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

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  Speaker 1: Dot Org The Young Crusoe or The Shipwrecked Boy by
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  Speaker 1: Barbara Hofland, Chapter nine. Charles blames himself for despairing, prepares
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  Speaker 1: for another voyage, finds wild carrots, sees a ship sets
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  Speaker 1: out in the boat, approaches the vessel, loses sight of it,
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  Speaker 1: and returns plants the captain's grave. When Charles arose in
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  Speaker 1: the morning, he found there had been a pleasant spring
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  Speaker 1: shower which had beautified everything on the island. There was
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  Speaker 1: a sweet smell from the herbage, A refreshing air fanned
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  Speaker 1: the budding trees, and the little birds were twittering on
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  Speaker 1: every bough. Charles felt the sweet influence of the season,
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  Speaker 1: and his heart ascended in praise to the bountiful giver
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  Speaker 1: of all good. He then went to the stream, and,
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  Speaker 1: finding some fish in his net, he proceeded to make
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  Speaker 1: a fire and procure the meal he so much required.
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  Speaker 1: Whilst it was roasting, he opened the Bible and began
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  Speaker 1: to read the Proverbs of Solomon, which he did not
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  Speaker 1: recollect reading before. As the historical parts of the Old
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  Speaker 1: Testament had naturedly engaged his attention the most, he had
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  Speaker 1: not read far when he found the words hope deferred
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  Speaker 1: maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it
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  Speaker 1: is a tree of life. Ah cried Charles. I had
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  Speaker 1: a sad fit of that very sickness last night, and
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  Speaker 1: the effects are not gone off yet. It was not
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  Speaker 1: only very foolish in me to give way to my
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  Speaker 1: sense of sorrow so much, but very ungrateful also, for
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  Speaker 1: within a short time I had been so mercifully delivered
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  Speaker 1: from many dangers that I am sure I might sing
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  Speaker 1: that hymn which says I'll praise THEE. I'll praise THEE
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  Speaker 1: for all that's pass, and trust THEE for all that
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  Speaker 1: is to come, instead of which the very first disappointment
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  Speaker 1: I had completely unmanned me. I find I am only
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  Speaker 1: a child yet, though I am almost fourteen years old
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  Speaker 1: and have had experience enough in the last six months
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  Speaker 1: to give me a push in life. In consequence of
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  Speaker 1: these reflections, Charles came to a resolution which it was
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  Speaker 1: very difficult to keep. He determined to carry a design
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  Speaker 1: of preparing for his return into execution, and at the
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  Speaker 1: same time allowing himself only to watch three hours a day,
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  Speaker 1: and at other times to keep himself as busy as
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  Speaker 1: if he were going to live on the island all
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  Speaker 1: his life. He thought that by watching at three different
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  Speaker 1: periods of the day, he should insure every advantage likely
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  Speaker 1: to occur, since in so wide an horizon the progress
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  Speaker 1: of any vessel might be traced many hours, and he
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  Speaker 1: was aware from past experience that the agitation he experienced
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  Speaker 1: when a ship was actually within sight was such that
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  Speaker 1: it took away the very strength which he would so
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  Speaker 1: greatly need if any actual chance for escape presented itself.
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  Speaker 1: The preparations for departure on which he had set his
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  Speaker 1: heart consisted of making a considerable selection of those beautiful
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  Speaker 1: sea shells on the other side of the island, which
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  Speaker 1: we formerly mentioned as a present for his sister Emily,
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  Speaker 1: and of keeping his boat clean and in order for
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  Speaker 1: going out at a moment's warning, with a little stock
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  Speaker 1: of provisions for this purpose. Every morning, at rising he
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  Speaker 1: sought the shells, which in the evening he arranged, and
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  Speaker 1: to these he added a considerable stock of beautiful feathers,
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  Speaker 1: which he had gathered and put into a corner of
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  Speaker 1: the hut. The shells he lay carefully in layers at
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  Speaker 1: the bottom of the box, between the folds of the muslin.
