rlow, said
that he and Ned were great friends, and that they had agreed, should any
misfortune happen to either, the survivor should write home, and give an
account of what had occurred. Barlow wrote, in fulfilment of his
promise, addressing his letter to John Hadden: all the hope he could
give was that Ned might have escaped with his life, as some white men
had been known from time to time to be living among those savages; but
the opinion was that all their shipmates had been murdered. The writer
added that he, with six other men only of all the crew, had made their
escape in the longboat of the wrecked vessel, and, after suffering great
hardships, had been picked up at sea by a ship bound for Sydney, New
South Wales.

"Poor Ned! poor Ned!" exclaimed little Ben, crying bitterly; "he must
not be lost! I'll go and look for him, mother. If he is alive, I'll
find him, and bring him back to you."

"Oh no! no, Ben! don't you go away from me," cried the poor widow. "I
should indeed be forlorn if I was to lose you. Yet, Ned! Ned! poor
Ned! where can you be--among savages, or killed? You wouldn't find him,
Ben; they would only treat you in the same way, and I should lose you,
Ben. It cannot be: oh, don't--don't think of it, Ben!" And the poor
widow at length found some relief to her feelings in a flood of tears.
It was seldom that she gave way in this manner; but the announcement of
Ned's too probable fate, and the thought of losing Ben, completely
overcame her.

The idea, however, that he would go to sea and find his brother had
entered little Ben's head, and, moreover, that they together would bring
back wealth sufficient to support their mother in comfort. That idea
was not very easily driven away. Day after day it occurred to him. His
difficulty was to persuade his mother to let him go. He did not
understand as clearly as an older person might have done, that he could
not go away without making her very unhappy. He argued that he should
be away only a short time, and that then he should come back so rich,
and be able to take such good care of her, that she would gain ample
amends for the pain she might suffer by parting with him for a season.
Poor fellow! he little knew the dangers and hardships he would have to
encounter in a sailor's life.

Ben's mind was full of his plans, and they served at all events to
beguile many a weary mile, as he trudged on through the country,
contentedly as usual, selling hi