The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Middy, by George Manville Fenn
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Title: The Lost Middy
Being the Secret of the Smugglers' Gap
Author: George Manville Fenn
Illustrator: Stanley L. Wood
Release Date: May 4, 2007 [EBook #21318]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST MIDDY ***
Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
The Lost Middy, being the Secret of the Smugglers' Gap, by George
Manville Fenn.
________________________________________________________________________
This is yet another tension-packed teenagers' novel from the pen of G.
Manville Fenn. The hero is a sixteen-year-old called Aleck, who is an
orphan being brought up by his uncle, whose main interest in life is
writing a book of history. They live by the sea, and Aleck's great
pleasure is to take his little sailing boat along the coast, often in
the company of a pensioned-off man-o'-war's man, called Tom Bodger.
They get involved with a press-gang raid by one of HM sloops, which is
accompanied by a revenue cutter. Some of the men of the neighbouring
hamlets are taken by the press-gang, but a middy from the sloop is also
taken by the local smugglers, and hidden in the very cave where they
normally hide their spoils.
Unfortunately Aleck also stumbles on the track of the smugglers, and
gets shut up in the same cave. Both entrances of the cave are blocked
up. There is no possible escape. NH
________________________________________________________________________
THE LOST MIDDY, OR THE SECRET OF THE SMUGGLERS' GAP, BY GEORGE MANVILLE
FENN.
CHAPTER ONE.
There was a loud rattling noise, as if money was being shaken up in a
box. A loud crashing bang, as if someone had banged the box down on a
table. A rap, as if a knife had been dropped. Then somebody, in a
petulant voice full of vexation and irritability, roared out:
"Bother!"
And that's exactly how it was, leaving Aleck Donne, who looked about
sixteen or seventeen, scratching vigorously at his crisp hair as he sat
back, with his elbows resting upon those of the big wooden arm-chair,
staring at the money-box before him.
"I call it foolishness," he said, aloud, talking, of course, to himself,
for there was no one else in the comfortable room, the window of which
opened out upon the most quaint garden ever seen. "It's all right to
save up your money in a box and keep on dropping it through a slit; but
how about getting it out? Here, I'll go and smash the stupid old thing
up directly on the block in the wood-shed."
But instead of carrying out his threat, he leaned forward, picked up the
curved round-ended table-knife he had dashed down, seized the money-box
again, shook it with jingling effect, held it upside down above his
eyes, and began to operate with the knife-blade through the narrow slit
in the centre of the lid.
For a good quarter of an hour by the big old eight-day clock in the
corner did the boy work away, shaking the box till some coin or another
was over the slit, and then operating with the knife-blade, trying and
trying to get the piece of money up on edge so that it would drop
through; and again and again, as the reward of his indefatigable
perseverance, nearly succeeding, but never quite. For so sure as he
pushed it up or tilted it down, the coin made a dash and glided away,
making the drops of perspiration start out on the boy's forehead, and
forcing him into a struggle with his temper which resulted in his
gaining the victory again, till that thin old half-crown was coaxed well
into sight and forced flat against the knife-blade. The boy then began
to manipulate the knife with extreme caution as he kept on making a soft
purring noise, _ah-h-h-h-ha_! full of triumphant satisfaction, while a
big curled-up tabby tom-cat, which had taken possession of the fellow
chair to that occupied by Aleck, twitched one ear, opened one eye, and
then seeing that the purring sound was only a feeble imitation, went off
to sleep again.
"Got you at last!" muttered the lad. "Half a crown; just buy all I
want, and--bother!" he yelled, and, raising the box on high with both
hands, he dashed it down upon the slate hearth with all his might.
Temper had won this time. Aleck had suffered a disastrous defeat, and
he sat there with his forehead puckered up, staring at the cat, which at
the crash and its accompanying yell made one bound that carried it on to
the sideboard, where with glowing eyes, flattened ears, arched back, and
bottle-brush tail, it stood staring at the disturber of its rest.
"Well, I am a pretty fool," muttered Aleck, starting out of his chair
and listening for a few moments before stealing across the room to open
the door cautiously and thrust out his head.
There was no sound to be heard, and the boy re-closed the door and went
back to the hearth.
"I wonder uncle didn't hear," he muttered, stooping down. "I've done it
now, and no mistake."
As he spoke he picked the remains of the broken box from inside the
fender.
"Smashed!" he continued. "Good job too. Shan't have any more of that
bother. How much is there? Let's see!"
There was a small fire burning in the old-fashioned grate, and with a
grim look the boy finished the destruction of the money-box by tearing
it apart at the dovetailings and placing the pieces on the fire, where
they caught at once, blazing up, while the lad hunted out and picked up
the coins which lay scattered here and there.
"Three--four--five--and sixpence," muttered the boy. "I thought there
was more than that. Hullo! Where's that thin old half-crown? Haven't
thrown it on the fire, have I? Oh, there you are!" he cried, ferreting
it out of the fleeces of the thick dark-dyed sheepskin hearth-rug at his
feet. "Eight shillings," he continued, transferring his store to his
pocket. "Well, I'm not obliged to spend it all. Money-box! Bother!
I'm not a child now. Just as if I couldn't take care of my money in my
pocket."
He gave the place a slap, turned to the window, looked out at the soft
fleecy clouds gliding overhead, and once more made for the door, crossed
the little hall paved with large black slates, and then bounded up the
oak stairs two at a time, to pause on the landing and give a sharp
knuckle rap on the door before him; then, without waiting for a "Come
in," he entered, to stand, door in hand, gazing at the top of a big
shaggy grey head, whose owner held it close to the sheets of foolscap
paper which he was covering with writing in a bold, clear hand.
"Want me, uncle?"
The head was raised, and a pair of fierce-looking eyes glared at the
interrupter of the studies from beneath enormously-produced, thick,
white eyebrows, and through a great pair of round tortoise-shell
spectacles.
"Want you, boy?" was the reply, as the speaker held up a large white
swan-quill pen on a level with his sun-browned and reddened nose. "No,
Lick. Be off!"
"I'm going to run over to Rockabie, uncle. Back to dinner. Want
anything brought back?"
"No, boy; I've plenty of ink. No.--Yes. Bring me some more of this
paper."
The voice sounded very gruff and ill-humoured, and the speaker glared
angrily, more than looked, at the boy.
"Here," he continued, "don't drown yourself."
"Oh, no, uncle," said the boy, confidently, "I'll take care of that."
"By running into the first danger you come across."
"Nonsense, uncle. I can sail about now as well as any of the fisher
lads."
"Fisher? Bah!" growled the old man, fiercely. "Scoundrels--rascals,
who wear a fisher's frock to hide the fact that they are smugglers--were
wreckers. Nice sink of iniquity this. Look here, Lick. Take care and
don't play that idler's trick of making fast the sheet."
"I'll take care, uncle."
"How's the wind, boy?"
"Just a nice soft breeze, uncle. I can run round the point in about an
hour--wind right abaft."
"And dead ahead coming back, eh?"
"Yes; but I can tack, uncle--make good long reaches."
"To take you out into the race and among the skerries. Do you think I
want to have you carried out to sea and brought back days hence to be
buried, sir?"
"Of course you don't, uncle; but I shan't hurt. Old Dumpus says I can
manage a boat as well as he can."
"He's a wooden-legged, wooden-headed old fool for saying so. Look here,
Aleck; you'd better stop at home to-day."
"Uncle!" cried the boy, in a voice full of protest.
"The weather's going to change. I can feel it in my old wound; and it
will not be safe for a boy like you alone to try and run that boat home
round the point."
"Oh, uncle, you treat me as if I were a little boy!"
"So you are; and too light-headed."
"It's such a beautiful morning for a sail, uncle."
"Do just as well to watch the sea from the cliffs, and the carrier can
bring what you want from Rockabie next time he goes."
"Uncle! I shall be so disappointed," pleaded the boy.
"Well! What of that? Do you good, boy. Life's all disappointments.
Prepare you for what you'll have to endure in the future."
"Very well, uncle, I won't go if you don't wish it."
"Of course you won't, sir. There, run round and get one of the Eilygugg
lads to help you with the boat."
"Please, uncle, I'd rather not. I don't like them, and they don't like
me."
"Of course you don't like the young scoundrels, sir; but they can manage
a boat."
"I'd rather not go now, uncle," said the boy, sadly.
"And I'd rather you did. There, go at once, while the weather's fine,
and make that old man-o'-war's man help you to come back?"
"Tom Bodger, uncle? But how's he to get back?"
"I'll give him some shillings, and he can pay one of the smugglers to
give him a lift home."
"Thank you, uncle," cried the boy, in an eager way, which showed plainly
enough how well satisfied he was with the arrangement.
"Don't worry me. Be off!" said the old man, bending over his writing
again.
Aleck needed no further orders, and hurried out into the well-kept
garden, where everything looked healthy and flourishing, sheltered as it
was from the fierce winds of all quarters by the fact that it lay in a
depression formed by the sinking of some two or three acres of land,
possibly from the undermining of the sea in far distant ages, at the end
of a narrow rift or chasm in the cliffs which guarded the shores, the
result being that, save in one spot nearest the sea, the grounds
possessed a natural cliff-like wall some fifty or sixty feet high, full
of rift and shelf, the nesting-place of innumerable birds. Here all was
wild and beautiful; great curtains of ivy draped the natural walls, oak
and sycamore flourished gloriously in the shelter as far as the top of
the cliff, and there the trees ceased to grow upward and branched
horizontally instead, so that from the level land outside it seemed as
if Nature had cut all the tops off level, as indeed she had, by means of
the sharp cutting winds.
Aleck followed the garden path without looking back at the vine and
creeper-clad house in its shelter, and made for one corner of the garden
where the walls overlapped, and, passing round one angle, he was
directly after in a zigzag rift, shut in by more lofty, natural walls,
but with the path sloping downward, with the consequence that the walls
grew higher, till at the end of about three hundred yards from the
garden they were fully a couple of hundred feet from base to summit, the
base being nearly level with the sea. This latter was hidden till the
lad had passed round another angle of cliff, when he obtained a glimpse
of the deep blue water, flecked here and there with silvery foam, but
hidden again directly as he followed the zigzag rift over a flooring of
rough stones which had fallen from the towering perpendicular sides, and
which were here only some thirty or forty feet apart, and completely
shut out the sunshine and a good deal of the light.
Another angle of the zigzag rift was passed, and then the rugged stony
flooring gave place to dark, deep water, beautifully transparent--so
clear that the many-tinted fronds of bladder-wrack and other weeds could
be seen swaying to and fro under the influence of the tide which rose
and fell.
Here, in a natural harbour, sheltered from all dangers, lay the boat the
boy sought. It was moored in a nook by a rope attached to a great ring;
the staple had been sunk in a crack and sealed fast with molten lead,
and no matter what storms raged outside, the boat was safely sheltered,
and swung in a natural basin at ordinary tides, while at the very lowest
it grounded gently in a bed of white sand.
It was well afloat upon this occasion, and skirting round it along a
laboriously chipped-out ledge about a foot wide, the boy entered a crack
in the rock face, for it could hardly be called a cavern. But it was
big enough for its purpose, which was to shelter from the rain and rock
drippings a quantity of boat gear, mast, sails, ropes, and tackle
generally, which leaned or hung snugly enough about the rock, in company
with a small seine, a trammel-net, a spare grapnel or two, some
lobster-pots, and buoys with corks and lines.
Aleck was not long about carrying mast, yard, and sail to the boat and
shipping them. Then, in obedience to an idea, he placed a couple of
fishing-lines, a gaff-hook, a landing-net, and some spare hooks aboard;
then, taking a little bucket, he half filled it with the crystal water
of the pool, and after placing it aboard took hold of a thin line, one
end of which was secured to a ring-bolt in a block of wreck lumber,
while the other ran down into the pool.
A pull at the line brought a large closely-worked, spindle-shaped basket
to the surface, when a commotion inside announced that the six-inch-wide
square of flat cork, which formed a lid, covered something alive.
So it proved; for upon unfastening the lid an opening was laid bare, and
upon the "coorge"--as the fishing folk called the basket--being laid
across the bucket and turned sidewise, some ten or a dozen silvery
eel-shaped fish glided out into the bucket, and began swimming round and
round in search of an outlet.
"More bait than I shall want," said Aleck, covering and letting the
basket go back into the pool. Then, unfastening the mooring-rope, the
boy picked up a boat-hook, and by hooking on to the side rocks here and
there he piloted the boat along the devious watery lane, with the mighty
walls towering high on either side and whispering or echoing back every
sound he produced on his way out to the open sea.
It was beautiful--solemn--grand--all in one, that narrow, gloomy, zigzag
way between the perpendicular walls; and a naturalist would have spent
hours examining the many-tinted sea anemones that opened their rays and
awl-shaped tentacles below the water, or lay adhering and quiescent upon
the rocks where the tide had fallen, looking some green, some olive, and
many more like bosses of gelatinous coagulated blood.
But these were too common objects of the seashore for Aleck Donne to
heed; his eyes were for the most part upon the blue and opalescent
picture some two hundred yards before him, where the chasm ended, its
sharp edges looking black against the sea and sky as he hooked on here,
gave a thrust there, and sent the boat along till the rift grew lighter
and lighter, and then was left behind, for a final thrust had sent the
boat right out into the sunshine, and in full view of three huge
skittle-shaped rocks standing up out of the sea, high as the wall-like
cliff of which at some time or another they must have been a portion.
They were now many yards away and formed the almost secure
nesting-places of hundreds upon hundreds of birds, whose necks stood up
like so many pegs against the sky, giving the rocks a peculiar bristling
appearance. But the sense of security for the young birds was upset by
the long flapping wings of a couple of great black-backed gulls which
kept on sailing round and round, waiting till the opportunity came to
make a hawk-like swoop and carry off some well-fatted, half-feathered
young auk. One met its fate, in the midst of a rippling purring cry,
just as Aleck laid in his boat-hook and proceeded to step the mast,
swaying easily the while with the boat, which was now well afloat on the
rising and falling sea.
CHAPTER TWO.
"My word! How she does go!" cried Aleck, a short time later. For he
had stepped the mast, hooked on the little rudder, and hoisted the sail,
the latter filling at once with the breeze which, coming from the sea,
struck the bold perpendicular rock face and glanced off again, to catch
the boat right astern. One minute it was racing along almost on an even
keel; then, like a young horse, it seemed to take the bit in its teeth
as it careened over more and more and made the water foam beneath the
bows.
Away to Aleck's left was the dazzling stretch of ocean, to his right the
cliffs with the stack rocks and a glimpse of the whitewashed group of
cottages locally known as Eilygugg, from their overlooking the great
isolated, skittle-like, inaccessible stack rocks chosen by those rather
rare birds the little auks for their nesting-place year after year.
On and on sped the boat past the precipitous cliffs, which, with the
promontory-like point ahead, were the destruction of many a brave vessel
in the stormy times; and an inexperienced watcher from the shore would
often have suffered from that peculiar sensation known as having the
heart in the mouth on seeing the boat careen over before some extra
strong puff of wind, till it seemed as if the next moment the sail would
be flat on the water while the little vessel filled and went down.
But many years of teaching by the fishermen and Tom Bodger, the
wooden-legged old man-o'-war's man of Rockabie, had made Aleck, young
though he was, an expert manager of a fore and aft sailing boat, and the
boy sat fast, rudder in one hand, sheet in the other, ready at the right
moment to ease off the rope and by a dexterous touch at the rudder to
lessen the pressure upon the canvas so that the boat rose again and
raced onward till the great promontory ahead was passed. In due time
the land sheltered the young navigator, and he glided swiftly into the
little harbour of the fishing town, whose roughly-formed pier curved
round like a crescent moon to protect the little fleet of fishing-boats,
whose crews leaned over the cliff rail masticating tobacco and gazing
out to sea, as they rested from the past night's labour, and talked in a
low monotonous growl about the wind and the prospects of the night to
come.
Rockabie was a prolific place, as far as boys were concerned. There
were doubtless girls to balance them, but the girls were busy at home,
while the boys swarmed upon the pier, where they led a charmed life; for
though one of them was crowded, or scuffled, or pushed off every day
into deep water, when quarrelling, playing, or getting into someone's
way when the fish were landed, they seemed as if formed of cork or
bladder and wind instead of flesh and blood, for they always came up
again, to be pulled out by the rope thrown, or hooked out by a hitcher,
if they did not swim round to the rough steps or to the shore. Not one
was ever known to be drowned--that was the fate of the full-grown who
went out in smack or lugger to sea.
The sight of Aleck Donne's boat coming round the point caused a rush on
the part of the boys down to the pier and drew the attention of the
fishermen up on the cliff as well. But these latter did not stir, only
growled out something about the cap'n's boat from the Den. One man only
made the comment that the sail wanted "tannin' agen," and that was all.
But the boys were interested and busy as they swarmed to the edge of the
unprotected pier, along which they sat and stood as closely as the
upright puffins in their white waistcoats standing in rows along the
ledges that towered up above the point. For everybody knew everybody
there for miles round, and every boat as well.
There was a good deal of grinning and chattering going on as the boat
neared, especially from one old fisherman who lived inside a huge pair
of very stiff trousers, these coming right up to his arm-pits, so that
only a very short pair of braces, a scrap of blue shirt, and a woollen
night-cap were required to complete his costume.
This gentleman smiled, grunted, placed a fresh bit of black tobacco in
his cheek, and took notice of the fact that several of the boys had made
a rush to the edge of the water by the harbour and come back loaded with
decaying fish--scraps of skate, trimmings, especially the tails, heads,
and offal--to take their places again, standing behind their sitting
companions.
Someone else saw the action too, and began to descend from the cliff by
the long slope whose water end was close to the shore end of the pier.
This personage would have been a tall, broad-shouldered man had he been
all there; but he was not, for he had left his legs in the West Indies,
off the coast of Martinique, when a big round shot from a French battery
came skipping over the water and cut them off, as the ship's surgeon
said, almost as cleanly as he could have done with the knife and saw he
used on the poor fellow after the action was over, the fort taken, and
the Frenchmen put to flight.
The result was that Thomas Bodger came back after some months to his
native village, quite cured, in the best of health, and wearing a pair
of the shortest wooden legs ever worn by crippled man--his pegs, as the
boys of Rockabie called them, though he dignified them himself by the
name of toes. As to his looks, he was a fine-looking man to just below
his hips, and there he had been razed, as he called it to Aleck Donne,
while the most peculiar thing about him as he toddled along was what at
first sight looked like a prop, which extended from just beneath his
head nearly to the ground, as if to enable him to stand, tripod-fashion,
steadily on a windy day. But it was nothing of the sort, being only his
pigtail carefully bound with ribbon, and the thickest and longest
pigtail in the "Ryal Navee."
Tom Bodger, or--as he was generally known by the Rockabie boys--Dumpus,
trotted down the slope in a wonderful way, for how he managed to keep
his balance over the rough cobbles and on the storm-worn granite stones
of the pier was a marvel of equilibrium. But keep upright he did,
solely by being always in motion; and he was not long in elbowing his
way through the crowd of boys, many of whom overtopped him, and planting
himself at the top of the pier steps, where from old experience he knew
that Aleck would land.
As soon as he was there he delivered himself of an observation.
"Look here," he growled, in a deep, angry voice, "I've been marking o'
you youngsters with my hye, and I gives you doo warning, the fust one on
yer as shies any o' that orfull at young Master Donne, or inter his
little boat, I marks with what isn't my hye, but this here bit of
well-tarred rope's-end as I've got hitched inside my jacket; so look
out."
"Yah!" came in a derisive chorus, as the sailor showed the truthfulness
of his assertion by drawing out about eighteen inches of stoutish brown
rope, drawing it through his left hand and putting it back.
"Yah!" shouted one of the most daring. "Yer can't ketch us. Yah!"
"Not ketch ye, you young swab? Not in a starn chase, p'raps, but I've
got a good mem'ry and I can heave-to till yer comes within reach, and
then--well, I'm sorry for you, my lad. I know yer;--Davvy, Davvy."
The boy looked uncomfortable, and furtively dropped an unpleasant
smelling quid which he had picked up as a weapon of offence, and very
offensive it was; but another lad appropriated it instantly and sniffed
at it, smiling widely afterwards as if approving hugely of the vile
odour. Probably familiarity had begotten contempt, for none of his
companions moved away.
