Bad Family & Other Stories

  The Broken Crutch

  One hot day in the month of June, a poor sunburnt lame sailor, with butone leg, was going along the road, when his crutch broke in half, and hewas forced to crawl on his hands and knees to the side of the road, andsit down to wait till some coach or cart came by, whose driver he wouldask to take him up. The first that passed that way was a stage coach,but the man who drove it was a surly fellow, and he would not help thesailor, as he thought he should not be paid for it.

  Soon after this the tired sailor fell fast asleep upon the ground, andthough a thick shower of rain came on, yet still he slept: for sailorswhen on board their ships have to bear all sorts of weather.

  When the wind blows, the waves of the sea often dash over the deck ofthe vessel and wet the poor men to the skin while they are pulling theropes and shifting the sails.

  When the lame sailor awoke he found a boy's coat and waistcoat laid onhis head and shoulders, to keep him from being wet; and the boy sat by,in his shirt, trying to mend the broken crutch with two pieces of woodand some strong twine. 'My good lad,' said the sailor, 'why did you pulloff your own clothes to keep me from being wet?' 'O,' said he, 'I do notmind the rain, but I thought the large drops that fell on your facewould awake you, and you must be sadly tired to sleep so sound upon thebare ground. See, I have almost mended your crutch, which I found broke;and if you can lean on me, and cross yonder field to my uncle'sfarmhouse, I am sure he will get you a new crutch. Pray, do try to gothere. I wish I was tall enough to carry you on my back.'

  The sailor looked at him with tears in his eyes, and said, 'When I wentto sea five years ago, I left a boy behind me, and if I should now findhim such a good fellow as you seem to be, I shall be as happy as the dayis long, though I have lost my leg and must go on crutches all the restof my life.'

  'What was your son's name?' the boy asked.

  'Tom White,' said the sailor, 'and my name is John White.'

  When the boy heard these names he jumped up, threw his arms round thesailor's neck, and said, 'My dear, dear father, I am Tom White, your ownlittle boy.'

  How great was the sailor's joy thus to meet his own child, and to findhim so good to those who wanted help! Tom had been taken care of by hisuncle while his father was at sea, and the sunburnt, lame sailor found ahappy home in the farmhouse of his brother; and though he had now a newcrutch, he kept the broken one as long as he lived, and showed it to allstrangers who came to the farm, as a proof of the kind heart of his dearson Tom.