Noddy

“ Noddy did not dare to say all he believed, for he was convinced that the death of the captain was a blessing to himself and to his daughter. He was so besotted by the demon that life could henceforth be only a misery to him, and a stumbling-block to her. It required no great faith for him to believe, in the present instance, that the good Father doeth all things well. ”

“ Noddy hoped so too; and when the little maiden had finished her story, he thought she was almost equal to Miss Bertha; and he could not think of such a thing as parting with her in the morning, again to buffet the waves of disappointment on shore.
"Does your father want a boy on board of the vessel?" asked he.
"I don't know. Do you want to go with us?" said Mollie, with a smile which spoke the pleasure the thought afforded her.
"I should like to go with you first-rate," replied Noddy. "I want to do something, and earn some money for myself. I want to work." ”

“ Do you hear those terrible waves beat against the vessel? They will break her in pieces in a few moments more."
"Perhaps they will, and perhaps they won't. You mustn't give up, Mollie. If I should lose you now, I shouldn't care what became of me."
"You have been very good to me, Noddy; and I hope God will bless you."
"I want to save you if I can."
"You cannot, Noddy, in this terrible storm. We are poor weak children, and we can do nothing."
"But I am bound to work and win. I shall not give it up yet, Mollie. We have struck upon a rock or a shoal, and the land can't be a great ways off." ”

“ She would not fear the pangs of the pestilence; she would be an angel in the little state-room, and bring down peace and hope, if not life, to the lovely sufferer.
Noddy felt as he had never felt before, not even when the dread monster of the deep had almost snapped up the slight form before him. All the good lessons he had ever learned in his life came to him with a force they had never possessed in the sunny hour of prosperity. He wanted to pray. He felt the need of a strength not his own. Mollie could not pray now. Her mind was darkened by the shadows of disease. He went out into the cabin. ”

“ When the performance was over, Noddy, with the assistance of one of his companions, dressed himself in "trunk and tights," and appeared in the ring to take his first lesson in graceful movements. He could turn the somersets, and go through with the other evolutions; but there was a certain polish needed—so the ring-master said—to make them pass off well. He was to assume a graceful position at the beginning and end of each act; he must recover himself without clumsiness; he must bow, and make a flourish with his hands, when he had done a brilliant thing. ”

“ Noddy examined it more closely. Then he laughed.
“Some one has gone to the trouble of marking his initials on it in red ink,” he said. “Probably for identification, or to serve as a mark. Maybe it was once used as a marked bill,” and Noddy gave a short laugh. “See, there are the letters H. R. C.”
“I guess you’re right,” agreed Paul. “Well, hand it over. I must be going. Sorry you lost the bet, but losers must pay, you know.”
“Oh, I’m not squealing,” retorted Noddy.
“Guess I’ll be going,” went on Paul. “Beastly long walk back to town.”
Ned was glad to hear the sound of departing footsteps. ”

“ It was true, and he could not help noticing it, that the men around him were not such people as Mr. Grant, and others whom he had been in the habit of seeing at Woodville. All of them swore terribly; their breath smelt of liquor, and they talked the language of a depravity to which Noddy, with all his waywardness, was a stranger. There were boys no older than himself in the company, but they did not seem a whit less depraved than the older ones.
Though the novice was not a young man of high aims and purposes, he was not much pleased with his companions. ”

“ Noddy did not want him to do so either, and did not intend that he should. He placed himself by the side of his powerful persecutor, as he still regarded him, and they walked together towards the hotel. The young refugee was nervous and uneasy, and watched with the utmost diligence for an opportunity to slip away. As they were crossing a street, a hack, approaching rapidly, caused Mr. Grant to quicken his pace in order to avoid being run over. Noddy, burdened with the weight of the carpet-bag, did not keep up with him, and he was obliged to fall back to escape the carriage. ”

“ For two days Noddy suffered severely from seasickness, and Mollie was full of tenderness and sympathy. Captain McClintock still mocked the poor child's hopes, and still broke the promises which should have been sacred, for he was intoxicated each day. On the second, while Noddy was lying in his berth, the captain, rendered brutal by the last dram he had taken, came out of his state-room, and halted near the sick boy.
"What are you in there for, you young sculpin?" said he. "Why are you not on deck, attending to your duty?" ”