Meanwhile Aleck had run his boat close in and lowered his sail. Then,
as he rose up, boat-hook in hand, he was greeted with a jeering chorus
of shouts, for no other reason than that he was a so-called stranger who
did not live there and was well dressed, and belonged to a better class.
Aleck was accustomed to the reception, and gave the little crowd a
contemptuous look, before turning to the squat figure beginning to
descend the steps, to where the boy stood ten feet below.
"What cheer, Tom!" he cried.
"What cheer-ho, Master Aleck!" returned the sailor. "Hearty, my lad,
hearty." Then, turning to the boys, he growled out, "Now, then, you
heered. So just mind; whether it's fish fresh or fish foul. The one as
shies gets my mark."
The voices of the boys rose in a curious way, making a highly pitched
jeering snarl, while a number of unpleasant missiles that were held
ready were fingered and held behind backs, but from a disinclination to
become the victim of the sailor's marking, no lad was venturesome enough
to start the shower intended to greet the newcomer. It was held in
abeyance for the moment, and then became impossible, for peg, peg, peg,
peg, Tom Bodger descended the steps till he was level with the gunwale
of Aleck's boat, upon which one extremity was carefully planted, and
careful aim taken at the first thwart. The sailor was about to swing
himself in, when Aleck held out his hand--
"Catch hold!" he cried.
"Tchah! I don't want to ketch hold o' nothing," grumbled the man.
"Stand aside."
As he spoke he spun half round as upon a peg, the second wooden leg
lightly touched the thwart, and the next moment, when it seemed as if
the poor fellow's wooden appendages must go through the frail bottom of
the boat, they came down with a light _tip-tap_, and he was standing up
looking smilingly in the young navigator's face.
"Come along tidy quick, my lad?" he said.
"Yes, the wind was lovely. Look here, Tom; I'm going shopping--to get
some hooks and things. Mind that young rabble does not throw anything
aboard."
"All right, my lad; but I should just like to see one of 'em try."
"I shouldn't," cried Aleck. "But, look here; uncle says as there'll be
a good deal of wind dead ahead, and I shall have to tack back again,
you're to come with me."
"Course I should," said the sailor, gruffly. "Wants two a day like
this."
"And he'll pay you; and you're to get one of the fishermen to pick you
up and bring you back."
"Tchah! I don't want no picking up. It's on'y about six mile across
from here to the Den, and I can do that easy enough if yer give me
time."
"Do as you like, but uncle will pay for the ride."
"And I shall put the money in my pocket and toddle back," said the
sailor, chuckling; "do me more good than riding. You look sharp and get
back. I'll give her a swab out while you're gone, and we'll take a good
reach out to where the bass are playing off the point, and get a few. I
see you've brought some sand eels."
"So we will, Tom. I should like to take home a few bass."
"So you shall, my lad," said the sailor, who had stumped forward to the
fore-locker to get out a big sponge; and he was rolling up his sleeves
over a pair of big, brown, muscular arms ornamented with blue mermaids,
initials, a ship in full sail, and a pair of crossed cutlasses
surmounted by a crown, as Aleck stepped lightly upon the gunwale, sprang
thence on to the steps, and went up, to run the gauntlet of the little
crowd of boys, who greeted him with something like a tempest of hoots
and jeers.
But the lads fell back as, with a smile full of the contempt he felt,
Aleck pressed forward, marched through them with his hands in his
pockets, and smiled more broadly as he heard from below a growling shout
of warning from the sailor announcing what he would do if the boys
didn't mind, the result being that they followed the well-grown lad at a
little distance all along the pier, throwing after him not bad fish and
fragments, which would, if well-aimed, have sullied the lad's clothes,
but what an Irishman would have called dirty words, mingled with threats
about what they would give him one of these fine days. The feud was
high between the Rockabie boys and the bright active young lad from the
Den, for no further reason than has already been stated, and the dislike
had increased greatly during the past year, though it had never
culminated in any encounter worse than the throwing of foul missiles
after the boat when it was pushed off for home.
Perhaps it was something in the air which made the Rockabie boys more
pugnacious and their threats more dire. Possibly they may have felt
more deeply stung by the contempt of Aleck, who strode carelessly along
the rough stone pier, whistling softly, with his hands in his pockets,
till he reached the slope and began to ascend towards where the
fishermen leaned in a row over the rail, just as if after a soaking
night they had hung themselves out in the sun to dry.
And now it was that the boys hung back and Aleck felt that he could
afford to pay no heed to the young scrubs who followed him, for there
were plenty of hearty hails and friendly smiles to greet him from the
rough seamen.
"Morn', Master Aleck."
"Morn', sir. How's the cap'n?" from another.
Then: "Like a flat fish to take back with you, master? I've got a nice
brill. I'll put him in your boat."
And directly after a big broad fellow detached himself from the rail to
sidle up with: "Say, Master Aleck, would you mind asking the cap'n to
let me have another little bottle o' them iles he gives me for my
showther? It's getting bad again."
"You shall have it, Joney," cried Aleck.
"Thankye, sir. No hurry, sir. Just put the bottle in yer pocket nex'
time you come over, and that'll do."
Aleck went on up town, as it was called,--and the men hung themselves a
little more over the rail and growled at the boys who were following the
visitor, to "be off," and to "get out of that; now," with the result
that they still followed the lad and watched him, flattening their noses
against the panes of the fishing-tackle shop window, and following him
again when he came out to visit one or two other places of business,
till all the lad's self-set commissions were executed, and he turned to
retrace his steps to the harbour.
So far every movement had been followed by cutting remarks expressive of
the contempt in which the visitor was held. There had been threats,
too, of how he would be served one of these times. Remarks were made,
too, on his personal appearance and the cut of his clothes, but there
was nothing more than petty annoyance till the quarry was on his way
back to where he would be under the protection of the redoubtable
Dumpus, who did not scruple about "letting 'em have it," to use his own
words, it being very unpleasant whatever shape it took. But now the
pack began to rouse up and show its rage under the calm, careless,
defiant contempt with which it was being treated. Words, epithets, and
allusions grew more malicious, caustic, and insulting, and, these
producing no effect by the time the top of the slope was reached, bolder
tactics were commenced, the boys closing round and starting a kind of
horse-play in which one charged another, to give him a thrust so as to
drive him--quite willing--against the retiring visitor.
This was delightful; the mirth it excited grew more boisterous, and the
covert attacks more general.
But Aleck was on the alert and avoided several, till a more vigorous one
was attempted by the biggest lad present, a great, hulking, stupid,
hobbledehoy of a fellow, who drove a companion against Aleck's shoulder,
making him stagger for a moment, while the aggressor burst out into a
hoarse laugh which was chorussed by the little crowd, and then stopped.
The spring which set Aleck's machinery in motion had been touched,
making him wheel round from the boy who had been driven against him,
make a spring at the great, grinning, prime aggressor, and bring his
coarse laugh to an end by delivering a stinging blow on the ear which
drove him sidewise, and made him stand shaking his head and thrusting
his finger inside his ear, as if to try and get rid of a peculiar
buzzing sound which affected him strangely.
There was a roar, and the boy who had been thrust against Aleck sprang
at him to inflict condign punishment upon the stranger who had dared to
strike his companion.
The attack was vigorous enough, but the attacker was unlucky, for he met
Aleck's bony fist on his way before he could use his own. Then he
clapped his open hands to his nose and stood staring in wonder, and
seemed to be trying to find out whether his nose had been flattened on
his face.
There was an ominous silence then, during which Aleck turned and walked
on down the slope in a quiet leisurely way, scorning to run, and even
slackening his pace to be on his guard as he reached the bottom of the
slope, for by that time the boys had recovered from their astonishment,
and were in full pursuit.
In another minute Aleck was surrounded by a roughly-formed crowding-in
ring, with the two lads who had tested the force of his blows eager to
obtain revenge, incited thereto by a score or two of voices urging them
to "give it him," "pay him," "let him have it," and the like.
The two biggest lads of the party then came on at Aleck at once; but, to
be just, it was from no cowardly spirit, but from each being urged by a
sheer vindictive desire to be first to obtain revenge for his blow.
Hence they were mastered by passion and came on recklessly against one
who was still perfectly cool and able to avoid the bigger fellow's
assault while he gave the other a back-handed blow which sent him
reeling away quite satisfied for the present and leaving the odds, so to
speak, more even in the continuation of the encounter.
Aleck was well on the alert, and, feeling that he was utterly
out-matched, he aimed at getting as far as the steps, where he would
have Tom Bodger for an ally, and the attack would come to an end; but he
was soon aware of the fact that to retire was impossible, hedged in as
he was by an excited ring of boys, and there was nothing for him but to
fight his way back slowly and cautiously. So he kept his head, coolly
resisting the attack of the big fellow with whom he was engaged,
guarding himself from blows to the best of his ability, and paying
little heed to the torrent of abuse which accompanied the blows the big
fisher lad tried to shower upon him, and always backing away a few
yards, as he could, nearer to the way down to his boat.
By this time the word was passed along the top of the cliff that there
was a fight on, and the fishermen began slowly to take themselves off
the rail and descend the slope to see the fun, as they called it. They
did not hurry themselves in the least, so that there was plenty of time
for the encounter to progress, with Aleck still calm and cool, warding
off the blows struck at him most skilfully, and mastering his desire to
retaliate when he could have delivered others with masterly effect.
But a change was coming on.
Enraged by his inability to close with his skilful, active adversary,
the big lad made more and more use of his tongue, the torrent of abuse
grew more foul, and Aleck more cool and contemptuous, till all at once
his adversary yelled out something which was received with acclamations
by the excited ring who surrounded the pair, while it went through Aleck
like some poisoned barb. He saw fire for the moment, and his teeth
gritted together, as caution and the practice and skill he had displayed
were no more, for, to use a schoolboy phrase, his monkey was up and he
meant fighting--he meant to use his fists to the best effect in trying
to knock the vile slanderous words, uttered against the man he loved and
venerated, down the utterer's throat, while his rage against those who
crowded around, yelling with delight, took the form of back strokes with
his elbow and more than one sharp blow at some intruding head.
But it was against the lout who had spoken that the fire of his rage was
principally directed, and the fellow realised at once that all that had
gone before, on the part of the stranger from the Den, was mere sparring
and self-defence. Aleck meant fighting now, and he fought, showering
down such volleys of blows that, at the end of a couple of minutes, in
spite of a brave defence and the planting of nasty cracks about his
adversary's unguarded face, the big lad was being knocked here and
there, up, down, and round about, till the shouts and cries about him
lowered into a dull, dead hum. The pier stones reeled and rose and sank
and seemed to imitate the waves that floated in, and when at last, in
utter despair, he locked Aleck in his arms and tried to throw him, he
received such a stunning blow between the eyes that he loosened his
grasp to shake his head, which the next moment was knocked steady and
inert, the big fellow going down all of a heap, and the back of his big
bullet skull striking the pier stones with a heavy resounding bump.
CHAPTER THREE.
In his excitement it seemed to Aleck that the real fight was now about
to begin, for the little mob of boys uttered an angry yell upon seeing
their champion's downfall, and were crowding in. But he was wrong, for
a gruff voice was heard from the fishermen, who had at last bestirred
themselves to see more of what they called the fun, and another
deep-toned voice, accompanying the pattering of two wooden legs, came
from the direction of the steps.
"Here, that'll do, you dogs!" cried the first voice, and--
"Stand fast, Master Aleck, I'm a-coming," cried the other.
The effect on the boys was magical, and they gave way in all directions
before the big fisherman who had asked for the "iles" for his shoulders,
a medicament he did not seem to require, for his joints worked easily as
he threw out his arms with a mowing action, right and left, and with a
force that would have laid the inimical lads down in swathes if they had
not got out of the way.
"Well done, young Aleck Donne," he cried. "Licked Big Jem, have yer?
Hansum too. Do him good. Get up--d'yer hear--before I give yer my
boot! I see yer leading the lot on arter the young gent, like a school
o' dogfish. Hullo, Tom, you was nigher. Why didn't yer come up and
help the young gen'leman afore?"
"'Cause I didn't know what was going on, matey," cried the sailor. "Why
didn't yer hail me, Master Aleck?"
"Because I didn't want to be helped," cried the boy, huskily, his voice
quivering with indignation. "A set of cowards!"
"So they are, Master Aleck," cried the sailor, joining in the lad's
indignation. "On'y wish I'd knowed. I'd ha' come up with the
boat-hook."
"Never mind; it arn't wanted," said the big fisherman. "Young Mr
Donne's given him a pretty good dressing down, and if this here pack
arn't off while their shoes are good we'll let him give it to a few
more."
"I want to know what their fathers is about," growled the sailor. "I
never see such a set. They're allus up to some mischief."
"Ay, ay, that's a true word," cried another fisherman.
"That's so," growled the sailor, who, as he spoke, kept on brushing
Aleck down and using his forearm as a brush to remove the dust and
_debris_ from the champion's jacket.
"Pity he didn't leather another couple of 'em," cried the big fisherman.
"Ay," growled the sailor. "I don't want to say anything unneighbourly,
but it seems a pity that some on 'em don't get swep' up by the next
press-gang as lands. A few years aboard a man-o'-war'd be the best
physic for some o' them. Look at all this here rubbidge about! I see
'em. Got it ready to fling at the young gent. I know their games."
"Nay, nay," said the big fisherman, as a low, angry murmur arose, and
ignoring the allusion to the fish _debris_ lying about, "we don't want
no press-gangs meddling here."
"Yes, you do," said the sailor, angrily, as he applied a blue cotton
neckerchief he had snatched off and shaken out, alternately to a cut on
Aleck's forehead and to his swollen nose, which was bleeding freely.
"Nice game this, arn't it? I know what I'm saying. I was pressed
myself when I was twenty, and sarved seven year afore I come home with a
pension. It made a man o' me, and never did me no harm."
There was a hoarse roar of laughter at this, several of the fishermen
stamping about in their mirth, making the sailor cease his ministrations
and stand staring, and beginning to mop his hot forehead with the
neckerchief.
"What are yer grinning at?" he said, angrily, with the result that the
laughter grew louder.
"Have I smudged my face with this here hankychy, Master Aleck?" said the
sailor, turning to the boy, who could not now refrain from smiling in
turn.
But Aleck was saved the necessity of replying to the question by the big
fisherman, who spoke out in a grimly good-humoured way, as he cast his
eyes up and down the dwarfed man-o'-war's man:
"Lookye here, Tom, mate," he said, good-humouredly, "I don't know so
much about never doing you no harm, old chap."
"What d'yer mean?" growled the sailor.
"What about yer legs, mate?" cried another of the men.
The sailor stared round at the group, and then a change came over him,
and he bent down and gave his hip a sounding slap.
"I'm blest!" he cried, with the angry looks giving place to a broad
smile. "I'm blest! I never thought about my legs!"
There was another roar of laughter now, in which Tom Bodger joined.
"But lookye here, messmates, what's a leg or two? Gone in the sarvice
o' the King and country, I says. Here am I, two-and-thirty, with
ninepence a day as long as I live, as good a man as ever I was--good man
and true. Who says I arn't?"
"Nobody here, Tom, old mate," cried the big fisherman, giving the sailor
a hearty slap on the shoulder. "Good mate and true, and as good a
neighbour as we've got in Rockabie. Eh, lads?"
"Ay, ay!" came in a hearty chorus.
"There, Tom, so say all of us; but none o' that about no press-gangs,
mate," cried the big fisherman. "The King wants men for his ships, but
all on us here has our wives and weans. What was all right for a lad o'
twenty would be all wrong for such as we."
"Ay, that's true," said the sailor, "and I oughtn't to ha' said it; but
look at Master Aleck here. Them boys--"
"Yes, yes, boys is boys, and allus was and allus will be, as long as
there's land and sea. Some on 'em'll get a touch o' rope's-end after
this game, I dessay. Lookye here, Master Aleck Donne, you come up to my
place, and the missus'll find you a tin bowl o' water, a bit o' soap,
and a clean towel. You won't hurt after a wash, but be able to go home
as proud as a tom rooster. You licked your man, and the captain'll feel
proud of you, for Big Jem was too much of a hard nut for such a chap as
you. Come on, my lad."
"No, no, thank you," said Aleck, warmly; "I want to get back home now.
I don't want to show Mrs Joney a face like this."
"Nay, my lad, she won't mind; and--"
"Tom Bodger's going to sail my boat home," put in the boy, hastily, "and
I shall hang over the side and bathe my face as I go. I say, all of
you, I'm sorry I got into this bit of trouble, but it wasn't my fault."
"Course it wasn't," said the fisherman. "We all know that, and you've
give some on 'em a lesson, my lad. Well, if you won't come, my lad, you
won't."
"It's only because I want to get back home," said Aleck, warmly. "It's
very kind of you all the same."
A few minutes later the boy was seated in the stern of the boat, while
Tom Bodger stood up, looking as if he, too, were sitting, as he thrust
the little craft along by means of the boat-hook and the pier walls,
while the fishermen walked along level with them to the end, where half
a dozen of the boys had gathered.
"Give him a cheer, lads," said the big fisherman, and a hearty
valediction was given and responded to by Aleck, who took off and waved
his cap.
But just then a hot-blooded and indignant follower of defeated Big Jem
let his zeal outrun his discretion. Waiting till the group of fishermen
had turned their backs, he ran to the very end of the pier, uttered a
savage "Yah!" and hurled the very-far-gone head of a pollock after the
boat.
The next minute he was repenting bitterly, for the big fisherman made
four giant strides, caught him by the waistband, and the next moment
held him over the edge of the pier and would have dropped him,
struggling and yelling for mercy, into the sea, but Aleck sprang up and
shouted an appeal to his big friend to let the boy go.
"Very well," growled his captor; "but it's lucky for him, Master Aleck,
as you spoke. Warmint!" he growled to the boy, lowering him to the
rugged stones. "Get home with yer. I'm going on by and by to your
father, my lad. Be off."
The boy yelled as he started and ran off, limping, and with good cause,
for the boots the fisherman wore were very loose, and hung down gaping
to his ankles, as if to show how beautifully they were silver-spangled
with fish scales, but the soles were very thick and terribly hard,
especially about the toe.
CHAPTER FOUR.
"I didn't get my brill after all, Tom," said Aleck, as the sail filled
out and the boat sped along over the little dancing waves.
"Never mind the flat fish, Master Aleck; we'll pick up a few bass as we
go along through the race, and they'll be fresher than his brill."
"No, Tom," said Aleck, frowning; "no fishing to-day. I want to get back
and have a proper wash and change my shirt and collar."
"Well, you did get a bit knocked about, Master Aleck. You see, he's a
hard sort o' boy; awfully thick-headed chap."
"He is, and no mistake," said Aleck. "Look at my knuckles!"
"Ay, you have got 'em a bit chipped; but it'll all grow up again. But
what was it he said as made you bile over and get a-fighting that how?"
"Oh, never mind," said the boy, flushing. "It's all over now."
"Yes," said the sailor, knitting his brow, "it's all over now; but," he
added, thoughtfully, as he let the sheet slip through his fingers and
tightened it again, giving and taking as the sail tugged in answer to
the puffs of wind, "but it don't seem like you to get into action like
that, Master Aleck. You're generally such a quiet sort o' chap, and
don't mind the boys yelping about yer heels any more than as if they was
dogs."
"Of course, and I never for a moment thought that anything they could
say would put me in such a passion. Oh, Tom, I felt once as if I could
kill him!"
"Monkey must ha' been up very much indeed, Master Aleck. I've been
a-wondering what he could ha' called you to make you clear the decks and
go at him like that. You must have hit out and no mistake."
"Yes, I hit them as hard as ever I could--both of them."
"Both? Did you have two on 'em at yer at once?"
"Yes, part of the time."
"Then I am glad you licked 'em. It was just like a smart frigate
licking a couple of two-deckers. What did he call yer?"
"Oh, never mind, Tom; nothing."
"But he must have called yer, as I said afore, something very, very bad
indeed. Yer needn't mind telling me, my lad, for I seem to ha' been a
sort of sea-father to yer. I've heered a deal o' bad language at sea in
my time, and I should like to hear what it was that made you fly out
like that. Tell us what it was."
"No, no; don't ask me, Tom."
"Not ast yer, my lad? Well, I won't if yer say as I arn't to. But it
must ha' been something very bad indeed."
"It was, Tom, horribly bad; but--but he didn't call me anything. It was
something he said made me so angry. I wouldn't have fought like that
for anything he had called me."
