Project Gutenberg's The Crew of the Water Wagtail, by R.M. Ballantyne

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Title: The Crew of the Water Wagtail

Author: R.M. Ballantyne

Release Date: June 6, 2007 [EBook #21710]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CREW OF THE WATER WAGTAIL ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

THE CREW OF THE WATER WAGTAIL, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE

CHAPTER ONE.

A ROUGH BEGINNING.

It is well that mankind cannot pry into the secrets of futurity.

At all events, it is certain that if the crew of the _Water Wagtail_ had
known what was in store for them when they set sail from Bristol, one
fine spring morning at the beginning of the sixteenth century, most of
them would have remained at home--though it is not improbable that, even
with full knowledge of coming events, some of the romantic among them,
and a few of the reckless, might have decided to go on.

Undoubtedly Paul Burns would have scorned to draw back, for he was a
"hero of romance;" an enthusiast of the deepest dye, with an inquiring
mind, a sanguine disposition, and a fervent belief in all things great
and good and grand. He was also a six-footer in his socks, a horse in
constitution, a Hercules in frame, with a hook nose and a hawk eye and a
strong jaw--and all the rest of it. Paul had a good brain, too, and was
well educated--as education went in those days. Yes, there can be
little doubt that even though Paul Burns had been able to see into the
future, he would have deliberately chosen to go on that voyage.

So would Oliver Trench, for Oliver worshipped Paul! He loved him as if
he had been an elder brother. He admired him, afar off, as a rare
specimen of human perfection. He looked up to him, physically as well
as mentally, for Oliver was at that time little more than a boy of
medium size, but bold as a bull-dog and active as a weasel. Yes, we are
safe to say that a revelation of the disasters, dangers, sufferings,
etcetera, in store, would not have deterred Oliver Trench. He would
have gone on that voyage simply because Paul Burns went. That was
reason enough for him. The devotion of Ruth to Naomi was mild compared
with