Part 5 (1/2)
Ben thought that he must indeed have a sharp pair of eyes, if he could see an object seventy miles off; yet he found that the officer was correct. All the men aloft now saw the mountains, and very soon they could be perceived by those on deck. Shortly after the sun rose, however, thin and light mists ascended, and veiled them from view.
Still the s.h.i.+p sailed on with a fair breeze, hour after hour, and no land appeared. Ben began to fancy that he must have been mistaken. He was somewhat surprised, therefore, when he was sent for into the captain's cabin.
”I find that you were the first to see land this morning, boy Hadden,”
said the captain in a kind tone. ”There is no great merit in that, but after a long pa.s.sage it might be of much consequence, and I wish to reward you. You, however, rendered me a far greater service when you discovered the iceberg rounding Cape Horn. I shall not forget that. In the meantime I present you with a sovereign, to show you that I approve of your conduct on that and other occasions.”
Ben, thanking the captain, left the cabin, highly pleased at the praise he had received, and very glad also to get the sovereign; not that he might spend it on himself, but that he might send it home to his mother; and he had some notion that he could do so by some means or other, but how, he could not tell. He would consult Mr Martin.
”Oh, it was to get that gold sovereign which made you so eager about going aloft of late,” observed Tom, who was somewhat jealous of his companion.
”Yes. I wanted it to send to my mother,” answered Ben quietly.
”But she can't want it. I never send my mother anything, nor does father, that I know of,” exclaimed Tom. ”Much better, Ben, to spend it like a man ash.o.r.e. We could have rare fun with it, depend on that.”
”My mother is a widow, and that is one reason why she should want the money, though yours doesn't,” said Ben. ”Then, though I came to sea in the hope of finding Ned, I also came that I might get money to take care of mother in her old age; so I think it right to send her the first sovereign I have got, and I hope that it will be followed by many more.”
”You are always talking about doing right in this thing and that; but how do you know what is right?” exclaimed Tom, vexed at the idea that he should not benefit, as he thought he ought to do, by the gift his messmate had received.
”How can you ask that?” said Ben. ”Haven't we got the Bible to show us in the first place, and if we can't make up our minds clearly on the matter from it, which, I allow, is possible, then cannot we pray to be guided aright? and does not G.o.d promise that He will hear our prayers, and send the Holy Spirit to guide us?”
”Yes, I know all that,” answered Tom, turning away. In truth, Tom ought to have known it as well as Ben, for his father had frequently told him the same; but, though he had heard, the words had pa.s.sed from one ear out at the other: he had not taken them in.
Early in the day the master had stated the hour at which the coast-line of South America would be seen; for the mountains Ben had discovered are several miles inland, and are many thousand feet high--indeed, the range of the Andes is one of the highest in the world. It now appeared at the hour the master said it would, standing up rocky and broken, from the very margin of the ocean. As the frigate drew nearer, the land looked very dry and barren, and utterly unworthy of the name it bears.
”If you were to see it in winter, just after the rains are over, you would speak very differently of it,” observed Mr Martin, who had been there before. ”Never judge of things, and, above all, of countries, at first sight. At the right time this country looks as green and fresh and beautiful a country as you need ever wish to see.”
In the afternoon the frigate anch.o.r.ed in the bay of Valparaiso, which is lined by lofty hills, underneath one of which, and climbing up the sides, the town is built.
Ben was very anxious to go on sh.o.r.e, that he might inquire among all the sailors he could meet if any of them had heard anything of his brother Ned. Mr Charlton knew this, and arranged that he might have the opportunity of carrying out his plans as far as possible. Whenever a boat left for the sh.o.r.e, Ben was therefore allowed to go in her. Soon after their arrival, a boat in which Ben went was sent from the frigate under command of a mids.h.i.+pman, who had some commission to perform in the town. On leaving the boat, the mids.h.i.+pman said, ”Two of you will remain as boat-keepers; the rest may step on sh.o.r.e, but are not to stray out of sight of the boat. Remember, these are the captain's orders.”
”Ay, ay, sir,” was the answer; but no sooner had the mids.h.i.+pman disappeared up the street, than the men all jumped on sh.o.r.e to look out for a grog-shop. Not one was to be seen, and on that account the place had been selected by the captain for the landing of the boat's crew. In vain they searched.
”Now, Ben Hadden, here's a job for you,” said the c.o.xswain of the boat, when they had come back and sat down in rather a sulky mood. ”Just you scud up the street, and bring us down a couple of bottles of arguardiente. You are certain to find some place where they sell it, and there's five s.h.i.+llings for yourself. I know you want money to send to your mother; Tom told me so. Very right in you. Come, be sharp about it, there's a good lad.”
”Thank you, Brown,” said Ben, not moving from his seat; ”but you forget that Mr Manners said it was the captain's orders no one should go out of sight of the boat. Even if you were to offer me five pounds for mother, I couldn't go--”
”Oh, nonsense, boy!” answered Brown; ”it isn't the money you care about, I know, but do it just to oblige us.”
”No, no, Brown. I have been taught always to do right, whatever comes of it, and never to do wrong, even if it seems as if no harm would come of it,” said Ben firmly.
”All right, I daresay, boy; but surely there's no harm in getting some grog in this hot weather,” argued Brown.
”It's against orders, it's against the regulations, it's disobedience,”
returned Ben. ”We were ordered not to go out of sight of the boat, and unless we do the arguardiente cannot be got.”
”Oh, this is all s.h.i.+lly-shallying humbug!” exclaimed Brown angrily.
”Come, a couple of you, with me, and we'll have the liquor, and be back in a jiffy.”
”Remember, Brown, if you do, and I am asked, I'll speak the truth, I'll warn you,” said Ben undauntedly.
”And I'll break your head, if you do!” exclaimed Brown, springing out of the boat, followed by two of the other men, while the rest soon scattered themselves about the quay, leaving Ben sitting in the boat.