The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 268: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

te 262 safely to land; but I’ll stay here. No, no, I shan’t be such a fool as to leave my treasure behind. No, no, one might as well be dead as without riches,” So thinking, he loosened the end of the rope which was on board, ‘Poor devil!” said the captain on shore. ‘‘ The rope is loose, he must have fallen into the sea and perished,”’ / With a sigh, the captain, and those who had been saved, left the painful scene, and clambered up the rocks. They made the best of their way, towards jthe nearest town, which was Redruth, fifteen miles away, intending to procure assistance, and return to the wreck as soon as the weather had moderated a little. But what did Joel Flint do? With a cunning, for which few would, give him credit under such trying circumstances, he rushed about hither and thither, gathering together every- thing of value which he could lay his hands upon. “The vessel is firmly imbedded in the sand,” he thought, “and if it moves at all the tide will carry it still further in shore into that snug creek yonder, I£1I could only get my treasure on shore, I would snap my finger at all the world.”, With these thoughts he went into the ‘cabin and _forecastle, and rammaged about in all directions, He broke open the captain’s private desk and drawers, ransacked the luggage of Mr. and Miss Lancaster, and found many things of value, such as watches, rings, purses, bank-notes, and the like, “This was well worth staying for,” thought he, in great glee. “The storm is fast abating, and in a few hours the water around will be smooth and unruffled.” Whatever he could lay hands upon of value, did Joel Flint purloin. He emptied a trunk, and put all his plunder into it. This he well corded, and placed on the’ deck ready to drop into any boat or fishing vessel that might come to his assistance. All day long he worked very hard in tugging at the safe, and, after great labour, managed to tie stout cords around it. As night advanced again, Joel began to feel very uneasy, for the storm threatened to commence again. az And if it does so,’ he thought, “I shall be ost.’ To cheer up {his courage, Joel broke open the spirit-room and helped himself to a plentiful supply of bread and meat and wine, He also found a box of cigars, and began to smoke, The next thing to be done was to raise some sort of signal ; but he was too timid to mount up the masts and hang out a white sheet, For some time he knew not what todo, At last a happy thought occurred to him, “It is getting devilish cold,” said Joel. ‘I dare not go to sleep, and yet [am so tired, I could fall to sleep standing ; but that I must not think of doing, in case the wreck shifts from its position. He next gathered a few broken boxes, and made a small fire ;on the forecastle of the ‘brig, and ‘sat down to warm himself, The winds increased from seaward, and soon the small fire gave forth a strong blaze, so much so that in a short time it caught the deck of the forecastle, and would have destroyed the brig if it had once fairly caught. Joel did not at first notice this, [but laid him OO —_—_—_—XIXiJXOo Xk — EE I GO THE BOY SOLDIER; OR, GARIBALDIS YOUNG CAPTAIN. down before the cheerful blaze, and intended to keep wide awake. Nature, however, was thoroughly exhausted, and Joel dropped off to sleep near the fire. How long he slept he knew not ; but was suddenly aroused from his uneasy slumber by his clothes catching fire. He jumped to his feet instantly, for the blaze was threatening more and more each instant. To save himself and his treasure from certain de- struction, he seized a bucket, and drew up water from the sea, with which he ultimately managed to extinguish the flames. | On this occasion, Joel was obliged to work witb all his might, for had the forecastle once got into full blaze, the ship must have burned to the water’s edge. ; While he was dancing about, throwing buckets of water upon the fire, he suddenly perceived a fishing boat looming up in the misty distance, which had been drawn to the spot by the glare of the flame. “Ship ahoy!” came the fisherman’s welcome sound ; ‘ship ahoy !” ‘‘ Ship ahoy !”” answered Joel, with all his strength, and, in less than five minutes, the fishing smack changed her tack, and, rounding under the brig’s stern, lowered her mainsail and made fast. Joel ran to the stern like a wild man, “ What ship is that ?” asked the fishermen, from below. “The ‘Dolphin’ of London, from Leghorn, srounded in a gate.” | : «“ That’s very plain,” answered the rough voice of the fishing master. “How many have you got on board ?” ““T’m the only one.’ “The devil you are !” “Tig true. Come on board, some of you. quick, my men, I will pay you well.” “Thank you for nothing, my man,” said the rough skipper, “‘ we'll pay ourselves, without asking any questions. It’s a wreck, and our lawful prize.” “Not quite so fast, my friends ; I’m the super- cargo, and must look after the interests of my em- ployers.” “Do you want us to work for nothing, then, mate?” “No,” said Joel, “I do not; all I want you to do for me is to help me land the ship’s books and papers, and then you may do what you like with the sinking craft.” “Well, that’s talking in reason,” said the fisher- men, cheering up, — | ‘ How far is the nearest town from this point ?” ‘‘THifteen mile, or more.” ‘And what’s the name of the place?” ** Redruth.” ‘Ts there no town nearer to a railway station than that?” “No; but the nearest station is only ten miles off.” “Then land me and the ship’s books and papers as soon as you like, my brave men; meanwhile I'll telegraph to the owners, and leave you in full charge of the wreck.” ““What’s her cargo ?” This question, for a moment, puzzled the self- styled supercargo, who, as such, should have known to a hundredweight what the cargo was. However, Joel stammered out, ‘Cargo, eh? Oh! ah! Yes; it’s a general cargo, and very valuable,’ “To stave off any further questions which might have proved very annoying and embarrassing to him, Joel introduced the fishermen to the spirit- Be GComicboo S