Mark Seaworth | Page 9

she sank again and expired. While some of the
passengers had been witnessing this melancholy scene, others were
engaged in watching the proceedings of the mate. Directly he had
placed the poor black woman in the chair, he turned to examine the

after part of the boat, over which an awning was carefully spread.
Lifting it up, he uttered an exclamation of surprise and pleasure.
Carefully placed on a bed formed on the stern-sheets, were two
children--a little boy, some three or four years old, or perhaps five, and
an infant which could scarcely for as many months have seen the light.
The little fellow had been fast asleep. The voice of the mate awoke him,
and looking up and seeing strange faces surrounding him, he began to
cry.
"That's a good sign, at all events," cried the mate. "The baby does not
seem much the worse either; send down the chair again, and we'll have
them on deck in a trice." The chair was lowered, and placing himself in
it, with the two children in his arms, he was hoisted up on deck.
Scarcely had he reached it, than all the ladies hurried forward to catch a
glimpse of the children, many of them almost quarrelling who should
take charge of them.
"Stay, ladies," said Captain Willis, good-naturedly. "The children by
right belong to me; and I must let the doctor see to them before
anybody else begins nursing them."
In the meantime, however, Mrs Clayton had taken the infant out of the
mate's arms, while the little boy was snatched away by Ellen Barrow
and the rest of the young ladies, who kept fondling him among them,
and showing that they would do their best to spoil him before the
voyage was over.
Mr Hawkins, the surgeon, finding that his services were of no avail to
the rest of those who had been in the boat, now appeared, and examined
the baby as it lay in Mrs Clayton's arms.
"It seems to have been wonderfully sustained," he observed. "I can
discover nothing the matter with it; and with some of the food our goat
can supply, I have no doubt in a few days it will have perfectly
recovered. Let me relieve you of the child, madam, and give it to one of
the women-servants to nurse."
But Mrs Clayton showed no inclination to give up her charge. There

were feelings rising in her bosom whose exquisite delight a fond
mother, as she presses her first-born to her breast, can well appreciate.
The lady gave an imploring look at her husband, which he well
understood.
"Do as you wish, dearest," he whispered.
She returned him a glance full of grateful thanks.
"Captain Willis," she said, in a voice agitated with the fear that her
request might be denied, "I will, if you will allow me, take charge of
the poor deserted one, till its proper guardians can be found; and I
daresay we shall be able to learn from the little boy who they are."
"To no one would I more gladly commit the infant than to you,
madam," returned the captain. "And pray, consider her your property
till claimed by others with greater right to her."
So it was settled; and Mrs Clayton did indeed prove an affectionate
mother to the little foundling. Captain Willis, however, was much
disappointed in not being able to obtain the information he expected
from the elder child. The little fellow could speak very rapidly, but it
was in a language neither he nor any of the young ladies could
understand, though he seemed to comprehend what was said to him in
English. They tried him with a variety of names to endeavour to
discover the one belonging to him; but to none of them did he pay any
attention.
On a sudden he began to cry to go to his Aya; but as he was kept out of
sight of the dead body, and petted by the young ladies, who tried every
means to please him, he was soon again pacified. He was then taken
into the cabin, where two or three of the married ladies, who had
children of their own, set to work to wash him and dress him in clean
clothes. He kicked about in the tub of water, and seemed highly
delighted, as if it was a luxury to which he was accustomed, while he
also appeared fully to appreciate the advantage of clean clothes. He was
rather thin, as if he had lived for a length of time on a short allowance
of food; but when some broth, which had been got ready for him, was

placed before him, he did not eat ravenously as if he had been long
without food altogether. Indeed, I may as well here