Widmore took Ben to The Cabin by Ricardus Alpert

While rewatching "Dead Is Dead" yesterday, I was struck by how nice Widmore appeared to act towards young Ben. It then uccoured to me after Ben's comment that "I found sometimes that friends could be considerably more dangerous than enemies" that Widmore might have been something of a mentor to him at first, and even a father figure, before they became enemies.

We've all been wondering about Ben and The Cabin. After all, while he admitted to Locke that he was faking the whole conversation, he did seem preety sure that's where Jacob lives. He didn't seem to be lying when they went there again in S4, and I don't think he was suddenly convinced by what happened in "The Man Behind The Curtain." He was clearly told that's Jacob's residing place.

But told by whom?

Given the fact Richard knows Jacob lives in the Statue, and probably knows The Cabin is X's prison, it really wouldn't make any sense for him to tell that to Ben. It doesn't make sense for him to lead him there at all.

So who did tell Ben about the Cabin?

His Nemesis, and former mentor, Charles Widmore.

Think about Widmore's reaction to Ben appearing at their camp in 1977. He seemed quite jealous of Ben, because he knew Ben was "Chosen", while he wasn't. After Eloise left the island, Richard probably appointed Widmore as a place-holder until Ben was ready. A fact I'm sure Widmore was aware of, and clearly resented. He knew his time was up, and I believe that at some point he had started to follow X instead of Jacob. So what did Widmore do?

Either on X's orders, or simply out of resentment for Ben, he took him to The Cabin. It's also possible he fed him all the lies about Jacob hating technology, etc. It's also possible that Widmore faked a conversation inside The Cabin, just like Ben did.

I also think Ben probably told Richard about it, and that was the true reason Jacob sanctioned Widmore's banishment. Ben didn't know Widmore was following the Nemesis, and was left to believe all he told him about the Cabin.