sufficient causes for it. The glen was in the heart 
 of the mountains, and well nigh inaccessible to 
 those unacquainted. The mountains and ravines 
 were the haunt and refuge of runaway negroes 
 and desperate men. During the life of Mr. Living 
 ston and his son there was more or less intercourse 
 with the inhabitants of the island ; but Godsoe 
 was not social in his nature, and was prejudiced 
 against the inhabitants because they were French.
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 309 
 
 It was well ejiough understood by the inhabitants 
 of the island generally that the Languedoc was a 
 piratical vessel ; and after Godsoe became con 
 nected with her, he both avoided the society of 
 the inhabitants and was shunned by them. It has 
 been hinted that, after all, Godsoe was in reality 
 the captain of the Languedoc, though Clash was 
 the nominal master. This was really the case ; for 
 John Godsoe was a remarkable man a most ac 
 complished seaman and pilot, of excellent judg 
 ment, cool in the most desperate emergencies, and 
 insensible to fear. His own comrades were afraid 
 of him, and so was Lemaire, who both feared and 
 hated, but could not succeed in assassinating him, 
 for Godsoe had killed the only person in the island 
 who dared to attempt it ; and had he not been well 
 nigh slain at the commencement of the conflict 
 with the Casco, it might have had a very different 
 termination, for he would have assumed authority 
 in the crisis. 
 
 In such circumstances had this child been 
 placed ; and at the age when children in New Eng 
 land begin to attend school, he did not know his 
 letters. His mother before her death had charged 
 her husband to teach Willie his prayers ; and this
 
 310 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 was the sum total of his acquirements. Thus, as 
 he evidently possessed an inquisitive spirit, you 
 perceive how much there was for him to learn, and 
 to what a multitude of subjects his attention would 
 be at once directed. 
 
 Captain Griffin expected that whenever the ves 
 sel went to sea Willie would be seasick, and had 
 constructed a little berth for him on the transom 
 of the vessel beside, his own, in order that he 
 might take care of him more conveniently. Willie 
 was delighted with it, and thought it the cosiest 
 little nest that ever was, and being tired with his 
 journey, was ready to jump right into it the mo 
 ment he had swallowed his supper, and notwith 
 standing the novelty of his situation, was in a few 
 moments sound asleep. 
 
 At daybreak the vessel was got under way. 
 Willie, waked by the clank of the windlass pawls 
 and the song of the men at the windlass, ran up 
 on deck in his night clothes. As his father or 
 Aunt Dinah had always dressed him, Captain Grif 
 fin sent the cook down to dress him ; and now for 
 this child commenced a life of entirely new expe 
 riences. The cook, Frank Merrithew, was a 
 negro, as were most of the cooks of that day on 
 shipboard.
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 311 
 
 When, after the war of the revolution, the slaves 
 were liberated in New England, great numbers of 
 them resorted to the sea, and followed it as cooks, 
 stewards, or before the mast, especially in vessels 
 employed in the West India trade, as they were 
 not affected by the climate. Vessels often went 
 from the ports in Maine to the West Indies, the 
 captain and chief mate being the only white men 
 on board the second mate and crew all negroes. 
 
 A great friendship instantly commenced be 
 tween Frank and Willie. Negroes are naturally 
 fond of children ; and Frank was pleased to find 
 that Willie, nursed by Aunt Dinah, and all his life 
 accustomed to the company of blacks, manifested 
 none of that disinclination to close contact that a 
 white child at the north would have done. 
 
 " Who put you clo'es on when you home, son- 
 nie ? " asked Frank. 
 
 " Aunt Dinah, most every morning ; sometimes 
 father does." 
 
 " What you fader name, sonnie ? " 
 
 " Father said my name was Willie Godsoe." 
 
 " Den you fader's name Godsoe. 'Member dat, 
 sonnie boy same his fader allers. Don't you 
 mudder dress you ? "
 
 312 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN.' 
 
 " Mother's dead." 
 
 " Who do you sleep wid ? " 
 
 "With my father. I used to sleep with Aunt 
 Dinah." 
 
 " Is you Aunt Dinah white woman?" 
 
 " No, she's black woman. I say my prayers to 
 Aunt Dinah. Sometimes I used to sleep with 
 William." 
 
