Part 8 (1/2)
Mr Tremayne invited the inmates of the cottage to come down and see it.
”What do you think of her?” he asked, after they had greeted the two ladies.
”She is a handy craft, sir, and just suited for this place,” answered Michael.
”I hope you will find her so,” replied Mr Tremayne. ”Here is a paper which a.s.signs her to you as her master, and if you will moor her fast her present crew will leave her, as we purpose to continue our journey by land, and have ordered the carriage to meet us at the top of the hill.”
Michael was unable to express his grat.i.tude in words. Dame Lanreath spoke for him.
”May G.o.d reward you and your wife and children for your kindness to the orphans, and to an old woman who has well-nigh run her course on earth.
We were cast down, though we know that His mercy endureth for ever, and you have lifted us up and shown us that He is faithful and never fails to send help in time of need.”
Nelly took Miss Tremayne's hand, and, prompted by her feelings, kissed it affectionately; but even she was for the moment unable to express her feelings by words.
”Thank you, sir, thank you,” said Michael at last, as they went back.
”You have made a man of me, and I can now work for those who have to look to me for support.”
”I hope you will have the strength, as I am sure you have the will, and may G.o.d bless you, my lad,” said Mr Tremayne, shaking him warmly by the hand, for he was far more pleased with the few words Michael had uttered than had he poured out his grat.i.tude in measured language. As he and the ladies proceeded up the pathway, Nelly ran into the cottage. She soon again overtook them.
”Will you please, miss, take these small sh.e.l.ls?” she said; ”they are little worth, I fear, but I have nothing else to give which you might wish to accept, and they may put you in mind of this place, and those who will pray for you and bless your father and mother as long as they live.”
Miss Tremayne, much pleased, thanked Nelly for her gift, and, a.s.suring her that she should never forget her or Michael and her granny, accepted the gift.
It is scarcely necessary to say that Michael spent a considerable portion of the remainder of the day examining his new boat over and over again, blessing the donor in his heart, and thankful that he should now be able to support Nelly and her granny.
Then the little family a.s.sembled in their sitting room, and offered up their thanks to the merciful Being Who looked down upon them in their distress.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
Michael Penguyne made ample use of his new boat. Nelly proposed that she should be called the ”Dove.”
”You see she was sent to us when all around seemed so dark and gloomy, just as the dove returned to Noah, to show that G.o.d had not forgotten him.”
”Then we will call her the 'Dove',” said Michael; and the ”Dove” from henceforth became the name of Michael's new boat.
Early and late Michael was in his boat, though he took good care not to be caught to leeward of his port again by a gale of wind. When ash.o.r.e he was employed mending his nets and refitting his boat's gear or his fis.h.i.+ng-lines. Never for a moment was he idle, for he always found something which ought to be done; each rope's-end was pointed; his rigging was never chafed; and the moment any service was wanted he put it on.
Thus a couple of years pa.s.sed by, Dame Lanreath and Nelly setting out day after day to sell the fish or lobsters and crabs he caught, for which they seldom failed to obtain a good price.
At length, however, he found that he could do better with a mate.
”I must get David Treloar, as I said some time ago,” he observed to Nelly. ”He is twice as strong as I am, though it would not do to trust him alone in a boat, as he never seems to know which way the wind is, or how the tide is running; but he is honest and good-natured, and staunch as steel, and he will do what I tell him. That's all I want. If he had been with me in the little 'Duck,' we might have gained the harbour and saved her, and though I take all the care I can, yet I may be caught again in the same way.”
David Treloar was a nephew of old Reuben Lanaherne, who had done his best to bring up the poor lad, and make a fisherman of him. His father had been lost at sea, and his mother had gone out of her mind, and soon afterwards died.
Michael found him near his uncle's house, attempting, though not very expertly, to mend a net.
He was a broad-shouldered, heavy-looking youth, with an expression of countenance which at first sight appeared far from prepossessing; but when spoken to kindly, or told to do anything he liked--and he was ready to do most things--it brightened up, and even a stranger would have said he was a trustworthy fellow, though he might be lacking in intelligence.
”So glad you are come, Michael,” he said. ”Here have I been working away at these meshes, and cannot make them come even; the more I pull at them the worse they are. Just do you use your fingers and settle the job for me, and I will do anything for you.”