Three years had passed away since Humphry landed on the island. He was
startled one calm day, when fishing from a rock in the bay as he caught
sight of his own countenance in the water, to observe how changed he had
become. Instead of the laughing, careless, broadly-built boy with the
ruddy face, which he once was, he had grown into a tall, thin young man,
with a sunburnt countenance, its expression grave and thoughtful. He
was not melancholy, however, nor did he ever feel out of spirits; but he
had of course been thrown back on himself, while his mind was constantly
occupied. He had but one book to read, but that book, above all price,
had given him ample subjects for reflection. "What should I have done
without this?" he often said to himself, as he opened the book with a
prayer that what he was about to read might enlighten his mind.
"I have heard people talk of reading their Bibles, but though I have
read nothing but my Testament for three years, I every day find
something fresh and interesting in it."
He had often made excursions to the top of the hill, whence he could
obtain a view over the surrounding ocean.
It had been raining heavily during the previous day. No seals were to
be caught on shore, nor fish in the water. Taking his gun, he set off,
intending to go over the hill to get a shot at some wild-fowl. The wind
had greatly increased; and wishing to obtain a view of the ocean with
its huge foam-covered billows rolling around, he climbed to the top of
the hill. As he reached it, his eye fell on a ship driving before the
gale towards the rocky shore. Two of her masts were gone; the third
fell while he was looking at her. Nothing could now save her from
destruction, for even should her anchors be let go, they were not likely
to hold for a moment. He considered whether he could render any
assistance to the unhappy people on board. Too truly he feared that he
could be of no use. Still he would do his best. Hurrying home, he
procured the only rope he possessed, and a spar, and with these on his
shoulder he hastened towards the spot at which, considering the
direction the ship was driving, he thought she would strike the shore.
He had scarcely reached it when he saw the ship driving on towards him
on a mountain sea. The next instant down she came, crashing on a reef
of rocks far away from where he stood, the foaming sea dashing over her.
Several poor wretches were carried off the deck, now driven towards
him, but directly afterwards carried back by the retiring surf. He
could distinguish but one alone still clinging to a portion of the
wreck, all the others had in a few minutes disappeared. As long as that
man remained, he could not tear himself from the spot.
Several hours passed by; still the man clung on, having secured himself
apparently by a lashing. The storm seemed to be abating. Humphry took
off his shirt, and fastening it to the end of a spar, waved it, to show
the shipwrecked seaman that help was at hand if he could reach the
shore. It was observed at length. The man, casting off the lashings,
lowered himself into the water, and struck out for land. Humphry
prepared his rope. Fixing the spar deep in the sand, and securing one
end of the rope to it, he stood ready to plunge in, with the other end
round his waist, to drag the man on shore should he get within his
reach. How anxiously he watched! Nearer and nearer the man came. Now
he was seen floating on his back, now he struck out again. A sea
rolling in bore him on, but as it receded it threatened to carry him off
once more. Now was the moment. Humphry dashed into the surf. The
man's strength had almost failed when Humphry grasped him, and hauling
himself up by the rope dragged the man out of the surf, sinking down
exhausted by his side the instant he was out of its reach.
Humphry was the first to recover.
"If you are strong enough to accompany me to the other side of the
island, friend, where I have my home, we will set off at once; but if
not, I will go back and get some food for you," he said.
"I shall soon be better," answered the man. "I think I could walk.
Have you a companion with you?"
"No," answered Humphry, surprised at the question; "I am all alone."
"That's strange! What, isn't there a young lad somewhere about the
island?"
"No," said Humphry. "I have been here three years and have seen no
human being."
The man gazed into his countenance with a look of astonishment.
"What is your name, then?" he asked.
Humphry mentioned it.
"You Mr Gurton!" he cried, pressing his hand. "I suppose it must be;
and don't you know me?"
Humphry looked into the man's face. It was covered with a thick beard,
and his tangled hair hung over his shoulders.
"You must be Ned Hadow; yet I should not have known you more than you
know me. I am indeed thankful that you have been saved. But where have
you been all the time?"
"Greater part of it living on shore," answered Ned. "After we landed
you, we took three or four prizes; but not being able to navigate the
ship, we put into a convenient harbour in an island inhabited by
savages. There we remained, living among them much as they did.
Several of our men were killed; and at last, finding that the savages
intended to cut us all off, we put to sea again. We had been knocking
about for some time, and used up all our provisions, when we fell in
with the gale which drove the ship on yonder rocks."
Ned insisted that he could walk across the island, and with Humphry's
help he was able to accomplish the journey, though nearly exhausted at
the end of it. Humphry then made him lie down in his bed, while he
prepared some soup and other food. Next day Ned somewhat recovered; and
in the course of a week, owing to Humphry's constant attention, he
looked more like his former self.
