CHAPTER TWO.
THE HISTORY OF WALTER AND EMILY.
The captain and those on board were naturally anxious to know somethingabout the young orphans, and how it happened that they and their fatherhad been left alone on board the sinking ship.
"The people would not take poor papa in the boat, and we would not leavehim," said Emily, when the captain first spoke on the subject.
"I should think not," said Walter. "It was very, very sad to have poorpapa so ill, and no one to help him except us. The poor captain and thefirst officer had been washed overboard; and the surgeon was killed bythe falling of the masts, when papa was hurt at the same time. He wasill, though, when we sailed; but he thought the change, and the warmclimate of the country we were going to, would restore him to health.We had good reason, however, to be thankful we did not go in the boats;for scarcely had they left the ship, as I was watching them from thecompanion-hatch, than I saw the sea break over one of them, and down shewent, the unfortunate people in her struggling for a few instants beforethey all sank. I was in hopes that the other, which was larger, mightescape; but she had got to no great distance when it seemed to me thatshe went right into a curling sea. Whether she went through it and roseagain I could not discover, for I saw no more of her. It was verydreadful; but I had to hurry back to papa, for I heard Emily calling me.I did not tell him what had happened, for I thought it would make himeven, more sad than he was."
The boy, overcome with his feelings, could with difficulty speak, andwas for some minutes silent. He then continued:--
"The ship was the _Mountaineer_. We had been three weeks at sea, andhad had frequent calms, when we met with the fearful gale from which shesuffered so much. Papa was going out as British Consul to --, in theBrazils; and as mamma died a year ago, and he had no one to leave uswith, he determined, to our great joy, that we should accompany him.Emily had been at school; but when mamma was ill she came home to staywith her, and after that papa could not hear the thoughts of againparting with her. I had been at Winchester School, and had intendedgoing into the army; but papa lost his fortune soon after mamma's death,and told me that I must give up all thoughts of that, as he could notpurchase my commission, and I could not be in the army without money.The loss of his property tried him very much. He had to take me awayfrom school; and he used to say he was afraid we should all die ofstarvation. However, when he got the appointment he was in betterspirits, and Emily and I hoped we should see him once more likehimself."
"But have you no relations or friends, young gentleman?" asked thecaptain, in a kind tone.
"I do not know about friends," answered Walter; "but I have somerelations. Unfortunately, however, my father was not on good terms withthem. His elder brother--my uncle--had quarrelled with him. Why, I donot know. But when, before we were leaving England, papa desired to bereconciled to him, he refused; and I know, from what I have heard, thathe would on no account have anything to say to Emily or me."
"But had your mother no relations?" asked Captain Davenport.
"Not many. She had, I know, a brother, and I think I recollect him whenI was a little boy; but he left England many years ago, and I know hasnot for a long time been heard of. Papa, besides his brother, had somecousins. One, I know, is Lord Heatherly; but I never saw him, and Ithink papa kept up no communication with him. We now and then saw hisbrother, Mr Tom Heathfield--for the family name is the same as ours.He is a very good-natured, merry person, and used always to try to makeus laugh when he called. And our eldest uncle had some sons, but Inever met them; indeed, I am sure their papa would never have let themcome to the house."
"From all accounts, then, the only relation you know anything about isyour father's cousin, Mr Tom Heathfield. Do you know where he lives?"
Walter thought a moment. "No," he answered; "somewhere in London, Iknow, and I daresay I can find out."
"Well, we must do our best to discover him when we get on shore," saidthe captain.
It was evident to him that the young people had not realised theirthoroughly destitute condition. Whatever property their poor fathermight have had must have been lost in the _Mountaineer_. "However," hethought to himself, "if the brother's heart cannot be moved to take careof the orphans, perhaps this Mr Tom Heathfield or Lord Heatherly willdo so. In the meantime, I must look after them."
The _Bussorah Merchant_ reached the Thames in safety, and went into thedocks to discharge her cargo.
"You must come with me, my young friends, till we can find out yourcousin," said the kind captain. "My good wife, Mrs Davenport, will bevery glad to see you, as will our little girl Grace. You must becontent with such fare as we can offer, and you may be sure of a heartywelcome."
"Thank you, sir," said Walter. "Emily and I, I am sure, shall be veryhappy with you. Do you live in the West End of London?"