 "Who be William?" 
 
 " He's the overseer." 
 
 " He colored man ? " 
 
 " What is colored man ? " 
 
 " Black man dey same ting." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " You's got any brudders ? " 
 
 "Yes; two." 
 
 " What dere names ? " 
 
 " Nato and Johnnie." 
 
 " How ole be dey ? " 
 
 " I don't know. Nato's big as I am. Johnnie's 
 big boy. He can climb the cocoa-nut tree. I've 
 got a cocoa-nut." 
 
 " You has ? " 
 
 " Yes, in my garden." 
 
 " 0, kye ! "
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOAED. 313 
 
 " Aunt Dinah got a little baby, and I give my 
 turtle-shell boat for a cradle." 
 
 " Dat all de childer Aunt Dinah got, dat little 
 baby ? " 
 
 " No ; she got Nato and Johnnie." 
 
 " Is Nato and Johnnie white ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Den dey ain't you brudders." 
 
 " Yes, they be." 
 
 " No, sonnie, dey can't be." 
 
 " They play with me all the time." 
 
 " Yes, sonnie, but dey ain't brudders ; no mat 
 ter, sonnie, 'bout dat." 
 
 " Will you play with rne ? " 
 
 " God bress de chile, what funny leetle ting he 
 be ! I got work, sonnie, get de breakfas' for de 
 men and de cap'n, and help hold de turn at de 
 windlass when dey git de anchor hove short." 
 
 " Can I see you get breakfast ? " 
 
 " Yes, sonnie ; and in de afternoon, den I git 
 all de dishes wash, den me play wid you leetle 
 bit. You can help me feed de chicken, sonnie; 
 gib dem water. How many slave you fader 
 Lab ? " 
 
 " What's a slave ? "
 
 314 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 " Dunno you know?" 
 
 " No. Willie don't know what you mean." 
 
 " No matter, den ; how many black folks be 
 dere ? " 
 
 " There's William, and Luna, Aunt Dinah, Nich 
 olas, Nato, Johnnie, and the baby he's Qua ; 
 Adam, Rachel, Hagar, Norah, Joan, and Phillis, 
 Uncle Nathan, Sam, Andrew, John, Robert, Pam, 
 and Tom ; then there's boys and girls there's 
 Molly, Venus, Sally, Taffey, Peter, and Moses." 
 
 " 0, my ! You fader got all dem ? " 
 
 " There's another Peter, but he's the monkey ; 
 he pulled Qua out of the tray, and Aunt Dinah 
 whipped him 'cause he hurted the baby, and 
 made his face bleed." 
 
 " Now, sonnie, you put on de stockings and de 
 shoes. Ise 'fraid de coffee bile ober; den youse 
 come to de galley, me tie up you shoes." 
 
 The galley was a wooden house for the cook 
 (containing a stove), with two shove-doors, oppo 
 site each other, a seat across the end, in front of 
 the stove, and one or two shelves, on which to 
 put his utensils, and now takes the place of the 
 old-fashioned fireplace beneath deck. 
 
 Here Willie found the cook busily employed
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 315 
 
 getting his breakfast, and his fire in such a man 
 ner that he could leave it. 
 
 Just as he had tied up Willie's shoes, and 
 washed his face, the mate sung out, 
 
 " Doctor," a term often applied to the cook, 
 " bear a hand ; hold the turn." 
 
 " Ise put you in the long-boat, sonnie ; den 
 you be out de men's way, and you see ebery- 
 ting what dey do." 
 
 The long-boat, in a West Indiaman, is very 
 large, having great breadth, in order to carry 
 hogsheads of sugar and molasses, casks of water, 
 and other bulky articles. It is set in chocks, to 
 keep it upright, and on the main hatch. Being 
 thus very near, and just aft the galley, it is the 
 receptacle of the cook's wood, and all kinds of 
 odds and ends, and securely lashed to ring-bolts 
 in the deck, and upon either side of it are lashed 
 water-casks and spare spars. These spars afford 
 ed Willie a good foothold by which to clamber, 
 and he was soon in the boat, in the bows of which 
 was a great pile of bags of coffee, with a tar 
 paulin flung over them to keep off the dew, till 
 they could be stowed away in the cabin. 
 
