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The Voyages of the Ranger and Crusader, and what befell their Passengers & Crews, a fiction by William H. G. Kingston |
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Chapter 16. Ensign Holt Makes Himself Useful |
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_ CHAPTER SIXTEEN. ENSIGN HOLT MAKES HIMSELF USEFUL PROCEEDINGS AT THE VILLAGE--VARIOUS EMPLOYMENTS--SCHOOL ESTABLISHED-- ENSIGN HOLT RECOVERS HIS SENSES--MRS MORLEY READS THE BIBLE--THE DOCTOR'S EXCURSION INLAND--THE DEAD SEAMAN BURIED--ENSIGN HOLT MAKES HIMSELF USEFUL--ANXIETY ABOUT HARRY AND HIS PARTY--FANNY'S MEDITATIONS-- HOLT LEADS EXPEDITION TO LOOK FOR HARRY. The party at the village were busily employed. The doctor had set the armourer and cooper to work, to make, under his superintendence, an apparatus for manufacturing sugar and beer. The women, directed by the ever-active Mrs Rumbelow, were scraping the roots which had been collected for that purpose, while the tanner was trying various ways of preparing the seals'-skins. Two or three of the men were endeavouring, with fair success, to make shoes from some they had roughly cured, to replace those of several of the party which were nearly worn-out. Captain Twopenny and his party returned from his hunting expedition with three hogs. Though they had seen traces of many more, the animals were so active and the country so difficult that they had been unable to kill them. Still it was satisfactory to know that the island possessed means of giving them support besides that which the waters afforded. He had also shot as many birds as the men could carry. The doctor, ever fertile in resources, had had a stone hut constructed in which both birds and fish could be smoke-dried after the fashion practised in England and elsewhere. The children had now plenty of work in plucking the birds ready for curing, and afterwards in sorting the feathers for beds and coverlids. From the first Mrs Morley and her daughters had visited the women's hut every evening to read the Scriptures and to comfort them in their sorrow. The poor women, most of whom had left their husbands on board the "Ranger," well knew how truly Mrs Morley could sympathise with them, and listened to her exhortations and advice. Some who had before been very indifferent to matters of religion now looked forward with satisfaction each day to the time when they were to receive a visit from her and the young ladies. She and her daughters held school with all the children at their cottage. It was carried on under difficulties, for they had only one book, but that was the Bible. The young ladies devised, however, various means for teaching the little ones. Some thin flat stones served as slates, and young Broke cut out several sets of letters from wood, which were greatly valued. On Sunday the whole party assembled in the men's hut, where Harry had conducted a service, and every evening also he had borrowed Mrs Morley's Bible, and read a chapter to the men. During his absence she now did the same. This system tended greatly to keep the people contented and orderly. They saw that those of superior education among them were resigned to the trials they were called on to endure, and were trusting to the support and protection of that great and merciful God whose message of love to man they every day heard read, and who would send them relief in His good time. Young as Harry Shafto was, by his firmness and decision he had maintained a strict discipline among the little band, and even the few who might have been disposed to be mutinous never ventured to dispute his authority. Even now that he was absent, they implicitly obeyed the doctor, whom he had left in command. Poor Ensign Holt has not been mentioned for some time. He had gradually been improving in health and spirits. "Come, Holt," said Dr Davis to him one morning. "It is time that you should rouse yourself. We are all exerting ourselves to the utmost for the common good, and I wonder you are not ashamed to sit in the hut doing nothing. Surely it is more degrading to eat the bread of idleness than to labour like the rest of us. Take a spade in hand, and come and dig for roots; or, if you like it better, try to catch, some fish. At least endeavour to gain your daily bread." "If I do anything, I'll work as hard as the rest of you," said the ensign, with more intelligence in his countenance than had long been there. "What are you going to be about, doctor?" "To dig for roots. That I suspect was among the first occupations of primeval man, and requires no great exertion of the mind," answered the doctor. "Here is a spade. Come along." Without another word the young officer followed his kind friend, and having been shown the leaf beneath which the root was to be found, set to work and dug away diligently till he had collected as many as he could carry. The doctor sent him back to the village with them, and told him to return without delay. All day long he worked away, and seemed very proud of the pile of roots he had dug up. That evening, by the doctor's invitation, he attended the meeting in the men's hut, and listened with great attention while Mrs Morley read the Bible. She afterwards spoke a few kind words to him, expressing her pleasure at seeing him so much improved in health. He burst into tears. "I have been a good-for-nothing foolish fellow," he said at length. "But oh, Mrs Morley, if you would but take me in hand, I think there might be a chance of my improvement." "If you seek for strength and guidance whence alone it can come, you may be very certain there will be an improvement, dear Mr Holt," said Mrs Morley, kindly. "The trials you have gone through, and may yet have to endure, will then prove a blessing to you. I will gladly give you counsel and advice, but more I cannot do. Let me remind you only of God's promise, 'that if you seek you will find; if you knock, it shall be opened unto you.'" From that day forward a great change was perceptible in the young ensign. He laboured as hard as any one; and whenever he could borrow Mrs Morley's Bible, he would sit up for hours together at night reading it diligently. This had occurred some days before Harry went on his expedition to the harbour. The doctor reminded Captain Twopenny of their intention of burying the body of the unfortunate seaman they had found on the beach. He invited Ensign Holt to accompany him, taking also two men, with spades, who also carried their clubs in case they should fall in with seals. He had his gun, and proposed that Holt should take one also. "No," answered the ensign. "I am but a poor shot, and should only throw away powder. I will carry your game. I am not of use for much else." Formerly, how indignant he would