"Ho!" said the sailor, thoughtfully. "Then it was about somebody else?"
"Yes, Tom," said the lad, frowning, and with his eyes flashing with the
remains of his anger.
"Then it must have been something as he called me," said the sailor,
naively. "Yes, I know he's got his knife into me. So you licked him
well for saying what he did, Master Aleck?"
"Yes," said the lad, thoughtfully, and with the frown deepening upon his
face.
"Then I says thankye, Master Aleck, and I won't forget it, for it was
very hansum on yer."
"What was?" said the lad, starting.
"What was? Why, you licking that big ugly lout, my lad, for calling me
names."
"No, no, no," cried Aleck, quickly; "it was not for that."
"Why, you said just now as you did, Master Aleck," said the sailor,
blankly.
"Oh, no; you misunderstood me, Tom. It was not for that."
"Ho! Then what for was it, my lad?"
"I can't tell you, Tom," cried the boy, passionately. "Don't worry me.
Can't you see I'm all in pain and trouble?"
"All right, sir; I don't want to worry yer. It don't matter. I
couldn't help wanting to know why you larruped him; but, as I said
afore, it don't matter. You did larrup him, and give it him well, and
it strikes me as his father'll give him the rope's-end as well, as soon
as he sees him for going back home with such a face as he's got on his
front. My word, you did paint him up. His old man won't hardly know
him."
"Tom!" cried Aleck, excitedly, as these last words impressed him deeply.
"Ay, ay, sir! Tom it is."
"Look at my face," said the lad, looking up sharply from where he had
been leaning over the gunwale scooping up the water in his hand and
bathing the injuries he had received in his encounter. "Look at me. Is
my face much knocked about?"
The sailor shifted the hands which had held rudder and sheet, afterwards
raising that which held the latter and rubbing his mahogany brown nose
with the rope.
"Well, why don't you speak, Tom?" said the lad, pettishly.
"'Cause I was 'specting yer like, my lad--smelling yer over like, so as
to think out what to say."
"Go on, then; only say something."
"So I will, sir, if yer really wants to hear."
"Why, of course I do. Does my face show much?"
"Well, yes, sir," said the sailor, gravely, as he went on rubbing one
side of his nose with the rope. "You've got it pretty tidy."
"Tell me what you can see."
The sailor grunted and hesitated.
"Go on," cried Aleck. "Here, my bottom lip smarts a good deal. It's
cut, isn't it?"
"That's right, sir. Cut it is, but I should say as it'll soon grow up
together again."
Aleck pressed the kerchief to his lip, and winced with pain.
"Arn't loosened no teeth, have yer, sir?"
Aleck shook his head.
"Go on," he said. "What about my nose? It's swollen, isn't it?"
"Well, yes, sir, it is a bit swelled like. Puffy, as yer might say;
but, bless yer 'art, it's nothing to what Big Jem's is. I shouldn't
mind about that a bit now, for it have stopped bleeding. There's
nothing like cold sea water for that, though it do make yer tingle a
bit. I 'member what a lot o' good it used to do when we'd been in
action and the lads had got chopped about in boarding the enemy. The
Frenchies used to be pretty handy with their cutlasses and
boarding-pikes. They used axes too."
"Oh, I don't want to know about that," cried Aleck, pettishly. "There's
a scratch or something on my forehead, isn't there?"
"It's 'most too big and long to call it a scratch, sir. I should call
that a cut."
"Tut, tut, tut!" ejaculated Aleck.
"That'll soon be all right, sir," continued the sailor, cheerfully.
"Bit o' sticking plaster'll soon set that to rights. What I don't like
is your eyes."
"My eyes?" cried Aleck. "Yes, they do feel stiff when I wink them. Do
they look bad, then?"
The sailor chuckled softly.
"What do you mean by that?" cried the lad, angrily. "Are they swollen
too? I'm sure there's nothing to laugh at in that."
The sailor tried to look very serious, but failed. The laughing
crinkles were smoothed out of his face, but his eyes sparkled and danced
with merriment as he said:
"I didn't mean no harm, Master Aleck, but you wouldn't say what you did
if you could see your eyes. They do look so rum."
"Why? How?" cried Aleck, excitedly.
"Did yer see Benny Wiggs's eyes las' year after he took the bee swarm as
got all of a lump in Huggins's damsel tree?"
"No, of course I didn't," cried Aleck, impatiently.
"Ah, that's a pity, sir, because yourn looks just like his'n did. You
see, they don't look like eyes!"
"Then what do they look like?" cried Aleck.
"Well, sir, I'll tell yer: they looks just like the tops o' bread loaves
going to the oven."
"Like what?"
"I mean like the holes the missuses makes in the dough with their
fingers. Finishes off by giving a poke in the top with a finger, and
that closes up into a crinkly slit with a swelling around."
"Bah!" growled Aleck.
"Well, you would ask me, sir."
"Yes, of course. Something like Big Jem's?"
"Yes, sir; on'y more squeezed in like. Your eyes is allus handsome and
bright like, but they arn't now. But, there, don't you mind that, sir.
They turn nasty colours like for a bit, but, as I says, don't you mind.
Big Jem's face was a reg'lar picter. I don't know what his father'll
say when he sees him."
"And I don't know what uncle will say when he sees me," said Aleck,
despondently.
"Eh? The captain?" cried the sailor, in a startled tone of voice.
"Phe-ew!" he whistled. "I forgot all about him. I say, my lad, he
won't like to see you this how."
"No," said Aleck, dismally.
"Arn't got no aunts or relations as you could go and see for a fortnit,
have you?"
"No, Tom; I have no relatives but Uncle Donne."
"That's a pity, sir. Well, I dunno what you'd better do."
"Face uncle, and tell him the whole truth."
"To be sure, sir. Of course. That's the way you'd better lay your
head--to the wind like. And, look here, sir!"
"I can't look, Tom; my eyes feel closed up, and I can hardly see a bit."
"I mean look here with understanding, sir. I used to be with a skipper
who was a downright savage if we got beaten off, and threatened to flog
us. But if we won, and boarded a ship and took her, he'd laugh at our
hurts and come round and shake hands and call us his brave lads."
"But what has that to do with uncle seeing me in this horrible state?"
"Why, don't you see, sir?" cried the sailor, eagerly. "He's a captain,
and a fighting man."
Aleck frowned, but the sailor did not notice it, and went on:
"You ups and tells him that Big Jem and the pack o' blackguard riff-raff
come and 'sulted yer and said what you wouldn't tell me. The captain
wouldn't want you to put up with that. I know the captain 'most as well
as you do. `Hullo!' he says; `what ha' you been doing--how did you get
in that condition?' he says--just like that. Then you ups and tells him
you had it out with Big Jem and the rest. `What for, sir?' he says--
just like that. `For saying,'--you know what, sir--you says, and tells
him right out, though you wouldn't tell me. `And you let that big,
ugly, blackguardly warmint thrash you like that?' he says, in his fierce
way--just like that. Then your turn comes, and you ups and says, 'most
as chuff as he does: `No, uncle,' you says, `I give him the orflest
leathering he ever had in his life.' `Did you, Aleck?' he says, rubbing
his hands together, joyful like. `Well done, my boy,' he says; `I like
that. I wish I'd been there to see. Brayvo!--Now go and wash your face
and brush your clothes and 'air.'"
"Think he would, Tom?"
"Sure on it, sir. I wouldn't ha' answered for him if you'd gone back
with your tail between your legs, reg'larly whipped; but seeing how you
can go back and cry cock-a-doodle-doo!--"
"Like a dog, Tom?" said Aleck, grimly, with a feeling of amusement at
the way in which his companion was mixing up his metaphors.
"Like a dog, sir? Tchah! Dogs can't crow. You know what I mean.
Seeing how you can go back with your colours flying, the captain'll feel
proud on yer, and if he's the gentleman I take him for he'll cut yer a
bit o' sticking plaster himself. What you've got to do is to go
straight to his cabin and speak out like a man."
"Yes, Tom, I mean to--but, Tom--" continued the lad, in a hesitating
way.
"Ay ay, sir; what is it?"
"Did you ever hear any of the fishermen say anything against my uncle?"
"Eh? Oh, I've heered them gawsip and talk together when they've been
leaning theirselves over the rail in the sun, gawsiping like, as you may
say; but I never took no notice. Fishermen when they're ashore chatter
together like old women over the wash-tubs, but I never takes no heed to
what they says. The captain's been a good friend to me, and so I shuts
my ears when people say nasty things."
"Then you know that they do say nasty things about him?" said Aleck.
"Oh, yes, sir, and 'bout everyone else too. They lets out about me
sometimes, I've heered, and about my losing my legs; but I don't mind.
I say, though, Master Aleck, sir! Haw--haw--haw! Think o' me
forgetting all about 'em and saying that being at sea never did me no
harm! It was a rum 'un!"
Aleck was silent and thinking about his own troubles, making his
companion glance at him uneasily, waiting for the lad to speak; but as
he remained silent the sailor turned the state of affairs over in his
own mind till he hit upon what he considered to be a very happy thought.
"I say, Master Aleck."
"Eh? Yes, Tom."
"I've been a-thinking that as a reg'lar thing I'm a bit skeart o' the
captain. He's such a fierce, cut-you-off-short sort of a gentleman that
I'm always glad to get away when I've been up to the Den to do anything
for yer--pitching the boat's bottom or mending holes, or overhauling the
tackle; but I tell you what--"
"Well, what, Tom?" said Aleck, for the sailor stopped short and crossed
his two dwarf wooden legs in the bottom of the boat, and then, as if not
satisfied, crossed them the other way on.
"I was thinking, Master Aleck, that you and me's been messmates like,
ever since I come back from sea."
"Yes, Tom."
"I mean in a proper way, sir," cried the man, hurriedly. "I don't mean
shoving myself forrard, because well I know you're a young gen'leman and
I'm on'y a pensioned-off hulk as has never been anything more than a
AB."
"I don't know what you're aiming at, Tom," said Aleck, querulously, as
he went on bathing his bruised face again. "Of course we've been like
messmates many a time out with the boat, but what has that to do with
the trouble I'm in?"
"Well, just this here, sir. Messmates is messmates, and ought to help
one another when there's rocks ahead."
"Of course, Tom."
"Well, then, as I've been thinking, suppose I come ashore with yer and
follers yer right up to the captain, and lie close by when he begins to
sort o' keelhaul yer?"
"What good would that do, Tom?"
"Cheer yer up, my lad. I once went ashore with a messmate to help him
like when he was going to have a tooth out as had been jigging horrid
for two days. He said it did him no end o' good to have me there. So
s'pose I come, sir. It strikes me as the captain won't say half so much
to yer p'raps with me standing by."
"Oh, no, no, no, Tom," cried Aleck, quickly.
"It's very good of you, and I'm much obliged, but I'd rather go straight
in and face my uncle quite alone. I'm sure he'd think I brought you
because I was too cowardly to come alone."
"Would he, sir?"
"I feel sure he would, Tom."
"Well, Master Aleck, I dessay you knows best, but come I will if you'd
like me to, sir."
"Yes, I know that, Tom," cried the boy, warmly, "but it would be better
for me to go in alone."
"Think so, sir?"
"Yes, I'm sure of it."
"Well, p'raps you're right, sir. It seems more brave British seaman to
face the enemy straightforward like. Not as I mean, sir, as the
captain's a enemy, but on'y just standing for one till the row's over.
D'yer see?"
"Yes, I see, Tom, and I've been thinking, too, that it will be enough
for me to go in and face uncle at once, and for you not to wait to be
paid for this journey."
"Oh, I don't want no paying, my lad, for a little job like this. Think
of the times when you've give me pretty nigh all the fish you've
caught!"
"But uncle said you were to be paid, Tom."
"Very well, sir. Let him pay me then nex' time he sees me. That'll be
all right. You'll be sending a rock through the boat's planks afore
long, and I shall have to come over and put a bit o' noo planking in.
The captain will pay me then. I say, it's time we put her about. We
can make a good bit this reach. Strikes me that the wind's more abeam
than when we started."
"Is it?" said Aleck, drearily, and he felt that it would have been far
more satisfactory for it to be dead ahead, or to be blowing so fiercely
that they would be compelled to put back to Rockabie, and his return
home deferred to another day.
As it was, it became more and more favourable, and an easy passage was
made round the great promontory, while the current that rushed round the
point and raced outward was so calmed down by the tide being just at the
turn that the boat glided round and into smooth water, the stack rocks
soon after coming into sight, and, with what seemed to the lad like
horrible rapidity, they ran in under the rocks and passed the regular
rookery of sea-birds, whose cries were deafening when they were close
in.
"Say when," cried the sailor, who had given up the tiller to Aleck and
stepped forward ready to lower the sail.
"Now!" cried the lad, dismally, a few minutes later; and down came the
sail, while in obedience to the rudder the boat glided in between the
two walls of perpendicular rock, running in for some little distance
before it became necessary for the sailor to help her along by means of
the boat-hook and guide her right into her little haven.
Here Tom Bodger was quite at home, and as active as the boat's owner,
stumping about inside, and then hopping off one of the thwarts on to the
rocks, ready to take mast, yard, oars, and boat-hook up into their
places, securing the boat's painter to the big ring-bolt, and then
taking one side while Aleck took the other and swinging her right up on
to the rocks.
"There we are, then," said the sailor, a few minutes later; "all
ship-shape and snug. Shall I put them baits back in the coorge?"
"No, no, Tom," said Aleck, dismally; "empty the bucket into the sea, and
give them a chance for their lives."
"Ay, that's right, Master Aleck, for they begin to look as if they'd
been too long in the bucket."
This latter was emptied, and then the couple began to ascend the gap
towards the opening into the sunk garden. Tom stopped after getting
over the stones like the rock-hopper penguin.
"I'll slip off now, Master Aleck, case the captain may be out in the
garden," whispered the sailor.
"Yes, you'd better go now, Tom. Do I look so very bad?"
"Tidy, sir, tidy; but don't you mind that. Go right at him, and let him
know as soon as you can that you beat. You'll be all right then. Maybe
he'll let out at you at first, but all the time he'll be beginning to
feel that you leathered a big hulking chap as is the worst warmint in
Rockabie, and you'll come out all right. Day, Master Aleck!"
"Good day, Tom, and thank you. I'll remind uncle about your shillings
if he forgets."
"He won't forget, sir; the captain's a gen'leman as never forgets
nothing o' that sort. Now then, sir, ram your little head down and lay
yourself aboard him. Nothing like getting it over. Head first and out
of your misery, same as when I learned you to swim."
Tom Bodger shut one eye, gave the lad a frown and a knowing look, and
then away he went up a rugged staircase-like pathway to the top of the
cliff, looking every moment, while Aleck watched, as if he would slip
off, but never slipping once, and finally turning at the top to take off
and wave his hat, and then he was gone.
CHAPTER FIVE.
"Oh, dear!" groaned Aleck. "How am I to face him?" and he went on till
only a few steps divided him from the cultivated garden, where he
stopped again. "I wonder where he is. In the study, I suppose--write,
write, write, at that great history. Can't I leave it and get into my
room with a bad headache? It's only true. It aches horribly. I'll
send word by Jane that I'm too poorly to come down. Bah!" muttered the
boy. "What nonsense; he'd come up to me directly with something for me
to take. I wonder whether he is in his room or out in the garden. He
mustn't see me till I've been up into my room and done something to my
hair. Perhaps he's in the summer-house and I can get in and upstairs
without his seeing me. Oh, if I only--"
"Hullo! Aleck, lad, what are you doing there? Why are you so late?
Dinner has been ready quite an hour."
The captain had suddenly appeared from behind a great clump of waving
tamarisk, and stood looking down at the lad.
"I was coming to see if you were in sight, and--why, what in the name of
wonder is the matter with you? Where have you been? Why, by all that's
wonderful, you've been fighting!"
"Yes, uncle," said the lad, with a gasp of relief, for it seemed to him
as if, instead of taking the bold plunge, swimming fashion, he had been
suddenly dragged in.
"I thought so," cried the captain, angrily. "Here--no, stop; come up to
the house, to my room. We can't talk here."
"I don't see why not," thought the lad, dismally. "There's plenty of
room, and we could get it over more easily, even if he does get into a
furious passion with me."
But the captain had wheeled round at once and began to stump back along
over the shell and crunching spar-gravel path, his chin pressed down
upon his chest, and not uttering a word, only coughing slightly now and
then, as if to clear his voice for the fierce tirade of angry words that
was to come.
He did not glance round nor speak, but strode on, evidently growing more
and more out of temper, the lad thought, for as he walked he kept on
kicking the loose shelly covering of the path over the flower beds,
while the silence kept up seemed to Aleck ominous in the extreme.
"But, never mind," he thought; "it must soon be over now. What a sight
I must look, though! He seemed to be astonished."
Culprit-like, the lad followed close at his uncle's heels till the side
entrance was reached, where, with what seemed to be another sign of his
angry perturbation, the old officer stopped short, rested one hand upon
the door-post to steady himself, and began to very carefully do what was
not the slightest degree necessary, to wit: he scraped his shoes most
carefully over and over again--for there was not even a scrap of dust to
remove.
"Stand back a moment, sir," cried the captain, suddenly. "Jane has
heard us, and is carrying in the dinner. Don't let her see you in that
state."
Aleck shrank to one side, and then as a door was heard to close, started
forward again in obedience to his uncle's order.
"Now in, quick--into the study."
He led the way sharply, and Aleck sprang after him, but the ascent of so
many steps gave the maid time to re-open the little dining-room door,
from which point of vantage she was able to catch a glimpse of the lad's
face, which looked so startling that she uttered an involuntary "Oh,
my!" before letting her jaw drop and pausing, her mouth wide open and a
pair of staring eyes.
"Come in!" roared the captain, angrily, as Aleck paused to turn for a
moment at the door; and instead of entering, stood shaking his head
deprecatingly at the maid, while his lips moved without a sound escaping
them as he tried to telegraph to one who took much interest in his
appearance: "Not hurt much. I couldn't help it!"
He started violently then at his uncle's stern command, uttered like an
order to a company of men to step into some deadly breach, and the next
moment the door was closed and the old man was scowling at him from the
chair into which he had thrown himself, sending it back with the legs,
giving forth a sound like a harsh snort as they scraped over the bare
oaken floor.
Aleck drew a long deep breath and tried to tighten up his nerves, ready
for what he felt was going to be a desperate encounter with the
fierce-looking old man whom from long experience he knew to be harsh,
stern, and troubled with a terrible temper, which made him morose and
strange at times, his fits lasting for days, during which periods he
would hardly speak a word to his nephew, leaving him to himself save
when he came upon him suddenly to see that he was not wasting time, but
going on with one or other of the studies which the old man supervised,
or working in the garden.
"I want you, though you lead this lonely life with me, Aleck," he would
say, frowning heavily the while, "to grow up fairly learned in what is
necessary for a young man's education, so that some day, when I am dead
and gone out of this weary world, you may take your place as a
gentleman--not an ornamental gentleman, whose sole aim is to find out
how he can best amuse himself, but a quiet, straightforward, honourable
gentleman, one whom, if people do not admire because his ways are not
the same as theirs, they will find themselves bound to respect."
These strange fits of what Aleck, perhaps instigated by Jane, their one
servant, called "master's temper," would be followed by weeks of mental
blue sky, when the black clouds rolled away and the sun of a genial
disposition shone out, and the old man seemed as if he could not lavish
enough affection upon his nephew. The result of all this was that the
boy's feelings towards the old man, who had always occupied the position
of father to him as well as preceptor, were a strange mingling of fear
of his harshness, veneration of his learning and power of instructing
him in everything he learned, and love. For there were times when Aleck
would say, gloomily, to himself, "I'm sure uncle thoroughly hates me and
wishes me away," while there were times when he was as happy as the days
were long, and ready to feel certain that the old man loved him as much
as if he were his own child.
"He must," thought the boy, "or he wouldn't have nursed and coddled me
up so when I had that fever and the doctor told Jane that he had done
all he could, and that I should die--go out with the tide next day.
That's what I like in uncle," he mused, "when he isn't out of temper--
he's so clever. Knew ever so much better than the doctor. What did he
say then? `Doctors are all very well, Aleck, but there are times when
the nurse is the better man--that is, when it's a cock nurse and not a
hen. You had a cock nurse, boy, and I pulled you through.'"
