"Of course, you wish to know who my father and mother were: that is soon
told. My father was the captain of a merchant vessel, which traded from
South Shields to Hamburg, and my poor mother, God bless her, was the
daughter of a half-pay militia captain, who died about two months after
their marriage. The property which the old gentleman had bequeathed to
my mother was added to that which my father had already vested in the
brig, and he then owned one-third of the vessel; the other two-thirds
were the property of a very rich ship-builder and owner, of the name of
Masterman. What with the profits of the share he held of the vessel and
his pay as captain, my father was well to do. Mr Masterman, who had a
very high opinion of my father, and gained much money by his exertions
and good management, was present at the marriage, and when I was born,
about a year afterwards, he stood for me as godfather. Every one
considered that this was a most advantageous circumstance for me, and
congratulated my father and mother; for Mr Masterman was a bachelor, of
nearly sixty years, without any near relations. It is true, that he was
very fond of money; but that, they said, was all the better, as he could
not take it away with him when he died. An end, however, was soon put
to all their worldly ideas, for a year after I was born, my father was
drowned at sea, his vessel and the whole of her crew being lost on the
Texel sands; and my mother found herself a widow, with a child scarcely
weaned, when she was but twenty-two years of age.
"It was supposed that my mother would still have sufficient to live
upon, as the ship had been insured at two-thirds of her value; but, to
the astonishment of everybody, Mr Masterman contrived to make it appear
that it was his two-thirds of the vessel which had been insured."
"What is insurance?" inquired William.
"Insurance, my dear boy, is paying a certain sum to people who are
called underwriters, that in case the vessel or cargo is lost or
damaged, the loss or damage is made good to the owners of the vessel or
cargo. You pay in proportion to the risk incurred. Supposing you
wished to insure one thousand pounds on a vessel or cargo, and ten per
cent was required, you would, if the vessel came home safe, pay the
underwriters one hundred pounds; if, on the contrary, the vessel was
lost, the underwriters would have to pay you one thousand pounds, the
sum which you had insured. I beg your pardon for the interruption,
Ready."
"No need, Mr Seagrave; we never should lose an opportunity of teaching
the young. Well, how far the assertion of Mr Masterman was correct or
not, it was impossible at the time to say; but I do know that everybody
cried out `shame', and that if he did deprive the widow, he had much to
answer for; for the Bible says, `Pure religion is to visit the
fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep yourself
unspotted in the world'. The consequence was, that my mother had little
or nothing to live upon; but she found friends who assisted her, and she
worked embroidery, and contrived to get on somehow until I was eight or
nine years of age."
"But did not your godfather come forward to the assistance of your
mother?" inquired Mr Seagrave.
"No, sir, strange to say, he did not; and that made people talk the
more. I believe it was the abuse of him, which he did not fail to hear,
and which he ascribed to my mother, which turned him away from us;
perhaps it was his own conscience, for we always dislike those we have
injured."
"Unfortunately, there is great truth in that remark of yours, Ready,"
observed Mr Seagrave; "still, it is strange that he did not do
something."
"It was very strange, sir,--at least, so it appeared at the time, but he
was very fond of money, and irritated at the reports and observations
which were made about him. But, to go on, sir, I was a strong, hardy
boy, and, whenever I could escape from my mother or school, was always
found by the water-side or on board of the vessels. In the summer-time
I was half the day in water, and was a very good swimmer. My mother
perceived my fondness for the profession, and tried all she could to
divert my thoughts some other way. She told me of the dangers and
hardships which sailors went through, and always ended with my father's
death and a flood of tears.
"We certainly are of a perverse nature, as I have often heard the
clergyman say, for it appears to me that we always wish to do that which
we are told not to do. If my mother had not been always persuading me
against going to sea, I really believe I might have stayed at home.
I've often thought since, how selfish and unfeeling I must have been. I
was too young to know what pain I was giving my mother, and how anxiety
was preying upon her, all on my account. Children cannot feel it; if
they did, they would do otherwise, for our hearts are seldom hard until
we grow older."
"I agree with you, Ready," said Mr Seagrave. "If children really knew
how much their parents suffer when they behave ill, how alarmed they are
at any proofs of wickedness in them, they would be much better."
"We never find that out, sir, till it is too late," continued Ready.
"Well, sir, I was little more than nine years old, when, on a very windy
day, and the water rough, a hawser, by which a vessel was fast to the
wharf, was carried away with a violent jerk, and the broken part, as it
flew out, struck a person who was at the edge of the wharf, and knocked
him into the sea. I heard the crying out, and the men from the wharf
and from the ships were throwing ropes to him, but he could not catch
hold of them; indeed, he could not swim well, and the water was rough.
I caught a rope that had been hauled in again, and leapt off the wharf.
