A few mornings afterwards, Juno came in before breakfast with six eggs
in her apron, which she had found in the hen-house.
"Look, Missy Seagrave--fowls lay eggs--soon have plenty--plenty for
Master William--make him well again--and plenty for chickens by and by."
"You haven't taken them all out of the nests, Juno; have you?"
"No; leave one in each nest for hen to see."
"Well, then, we will keep them for William, and I hope, as you say, they
will make him strong again."
"I am getting quite strong now, mother," replied William; "I think it
would be better to leave the eggs for the hens to sit upon."
"No, no, William; your health is of more consequence than having early
chickens."
For a few days Mr Seagrave and Ready were employed at the garden
clearing away the weeds, which had begun to sprout up along with the
seeds which had been sown; during which time William recovered very
fast. The two first days, Juno brought in three or four eggs regularly;
but on the third day there were none to be found. On the fourth day the
hens appeared also not to have laid, much to the surprise of Mrs
Seagrave; as when hens commence laying eggs they usually continue. On
the fifth morning, when they sat down to breakfast, Master Tommy did not
make his appearance, and Mrs Seagrave asked where he was.
"I suspect, madam," said Old Ready, laughing, "that Tommy will not come
either to his breakfast or his dinner to-day."
"What can you mean, Ready?" said Mrs Seagrave.
"Why, madam, I will tell you. I thought it very odd that there were no
eggs, and I thought it probable that the hens might have laid astray; so
I went about yesterday evening to search. I could not find any eggs,
but I found the egg-shells, hid under some cocoa-nut leaves; and I
argued, that if an animal, supposing there was any on the island, had
taken the eggs, it would not have been so careful to hide the
egg-shells. So, this morning, I fastened up the door of the hen-house,
and only left open the little sliding door, by which the fowls go in to
roost; and then, after you were up, I watched behind the trees, and saw
Tommy come out, and go to the hen-house. He tried the door, and finding
it fast, crept into the hen-house by the little sliding-door. As soon
as he was in I let down the slide, and fastened it with a nail; so there
he is, caught in his own trap."
"And there shall he remain all day, the little glutton!" said Mr
Seagrave.
"Yes, it will serve him right," replied Mrs Seagrave; "and be a lesson
to him."
Mr Seagrave, Ready, and William, as usual, went down to their work;
Mrs Seagrave and Juno, with little Caroline, were busy indoors. Tommy
remained very quiet for an hour, when he commenced roaring; but it was
of no use, no one paid any attention to him. At dinner-time he began to
roar again, but with as little success: it was not till the evening that
the door of the hen-house was opened, and Tommy permitted to come out.
He looked very foolish; and sat down in a corner without speaking.
"Well, Tommy, how many eggs did you suck to-day?" said Ready.
"Tommy won't suck eggs any more," said the urchin.
"No, you had better not," replied Mr Seagrave, "or you will find, in
the end, that you will have less to eat, instead of more, as you have
this day."
Tommy waited very quietly and very sulkily till supper was ready, when
he made up for lost time. After which Ready continued his narrative.
"I told you, William, that I was informed by the gentleman on the coach
that my mother had died of a broken heart, in consequence of my supposed
death. I was in agony until I arrived at Newcastle, where I could
ascertain all the facts connected with her decease. When the coach
stopped, the gentleman, who had remained outside, came to the coach
door, and said to me, `If I mistake not, you are Masterman Ready, who
ran away to sea; are you not?' `Yes, sir,' replied I, very sorrowfully,
`I am.' `Well, my man,' said he, `cheer up; when you went away you were
young and thoughtless, and certainly had no idea that you would have
distressed your mother as you did. It was not your going to sea, but
the report of your death, which preyed so much upon her mind; and that
was not your fault. You must come with me, as I have something to say
to you.'
"`I will call upon you to-morrow, sir,' replied I; `I cannot do anything
until I talk to the neighbours and visit my poor mother's grave. It is
very true that I did not intend to distress my mother; and that the
report of my death was no fault of mine. But I cannot help feeling
that, if I had not been so thoughtless, she would be still alive and
happy.' The gentleman gave me his address, and I promised to call upon
him next morning. I then went to the house my mother used to live in.
I knew that she was not there; yet I was disappointed and annoyed when I
heard merry laughter within. I looked in, for the door was open; in the
corner where my mother used to sit, there was a mangle, and two women
busily at work; others were ironing at a large table; and when they
cried out to me, `What do you want?' and laughed at me, I turned away in
disgust, and went to a neighbouring cottage, the inmates of which had
been very intimate with my mother. I found the wife at home, but she
did not know me; and I told her who I was. She had attended my mother
during her illness, till the day of her death; and she told me all I
wished to know. It was some little relief to my mind to hear that my
poor mother could not have lived, as she had an incurable cancer; but at
the same time the woman told me that I was ever in her thoughts, and
that my name was the last word on her lips. She also said that Mr
Masterman had been very kind to my mother, and that she had wanted
nothing. I then asked her to show me where my mother had been buried.
