Ben Hadden; or, Do Right Whatever Comes Of It Read online

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  ON A DESERT ISLAND.

  Poor Ben was very melancholy at the feeling that he was alone on thatdesert island; still, he was thankful that his own life had beenpreserved. "God surely would not have taken me out of the sea to let medie here by inches of hunger and thirst," he said to himself. "I willtrust in God, as I have always done." As he said this, he put his handin the bosom of his shirt. There was safe the little Testament whichhis mother had given him, and which he had been reading before the galesprang up. He spread it out open on the sand, that the leaves mightdry. "He has spared me this; He has other good things in store for me,"he whispered to himself. He also spread out his clothes, which veryquickly dried.

  Ben had lost his cap, so, while his Testament and clothes were drying,he sat down and began making another out of some broad leaves which grewclose at hand. While thus employed, and thinking over what he shoulddo, he recollected that he had not prayed, nor thanked God forpreserving him; so, having put on his clothes, he knelt down in the thinshadow of a tall palm, and prayed as he had never prayed before. Afterdoing this, he felt greatly supported; yet his condition was indeed aforlorn one. He rose from his knees, and looked around. He feltthirsty, but not very hungry--sufficiently so, however, to remind himthat he must look out for food. He was not aware of the difficulties ofprocuring it, so that his mind was not troubled on that score. Hisfirst idea was to survey the island, so as to learn to a certaintywhether any of his shipmates might have been cast on it. He found apiece of timber on the sand, which served him for a walking-stick, and,supported by it, he set off to walk round the island.

  He first climbed up to the top of a rock near him, from which, betweenthe trees, he could look across the island, and he thought that it couldbe little more than half a mile wide. How long it was he could not sowell judge. He walked on and on, looking about for signs offresh-water, for he knew that he must not drink that of the sea. Hecould find none. He became more and more thirsty; his tongue wasparched, and his throat dry: still he would not give up. He dragged hisweary feet along, helped by his stick. Some rocky mounds, scarcely tobe called hills, appeared in the distance, and he hoped that water mightbe found near them. This gave him fresh strength to drag himself along.The mounds were not so high even as he had fancied, and were muchnearer. Again he was disappointed. He paced round and round them; allwas stony and dry.

  Ben was very nearly giving way to despair, when he espied, scarcelyfifty yards off, a group of tall trees with large round fruit hangingfrom them. At once he knew them to be cocoa-nuts, and he went on, eagerto quench his thirst with the pure milk they contained. Yet, weak as hewas, how could he climb up to the top of those trees? He had often seenthe natives do it with a band round their waists. If he were strong, hemight do it in the same way, could he but find the band; but, in hisweak state, that was impossible. Again he was doomed to disappointment,he feared, and was about to pursue his exploring tour, when he saw, notfar off, a nut on the ground. He ran eagerly and picked it up. It hadbeen blown off during the recent gale. After stripping off the husk, hesoon broke in the end; and, though he spilt a little, there wassufficient milk in it to quench his now burning thirst. He then moreslowly ate pieces of the fruit, which he cut out with his knife. Herewas one means of supporting life, and Ben's elastic spirits again rose.At his age the thoughts of the future did not press heavily on him. Hehad, too, `a conscience void of offence towards God': not that he didnot feel and know himself to be a sinner; but he felt himself to be apardoned one, as a sincere believer in Christ. That was the secret ofhis light-heartedness. Still he had a longing for pure water. He knew,too, that he could the better cook any fish he might obtain if he couldfind it. How was he to light a fire, however? Just before the galecame on, the cook had sent him below to get his tin-box of matches, andafter the cook had taken one out, Ben had put it into his pocket. Thereit was, and, the lid fitting tightly down, the matches were uninjured."I must cherish them carefully, however," he thought; "when they aregone, I shall be unable to light a fire." He looked about and foundseveral other cocoa-nuts, which he collected, and piled up where hecould again find them.