"It's very dreadful to think that all the others have perished, but I am
truly thankful that you have been sent to be my companion," said
Humphry. "You little thought when you acted so kindly towards me by
saving my life, and getting me put on shore here, that I should ever in
any way be able to repay you."
"I did not, Mr Gurton; but I feel that I am such a worthless fellow
that my life was not worth preserving."
"We are all worthless, Ned: that's what the book I read every day tells
me, and I am convinced of it when I look into my own heart, and know how
people in the world are generally acting."
"What! have you got that book still, Mr Gurton?" asked Ned.
"Yes, indeed I have, and I shall be glad to read it to you, Ned," said
Humphry.
"I shall like to hear it, sir, for I have not heard anything like a good
word since you used to read it to me when I was sick. I had almost
forgotten there is a God in heaven. I remembered that, however, when I
was clinging to the wreck, and expecting every moment to be in His
presence."
"It's the best thing to read God's Word, and to be guided by it, when we
expect to live. I hope you may be spared many years, even though we
never get away from this island, and that book will serve us better than
any other companion who could join us."
Humphry, instead now of reading his Testament to himself, read it daily
to Ned, and even while they were at work he used to repeat portions he
had learned by heart.
Though Ned could not read, he gained in time a good knowledge of the
book, and his dark soul by degrees becoming enlightened, he understood
clearly at length God's plan of salvation, and cheerfully accepted it.
"You see, Ned, all things are ordered for the best," said Humphry one
day, "and you must be convinced that God loves us, however little we may
have loved Him. If I had remained on board the privateer, I should have
become, as I was fast doing, like the rest of the unhappy crew. Though
I thought it very dreadful to be left all alone on the island, I now
feel that it has been the greatest blessing to me. God in His mercy
also saved you, though you would have preferred remaining among the
savages. Now you are happy in knowing the glorious truth that the blood
of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin; and though we may both of us
wish to be once more among our fellow-men, we can live contentedly here
till He thinks fit to call us out of this life."
"I hope He may take me before any ship comes to the island, for if I
once fell among the sort of men I have lived with all my life, I should
soon again be as bad as they are," said Ned with a sigh.
"Not if you sought help and protection from God's Holy Spirit," answered
Humphry, "and prayed that He would keep you out of temptation."
Ned was surprised to find how much Humphry had done during the time he
had been alone on the island. He assisted him in all his undertakings,
and they together caught enough seals to fill another large storehouse.
At last, after two years had thus passed away, Ned, who had been fishing
down the harbour, came hurrying back. His countenance was grave, and he
looked much agitated.
"I have been watching a vessel standing in for the island. She has hove
to, and is sending a boat on shore. The time has come, Mr Gurton, when
we must part. I dare not go back into the world, and have made up my
mind to remain here. You are young, and have many years before you, and
I would advise you to go, and all I ask is that you will think of me and
pray for me."
This announcement made Humphry even more agitated than Ned. He hurried
to the spot where the boat could be seen.
She made her way up the harbour. Humphry and his companion went down to
meet her. An officer-like looking man stepped on shore, accompanied by
another in dark clothes. They seemed much surprised at seeing Humphry
and Ned.
"What! are you Englishmen?" asked one of the strangers. "We only
discovered the island this morning, and had no expectation of finding it
inhabited."
Humphry explained that they were the only inhabitants; that he had been
left there some years before, and, pointing to Ned, said, "This man was
afterwards wrecked on the coast, and he alone was saved from his ship."
"I am Captain Summers of the _Hope_, now lying in the offing. This
gentleman is the Reverend Mr Evans, a missionary, whom I am conveying
to an island where he is about to settle. What is your name?" asked the
officer.
Humphry told him.
"And my name is Tom Martin," said Ned coming forward, greatly to
Humphry's surprise.
"Well, my friends, it seems but a barren island. I wonder how you have
managed to live here so long."
Humphry briefly explained the various means by which he had procured
food, and leading the way to the garden, showed them the perfect
cultivation into which it had been brought. He then invited Captain
Summers and Mr Evans into his hut. His Testament lay open on the
table. The latter took it up, observing--
"I am glad to see, my young friend, that you have not been deprived of
God's Word during your long stay here."
"It has indeed been my great solace and delight," answered Humphry.
"Without it I should have been miserable."
"Well, my friends, I shall be most happy to receive you both on board my
ship; and as I hope to sail for England in the course of a few months,
you will then be able to return home."
Humphry thanked the captain for his offer, which he gladly accepted.
Ned looked very grave.