“ The talk about thirty thousand dollars, and the guardian, was as unintelligible to him as though it had been in ancient Greek, and he did not bestow a second thought upon it. The "boy like him," to whom thirty thousand dollars would be a great deal of money, meant some other person than himself. The court was Noddy's peculiar abomination; and when he heard the words, he clutched the sash of the window with convulsive energy.
Mr. Grant and Squire Wriggs passed into the house, and Noddy Newman passed out. To a gymnast of his wiry experience, the feat was not impossible, or even very difficult. ”

“ In the morning he made his way to the wharves, and during the long day he went from vessel to vessel in search of a berth as cabin-boy. He asked for this situation, because he had frequently heard the term; but he was willing to accept any position he could obtain. No one wanted a cabin-boy, or so small a sailor as he was. Night came on again, with a hopeless prospect for the future; and poor Noddy began to question the wisdom of the course he had taken. A tinker's shop, with plenty to eat, and a place to sleep, was certainly much better than wandering about the streets. ”

“ Don't give it up, Mollie. Work and win; that's my motto, you know."
"I am ready to work with you, Noddy, whether you win or not."
The persevering boy got a rope, which he made fast around the little girl's body, and watching his time, at the intervals of the breaking waves, he bore her to the main shrouds. She went up to the mast head without much difficulty, though the force of the wind was so great that Noddy had to hold on to her, to keep her from being blown from the ropes. ”

“ I’d like to see ’em try it,” boasted Noddy. “No. I was out taking a spin, and that young cub of a Ned Slade tried to upset me. I got even with him, though,” added Noddy, to whom telling the truth did not come natural. “I gave his wheel a twist and sent him flying. I guess he won’t forget his fall in a hurry. He got worse than I did,” which was not so, though Jack did not know it.
“Serves him good and right,” chuckled the toady. “I can’t bear Ned. He’s too uppish. Thinks because his father has a little money he’s better than the rest of us. And I haven’t any use for his chums, Bob and Jerry.” ”

“ Grant, and by Bertha, ever to take Fanny out in a boat without permission; and Miss Fanny had been as strictly forbidden to go with him, or with any of the servants, without the express consent, each time, of her father or of Bertha.
It is very hard, while doing wrong in one thing, to enjoy an approving conscience in another thing; and Noddy found it so in the present instance. We do not mean to say that Noddy's conscience was of any great account to him, or that the inward monitor caused his present uneasiness. ”

“ When he had drawn the bow out as far as he could with the brace, he meant to attach the same rope to the stern, and complete the job.
"That's all very pretty," said Mollie, who had carefully noticed all her companion's proceedings; "but you and I can't hoist the boat up with that rigging."
"I know that, Mollie," replied Noddy, wiping the perspiration from his brow. "I haven't done yet."
"I am afraid you won't make out, Noddy."
"Yes, I shall. Work and win; that's the idea."
"You are working very hard, and I hope you will win."
"Did you know I made an improvement on Miss Bertha's maxim?" ”

“ We have the boat on deck. I'm afraid you are discouraged, Mollie."
"I can't help thinking of poor father," said she, bursting into tears again. [208]
Noddy comforted her as well as he could. He told her she ought not to repine at the will of God, who had saved her, though he had permitted her father to be lost; that she ought to be grateful for her own preservation; and, what seemed to be the strongest argument to him, that weeping and "taking on" would do no good. He was but a poor comforter, and only repeated what he had often heard her say in the dark hours of their former tribulation. ”

“ The noise sounded nearer and, in a few minutes Noddy rode up on his cycle. He got off, ran his machine close to where the three chums had stored theirs, and then came to where Bob, Ned and Jerry were taking their ease.
“You fellows going in the race?” asked Noddy, in rather more friendly tones than he was in the habit of using to those he did not care for.
“We expect to,” answered Jerry.
“And you think you’ll all win, I s’pose?” went on the bully, in a sneering tone.
“One of us hopes to take a prize,” said Jerry, preserving a calm voice. ”

