{"product_id":"2940148749233","title":"Soldier Rigdale (Illustrated)","description":"WITH the approach of sunset, the wind that all day had ruffled the waves to white edges died down, till there was left on the water only a long, heaving motion, that rudely swayed the old ship Mayflower. One moment from her broad deck could be seen the steel-like gleam of the fresh-water pond on the distant beach; the next moment, as the ship rolled between the waves, the shore presented nothing but solid sand dunes and shrubby pine trees. But always overhead the sky, athwart which the yards, bulging with the furled sails, were raking, remained the same,—a level reach of thick gray that, as twilight drew on, seemed to brood closer over earth and ocean.\u003cbr\u003eHow those yards seesawed up and down with the rolling of the ship, and the mastheads, they dipped too, quite as if they might pitch down upon a body! Miles Rigdale, standing with legs[2] craftily planted and head thrown well back, stared and stared at their measured movement till, dizzy with the feeling that the great spars were tottering loose, he was glad to straighten his aching neck once more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Did you see a goose, all roasted, flying for your mouth?\" Francis Billington called from the waist of the ship, where he perched jauntily upon the bulwark.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSauntering from his place near the companion way, Miles halted beside the speaker; not that he had a great liking for Francis Billington, but he was a sociable lad, who must talk to some one, and, as the bleak air had driven the women and children into the great cabin, while the men were absent,—the leaders conferring in the roundhouse and the lesser men seeking firewood on shore,—he could for the moment find no comrade save young Billington.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe latter was an unprepossessing lad, stunted and small for his fourteen years, with elfish eyes which he now turned sharply on Miles. \"I take it, Jack Cooke is ill, and Giles Hopkins has packed you about your business, that you've come to spend the time with me,\" he suggested disagreeably.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I take it, maybe you've spoke the truth,\" Miles answered unruffled, as he propped his chin on his fists and braced his elbows against the bulwark.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[3]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGazing thus northward, he could see all about him green hills, wooded to the water's edge, now higher, now lower, as the ship mounted upon the waves, and the strip of sand beach, off which rode the bobbing longboat. \"I wish my father had taken me with him when they went to fetch the wood,\" Miles broke out at that sight; \"it's weeks and weeks since I set foot on land.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pooh! I've been ashore thrice already,\" bragged Francis, setting one arm akimbo, though he took good care to grip the shrouds tightly with the other hand, for the bulwark was not the safest of perches.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMiles tried to swallow down his envy, but he could not help saying, with a touch of triumph: \"Anyhow, you saw no savages, and my father saw 'em when he went exploring with Captain Standish,—six Indians and a dog, he saw.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"So did my father,\" Francis sought to crush him; but Miles, declaring sudden truce, was asking, with civil interest: \"You did not see any lions when you went ashore, did you, Francis?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"N—no, but Ned Dotey thought he heard one roar the other night.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Father would not take our mastiff Trug on land lest they kill him. Trug would give 'em a fight for it, though. But he couldn't fight the serpents; nobody could. Did you know, Francie, there's a serpent here in America,—they call it the rattlesnake,—and[4] if it but breathe on you, you die presently.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How do you know?\" asked Francis, awed, but incredulous.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"My father read it in a book about plantations in Virginia. Maybe the serpents lie close in cold weather, though, so you did not see them.\" Miles was silent a long instant, while he gazed fixedly at the mysterious shore yonder, where all these rarities were to be met with. \"The trees do not look like our English trees,\" he said, half to himself, \"but I'd fain go in among them. Perhaps you found conies there, Francis? There were a plenty of them on the common at home; Trug and I used to chase them, and 'twas brave sport.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Mayhap if you had Trug with you, you could start some here,\" suggested Francis. \"Tell you, Miles, you beg your father let you go ashore to-morrow, and I'll go too, and we'll seek for conies together. Will you?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"'Tis no use,\" Miles answered, scowling straight ahead.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why not?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Father says I cannot go,\" the boy blurted out. \"I answered him saucily this morning, and he said for that I should not stir foot off the ship for a week. I think—I think he might let me go ashore. Along the first I was coughing, so my[5] mother said I must not venture in the boat; and then my sister Dolly was ailing, and I must stay to bear her company; and then it stormed; and now he will not let me go. And I am so weary of this ship!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Lost Leaf Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079455097072,"sku":"2940148749233","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940148749233_p0.jpg?v=1763708013","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940148749233","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}