But the love was in abeyance on this particular morning at the Den, as
the old man had named his out-of-the-way solitary dwelling, and Aleck
felt that the place was rightly named as he stood ready to face the
savage-looking denizen of the place, who, after staring him down with a
pair of fiercely glowing eyes, suddenly opened upon him with:
"Now, then, sir! So you've been fighting?"
"Yes, uncle," said the boy, meekly.
"Who with?"
"Some of the Rockabie boys, uncle."
"Hah! And in the face of all that I have said and taught you about your
being different by your birth and education from the young ragamuffin
rout of Rockabie harbour! Cannot you run over there in your boat and do
what business you have to carry out without being mixed up in some
broil?"
"No, uncle."
"Disgraceful, sir! A gentleman's education should teach him that his
weapons are words properly applied, and not tooth and nail, blows and
kicks."
"I never bit or kicked, uncle," said Aleck, sullenly.
"Of course not, sir; and don't retort upon me in that insolent way. You
know perfectly well that I was speaking metaphorically. Did you for a
moment imagine I thought you used your teeth and claws like a savage
dog?"
"No, uncle."
"Then don't reply to me like that. Of course I would know you would use
your fists. Look at your knuckles!" thundered the old man.
Aleck looked at those parts of his person dismally, and they looked bad.
For the skin was damaged in three places, and the nail of his left
thumb was split in a painful way.
"Disgusting," said the old man. "I trusted you to go over there, and
you come back a disreputable wreck. All my teaching seems to be thrown
away upon a pugnacious untrustworthy boy."
"I'm not pugnacious, uncle, if they'd let me alone."
"Bah! You ought to be above noticing the scum of the place."
"I am, uncle, and I don't notice them," pleaded the boy; "it's they who
will notice me."
"How, pray?"
"I can't go into the place without their mobbing me and calling me
names."
"Contemptible! And pray, sir," cried the old man, in harsh, sarcastic
tones, "what do they call you?"
"All sorts of things," replied the boy, confusedly. "I can't recollect
now. Yes, I know; sometimes they shout `Fox' or `Foxy' after me."
"And pray why?"
"Because they say I've just come out of the Den."
"Rubbish."
"At other times it's `Spider.'"
"Spider?"
"Yes, uncle; because I've got such long legs."
"Worse and worse," cried the old man. "To fight for that! It is
childish."
"Oh, I didn't fight for that, uncle!"
"What for, then, pray, sir?"
"Sometimes they lay wait for me and hide behind a smack or the harbour
wall, and pelt me with shells and the nasty offal left about by the
fishermen."
"Disgusting! The insolent young dogs! They deserve to be flogged. So
that is why you fought this morning?"
"Sometimes they throw pebbles and cobble stones, uncle," said the boy,
evasively. "And they're so clever with them; they throw so well. I
don't like to be hit and hurt, uncle. I suppose I've got a bad temper.
I do keep it under so long as they call me names and throw nasty, soft
things, but when a stone hits me and hurts, something inside my chest
seems to get loose, and I feel hot and burning. I want to hurt whoever
threw as much as he hurt me."
"What!" cried the old man. "Haven't I taught you, sir, that you must be
above resenting the attacks of the vulgar herd?"
"Yes, uncle."
"Of course. I have always had to bear those assaults, boy. And so the
young ruffians threw stones at you?"
Aleck hesitated.
"It was heads and bits of fish to-day, uncle."
"The scum! The insolent scum! And some of the offal hit you?"
"Well, no; nothing hit me, uncle. They followed me about all through
the place, and shouted at me every time I came out of a shop."
"Bah! And because some young ragamuffins were insolent to you, my
nephew must lower himself to their level. This is not the first time,
sir. You have complained to me before, and you remember what I said to
you one day when you came back after engaging in a most degrading
scuffle."
"Yes, uncle."
"You promised me that should never occur again, after I had pointed out
to you what your conduct ought to be, and how that the more you noticed
these young rascals' proceedings the worse it would be."
"Yes, uncle, but I couldn't remember it to-day. You can't tell how bad
it was, and how hard to bear."
"I? Not tell? Not know?" cried the old man, passionately. "I not know
what it is to be the butt of a few boys? You talk in your ignorance,
sir, like a fool talketh. Why, for long years past I have been the mark
for the contumely and insult of civilised England. Don't make your
paltry excuses to me. I say your conduct has been disgraceful. You
were trusted to go. I made no objection, sir, save that for your sake
and protection you should have an experienced boatman to help manage
your boat on the way back, and you come home in this degraded state--
hands and face bruised, your lips cut, and your eyes swollen up ready to
turn black with horrible bruises. Aleck, it is blackguardly. You make
me feel as if I ought to treat you as you deserve--take down that dusty
old riding whip and flog you soundly."
Aleck started violently, and his eyes flashed through the narrow slits
of lids.
"But I can't treat you, an educated, thoughtful lad, in such a degrading
way. The lash is only for those whose nature is low and vile--whose
education has never placed them upon a level with such as you. It would
be the right punishment for the lads who continually annoy and assault
you. But as for you--Aleck, I am hurt and disappointed. To come back
like this because a few boys pelted you!"
"No, uncle, it was not because of that," cried the lad, warmly.
"Then, why was it, sir?"
Aleck was silent, and the sailor's advice suddenly came to mind: "Tell
him you won and thrashed your man."
But the words would not come, and while he remained silent Captain Donne
spoke again, very sternly now:
"Do you hear me, sir?"
"Yes, uncle," said the boy, desperately.
"Then answer my question. You say it was not because you were pelted
and called names. Why, then, did you degrade yourself like this and
fight?"
"It was because--no, no, uncle," cried the boy, through his teeth, which
were compressed tightly as if he was afraid that the simple truth would
escape; "I--I can't tell you."
"Then there is something more?"
"Yes, uncle."
"What is it, then?" cried the old man, whose own temper was rapidly
getting the mastery. "Speak out, sir, and let me hear whether you have
any decent excuse to offer for your conduct. Do you hear?"
"Yes, uncle," faltered the lad.
"Then speak, sir."
"I--I can't, uncle. Don't ask me, please."
"What! I will and do ask you, sir," cried the old man, furiously: "and
what is more, I will be told. I am the proper judge of your conduct.
How dare you refuse to speak--how dare you tell me almost to my face
that you will not answer my question?"
"I don't tell you that, uncle," cried the boy, passionately. "I only
say I can't tell you."
"You obstinate young scoundrel! How dare you!" roared the old man, now
almost beside himself with rage. "Tell me this instant. Why, then, did
you engage in this disgraceful encounter?"
Aleck darted an imploring look at the old man, which seemed to be
begging him piteously not to press for the answer, but in his furious
outbreak the old man could not read it aright--could only set it down to
stubbornness--and, completely overcome by the passion bubbling up to his
brain, he started to his feet and pointed to the door, but only to dash
his hand down upon the table the next moment.
"No," he cried, "if you forget your duty to me, Aleck, I will not forget
mine to you. I'll not be angry, but quite cool. Now, sir," he cried,
with his face looking congested and his heavy grey brows drawn down over
his glowing eyes, while his voice sounded hoarse and strange. "Aleck,
tell me at once. I'll have an answer before you leave this room. Why
did you engage in that disgraceful fight?"
"I can't tell you, uncle," said the boy, in a hoarse whisper.
"Ha! That means, sir, that you are obstinately determined not to
speak?"
"It isn't obstinacy, uncle."
"Don't contradict me, sir. I say it is obstinacy. Now, once more, for
the last time, will you answer my question?"
Aleck drew in a long, low, hissing breath and stood fast for a few
moments, before saying, in a low tone, his voice quivering the while:
"I can't tell you, uncle."
There was a dead silence in the room for a few moments then; so dead was
the silence, in fact, that if the proverbial pin had dropped it would
have sounded loudly on the polished oaken boards.
Then the old man spoke, in a curiously suppressed tone of voice.
"Very well," he said, huskily; "it is what was bound to come sooner or
later. I see I have made another of the mistakes which have blasted my
existence. I must have time to think out what I shall do. One thing is
very evident--you have rebelled against my rule, Aleck, and are
struggling to get away to think and act, sir, for yourself. I have done
my best for you, but in my isolation I have doubtless been blind and
narrow. It is the natural result of our solitary life here--the young
spirit seeking to soar."
"Oh, no, uncle--" began the boy.
"Silence, sir!" thundered the old man. "Hear me out. I say it is so,
and I know. You resent my holding the tether longer, but you are too
young yet to fly unheld. I have my duty to do for your mother's sake
and for yours. I must have time to think out my plans, but in the
meantime prepare yourself to go to some school or institution for a year
or two before entering upon your profession."
"But, uncle!"
"That will do, sir," said the old man, sternly. "You have struck your
blow against my authority, and this painful episode in my life must
end."
"If you'd only let me speak, uncle!" cried the boy, passionately.
"I begged of you to speak, sir," said the old man, coldly. "I ordered
you to speak; but in each case you refused. Well, now then, tell me
simply--I ask again on principle--why did you fight those boys?"
Aleck set his teeth and hung his head.
"That will do," said the old man, in deep, husky tones. "Go to your
room and get rid of as much of the traces of your encounter as you can
before going down to your dinner. You need not interrupt me here again
till I send for you. There--go."
The old man once more raised his hand to point towards the door, and,
unable to contain himself longer, Aleck rushed out, made for his room,
and shut and bolted himself in.
CHAPTER SIX.
It was some time before the boy could do anything but sit with elbows
upon knees, chin upon hands, gazing straight before him into vacancy.
His head throbbed so that he could not think consistently. In his
struggle on the pier he had been a good deal shaken, and that alone was
enough to produce a feverish kind of excitement. Then on the way back
his brain had been much troubled, while, worst of all, there had been
the scene with his uncle.
It was then no wonder that he could not arrange his thoughts so as to
sit in judgment upon his acts, especially that last one, in which he had
stubbornly, as it seemed, refused or declined to respond to his uncle's
question.
He tried, and tried hard, with a curious seething desire working in his
brain, to decide upon going straight to the old man and speaking out,
giving him frankly his reason for refusing to speak. But this always
came to the same conclusion: "I can't--I dare not--I can't."
At last, wearied out and confused more and more by his throbbing brain,
the boy rose and walked slowly to the looking-glass, where he started in
dismay at the image reflected there. For a few moments it seemed to be
part and parcel of some confused dream, but its truth gradually forced
itself upon him, and finally he burst out into a mocking, half
hysterical laugh.
"I don't wonder at uncle," he cried; "I don't wonder at his being in a
rage."
With a weary sigh he went to the washstand and half filled the basin.
"I'd no idea I looked such a sight," he muttered, as he began to bathe
his stiff and swollen features. "The brute!" he said, after a few
moments. "I wish I'd told uncle, though, that I beat him well. But,
oh, dear! what a muddle it all seems! I wish I'd hit him twice as
hard," he said, with angry vehemence, half aloud. "Yes?"
For there was a gentle tapping at the door.
"Aren't you coming down to dinner, Master Aleck?"
"No, Jane; not to-day."
"But it's all over-done, my dear--been ready more than an hour. Do, do
come, or it'll be spoiled."
"Go and tell uncle then. I'm not coming down."
"But I have been, my dear, and he said I was to come and tell you. He
isn't coming down. Do make haste and finish and come down."
"No, not to-day, Jane. I can't come."
"But what is the matter, dear? Is master in a temper because you fell
off the cliff and cut your face?"
"I didn't fall off the cliff and cut my face," said Aleck.
"Then, whatever is the matter, my dear?"
"Well, if you must know, Jane, I've been fighting--like a blackguard, I
suppose," cried the boy, pettishly.
"And is that what made master so cross?"
"Yes."
"Did it hurt you very much?" came through the door crack in a whisper.
"Yes--no," replied Aleck.
"I don't know what you mean, my dear," sighed Jane.
"Never mind. Go away, please, now. I'm bathing my face."
"But my dinner's all being spoiled, my dear. You won't come, and master
won't come. What am I to do?"
"Go and sit down and eat it," cried Aleck, in a passion now; "only don't
bother me."
"Well, I'm sure!" cried the captain's maid, tartly. "Master's temper's
bad enough to drive anyone away, and now you're beginning too. I don't
know what we're coming to in--" _um--um--murmur--murmur--murmur--bang_!
At least that is how it sounded to Aleck as he went on with his bathing,
the sharp closing of the passage door bringing all to an end and leaving
the boy to continue the bathing and drying of his injuries by degrees,
after which he sat down by the open window, to rest his aching head upon
his hand and let the soft sea air play upon his temples.
He was very miserable, and in a good deal of bodily pain, but the
trouble seemed to be the worse part, and it was just occurring to him
that he felt very sick and faint and that a draught of water would do
him good, when there was a sharp tap at the door after the handle had
been tried.
"Uncle!" thought the lad, and the blood flushed painfully to his face.
Then the tap was repeated.
"Master Aleck, Master Aleck!"
"Yes."
"I've brought you up some dinner on a tray."
"I don't want any--I couldn't eat it," said the boy, bitterly.
"Don't tell me, my dear. You do want something--you must; and you can
eat it if you try. Now, do come and open the door, please, or you'll be
ill."
Aleck rose with a sigh and crossed the room, and the maid came in with a
covered plate of something hot which emitted an appetising odour.
"It's very good of you, Jane," began Aleck; "but--"
"My! You are a sight, Master Aleck! Whatever have you been a-doing to
yourself?"
"Fighting, I tell you," said the boy, smiling in the middle-aged maid's
homely face.
"Who with, my dear?"
"Oh, some of the fishermen's boys over at the town."
"Then it didn't ought to be allowed. You _are_ in a state!"
"Yes; I know without your telling me. What's under that cover?"
"Roast chicken and bacon, my dear."
"Oh, I couldn't touch it, Jane!"
"Now, don't say that, my dear. People must eat and drink even if they
are in trouble; because if they don't they're ill. I know what I've
brought you isn't as nice as it should be, because it's all dried up,
and now it's half cold. So be a good boy, same as you used to be years
ago when I first knew you. There was no quarrelling with your bread and
butter then, and you were always hungry. But, there, I must go. I
wouldn't have master catch me here now for all the millions in the Bank
of England. Oh, what a temper he is in, to be sure!"
"Have--have you seen him lately?" asked Aleck, excitedly.
"Seen him? No, my dear. He's shut himself up, like he does sometimes;
but I could hear him in the kitchen, walking all over my head, just like
a wild beast in a cage, and now and then he began talking to himself
quite out loud. It's all your fault, Master Aleck, for he was as
good-tempered as could be this morning when I went in to ask him what I
was to get ready for dinner, and what time."
Jane closed the door after her with these words and left Aleck with the
tray.
"Yes," he said, bitterly, in his pain; "it's all my fault, I suppose,
and I'm to go away from everything I like here."
He raised the cover over the plate as he spoke, and a pleasant,
appetising odour greeted his nostrils; but he lowered the cover again
with a gesture of disgust.
"I couldn't touch it," he said, with a shudder, "even to do me good.
Nothing would do me good now. My face feels so stiff, and my eyes are
just as if they'd got something dark over them."
He went near the window again to look out in the direction of the sea,
with some idea of watching the birds, of which so many floated up into
sight above the cliffs that shut in the Den. But it was an effort to
look skyward, and he sat down by the window to think, in a dull, heavy,
dreamy way, about his uncle's words.
And it seemed to him, knowing how stern and uncompromising the old man
was, that it would be a word and a blow. For aught he knew to the
contrary letters might have been written by then, making arrangements
for him to go to some institution where he would be trained to enter
into some pursuit that he might detest. Time back there had been talk
about his future, the old man having pleasantly asked him what he would
like to be. He had replied. "An officer in the Army," and then stood
startled by the change which came over the old man's face.
"No," he had said, scowling, "I could never consent to that, Aleck. I
might agree to your going into the Navy, but as a soldier, emphatically
no."
"Why doesn't he want me to be a soldier?" mused the boy. "He was a
soldier himself. I should like to know the whole truth. It can't be
what he said."
Aleck sat wrinkling up his brow and thinking for some little time. Not
for long; it made his head ache too much, and he changed from soldiering
to sailoring.
"I don't see why I shouldn't," he said, half drowsily, for a strange
sensation of weariness came over him. "I should like to be a sailor.
Why not go? Tom Bodger would help me to get a ship; and as uncle is
going to send me away, talking as if he had quite done with me, I don't
see why I shouldn't go."
The drowsy feeling increased, so that the boy to keep it off began to
look over his clothes, thinking deeply the while, but in a way that was
rather unnatural, for his hurts had not been without the effect of
making him a little feverish. And as he thought he began to mutter
about what had taken place that afternoon.
"Uncle can't like me," he said. "He has been kind, but he never talked
to me like this before. He wants to get rid of me, to send me away
somewhere to some place where I shouldn't like to go. I've no father,
no mother, to mind my going, so why shouldn't I? He'll be glad I'm
gone, or he wouldn't have talked to me like that."
Aleck rested his throbbing head upon his crossed arms and sank into a
feverish kind of sleep, during which, in a short half-hour, he went
through what seemed like an age of trouble, before he started up, and in
an excited, spasmodic way, hardly realising what he was doing in his
half-waking, half-sleeping state, but under the influence of his
troubled thoughts, he roughly selected a few of his under-things for a
change and made them up into a bundle, after which he counted over the
money he had left after the morning's disbursement, and told himself it
would be enough, and that the sooner he was away from the dear old Den
the better.
At last all his preparations were made, even to placing his hat and a
favourite old stick given him by his uncle ready upon the chair which
held his bundle; and then, with his head throbbing worse than ever,
producing a feeling of confusion and unreality that was more than
painful, he went once more to the glass to look at his strangely-altered
features.
"I can't go like that," he said, shrinking back in horror. But like an
answer to his words came from far back in his brain, and as if in a
faint whisper: "You must now. You've gone too far. You must go now,
unless you're too great a coward."
"Yes," he muttered, confusedly; "I must go now--as soon as it's dark.
Not wanted here--Tom Bodger--he'll help me--to a ship."
He had sunk heavily into a chair, right back, with his head nodding
forward till his chin rested upon his breast, and the next moment he had
sunk into a feverish stupor, in which his head was swimming, and in some
unaccountable way he seemed to be once more heavily engaged with Big
Jem, whose fists kept up a regular pendulum-like beat upon his head,
while in spite of all his efforts he could never get one blow back in
return at the malicious, jeering, taunting face, whose lips moved as
they kept on saying words which nearly drove him wild with indignation.
And what were the words, repeated quite clearly now?
"Master Aleck, don't be so silly! Wake up, you're pretending to be
asleep. Oh, my! what a state your face is in! And your head's as hot
as fire."
CHAPTER SEVEN.
"That you, Jane?"
"Why, of course it is. Were you really asleep?"
"Asleep? No--yes. I don't know, Jane. My head's all gone queer, I
think."
"And no wonder, fighting like that, and never touching a bit of the
dinner I brought you up. Yes, your head's all in a fever, and your poor
swelled-up eyes too. That's better. Now, then, you must take this."
"What is it?" said the lad, drowsily.
"What is it? Why, can't you see?"
"No; my head's all swimming round and round, and my eyes won't open."
"Never mind, poor boy, this'll do you good. I've brought you up a big
breakfast-cup of nice, fresh, hot tea, and two rounds of buttered toast.
They'll do your head good."
"I say, Jane, where's uncle?"
"In his room. He's had some too. I didn't wait to be asked, but took
the tea in."
"What was he doing?" said Aleck.
"Writing."
"His book?"
"No, letters; and as busy as could be. Come, try and drink your tea."
"But isn't it very early for tea--directly after dinner like this?"
"Directly after dinner? Why, bless the boy, it's past seven!"
"Then I must have been asleep," said the boy, speaking more collectedly
now.
"I should just think you must, and the best thing for you. Hark!
There's master's study bell; he wants more tea. I must go; but promise
me you'll take yours?"
"Yes, I'm dreadfully thirsty," said the lad, and as the woman left the
room he began to sip the tea and eat pieces of the toast till all was
gone, and then, after a weary sigh, he glanced at his bundle and hat
upon the chair, reeled towards the bed, held on by the painted post,
while he thrust off his boots and then literally rolled upon it, with
his face looking scarlet upon the white pillow. The next moment he was
breathing heavily in deep, dreamless sleep.