"No," answered the captain, smiling; "I live at Poplar. It is adifferent sort of locality; but I have had a good many losses, and amnot so well off as some masters of ships. But my life has beenpreserved when others have lost theirs, and I retain my health andstrength. I have a good wife and an affectionate little girl, and Ihave therefore reason to be thankful; and so I am."
Captain Davenport, as soon as he was at liberty, accompanied by hisyoung charges, set off for his home. It differed, however, greatly fromthe sort of house Walter and Emily had been accustomed to live in. Butit was very neat; with green palings in front, and neatly-paintedshutters, and the whitest of stone steps leading up to the hall door.The captain had had no time to tell his wife of the guests she mightexpect. After, therefore, the first greetings between them were over,and he had embraced his little daughter Grace, Mrs Davenport naturallyinquired who the young strangers were. No sooner had she heard theirhistory than she gave an affectionate embrace to Emily.
"Yes, indeed, you are welcome here," she said; "and if you are contentwith this house, we shall be glad to have you remain in it. And I amsure Grace will do her best to make you at home, young lady," she said,placing the girls' hands in each other's.
The captain, of course, had a great deal to do on his first arrivalafter a long absence, and could not, therefore, go in search of Mr TomHeathfield, Walter's cousin. Walter acknowledged that he was not likelyto find him himself, as he had but seldom been in London, and did notknow his way about. All he could tell was, that he lived somewhere inthe West End, and he thought he belonged to two or three clubs.
"Very likely, young gentleman," said the captain, laughing. "However,when I can get hold of one of those books they call Court Guides, I maybe able to find him."
A week passed pleasantly enough away. Grace was very kind to Emily, andWalter was never tired of walking about the docks, and watching thelarge ships loading and unloading the bales and casks of goods comingand going to all parts of the world. It gave him some idea of the vastamount of commerce of London, when such a stream of merchandise wascoming in and going out all day long.
At length the captain told him that he had some hours to spare, and theyset off together to try and find Mr Heathfield. They got down atCharing Cross, where a bookseller allowed them to look over a CourtGuide.
"Yes, that must be my cousin," said Walter, seeing the name. "I nowremember going there with my father. Yes, and those are the clubs hebelongs to."
Having put down the address, the captain and Walter at once set off tofind it. They were not long in getting there. A woman opened the door.
"Mr Heathfield is not in town; he seldom is at this time," was theanswer. "He may come up for a day, or he may not; but letters addressedhere will find him."
"But can you tell me where he is?" asked Walter. "I am a relation ofhis."
"As to that, he may be at Newmarket, or some other races. You know heis a sporting gentleman, and is likely to be in one place one day and inanother place another. But he sends for his letters, and, as I havetold you, if you like to write, one will find him."
This was not very sa
tisfactory information.
"I am afraid he is not likely to do much for the poor children," thoughtCaptain Davenport. "However, there is nothing like trying."
He then bethought him that he would inquire the address of their uncle,whose heart might relent when he heard of the death of his brother. "Ifnot, I will write to Lord Heatherly himself," said the captain.
The nobleman's address was easily found, and after some trouble thecaptain ascertained that of Walter's uncle, and with this information hereturned home.
"You must have patience, my boy," he said. "If you are not tired ofstaying with us, we are not tired of you."
On reaching home, the captain wrote the three letters. Several dayspassed by, and no answer came. At length two appeared by the same post.One was from the orphans' uncle, stating that he had children of hisown, and that he had long ceased to have any communication with hisbrother. He must therefore decline interfering in the matter. Theother contained the words:--"Lord Heatherly presents his compliments toMr Davenport, and not having been personally acquainted with the lateMr Heathfield for many years, must decline in any way interfering withregard to any children he may have left."
"Oh dear me!" said Mrs Davenport, when she saw the letters. "If thepoor young orphans are treated in this way by their nearest relative andby the head of their family, I am afraid we can expect very little fromthe only other relation we have heard of."
"Well, my dear wife," said the captain, "if nobody else looks afterthem, God intends that we shall. We must not decline the charge he hasgiven us, but do the best we can for them."
The following day a private cab was seen passing along the street with asporting-looking tiger behind. The gentleman driving stopped once ortwice, then turning round, brought up at Captain Davenport's door. Downjumped the tiger, and out sprang the gentleman. Walter and Emily werein the parlour.
"Why, that is cousin Tom!" exclaimed Walter, and he ran out to open thefront door.
