Peter the Whaler

Peter the Whaler, by W.H.G.
Kingston

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Title: Peter the Whaler
Author: W.H.G. Kingston
Illustrator: Henry Austin
Release Date: May 15, 2007 [EBook #21474]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PETER
THE WHALER ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

Peter the Whaler, by W.H.G. Kingston.
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Peter's father is a country vicar in Ireland, and Peter is a naughty
teenager, who has got in with friends who encourage poaching, at that
time a most serious offence. His father confiscates the gun, but one
night Peter recovers the gun and has another coaching expedition,
during which he is caught by the gamekeepers. The magistrate releases
him to his father, who travels with him to Liverpool. For fifteen pounds
Captain Swales of the BLACK SWAN agrees to take him and to teach
him the rudiments of seamanship on a return voyage to Canada. It
turned out she was an ill-managed emigrant ship, and the emigrants
were very badly treated. Captain Swales and his officers are as nasty
as they come. There is a fire on board, and the people are rescued by
the MARY, Captain Dean, who is a very different kind of man than the
despicable Captain Swales. At Quebec Peter joins the FOAM, Captain
Hawk. There then follows a series of events, some good, and some bad,
but all well-written.
It must be remembered that Peter the Whaler was probably the first
seafaring book by Kingston, although he had written several books
during the previous twenty years or so, The book was very well
received by the public, and Kingston took up writing adventure novels
for teenagers as a permanent occupation, until his death about thirty
years later.
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PETER THE WHALER, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.
CHAPTER ONE.
"Peter," said my father, with a stern look, though the tone of his voice
had more of sorrow in it than anger, "this conduct, if you persist in it,
will bring ruin on you, and grief and shame on my head and to your
mother's heart. Look there, boy, and answer me: Are not those
presumptive evidences of your guilt? Where did they come from?" He
pointed, as he spoke, to several head of game, pheasants, partridges,

and hares, which lay on the ground, while I stood before him leaning
on my gun, my eyes not daring to meet his, which I knew were fixed on
me. My two dogs crouched at my feet, looking as if they also were
culprits and fully comprehended the tenor of his words.
My father was a clergyman, the vicar of a large parish in the south of
Ireland, where the events I am now narrating took place. He was a tall
man, with silvery locks and well-formed features. I think his hair was
prematurely grey. The expression of his countenance was grave, and
betokened firmness and decision, though his general character was mild
in the extreme. He was a kind parent, in some respects too kind; and he
was very indulgent towards the faults and errors of those not
immediately connected with him. He was on good terms with the
Roman Catholics of the neighbourhood, of which faith were the large
majority of the population, and even with the priests; so that our family
had few enemies, and were never in any way molested by the
peasantry.
That, however, we had some foes, I shall have occasion presently to
show. But I must return to the scene I was describing. I may be
pardoned for first giving a slight sketch of myself. I hope that I may
escape being accused of vanity, as I shall not dwell on my personal
appearance. I believe that I inherited some of my parents' good looks;
but the hardships I have endured have eradicated all traces of them. I
was well grown for my age (I was barely fifteen), but, dressed in my
loose shooting-costume, my countenance ruddy with fresh air and
exercise, I looked much older.
"What do you suppose would be the lot of a poor man's son, if he were
to be discovered acting as you are constantly doing in spite of my
warnings and commands?" continued my father, his voice growing
more serious and his look more grave. "I tell you, boy, that the
consequences may and will be lamentable; and do not believe, that
because you are the son of a gentleman, you can escape the punishment
due to the