 Seated on these, Willie could see all that was
 
 316 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 going on, listened to the song of the men at the 
 windlass, and watched the cook as he held the 
 turn, while others coiled away the cable as it 
 came in. 
 
 A king conch came up on the fluke of the 
 anchor, some shells, and pieces of coral. ITeriry 
 Griffin secured them, and gave them to Willie. 
 After weighing anchors, the vessel was towed 
 out clear of the shoals, where she lay becalmed, 
 waiting for the sea breeze to spring up, and all 
 hands got breakfast. 
 
 Willie was certainly in a fair way of obtain 
 ing ideas as fast as he could digest them. No 
 sooner had he finished his breakfast, than he was 
 at the galley doors, to ask Frank how he should- 
 get the mud off his conch, coral, and other shells. 
 
 By way of reply, the black drew a bucket of 
 water, and put them all into it. 
 
 " Dere, sonnie, let 'em be dere till I clar up de 
 breakfast, and make de cap'n's bed ; den I show 
 you ; de conch keep alive in de water. Now you 
 jump up in you place, 'cause de men gwine git 
 de vessel under way, and you hear de song, and 
 see de sails go up." 
 
 Having brought up the breakfast dishes from
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 317 
 
 the cabin, the cook sat down to eat his own meal, 
 while Willie, perched on the bags of coffee, was 
 all eyes and ears, and watched the men with a 
 throbbing heart as they went aloft to loose the 
 sails ; for he was sure that some of them would fall 
 down and kill themselves : especially was this the 
 case when he saw Edwards go up to loose the 
 royal, and after that, lie out on the end of the top 
 gallant yard to clear the royal sheet, that was 
 jammed in the sheave-hole, and startled the cook 
 from his breakfast, by crying out to him that 
 Edwards was going to fall. 
 
 When the men began to sway up the yards, and 
 sheet home the topsails, he clapped his hands, and 
 joined in the chorus, after hearing it repeated 
 once or twice. The breeze now began to fill the 
 sails, coming at first in gentle puffs, gradually be 
 coming more frequent, and increasing in strength ; 
 and the vessel gathered headway. 
 
 As the Osprey worked out of the bay, she 
 passed, in a number of instances, where the water 
 was deep quite near the shore. Willie, getting 
 down from his perch, now went to the side, and, 
 getting upon one of the wooden guns, looked at 
 the shore, and in a few moments came running
 
 318 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 up to Walter, and told him the ground was mov 
 ing, dragging him to the side to see ; and it was 
 a long time before the captain could satisfy him 
 that the vessel was running by the land, and not 
 the land by the vessel. He next espied the com 
 pass in the binnacle, and began to examine it; 
 first looking at the compass, and then at the man 
 at the helm, while Walter sat on the hen-coop, 
 watching the expression of his face with a good 
 deal of interest. At length he approached Wal 
 ter, and asked him (who had been expecting the 
 question) what the compass was for, and Avhat the 
 man was standing looking at it all the time for, 
 and putting that " great long beam first one way 
 and then t'other." 
 
 He took the child on his knee, and endeavored 
 to give him some notion of the four points of the 
 compass ; told him the compass pointed north, and 
 tried to show him how, from knowing one, you 
 could find the other points. He got a, piece of 
 chalk, and drew a circle, dividing it into the car 
 dinal points ; then Willie wanted to know what 
 made the needle point north, and finally seemed 
 satisfied with the conclusion that the compass was 
 alive, and knew the way all over the world, and
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 319 
 
 told the men that steered which way to put 
 the tiller. 
 
 Walter succeeded better in explaining to him 
 in what way the rudder directed the vessel, by 
 letting him stand behind the helmsman, put his 
 hands on the tiller, and see that the brigantine 
 turned in just the opposite direction from that in 
 which the man put the tiller. When dinner was 
 over, Willie bethought himself of his conch, coralj 
 and shells. The cook now had leisure to 'attend 
 to him. 
 
 " What a boy you is ! You jes' like Mudder 
 Gary's chicken ; you no still one second ; sky 
 larking all de time." 
 
