The Lifeboat | Page 4

never go to the country or to the sea-side from
one year's end to the other."
"You'd be much the better for it if you did, uncle," interposed Guy.
"That, sir," retorted Denham with emphasis, "is your opinion, and you
will allow me to say that it is erroneous, as most of your opinions, I am
sorry to find, are. I find that no change is necessary for my health. I am
in better condition than many who go to Margate every summer. I
thrive on town air, sir, and on city life."
There was much truth in these observations. The worthy merchant did
indeed seem to enjoy robust health, and there could be no question that,
as far as physical appearances went, he did thrive on high living, foul
air, and coining money. Tallow and tar sent forth delicious odours to
him, and thick smoke was pleasant to his nostrils, for he dealt largely in

coal, and all of these, with many kindred substances, were productive
of the one great end and object of his life--gold.
"However," pursued Mr Denham, leaning back on the mantle-piece, "as
the tyrannical customs of society cannot be altogether set at nought, I
suppose I must let you go."
"Thank you, unc--sir," said Guy, who, having been chained to the desk
in the office of Redwharf Lane for the last eleven months, felt his
young heart bounding wildly within him at the prospect of visiting,
even for a brief period, his mother's cottage on the coast of Kent.
"You have no occasion to thank me," retorted Mr Denham; "you are
indebted entirely to the tyrannical customs and expectations of society
for the permission. Good-bye, you may convey my respects to your
mother."
"I will, sir."
"Have you anything further to say?" asked Mr Denham, observing that
the youth stood looking perplexedly at the ground, and twirling his
watch-key.
"Yes, uncle, I have," answered Guy, plucking up courage. "The fact is--
that, is to say--you know that wrecks are very common off the coast of
Kent."
"Certainly, I do," said Denham with a frown. "I have bitter cause to
know that. The loss occasioned by the wreck of the `Sea-gull' last
winter was very severe indeed. The subject is not a pleasant one; have
you any good reason for alluding to it?"
"I have, uncle; as you say, the loss of the `Sea-gull' was severe, for,
besides the loss of a fine vessel and a rich cargo, there was the
infinitely more terrible loss of the lives of twenty-two human beings."
As Mr Denham had not happened to think of the loss of life that
occurred on the occasion, and had referred solely to the loss of ship and

cargo, which, by a flagrant oversight on the part of one of his clerks,
had not been insured; he made no rejoinder, and Guy, after a moment's
pause, went on--
"The effect of this calamity was so powerful on the minds of the people
of Deal and Walmer, near which the wreck took place, that a public
meeting was called, and a proposal made that a lifeboat should be
established there."
"Well?" said Mr Denham.
"Well," continued the youth, "my mother gave a subscription; but being
poor she could not give much."
"Well, well," said Mr Denham impatiently.
"And--and I gave a little, a very little, towards it too," said Guy.
"Your salary is not large; it was very foolish of you to waste your
money in this way."
"Waste it, uncle!"
"Come, sir, what does all this tend to?" said Denham, sternly.
"I thought--I hoped--indeed I felt assured," said Guy earnestly, "that
you would give something towards this good object--"
"Oh, did you?" said the merchant, cutting him short; "then, sir, allow
me to say that you were never more mistaken in your life. I never give
money in charity. I believe it to be a false principle, which tends to the
increase of beggars and criminals. You can go now."
"But consider, uncle," entreated Guy, "this is no ordinary charity. A
lifeboat there might be the means of saving hundreds of lives; and oh!
if you could have seen, as I did, the despairing faces of these poor
people as they clung to the rigging scarcely a stone's-cast from the
shore, on which the waves beat so furiously that no boat except a
lifeboat could have lived for a moment; if you could have heard, as I

did, the wild shriek of despair as the masts went by the board, and
plunged every living soul into the raging sea, I am certain that you
would gladly give a hundred pounds or more towards this philanthropic
object."
"Nephew," said Denham, "I will not give a sixpence. Your
inexperience and enthusiasm lead you astray, sir, in this matter.
Lifeboats