Little Peter, the Ship Boy, by W.H.G. Kingston.
________________________________________________________________________
Peter's mother lies dying in the first chapter, and gives him her own
Bible. Peter's father had already died at sea, and the only family
income had been what Peter earned looking after a farmer's sheep. After
the death the little house had to be sold to settle debts, leaving
virtually nothing. Peter decides to go to sea, and makes his way to a
nearby port, where, against advice, he takes a place as a ship's boy in
a coasting brig carrying cargoes of coals. The Captain is very unkind
to him, as are most of the rest of the crew, but Peter is buoyed up
only by his Bible which he contrives to carry with him at all times. In
a gale the brig starts to sink and the Captain and crew abandon her in
the ship's boat, leaving Peter on board as he had been sent below to get
food for the crew, and was forgotten. However, the sinking brig grounds
inside the tail of a bank, where she is sheltered from the gale. After
a couple of days he is seen and rescued by the crew of the "Primrose",
where he is taken on, again as a ship's boy.
One of the crew is a grumpy old man called Simon Hixon. After a long
time Peter and Simon become more friendly. There is an accident and the
vessel is cast up on a rock fairly near an island. The Captain is
injured as he had been the last to leave the sinking vessel.
Eventually there is a rescue by a passing ship, and life begins to go
uphill for Peter after that. We won't spoil the story for you, but it
is a very well told tale, written not long before Kingston's death, at
the very height of his powers.
________________________________________________________________________
LITTLE PETER, THE SHIP BOY, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.