Part 22 (1/2)
Jiry on my account to speak, but I lifted upsister, if not on h; ”but you are not quite of so ht delay us not only for a few hours, but for days, perhaps, and, doctor, I cannot listen to you
We've got a favourable breeze, and I intend to make the best use of it”
Once more I implored and entreated that the captain would not carry us away from home All was of no use; he would not listen either to the doctor or the ry, he said he would not hear another word on the subject, and Jim and I, by the doctor's advice, went for'ard to be out of his way There we stood, watching with straining eyes the shore, past which ere running, and at length the Land's End caht
”Cheer up, my lads,” said our kind friend, who cae, and we may be driven back, or we may be able to put you on board some homeward-bound shi+p Cheer up! Cheer up!”
The land, as I stood gazing at it, rapidly sank below the horizon I strained my eyes--the last faint line had disappeared I could have cried, butcarried away on ht of the sorrow my kind relatives in Shetland would feel--Mr Trail and his daughter, and dear little Maggie, and more than all how Mary would feel as she waited day after day for the arrival of the brig which was never to appear, and then, when all hope was gone, how she would s
If I could have sent but a line toabsent, it would not have so ood care of her, and she would have written to Mr Troil to explain what had happened; but as it was I could scarcely bear it
”The doctor told us to cheer up, and that's what I say to you, Peter,”
cried Ji to console me ”Maybe we shall fall in with a hoh I don't think there's ain for a long time to come if we don't, as it looks as if the ould hold in its present quarter till we are well out in the Atlantic”
Jiht With yards squared and every stitch of canvas the shi+p could carry, led along at a rate which soon left our native land far astern
I had been too long at sea, and knew the duties of a sailor too well, to feel for e under similar circumstances would have done Ji I determined to exertwe ht fall in with a homeward-bound shi+p, and I concluded that the captain would, without hesitation, put Jim and me on board her
The day after we took our departure froether on deck
”What are those youngsters idling there for?” he exclai to Mr Griffiths ”Put them in a watch at once, and let me see that they do their duty If they don't, let them look out for squalls!”
”Ay, ay, sir!” answered the h of a very independent spirit, always spoke respectfully to the captain
He considerately placed us both in the sa that we should like it, as we should be able to talk at night ere on deck and had no especial duty to perform
We had no reason to coh as some of them were The doctor and Mr Griffiths always behaved kindly, but the captain took no further notice of us, except when he ordered Ji To my surprise, I found that the shi+p was the _Intrepid_--the very one my father and I had put Mr Griffiths and the doctor on board so many years before She was then quite a new shi+p, and, being strongly-built, she was as sound as ever I have spoken of her as a shi+p, but she was barque-rigged, as al ed craft The _Intrepid_ was upwards of three hundred tons burden, with a crew of thirty hands all told, and stored, I found, for a cruise of two years orothers should any of them be lost There were three mates, a carpenter and cooper and their mates; an armourer, a steward, and cook; four boat-steerers, four able seamen, six ordinary seamen, the doctor, two apprentices, Jim, and me
I had never before been on board a whaler, and as I listened to the long yarns of thechases after the ent reasons for returning hoone out to the South Seas to witness with ed as land
Jim and I made it out pretty ith the two apprentices Horner was inclined to look down upon Jim for his want of education Esdale treated us both alike with gentleness and consideration, and offered to teach Jim to read and write if he wished to learn It had never occurred to ether, I had not had ht ere on board I akened by feeling so out, not a little frightened
”What's up?” cried Horner, who had just coreat big brute of some sort has come into my bunk; I wonder it hasn't bitten ot another here!” exclaimed Jim, who just then awoke ”What in the world is it?”
Horner laughed loudly
”Why, they're our ferrets,” he answered ”Didn't you see theain,” answered Ji the creature down on the deck
Horner then told us that the captain had taken a couple on board at Hull to kill the rats, and that although a hutch had been ht for the sake of obtaining a warm berth, and that if we put them into their hutch they would be sure to find their way back again into his or Esdale's bunks before they had been many minutes asleep
The truth was the ferrets were more afraid of the rats than the rats were of thehts ot Horner to carry them down into the hold, from which they never ascended, and we concluded that they either got drowned in the bilge water or were eaten up by the rats