Roger Kyffin's Ward

by William Henry Giles Kingston

Common sense said, “Wait till you can hear from your kind guardian, or still better, till you have had an interview with him. Explain the state of the case clearly to Mr Coppinger, acknowledging that you were drunk, and put your name to papers with the contents of which you were not acquainted. Let him know that Silas Sleech is a consummate hypocrite, and in all probability a thorough rogue. Brave the worst. Surely nothing can be so bad as running away, and leaving your name and credit and character in the hands of such a fellow as Sleech, who has acknowledged himself your enemy, and who will, like his master—Satan—if you bravely face him, succumb before you.” Then rose up again Harry’s desire to go to sea, his dislike of having to acknowledge his weakness and folly to Mr Coppinger, and his doubts whether his uncle would believe his statements. Sleep scarcely visited his eyelids. He was just dozing off when he heard Tuttle’s rough voice exclaiming—

“Turn out there, mate, we’ll have some breakfast, and then be off before the sun’s up. We have a long voyage before us, and only our own legs to depend on.” Harry had wished to go to Portsmouth by sea.

“And I’ll tell you what would happen if we did,” said Jacob. “As soon as we set foot on shore the press-gang would be upon us, and whether we liked it or not would carry us on board their ship to serve his Majesty. I was very nearly caught once; had twenty fellows after me as hard as they could pelt. Fortunately it was dusk, and I bolted down an alley and into a court, and up a stair, and right under an old woman’s bed, and there I lay while the whole gang hunted about without finding me. I know a place or two where we can lie hid till we learn what ships are fitting out, and who are to command them. It’s a great thing to get a good captain, Harry. There are several captains I would like to sail with well enough; but there are not a few whose ships are like hells afloat, and you may depend on’t I’ll stand clear of them.”

Jacob gave his old mother a hearty kiss, as putting a stick into his bundle, he threw it over his shoulder.

“Don’t take on, dame, now,” he said. “I’ll be back soon and bring you no end of the rhino. Most of it, to be sure, slipped away from me at the end of the last cruise before I got home; but I will take better care of it this time for your sake, mother.”

The old woman shook her head. She had been too long accustomed to find that Jacob’s money had slipped away before he got home to expect much, though he had generally contrived to bring enough for his board while he remained. Harry wrote a note, which he got a boy to carry to Captain Falwasser, saying that he was going off to sea, and begging him to take care of his bag till his return. With brisk steps, though Harry’s heart was heavy, the two young men took their way through the forest. They looked like two active young seamen any captain would be glad to get hold of. They cautiously approached the village of Hythe, opposite Southampton, lest the press-gang might be there on the look-out for men. The coast being clear, they ran across the beautiful estuary of the Southampton Water in a wherry, and landing on the western side near Itchin, pushed on towards Gosport. Night had closed in before they had got to the end of their journey. Harry had seldom taken so long a walk; but his muscles were well knit, and he might have gone still farther.

“We must keep a sharp look-out, mate,” said Jacob; “the gangs are sure to be about, and if they were to fall in with us, we might say good-bye to liberty. But come along; there’s a house I know of not far off, and we shall be all right there if we once get inside the door.”

Jacob led Harry down several lanes and alleys in which scenes of drunkenness and vice met his eye, which, even accustomed to London as he was, made his heart turn sick.

“And this is the way the defenders of our country spend their time on shore!” he said to himself. “No wonder they are treated like brutes, when they live like beasts without souls.”

Harry’s reasoning might possibly not have been correct as to what cause produced the effect. Might he not more justly have reasoned, “If they are treated like brutes, like brutes they will live?” That question has been solved in later days. Since thought has been taken for seamen they have essayed, and not unsuccessfully, to attend to the welfare of their souls. In those days little regard was paid to that subject.