Part 8 (1/2)

'Ay, ay, miss, thanks to the captain, the best officer that ever trod quarter-deck, bless his heart. A hot time he'll be giving the ”froggies,” I'll warrant him, so he and the old _Mermaid_ be getting any work to do.'

'I'm afraid you'll find it rather dull here after where you've been,'

said Betty.

'Not I, missy,' was the cheery answer; 'places is much as you makes 'em all the world over, and it's fair and right the old hulk should put into port and see the young craft putting out. I'll find enough to keep me from rusting, never you fear.'

'My nephew, Master G.o.dfrey, likes stories better than anything,' said Angel, putting the little boy forward; 'will you tell him about some of the things you have seen, while I talk to Martha?'

G.o.dfrey had been watching the sailor with earnest eyes all the time he talked, and now he came up readily and sat down on the bench beside him; Betty, who was devoted to animals, ran down to ask after the cows and coax them with cabbages, and Angelica went to Martha in the kitchen. A woman in the village was ill, and she wanted to consult Martha about what to take to her. It took a good time to talk it over, and when she came out again the twilight was deepening. Hezekiah still sat on the bench outside, and Betty was sitting by him, while Pete, Patty, Nancy, and their father stood silently listening. As for G.o.dfrey he sat as if he had not moved since she left him, and his eyes never left the sailor's face, except to glance at what the old man was drawing on the ground with his stick, the line of the s.h.i.+ps in a great sea-fight. Long afterwards Angel remembered it all, as one goes back to scenes which seemed of no importance at the time but were really the beginning of great events--the autumn evening, with the damp heavy scent on the air, the white mist clinging to the low ground, while above the sky cleared for a starry night, the late monthly roses on the house, the old sailor and his little group of listeners.

'G.o.dfrey,' she said softly, 'it is time to go home.'

The little boy started and drew a long breath.

'Bless him, he ain't here,' chuckled old Kiah; 'he's off the Spanish coast, missy, along o' Lord Nelson and our captain. You come again, young master, and I'll tell you the rest.' And then he would hobble himself to the gate to let them out. 'Never tell me,' he said, as Pete hurried to do it instead and Patty to give him her arm, 'I'm not quite useless yet, no more I am; I told the captain he'd find me doing a hand's turn when he came home. I've got one leg and a hand and a half the Frenchies left me, and I'll make something of them if I'm not much mistaken.'

All the way home Betty talked eagerly about the old sailor, where he had been, what he had seen, the great men he had known. G.o.dfrey said not a word and asked no questions, and yet Angel was sure he thought of nothing else all the evening. But he told none of his thoughts until just before he was going to say his prayers. Then he said suddenly:

'Aunt Angel, that man is a very useful man; he must have been the usefullest man that could be when his leg was on.'

Then, leaning on her lap as he did when he was excited, he went on:

'When you want something, you ask G.o.d for it, don't you, Aunt Angel?'

'We ask that we may have it if G.o.d pleases,' said Angel reverently.

'Yes,' said G.o.dfrey, 'and I am going to ask, if it pleases Him, to call me into the state of being a useful sailor.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: Chapter IV tailpiece]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Chapter V headpiece]

CHAPTER V

THE WRONG END

'You won't say, what is it I want? but, what is it I've got to do?

What have I got to do or to bear, and how can I do it or bear it best?

That's the only safe point to make for, my lad; make for it and leave the rest.'--J. H. EWING.

For the next few days Betty and her nephew spent most of their spare time on Hezekiah's bench under the kitchen window at the Place. Betty talked of nothing but naval battles, but G.o.dfrey still said very little, and after that Sunday night never spoke again of being a sailor. Angel wondered, for it was not like G.o.dfrey, who generally had plenty to say; but she noticed sometimes, when Betty was telling Kiah Parker's stories, that G.o.dfrey's face took that strange resolute set that surprised her so much when he first came. It gave her new ideas about her little nephew, and showed her that, under all his liveliness and fancy, there was a strong will which it would be very hard to alter if once he made up his mind. It frightened her a little, for she did not feel half wise enough to lead him to make up his mind the right way. She did not talk to Betty about it; indeed at present Betty's head seemed too full of s.h.i.+ps to hold anything else. Hezekiah had made G.o.dfrey a beautiful little model vessel, carpentering quite wonderfully with his remaining fingers, and had taught him the names of the ropes, which the boy learnt directly. That was all very well, but when it came to his saying them over to Betty when he ought to have been doing his reading lesson, and drawing little s.h.i.+ps on the slate when he should have been at his sums, Angel began to be rather alarmed, and ventured to speak gently to her sister about G.o.dfrey's neglecting his lessons. Betty was always ready enough to own herself in the wrong; she was overwhelmed with penitence before Angel had half finished her gentle remonstrance.

'I declare I want looking after twenty times more than G.o.dfrey does,'

she exclaimed, with the quick tears in her bright eyes. 'I won't go near Kiah for a week, and no more shall he.'