The Lifeboat
Page 25
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
THE CONCLUSION.
There came a day at last when the rats in Redwharf Lane obtained anentire holiday, doubtless to their own amazement, and revelled in almostunmolested felicity from morning till night. The office of Denham,Crumps, and Company was shut; the reason being that the head of the firmwas dead.
Mr Denham had died without a will.
At the time when Guy offended his uncle by expressing his opinion toofreely, Denham vowed in his heart that his nephew should not inherit hisbusiness or fortune. He resolved to leave both to another nephew, theson of a younger brother, at that time in the East India Company'sservice. But as death was a contingency inconceivably remote fromhimself, at least in his own opinion, he did not think it necessary tomake his will at that time. He died, therefore, as we have said,without making it.
He died, also, without carrying out any of his good intentions!
It is a common mistake to suppose that a man has only to repent of hisevil deeds, and that thenceforth all will be plain sailing. The habitsof a lifetime are not to be overcome without a hard struggle, even inthe most sincere of Christians.
Denham, after being saved by the Ramsgate lifeboat, had made up his mindto turn his wealth to good account, and, in his philanthropic plans, hadresolved to look with special favour on the Lifeboat Institution. Buthe delayed to carry out these plans. He did not strike when the ironwas hot, and so the iron began slowly to cool. He had also determinedto reinstate Bax in his employment, and to take Guy into partnership,but he delayed in these matters also. The love of gold and the memoryof fancied insults began to tell on him, as of old. He even went so faras to meditate carrying out his former intention of making his will infavour of the nephew in India!
Still Denham did not fall back to his old position. A struggle whichbegan when he resided with his sister at Deal, went on in his breastcontinually. While this struggle was yet undecided, a fever seized him.His constitution, weakened by the hardships which he had so recentlyundergone, gave way, and he died.
The result was that the business fell to the next-of-kin,--Mrs Foster,whose son, in the natural course of things, stepped into his uncle'sshoes. The result of this was that poor Denham's good resolves, and agreat many more good resolves than Denham could ever have conceived of,were carried out in a way that would have amazed him had he been thereto see it, and that almost took the breath away from old Mr Crumps.
A glance at Guy in his office, not long after his uncle's death, willshow the reader how things were managed by the new head of the firm.
Guy was seated in Denham's chair, at Denham's desk, reading and writingwhat, in former days, would have been Denham's letters. Presently MrCrumps entered.
"I was just going to ask you to consult with me," said Guy; "pray sitdown, sit down, Mr Crumps."
The old man in his modesty meant to stand, as, in former days, he wouldhave stood before Denham.
"Here is a letter from a friend," continued Guy, "asking for acontribution towards the establishment of a lifeboat on the coast ofWales. He reminds me that I myself was once indebted to the services ofa lifeboat when my life was in great danger, and hopes that I willrespond liberally to his appeal. His name is Clelland. He was on boardthe old `Trident,' when she was wrecked in Saint Margaret's Bay. I madehis acquaintance then. Now, what do you think we ought to give? Ishould like to have your advice on this point, and on several othermatters of a similar nature, Mr Crumps, because there has been noregular `Charity' account in our ledger, I find, and I would like toopen one. Don't you think it would be as well to open one?"
Mr Crumps thought it would, and--being a man of naturally charitableand liberal impulses, who had been constantly snubbed by Mr Denham formany years past--he felt overjoyed at the prospect of a new era openingup before him.
"Well, what shall we send to Mr Clelland?" pursued Guy. Mr Crumps,unable all at once to get over old habits and associations, suggestedfifty pounds, timidly.
"The district is a poor one," said Guy; "perhaps, that being the case--"
"Say a hundred," put in Crumps eagerly (and then, in a partiallyapologetic tone), "the business can afford it, my dear sir. Heavenknows it is but little that--"
The old man's voice faltered and stopped. He was going to have made aremark that would have cast a slur on the character of his late partner,so he checked himself and sighed.
"Well, then, it shall be a hundred," said Guy, jotting down the sum on aslip of paper. "I would not advise more to be given to that particulardistrict just now, because it might tend to check the efforts of thepeople on the spot. If they fail to raise the requisite sum, we canthen give what is necessary. Now, there is an urgent appeal for fundsbeing made just now to the public by the Lifeboat Institution. I thinkthis a good opportunity to give away some of the cash which ought tohave been--"
Guy hesitated. He too was about to make a remark that would have beenunfavourable to the character of his late uncle, so he checked himself.
"What do you say to giving them a thousand pounds?"
Mr Crumps said nothing to it. He was too much taken aback to sayanything; but when he saw that Guy had jotted the sum down, and wasapparently in earnest, he nodded his head, blew his nose violently, fora man of his years and character, and chuckled.
"Well, then," continued Guy, "there is another subject which occurs tome just now, although it does not come under the head of charities. Iwish to supply a ship's lifeboat to every vessel that belongs to us, anda set of life-belts, besides other things. I estimate that this willrequire a sum of nearly two thousand pounds. Let me see--"
Here Guy began to jot and calculate, and to talk to himself in anundertone, while Mr Crumps, utterly bereft of speech, sat staring inamazement and delight at his young partner.