That dreamless sleep lasted till the old eight-day clock on the landing
had struck eleven, during which time Jane, who was growing anxious about
him, came in three times--the first to take away the tea and dinner
things, the other twice to make sure that he was not going into a high
fever, as she termed it, and feeling better satisfied each time.
"Nothing like so hot," she said to herself. "It was that cup o' tea
that did him good. There's nothing like a hot cup o' tea and a good
sleep for a bad headache."
So Jane left and went to bed after a final peep, and, as before said,
the sound sleep went on till the clock began to strike, and then he
began to dream that his uncle came into the room with a chamber
candlestick in his hand, set it down where its light shone full upon his
stern, severe old features, and seated himself upon the chair by the
bed's head.
Then he began to question him; and it seemed to the boy that in his
dream he answered without moving his head or opening his eyes, which
appeared strange, for he fancied he could see the old man's angry face
all the time.
"Not undressed, Aleck?" said the old man.
"No, uncle."
"Shoes here ready--hat, bundle, and stick on the chair! Does that mean
waiting till all is quiet, and then running away from home?"
"Yes, uncle."
"Hah! From one who took you to his heart when you were a little orphan
child, just when your widowed mother had closed her eyes for ever on
this weary world, and swore to treat you as if you were his own!"
"Yes, uncle."
"And why?"
"Because you are tired of me, uncle, and don't trust me--and are going
to send me away."
"Hah! You are not going to try and be taken as a soldier?"
"No, uncle."
"Hah! What then? Going to seek your fortune?"
"No, uncle. I'm going to sea."
Perhaps that _hah_! that ejaculation, was louder than the other words--
perhaps Aleck Donne had not been dreaming--perhaps it was all real!
At any rate the sleeper had awakened and with his eyes able to open a
little more, and through the two narrow slits he was gazing at the
stern, sorrowful face, lit up by one candle, seated there within a yard
of the pillow.
"Head better, my lad?"
"Yes, uncle."
"Seems clearer, eh?"
"Yes, uncle."
"Feel feverish?"
"No, uncle, I think not. I'm hardly awake yet."
"I know, my lad. You got a good deal knocked about, then?"
"I don't quite know, uncle. I suppose so. It all seems very dreamy
now."
"Consequence of injury to the head. Soldiers are in that condition
sometimes after a blow from the butt end of a musket."
"Are they, uncle?" asked Aleck, who was half ready to believe that this
was all part of his dream.
The captain nodded, and sat silent for a few moments, before glancing at
the bundle, hat, and cane. Then--
"So you've been making up your mind to run away?"
"To go away, uncle; not run."
"Hah! Same thing, my lad."
"No, uncle."
"What! Don't contradict me, sir. Do you want to quarrel again?"
"No, uncle."
"Humph! You prepared those things for running away?"
"I had some such ideas, uncle, when I tied them up," said the lad,
firmly; "but I should not have done that."
"Indeed! Then why did you tie them up?"
"To go away, uncle."
"Well, that's what I said, sir."
"That was not quite correct, uncle. If I ran away it would have been
without telling you."
"Of course, and that's what you meant to do."
"No, uncle; I feel now that I could not have done that. I should have
come to you in the morning to tell you that I felt as if I should be
better away, and that I would go to sea at once."
"Humph! And if you went away, sir, what's to become of me?"
"I don't know, uncle, only I feel that you'd be better without such an
obstinate, disobedient fellow as I am."
"Oh, you think so, do you? Well, you shouldn't be obstinate then."
"I didn't mean to be, uncle."
"Then, why, in the name of all that's sensible, were you? Why didn't
you tell me why you fought and got in such a state?"
"I felt that I couldn't tell you, uncle."
"Why not, sir--why not?"
Aleck was silent once more.
"There you are, you see. As stubborn as a mule."
"No, I'm not, uncle."
"Now, look here, Aleck; I couldn't go to bed without trying to make
peace between us. Don't contradict me, sir. I say you are stubborn.
There, I'll give you one more chance. Now, then, why did you fight
those lads?"
"Don't ask me, uncle, please. I can't tell you."
"But I do ask you, and I will know. Now, sir, why was it? For I'm sure
there was some blackguardly reason. Now, then, speak out, or--or--or--I
vow I'll never be friends with you again."
"Don't ask me, uncle."
"Once more, I will ask you, sir. Why was it?"
"Because--" began Aleck, and stopped.
"Well, sir--because?" raged out the old man. "Speak, sir. You are my
sister's son. I have behaved to you since she died like a father. I am
in the place of your father, and I command you to speak."
"Well, uncle, it was because they spoke about you," said the lad, at
last, desperately.
"Eh? Ah! Humph!" said the old man, with his florid face growing
clay-coloured. "They spoke ill of me, then?"
"Yes, uncle."
"About my past--past life, eh?"
"Yes, uncle."
"Humph! What did they say?"
"Uncle, pray don't ask me," pleaded Aleck.
"Humph! I know. Said I was disgraced and turned out of my regiment,
eh? For cowardice?"
"Yes, uncle."
"And you said it wasn't true?"
"Of course, uncle."
"Got yourself knocked into a mummy, then, for defending me?"
"Yes, uncle; but I'm not much hurt."
"Humph!" ejaculated the old man, frowning, and looking at the lad
through his half-closed eyes. "Said it was not true, then?"
"Of course, uncle," cried the boy, flushing indignantly.
"Humph! Thankye, my boy; but, you see, it was true."
Aleck's eyes glittered as he stared blankly at the fierce-looking old
man. For the declaration sounded horrible. His uncle had been one of
the bravest of soldiers in the boy's estimation, and time after time he
had sat and gloated over the trophy formed by the old officer's sword
and pistols, surmounted by the military cap, hanging in the study. Many
a time, too, he had in secret carefully swept away the dust. More than
once, too, in his uncle's absence he had taken down and snapped the
pistols at some imaginary foe, and felt a thrill of pleasure as the old
flints struck off a tiny shower of brilliant stars from the steel pan
cover. At other times, too, he had carefully lifted the sword from its
hooks and tugged till the bright blade came slowly out of its leathern
scabbard, cut and thrust with it to put enemies to flight, and longed to
carry it to the tool-shed to treat it to a good whetting with the rubber
the gardener used for his scythe, for the rounded edge held out no
promise of cutting off a Frenchman's head. And now for the old hero of
his belief to tell him calmly and without the slightest hesitation that
the charge was true was so staggering, so beyond belief, that the blank
look of dismay produced by the assertion gradually gave place to a smile
of incredulity, and at last the boy exclaimed:
"Oh, uncle! You are joking!"
The old soldier returned the boy's smile with a cold, stern gaze full of
something akin to despair, as he drew a long, deep breath and said,
slowly:
"You find it hard to believe, then, Aleck, my boy?"
"Hard to believe, uncle? Of course I do. Nobody could believe such a
thing of you."
"You are wrong, my boy," said the old man, with a sigh, "for everyone
believed it, and the court-martial sentenced me to be disgraced."
"Uncle! Oh, uncle! But it wasn't--it couldn't be true," cried Aleck,
wildly, as he sat up in bed.
"The world said it was true, my boy," replied the old man, whose voice
sounded very low and sad.
"But you, uncle--you denied the charge?"
"Of course, my boy."
"Then the people on the court-martial must have been mad," cried the
boy, proudly. "I thought the word of an officer and a gentleman was
quite sufficient to set aside such a charge."
"Then you don't believe it was true, my lad?"
"I?" cried the boy, proudly; "what nonsense, uncle! Of course not."
"But, knowing now what I have told you, suppose you should hear this
charge made against me again, what would you do?"
Aleck's eyes flashed, and, regardless of the pain it gave him, he
clenched his injured fists, set his teeth hard, and said, hoarsely:
"The same as I did to-day, uncle. Nobody shall tell such lies about you
while I am there."
Captain Lawrence caught his young champion to his breast and held him
tightly for a few moments, before, in a husky, quivering voice, he said:
"Yes, Aleck, boy, for they are lies. But the mud thrown at me stuck in
spite of all my efforts to wash it away, and the stains remained."
"But, uncle--"
"Don't talk about it, boy," cried the old man, hoarsely. "You are
bringing up the past, Aleck, with all its maddening horrors. I can't
talk to you and explain. It was at the end of a disastrous day. Our
badly led men were put to flight through the mismanagement of our
chief--one high in position--and someone had to suffer for his sins,
there had to be a scapegoat, and I was the unhappy wretch upon whom the
commander-in-chief's sins were piled up. They said that the beating
back of my company caused the panic which led to the headlong flight of
our little army. Yes, Aleck, they piled up his sins upon my unlucky
shoulders, and I was driven out into the wilderness--hounded out of
society, a dishonoured, disgraced coward. Aleck, boy," he continued,
with his voice growing appealing and piteous, "I was engaged to be
married to the young and beautiful girl I loved as soon as the war was
over, and I was looking forward to happiness on my return. But for me
happiness was dead."
"Oh! but, uncle," cried the boy, excitedly, catching at the old man's
arm, "the lady--surely she did not believe it of you?"
"I never saw her again, Aleck," said the old man, slowly. "Six months
after my sentence the papers announced her approaching marriage."
"Oh!" cried the lad, indignantly.
"Wait, my boy. No; she never believed it of me. She was forced by her
relatives to accept this man. I have her dear letter--yellow and
time-stained now--written a week before the appointed wedding-day which
never dawned for her, my boy. She died two days before, full of faith
in my honour."
Aleck's hands were both resting now upon his uncle's arm, and his eyes
looked dim and misty.
"There, my boy, I said I could not explain to you, and I have uncovered
the old wound, laying it quite bare. Now you know what it is that has
made me the old cankered, harsh, misanthropic being you know--bitter,
soured, evil-tempered, and so harsh; so wanting in love for my kind that
even you, my boy, my poor dead sister's child, can't bear to live with
me any longer."
"Uncle!" panted Aleck. "I didn't know--"
"Let's see," continued the old man, with a resumption of his former
fierce manner; "you said you would not run away, only go. To sea, eh?"
"Uncle," cried Aleck, "didn't you hear what I said?"
"Yes, quite plainly," replied the old man, bitterly; "I heard. I don't
wonder at a lad of spirit resenting my harsh, saturnine ways. What a
life for a lad like you! Well, you've made up your mind, and I'll be
just to you, my lad. You shall be started well. When would you like to
go?"
"When you drive me away, uncle," cried the boy, passionately. "Oh,
uncle, won't you listen to me--won't you believe in me? How can you
think me such a coward as to leave you, knowing what I do?"
The old man caught him by the shoulders, held him back at arm's length,
and stood gazing fiercely in his eyes for a few moments, and then his
own began to soften, and he said, gently:
"Aleck, when I was your age my sister and I were constant companions.
You have her voice, boy, and there is a ring in it so like--oh, so like
hers! Yes, I heard, and I believe in you. I believe, too, that you
will respect my prayers to you that all I have said this night shall be
held sacred. I do not wish the world to know our secrets. But, there,
there," he said, in a totally changed voice, "what a day this has been
for us both! You have suffered cruelly, my boy, for my sake, and I in
my blindness and bitterness treated you ill."
"Oh, uncle, pray, pray say no more!" cried the boy, piteously.
"I must--just this, Aleck: I have suffered too, my boy. Another black
shadow had come across my darkened life, and in my ignorance I turned
against you as I did. Aleck, boy, your uncle asks your forgiveness,
and--now no more, my boy; it is nearly midnight, and we must try and
rest. Can you go to sleep again?"
"Yes, uncle," cried the boy, eagerly, "I feel as if it will be easy now.
Good-night, uncle."
"Good-night, my boy," whispered the old man, huskily, and he hurried
out, whispering words of thankfulness to himself; but they were words
the nephew did not hear.
As the door closed Aleck sprang off the bed on to his feet, his knuckles
smarting as he struck an attitude and tightly clenched his fists, seeing
in imagination Big Jem the slanderer standing before him once again.
"You cowardly brute!" he muttered; and then his aspect changed in the
dim light shed by the candle, for there was a look of joyous pride in
his countenance, disfigured though it was, as he said, hurriedly: "I
didn't half tell uncle that I thoroughly whipped him, after all. But
old Tom Bodger--he'll be as pleased as Punch."
It was rather a distorted smile on Aleck's lips, as, after undressing,
he fell fast asleep, but it was a very happy one all the same, and so
thought Captain Lawrence as he stole into the room in the grey dawn to
see if his nephew was sleeping free from fever and pain, and then stole
out again without making a sound.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
The breakfast the next morning was rather late, consequent upon Captain
Lawrence and his nephew dropping off each into a deep sleep just when it
was about time to rise; but it was a very pleasant meal when they did
meet, for the removal of a great weight from Aleck's mind allowed some
other part of his economy to rise rampant with hints that it had missed
the previous day's dinner. There was a pleasant odour, too, pervading
the house, suggesting that Jane had been baking bread cakes and then
frying fish.
Aleck noticed both scents when he threw open his window to let the
perfume of the roses come in from the garden; but the kitchen windows
and door were open, and the odour of the roses was regularly ousted by
that of the food.
"My word! It does smell good," said the boy to himself, and his lips
parted to be smacked, but gave vent to the interjection "O!" instead,
for the movement of the articulations just in front of his ears caused a
sharp pain.
"That's nice!" muttered Aleck. "How's a fellow to eat with his jaw all
stiff like that?"
This reminder of the previous day's encounter brought with it other
memories, which took the lad to the looking-glass, and the reflection he
saw there made him grin at himself, and then wince again.
"Oh, my!" he said, softly. "How it hurts! My face feels stiff all
over. I do look a sight. Can't go down to breakfast like this, I know;
I'll stop here, and Jane will bring me some up. One can't stir out like
this."
Grasping the fact that it was late, the boy dressed hurriedly, casting
glances from time to time at the birds which sailed over from the sea,
and at old Dunning, the gardener, who was busy digging a deep trench for
celery, and treating the soft earth when he drove in the spade in so
slow and tender a way that it seemed as if he was afraid of hurting it.
Aleck noted this, and grinned and hurt himself again.
"Poor old 'Nesimus," he said, feeling wonderfully light-hearted; "he
always works as if he thought it must be cruel to kill weeds."
The boy had a good final look at the old man, who wore more the aspect
of a rough fisherman than a gardener. In fact he had pursued the former
avocation entirely in the past, in company with the speculative growing
of fruit and vegetables in his garden patch--not to sell to his
neighbours, the fishing folk of the tiny hamlet of Eilygugg, but to
"swap" them, as he termed it, for fish. Then the time came when the Den
gardener happened to be enjoying himself at Rockabie with a dozen more
men, smoking, discussing shoals of fish, the durability of nets, and the
like, when they suddenly discovered the fact that a party of men had
landed on the shore from His Majesty's ship Conqueror, stolen up to the
town in the darkness, and, after surrounding the little inn with a
network of men, drawn the said net closer and closer, and ended by
trammelling the whole set of guests and carrying them off as pressed men
to the big frigate.
That was during the last war, and not a man came back to take up his
regular avocation. Consequently there was a vacancy for a gardener at
the Den, and it was afterwards filled up by Fisherman Onesimus Dunning,
the wrinkled-faced man handling the spade and dealing so tenderly with
his Mother Earth when Aleck looked out of the window.
"I wonder old Jane hasn't been up to see how I am," said Aleck, as he
handled his comb as gingerly as the gardener did his spade.
"I wonder how Master Aleck is," said Jane, just about the same time.
"But I won't disturb him. Nothing like a good long sleep for hurts."
"I know," said Aleck to himself; "I can't call down the stairs, because
uncle would hear. I daresay he's asleep. I'll tell old Ness to go
round to the kitchen door and say she is to come up. No, I won't; he'd
come close up and see my face, and it would make her cross now she's
busy frying fish. How good it smells! I _am_ hungry! Wish she'd bring
some up at once. How _am_ I to let her know?"
He had hardly thought this before he started, for there was a sharp rap
at the door, the handle rattled, and the old captain came in.
"Getting up, Aleck, boy?" he said. "Ah, that's right--dressed. Come
along down. You must be hungry."
"I am, uncle," replied the boy, returning his uncle's warm and
impressive grasp; "but I can't come down like this," and the boy made a
deprecating gesture towards his battered face.
"Well, you don't look your best, Aleck, lad," said the old man, smiling;
"but you are no invalid. Never mind your looks; you'll soon come
right."
Nothing loth, the boy followed his uncle downstairs, Jane hurriedly
appearing in the little breakfast-room with a hot dish and plates on
hearing the steps, and smiling with satisfaction on seeing Aleck.
"Ah, that's right, Jane!" said the captain, cheerfully, making the maid
beam again on seeing "master" in such an amiable frame of mind.
"Fried fish?"
"Yes, sir; brill."
"Some of your catching, Aleck?"
"No, sir," put in the maid, eagerly; "that Tom Bodger was over here with
it as soon as it was light. He knocked and woke me up. Said Master
Aleck forgot it yes'day."
"No wonder," said the captain, smiling at his nephew; "enough to knock
anything out of your head, eh, Aleck?"
"Yes, uncle; one of the fishermen said I was to bring it home."
"That's right. Shows you have friends as well as foes in Rockabie."
The breakfast went on, and after the first mouthfuls the boy's jaws
worked more easily, and he was enjoying his meal thoroughly, when his
uncle suddenly exclaimed:
"What are you going to do to-day, my boy?"
"Go on with those problems, uncle, unless you want me to do anything
else."
"I do," said the old man, smiling. "I want you to leave your books
to-day--for a few days, I should say, till your face comes round again--
I mean less round, boy," he added, laughing. "Have a rest. Go and
ramble along the cliffs. Take the little glass and watch the birds till
evening, and then you can fish."
Aleck jumped at the proposal, for the thought of books and writing had
brought on suggestions of headache and weariness; and soon after
breakfast he went up to his uncle's study, to find him sitting looking
very thoughtful, and ready to start at the boy's entry.
"I've come for the spy-glass, uncle," said Aleck.
"To be sure, yes. I forgot," said the old man, hastily. "Take it down,
my boy; and mind what you're about--recollect you are half blind. Let's
have no walking over the cliff or into one of the gullies."
"I'll take care, uncle," said the boy, smiling. "I'll be back to dinner
at two."
The captain nodded, and Aleck was moving towards the door, when the old
man rose hastily, overtook him, and grasped his hand for a moment or
two.
"Just to show you that I have not forgotten yesterday, Aleck, my boy,"
he said, gravely, and then he turned away.
"Who could forget yesterday?" thought the boy, as he slipped out by the
side door and took the path leading round by the far edge of the cliff
wall, the part which was left wild, that is, to its natural growth.
For Aleck's intent was to avoid being observed by the old gardener, whom
he had last seen at work over the celery trench upon the other side of
the house.
"He'd only begin asking questions about my face, and grinning at me like
one of the great stupid fisher boys," said Aleck to himself, as he
passed the sling strap of the spy-glass over his shoulder and hurried in
and out among the bosky shrubs close under the great cliff wall, till,
passing suddenly round a great feathery tuft of tamarisk, he came
suddenly upon the very man he was trying to avoid, standing in a very
peculiar position, his back bowed inward, head thrown backward, and a
square black bottle held upside down, the neck to his lips and the
bottom pointing to the sky.
Aleck stopped short, vexed and wondering, while the old gardener jerked
himself upright, spilling some of the liquid over his chin and neck, and
making a movement as if to hide the bottle, but, seeing how impossible
it was, standing fast, with an imbecile grin on his countenance.
"Morning, Master Aleck," he said. "Strange hot morning. Been diggin';
and it makes me that thusty I'm obliged to keep a bottle o' water here
in the shady part o' the rocks."
"Oh, are you?" said Aleck, quietly, and he could not forbear giving a
sniff.
"Ah! nice, arn't it, sir? Flowers do smell out here on a morning like
this, what with the roses and the errubs and wile thyme and things. It
do make the bees busy. But what yer been eating on, sir? Or have yer
slipped down among the nattles? Your face is swelled-up a sight. Here,
I know--you've been bathing!"
"Not this morning, Ness; I did yesterday."
"That's it, then, my lad, and you should mind. I know you've had one o'
they jelly-fish float up agen yer face, and they sting dreadful
sometimes."
"Yes, I know," said Aleck, beginning to move onward past the man; "but
it wasn't a jelly-fish that stung my face."
"Wasn't it now? Yer don't mean it was a bee or wops?"
