Masterman Ready; Or, The Wreck of the Pacific, Page 2

  CHAPTER TWO.

  Master William, whom we have introduced to the reader, was the eldestboy of a family who were passengers on board, consisting of the father,mother, and four children: his father was a Mr Seagrave, a verywell-informed, clever man, who having for many years held an officeunder government at Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, was nowreturning from a leave of absence of three years. He had purchased fromthe government several thousand acres of land; it had since risen verymuch in value, and the sheep and cattle which he had put on it wereproving a source of great profit. His property had been well managed bythe person who had charge of it during his absence in England, and hewas now taking out with him a variety of articles of every descriptionfor its improvement, and for his own use, such as furniture for hishouse, implements of agriculture, seeds, plants, cattle, and many otherthings too numerous to mention.

  Mrs Seagrave was an amiable woman, but not in very strong health. Thefamily consisted of William, who was the eldest, a clever, steady boy,but, at the same time, full of mirth and humour; Thomas, who was sixyears old, a very thoughtless but good-tempered boy, full of mischief,and always in a scrape; Caroline, a little girl of seven years; andAlbert, a fine strong little fellow, who was not one year old: he wasunder the charge of a black girl, who had come from the Cape of GoodHope to Sydney, and had followed Mrs Seagrave to England. We have nowmentioned all the people on board of the Pacific: perhaps we ought notto forget two shepherd's dogs, belonging to Mr Seagrave, and a littleterrier, which was a great favourite of Captain Osborn, to whom shebelonged.

  It was not until the fourth day from its commencement that the galeabated, and then it gradually subsided until it was nearly a calm. Themen who had been watching night after night during the gale now broughtall their clothes which had been drenched by the rain and spray, andhung them up in the rigging to dry: the sails, also, which had beenfurled, and had been saturated by the wet, were now loosened and spreadout that they might not be mildewed. The wind blew mild and soft, thesea had gone down, and the ship was running through the water at thespeed of about four miles an hour. Mrs Seagrave, wrapped up in acloak, was seated upon one of the arm-chests near the stern of the ship,her husband and children were all with her enjoying the fine weather,when Captain Osborn, who had been taking an observation of the sun withhis sextant, came up to them.

  "Well, Master Tommy, you are very glad that the gale is over?"

  "I didn't care," replied Tommy, "only I spilt all my soup. But Junotumbled off her chair, and rolled away with the baby, till papa pickedthem both up."

  "It was a mercy that poor Albert was not killed," observed MrsSeagrave.

  "And so he might have been, if Juno had not thought only of him andnothing at all about herself," replied Mr Seagrave.

  "That's very true, sir," replied Captain Osborn. "She saved the child,and, I fear, hurt herself."

  "I thump my head very hard," said Juno, smiling.

  "Yes, and it's lucky that you have a good thick woolly coat over it,"replied Captain Osborn, laughing.

  "It is 12 o'clock by the sun, sir," said Mackintosh, the first mate, tothe captain.

  "Then bring me up the latitude, Mr Mackintosh, while I work out thelongitude from the sights which I took this morning. In five minutes,Mr Seagrave, I shall be ready to prick off over our place on thechart."

  "Here are the dogs come up on deck," said William; "I dare say they areas glad of the fine weather as we are. Come here, Romulus! Here,Remus!--Remus!"

  "Well, sir," said Ready, who was standing by them with his quadrant inhis hand, "I should like to ask you a question. Those dogs of yourshave two very odd names which I never heard before. Who were Romulusand Remus?"

  "Romulus and Remus," replied Mr Seagrave, "were the names of twoshepherds, brothers, who in ancient days founded the city of Rome, whicheventually became the largest and most celebrated empire in the world.They were the first kings of Rome, and reigned together. History saysthat Remus affronted Romulus by leaping over a wall he had raised, andRomulus, in his anger, took away his life; but the history of early daysis not to be depended upon."

  "No, nor the brothers either, it appears," replied Ready; "however, itis the old story--two of a trade can never agree. One sometimes hearsof Rome now--is that the same place?"

  "Yes," replied William, "it is the remains of the old city."

  "Well, one lives and learns," said Ready. "I have learnt somethingto-day, which everyone will to the last day of his life, if he will onlyask questions. I'm an old man, and perhaps don't know much, except inthe seafaring way; but I should have known much less if I did not askfor information, and was not ashamed to acknowledge my ignorance; that'sthe way to learn, Master William."

  "Very good advice, Ready,--and, William, I hope you will profit by it,"said Mr Seagrave; "never be ashamed to ask the meaning of what you donot understand."

  "I always do, papa. Do I not ask you questions, Ready?"

  "Yes, you do, and very clever questions for a boy of your age; and Ionly wish that I could answer them better than I can sometimes."

  "I should like to go down now, my dear," said Mrs Seagrave; "perhapsReady will see the baby down safe."

  "That I will, ma'am," said Ready, putting his quadrant on the capstan:"now, Juno, give me the child, and go down first;--backwards, you stupidgirl! how often do I tell you that? Some day or another you will comedown with a run."

  "And break my head," said Juno.

  "Yes, or break your arm; and then who is to hold the child?"

  As soon as they were all down in the cabin, the captain and Mr Seagravemarked the position of the vessel on the chart, and found that they wereone hundred and thirty miles from the Cape of Good Hope.

  "If the wind holds, we shall be in to-morrow," said Mr Seagrave to hiswife. "Juno, perhaps you may see your father and mother."

  Poor Juno shook her head, and a tear or two stole down her dark cheek.With a mournful face she told them, that her father and mother belongedto a Dutch boer, who had gone with them many miles into the interior:she had been parted from them when quite a little child, and had beenleft at Cape Town.