 " What's Mother Gary's chickens ? " 
 
 ." Leetle birds ; lib on de sea, carry dere eggs 
 under dere wings ; you see 'em bimeby, hear 'em 
 sing out, when de storm gwine come, ' Cook, cook, 
 don't lash de slush-barrel.' " 
 
 " Why don't they want you to lash the slush- 
 barrel ? " 
 
 " Cause dey want de sea wash him oberboard, 
 so dey can eat all de slush. Now Ise take off 
 you jacket, den you paddle in de water much you 
 like."
 
 320 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 
 
 Under the superintendence of the black, who 
 drew several buckets of water for him, Willie 
 washed his shells. The conch was alive, and 
 when left alone in the bucket of water, protruded 
 from the shell, but the moment Willie put his 
 hand into the water, and touched it, drew back. 
 
 " Dat be king conch," said Frank (the name 
 given by sailors to the large, red-lipped shell of 
 that kind). You must kill him." 
 
 " What must I kill him for ? " 
 
 "'Cause, bimeby he die hisself; den he hand 
 some color all fade ; look like sailor's red shirt, 
 what de sweat and sun bleach." 
 
 " How shall I kill him ? " 
 
 " Me show yon, you want him killed." 
 
 Willie concluded to have him killed ; so the cook 
 put the shell in scalding water. 
 
 " Dere, now, he hold his color buful ! You 
 show him you grandfader." 
 
 The wind now blew a whole-sail breeze, there 
 was a sharp sea, and the vessel pitched and rolled. 
 Willie could not walk the deck, but held on by 
 the gripes of the long-boat, and kept his tongue 
 running. 
 
 " You feel sick, boy ? "
 
 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 321 
 
 " No, I don't feel sick." 
 
 " What boy you be ! Nebber see such boy ! 
 Vessel roll and pitch. You no more seasick dan 
 de fish. Ah, youse bully boy ! You make sailor- 
 man den you grow up." 
 
 Although not seasick, yet Willie was now pretty 
 well tired, and as he had not yet got his sea-legs 
 on, could no longer walk the decks, and Walter, 
 afraid he would get overboard, persuaded him to 
 lie down on his watch-coat, that he spread for him 
 on the deck, till supper time ; after which the 
 little fellow turned in, completely wearied out 
 with his first day's experience on shipboard. 
 
 Although Charlie Bell had introduced many im 
 provements in the construction of this vessel, the 
 high quarter-deck was still retained, with a ladder 
 of four steps to get up to it. It was fine sport for 
 Willie, after he got his sea-legs on, to start from 
 the windlass, gallop along the main-deck, up the 
 steps to the quarter-deck, behind the man at the 
 helm, and then along the other side, forward 
 again. When tired of this, he would get into 
 the cable tiers. The old hemp cables were coiled 
 in large ovals, in the forward part of the vessel, 
 called tiers, the oval from six to eight feet across, 
 21
 
 322 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 three feet or more in height, according to the 
 length and size of the cable. In rough weather, 
 when it was difficult to sit on deck without pitch 
 ing away and sliding down to leeward, the men 
 used to get into these tiers to eat ; the thick coils 
 of the rope likewise kept off the spray. 
 
 Into these Willie would get and coop, till the 
 cook or some of the men would come and peep 
 over the edge to find him. If ever a little boy 
 was happy, Willie was, no small part of his happi 
 ness arising from his not being seasick. 
 
 He was a universal favorite, and was not still a 
 moment. He was forever asking questions of 
 every one, and in relation to everything that 
 excited his curiosity. 
 
 The first thing he did when he turned out the 
 second morning, was to get into the long-boat, 
 where he could both command a good view, and, 
 wedged in between two bags of coffee, retain his 
 position. Forthwith he begins to question the 
 cook, who at the galley door was washing his break 
 fast dishes. 
 
 " Frankie, what is that ? " pointing to the lower 
 sail on the foremast. 
 
 " Dat de fore-course."
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 323 
 
 " What is the next one ? " 
 
 " Dat de fore-topsail." 
 