"Young as I was, I swam like a duck, and put the rope into his hands
just as he was going down. He clung to it as drowning men only can
cling, and was hauled to the piles, and soon afterwards a boat, which
had been lowered from the stern of one of the vessels, picked us both
up. We were taken to a public-house, and put into bed till dry clothes
could be sent for us; and then I found that the person I had saved was
my godfather, Mr Masterman. Everyone was loud in my praise; and,
although perhaps I ought not to say it, it was a bold act for so young a
boy as I was. The sailors took me home to my mother in a sort of
triumphal procession; and she, poor thing, when she heard what I had
done, embraced me over and over again, one moment rejoicing at my
preservation, and the next weeping bitterly at the thoughts of the
danger I had encountered, and the probability that my bold spirit would
lead me into still greater."
"But she did not blame you for what you had done?"
"Oh no, William; she felt that I had done my duty towards my neighbour,
and perhaps she felt in her own heart that I had returned good for evil;
but she did not say so. The next day Mr Masterman called upon us; he
certainly looked very foolish and confused when he asked for his godson,
whom he had so long neglected. My mother, who felt how useful he might
be to me, received him very kindly; but I had been often told of his
neglect of me and my mother, and of his supposed unfair conduct towards
my father, and had taken a violent dislike to him; his advances towards
me were therefore very coolly received. I felt glad that I had saved
him; but although I could not exactly understand my own feelings at the
time, I am ashamed to say that my pleasure was not derived from having
done a good action, so much as indulging a feeling of revenge in having
put one under an obligation who had treated me ill; this arose from my
proud spirit, which my mother could not check. So you see, William,
there was very little merit in what I had done, as, after I had done it,
I indulged those feelings which I ought to have checked."
"I think I could not have helped feeling the same, Ready, under such
circumstances," replied William.
"The impulse which induced me to act was good," replied Ready; "but the
feeling which I indulged in afterwards took away the whole merit of the
deed. I am stating what I believe to be the truth; and an old man like
me can look upon the past without bias, but not without regret. Mr
Masterman made but a short visit; he told my mother that he would now
take care of me and bring me up to the business of a ship-builder as
soon as I was old enough to leave school, and that in the meantime he
would pay all my expenses. My poor mother was very grateful, and shed
tears of joy; and when Mr Masterman went away, she embraced me, and
said that now she was happy, as I should have a profession on shore and
not go to sea. I must do justice to Mr Masterman; he kept his word and
sent money to my mother, so that she became quite cheerful and
comfortable, and everyone congratulated her, and she used to fondle me,
and say, it was all through me that she was relieved from her distress."
"How happy that must have made you, Ready!" said William.
"Yes, it did, but it made me also very proud. Strange to say, I could
not conquer my dislike to Mr Masterman; I had nourished the feeling too
long. I could not bear that my mother should be under obligations to
him, or that he should pay for my schooling; it hurt my foolish pride,
young as I then was; and although my mother was happy, I was not.
Besides, as I was put to a better school, and was obliged to remain with
the other boys, I could no longer run about the wharfs, or go on board
the vessels, as before. I did not see then, as I do now, that it was
all for my good but I became discontented and unhappy, merely because I
was obliged to pay attention to my learning, and could no longer have my
own way. The master complained of me; and Mr Masterman called and
scolded me well. I became more disobedient, and then I was punished.
This irritated me, and I made up my mind that I would run away to sea.
You see, William, I was all in the wrong; and so will all boys be who
think they know better than those who have charge of them; and now only
see what I probably lost by my foolish conduct. I say _probably_, for
no one can calculate or foresee what is to take place; but, as far as
appearances went, I had every prospect of receiving a good education--of
succeeding Mr Masterman in his business, and, very probably, of
inheriting his large fortune; so that I might have been at this time a
rich and well-educated man, surrounded with all the comforts and
luxuries of life; perhaps with an amiable wife and large family round
me, to make me still happier, instead of being what I now am, a poor,
worn-out old seaman upon a desert isle. I point this out to you,
William, to show how one false and foolish step in the young may affect
their whole prospects in life; and, instead of enabling them to sail
down with the stream of prosperity, may leave them to struggle against
the current of adversity, as has been the case with me."
"It is, indeed, a good lesson, Ready," said Mr Seagrave.
"It is; not that I repine at my lot, even while I regret the errors that
led to it. An all-wise and gracious God disposes of us as he thinks
best; and I can now say with perfect sincerity, `Thy will, not mine, be
done'."
"Your misfortunes have, however, proved an incalculable benefit to us,
Ready," observed Mrs Seagrave; "for had you not gone to sea, and been
on board the ship when the crew deserted us, what would have become of
us?"
"Well, madam, it is some comfort to think that a worn-out old seaman
like myself has been of some use."