She put on her bonnet, and led me to the grave, and then, at my request,
she left me. I seated myself down by the mound of turf which covered
her, and long and bitterly did I weep her loss and pray for forgiveness.
"It was quite dark when I left the spot and went back to the cottage of
the kind woman who had attended my mother. I conversed with her and her
husband till late, and then, as they offered me a bed, I remained with
them that night. Next morning I went to keep my appointment with the
gentleman whom I had met in the coach: I found by the brass plate on the
door that he was a lawyer. He desired me to sit down, and then he
closed the door carefully, and having asked me many questions, to
ascertain if I was really Masterman Ready, he said he was the person
employed at Mr Masterman's death, and that he had found a paper which
was of great consequence, as it proved that the insurance of the vessel
which had belonged to my father and Mr Masterman, and which had been
lost, had not been made on Mr Masterman's share only, but upon my
father's as well, and that Mr Masterman had defrauded my mother. He
said he had found the paper in a secret drawer some time after Mr
Masterman's death, and that my mother being dead, and I being supposed
to be dead, he did not see any use in making known so disagreeable a
circumstance; but that, now I had re-appeared, it was his duty so to do,
and that he would arrange the matter for me, if I pleased, with the
corporation of the town, to whom all Mr Masterman's property had been
left in trust to build an hospital and almshouses. He said that the
insurance on the vessel was three thousand pounds, and that one-third of
the vessel belonged to my father, so that a thousand pounds were due to
him, which the interest for so many years would increase to above two
thousand pounds. This was good news for me, and you may suppose I
readily agreed to all he proposed. He set to work at once, and having
called together the mayor and corporation of the town, and proved the
document, they immediately agreed that I was entitled to the money, and
that it should be paid to me without any contest. Thus you see, Master
William, was a new temptation thrown in my way."
"How do you mean a temptation? It surely was very fortunate, Ready,"
said William.
"Yes, William, it was, as people say, fortunate, according to the ideas
of the world; every one congratulated me, and I was myself so inflated
with my good fortune, that I forgot all the promises of amendment, all
the vows of leading a good life, which I made over my poor mother's
grave. Now do you perceive why I called it a temptation, Master
William?"
"My dear child," said Mr Seagrave, "riches and prosperity in this world
prove often the greatest of temptations; it is adversity that chastens
and amends us, and which draws us to God."
"As soon as the money was in my own hands," continued Ready, "I began to
squander it away in all manner of folly. Fortunately, I had not
received it more than ten days, when the Scotch second mate came like a
guardian angel to save me. As soon as I had made known to him what had
taken place, he reasoned with me, pointed out to me that I had an
opportunity of establishing myself for life, and proposed that I should
purchase a part of a vessel, on condition that I was captain of her. I
liked this idea very much, and being convinced that I had been making a
fool of myself, I resolved to take his advice; but one thing only
restrained me: I was still very young, not more than twenty years old;
and although I could navigate at one time, I had latterly paid no
attention. I told Sanders this, and he replied, that if I would take
him as my first mate, that difficulty would be got over, as he could
navigate well, and that I could learn to do so in the first voyage; so
all was arranged.
"Fortunately, I had not spent above one hundred pounds of the money. I
set off for Glasgow in company with Sanders, and he busied himself very
hard in looking about for a vessel that would suit. At last, he found
that there was one ready for launching, which, in consequence of the
failure of the house for which it was built, was to be sold. He made
inquiries, and having found who was likely to purchase her--that it was
a very safe and respectable firm--he made a proposal for me that I
should take one-fourth share of her, and command her. As Sanders was
very respectable, and well known to be a steady man, his recommendation
was attended to so far that the parties wished to see and speak to me.
They were satisfied with me, young as I was, and the bargain was made.
I paid down my two thousand pounds for my share, and as soon as the
vessel was launched, was very busy with Sanders, whom I had chosen as
first mate, in fitting her out. The house which had purchased her with
me was a West India firm, and the ship was of course intended for the
West India trade. I had two or three hundred pounds left, after I had
paid my share of the vessel, and this I employed in purchasing a venture
on my own account, and providing nautical instruments, etcetera. I also
fitted myself out, for you see, William, although Sanders had persuaded
me to be rational, I was still puffed up with pride at the idea of being
captain of my own ship; it was too great a rise for one who had just
before been a lad in the mizen-top of a man-of-war. I dressed myself
very smart--wore white shirts, and rings on my fingers. Indeed, as
captain and part owner of a fine vessel, I was considered as somebody,
and was often invited to the table of the other owners of the vessel. I
was well off, for my pay was ten pounds a month, independent of what my
own venture might produce, and my quarter-share of the profits of the
vessel. This may be considered as the most prosperous portion of my
life; and so, if you please, we will leave off here for to-night, for I
may as well tell you at once that it did not last very long."