Ben Hadden | Page 8

need read the Bible only on one day in the week. It was surely given us to be our guide not only for Sundays, but for every day. There is no business in life in which it won't tell us how to act whenever we may have any doubts about the matter," said John one evening, after he had been reading the Scriptures; and then he continued, "In every page the Bible says, `Do right, whatever comes of it,' and that is the very thing we ought to be reminded of, day after day, for it is the very thing we are too apt to forget."
John not only read the Bible, but he profited by what he read, and so did his children; and that is the reason why they were a happy, united, and prosperous family.
Some time after Christmas, John Hadden had gone out by himself on the sea-shore, with his constant companion, his spy-glass, under his arm. He walked up and down, and his mind dwelt on many of the scenes and events of his past life; he thought of the many dangers he had gone through, and of how often he had been mercifully preserved. "People do say that the life of a fisherman is a very dangerous one," he thought to himself. "They are right. How many of those I have known have lost theirs! Not a year that I can call to mind but some friend or other has been drowned. Such may be my end. God is merciful; He knows what is best. He will not call me away, except for some good purpose."
Continuing his walk, Hadden's mind grew more and more serious, almost melancholy; yet it must not be said that his mind was one of a gloomy turn; no man was generally more cheerful. The day, however, had an effect on his spirits. The clouds gathered thickly in the sky, and hung low down; the wind moaned as it came across the dull, leaden-looking ocean, and found its way among the sand-hills, making the tall rushes bend before it. Sheets of cold mist came rolling in every now and then towards the land; and, though they swept by, they were quickly succeeded by others, till they grew denser and denser, and a regular heavy wetting mist settled down over the face of the land and the water.
John Hadden was about to turn his steps homeward, when one of his sons came to remind him that it was time to return home to tea. Just then a heavy squall burst on the land from the eastward, and the clouds and mist breaking away left a clear space all the way to the horizon.
"I'll come, Bill, I'll come, my boy," he answered, lifting, however, his glass to his eye, to take another last look over the troubled waters before he went in for the evening. Just then he caught sight of a stranger in the offing, where, outside the sand-banks, a high sea was running. He looked earnestly through his glass for half a minute.
"There is a large ship," he said to his son, "driving on towards the banks, and totally dismasted. Unless there is a pilot aboard who knows his way through the passage, he'll be on the bank to a certainty, and then, with such a night as we shall have presently, Heaven have mercy on the unfortunate people! Even if the wreck should hang together till the morning, they will be washed overboard and be lost. Though we missed saving the people from the wreck last year, through their own folly, we must not be dispirited. Perhaps we may be able to save these. Bill, go and find your brothers, and tell them that there's a ship will be on shore directly, and that we must do something to help. Say nothing, though, to your mother, boy." Bill hastened away, and old John still watched the ship.
As he had foreseen, the stranger very soon drove on to a dangerous part of the sand-banks, and the sea before long was evidently making a clean breach over the deck. In a short time all the young Haddens, and several other men, came down on the beach, bringing old John's rough-weather coat and boots, which he put on while they were getting ready to launch the boat. Little Ben came with his brothers.
Old John put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and looked earnestly into his face. "No, Ben, I'll not take thee, my child, to-day," said he; "it's over-rough work we are going on; I couldn't even tell thy mother of it; so go home, and take care of her."
Little Ben pleaded hard to be taken, but he pleaded in vain. "No, lad, no, I cannot take you," repeated the father. "Go home