“Of course I am not, Harry,” he replied. “You don’t suppose that I am a coward and afraid to die; and if it was not for the sake of the vessel and her freight, I should not care, I fancy, so much about the matter; but it would never do now to knock under—so don’t, Harry, put those gloomy thoughts again into my head.”
On going on deck I told Paul my fears about the captain. “Yes, he very bad,” he said; “but I more sorry about him soul. He think more of the cargo, which may go to the bottom in one moment, than of his soul, which live for ever and ever. O Massa Harry, we must speak again to him about dat. We will plead with him with tears in our eyes, that he think about his soul, and we will tell him not to trouble about the vessel.”
Without loss of time we went to the captain. At first he listened somewhat coldly to what Paul said, but he did not grow angry. “I thank you for interesting yourself about me,” he said at last. “You may be right, and if you will pray with me I will try to join you.”
Paul and I thereon knelt down, as we had done before, and Paul, in very plain language, earnestly besought God to send His Holy Spirit to soften the captain’s heart, to show him that he was a lost sinner, and had need of a Saviour—to enlighten his mind, and to enable him to take hold of Christ as the only way whereby he could be saved.
The captain remained for a long time afterwards silent. At length he put out his hand and grasped Paul’s. “I see it now,” he said, sighing deeply. “I have been, and still am, a great sinner. Oh, that I knew better how I could be saved.”
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” said Paul, in a firm voice. “That is God’s loving message. He sends no other; and, captain, if all the ministers of your country were to come to you, they could bring you no other. If you do believe on Jesus, and are to die this very day, He says to you just what He said when hanging on the cross on Calvary to the dying thief, ‘This night thou shalt be with me in paradise.’”
The captain was greatly moved, and I heard him, between his sobs, exclaiming, “Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief.”
Oh how necessary is that prayer! and I am sure it is one which is always answered, when the sinner is truly desirous of turning from his sins, and is seeking, by every means in his power, to strengthen his belief.
I had got out my Bible several days before, and I now read it constantly to the captain, as well as to myself. Whenever I came to a passage which seemed to meet his case, he desired me to read it over and over again. Notwithstanding this, the desire was strong within him to recover, for the sake of carrying home the vessel and her rich freight in safety. That was but natural, and I earnestly hoped that he might be restored to health. Instead, however, of gaining strength, he appeared to grow weaker and weaker.
The calm had now continued for several days. Often as I looked over the side I saw dark triangular fins just rising above the surface, and moving here and there round the ship, and frequently the whole form of the monster could be discerned as it glided by; and when I saw its keen cruel eyes glancing up towards me, I felt a shudder pass through my frame, such as, according to the vulgar notion, a person feels when it is said that some one is walking over his grave. Occasionally, when anything was thrown overboard, a white flash was seen rising out of the deep, and a large pair of jaws, armed with sharp teeth, opening, gulped it down, and directly afterwards the creature went swimming on, watching for any other dainty morsel which might come in its way. “How dreadful it would be to fall overboard,” I thought. “Calm as the sea is, a person, with those creatures around, would have very little chance of escaping with life.”