  Much refreshed, Ben continued his walk. At last he saw the end of theisland. For a quarter of a mile or more it was low and barren, hardrock washed apparently by the sea; so he turned round and went back bythe other shore. The island was, altogether, nearly two miles long; butthere were not many cocoa-nut trees on it,--nor much soil indeed, whichwas the reason probably that it was not inhabited. He might nowexclaim, though sadly, "I am monarch of all I survey;" but he wouldrather have been the meanest subject of a small kingdom, with civilisedcompanions, than a king and all alone on that nearly barren reef. Stillhe had no fear of starving; shell-fish he saw on the rocks in abundance.During the calm, too, some of the natives had been fishing over theside of the vessel, and he also had got some hooks and a long line.These he had put into his pockets. He might, he hoped, find some roots,and thus be able to vary his diet. As the sun rose, the horizon becamevery clear, and he thought that he could distinguish land in onedirection; it was at all events a long way off, and it was so faint thatit might be only a cloud just rising above the horizon. He should beable to judge better after watching it for a day or two.

  As Ben walked on, his eye was continually roving about for signs ofwater. How gladly would he have welcomed the sight of even a littlemossy pool, or some moisture in the crevice of a rock! He did notdespair. He had hitherto only explored the shore; water might rise inthe interior, and be lost in the sand before it reached the beach. "Onething I ought to have before night," he said,--for he had got into theway of talking aloud,--"that is, shelter. I must build myself a hut;"and so he set to work. There were canes, and bushes, and broad leavesof the pandanus and other trees in abundance. He did not require a veryspacious mansion; still he wanted one high enough to sit in. He workedon till he was tired and hungry. He had left his cocoa-nuts some wayoff, and had to go for them. He brought as many as he could carry backto his hut. Knocking a hole in the end of one of them, and carefullyscraping out the fruit after he had drunk the milk, he waded into thewater, and cut some mussels off the rocks. His cocoa-nut he filled withsalt-water. Coming back, he lighted a fire in a hole a little way fromhis hut. Would he put his cocoa-nut on it? No; he was too wise forthat; but he made some stones red-hot, and kept tumbling them into thewater till the mussels were sufficiently cooked. Others he toastedbefore the fire, but he liked the boiled ones best. He thus made atolerably substantial meal. To keep in his fire, he built up a wall ofstones round it, and put on a quantity of green sticks, which would burnslowly, hoping in that way to save the expenditure of another match.

  "I will finish my hut, and then I will go and have another hunt forwater," he said to himself, as he began working again. He had placedhis hut against a tree, with the opening turned away from the wind.There were plenty of dry leaves about, which he collected for his bed.He did not require furniture; that he would make by and by. Whilehunting in his pockets for the matches, he found a number of thin flatseeds. He recollected having saved them from a fruit of the gourdspecies, which had been used on board the schooner. He carefully driedthem and put them by, remembering that such things grow very rapidly."There will be no harm sowing them; if I do not use them, others will.I am thankful I found them," he thought. Once more he set out to lookfor water. The exertion he had gone through, and the heat, made themilk of the cocoa-nut insufficient for quenching his thirst. The groundwas rough; but he eagerly clambered over it, backwards and forwards,hoping thus to find a spring if one existed. The sun was sinking low,when he thought that the trees and shrubs, in a hollow he saw some waybefore him, looked greener and more luxuriant than those in otherplaces. "Water makes leaves and grass green," he said to himself; "Ihope so, for I don't think that I could live many more hours withoutwater, not through another day in this hot sun. Oh dear! oh dear! howvery, very thirsty I am!
What would I give if there should be waterthere, even though I should only get one good drink of it! Ay, but Ishall want it another day--for many days, or months, perhaps, as long asI live on this island. I don't think that God will have put only alittle there. If there is any, there will be a good supply for me, morethan this cocoa-nut full, I am certain." He had brought a cocoa-nutshell with him to fill with water, that he might take some back to hishut.

  Ben almost shouted for joy when he found a spring of pure water bubblingup from under a big rock. It ran a little way between rocks, and thenlost itself in a sandy bed. He scooped a hole in the ground, into whichhe put his cocoa-nut shell, which quickly filled with water. How sweetand pure it tasted! He felt that he could never take enough. At last,however, his thirst was quenched, so he filled his cocoa-nut shell, anddirected his steps to the sea-shore; but he had not gone far before hewas tempted to put the shell to his lips. He soon drained it, and thenhe went back for more. His great fear was that he should not again findthe spring. He marked the spot with the greatest care, and noted eachtree and mound as he took his way towards the beach. Night was comingon, as it does in those latitudes, very rapidly; and Ben had to hurry onfor fear of not finding his hut, and at the same time to be verycautious not to spill the water out of his cocoa-nut. Oh that peoplewould be as eager for the Water of Life, as little Ben was for thespring in that desert island, and would be tempted to return to it againand again to drink afresh of its pure source! Ben was thankful when hesaw the glow from his fire, which continued smouldering gently. Withoutit he might have passed his hut. He could not manage by its light toread more than a few verses from his Testament; but even those few gavehim comfort and hope. With a heart truly grateful for the merciesbestowed on him, he knelt down and offered up his simple prayer to God.The last thing he did was to make up his fire afresh, and then he creptinto his hut and in a few moments was fast asleep.

