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13 - Young Crusoe, or The Shipwrecked Boy by Barbara Hofland · Young Crusoe, or The Shipwrecked Boy

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  Speaker 1: The Young Crusoe or the Shipwrecked Boy by Barbara Hofland,
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  Speaker 1: chapter thirteen. They arrive and proceed to London. The surprise
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  Speaker 1: of Charles and anxiety of his father find all well
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  Speaker 1: the fact of his being alive revealed to his mother
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  Speaker 1: the manner in which he becomes Robinson Crusoe at length,
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  Speaker 1: the ship anchored off Deal and the shores of that
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  Speaker 1: beloved England so long desired were visible, and there was
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  Speaker 1: no time lost in hastening to them, As mister Crusoe
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  Speaker 1: had been now more than a year and a half
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  Speaker 1: without any intelligence of his wife and daughter, his voyage
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  Speaker 1: in search of Charles, rendering it impossible that he should
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  Speaker 1: receive letters. He experienced again nearly the same emotions which
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  Speaker 1: affected him when he reached the desolate island, except in
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  Speaker 1: the satisfaction of knowing that his beloved wife was surrounded
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  Speaker 1: by friends, and, whether living or dead, had been blessed
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  Speaker 1: by those consolations of which his son was so long deprived,
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  Speaker 1: Not knowing how far missus Crusoe had been informed of
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  Speaker 1: the jeopardy of her son, or whether she remained in
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  Speaker 1: ignorance of an event which would of course render his
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  Speaker 1: long absence and her own want of letters the more distressing.
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  Speaker 1: Mister Crusoe thought it advisable to see that lady and
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  Speaker 1: her husband in the first place, to whom he had
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  Speaker 1: signed the delicate task of acquainting her. When he was
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  Speaker 1: first at the Cape, he knew that she resided at Brompton,
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  Speaker 1: and that the gentleman Captain Coventry could be heard of
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  Speaker 1: at the Clarendon Hotel. And as his first duty was
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  Speaker 1: to call at the East India House, he determined to
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  Speaker 1: proceed thence towards that dear home, where his heart was
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  Speaker 1: already hovering in joy and fear, and learn on the road,
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  Speaker 1: if possible, the present situation of his lady, and then
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  Speaker 1: announce his arrival to her. In consequence, they took a
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  Speaker 1: friendly leave of their fellow passengers and traveling posts, soon
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  Speaker 1: arrived in London. Before reaching the India House, Charles had
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  Speaker 1: been absolutely surprised at the number of streets and houses,
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  Speaker 1: and in going thence all the way up to Piccadilly,
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  Speaker 1: it may be supposed how much he was astonished when
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  Speaker 1: he saw London as he approached it from Blackheath, he
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  Speaker 1: called it a forest of houses, and which his memory
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  Speaker 1: furnished him with no parallel, but yet his mind was
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  Speaker 1: not impressed by it nearly in the same way that
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  Speaker 1: it appeared to be when such a multitude of his
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  Speaker 1: fellow creatures actually surrounded him, as are always seen traversing
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  Speaker 1: the streets of the metropolis. Under the surprise of one
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  Speaker 1: party and the anxiety of the other, both remained equally
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  Speaker 1: silent until they reached the hotel and learned that Captain
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  Speaker 1: Coventry was then residing with his family in Brompton in
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  Speaker 1: a house as it appeared very near to that taken
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  Speaker 1: by missus Crusoe, so that they could not doubt receiving
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  Speaker 1: every information respecting her from him, and mister Crusoe requested
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  Speaker 1: the postilions to drive thither as quick as possible. Sambo,
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  Speaker 1: who had been seated on the box and exceedingly delighted
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  Speaker 1: with all he saw in the latter part of the
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  Speaker 1: drive for the former confusion rather frightened him, seized the
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  Speaker 1: momentary stoppage to exclaim, Ah, mister Shai him city here
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  Speaker 1: quite differ to Santipol hair Men's more thick than trees,
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  Speaker 1: plenty beefs plenty pies, no thunder here, but coachee, no