 Thus he went on till he had found out the 
 names of all the sails, spars, and standing rigging, 
 and soon mastered the braces and halyards, clew 
 lines and buntlines. It is evident that he was fast 
 acquiring ideas. He was very fond of lying down 
 between the knight-heads, and looking over the 
 bows to see the vessel break the water ; on the 
 transoms, and looking out of the cabin window ; 
 watching the wake of the vessel, and the eddy of 
 the water at the back of the rudder. 
 
 Walter's great concern was lest he should fall 
 overboard, as 'he was utterly fearless, and would 
 not hesitate to go anywhere he could manage 
 to get. 
 
 Willie had been told by the cook that he could 
 catch rudder fish out of the cabin window with 
 hook and line. This idea once put into his head, 
 Willie ran to the captain and begged a hook and 
 line to catch rudder fish. 
 
 Some of our young readers may need to be in 
 formed that the rudder fish is a small fish, about 
 six inches in length, that for what reason it is im 
 possible to say plays in the quick water around a
 
 324 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 vessel's rudder, arid, though they are so small, will 
 keep right there close to the rudder, no matter 
 how fast the vessel goes through the water, just 
 as the horsefly, however great the speed of the 
 horse, will keep pace with him. The captain 
 probably did not thank the cook for putting. the 
 notion into the child's head; but in order to 
 gratify and not drown him, he fixed him out 
 with a line and hook, a piece of white cloth for 
 bait, and then, making a fathom of spun yarn fast 
 to his leg, fastened the other end to the cabin 
 table. Willie, however, was not old enough to 
 catch a rudder fish, though he continued to fish 
 with great perseverance ; but the cook caught 
 three for him, which went far towards satisfying 
 him. 
 
 " Wouldn't try no more, sonnie ; Ise bake 'em 
 for you in de oven, and make you leetle cake, put 
 de plums in him." 
 
 Willie, having gratified his curiosity in respect 
 to everything that attracted his attention on board 
 the vessel, now devoted himself to repaying the 
 favors he had received from the cook. He fed 
 the hens, a large stock of which Godsoe had sent 
 on board, gave them water and gravel, and fed the
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 325 
 
 goats ; helped pick over the beans -and the coffee, 
 and take the skins from the bananas and plantains ; 
 and when the men were bracing the yards, or 
 hauling aft the sheets, he would get hold of the 
 rope, grunt and tug, and thought he helped very- 
 much ; sometimes, to be sure, he would get trod 
 den on, or spme sailor would get his hard hand 
 over his, and squat it; but though the tears at 
 times came into his eyes, he never would cry aloud. 
 Thus every day was a holiday to Willie ; there was 
 always something to do he never had done, or to 
 see that he never had seen. Little matters inter 
 est or amuse a child ; a hen laid an egg, or was 
 killed or died ; a dolphin or a porpoise was 
 caught, or a flying-fish came on board. 
 
 Willie was extremely social in his habits. One 
 day he would eat in the cabin ; the next, perhaps, 
 with the men. With such crews as are now found 
 on board ship, this would not have been per 
 mitted ; but these sailors were all steady young 
 men, neighbors at home, of good character, and 
 ambitious to rise in their profession. 
 
 Willie took a notion that he wanted to be a 
 sailor-boy, and dress like the rest. For the fun 
 of the thing, Sewall Lancaster took a red shirt
 
 326 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 that he had never worn, cut it down, and made 
 one for Willie ; Henry Griffin made him a pair of 
 duck trousers sailor fashion, and Thaxter a tar 
 paulin hat. He looked funny enough, and cer 
 tainly felt large enough, especially when they hove 
 the log, and permitted him to hold the fourteen- 
 second glass. 
 
 The fourth day out was Sunday. In the glen 
 Willie had never seen any form of public worship, 
 although there was a marked distinction between 
 Sunday and other days of the week, in the fact 
 that there was no work done, and William read 
 his Bible. 
 
 Now, however, he witnessed something resem 
 bling the New England Sabbath. 
 