"No, Ness; it was a blackguard's fist."
"Why, yer don't mean to say yer been fighting, do 'ee?"
"Yes, I do, Ness. Going to finish the celery trench?"
"Yes, sir; but the ground's mighty hard. Hot wuck, that it is. But
where be going wi' the spy-glass?"
"Over yonder along the cliffs to look at the Eilyguggs."
"Eh?" cried the man, sharply. "'Long yonder, past the houses?"
"Yes."
"Nay, nay, nay, I wouldn't go that away. Go east'ard. It's a deal
better and nicer that way, and there's more buds."
"I'll go that way another time," said the boy, surlily, and he hurried
on. "A nasty old cheat," he muttered; "does he take me for a child?
Water, indeed! Strong water, then. I shouldn't a bit wonder if it was
smuggled gin. But, there, I won't tell tales."
"Ahoy there!" shouted the gardener. "Master Aleck, there's a sight more
eggs yon other way."
"Yes, I know," cried the boy. "Another time." Then to himself, "Bother
his officiousness! Wants to be very civil so that I shan't notice about
his being there with that bottle."
The man shouted something back, and upon Aleck looking round he saw to
his surprise that he was being followed, the gardener shuffling after
him at a pretty good rate.
"Now, why does he want me to go the other way?" thought the boy. "I
didn't mind which cliff I went along, but I do now. I'm not going to be
dictated to by him. I know, he wants to come with me, just by way of an
excuse to leave off digging for an hour or two and chatter and babble
and keep on saying things I don't want to hear, as well as question me
about yesterday's fight; and I'm not going to give him the chance."
Aleck smiled to himself, and winced again, for the swollen face was
stiff and the nerves and muscles about his eyes in no condition for
smiles. Then, keeping on for a few yards till he was hidden from his
follower by the thick shrubs, he stooped down, ran off to his right, and
reached the path on the other side of the depression, well out of the
gardener's sight; and reaching a suitable spot he dropped down upon his
knees, having the satisfaction of watching the man hurrying along till
he came to where the depression narrowed and the pathway along the chasm
began.
From here there was a good view downward, and the man stopped short,
sheltered his eyes with his right hand to scan the narrow shelf-like
declivity for quite a minute, before he took off his hat and began
scratching his head, while he looked round and behind before having
another scratch and appearing thoroughly puzzled.
"Wondering how I managed to drop out of sight," laughed Aleck to
himself.
He was quite right, for he saw Dunning turn to right and left, after
looking forward, ending by staring straight up in the air, and then
backward, before giving his leg a sounding rap, and taking off his hat
to wipe the perspiration from his forehead.
"He doesn't get so hot as that over his work," said Aleck to himself, as
he crouched lower, laughing heartily; and he had another good laugh
when, after one more careful look, the old gardener shook his head
disconsolately and turned to walk back.
"Given it up as a bad job," he said, merrily. "An old stupid! I could
have found him. Well, I can go now in peace."
He waited till the coast was clear, and then, stooping low, set off at a
trot, getting well down into the gorge-like rift. Striking off
gradually to his right, he attacked the great cliff wall in a perfectly
familiar fashion, and climbed from ledge to ledge till he reached the
top, glanced back to see that the gardener was not in sight, and then
strode away over the short, velvety, slippery turf, with the edge of the
cliff some fifty yards or so to his left, and the rough, rocky slope
that led up to the scattered cottages of the Eilygugg fishermen to his
right.
He soon reached a somewhat similar chasm to that which ended in his own
boat harbour; but this was far wider, and upon reaching its edge he
could look right down it to the sea, where at its mouth a couple of
luggers and about half a dozen rowboats of various sizes were moored.
The cottages lay round and about the head of the creek, and partly
natural, partly cut and blasted out of the cliff side, ledge after ledge
had been formed, giving an easy way down from the cottages to the boats.
But there was not a soul in sight, and nothing to indicate that there
were people occupying the whitewashed cots, save some patches of white
newly-washed clothes which were kept from being blown away by the
playful wind by means of big cobble stones--smooth boulders--three or
four of which were laid upon the corners of the washing.
There was not even one fisherman hanging about the front of the
cottages, where all looked quiet and sleepy in the extreme, so, passing
on, Aleck hurried round the head of the narrow rugged harbour, and was
soon after making his way along the piled-up cliffs, keeping well inland
so as to avoid the great gashes or splits which ran up into the land and
had to be circumvented, where they ended as suddenly as they appeared,
in every case being perfectly perpendicular, with the water running
right up, looking in some cases black, still, deep and clear, in others
floored with foam as the waves rushed in over the black, jagged masses
of rock that had in stormy times been torn from the sides.
To a stranger nothing could have appeared more terrible than these
zigzag jagged gashes or splits in the stern, rocky coast, for they were
turfed to the sharp edge, where an unwary step would have resulted in
the visitor plunging downward, to drown in the deep, black water, or be
mutilated by the rocks amidst which the waters foamed.
But "familiarity breeds contempt," says one proverb, "use is second
nature" another, and there was nothing that appeared terrible to the
boy, who walked quickly along close to the edge, glancing perhaps at its
fellow, in some cases only a few yards away, and looking so exactly the
counterpart of that on the near side that it seemed as if only another
convulsion of nature was needed to compress and join the crack again so
that it would be possible to walk where death was now lurking.
But there was nothing horrible there to Aleck who in every case turned
inland to skirt the chasm, gazing down with interest the while at the
nesting-places of the sea-birds which covered nearly every ledge, each
one being alive with screaming, clamouring, hungry young, straining
their necks to meet the swift-winged auks and puffins that darted to and
fro with newly-captured fish in their bills.
Aleck had left the whitewashed cottages behind, along with the last
traces of busy human life in the shape of boat, rope, spar, lobster-pot,
and net, to reach one of the most rugged and inaccessible parts of the
rocky cliffs--a spot all jagged, piled-up rift with the corresponding
hollows--and at last selected a place which looked like the beginning of
one of the chasms where Nature had commenced a huge gaping crack a good
hundred feet in depth, though its darkened wedge-shaped bottom was still
quite a hundred feet above where the waves swayed in and out at the
bottom, of the cliff. The sides here were not perpendicular, but with
just sufficient slope to allow an experienced, cool-headed cliff-climber
to descend from ledge to ledge and rock to rock till a nook could be
reached, where, securely perched, one who loved cliff-scanning and the
beauties of the ever-changing sea and shore, could sit and enjoy the
wild wonders of the place.
The spot was exactly suited to Aleck's taste; and as old practice and
acquaintance with the coast had made giddiness a trouble he never felt,
he was not long in lowering himself down to this coign of vantage. Here
he perched himself with a sigh of satisfaction, and watched for a time
the great white-breasted gulls which floated down to gaze with curious
watchful eyes at the intruder upon their wild domain. The puffins kept
darting down from the ledges, with beaks pointed, web feet stretched out
behind, and short wings fluttering so rapidly that they were almost
invisible, while the singular birds looked like so many animated
triangles darting down diagonally to the sea, and gliding over it for
some distance before touching the water, into which they plunged like
arrow-heads, to disappear and continue their flight under water till
they emerged far away with some silvery fish in their beaks.
Some little distance below a few sooty-looking cormorants had taken
possession of an out-standing rock upon which the sun beat warmly, and
here, their morning fishing over, leaving them absolutely gorged, they
sat with wings half open and feathers erect, drying themselves, looking
the very images of gluttonous content.
Birds were everywhere--black, black and white, black and grey, and grey
and white, with here and there a few that looked black in the distance,
but when inspected through the glass proved to be of a deep bronzy
metallic green.
But while the air and rocks were alive with objects that delighted the
watcher's eye, there was plenty to see beside. Close in where the deep
water was nearly still, the jelly-fish floated at every depth, shrinking
and expanding like so many opening and shutting bubbles of soap and
water, glistening with iridescent hues. Farther out the smooth,
vividly-blue water every now and then turned in patches from sapphire to
purple, and a patch--a whole acre perhaps in extent--became of the
darkest purple or amethyst, all of a fret and work, while silvery
flashes played all over it, reflecting the rays of the burning sun. For
plenty of shoals of fish were feeding, over which the birds were rising,
falling, darting and splashing, as they banqueted upon their silvery
prey.
All this was so familiar to Aleck that, though still enjoying it, he
satisfied himself with a few glances before, carefully focussing the
glass he had brought, he began to sweep the coast wherever he could
command it from where he sat.
The opposite side of the rift seemed to take his attention most, and
perhaps he was examining some of the deep cavernous hollows seen here
and there high up or low down towards the sea; or maybe his attention
was riveted upon some quaint puffin, crouching, solemn and big-beaked,
watching patiently for the next visit of main or dad; or, again, maybe
the lad was looking at a solitary greatly-blotched egg, big at one end,
going off to almost nothing at the other, and wanting in the soft curves
of ordinary eggs, while he wondered how it was that such an egg should
not blow out of its rocky hollow when the wind came, but spin round as
upon a pivot instead.
Anyhow, Aleck was watching the other side of the half-made chasm, the
great wedge-shaped depression in the coast-line, looking straight across
at a spot about a hundred yards distant in the level, though higher up
it was too, and going off to nothing at the bottom, where the place
looked like the dried-up bed of a river.
All at once he started and nearly dropped the glass, as he wrenched
himself right round to gaze back and up, for a gruff voice had suddenly
cried:
"Hullo!"
The next moment the boy, was gazing in a fierce pair of very dark eyes
belonging to a swarthy, scowling, sea-tanned face, the lower part of
which was clothed in a crisp black beard, as black as the short head of
hair.
This head of hair of course belonged to a man, but no man was to be
seen, nothing but the big round bullet head peering down from the edge
of one of the ledges, while on both sides, apparently not heeding the
head in the least, dozens of wild fowl sat solemnly together, looking
stupid and waiting for the next coming of parent birds.
"Hullo!" cried the head again.
"Hullo!" retorted Aleck, as gruffly as he could, after recovering from
his surprise. "That you, Eben Megg?"
"Oh! ay, it's me right enough, youngster. What are you doing there?"
"Now?" said Aleck, coolly. "Looking up at your black face."
"Black face, eh, youngster? Perhaps other people ha' got black faces
too. What ha' you been doing of--tumbling off the rocks? Strikes me
you're trying it on for another tumble."
Aleck flushed a little at the allusion to his injured face, feeling
guilty too, as it struck him that he had brought the allusion upon
himself, a Rowland for his Oliver, on the principle that those who play
at bowls must expect rubbers.
"No, I haven't had a tumble, and I'm not going to tumble," he said,
testily. "I daresay I can climb as well as you."
"P'raps you can, youngster, and p'raps you can't; but, if you do want to
break your neck, stop at home and do it, and don't come here."
"What!" cried Aleck, indignantly. "Why not? I've as good a right here
as you have, so none of your insolence."
"Oh, no, you haven't. All along here's our egging-ground, and we don't
want our birds disturbed."
"Your egging-ground--your birds!" cried Aleck, indignantly. "Why, I do
call that cool. You'll be telling me next that the fish in the sea are
yours, and that I mustn't whiff or lay a fish-pot or trammel."
"Ay, unless you want to lose your net or other gear. I hev knowed folk
as fished on other people's ground finding a hole knocked in the bottoms
of their boats."
"What!" cried Aleck. "That's as good as saying that if I fish along
here you'll sink my boat."
"Didn't say I would, but it's like enough as some 'un might shove a
boat-hook through or drop in a good big boulder stone."
"Then I tell you what it is, Master Eben Megg. If any damage is done to
my Seagull you'll have to answer for it before the magistrate."
"Oh! that's your game, is it, my lad? Now, lookye here, don't you get
threatening of me or you'll get the worst on it. We folk at Eilygugg
never interferes with you and the captain and never interferes about
your ketching a bit o' fish or taking a few eggs so long as you are
civil; but you're on'y foreigners and intruders and don't belong to
these parts, and we do."
"Well, of all the impudence," cried Aleck, "when my uncle bought the
whole of the Den estate right down to the sea! Don't you know that
you're intruders and trespassers when you come laying your crab-pots
under our cliff and shooting your seine on the sandy patch off the
little harbour?"
"No, youngster, I don't; but I do know as you're getting a deal too
sarcy, and that I'm going to stop it, and my mates too."
"Get out! Who are you?" cried the boy, indignantly. "What do you
mean?"
"I mean that if you want to fish off our shore and wants a man to help
with your boat you've got to ask some of us to help, and not get
bringing none o' your wooden-legged cripples spying and poking about our
ground."
"Spy? What is there to spy?" said Aleck, giving the man a peculiar
look.
"Never you mind about that. You be off home, and don't you come spying
about here with none of your glasses."
Aleck laughed derisively.
"Ah, you may grin, my lad; but I've been a-watching of yer this
morning," said the man, fiercely. "You've been busy with that glass,
prying and peering about, and I caught yer at it."
Aleck laughed again.
"Oh! that's what you think, is it?" he said.
"Yes, and it's what I says; so be off home."
"I shall do nothing of the kind, Eben," said the boy, hotly. "I've a
better right here than you have, and I shall come whenever I please.
Spying, eh?"
"Ay, spying, youngster; and I won't have it."
"Then it's all true, eh?" said the boy, mockingly.
"What's true?" snarled the man.
"You know. What have you got hidden away among the caverns--Hollands
gin or French brandy? Perhaps it's silk or velvet. No, no; I know.
But you can't think that. How do you manage to land the great casks?"
"I dunno what you're talking about, youngster--do you?"
"Thoroughly. But aren't the tobacco casks too big and too heavy to haul
up the cliffs?"
"Look here, young fellow," growled the man; "none o' your nonsense.
You'd better be off before you get hurt. That's your way back."
"Is it?" said Aleck. "Then I'm not going back till I choose. I say,
should you talk like this to one of the Revenue sloop's men if he came
ashore?"
"Oh, we know how to talk to that sort if he comes our way," said the
man, with a chuckling laugh; "and they knows it, too, and don't come."
"Nor the press-gang either, eh?" said Aleck, mockingly.
Up to that moment the man's fierce face had alone been seen, but at the
word press-gang he gave a violent start and rose to his knees, upon
which he hobbled close up to the edge of the shelf upon which he had
perched himself.
"Oh, that's it, is it, my lad, eh?" he growled, shaking his fist
savagely. "Then, look here. If the press-gang--cuss 'em!--ever does
come along here we shall know who put 'em up to it, and if they take any
of our chaps--mind yer they won't take all, and them behind'll know what
to do. I'm not going to threaten, but if someone wasn't sunk in his
boat, or had a bit o' rock come tumbling down on him when he was taking
up his net under the cliffs, it would be strange to me. D'yer hear
that?"
"Oh, yes, I hear that," retorted Aleck. "So you won't threaten, eh?
What do you call that?"
"Never you mind what I call it, youngster; and what I says I means. So
now you know."
"Yes," said Aleck, coolly; "now I know that what people say about you
and your gang up at Eilygugg is quite true."
"What do people say?" shouted the man. "What people?"
"The Rockabie folk."
"And what do they say?"
"That you're a set of smugglers, and, worse still, wreckers when you get
a chance, and don't stop at robbery or murder. One of the fishermen--I
won't say his name--said you were a regular gang of pirates."
"The Rockabie fishermen are a set o' soft-headed fools," snarled the
man. "But what do I care for all they say? Let 'em prove it; and, look
here, if we're as bad as that you folk up at the Den aren't safe."
"Which means that you threaten the captain, my uncle," cried Aleck,
defiantly.
"Are you going to tell him what I said?"
"Perhaps I am," said Aleck; "perhaps I'm not. I'm going to do just as I
please all along this coast, for it's free to everybody, and my uncle
has ten times the rights here that you people at the fishermen's
cottages have. You've just been talking insolence to me, so let's have
no more of it. This comes of the captain, my uncle, being kind and
charitable to you people time after time when someone has been ill."
The man growled out something in a muttering way.
"Ah, you know it, Eben Megg! It's quite true."
"Who said it warn't?" growled the man; "but if he'd done ten times as
much I'm not going to have you spying and prying about here. What is it
you want to know?"
"That's my business," said Aleck, defiantly. "I say, you haven't made a
fortune out of smuggling, have you, and bought the estate?"
"You keep your tongue quiet, will yer?" growled the man, fiercely.
"What do you know about smuggling?"
"Just as much as you do, Eben Megg," cried the boy, laughing. "Just as
much as everyone else does who lives here. Didn't our old maid come in
scared one night after a holiday and walking across from Rockabie and go
into a fit because she had seen, as she said, a whole regiment of ghosts
walking over the moor, leading ghostly horses, which came out of the sea
fog and crossed the road without making a sound? Jane said they were
the spirits of the old soldiers who were killed in the big fight and
buried by the four stones on Black Hill, and that as soon as they were
across the stony road they were all swallowed up in a mist. She keeps
to it till now, and believes it."
"Well, why shouldn't she?" growled the man. "She arn't the first as has
seen a ghost. Why shouldn't she?"
"Because it's so silly, when it was a party of smugglers leading their
horses, with kegs slung across their backs and bales on pack saddles."
"Bah!" cried the man. "Horses loaded like that would clatter over the
rough stones."
"Yes," said Aleck, "if their hoofs weren't covered over with bits of
canvas and a few handfuls of hay."
"What!"
"I found one that a horse had kicked off on the road one morning, Eben,"
said the boy. "Ah! I see now."
"See--see what?" said the rough, fisherman-like fellow, sharply.
"See why Ness Dunning was so anxious that I shouldn't come along the
cliff this side."
"Ness Dunning?" cried the man, scowling. "What did he say?"
"That I'd better go the other way. Behaved just like a silly plover
which wants to prove to you that it has no nest on the moor, and sets
you looking for it."
"Ness Dunning's an old fool," cried the man, fiercely.
"Yes, he is a thick-headed old noodle, Eben; I wouldn't trust him."
"Then because he did that he made you think there was something hid
somewhere and come to hunt for it, did you?" cried the man, angrily.
"No, I didn't think anything of the kind till just this minute, but I
see now. You're not much wiser than old Ness, Eben, for you've been
trying to throw me off the scent too, and now I know as well as if I
could see it that you people have been running a cargo, and you've got
it hidden in one of the caves or sunk in one of the holes."
"What yer talking about?"
"Smuggled goods, Eben. I could find it if I tried now."
The man stepped down from the shelf on which he had been standing, and
made a great show of being exceedingly ferocious, evidently thinking
that the boy would turn and run away. But Aleck stood fast, not even
stirring when the man was close up, planting his doubled fists upon his
hips and thrusting out his lower jaw in a peculiarly animal-like way.
"So you're going to look and see if you can find something hidden, and
when you've found it you're going to send word to the Revenue cutter men
to fetch it, are yer?"
"Who says I am?" said Aleck, sharply.
"Who says it? Why, I do, my lad. So that's what you think you're going
to do, is it?"
"No," said the lad, coolly enough. "Why should I? It's no business of
mine."
"Ho!" growled the man, frowning, and raising one hand to rub his short,
crisp, black beard. "No," he said, after a pause, "it arn't no business
of yours, is it?"
"Of course not," said the boy, coolly. "I don't want to know where the
run cargo's hidden, and I wasn't looking for it. I only came to watch
the birds and get a few eggs if I saw any that I hadn't got."
The man made a sudden quick movement and caught Aleck's right wrist
tightly, leaning forward as if to pierce his eyes with the fierce look
he gave.
"Don't do that--you hurt!" cried Aleck, sharply.
"Yes, I mean to hurt," growled the man. "Now, then, look at me! Is
that true?"
"Do you hear, Eben Megg? You hurt me. Let go, or I shall hit out."
"You'll do what?" cried the big fellow, mockingly, as he tightened his
grasp to a painful extent, when _spank_! Aleck's left fist flew out,
striking the man full on the right cheek, not a heavy blow, but as hard
as the boy could deliver, hampered as he was, being dragged close to his
assailant's breast.
"Why, you--" roared the man. He did not say what, but flung the arm he
had at liberty round the boy's waist and lifted him, kicking and
struggling, from the ground, perfectly helpless, with the great muscular
arm acting like a band of iron, to do more than try to deliver some
ineffective blows, which his assailant easily avoided.
"Ah! Would you?" he growled, fiercely. "You're a nice young game cock
chick, you are. Hold still!" he roared, taking a step forward, to stand
on the very edge of the shelf. "Keep that hand quiet, or I'll hurl you
down among the rocks. You'll look worse then than you do now."
