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Our Young Folks—Vol. I, No. II, February 1865 An Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls By: Various |
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An Illustrated Magazine FOR BOYS AND GIRLS.
VOL. I. FEBRUARY, 1865. NO. II.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by TICKNOR AND
FIELDS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts.
DAVID MATSON.
Who of my young friends have read the sorrowful story of "Enoch Arden,"
so sweetly and simply told by the great English poet? It is the story of
a man who went to sea, leaving behind a sweet young wife and little
daughter. He was cast away on a desert island, where he remained several
years, when he was discovered, and taken off by a passing vessel. Coming
back to his native town, he found his wife married to an old
playmate, a good man, rich and honored, and with whom she was living
happily. The poor man, unwilling to cause her pain and perplexity,
resolved not to make himself known to her, and lived and died alone. The
poem has reminded me of a very similar story of my own New England
neighborhood, which I have often heard, and which I will try to tell,
not in poetry, like Alfred Tennyson's, but in my own poor prose. I can
assure my readers that in its main particulars it is a true tale. One bright summer morning, more than threescore years ago, David Matson,
with his young wife and his two healthy, barefooted boys, stood on the
bank of the river near their dwelling. They were waiting there for
Pelatiah Curtis to come round the Point with his wherry, and take the
husband and father to the Port, a few miles below. The Lively Turtle was
about to sail on a voyage to Spain, and David was to go in her as mate.
They stood there in the level morning sunshine talking cheerfully; but
had you been near enough, you could have seen tears in Anna Matson's
blue eyes, for she loved her husband, and knew there was always danger
on the sea. And David's bluff, cheery voice trembled a little now and
then, for the honest sailor loved his snug home on the Merrimack, with
the dear wife and her pretty boys. But presently the wherry came
alongside, and David was just stepping into it, when he turned back to
kiss his wife and children once more. "In with you, man," said Pelatiah Curtis. "There's no time for kissing
and such fooleries when the tide serves." And so they parted. Anna and the boys went back to their home, and David
to the Port, whence he sailed off in the Lively Turtle. And months
passed, autumn followed the summer, and winter the autumn, and then
spring came, and anon it was summer on the river side, and he did not
come back. And another year passed, and then the old sailors and
fishermen shook their heads solemnly, and said that the Lively Turtle
was a lost ship, and would never come back to port. And poor Anna had
her bombazine gown dyed black, and her straw bonnet trimmed in mourning
ribbons, and thenceforth she was known only as the Widow Matson. And how was it all this time with David himself? Now you must know that the Mohammedan people of Algiers and Tripoli, and
Mogadore and Sallee, on the Barbary coast, had for a long time been in
the habit of fitting out galleys and armed boats to seize upon the
merchant vessels of Christian nations, and make slaves of their crews
and passengers, just as men calling themselves Christians in America
were sending vessels to Africa to catch black slaves for their
plantations. The Lively Turtle fell into the hands of one of these
roving sea robbers, and the crew were taken to Algiers, and sold in the
market place as slaves, poor David Matson among the rest. When a boy he had learned the trade of a ship carpenter with his father
on the Merrimack; and now he was set at work in the dock yards. His
master, who was naturally a kind man, did not overwork him. He had daily
his three loaves of bread, and when his clothing was worn out, its place
was supplied by the coarse cloth of wool and camel's hair woven by the
Berber women. Three hours before sunset he was released from work, and
Friday, which is the Mohammedan Sabbath, was a day of entire rest... Continue reading book >>
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