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  Speaker 1: green serpent here, mister Schai. Mister Crusoe shook his head
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  Speaker 1: and half smiled at the last remark, remembering there were
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  Speaker 1: snares in London, if not serpents, But his heart was
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  Speaker 1: too full to speak. Besides, in addition to the many
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  Speaker 1: sounds of the streets, the parrot added his voice for
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  Speaker 1: having caught the word captain. When they stopped, he continued
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  Speaker 1: to cry Captain Gordon ahoy, until they arrived at Captain
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  Speaker 1: Coventry's door. It so happened that the Master of the
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  Speaker 1: house reached it at the same moment and hardly welcomed
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  Speaker 1: mister Crusoe, who was so agitated he could not make
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  Speaker 1: the very inquiries which faltered on his tongue. But before
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  Speaker 1: we had time to speak, Captain Coventry said, you see,
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  Speaker 1: I have got this Evening's courier in my hand. It
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  Speaker 1: announces the arrival of the Asia, and ads we understand
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  Speaker 1: the names of Wilmington, Crusoe's, Snaid, et cetera are among
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  Speaker 1: the passengers. And so I ran to missus Crusoe that
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  Speaker 1: moment with the news, and also entreated her and Emily
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  Speaker 1: to come and dine with us that we might talk
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  Speaker 1: about you together. But bless my life, this must be
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  Speaker 1: your son, Yes, I said Sambo, anxious to be recognized
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  Speaker 1: as a former acquaintance. Him be him father or son.
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  Speaker 1: Some will find him again on desert Island, My dear boy,
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  Speaker 1: said the warm hearted captain, clasping him to his breast.
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  Speaker 1: I am more rejoiced to see you than I have
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  Speaker 1: time to tell you. But come up stairs this moment,
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  Speaker 1: Missus Coventry must hide you somewhere. Your poor mother is
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  Speaker 1: at this time in deep mourning for you and in
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  Speaker 1: delicate health. This joy must not be given too. Suddenly,
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  Speaker 1: when Captain Coventry had mentioned the words already related which
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  Speaker 1: assured mister Crusoe of the safety of his dear wife
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  Speaker 1: and daughter, he had involuntarily flung himself on a chair
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  Speaker 1: in the hall overpowered with gratitude and joy. But he
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  Speaker 1: now hastened into the drawing room, where he found Missus Coventry,
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  Speaker 1: who gave him a sincere welcome and Charles likewise. On
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  Speaker 1: learning the safety of the latter, she exceedingly lamented that
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  Speaker 1: dear Missus Crusoe had ever been led to doubt it,
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  Speaker 1: as it had greatly affected her health and rendered her
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  Speaker 1: much more uneasy about her husband than she would otherwise
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  Speaker 1: have been. I did all for the best, cried Captain Coventry.
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  Speaker 1: I had not the slightest doubt in my own mind
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  Speaker 1: that the poor boy had been dead months before when
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  Speaker 1: mister Crusoe set out to seek him, and as I
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  Speaker 1: received letters from Ceylon, in which his father himself, owing
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  Speaker 1: to the long delay, said he had given up all
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  Speaker 1: hopes of his existence, I thought it my duty to
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  Speaker 1: prepare my poor friend here and her daughter for the truth,
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  Speaker 1: especially as it was the only proper way of accounting
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  Speaker 1: for the protracted absence of her husband. I did not
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  Speaker 1: expect that you would arrive so soon, by six weeks,
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  Speaker 1: so I told her about two months since, trusting that
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  Speaker 1: by the time of your arrival, time would so far
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  Speaker 1: have softened her sorrow, great as it was, that she
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  Speaker 1: might not afflict you on your meeting by speaking of
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  Speaker 1: it and renewing the grievous state of feeling under which
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  Speaker 1: I had seen you suffer. Both myself and my wife
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  Speaker 1: have done our best to comfort her, and her resignation
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  Speaker 1: to Heaven has done more. But she is yet in
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  Speaker 1: much affliction. Just then a knock was heard at the door.
