Bluff Crag; or, A Good Word Costs Nothing
Page 6
is so mean, that, knowing this, he plays the tricks andlets his brother take the blame. A tale-teller is to be despised; but aboy who is so lazy that he cannot say a good word for himself when hischaracter is concerned, is almost as bad.'
"'But how did you find all this out, uncle?' I inquired.
"'Well, I overheard the two boys speaking about it in the shrubbery; andwhat struck me most was, even when Patrick had an opportunity to reprovehis younger brother he did not do so, though a good word costs nothing,and might save his brother much misery in the end. I am half glad he hasmet with this accident; it will give him time to think.'
"At this moment a boat sailed past, filled with gay company, who wavedtheir handkerchiefs to us, and cheered most lustily. One little girlheld up her doll, and made it wave its hat to Uncle John's polite bow,which made them all laugh very much.
"Dolly was very glad to see me again, and said so kindly that she hadnever spent such a long, dull day, and that she hoped I would not gojunketting in a hurry, else she would require to go with me herself.There was no time to tell her all the story of our visit to Mrs. Berkleythat night, because a woman came in asking her to go down to the villageto see a sick man who had wandered there that day, and had been foundlying under a hedge by a field-worker. Then, as it was close to mybed-hour, and I was very tired, Dolly carried me off to my room at once,and when she had seen me safely in bed, went away. The next morningwhile at breakfast she told me the sick man was apparently a fisherman,but he was so weak he could not give an account of himself. Once ortwice he had suddenly become uneasy in his sleep, and had moaned out aname some of the women thought was Polly, but so faintly, that theycould not be sure even of that.
"'Oh, it must be Polly's father come to life again,' I cried, startingup and knocking over my basin of milk upon the clean white table-cover.'Oh, do let me run and tell uncle about it, Dolly; he will know whatought to be done.'
OVERTAKEN BY THE STORM.]
"Uncle John did not like to be disturbed in the morning, but this was anextra case, and after Dolly had heard of the sufferings poor Polly hadto endure from her cruel step-mother, she allowed me to go to the studydoor and tap gently. Uncle John listened very attentively to the storyabout us meeting the three little girls on the beach, and at once agreedto set out to inquire for the sick man; and proposed, if he was stilltoo weak to answer questions, to go on to the Bluff Crag, and get one ofthe fishermen from there to come up to look at him. Fortunately, when myuncle arrived the sick man was much better, and though only able tospeak a word at a time, understood all the questions that were put tohim. It soon became evident that this was indeed Polly's long-lostfather. When he was a little stronger he told how the boat that fearfulnight had drifted away along the coast, and how it at last was dashed upon the rocky beach, and how he had been thrown out into a sort of cave,where there was barely standing room when the tide was full, and how hehad lived for days on the shell-fish that he found sticking to the sideof the cave, or the eggs he found on the shelves of rock; and at last,when even this scanty supply failed him, and he was nearly mad from thewant of water, how he had dashed himself into the sea, determined to bedone with his misery. Then he told how, when he came to himself, hefound he was lying in a cottage, with a woman bending over him, and aman sitting smoking by the fire, stirring some stuff in a pan. It seemedthat this man was a collector of birds' eggs, and, knowing about thiscave, he had come down, with the help of a great strong rope tied roundhis waist, to gather eggs. Great was his surprise when he saw the bodyof a man floating in the water; but he lost no time in seizing him bythe belt, and, with the help of his comrades up at the top, brought himsafely to land.
RESCUED.]
"You can understand how glad Polly was when, that same evening, UncleJohn took me with him to tell her of her father's safety. I keptfancying all the way that when she heard the news she would dance andshriek with joy, and clap her hands; but, instead of that, she just satquietly down on a stool by the fire. What a white face she had, and howher lips trembled! Even Uncle John was struck by her appearance, andmust have been afraid the sudden news had been too much for her. 'Come,come, Polly, this will never do,' he said kindly; 'you must set aboutgetting some clothes put up in a bundle, and come away back with me.Father is very impatient to see his little Polly, I can tell you!'