Cousin Tom came in, and shook hands with Walter and Emily, and was soontalking away to Mrs Davenport as if he had known her all his life.
"I am very much obliged to you and to your worthy husband for all youhave done for these young people," he said. "And my poor cousin Harry,I little thought he was so soon to be cut off. However, we must nottalk about those sort of things. Why, Walter, you are almost a man now.We must see what we can do for you. Your uncle Bob will not help you;I have heard all about that. We will not talk about him; and as forHeatherly, there is no help to be got from him. I am going out of townto-night, or I would have had you, Walter, come and dine with me andtalk matters over. However, if your friends will look after you for aday or two longer, I hope we may settle something. I have an idea thatmy aunt, Lady Di Pierpoint, will take charge of Emily. I must insistupon her doing so. She mixes a good deal in the world, rouges, and israther addicted to scandal, it is true; but I say, Emily, you must notfollow her example, and you will get on very well with her. Look afterher lapdogs, feed her parrots, write her notes for her, and all thatsort of thing. Well, I think we may consider that settled.--And now, mygood madam, I must wish you and the young people good-bye. I hope to beback in a few days with Lady Di's answer. And as to Walter, I have nodoubt about him. In the meantime, I will just beg you to take these twonotes, which you will have the kindness to expend as you think best ingetting a proper outfit for the young people--as I have no doubt theylost everything when the ship went down; and I should wish, if you willallow me, to repay you for the expense to which you have been put."
"Thank you, sir," said Mrs Davenport. "We desire no repayment; but Iwill gladly expend the money to the advantage of my young friends as youdesire."
"Well, well, do as you like!" exclaimed Mr Tom. "I am very muchobliged to you in every way. And now, good-bye, Emily; good-bye,Walter; and I wish you farewell, madam. Present my compliments to yourkind husband. I should have liked to have made his acquaintance. Ihope to do so another time. I am deeply indebted to him, for I had agreat regard for poor Harry. Though he might not have been very wise--none of us are; and his wife, she was an angel. Good-bye, good-bye!"
Thus rattling on, Mr Tom Heathfield ran out at the door, and jumpedinto his cab; the tiger skipped up behind, and off he drove.
Day after day passed by, and no news came of Mr Tom Heathfield. Thepacket he had left behind contained a couple of ten-pound notes, with afew words written on the paper surrounding them:--"It is all I have got;but if Constellation wins, I will send another hundred."
Captain Davenport was now again busily engaged in preparing his ship foranother voyage. She required but few repairs, so she was likely to besoon ready. He had resolved to take his wife and daughter with him; andGrace was _very_ full of the thoughts of accompanying her father. MrsDavenport had made two or three voyages; but Grace had not been at seasince she was a very little girl.
"I wish I was going too," said Emily; "how delightful it would be!"
"I am sure I wish that I was going!" exclaimed Walter. "I have oftenthought I should like to be a sailor; and though I once should only havewished to go into the royal navy, I should now like to go anywhere withCaptain Davenport."
Week after week passed by. The _Bussorah Merchant_ was ready for sea.A cabin had been fitted up for Mrs Davenport, and another for Grace.No news came from Mr Tom Heathfield. Captain Davenport wrote: heconsidered it his duty to do so. The day before he sailed, his lettercame back in an enclosure, stating that Mr Tom Heathfield had brokenhis neck riding a steeple-chase, and that though he had wished to leavehis property to his young cousin, as all would be swallowed up in payinghis debts, there would be none forthcoming. Walter and Emily felt verysorry when they heard the sad end of their poor cousin, though Emilyconfessed to Grace she was very glad that she had not to go and livewith Lady Di Pierpoint.
"Well, my young friends," said Captain Davenport, "I have no one withwhom I can leave you, and I certainly will not desert you. If,therefore, Emily would like to come and be Grace's companion, we shallbe very glad of her company; and, Walter, if you wish to come to sea andlearn to be a sailor, I will undertake to instruct you as if you were myown son."
Walter was truly glad to accept the kind captain's offer; indeed, itwould be difficult to say what else he could do.
"When we return to England," said Captain Davenport, "we will make moreinquiries about your relations, and if they still persist in refusing toacknowledge you, you will, at all events, have learned a profession, andbe independent of them. After all, you will be far better off than hadyou been brought up in idleness, and dependent on those who might carevery little for your true interests and welfare."