 The Osprey being a now vessel, and fitted 
 away in great haste, there was a good deal of 
 work to do on the rigging, chafing gear to make, a 
 great deal of sewing and leathering to do. There 
 had been but little time on the passage out, as it 1 
 was short; less while lying in Martinique by 
 reason of boating down the cargo ; consequently 
 the men were busily employed during their watch 
 on deck. But Sabbath day nothing was done ex 
 cept what was absolutely necessary in order to
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOARD. 327 
 
 navigate the vessel. The men washed them 
 selves, put on clean clothes, and came to the 
 cabin, where they had a religious service. The 
 captain read the Scriptures, and made a prayer, 
 to which his recent experience in relation to 
 Godsoe imparted a peculiar fervency. There 
 was no lack of singers among the crew, and 
 several of them, who were religious men, took 
 part in the service. It was the first thing of the 
 kind Willie had ever witnessed. He sat beside 
 Walter all the time as still as a mouse, and when 
 the meeting was over and the men had gone for- 
 ward, got up in Walter's lap, and had a great 
 many questions to ask. The captain answered 
 them as well as he could, talked to him in a 
 manner suited to his comprehension, and told him 
 stories from the Bible. Willie, however, enjoyed 
 himself best in the afternoon. 
 
 Directly after dinner he got asleep in the 
 mate's lap, who put him into the berth without 
 waking him. He slept till the middle of the after 
 noon, and then, going forward, found the cook in 
 the galley with both doors shut, singing hymns for 
 his own enjoyment and edification. Willie sat 
 down beside him and listened till it was time to
 
 328 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 get supper, and hardly moved, so taken up was lie 
 with the singing of the cook, which he thought 
 was a great deal better than what he had listened 
 to in the cabin. The seat in the galley was too 
 high for the little boy; his feet wouldn't come 
 down to the floor ; so he clambered into the cook's 
 lap and hardly stirred hand or foot. 
 
 The black, a simple-hearted, pious man, who 
 could read and write, having been sent to school 
 with Merrithew's children, was highly gratified 
 with the great interest manifested by Willie in 
 his singing, who at the conclusion of every hymn 
 entreated him to sing another. At length he said, 
 " Youse good leetle boy ; nebber seed so good lee- 
 tie boy ; set up to hear de cook sing ; set up in de 
 meeting jest like de windlass bitts. Sabior lub you ; 
 he lub good boys." 
 
 " Cookie, was the Saviour black man ? " 
 
 " I duuno ; s'pose he white man." 
 
 But he loves the black folks don't he ? " 
 
 "Yes; he die for 'ein all de same. Dunnie you 
 lub de black folks?" : 
 
 "Yes; I love Aunt Dinah, William, Johnnie, 
 Nato, and I love you, and the whole ship full." 
 
 " Dat's de way de Sabior do, you leetle blessin
 
 WILLIE ON SHIPBOA'RD. 329 
 
 you is.. I make you nice pie, put spice in him, 
 and all de grievances [ingredients]. I sing you 
 song bout Johnnie's going to de fair." 
 
 " Sing it now, cookie." 
 
 " 0, no, sonnie ; dat no good, sing Sabbat day. Lor' 
 he no like it ; send big wind, hurricane, blow de brig 
 ober ; send big fish, swallow us jest he did Jonah." 
 
 " What did the fish swallow Jonah for ? " 
 
 " Dunno you know ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Den Ise tell you. De good Lor' he say to 
 Jonah, 'You go to Ninny var [Nineveh]. Ninny var 
 awful big place. Tell 'em I gwine 'troy' em, mash 
 'em up.' Jonah he no want to do what de Lor' tell 
 him ; ne git into de ship, go some place else ; den 
 de Lor' he send hurricane, heave de ship on her 
 beam-ends. Jonah he tells de sailors he runned 
 away from de Lor' ; dey heave him oberboard ; Lor' 
 send big fish swallow him right down." 
 
 " Did it kill him?" 
 
 " No ; he pray to de Lor', say he berry sorry for 
 what he did ; nebber do so 'gin." 
 
 " How could he speak in the fish ? " 
 
 "Dunno; s'pose de Lor' know. Den de Lor' tell 
 de fish, 'You go 'shore, puke Jonah up; so he did, 
 and Jonah he glad do what he told him den."
 
 330 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 WILLIE AND THE PILOT. 
 