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  Speaker 1: The feathers he stuck in lines upon his writing paper,
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  Speaker 1: disposing them in different shades and forms, so as to
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  Speaker 1: make very pretty pictures. And in several he made the
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  Speaker 1: letter E in green and scarlet feathers upon a ground
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  Speaker 1: of dark brown or brilliant white. This employment was so
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  Speaker 1: pleasant to him that he regretted much that he had
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  Speaker 1: not begun it sooner. For many a lonely hour was
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  Speaker 1: beguiled by an amusement which exercised his taste as well
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  Speaker 1: as his affections. And often would he look at the
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  Speaker 1: last piece he had finished and think of the pleasure
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  Speaker 1: it would give his sister, without that too natural conclusion
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  Speaker 1: that her eyes, in all probability, would never behold it.
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  Speaker 1: Whenever Charles went to the shore, he took his gun
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  Speaker 1: with him, and now frequently, either with that or his
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  Speaker 1: bow and arrow, shot a rabbit. As the weather was
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  Speaker 1: become warm and the creatures were again seen frisking in
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  Speaker 1: his path, he noticed in his walks also abundance of
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  Speaker 1: a plant, which, on plucking up, had a root resembling
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  Speaker 1: a small carrot, and undoubtedly was a wild species which
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  Speaker 1: eat very well, and he soon found to be very nutritious.
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  Speaker 1: He took it very sparingly at first, but on finding
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  Speaker 1: no bad effects from eating it, got it freely, and,
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  Speaker 1: having boiled it in his tea kettle, found it an
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  Speaker 1: excellent substitute for bread, and he even contrived, by crushing
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  Speaker 1: it into cakes and drying it in the sun, to
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  Speaker 1: make it a substitute for the biscuits which he had finished.
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  Speaker 1: As soon as he had contrived to dry a few
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  Speaker 1: of these cakes very thoroughly, he put them by as
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  Speaker 1: a store into his boat, for which also he provided
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  Speaker 1: some slips of dried fish. Often did he wish for salt,
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  Speaker 1: thinking that if he possessed the power of curing some fish,
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  Speaker 1: he might have ventured on a long voyage. For the
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  Speaker 1: sea was now so calm and the weather so settled,
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  Speaker 1: that he again earnestly desired to set out, But he
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  Speaker 1: no longer wished to visit the neighboring island, which he
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  Speaker 1: was persuaded was a much worse place than his present abode,
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  Speaker 1: and equally uninhabited. At length, one morning, with feelings of
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  Speaker 1: unspeakable delight, Charles again distinctly perceived a ship tracing her
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  Speaker 1: progress over the liquid plain in a much nearer direction
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  Speaker 1: than the last had done, as for some time he
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  Speaker 1: thought her bearing for Amsterdam. As he carried one of
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  Speaker 1: the shawls about his person, he lost not a moment
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  Speaker 1: in taking it and streaming it out in the wind
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  Speaker 1: by tying it to the highest part of the tree.
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  Speaker 1: He then descended, flew to the hut, took out all
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  Speaker 1: that he could carry, regretting exceedingly that, after all his pains,
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  Speaker 1: the box with the sea shells must be left behind,
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  Speaker 1: and hastened down to his boat. It required great exertion
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  Speaker 1: at this moment to get out to sea, but the
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  Speaker 1: energies awakened by his present excitement, conquered every obstacle. In
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  Speaker 1: a few minutes, he had pushed into the sea, spread
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  Speaker 1: his sail, rejoiced in a rising breeze, and felt convinced
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  Speaker 1: that he should shortly attract the attention of some person
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  Speaker 1: on the deck of the ship, which was seldom a
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  Speaker 1: single moment out of his sight, For such was his
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  Speaker 1: dread of losing this precious object, that he had scarcely
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  Speaker 1: the power of attending to his own vessel. In about
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  Speaker 1: half an hour. He had the additional satisfaction of perceiving
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  Speaker 1: that one of her boats was out fishing and therefore
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  Speaker 1: he had the greater reason to hope that he should
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  Speaker 1: be seen in a little time. He fired, and continued
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  Speaker 1: to do so at intervals for more than an hour,
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  Speaker 1: but as no notice whatever was taken, he concluded either
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  Speaker 1: that he had remained unheard and unseen, or else that
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  Speaker 1: the crew were persons of great inhumanity. When this idea
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  Speaker 1: struck him, he became extremely anxious on the subject of
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  Speaker 1: Captain Gordon's property, thinking that if it fell into bad hands,
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  Speaker 1: it was but too probable that he should be stripped
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  Speaker 1: and murdered for the sake of securing it to the plunderers,
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  Speaker 1: and for a moment he conceived that the best thing
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  Speaker 1: he could do would be to throw it into the sea. This, however,
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  Speaker 1: he would not do till there appeared a positive necessity
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  Speaker 1: for it, as it was next to seeing his parents again.
