by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
RUNNING AWAY.
It was near night when we arrived at the farm; and I took care duringthe remainder of the evening to act as naturally as if there was nothingunusual in my thoughts. Little dreamt my relatives and the domestics ofthe farmhouse--little dreamt they of the big design that lay hid withinmy bosom, and which at intervals, when I reflected upon it, caused myheart to heave again.
There were moments when I half repented of my purpose. When I lookedupon the familiar faces of home--for after all it was home--the onlyhome I had--when I reflected that I might never see those faces again;when I reflected that some of them might grieve for me--some I knew,_would_ grieve--when I pondered upon the deception I was practising uponall of them, I in full possession of a design of which they knewnothing; I say when these thoughts were in my mind, I half repented ofmy purpose. I would have given the world for a confidant, while thuswavering; and no doubt, had I had one who would have advised me againstgoing, I should have remained at home--at least, for that time--though,in the end, my wayward and aquatic nature would have carried me to seaall the same.
You will, no doubt, think it strange that under these circumstances Idid not seek out Harry Blew, and take his advice. Ah! that is just whatI should have done, had Harry been within reach, but he was not: theyoung waterman was a waterman no more. He had become tired of that sortof life months ago, had sold his boat, and gone off as a regular sailor_before the mast_. Perhaps if Harry Blew had been still at home, Ishould not have so much wished to go abroad; but from the time that heleft, I longed every day to follow his example; and whenever I lookedseaward over the bay, it was with a yearning that it would be impossibleto explain. A prisoner, looking through the bars of his prison, couldnot have felt a greater longing to be free, than I to be away, far away,upon the bosom of the bright ocean. Had the young waterman only beenthere to counsel me, perhaps I might have acted differently; but he, mybest friend, was gone.
And now I had no confidant to whom I might impart my secret. There wasone young fellow, a farm-servant, whom I thought I might have trusted.I was fond of him, and I believe I was a favourite with him as well.Twenty times I had it on my tongue's end to tell him of my intention,but as often I checked myself. I did not fear that he would betray me,provided I gave up my design of running away; but I fancied he wouldadvise me against it, and in the event of my persisting, _then_ he mightbetray me. It would be of no use, therefore, seeking counsel from him,and I kept the design to myself.
I ate my supper, and went to bed as usual.
You will expect to hear that I got out of bed, and stole away in thenight.
Not so. I kept my bed till the usual hour for rising, though I sleptscarce a wink. The thought of my important purpose kept me awake, andduring the few snatches of sleep I had, I dreamt of big ships androlling seas, of climbing up tall masts, and dragging black, tarryropes, till my fingers were in blisters.
I had at first partly made up my mind to take my departure in the night,which I could easily have effected without danger of disturbing any one.There were no burglars in our quiet little village, nor had any beenheard of for years, so that most people left their outside doors on thelatch. The door of my uncle's house was on that night particularly freeof egress, for, it being summer, and the weather extremely hot, it hadbeen left "on the jar." I could have slipped out without causing iteven to creak.
But though so very young, I was not without some powers ofratiocination; and I reasoned that if I ran away in the night, I shouldbe missed at an early hour of the morning, and consequently sought for.The searchers, or some portion of them, would be pretty certain tofollow me to the seaport town, and find me there as a matter of course.I should be in no better position than if I had given John the slip onthe preceding day. Moreover, it was but five or six miles to the town--I should go over the ground in two hours at most--I should arrive tooearly, before the people of the ship would be stirring--the captainwould be a-bed, and therefore I could not see him to offer myself as avolunteer in his service. These were the considerations that induced meto remain at home until morning, although I waited impatiently for thehour.
I ate my breakfast along with the rest. Some one observed that I lookedpale and "out of sorts." John attributed it to my journey of thepreceding day, under the hot sun; and this explanation seemed to satisfyevery one.
After breakfast I was afraid I should be ordered to some work--such asdriving a horse, from which I might not easily get off--some one mightbe set to a task along with me, who might report me too soon if I shouldabsent myself. Fortunately there was no work fit for me on thatparticular day, and I was not ordered about anything.
Taking advantage of this, I brought out my sloop, which I wasoccasionally in the habit of amusing myself with during hours ofleisure. There were other boys who had sloops, and schooners, andbrigs, and we used to have races over the pond in the park. It wasSaturday. There was no school on Saturday, and I knew that some ofthese boys would repair to the pond as soon as they had breakfasted, ifnot sooner. This would be a capital excuse for my going there; and withthe sloop ostentatiously carried I passed through the farmyard, andwalked in the direction of the park. I even entered the enclosure, andproceeded to the pond, where, as I had conjectured, I found several ofmy companions with their little ships going, in full sail.
"Oh," thought I, "if I were to declare my intentions! what a stir itwould make if the boys only knew what I was about to do with myself?"
I was welcomed by the boys, who seemed glad to see me once more amongthem. The reason of this was, that of late I had been kept almostconstantly at work, and found but few occasions when I could join themat play, and I believe I had formerly been a play favourite with most ofthem.
But I remained among them only during the time in which the fleet madeone voyage across the lake--a miniature regatta, in which my own sloopwas conqueror--and taking the little vessel under my arm, I bade themgood-day, and left them.
They wondered at my going away so abruptly, but I found some excuse thatsatisfied them.
As I crossed the park wall, I glanced back upon the companions of mychildhood, and the tears ran down my cheeks as I turned away from themfor ever.
I crouched along the wall, and soon got into the high road that led fromour village to the seaport town. I did not remain upon the road, butcrossed it, and took into the fields on the opposite side. My object indoing this was to get under cover of some woods that ran for a gooddistance nearly parallel to the direction of the road. Through these Iintended to travel, as far as they would screen me from observation; forI knew that if I kept on the road I should run the chance of beingpassed or met by some of the villagers, who would report having seen me,and thus guide the pursuit in the right direction. I could not guess atwhat hour the ship might weigh anchor, and therefore I could not make mytime for absenting myself from the village. This had been the thoughtthat troubled me all the morning. I feared to arrive too soon, lest thevessel might not sail until I should be missed, and people sent afterme. On the other hand, I dreaded lest I might reach the port too late,and find the ship gone. This would have been a disappointment worsethan to be taken back, and whipped for the attempt at running away--atleast, so I should have considered it at the time. I say, then, thatthis was the thought that had annoyed me all the morning, and stillcontinued to do so; for it no longer occurred to me that there was anydanger of my being refused once I offered myself on the ship. I hadeven forgotten that I was so small a boy. The magnitude of my designshad magnified me, in my own estimation, to the dimensions of a man.
I reached the woods, and traversed them from end to end unseen. I metneither ranger nor gamekeeper. When I had passed through the timber, Itook into some fields; but I was now at a good distance from the road,and I was less afraid of meeting any one who knew me. I could tell howfar I was from the road, by keeping the sea in sight, for I knew thatthe former ran close to the beach.
Th
e tall spires of the seaport town at length came in sight, and bythese I was enabled to guide myself in the proper direction. Aftercrossing a great many drains and ditches, and scrambling throughnumerous hedges--here and there making a bit upon private roads that ranin the right course--I arrived on the outskirts of the town. I made nopause there, but directing my steps among the houses, I soon found astreet that led towards the quay. I saw the tall masts as I approached,and wildly beat my heart as my eyes rested upon the tallest of all, withits ensign drawn up to the main truck, and floating proudly in thebreeze.
I took note of nothing more; but, hurrying forward, I scrambled over thebroad plank staging; and having crossed the gangway, stood upon the deckof the _Inca_.