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  Speaker 1: Here she come, says Missus Coventry. I well know her
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  Speaker 1: mind as in such to flutter with the news she
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  Speaker 1: can rest nowhere, Go down, my dear, and tell her
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  Speaker 1: of mister Crusoe's arrival. I will take Charles into my
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  Speaker 1: dressing room. Pursuant to this arrangement, In a few minutes,
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  Speaker 1: the affectionate and long parted couple were in each other's arms,
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  Speaker 1: and little Emily, now a tall, lovely girl of thirteen,
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  Speaker 1: claimed the parental kiss. Tears mingled with their caresses, but
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  Speaker 1: Missus Crusoe struggled to suppress all symptoms of that sorrow
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  Speaker 1: for their mutual loss, which was still uppermost in her mind,
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  Speaker 1: and did not revert to anything which could damp the evident,
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  Speaker 1: unmingled joy of her husband. When they had sat together
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  Speaker 1: alone a little time, mister Crusoe inquired after their friends
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  Speaker 1: and relations. All are well, said Missus Crusoe. But I
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  Speaker 1: have lost one, my great uncle, mister Robinson of Lincolnshire.
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  Speaker 1: He was a very old man, and I have never
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  Speaker 1: seen him since my childhood, so that I cannot call
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  Speaker 1: him a loss. You were his nearest relation, Emily, though
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  Speaker 1: a distant one, and he ought to have left you
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  Speaker 1: something handsome, for he was very rich. But never mind,
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  Speaker 1: my love, we can do without it. Thank God. These
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  Speaker 1: words entirely overcame the poor mother, who now burst into
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  Speaker 1: tears and was unable to speak, whilst Emily, weeping, also
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  Speaker 1: replied to her father, if my poor brother had lived, Papa,
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  Speaker 1: he was to have had all mister Robinson's estate, on
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  Speaker 1: adding the name of Robinson to his own. If Mamma
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  Speaker 1: has no son, the estate goes to a still more
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  Speaker 1: distant relation. But the old gentleman has been very good
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  Speaker 1: to me, then we are all much obliged to him,
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  Speaker 1: my dear, and I will get a new black coat
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  Speaker 1: to morrow. You are already in mourning, I perceive, not
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  Speaker 1: for him, poor man. Oh no, not for him, cried
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  Speaker 1: the agitated mother, Emily, My dearest Emily, I cannot bear
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  Speaker 1: to see you thus, knowing as I do the source
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  Speaker 1: of your sorrows, and aware as I am, that you
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  Speaker 1: ought not to weep. Perhaps you think that because I
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  Speaker 1: have lost my poor child so long, I have forgotten him,
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  Speaker 1: But indeed that is not the case. He is now
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  Speaker 1: in my memory as fresh as ever. I well remember,
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  Speaker 1: just before I set sail for England that he was
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  Speaker 1: wishing one morning to be like Robinson Crusoe. And it
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  Speaker 1: was that recollection which overcame me. It was indeed too
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  Speaker 1: likely to do so. And I am not sorry to
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  Speaker 1: have an opportunity thus offered to talk with you about
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  Speaker 1: our beloved boy. But I fear you have not the
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  Speaker 1: fortitude to hear me. Oh yes I have. I even
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  Speaker 1: wish to hear all the particulars of his death. Those
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  Speaker 1: I cannot give you, for I am fully persuaded that
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  Speaker 1: he is not dead, my dear, not dead, then he
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  Speaker 1: must have been carried away and is an estate of slavery.
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  Speaker 1: Tell me in a moment why you think he still lives.