"Do, if you dare," cried the lad, defiantly.
"You tell me what I asked," growled the man; "is what you said true?"
"I won't tell you while you grip my wrist."
"You'd better speak," cried the man. "D'yer see, you're like a feather
to me. I could pitch you right out so as you'd go to the bottom
yonder."
"You could, but you daren't?" cried Aleck, grinding his teeth and
striving hard to bear the pain he suffered.
"Oh, I dare--I could if I liked! Nobody would see out here. It would
kill yer, and nobody would know how it happened; but they'd say when
they found you that you'd slipped and fell when you was egging. They
would, wouldn't they? That's true, arn't it?"
"I suppose so," said the boy, huskily.
"And that's what I'm going to do for hitting me, unless you tell me
whether that was true what you said. Now, then, beg me not to hurl yer
down."
"I--shan't," ground out the boy through his set teeth, and a grim smile
crossed the man's dark face, making it look for the moment open and
manly--a smile caused by something akin to admiration.
"Well, you're a nice-tempered sort of a young fellow," growled the man.
"Let go of my wrist."
"Will yer promise not to hit?"
Aleck nodded.
"Nor yet kick?"
The boy nodded again.
"There," said the man, loosening the prisoned wrist. "Now, tell me, is
it true?"
"Of course it is," said the boy, haughtily.
"I'll believe yer," growled the man. "There," he continued, dropping
the boy to his feet. "Then you won't look for where the stuff's
stowed?"
Aleck burst into a hoarse laugh.
"Then there is some stowed?"
The man gave himself a wrench, and his face puckered up again with
anger.
"Lookye here," he said, more quietly, "I don't say there is, and I don't
say there arn't; but suppose there is, you're going to swear as you
won't take no notice."
"No, I'm not," said Aleck, boldly.
"Then you do want me to chuck you down yonder?"
"You've got to catch me first," cried the boy, making a backward bound
which took him ten feet downward before he landed and kept his feet,
following up his leap by running along the ledge of stony slate he had
reached and then beginning to climb rapidly.
The man had followed him at once, leaping boldly, but without Aleck's
success, for he slipped, through the stones giving way, and went down
quite five-and-twenty feet in a rough scramble before he checked himself
and took up the pursuit, which he soon found would be useless, for his
young adversary was lighter and far more active, and soon showed that he
was leaving him behind.
"There, hold hard, Master Aleck," he growled, looking up at the lad. "I
won't hurt yer now."
"Thankye," said the boy, mockingly, as he stopped, holding on by a
projecting rock in the stiff slope, and well on his guard to go on
climbing if there was the slightest sign of pursuit.
"You made me wild by hitting out at me."
"Serve you right, you great lumbering coward, to serve me like that!"
"I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Yes, you did--brute! You squeezed my wrist as hard as you could."
"Well, I didn't want to hurt you much. But you did make me wild, you
know, hitting me like you did."
"Look here," cried Aleck, fiercely, as the man took a step to continue
climbing to where the boy stood, some thirty feet above him, "you come
another step, and I'll send this big stone down at you--it is loose."
"I don't want to ketch you now, only to talk quiet without having to
shout."
"I can hear you plainly enough. Sit down."
The great muscular fellow dropped at once, seating himself upon the
slope and digging his heels into the loose screes to keep from sliding
down.
"There y'are," he growled.
"Now, then," said Aleck, "what do you want to say?"
"Only about you coming along here to-day. You warn't trying to spy out
nowt, was yer?"
"No," cried Aleck; "of course I wasn't. I've known for long enough that
you people at Eilygugg do a lot of smuggling. I've stood with the
captain, my uncle, of a night and seen you signal with a lanthorn, and
then after a bit seen a light shown out at sea."
"You've seen that, youngster?"
"Lots of times; and the boats going and coming and the lights showing up
against the cliff. Of course we know what goes on, but my uncle doesn't
care to interfere, and I've never tried to find out where you hide the
smuggled goods; but I shouldn't be long finding out if I tried."
"Hum!" growled the man, gazing up searchingly. "P'raps you're right,
youngster, p'raps you arn't; but there is a deal o' smuggling goes on
along this coast."
"Especially about here," said Aleck, with a smile.
"Well, what's the harm, eh? A man must live, and if one didn't do it
another would."
"Look here; I don't want to know or hear anything about it," cried
Aleck. "Only I shall come along these cliffs, egging or watching the
birds, as often as I like."
"Well, I don't know as anyone'll mind, Master Aleck, if I speaks to 'em
and says as you says as a young gentleman that you'll never take no
notice of anything as you sees or hears--"
"What! How can a gentleman promise anything of the kind about people
breaking the law?"
"How? Why, by just saying as he won't."
"A gentleman can't, I tell you. There, I won't promise anything."
The man gave his rough head a vicious scratch, before saying, sharply:
"Then how's a man to trust yer?"
"I don't know," said Aleck, carelessly, "but I'll tell you this. If I'd
wanted to I could have found out whether you've got a place to hide your
stuff, as you call it, long enough ago."
"I don't know so much about that," said the man, with a grin.
"Well, then, I could have told the Revenue cutter's men where they had
better look."
"But you won't, Master Aleck? We are neighbours, you know."
"Neighbours!" said Aleck, scornfully. "Pretty neighbours! There, I'm
not going to alter my words. I shall make no promises at all."
"Well, you are a young gentleman, and I'll trust yer," said the man;
"for I s'pose I must. But I don't know what some of our lads'll say."
"Then I'd better tell my uncle that if anything happens to me he'd
better get the Revenue cutter's men to hunt out the Eilygugg smugglers,
because they pushed me off the cliff."
"Nay, don't you go and do that," said the man, anxiously. "I didn't
mean it."
"Am I to believe that, Eben?" said the boy, sharply.
The man showed his teeth in a laugh, and put his hands round his neck in
a peculiar way.
"Look here, Master Aleck," he said; "man who goes to sea has to take his
chance o' being drownded."
"Of course."
"And one who tries to dodge the Revenue sailors has to take his chance
of getting a cut from a bit o' steel or a bullet in him."
"I suppose so."
"That's quite bad enough, arn't it?"
"Yes."
"Bad enough for me, sir, so I'm not going to do what might mean being--
you know what I mean?"
"What--"
"Yes, that's it. A bit o' smuggling's not got much harm in it, but they
call it murder when a man kills a man."
"By pushing him off a cliff, Eben?" said Aleck. "Yes."
CHAPTER NINE.
It was about a fortnight later when Aleck Donne went down the garden
directly after breakfast with the full intent, after thinking it over a
good deal, of charging old Onesimus Dunning, the gardener, with being
leagued with the Eilygugg smugglers.
"If I told uncle," he argued, "he would be sent away at once; but that
would be doing the poor fellow a lot of harm and perhaps make him worse.
Perhaps, too, it would make him nurse up a feeling of spite against us,
and he would set the Eilygugg people against us as well. So I won't do
that, but I'm not going to have the nasty old imposter smiling at me and
pretending to be so innocent. I just want him to understand that I'm
not such a child as to be ignorant of his tricks. I'll let him see that
I know why he wanted me not to go along yonder by the west cliff."
Aleck knew exactly where the man was likely to be, for he had been
mowing the lawn, sweeping up the fragment result, and wheeling it away.
"He'll be stacking it round the cucumber frame," thought Aleck, "to keep
in the heat. By the way, I wonder what became of the beautiful cuke
that lay, at the back under the big leaves--we didn't have it indoors!
I'm sure he takes some of them away. Uncle never misses anything out of
the garden, but I do."
The lad went round to the kitchen garden, which sloped round towards the
south, so beautifully sheltered that it was a perfect hot-bed of itself
in the summer, and there, sure enough, was the heaped-up barrow of fresh
green mowings, and one armful had been piled up to half hide a part of
the rough wooden frame.
But no gardener was visible.
"Not here," thought Aleck. "Well, perhaps I was wrong about that cuke."
The next minute he had raised the clumsily-glazed sliding sash, with a
hot puff of moist air smelling delicious as it reached his nostrils,
while he propped up the glass, reached in, and began turning over the
prickly leaves, laying bare the rather curly little specimens of the
cool, pleasant fruit; but there was no sign of the big, well-grown
vegetable.
"Was I mistaken?" mused the lad. "No, there was one, and there's the
remains of the stalk, showing where the cucumber has been cut. What a
shame!" he muttered. "I'll tell him of that too. Uncle would be angry
if he knew."
Aleck closed the frame again and began to look round.
"What a shame!" he said, again. "Nice sort of a gardener to have--lazy,
a smuggler, and little better than a thief. I'll just give him
something to think about when I find him. Oh, there he is!"
For just then the boy looked up, to see the old gardener standing on the
highest part of the sheltering cliff, his back to him, and shading his
eyes as he looked out to sea.
"Ahoy! What are you doing there?" shouted Aleck.
The man started and looked down.
"Ships--men-o'-war--going behind the point," shouted the gardener.
Men-of-war going into Rockabie harbour! That news was sufficient to
upset all Aleck's arrangements. He forgot all about the lesson he was
going to give the gardener, and rushed indoors, to hurry upstairs and
rap sharply at his uncle's study, and, getting no answer he threw open
the door to cross the room and seize the glass from where it hung by its
sling. Then, dashing out again, he ran downstairs, crossed the garden,
mounted the cliff zigzag path, and was soon after focussing the glass
upon the men-of-war, which proved to be only a good-sized sloop followed
by a trim-looking white-sailed cutter, both vessels with plenty of
canvas spread, and gliding steadily over the smooth sunlit sea.
"Oh, I wish I'd known sooner!" groaned the lad, for he had hardly fixed
the leading vessel before her bows began to disappear behind the point,
and before ten minutes had elapsed the cutter was out of sight as well.
"I don't know that I should much care about going to sea," muttered
Aleck, closing the glass, "but the ships do look so beautiful with their
sails set, gliding along. What a pity! What a pity! I do wish I had
known sooner."
"What are they going to do there?" thought the boy, as he closed the
glass and walked back to the cottage, where upon going upstairs to
replace the glass he found his uncle in from his morning walk and about
to settle down for a few hours' work.
"Well, Aleck, boy," he said; "been scanning the sea?"
"Yes, uncle; two vessels came along into Rockabie, but I only got a
glimpse of them."
"Too late, eh? Well, why not run over in the boat? I want something
done in the town."
"Do you, uncle? Oh!" cried the boy, half wild with excitement, as he
turned and rushed to the little mirror over the chimney-piece to glance
in.
"Yes," said the old man, smiling. "There, nothing shows now except that
little darkness under your eyes. I'm quite run out of paper, my boy.
Go and get me some. But--er--no fighting this time."
"No, uncle," cried the lad, flushing up; and then, quickly: "There's a
beautiful soft breeze, dead on to the land, and it will serve going and
coming."
"Off with you, then, while it holds. Paper the same as before. Get
back in good time."
Aleck wanted no further incitement. The "wigging," as he termed it,
that was to be given to Dunning would keep, and he avoided the man as he
hurried down into the gorge, stepped the mast and hooked on the rudder,
guided the little vessel along the narrow, zigzag, canal-like harbour,
and without an eye this time for the birds or beauty of the scene, he
was soon after lying back steering and holding the sheet, while the
well-filled sail tugged impatiently as if resenting being restrained.
Aleck had fully determined to avoid the boys of Rockabie that morning,
and he was half disposed to hug himself with the idea that after the
thrashing Big Jem had received they would interfere with him no more.
But he was quite wrong, for the port boys were too full of vitality, and
always on the look-out for some means of getting rid of the effervescing
mischief that bubbled and foamed within them.
The distant sight of the King's vessels heading for the port was quite
enough to attract them to the pier, and there they were in force, well
on the look-out for something to annoy so as to give themselves
employment till the sloop and cutter came in.
There was the something all ready in the person of Tom Bodger, who was
seated upon a ship's fender, one of those Brobdingnagian netted balls
covered with a network of tarred rope, used to keep the edge of the
stone pier from crushing and splintering the sides of the vessel.
This formed a capital cushion, albeit rather sticky in hot weather, and
was planted close up to a stone mooring-post, which acted as a back to
lean against, while, with his wooden legs stretched straight out, the
man employed himself busily in netting, his fingers going rapidly and
the meshes seeming to run off the ends of his fingers.
Intent upon his work, active with hands and arms, but rather helpless as
to his legs, Tom Bodger was a splendid butt for the exercise of the
boys' pertinacious tactics, and with mischief sparkling out of the young
rascals' eyes they made their plans of approach and began to buzz round
him like flies, calling names, asking questions, laughing and jeering
too, all of which had but little effect upon the man, who was an adept
at what he called giving "tongue." And so the boys found, for they
decidedly got the worst of it.
Soon after, growing bolder, some of the most daring began to make
approaches to snatch at the net or the ball of water-cord, but they
gained nothing by that. For Tom Bodger never went out without his
stick, a weapon he used for offence as well as defence, and there was
not a boy there in Rockabie who did not know how hard he could hit.
A few little experiences of this sort of thing were quite enough to make
the party draw off and take to the hurling of missiles. But they did
not confine themselves to heads, tails, and bones of fish, for they were
rather scarce, so they took to the stones which were swept up in ridges
by the sea right across the harbour.
But even this was dangerous, for the sailor could "field" the stones
thrown at him and return them with a correctness of aim and activity
that would have driven a skilful cricketer half mad with envy.
Finally, several of the bigger lads held a kind of conference, but not
unseen, for though apparently bending intently over his netting, the
sailor was watching them with one eye and asking himself what game
they--to wit, the boys--were going, as he put it, to start next.
Old discipline on a man-of-war had made Bodger thoroughly alert, and
suspecting a rush he took hold of his ball of net twine, unrolled
sufficient to make many meshes, and then put it down again, seizing the
opportunity to draw the stout oaken cudgel he generally carried well
within reach of his hand.
Then, netting away as skilfully as a woman, he indulged in a hearty
laugh, chuckling to himself as he thought of the accuracy and force with
which he could send it skimming over the ground, spinning round the
while and looking like a star.
"That'll give one on 'em a sore leg for a week if I do have to throw it.
On'y wish I could do it with a string tied to it so as to haul it back.
Well, why not?" he added, eagerly, and then under cover of his netting
he unwound thirty or forty yards of the twine, cut it off, and tied the
end to the middle of his cudgel.
"That'll do it," he muttered, and chuckled again with satisfaction. For
Tom lived in the days when the Australian boomerang was an unknown
weapon; otherwise he would have cut and carved till he had contrived
one, and given himself no rest till he could hurl it with unerring aim
and the skill that would bring it back to his hand.
The sloop-of-war and the Revenue cutter, its companion, had been lying
at anchor some hundred yards from the end of the pier, and every now and
then the sailor glanced at the trim vessels with their white sails and
the sloop's carefully-squared yards--all "ataunto," as he termed it--and
more than one sigh escaped his lips as he thought that never again would
he tread the white deck that he helped to holy-stone, let alone show
that he was one of the smartest of the crew to go up aloft.
And as he glanced at the vessels from time to time, he, to use his
words, "put that and that together," and noticed that, contrary to
custom, there was not a single hearty-looking young fisherman lounging
upon the rail that overhung the head of the harbour.
"Smells a rat," muttered the old sailor. "Like as not they've dropped
anchor here to see if there are any likely-looking lads waiting to be
picked up after dark. Why, there's a good dozen that would be worth
anything to a skipper, and I could put the press-gang on to their trail
as easy as could be; but they're neighbours, and I can't do them such a
dirty turn. Now, if they'd on'y take a dozen of these young beauties it
would be a blessing to the place; but, no, the skipper wouldn't have
them at a gift. But that's what they're after. Hullo, here comes a
boat!"
"Oh!" he laughed, as he saw the sloop's cutter lowered down with its
crew and a couple of officers in the stern-sheets. "The old game.
Coming ashore for fresh meat and vegetables. I know that little game."
Bodger went on netting away, watching the boat out of the corner of one
eye as it was rowed smartly up to the harbour steps, where the oars were
turned up; and leaving the youth with him in charge of the boat's crew,
the officer sprang out with one of the men and hurried up the steps,
gave a supercilious glance at the crippled sailor, who touched his hat,
and then went along towards the town.
"Yes, that's it," said the sailor to himself. "Having a look round.
There'll be a gang landed to-night as sure as my name's Bodger."
The thinker made a few more meshes and then had a glance down on the
boat and her crew, his eyes dwelling longest upon the young officer, who
had taken out a small glass, through which he began to examine the town.
"Middy," said Bodger. "Smart-looking lad too. What's their game now?"
he continued, as the boys drew closer together. "They'll be up to some
game or another directly. Shying old fish at that youngster's uniform,
or some game or another. Strikes me that if they do they'll find that
they've caught a tartar. Just what they'd like to do--shy half a dozen
old bakes' tails at his blue and white jacket. I might say a word to
him and save it, but if I did I should be saving them young monkeys too,
and--look at that now!--if that arn't Master Aleck's boat coming round
the pynte! They sees it too--bless 'em! Now they'll be arter him,
safe. That'll save the middy, but it won't save Master Aleck. Strikes
me I'd better put my netting away and clear the decks for action."
Tom Bodger's clearing for action consisted in turning himself aside so
that he could drag a neatly-folded duck bag off the fender, and stuffing
his partly-made net and twine, with stirrup, mesh, and needle, inside
before tying up the neck with a piece of yarn.
But his eyes were busy the while, and he watched all that went on,
Aleck's boat running in fast, the boys whispering together, their leader
sending off a couple towards the town end of the pier, and eliciting the
mental remark from the sailor:
"Going arter Big Jem for twopence. Are we going to have another fight?
Well, if we are he arn't going to tackle two on 'em, for I'm going to
see fair with my stick and the crew o' that cutter to look on to form a
ring."
By the time he had thought out this observation it was time for him to
carefully ascend to the top of one of the great mooring-posts, the
flattest-topped one by preference. How it was done was a puzzle, and it
drew forth the observations of the cutter's crew, while the midshipman
in charge shouted "Bravo!" But somehow or other, by the use of his
hands and a peculiar hop, Tom Bodger brought himself up perpendicularly
upon the top of the post, steadied himself with his stick, and then held
his head aloft.
That was enough. Aleck was near enough in to recognise the figure and
comprehend the signal, which in Tom's code read:
"Right and ready, my lad. Steer for here."
CHAPTER TEN.
Aleck ran his boat close in behind the cutter after lowering the sail so
close that it touched the midshipman's dignity.
"Hi, you, sir!" he shouted. "Mind where you're going with that boat."
"All right," replied Aleck, coolly enough. "I won't sink you."
"Hang his insolence!" muttered the middy; and as Tom lowered himself
from the post and then went, rock-hopper fashion, down the steps and
boarded the boat, the young officer gave Aleck a supercilious stare up
and down, taking in his rough every-day clothes and swelling himself out
a little in his smart blue well-fitting uniform.
Aleck felt nettled, drew himself up, and returned the stare before
making a similar inspection of the young naval officer.
"Whose boat's that, boy?" said the latter, haughtily.
"Mine," was Aleck's prompt reply. "What ship's that, middy--I don't
mean the cutter, of course?"
"Well, of all the insolence--" began the lad. "Do you know, sir, that
you mustn't address one of the King's officers like that?"
"No, I didn't know it," said Aleck, coolly. "I thought you were only a
midshipman. Are you the captain?"
"Why, con--"
"Look out!" cried Aleck, giving the speaker a sharp push which nearly
sent him backward but saved him from receiving a wet dockfish full on
the cheek, the unpleasantly foul object whizzing between the lads'
heads, followed by a roar of laughter from a group of the young ruffians
on the pier.
"How dare you lay your hands upon a King's officer!" cried the
midshipman, furiously.
Aleck shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
"Look out!" he cried. "Here come two or three more," and he dogged
aside, while the middy was compelled, metaphorically, to come down from
his dignified perch and duck down nearly double to escape the missiles
which flew over him.
"Do you see now?" said Aleck, merrily.
"Oh! Ah! Yes! Of course! The insolent young scoundrels! Here, half
a dozen of you jump ashore and catch that big boy with the ragged red
cap. I'll have him aboard to be flogged."
Six of the boat's crew sprang out on to the steps, but there was no
prospect of their catching the principal offender, who uttered a
derisive yell and started off to run at a rate which would have soon
placed him beyond the reach of the sailors; and he knew it, too, as he
turned and made a gesture of contempt, which produced a roar of delight
from the other boys who stood looking on.