While they were thus engaged, the tiger in blue who had supplantedPeekins entered, and said that three gentlemen wished to see Mr Foster.
"Show them in," said Guy. "Sit still, Mr Crumps, I have not yet donewith my calculations."
In a few seconds Bax, Bluenose, and Tommy Bogey were ushered into theoffice. The latter had become a tall, handsome stripling during hisresidence abroad, and bid fair to rival Bax himself in stature. Theyshook hands cordially with Guy and Mr Crumps.
"Well, Bax, is the new ship a good one?" said Guy; "d'you think she willsuit you?"
"That will she," said Bax, with a gratified look. "As the old songsays--
"`She's a ship that's as tight to my fancy As ever sailed o'er the salt seas.'
"I think she will be ready for sea in a couple of months. By that timeI will be ready to take command, if you choose to trust her to me."
"Trust her to you, Bax! Do you think we may trust our new vessel tohim, Mr Crumps?" inquired Guy, with a smile.
Mr Crumps, not having recovered the power of speech, nodded his head,and rubbed his hands slowly, a benignant smile playing on his old facethe while.
"Well, then," continued Bax, "Amy, so far from making any objection togoing to sea with me, says that she won't let me go away without her, sothat's settled, and the wedding day is fixed for Monday next week. ButI'm not satisfied yet. I want you to do me still another favour, Guy."
"What is that?"
"To let Tommy Bogey go as supercargo. He's seaman enough to go as firstmate, but he's too young for that yet. Also, I want to take Bluenose asa free passenger."
"A free passenger!" said Guy, looking at the Captain with surprise.
"Yes, you see," said Bluenose, modestly, "I'm raither moloncholy aboutold Jeph, an' if Bax and Tommy leave me, I'll feel quite desarted like.Moreover, I wants to see furrin' parts--specially the antypodes. But Ihain't blunt enough to pay my passage, d'ye see, and so--and so--"
"In short," interpolated Tommy, "he's blunt enough to ask a free one!"
"A1 on Lloyds'!" said Bluenose, looking at Tommy with a broad grin; forthe Captain regarded all his nephew's jokes--good, bad, andindifferent--as being pe
rfect!
It need scarcely be said that Guy readily agreed to their request, andthat Mr Crumps was ready to agree to whatsoever Guy proposed.
These matters being happily settled, the trio, having been invited todine with Guy at a neighbouring chop-house at five o'clock, rose andleft the partners to continue their consultation.
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From that time forward Bax and Tommy Bogey remained in the service ofDenham, Crumps, and Company, and Amy Russell went regularly to sea withher husband. Bluenose was afterwards appointed coxswain to a lifeboaton the coast of Kent where he rendered good service in many a wildstorm, and was the means of snatching many a fellow-creature from thedevouring sea. His friend Coleman happened to be on the coast-guardstation near him; and many a pipe did these two smoke together, underthe lee of the boat-house--spinning yarns of other days, chieflyconnected with the sea and shipwrecks. Old Coleman had had considerableexperience in rough, coast life, and was well able to speak on suchsubjects. The records of the Lifeboat Institution show that aboutone-third of the medals and rewards granted for meritorious services areawarded to men of the coastguard. Old Coleman was one of those who hadtaken his full share of the dangerous work of saving life. He was alsogifted with that rare quality--the power of telling a story well, sothat he and Bluenose became fast friends and constant companions duringtheir residence on the Kentish coast.
Similarity of tastes and desires drew other members of our taletogether, besides Coleman and Bluenose. Old Mr Summers and MrClelland, the dark passenger in the "Trident," found such a strong bondof sympathy existing between them, that they took cottages injuxtaposition in the town of Deal, and went about continually "doinggood." Mrs Foster, Lucy, and Guy were allies, as a matter of course.Rodney Nick improved somewhat in his character, and became a respectableboatman. People said that Mr Burton, the missionary to seamen, hadsomething to do with this improvement. It is not improbable that hehad. But Long Orrick died as he had lived,--a notorious andincorrigible smuggler.
Peekins was changed from a tiger into a clerk; and, in process of time,came to keep the books of that celebrated firm in which he hadoriginally figured as a spider in blue tights and buttons.
Bax and Tommy sailed together for several years. They also engaged inmercantile ventures to China on their own account, and were soprosperous in their career that they realised ample fortunes, andfinally settled near each other on the coast of Kent.
Here they resumed their old career of saving human life. They becamenoted as men who were ready to devise and prompt to act in cases ofemergency. They helped to man the lifeboat in their neighbourhood whenoccasion required. They were the means of establishing a library and amission to seamen, and were regarded as a blessing to the district inwhich they dwelt.
They were literally heroes of the coast, for they spent their time indoing good to those whose lot it is to brave the dangers of the deep andsweep the stormy sea.
THE END.