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  Speaker 1: Be calm, then, and I will give you my reasons.
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  Speaker 1: I have seen him living, and even spoken to him.
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  Speaker 1: He is an state of captivity at this moment, I grant, Emily,
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  Speaker 1: but he is in health. He is here, here, cried
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  Speaker 1: the mother, sinking on her knees and holding up her
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  Speaker 1: hands to Heaven. Bring him to my arms this instant.
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  Speaker 1: I did not promise you, this, Emily, cried mister Crusoe,
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  Speaker 1: terrified by her pale, wild looks, and seeking how to
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  Speaker 1: repress the emotion, he had awakened. I know he is
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  Speaker 1: here for you. Charles would never leave your son a
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  Speaker 1: captive in a foreign land. No, he is here. Bring
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  Speaker 1: me to him, and I will be calm at this moment.
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  Speaker 1: Missus Coventry, alarmed by the loud exclamation of her friend,
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  Speaker 1: rushed into the room and earnestly besought her to be calm,
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  Speaker 1: adding an indirect insinuation that Charles's health would suffer. On this,
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  Speaker 1: she conceived the idea that he was perhaps only restored
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  Speaker 1: to her, that he might die with her, and the
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  Speaker 1: contending fear so far dampened her joy as to render
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  Speaker 1: it bearable. In a short time, she had the satisfaction
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  Speaker 1: to hold him in her arms, to gaze on him again,
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  Speaker 1: recall his features and his voice, and by degrees assure
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  Speaker 1: herself that, allowing for the darkness of his complexion and
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  Speaker 1: his extraordinary growth, there was nothing alarming in his appearance.
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  Speaker 1: Emily thought there was everything admirable in it. She walked
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  Speaker 1: around him again and again, brushed up his hair with
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  Speaker 1: her fingers, and called him brother at every word, delighted
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  Speaker 1: with the acquisitions she had made, and anticipating from his
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  Speaker 1: future love more happiness than she had ever known since
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  Speaker 1: the day when they were parted for some time. Poor Charles,
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  Speaker 1: who was almost equally affected with his mother, since the
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  Speaker 1: sight of her brought vividly to his remembrance all his
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  Speaker 1: own period of sufferings, could scarcely speak. But when he
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  Speaker 1: was become a little more familiar with the circle, he
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  Speaker 1: found himself so happy that he could not contain the
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  Speaker 1: overflowing of his thankfulness, and he retired to the room
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  Speaker 1: he had quitted, that he might, unseen pore out his
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  Speaker 1: full heart to God in prayer and praise. Need we
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  Speaker 1: tell our young readers with what joy? Charles presented his
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  Speaker 1: collection of shells and feathers to his sister, thus proving
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  Speaker 1: that she had been held dear at a time when
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  Speaker 1: he had little hope of ever showing his affection. It
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  Speaker 1: will be readily believed that they were thought the most
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  Speaker 1: beautiful that were ever behealed, yet that the history attached
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  Speaker 1: to all his movements at that eventful time was still
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  Speaker 1: more interesting than his present. And what have you got
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  Speaker 1: from me? Charles said missus Crusoe, do you, dear Mamma,
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  Speaker 1: I give my parrot the most valuable possession certainly that
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  Speaker 1: I ever had, or ever shall have, and which I
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  Speaker 1: would part with to no other person. I know you
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  Speaker 1: will be kind to it for my sake. I am
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  Speaker 1: also in possession of many very pretty things proper for
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  Speaker 1: the dress of ladies, but whether they may be called mine,
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  Speaker 1: I have doubts. Let us see them by all means,
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  Speaker 1: was the cry, And as Charles had already got one
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  Speaker 1: of the shawls with him, it was immediately brought upstairs
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  Speaker 1: by Sambo, whom his good lady had already seen and welcomed.
