Page:The land of enchantment (1907, Cassell).djvu/91



! Another story, Master Charles? Well, I never! Anybody would think I’d nothing better to do than spin yarns to young gentlemen. I’m so clever, am I, and you're so fond of my stories, eh? That’s the way you come round the old sailor. Well, well, then, what shall it be? Suppose I tell you how the Jolly Dogs was wrecked in a hurricane, me and the captain being the only survivors?”

“Oh, Ben, please do,” said Charlie.

The sailor put down one of the nets that seemed to demand so much of his attention, and groping first in one pocket and then another, produced a coil of pigtail tobacco. Again he rummaged the cavernous recesses of his clothing, and brought to light a knife stained with juice, and worn with much service. With great deliberation he cut off a suitable portion, eyed it with satisfaction, and put it in his mouth. “There, now we're all snug and shipshape, we’ll down with the ’el-em, and let her go easy. Well, Master Charles, the Jolly Dogs left Valparaiso with a cargo of eagles, condors, and performing monkeys for Darnwell’s world-renowned menagerie. Maybe your ma’s taken you there, Master Charles?”

“Yes, indeed, Ben.”

“That’s the time of day! It’s well to know something of the chart as we go along. We’d fair weather, and nothing particular happened until we were off the island of Juan Fernandez.”

“What! Robinson Crusoe’s?”’ exclaimed the boy excitedly.

“The very same, Master Charles, and so I won't deceive you. Now, if you remember, he was wrecked in an awful storm. Pacific Ocean some old Johnny named the sea thereabouts, but me and Crusoe found it rather different. It was six bells and my watch. The morning had been close and stuffy, and so hot you could have cooked your bit of steak and kidney on the blazing deck. Now, as my eye swept the horizon, I saw a small black cloud a-coming up; in a couple of shakes ’twas as large as the mainsail, and beneath it the water showed like a white frill. I was that surprised, I just stood and stared. The blackness rose like a great wall, forked lightning darted up and down it, and I heard a loud hissing—’twas a hurricane a-coming up express speed.”

“Oh, Ben, what did you do?”

“Well, Master Charles, for the moment I lost _my head, and I sings