have been had such an idea been suggested to him. They started at daybreak, hoping to get back at night, and to find Shafto and his companions had returned. The journey was a very fatiguing one. Though the captain knew the way tolerably well, it was noon before they reached the little bay where the dead seaman lay. The ensign seemed greatly struck when he saw it. "Poor fellow," he said, contemplating the body. "I thought my fate a very hard one, and yet how infinitely worse was that poor fellow's, cast on this inhospitable shore, perhaps deserted by his companions, and left to die in all the agonies of starvation, without a human voice to soothe his last hours." "It won't do to give way to such thoughts as those, Holt," observed the captain, who had no sympathy with the ensign's present state. "Come, lads, we will bury the poor fellow, as we promised, and when we get back, I daresay Mrs Morley will speak about the subject. We have no time to lose, or we shall run the risk of being benighted on the mountain side." A shallow grave was dug in the soft earth at the foot of the cliff, and the melancholy remnant of humanity was lifted into it. "Poor fellow," said one of the seamen. "You or I, Bill, may come to this one of these days, though, as Mrs Morley says, it matters little if we are prepared." "Come, lads," cried the captain from the top of the cliff, "be quick now. We must make the best of our way homewards." The party were tolerably successful in obtaining provisions during the excursion. The captain killed a hog and a number of birds, and the men, after a short combat, knocked a seal on the head whom they found wandering in the woods. The ensign shouldered the hog--fortunately for him, not a very heavy one--the men having cut up the seal, divided the pieces between them, and the captain carried the birds; and thus heavily laden they reached the village soon after nightfall. Before this the rain had begun to fall in dense showers, and a strong gale was blowing. They found their friends in considerable anxiety about Harry Shafto and his party, who had not returned. The next day was Sunday, and he had promised to be back without fail. A fire was kept burning on the beach, by the doctor's directions, during the night, to guide his boat into the bay. Emma and Fanny, who had persuaded their mother to go to bed, sat up watching anxiously for his return. Frequently they went to the door, hoping to hear the voices of him and his companions; but the only sound which reached their ears was the howling of the wind through the neighbouring trees, and the roar of the surf upon the rocky shore. They had a good excuse for sitting up, little Bessy being somewhat ill and restless. "I trust no accident has happened to Mr Shafto," said Emma, when, after waiting several hours, Harry did not appear. "His life is of great consequence to us all." "It is indeed," sighed Fanny. "Oh, no, no, it would be too dreadful to think of. But what can have delayed him?" "The boat may have struck on the rocks, and have been injured," observed Emma; "or, as the wind blows down the harbour, that may have delayed him." "But the wind was blowing up the harbour all day," said Fanny. "I hope Dr Davis will send an expedition along the shore to search for them. They took, I am afraid, but a small amount of provisions, and may be suffering from hunger." "I daresay they will, after all, appear early to-morrow," observed Emma. "They can row up, if they are unable to sail." Fanny was less hopeful than her sister. She could not help acknowledging to herself that she felt a deep interest in the brave young officer, under whose guidance, and in consequence of whose judgment and courage, the lives of the whole party had--humanly speaking--been preserved. Though Harry had treated her, and her mother and sister, with the most gentle and thoughtful attention, he had not by word or look showed that he felt especial regard for her. But this, she was sure that, under the circumstances in which they were placed, he would be very careful to avoid doing, "Yet why should I allow such thoughts to enter my mind," she said to herself. "Perhaps it may be our lot never to leave this place, and how selfish in me to think thus when my poor mother is weighed down with such a burden of grief, which it should be my sole thought how best to alleviate!" The morning came. The gale was blowing with even greater violence than during the night. Still there were no signs of the boat. The seamen told the doctor that this was no wonder, as she would be unable to get up while the wind held in its present quarter. Still, several of them went down along the shore to a considerable distance, but came back without having seen any signs of the missing party, two of them who went beyond the rest declaring that they could not get any further, as Tippo Sahib had chased them, and that they had had to run for their lives. The usual Sunday service was conducted in the men's hut, and all seemed especially serious and attentive. As soon as it was over, Ensign Holt, as he accompanied the doctor to their hut, said, "I hope all is well with Shafto; but still the ladies seem very anxious about him; and if you will let me, doctor, I will start off, and try to find our friends. I daresay, one or two of the men will be ready to accompany me, and we will take as large a supply of provisions as we can carry. They may, at all events, be hard up for food, wherever they are." "A good idea of yours, Holt," answered the doctor, "though, as probably they would have been able to kill a seal or two, I have no apprehension on that score. My idea is that the boat has met in with an accident somewhere round the coast. The danger is that you may miss them, as they will probably take the shortest route across the country. We will talk the matter over. It is late for starting to-day; but if they do not appear to-night, or early to-morrow morning, I should say that you ought to set off." Had Fanny Morley been consulted she might possibly have advised the ensign to set off immediately. She was very grateful to him when she heard of his proposal; and she and Emma assisted Mrs Rumbelow in arranging some knapsacks and baskets, in which he and his companions might carry provisions for the party. The day passed by--the morning came--the boat did not appear--and the ensign, with two men and young Broke, who begged to accompany them, prepared to set out on their expedition. Few would have recognised the helpless creature who landed on the island a short time before in the active young man, with a bright and intelligent eye, who was to lead the party. He felt that he had work before him, and that he could be of use to his fellow-creatures. _ |
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