"I am much obliged to you, sir," he said, "and though I shall be sorry
to part from Mr Gurton, I am very sure that I had better stay where I
am till God thinks fit to call me from this world. I have lived too
long among savages, and worse than savages, to go back again and live
with civilised people. If Mr Gurton will leave me his Testament, which
he has taught me to read, and his gun and harpoons, it's all I ask."
"No, my friend," observed Mr Evans, "man is not made to live alone.
If, as I hope from what you say, you have learned to love Jesus Christ,
you should try to serve Him, and endeavour to do good among your
fellow-creatures. Now, as I am going to settle in an island inhabited
by savages, I shall be very glad of your assistance, and if you already
understand their language, which I have to learn, you may speak to them,
and tell them of Him who died for them, that they may be reconciled to
Him. You will thus be showing your love for Him far more than by living
a life of solitude, even although you spend your days in reading His
Word. Remember it is not only those who hear the Word of God, but those
who hear and do it, who are His disciples."
"You are right, sir," exclaimed Ned, brightening up. "My only fear if I
left this was to find myself among those who would lead me back into bad
ways, but I will gladly go with you--that I will, sir."
As the captain was anxious to see the island, Humphry undertook to guide
him and Mr Evans to the top of the hill, whence they could obtain a
view over the whole of it. Before setting out, Humphry showed them the
store of seal-skins.
"I shall be sorry to leave these behind," he observed, "and if you can
receive them on board, they will assist to pay my passage."
"As to that, my friend," answered the captain, "I will very gladly send
my boats to take them off, and you shall pay freight for them; but you,
I am very sure, will be able to work your passage, and I hope you will
find they will sell for some hundred pounds in England."
"Part of them belong to my companion," observed Humphry.
"No, no, Mr Gurton," said Ned. "They are all yours. Not a shilling of
their value will I touch, except enough to give me a new rig-out, as I
am not fit to accompany Mr Evans in these tattered old clothes of
mine."
"Set your mind at rest about that," said the captain. "You shall be
welcome to a thorough fit out, suitable for the task you are about to
undertake, and your friend Mr Gurton will require the money more than
you will."
Captain Summers, according to his promise, loaded his own boat with
seal-skins, and sent her off to the ship with orders for the long-boat
to come ashore and carry off the remainder. Meantime he and Mr Evans
paid their intended visit to the hill-top.
On their return Humphry took the first opportunity of drawing Ned aside,
and asking why he had not given his right name.
"I did give my right name, Mr Gurton," he answered. "Ned Hadow was
merely a purser's name which I took when I entered on board the _Wolf_,
because you see, sir, I had run from a man-of-war. Now I know better, I
would only tell the truth; and so, please, call me Tom Martin in future,
and I am ready to stand the consequences."
Humphry and his companion were kindly received on board the _Hope_, when
the good captain supplied them with new suits of clothes, which they
indeed much required.
The _Hope_ continued her voyage.
How different was the life led on board her to that on board the _Wolf_!
Captain Summers and his officers were Christian men. The crew were
kindly treated; not an oath escaped the lips of any of the men, while
all did their duty with cheerfulness and alacrity.
The voyage was prosperous. At the end of three weeks the _Hope_ dropped
her anchor in the harbour of a fine island where Mr Evans was to
remain.
A native missionary, who had been sent there a year before, came off to
receive him, and brought him the satisfactory intelligence that a large
number of the natives were anxiously looking out for his arrival.
Some days were spent in landing his property, and assisting him in
putting up his house, while an abundance of fresh provisions was brought
off by the natives to the ship.
Humphry parted from his old friend with the less regret from feeling
sure that he would be well occupied, and free from the temptations he
dreaded.
"We shall meet again, I trust, as Captain Summers has offered me a berth
as third mate of the _Hope_ on her next voyage, which he expects to make
to these seas," said Humphry, as he bade him farewell.
"If we don't meet here, we shall in another world, sir. And bless you,
Mr Gurton, for pointing out to me the way to it," said Tom, as he wrung
Humphry's hand, and tears burst from his eyes.
The _Hope_ had a prosperous voyage home, during which Humphry did his
utmost to fit himself for the duty he was to undertake. He had no ties
in England, so he gladly again sailed in the _Hope_. Captain Summers
having sold the seal-skins for a good price, judiciously invested the
proceeds for him.
Humphry had the satisfaction of meeting his old friend Ned, or rather
Mr Martin, as he was now called, and of finding that he had been of the
greatest service to Mr Evans. He never returned to England, but died
at his post, labouring to the last in spreading the gospel among the
natives.
Humphry won the regard of Captain Summers by his steadiness and good
conduct, and at the end of his third voyage he married his daughter, and
soon afterwards obtained the command of a ship. When at length he was
able to quit the sea and live on shore, he often used to relate to his
children, among his many adventures, how he spent five years of his life
alone on an island.