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  Speaker 1: The first wish of his heart to restore this fortune
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  Speaker 1: to the innocent orphans, who, perhaps at this very moment
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  Speaker 1: were in want of it, And he even hoped that
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  Speaker 1: in case he should be taken as a prisoner rather
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  Speaker 1: than a friend, he might find the means of secreting it.
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  Speaker 1: Since he wore it nearest his body well secured by
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  Speaker 1: the best bandages it had been in his power to make.
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  Speaker 1: Just as Charles had made this conclusion, he perceived the
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  Speaker 1: boat quit its late position, and he fired again, alas
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  Speaker 1: its motion was towards the ship. What would he not
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  Speaker 1: have given for more sails, for the power of making
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  Speaker 1: a louder report, for any means whereby to reach the
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  Speaker 1: senses and touch the hearts of his fellow creatures. Oh
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  Speaker 1: that I had wings like a dove, was on his lips.
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  Speaker 1: As with outstretched hands and streaming eyes, he gazed towards
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  Speaker 1: the ship, which every moment receded more swiftly from his sight,
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  Speaker 1: and in another hour left him alone in the wide ocean,
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  Speaker 1: out of the sight of every human eye, and far
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  Speaker 1: from all human help, every moment leaving still farther the
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  Speaker 1: desolate island which he yet held to be his home.
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  Speaker 1: What a foolish boy I am, to cry again, ejaculated
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  Speaker 1: Charles at length. I may have a dozen failures and
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  Speaker 1: yet be taken up at last. Besides, that very ship
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  Speaker 1: may be going to China for anything I know, And
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  Speaker 1: in that case I should be taken much further from
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  Speaker 1: my native land than I am here. And if my
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  Speaker 1: poor father should come to seek me, I should be
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  Speaker 1: completely lost. At the name of his father, his heart sunk.
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  Speaker 1: It was now nineteen weeks complete since he had so
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  Speaker 1: mysteriously disappeared from the island, and it seemed hardly likely
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  Speaker 1: that in that time no means should have arisen for
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  Speaker 1: conveying intelligence. On the other hand, unless his father had
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  Speaker 1: the positive command of a vessel, how could he come
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  Speaker 1: or send for him, Since it was too plain that
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  Speaker 1: no vessels were in the habit of touching either here
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  Speaker 1: or at Amsterdam. There had been no severe weather likely
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  Speaker 1: to have proved a hindrance for the last three months.
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  Speaker 1: But this might make no difference to mister Crusoe, for
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  Speaker 1: as he had gone from Hence poor and shipwrecked, he
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  Speaker 1: who once could command so much, might now be able
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  Speaker 1: to procure not even a paltry sloop with which to
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  Speaker 1: rescue his only son. Poor Charles was compelled to abandon
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  Speaker 1: this course of distressing reflections, to think of his own
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  Speaker 1: safety and change the direction of his little vessel. For
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  Speaker 1: many hours he was obliged to tack with little success,
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  Speaker 1: and although he was not exposed of severe weather as before,
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  Speaker 1: he was out a second night, finding it even more
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  Speaker 1: difficult than then to effect a landing. When he at
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  Speaker 1: length moored his boat, it was in a little bay,
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  Speaker 1: much more convenient than he had yet found, and also
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  Speaker 1: nearer to the hut. Therefore, he resolved that for the
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  Speaker 1: present it should remain there, and after covering it with branches,
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  Speaker 1: he returned, thoughtful but not dejected, to his hut once more.