 NOTHING worthy of note occurred during 
 the remainder of the passage. Willie had 
 ever found the cook competent to answer all his 
 questions in respect to the names of ropes and the 
 management of the vessel; still he was always 
 busy with his pots and pans, and never meddled 
 with the working of the vessel any more than the 
 captain, except to hold a turn in weighing anchor, 
 and tending the fore-sheet, that belayed close by 
 his galley, when the order was given to tack ship. 
 This seemed very singular to Willie, and, as he 
 was not wont to let anything lie on his mind long, 
 he said to his black friend, 
 
 " Cookie, are you a sailor? " 
 
 " Yes, I sailor-man." 
 
 " But you don't go up on the mast." 
 
 " 'Cause it no my duty."
 
 WILLIE AND THE PILOT. 331 
 
 " Can you steer the vessel ? " 
 
 " Sure I can. I able seaman hand, reef, and 
 steer, make splice, make knot, heab de lead wid 
 any man 'board." 
 
 " Then why don't you never go up on the mast 
 and steer, like the other sailors do ? " 
 
 " 'Cause I no ship for sailor ; I ship for cook ; 
 cook the victual for all hands. Bery bad wedder, 
 me go 'loft, but no 'bliged to ; but we had no bad 
 wedder dis vige. Sometimes I ship for sailor ; 
 den I no cook steer de ship, go 'loft, work on de 
 rigging." 
 
 It seemed to Willie that to be a sailor was much 
 more attractive and honorable than to be washing 
 dishes, pounding coffee, chopping meat, and all 
 that ; and he replied, 
 
 " I should think that you'd like better to be a 
 sailor." 
 
 " Dat 'cause you dunno, sonnie. Sailor he turn 
 in, sleep leetle while ; second mate come to de 
 gangway, ' Starboard watch, ahoy ! hear de news 
 dere below?' Den he must turn out. Cook he 
 sleep all night. Sailor-man he eat his grub, want 
 rest leetle ; mate he sing out, ' Turn to, men ! ' 
 Cook he eat his dinner, eat long he like, rest long
 
 332 THE CHILD OP THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 he like, take leetle smoke de pipe ; so he do his 
 work, git his grub ready, none de mate's business ; 
 nobody tell him turn to. Sailor-roan he eat what 
 de cap'n tell de cook gib him, notting more. Cook 
 hab someting ob eberyting de cap'n hab. S'pose 
 de vessel go to Habana : sailor he tired ; work all 
 day on de raff, in hot sun, raftin' green boards. 
 Tree o'clock in de morning, second mate come to 
 de gangway, take rope's end, strike, bang ! bang ! 
 den he sing out, sharp, ' Turn out here, men ! 
 Tow de raff. Hear de news dere below ? ' Sailor- 
 man say, ' Ay, ay, saar ! ' Mate go 'way ; den sailor- 
 man curse; den he growl ; den he say, ' Wish my 
 fader nebber let me go to sea ! ' No matter how 
 much he growl ; hab go tow de raff 'way ober de 
 Reglas 'fore he git any breakfas'. Cook he turn 
 out birneby, make de fire in de galley; den he 
 take drink ob coffee ; take leetle smoke ; git break- 
 fas' ; set on de seat, watch de pot. Sailor-man 
 come 'board half dead, eat his grub, den go raftin' 
 board 'gin. Sailor-man hab eight dollars de month ; 
 cook he hab twelve ; den de cook hab de slush 
 [grease] sell to de soap-man when he git home ; 
 buy my ole woman gown, shoes for chilens. Dat 
 de reason, sonnie, dis chile no be sailor-man, when 
 he git cook's berth."
 
 WILLIE AND THE PILOT. 333 
 
 He might have added other reasons that a 
 good cook makes a contented crew, while a bad 
 one may create a mutiny ; that he can easily waste 
 or save the difference in the wages, especially if 
 he is cook and steward both, as Merrithew was. 
 
 The Osprey took a pilot ten miles outside of 
 Boston Light. The pilot was a man past fifty, 
 large, very tall, and his beard, that he wore at full 
 length, as also his whiskers and mustache, had been 
 once jet black, but were now as white as a sheet. 
 
 Willie, having slept later than common, was 
 eating his breakfast when the pilot came on board. 
 He was climbing up the steps that led to the quar 
 ter-deck, when, raising his eyes, he looked the 
 pilot, who was standing looking at "the compass, 
 full in the face. With a screech he fell back, and 
 picking himself up, ran to Henry Griffin, the 
 second mate, and, clasping his arms around his 
 legs, screamed, " A wolverene ! a wolverene ! " 
 trembling with terror. Henry took him up in his 
 arms, and endeavored in vain to soothe him. 
 
