The Rival Crusoes
William Henry Giles Kingston
Paperback
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, May 12, 2014)
โI tell you what, Dick, if I was Farmer Hargrave I would not turn out to please Lord Elverston or any other lord in the land,โ exclaimed Ben Rudall, as he stood hammering away at the side of his boat, which lay drawn up on the inner end of Hurst beach, near the little harbour of Keyhaven, on the Hampshire coast, at the western entrance of the Solent, opposite the Isle of Wight. His dress and weather-beaten countenance, as well as the work he was engaged on, showed that he was a seafaring man. โBut Mr Gooch the bailiff says there is a flaw, as he calls it, in the lease; but what that means I donโt know, except that itโs not all right, and that father must turn out, whether he likes it or not,โ answered Dick Hargrave, who was standing near, and occasionally giving Ben a helping hand. He was a lad about sixteen years of age, strongly built, with a good-looking face, exhibiting a firm and determined expression. His dress was more that of a landsman than of a sailor, though it partook of both.