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  Speaker 1: The first thing Charles saw, or indeed heard, was poor Paul.
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  Speaker 1: The bird had been asleep at the time when he
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  Speaker 1: set out, and in his hurry, for the first time,
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  Speaker 1: he had actually forgotten him. And such was the agitation
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  Speaker 1: of his spirits for the first hour or two that
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  Speaker 1: even this his dear and only companion, failed to be remembered. When, however,
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  Speaker 1: he did think of Paul, the recollect of having left
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  Speaker 1: him behind grieved him so much that it rendered his
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  Speaker 1: disappointment less afflictive to him. When he lost sight of
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  Speaker 1: the ships, and he determined that for the future he
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  Speaker 1: would take him on his shoulders wherever he went. He
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  Speaker 1: also emptied his box to enable him to carry it
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  Speaker 1: down to the boat, and then carefully and with much labor,
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  Speaker 1: replaced the contents, thus rendering himself ready to go at
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  Speaker 1: any moment, but being also aware that he might yet
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  Speaker 1: be compelled to remain an indefinite time, he made himself
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  Speaker 1: a seat in the hut by heaping up sand and
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  Speaker 1: covering it with the skin of the animals he had killed,
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  Speaker 1: after sewing them together with the fibers of leaves. There
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  Speaker 1: were times when he wished much to lay out a
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  Speaker 1: little garden, as he had now discovered several other vegetables
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  Speaker 1: besides the carrots, which he thought would answer for food.
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  Speaker 1: But his want of a spade forbade his progress in
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  Speaker 1: preparing the ground, for although the shovel, which was his
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  Speaker 1: only instrument, managed to remove sand, it was quite inadequate
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  Speaker 1: to digging the earth. It was a great pleasure to
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  Speaker 1: see all the fruits promised to be abundant, and remember
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  Speaker 1: that the season for finding dates, in particular was coming on.
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  Speaker 1: For such was his dislike to killing any living thing
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  Speaker 1: that nothing but positive necessity could induce him to shed blood.
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  Speaker 1: And he thought that if he were compelled to remain
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  Speaker 1: another year, he would manage to do without any animal
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  Speaker 1: food except turtle, which he flattered himself, he could kill easily,
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  Speaker 1: and which he had found to be particularly nutritive food. Again,
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  Speaker 1: and again he went to his usual points. But though
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  Speaker 1: he sometimes fancied he saw vessels in the extreme distance,
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  Speaker 1: yet day after day passed and no more vessels came,
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  Speaker 1: as before within his actual observation, and he almost repented that,
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  Speaker 1: when he was so far out, he had returned to
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  Speaker 1: the island. And as to his hopes of his father's arrival,
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  Speaker 1: they became every day more faint, so that he ceased
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  Speaker 1: to count the days upon his almanac, because they diminished hopes,
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  Speaker 1: which from the first had rather sprung from his affections
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  Speaker 1: than his reason. At this time he planted many little
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  Speaker 1: shrubs around the grave of Captain Gordon, and inscribed his
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  Speaker 1: name in the bark of the trees near it, not
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  Speaker 1: unfrequently cutting his own. Likewise, his mind was in such
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  Speaker 1: a state of inquietude that he could not read at all.
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  Speaker 1: But every active pursuit was of benefit to him, And often,
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  Speaker 1: while he wept his father's loss would he recall his words, and,
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  Speaker 1: with true wisdom and warm affection, resolved as far as
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  Speaker 1: he could to follow his advice in all things. Then
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  Speaker 1: would he rouse himself to action by running to look
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  Speaker 1: at his boat, gathering sticks for his fire, or adding
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  Speaker 1: to his stock of shells, by which means he would
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  Speaker 1: attain sufficient composure to read and think on the subject
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  Speaker 1: before him, and finally to pray devoutly and sleep comfortably.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter nine.