“ Grant.
"But he heard Squire Wriggs say he must take him over to the court."
"That was for another matter—in a word, to have a guardian appointed, for Noddy will be a rich man when he is of age."
"Noddy?" exclaimed Bertha. [100]
"Yes; but I haven't a moment to spare. I have been at work on his affairs since yesterday morning. They are all right now; and all we want to enable us to complete the business is the presence of the boy."
"Poor fellow! He is terribly worked up at the idea of going to the court-house, or even to a tinker's shop, as he calls it." ”

“ He shook out the sail, and when the yard had been raised to its proper position, he went on deck again.
The Roebuck was dashing briskly along with a fresh southerly breeze; and if Noddy had not been troubled with a suspicion that something was wrong, he would have enjoyed the scene exceedingly. He had begun to fear that Captain McClintock was a tyrant, and that he was doomed to undergo many hardships before he saw his native land again.
"Don't be troubled, Noddy," said Mollie, in a low tone, as she placed herself by his side at the lee rail. "My father isn't cross very often." ”

“ Mollie thought it was rather ridiculous for a small boy like him to load himself down with so many weapons, which could not avail him, if a conflict became necessary, against sixteen savages, full grown, and accustomed to fighting. But Noddy was general-in-chief of the forces, and she did not remonstrate any further than to beg him to be prudent.
The canoe slowly approached the shore. Those in her seemed to be familiar with the land, for they steered directly up the little inlet which Noddy had chosen as his landing-place. ”

“ I don’t want to fight, but, if I have to you’ll be the first to cry [182] ‘quits.’ I’m not anxious to fight, but I’m not going to run away.”
“Nor I!” cried Ned and Bob.
“You can fight us all, one after the other,” suggested Ned.
“You mind your own business; I wasn’t talking to you,” called Noddy, now thoroughly angry.
“The business of one of us is the business of all of us,” replied Jerry with a laugh. “Better be careful Noddy.”
The bully growled out something in reply, and cast a glance over his shoulder. He gave a start as he did so, and then, turning quickly made off on his machine. ”

“ Noddy thought this application of Bertha's motto was funny, and he had the hardihood to laugh at it, till Bertha, hopeless of making any impression on him at the present time, left the room, and locked the door behind her.
"Work and win!" said Noddy. "That's very pretty, and for Miss Bertha's sake I shall remember it; but I shan't work in any tinker's shop. I may as well take myself off, and go to work in my own way." ”

“ Do you know when we sail, Mollie?"
"Perhaps to-day; perhaps not till to-morrow."
"I want to write a letter to Miss Bertha before we go."
"That's right, Noddy; never forget your friends. I will give you pen, ink, and paper, by and by."
In the forenoon Captain McClintock took the young sailor ashore, and purchased for him a supply of clothing. Noddy always dressed like a sailor at Woodville. This was Ben's idea, and it was quite proper, as his work was in the boats. His new garments were not strange to him, therefore, though they were much coarser than those he wore. ”

“ The story was told by the two little adventurers, each correcting or helping out the other, till the whole truth was obtained. It was evident to the captain and the mate, that Noddy had behaved with vigor and decision, and that, if he had been less prompt and energetic, poor Mollie must have become the victim of the ravenous shark.
"You have saved her life, Noddy; that's plain enough," said Captain McClintock, as he rose and went to his state-room.
"You were smart, my boy, and you deserve a great deal of credit," added Mr. Watts. ”

“ What?"
"He that works shall win."
"That's very encouraging; but it isn't always true."
"It is when you work in the right way," answered Noddy, as he took the end of the yard-arm rope, and, after passing it through a snatch-block, began to wind it around the barrel of the small capstan on the forecastle.
"Perhaps you haven't got the right way."
"If I haven't I shall try again, and keep trying till I do get it," replied Noddy, as he handed Mollie the end of the rope which he had wound four times [216] round the capstan. "Do you think you can hold this rope and take in the slack?" ”