"'Polly again! it's always Polly!" said her step-mother. 'I don'tbelieve he cares a pin about me and my children so long as these two areall right.'
"Uncle John spoke to her very sensibly, as I thought, telling her thather husband's children ought to be as dear to her as her own, for hissake, and that a jealous disposition often led to much misery; but Idon't think it made much impression upon her: and I was very glad whenPolly appeared ready to start, with her clothes and some for her fatheralso, tied up in a little bundle.
"Some days after, uncle kindly took me to spend the day with Vea. I wasdelighted to find that Patrick had been removed to Mrs. Berkley's, andhad stood the journey very well. He had been carried on a stretcher bysome of the fishermen; and they had borne him along so gently thatPatrick declared he had never felt the least motion, and thought he hadbeen lying on his bed all the time.
"'I should like to get some flowers so much,' said Vea, after I hadarrived. 'Patrick is so fond of flowers; but he likes the wild onesbest. He says the hot-house ones smell oppressively, but the wild onesmake him comfortable.'
"'Then why can't we get him some?' I inquired.
"'Aunt doesn't like us to go to the wood by ourselves; and Natilie isengaged to-day,' replied Vea.
"'I'll tell you how we will manage it,' I replied, laughing. 'We willask uncle to go with us.'
"'But do you think he will go with us?' said Vea eagerly.
"'Oh yes, I think he will--I am sure of it, almost,' I said; 'because Iheard your aunt telling him she had some important letters to write,and he said he would take a walk in the garden till she was done.'
"Uncle John was very kind, and consented to go with us; and not only so,but took us to the best places, and while we filled our baskets satreading beside us. Then, when we had picked enough, he told us storieswhile we rested; and we were very happy. Something he said about a boyhe once knew made Vea think of Patrick, for she exclaimed, quitesuddenly,--'Oh! do you know, sir, we have found Patrick out at last!When he was lying at the cottage, there were so many poor people came toask for him, that even aunt became interested; and she made inquiries,and we found that Patrick was in the habit of helping them in some wayor other. One old woman told us he actually drew all the stock ofdrift-wood she has at her cottage, and piled it up there for her.'
"'But how did he manage to do it without you finding him out?' saidUncle John.
"'Oh, he rose and went out very early in the morning,' replied Vea. 'Theservants were often complaining of the state of his boots; so, in casethey would find him out, he used to leave them in the garden and gowithout his stockings. And do you know, sir, he was telling me such asad story about that poor woman, and the reason why he helped her. Shehas lost her husband and three sons; and then her only child, a littlegirl, was drowned one day looking for drift-wood on the sea-shore.'
GATHERING WILD FLOWERS.]
"'That will be Widow Martin then, I suppose!' said my uncle. 'Her storywas indeed a sad one.--I am very glad to hear such good accounts of myyoung friend Patrick.'
"'And I am glad about it too, sir,' said Vea. 'Aunt Mary will be sopleased; but do you know, I am afraid Alfred has been the bad boy allthe time, for since Patrick has been ill he is never done falling intodisgrace. Aunt was seriously angry with him; and I overheard Patricksaying, "You see, Alfred, I often told you, you would be found out inthe end; I couldn't always take the blame to screen you, so you hadbetter give it up." Isn't Patrick a strange boy, sir?'
"It was a happy day for little Vea when her brother Patrick was able tobe wheeled out, by his faithful friend Dick, in the chair his aunt gotfor the purpose; and I need not say that Patrick enjoyed it very much. Iwas invited
to spend a week with them then, and as the weather wasindeed beautiful, we were constantly in the open air. Patrick had alwaysbeen fond of gardening, and it vexed him to see how his flowers hadbeen neglected during his illness. 'Never mind,' said Dick; 'I bean'tmuch of a gardener, but I'll do my best to set it all to rights, and I'msure the young ladies there will lend a hand.'
DICK TRYING HIS HAND AT GARDENING.]
"While Dick dug the ground, Vea and Alfred and I arranged the flowers,much to the satisfaction of every one; and even Alfred, who was not veryfond of work, said these busy days were the happiest he had ever