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  Speaker 1: The silk shawl already mentioned, which was of a very
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  Speaker 1: singular pattern, was immediately spread out, on which Captain Coventry said,
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  Speaker 1: that is a very shawl I bought for you, my
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  Speaker 1: dear it Benares, I could know it from a thousand
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  Speaker 1: and which we all thought was lost to the carelessness
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  Speaker 1: of said Along with the rest of your finery, I
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  Speaker 1: put it, said Missus Coventry, myself in the bottom of
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  Speaker 1: a box, along with one much more valuable, though less showy,
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  Speaker 1: together with gold and silver, muslin, ostrich feathers, and many
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  Speaker 1: other things, all which I can restore you, except the
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  Speaker 1: shoes which I wore out, and the handkerchiefs for which
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  Speaker 1: I had a thousand uses. I have also made up
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  Speaker 1: your furs, but I do not think they are much injured.
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  Speaker 1: You are a sad rogue, I find, said Missus Coventry, laughing.
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  Speaker 1: Are you certain you do not leave any of my
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  Speaker 1: things at the India House, For I find you went
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  Speaker 1: there the first thing. I am quite certain that I did,
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  Speaker 1: for I took some of your skins to pack up
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  Speaker 1: safety these important papers which belonged to Captain Gordon, and
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  Speaker 1: which it was our first duty to deposit safety there
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  Speaker 1: till we can place them in the hands of his
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  Speaker 1: widowed daughter. I shall then get all my property back,
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  Speaker 1: for that lady married a cousin of mine. She is
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  Speaker 1: the mother of three little children, and would have been
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  Speaker 1: before this time in great distress if my dear Coventry
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  Speaker 1: had not assisted her. But now she will probably be
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  Speaker 1: rendered comfortable for life, her poor children well educated, and
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  Speaker 1: her friends easy for them all. Charles now went out
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  Speaker 1: to bring his parrot, which entered sitting on his shoulder
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  Speaker 1: and bawling. Never despair, my dear boy. To the great
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  Speaker 1: delight of Emily and the Captain. It would not at
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  Speaker 1: first be persuaded to leave its master for any person,
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  Speaker 1: but Sambo and mister Crusoe observed that he feared Paul
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  Speaker 1: would prove rather a troublesome present, but he was better
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  Speaker 1: than none. But he did not remember that Charles had
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  Speaker 1: given him anything. Oh Fie, Papa, Ever since the day
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  Speaker 1: my mother left us in India, your kindness and daily
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  Speaker 1: attention to my comfort, said continually, my son, give me
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  Speaker 1: thy heart, and you must know and feel that you
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  Speaker 1: had my whole heart. Indeed I do, my boy, and
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  Speaker 1: I rejoice in the gift, not only for my own
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  Speaker 1: happiness in you now, but from the persuasion that your
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  Speaker 1: confidence in me had the most trying time in your
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  Speaker 1: eventful little history, was the reason why your spirits were
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  Speaker 1: supported under such severe distress, and that you were enabled
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  Speaker 1: to recollect my advice on so many points to your advantage.
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  Speaker 1: Undoubtedly it was, Papa. But when I had the power
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  Speaker 1: of recollecting things, I was also a little indebted to
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  Speaker 1: my old friend Robinson Crusoe for my exertions and contrivances.
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  Speaker 1: I said nothing about him on board, for fear of
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  Speaker 1: their jokes. But among friends I wish to acknowledge my
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  Speaker 1: obligations to poor Robinson. So you ought, my dear both
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  Speaker 1: in the old quarter and a new one. For it
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  Speaker 1: is now time to tell you that you are likely,
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  Speaker 1: by and by to add that name to your own,
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  Speaker 1: together with a handsome estate. And I think we must
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  Speaker 1: all own that no boy of your age ever had
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  Speaker 1: more fairly earned a right to be called Robinson Crusoe.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter thirteen recording by John Trevivick. End of
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  Speaker 1: The Young Crusoe or the Shipwrecked Boy by Barbara Hofland