The Rival Crusoes

The Rival Crusoes, by W.H.G.
Kingston

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Title: The Rival Crusoes
Author: W.H.G. Kingston
Release Date: October 17, 2007 [EBook #23071]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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RIVAL CRUSOES ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

The Rival Crusoes, by W.H.G. Kingston

PREFACE.

The title of the following tale was given to a short story written by the
well-known authoress, Agnes Strickland, more than half a century ago,
when she was about eighteen years old. I well remember the intense
delight with which I read it in my boyhood, and was lately surprised to
find that it had been so long out of print. The publishers, however,
consider that the work, esteemed as it was in former years, is, from the
style and the very natural mistakes of a young lady discernible with
regard to matters nautical, scarcely suited to the taste of the present day.
They therefore requested me to re-write it, believing that the subject
might be worked into a deeply interesting story of much larger
proportions than the original. This I have endeavoured to accomplish,
and I trust that the new version of "The Rival Crusoes" may become as
popular among the present generation as its predecessor was with the
last.
W.H.G. Kingston.
CHAPTER ONE.
AT KEYHAVEN--IN DANGEROUS COMPANY--THE OLD
SMUGGLER--A FRIGATE AFTER BATTLE--DISLIKE OF BEN
FOR THE ROYAL NAVY--AN UNEXPECTED LANDING--
OVERBEARING CONDUCT OF THE MIDSHIPMEN--ANGRY
WORDS--LORD REGINALD OSWALD--TOADY VOULES--AT
THE VILLAGE INN--OLD MESSMATES--TEMPTATION-- SUSAN
RUDALL'S ANXIOUS LIFE--AN ADVENTURE ON THE WAY TO
ELVERSTON--HOME AT LAST--RECEPTION AT THE HALL.
"I tell you what, Dick, if I was Farmer Hargrave I would not turn out to
please Lord Elverston or any other lord in the land," exclaimed Ben
Rudall, as he stood hammering away at the side of his boat, which lay
drawn up on the inner end of Hurst beach, near the little harbour of
Keyhaven, on the Hampshire coast, at the western entrance of the
Solent, opposite the Isle of Wight. His dress and weather-beaten
countenance, as well as the work he was engaged on, showed that he
was a seafaring man.

"But Mr Gooch the bailiff says there is a flaw, as he calls it, in the lease;
but what that means I don't know, except that it's not all right, and that
father must turn out, whether he likes it or not," answered Dick
Hargrave, who was standing near, and occasionally giving Ben a
helping hand. He was a lad about sixteen years of age, strongly built,
with a good-looking face, exhibiting a firm and determined expression.
His dress was more that of a landsman than of a sailor, though it
partook of both.
"Flaw or no flaw, I say again, I would hold on fast to the farm, unless I
was turned out by force. Your father, Dick, is worth ten of such lords,
or a hundred, for that matter. He has held that farm since his father's
time. His father and grandfather and great-grandfather, and I don't
know how many before them, have held it. And right honest people
they were. They never thought of interfering with us seafaring men, and
would as soon turn spies to the French as give notice to the revenue
when a cargo was to be run. If they guessed that any kegs of spirits, or
packages of silks or ribbons, were stowed away in one of their barns,
they took good care not to be prying about too closely until they knew
that the goods had been started off for London."
"My father always wished to live at peace with his neighbours, and
would not injure a smuggler more than any other man who did not
interfere with him, though I believe he has never received a keg of
brandy or a piece of silk for any service he may have done the
smugglers," said Dick.
"You're right there, my lad," said Ben. "I mind once offering your good
mother a few yards of stuff to make her a Sunday gown, and, would
you believe it? she would not take them. When I just hinted that I
should leave them behind me, she was quite offended, and declared that
if I did she would speak to your father and have the outhouses kept
closed, and that it would be our own fault if some day all our goods
were seized. She shut me up, I can tell you. Yes, she