 " Bring him to me," said the captain. 
 
 But Willie resisted with all his might, and 
 begged to be carried to the cook. The captain 
 now came forward, and, taking Willie in his arms, 
 endeavored to ascertain the cause of his terror ;
 
 334 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 but Willie thrust his head under the captain's 
 coat, and cried, " Wolverene ! wolverene ! " 
 
 " Cook," said the captain, " see if you can find 
 out what ails him." 
 
 " Come here, sonnie. Come to you fader, sonnie. 
 Tell him all 'bout it." 
 
 Willie motioned to the cook to take him to the 
 galley ; then he wanted him to shut the doors. 
 The black shut the doors, and took Willie in his 
 lap, who, flinging his arms around the cook's neck, 
 trembled and sobbed as though his heart would 
 break. The captain waited the result outside. 
 
 Willie, finding himself in the galley, and in the 
 cook's arms, at length calmed down, when it came 
 out that he had never seen an old person, or any 
 one that had gray or white hair or beard, in his 
 life. Mr. Livingston had left all his old negroes on 
 his plantation at the north part of the island, and 
 commenced at the glen with a new set. When 
 Willie made his first visit to the vessel, Henry 
 Griffin, while telling him about bears, moose, and 
 deer, had told him a great many stories about the 
 strength and ferocity of the wolverenes ; that the 
 Indians themselves were afraid of them. The 
 relation took strong hold of Willie's imagination, 
 and when he was thus suddenly brought face to
 
 WILLIE AND THE PILOT. 335 
 
 face with the pilot, he could think of nothing but 
 a wolverene, at present the most fearful object he 
 could imagine. Walter was both amused and con 
 cerned, for Willie's grandfather was very gray, and 
 had full whiskers ; and, if the child was going to 
 esteem all old folks and white-headed ones wolver 
 enes, he apprehended trouble in the future. He 
 concluded, however, that the best way was to 
 leave it to time and the cook, and told the negro 
 to endeavor to reconcile the child to the pilot. 
 
 The black manifested an instinctive wisdom in 
 the matter. He did not try to persuade Willie to 
 come out, but shut him in, leaving one door a little 
 way open, while he washed his dishes on the out 
 side. By and by Willie wiped up his tears, and 
 began to talk; then he opened the door a little, 
 and peeped out ; then he ventured out, when the 
 cook washed the traces of tears from his face. 
 Then he ventured to clamber up, and look over 
 the long-boat, but instantly shrank back when he 
 saw the pilot. He got up again, and looked a long 
 time ; saw the pilot talking with the captain ; then 
 saw the captain give the pilot a cigar, and at the 
 same time heard him call to the cook for a light. 
 
 " Dere, sonnie ; see wha' Ise gwine for do ; " and, 
 taking some coals on the fire-shovel, he went aft.
 
 336 THE CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN. 
 
 Willie watched him till he saw the captain and the 
 pilot light their cigars. The smoke came out of 
 the pilot's mouth just as it did out of the captain's, 
 and he heard him give orders to the mate and the 
 helmsman. The moment Willie heard him speak, 
 he dismissed his fears, and told the cook he knew 
 it was a man. The cook then in his fashion and 
 it seemed to be a fashion that Willie could under 
 stand better than that of any other person told 
 him that everybody, as they grew old, changed in 
 appearance, and their hair and beard became gray 
 or white, some more than others. He then ven 
 tured to go with the cook when he carried the 
 dishes to the cabin ; and before night was " play 
 ing horse " on the tiller, and even sat next the pilot 
 at supper. When the vessel hauled in to the wharf, 
 and he accompanied the captain through the streets 
 of Boston, he soon became accustomed to the sight 
 of both old and gray-haired persons. 
 
 The succeeding volume of the series, entitled 
 JOHN GODSOE'S LEGACY, will inform our readers of 
 many things as to the future of Willie and his 
 father, we trust, both instructive and interesting.
 
 u'f?
 
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