The Voyage of the Steadfast | Page 8

to what he says."
"Now, Harry, don't let this thing make you turn Methodist!" exclaimed
Bass, after a silence of some minutes. "It is very shocking, of course;
but that's no reason why we should mope and grow serious, and fancy
that the same is going to happen to us. I don't feel quite comfortable
myself, I own; but we shall get over it in a few days, and all hands will
be as merry as ever."
Such, indeed, was the case. Poor Burton's clothes were put up to
auction and disposed of among the crew, and his name was seldom or
never mentioned afterwards. Too often the same thing happens on
board ship when a seaman is lost, much as his shipmates may mourn
for him at the time.

Old Tom did not, however, fail to speak to Harry about Burton.
"I was talking to him on the state of his soul only just two or three days
before he had to go and stand in the presence of his Maker, and give an
account of the deeds done in the body," said the old man. "I asked him
whether he knew that it was washed in the blood of the Saviour, or
whether he had his sins still clinging to him. He did not know, poor lad,
that his soul needed cleansing; and when I said that it was vile and foul,
and loaded with sin, and that unless it was washed he could not enter
heaven and stand before the all-righteous Judge, he asked me how that
was to be done. So I told him the way God has appointed--the only way
by which it could be done--through faith in the blood of the risen
Saviour shed for us on Calvary. And I tell you, Harry, that it gives me
great joy to think that his answer was, `I do believe Jesus died for me.
May God in His mercy help my unbelief.' I told him to pray, and that
he might be sure God would answer his prayer. He said he would that
very night; and next morning he told me that he had prayed, and that he
felt happier than he had ever done before. I had not another word with
him after that; but I only wish that you and every one in the ship were
like Rob Burton. I know little more about him than what I have told
you, but that is enough to give me comfort; and if I ever get home and
can visit his mother, it will give her comfort too, for she is a Christian
woman, and had taught him to pray, and had never ceased praying for
him, he said. Of that he was sure."
"Then do you think he has gone to heaven?" asked Harry.
"Yes," answered old Tom; "for God has promised that He will receive
all who trust in Jesus. Whatever are their sins, He will put them as far
from Him as the east is from the west; that though they be red like
scarlet, they shall become white as wool."
"I wish that I understood these things better than I do," said Harry,
earnestly.
"You have your Bible, Harry; read that, with prayer for grace to
understand it."

Harry said he would try and find time; and he actually took out a small
Bible which his mother had put into his chest, and carried it in his
pocket; but he did not like reading it when Dickey was looking on, and
somehow or other never found the time he expected.
Dickey tried his best to do away with the impression old Tom had
made on Harry's mind; and the thoughtless boys soon, like the rest of
the crew, forgot the fate of poor Burton. All hands were, indeed, kept
actively employed. Numerous whales appeared, several of which were
captured, and night after night the crew were engaged in "cutting in"
and "trying out"--that is, cutting the blubber off the body of the animal
and boiling it in huge cauldrons on deck. The bright glare falling on the
masts and rigging, and the sturdy frames of the sailors, as they stirred
up the cauldrons, placed on tripods, with their forks, gave them the
wildest and most savage appearance.
"I don't think my mother and sister would recognise the ship if they
were to see us now," observed Harry to his companion, as they stood
aft, ready to cast off the carcase of a whale which had been stripped of
its blubber, and had an opportunity of observing the scene going on
beyond them.
"They would think we were a set of spirits from the lower world busy
over some diabolical work, I suspect," said Dickey.
The business was not exactly pleasant, but as there was