  The sun had risen before Ben awoke. He felt that he had a great deal todo. He could not tell how long he might have to remain on the island.It might be not only for months, but for years. Much depended on hisown sense and energy whether he would retain his health, or indeed lifeitself. He began the day with prayer and reading the Testament. Heknew that that was the best way at all events to save himself fromturning into a savage. He then made his breakfast off cocoa-nut andshell-fish. "I must catch some fish, however," he said to himself, ashe finished the last clam; "this food will not do to live on always. Imay find some roots and berries, and perhaps turtles' eggs. I heardsome wild-fowl cry last evening; I may find their eggs too, and trapthem or some other birds, or get a turtle itself. The first thing I'llnow do is to carry my hut nearer to the water, instead of having tobring the water all this way to the hut. That won't take long. I cancarry the whole of it in two journeys, and quickly put it up. I musttake the fire after it. That will keep in for many hours, I see, withthe help of this rotten wood. If I go working on in these clothes, Ishall soon wear them out. I must see what I can do to make others outof the bark of the paper-mulberry, as the natives do; I thought I sawsome of those trees yesterday. I daresay I shall not succeed at first,but there is nothing like trying. There is a piece of open ground nearthe spring which will just do for the gourd-seeds. I'll sow themtherein forthwith. The fruit is very wholesome, I know; and the driedgourds will furnish me with basins and pots and pans in abundance."

  Ben put all his plans into execution in a methodical, regular way. Hebecame, indeed, perfectly happy, and almost contented with his lot,except when he thought of his mother and Ned--poor Ned, stillundiscovered, living among savages, or on a desert island, like himself.His own fate made him hope more than ever that Ned had escaped.

  Now and then the course of his plans was interrupted by something elsewhich occurred to him to do. One idea was to erect a beacon at each endof the island, to attract the attention of those on board any passingvessel. He had nothing of which to make a flag, so a flagstaff wouldhave been of no use. It then struck him that a cross would be moreremarkable than anything else, and he devoted a part of each day to thework. It was a very heavy task. He chose a tree towards the end of theisland, where he proposed erecting the first cross. He had only a stoutpocket-knife, but he could employ fire, and that only required constantwatching. A large sharp stone helped him. When he had thus felled thetree, he had to cut off the branches, and to drag it to the end of theisland. With great labour he partly burned, and partly cut, a deepnotch, into which he fixed the cross-beam, securing it with wedges. Hehad observed a cleft in the rock: in this he placed the butt-end, andgradually raised it with far more ease than he could otherwise havedone. Some large stones placed round it kept it secure. The othercross was erected much in the same manner.

  His fishing was very successful, and he was soon able to catch an amplesupply for his daily food. He found, too, some roots which wereperfectly wholesome. When cultivated by the natives, they formed one oftheir chief articles of food. He was not disappointed in finding, aftera time, some turtles' and sea-fowls' eggs; indeed, he had an abundanceof nutritious food, gained, however, by his own exertions andperseverance. It might have been possible for a person to have died ofstarvation on the island, simply on account of not looking for the meansof subsistence which it afforded. Ben not only collected for presentuse, but preserved what he could for the future, knowing that at certainseasons the turtle and wild-fowl would cease to lay eggs, that the fishmight leave the coast, or that stormy weather might prevent his catchingthem; that the cocoa-nuts would dry up, as might the roots, and that thewild-fowl might become more wary. He was thus never idle, from morningtill night; and though, of course, he thought very often of home andNed, and of how he should get away, yet he never was unhappy or out ofspirits. He was as fond as ever of saying, "Do right, whatever comes ofit, and trust in God."