"After him!" yelled the middy to his men, as he stood stamping one foot
in his excitement; and then turning to Aleck: "If the cat don't scratch
his back for this my name's not Wrighton."
The communication was made in quite a friendly, confidential way, which
brought a response from Aleck:
"He'll be too quick for them. The young dogs are as quick as congers."
"You wait and you'll see. I'll make an example of him."
All this passed quickly enough, while the boy in the red cap, feeling
quite confident in his powers of flight, turned again to jeer and shout
at the sailors, whom he derided with impudent remarks about their
fatness of person, weight of leg, and stupidity generally, till he
judged it dangerous to wait any longer, when he went off like a
clockwork mouse, skimming over the stones, and from the first strides
beginning to leave the sailors behind.
"I told you so," said Aleck. "There he goes. I can run fast, but I
couldn't catch him. Ha, ha, ha! Bravo, Tom!" he cried. "Look at that
sailor!"
For meanwhile Tom Bodger, stick in hand, had made his way back on to the
pier, and just as the boy was going his fastest something followed him
faster, in the shape of the wooden-legged sailor's well-aimed cudgel,
which spun over the surface of the pier, thrown with all the power of
Tom's strong arm, and the next instant it seemed to be tangled up with
the boy's legs, when down he went, kicking, yelling, and struggling to
get up.
"Hi! Oh, my! Help, help!" he yelled at his comrades; but they only
stood staring, while the foremost sailors passed on so as to block the
way of escape, and the next instant the offender was hemmed in by a half
circle of pursuers, who formed an arc, the chord being the edge of the
pier, beneath which was the deep, clear water.
"There," cried the middy, triumphantly. "Got him!" Then to his men:
"Bring the young brute here."
Meanwhile, as the boy lay yelping and howling in a very dog-like
fashion, the laughing sailors began to close in, and then suddenly made
a dart to seize their quarry, but only to stand gazing down into the
harbour.
For, in pain before from the contact of the stick and his heavy fall,
but in agony now from the dread of being caught, the boy kept up the
dog-like character of his actions by going on all fours over two or
three yards, and then, as hands were outstretched to seize him, he
leaped right off the pier edge, to plunge with a tremendous splash ten
feet below, the deep water closing instantly over his head.
"He's gone, sir," said one of the sailors, turning to his officer.
"Well, can't I see he has gone, you stupid, cutter-fingered swab?" cried
the middy. "Here, back into the boat and round to the other side of the
pier. You'll easily catch him then."
"Not they," said Aleck, quietly; "didn't I tell you he was as quick and
slippery as a conger?"
"Look sharp! Be smart, men," cried the middy, angrily.
"What's the good of tiring the lads for nothing?" said Aleck, as the men
began to scramble into the cutter. "It will take them nearly ten
minutes to get round to where he went off."
"Would it?"
"Of course."
"But, I say," said the middy, anxiously, "mightn't he be drowned?"
"Just about as likely as that dogfish he threw at you. Come and look!"
Aleck led the way up the steps, followed by the young officer, and then
as they crossed the pier they came in sight directly of the boy,
swimming easily, side stroke, for a group of rocks which formed the
starting-point of the pier curve, and beyond which were several places
where the boy could land.
"He'll be ashore before we could get near him," said Aleck.
"What! Shall I have to let him go?" cried the middy.
"Of course! He got a tremendous crack on the legs from Tom Bodger's
stick--he was nearly frightened to death; and he has had a thorough
ducking. Isn't that enough?"
"Well, it will have to be," said the middy, in a disappointed tone. "I
meant him to be treed up and flogged."
Aleck looked at him in rather an amused fashion.
"Well, what are you staring at?" said the middy, importantly.
"I was only wondering whether you would be able to order the boy to be
flogged."
"Well--er--that is," said the midshipman, flushing a little; "I--er--
said I should give him--er--report it to the captain, who would give the
orders on my statement. It's the same thing, you know, as if I gave the
flogging. `I'll give a man a flogging' doesn't, of course, mean that I,
as an officer, should give it with my own hands. See?"
"Yes, I see," said Aleck, quietly.
"Sit fast there," cried the middy to his men, as he began to descend the
steps. "Let the young scoundrel go."
Just then Aleck glanced round and saw that the officer who had gone
ashore was returning, followed by the man who had accompanied him, and
he turned to Bodger, who stood waiting for orders, before descending
again to the boat.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
"I say, Tom," said Aleck, "that was cleverly aimed, but you had better
mind or you'll be breaking one of the boys' legs."
"Well-aimed, sir? Oh, that was nothing tickler. An easy shot that,
sir. No fear o' my breaking no legs. I can tell exactly how much
powder to fire with. I give it 'em just strong enough to hurt; that's
all."
Just then the officer came back, spoke to the young middy, and went off
again with the six men who had been unsuccessful in their chase of the
red-capped boy, while Aleck and his companion exchanged glances.
"There, Tom, take away the boat," said Aleck; "I must go and get my
uncle's paper."
"Your uncle's paper, sir?"
"Yes, I've run over to get some for him."
"Why, you got some on'y t'other week, sir. Did he have an axdent and
burn it?"
"No," said Aleck, laughing. "It's all used up for writing."
"Wond'ful--wond'ful!" muttered the man. "Here's me can't write a word,
and him allus going at it. Well, I suppose he was born that way. I'll
take care o' your boat all the same, sir."
"What do you mean with your all the same?" asked Aleck, looking puzzled
at the man's words.
"All the same, sir, though I can't write a word."
Aleck went off, being saluted by a nod from the middy, who lay back in
the stern-sheets of the cutter. It was a nod that might have meant
anything--condescension, friendliness, or a hint to keep his distance;
but it did not trouble the lad, who trudged along the pier to fulfil his
mission, and was soon after in the rugged, ill-paved main street, where
he in sight of the naval group from the sloop, evidently busy buying and
loading up with fresh provisions from the little shops.
He passed on, and was nearing the place where, in company with toys,
grocery, and sweetmeats, the shopkeeper kept up a small supply of paper,
for which the captain was his main customer, when a dark-bearded
fisherman-like man suddenly turned out of a public-house, caught him by
the arm, and hurried him sharply down a narrow alley which ran by the
side of the little inn.
The man's sudden action, coupled with the fact that he was the last
person in the county he would have expected to see, took away the lad's
breath for a moment or two while he gazed up in the fierce searching
eyes that seemed to be reading his thoughts.
"You, Eben?" he said at last.
"Me it is, youngster. What game do you call this?"
"I don't call it a game at all. What are you doing here?"
"Never you mind what I'm a-doing here. P'raps I'm watching you. I want
to know what your game is."
"I'm playing at no game," cried the boy, speaking rather indignantly.
"Let go of my arm."
"When you've told me what you're a-doing of with them sailor chaps."
"I? I'm doing nothing with them. I've come over in my own boat. I'm
not along with them."
"I know. I've had my eye on yer, my lad. But let's have the truth.
You come over to meet these chaps from the boats lying off there."
"Not I. If you must know, I've come over to fetch some paper for my
uncle."
"And what else, my lad?"
"Nothing else," cried Aleck; "but I don't know what right you have to
question me."
"You soon will, my lad. You say you're not with these folk. Why, I saw
you talking for ever so long to the chaps in the boat that come ashore
to lie there by the harbour wall, and afore it had been there long you
come into port and run your boat close alongside."
"Of course I did, to get up to the steps and land. Look here; what are
you thinking about?"
"Well," said the man, fiercely, "if you want to know over again what you
knew before, I'm just going to tell you, so as to let you see that I'm
not such a fool as you take me for, and also to let you know that I can
see right through you, clever as you think yourself."
"Go on," said Aleck. "Let's have it all then."
"Well, here you are, my lad. I s'pose you know that's a man-o'-war
sloop?"
"Yes, I know that, Eben."
"Yes, I s'pose so, my lad, and you know what she's hanging about this
coast for?"
"I don't for certain," replied Aleck, "but I shouldn't be a bit
surprised if the captain wanted to press a few likely lads, if he could
get hold of them."
"Oh, you wouldn't, wouldn't you? I s'pose not," said the man, in a
sneering tone.
"Why, anybody would guess that."
"P'raps they would and p'raps they wouldn't, my lad; but, of course, you
don't know that there's the little Revenue cutter that's looking out for
any little bit of smuggling going on?"
"Why, what nonsense you're talking, Eben! Of course I knew."
"Yes, of course you did, my lad; and you've got a spy-glass, haven't
you!"
"No; but I use my uncle's."
"That's right; and when them two vessels come into sight 'smorning you
got the glass out to see what they were?"
"Yes; directly."
"And then you went down to your boat-hole and ran over here as fast as
you could?"
"Yes; but it wasn't fast, for the wind kept dropping. But how did you
know this?"
"Never you mind how I knowed. You knowed that me and four mates came
over here last night."
"That I didn't," cried Aleck. "What for--to run a cargo?"
"Never you mind what for, my lad. You knowed we'd come."
"That I didn't. I hadn't the least idea you had. But how did you know
I got out the glass to have a look at the vessels? Bah! You couldn't
know if you were over here. No one saw me but old Dunning. It's
impossible."
"Is it?" said the man, with a sneer. "Then we arn't got a glass at
Eilygugg, of course, eh, and nobody left behind to look out for squalls
and run across to tell us to look out when they see the wind changing?
So, you see, clever as you think yourself, you're found out, my lad.
Now do you see?"
"I see that you're on the wrong tack, Eben," said the lad, scornfully,
"and let me tell you that you've been talking a lot of nonsense. I
don't see why I should tell you. It's absurd to accuse me of being a
spy and informer. Do you suppose we up at the Den want to be on bad
terms with all the fishermen and--and people about?"
"You mean to say you haven't put the boat's crew yonder up to taking me
and my mates?"
"Of course I do. Why, I haven't even spoken to the officer, only to the
midshipman."
"Well, it looks very bad," growled the man, gazing at the lad,
searchingly.
"If you think a press-gang is likely to come ashore to get hold of you
and your mates, why don't you slip off into the hills for a bit?"
The man stared, and his features relaxed a little and a little more, and
he caught Aleck by the sleeve.
"Look here, Master Aleck," he said; "the captain yonder's a gentleman,
though we arn't very good friends, but he never did anything to get any
of us took."
"Of course he didn't."
"Wouldn't like you to, p'raps."
"Why, of course he wouldn't. If the fleet want men they'll get them
somehow, and the Revenue cutter will hunt out the smugglers sooner or
later; but for you to think that I'm on the look-out always to do you a
bad turn--why, it's downright foolishness, Eben."
"Well, I'm beginning to think it is, my lad," said the man, smiling;
"but that's just what they thought at home, and my young brother Bill
ran across to give us the warning. I put that and that together, and I
felt as sure as sure that you'd come over to inform agen us."
"But you don't believe it now?"
"No, my lad, I don't believe it now," said Eben, "and I'm glad on it,
because it would be a pity for a smart young chap like you to be in for
it."
"In for what?" said Aleck.
"For what? Ah, you'd soon know if you did blow upon us, my lad. But,
there, I don't believe it a bit now, and I got some'at else to do but
stand talking to you, so I'm off. Only, you know, my lad, as it's the
best thing for a chap like you as wants to live peaceable like with his
neighbours to keep his mouth shut--_mum--plop_."
The two last words were sounds made by slapping the mouth closely shut
and half open with the open hand, after doing which Eben Megg stepped
down the narrow turning and mysteriously disappeared.
"Bother him and his bullyings and threats," cried Aleck. "Such
insolence! But, there, I must see about my paper and get back."
CHAPTER TWELVE.
Left alone in the boat, Tom Bodger sat down on one of the thwarts with
his wooden pegs stuck straight out before him. Then he brought them
close together with a sharp rap and began to rub one over the other
gently; but these movements had nothing to do with the thinking, though
he more than once told himself that he thought better when he was
rubbing his legs together.
As he sat there he naturally enough began to watch the man-o'-war boat
with her smart young officer and neat, trim-looking crew, while,
continuing his inspection, he ran his eyes over the boat and admired its
beautiful lines.
This brought up memories of the time when career and body had both been
cut short by that unlucky cannon ball, leaving him a cripple and a
pensioner.
"But I dunno," he said to himself, in a way he had of making the best of
things, "if I hadn't been hit I might ha' lived on and been drowned, and
then there'd ha' been no pension to enj'y as I enj'ys mine; and I don't
never have to buy no boots nor shoes, so there arn't much to grumble
about, arter all."
So Tom sat rubbing his wooden legs together, watching the sailors in the
boat, thinking of how he'd been coxswain of just such a boat as that,
and then beginning to feel an intense longing to compare notes with the
men left with the middy in charge; but the young officer kept his men in
order, and twice over had them busily at work stowing away the
vegetables, fresh meat, bacon, and butter that were brought down from
time to time and packed well out of the way fore and aft.
Consequently there was no opportunity allowed for him to get up a
gossip, the young officer looking fiercely important, and the men making
no advance.
"Beautifully clean and smart," said Tom. "Wonder how long Master
Aleck'll be."
Then he swept the edge of the pier ten feet above his head in search of
inimical boys, letting one hand down by his side to finger his cudgel,
and indulging in a chuckle at the skilful way in which he had brought
down the young offender a short time before.
"Pretty well scared him away," said Tom to himself; "he won't show
himself here again to-day."
But as it happened Tom was wrong, for the boy, after landing in safety,
with the water streaming down inside his ragged breeches and escaping at
the bottom of the legs when it did not slip out of the holes it
encountered on its way, had made his way up the steep cliff and round to
the back of the town so as to get up on the moorland, where the sun came
down hotly, when he began to drip and dry rapidly.
He could sweep the pier and harbour now easily, looking over the
fishing-boats and watching those belonging to the man-o'-war and Aleck
Donne, with Tom Bodger sitting with his legs sticking straight out.
And then he called Tom Bodger a very seaside salt and wicked name, in
addition to making a vow of what he would do to "sarve him out."
The boy gave another glance round as if in search of coadjutors, but all
his comrades had disappeared; so he stood thinking and drying as he
turned his thoughts inland, with the result that he had a happy thought,
under whose inspiration he set off at a trot round by the back of the
little town till he came within view of a group of patches of sandy land
roughly fenced in and divided by posts of wreck-wood and rails covered
with pitch--rough fragments that had once been boat planks.
He ran a little faster now, and externally did not seem wet, for his
hair was cropped so short that no water could find a lodgment, and his
worn-old, knitted blue shirt and cloth breeches had ceased to show the
moisture they had soaked up.
Once within hearing of the rough fenced-in gardens he put both hands to
his mouth and uttered a frightful yell, with the result that a head
suddenly shot up from behind one of the fences, and its owner was seen
down to the waist, looking as if he were leaning upon an old musket.
But this was only the handle of a hoe, and the holder proved to be Big
Jem, occupied in his father's garden, where he had been hoeing and
earthing up potatoes in lazy-boy fashion with a chip-chop and a long
think, supplemented by a rest at the end of each row to chew tobacco.
A minute later and the boys were lying down side by side, resting upon
their elbows and kicking up their heels over their backs, what time the
newcomer related what had passed down on the pier, and also what he
should like to do.
The narrative seemed to afford Big Jem intense satisfaction, for he
uttered a hoarse crowing laugh from time to time and blinked his eyes,
squeezing the lids very close and then opening them wide, when sundry
signs of black, green and blue bruises became visible.
When the newcomer had finished his narration, Big Jem crowed more
hoarsely than ever, and indulged in what looked like an imitation of an
expiring fish, for he stretched himself out flat and threw himself over
from his face on to his back, beat the ground with his closed legs, and
then flopped back again, over and over again, putting ten times the
vigour and exertion into his acts that he had bestowed upon the hoeing,
and ending by springing up, stooping to secure his hoe, and then tossing
it right away to fall and lie hidden in one of the newly-hoed furrows
between the potatoes.
"Do, won't it?" cried the new arrival.
"Yes," cried Big Jem, hoarsely. "Sarve 'em both out. Come on!"
No time was lost, the two boys going off at a trot round by the back of
the town and aiming for the shore, where by descending a very steep bit
of ivy-draped and ragwort-dotted cliff they could get down to a row of
black sheds used for fish-drying and the storage of nets, which lay
snugly upon a shelf of the cliff.
The place was quite deserted as the boys let themselves slide down a
water-formed gully, peered about a bit, and then made for one of several
boats moored some fifty yards from the sandy shore.
More or less salt water was nothing to the Rockabie boys, and after a
glance along the shore, followed by a sweeping of the pier, which ran
out between them and the harbour, they waded a little way out till the
water reached their chests, and then began to swim for the outermost
boat, into which Big Jem climbed, to hold out a hand, and the next
moment his comrade had followed and leaned over, dripping away, to cast
loose the rope attached to the buoy, while Big Jem put an oar out over
the stern and began to scull.
"Ibney allus leaves one oar in his boat," said Jem, sculling away.
"But we mustn't go yet."
"You hold your mouth," said Big Jem. "I'll show you. You shall see
what you shall see. Here, lay hold of the rope and make a hitch round
that killick. See?"
The other boy evidently did see, for he knelt down and began to edge a
big oval boulder stone from where it lay in company with three more for
ballast amidship, worked it right forward into the bows, and then lifted
it on to the locker, when he took hold of the boat's painter at the end
furthest from the ring-bolt, to which it was secured, and fastened the
hempen cord round the boulder with a nautical knot.
By the time this was done and the boy looked round for orders he caught
sight of something moving at the shore end of the pier.
"Here comes the sailors back to their boat," he said. "They'll see us."
"Over with the killick, then--easy. Don't splash."
Big Jem drew in his oar, with which he had been making the boat progress
by means of a fishtail movement, laid it along the thwarts, and then, as
the other boy lifted the stone over the bows into the water, which it
kissed without disturbance, it was let go and sank with a wavy movement,
sending up a long train of glittering bubbles, running the rope out fast
till bottom was reached and the boat swung from its stone anchor.
"Now, then, down with you," said Big Jem, and the next minute the two
boys lay in the bottom, each with a great boulder for pillow, quite out
of sight, unless their presence had been suspected, when a bit of coarse
blue-covered body might have been seen, but then only to be taken for
some idle fisher making up for last night's fishing with a nap.
Hence it was that when Tom Bodger swept the pier from where he sat in
Aleck's boat lying by the steps in the harbour, he saw nothing but the
top of the pier, and his eyes fell again upon the sloop's beautifully
clean boat, which he again compared with the one he occupied, with such
unfavourable effect to the latter that he muttered to himself a little,
took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves over his tattooed arms, and
went in for a general clean up.
Tom was as busy as a bee and, to judge from the latter's usually
contented hum, just as much satisfied, for his efforts certainly vastly
improved the aspect of Aleck's boat; and he was still hard at work
swabbing and drying and laying ropes in coils, when a remark from one of
the sailors in the adjacent boat made the midshipman spring up out of a
doze in the hot sunshine and give the order to "Be smart!"
In other words, to be ready to help their messmates returning with their
officer, well laden with fresh stores, which soon after were handed down
into the boat and stowed. Then the men took their places again, while
the officers took theirs, the order was given to cast off, there was a
thrust or two given by the coxswain, and the boat glided from the steps,
leaving Tom Bodger watching the movements, smiling, and thinking of the
past.
He smiled again as the oars were poised for a minute and then at a word
dropped to starboard and larboard with a splash before beginning to dip
with rhythmic regularity, the midshipman seizing the lines and steering
her for her run outward to the sloop.
"Well," said the midshipman, in a low voice, "what luck?"
"Pretty good," was the reply. "Not all I should like, but I've seen
enough to say that we ought to get a dozen smart fellows easily.
There's some game or another on I hear from a man I know--a sort of
meeting of fellows from along the coast--and Brown picked up a hint or
two."
"A meeting, sir?"
"Well, call it what you like. Brown thinks there's a cargo to be run
somewhere and that the men are here to make arrangements for getting it
inland."
"What, right under our noses?" said the midshipman.
"Of course; that's a far better way than right under our eyes, my lad.
Give way, lads. I want to get aboard, Mr Wrighton, to hear what the
captain and the lieutenant of the cutter have to say."
The sloop's boat passed out between the two arms of the little harbour
before Tom Bodger recommenced his polishing up in Aleck's boat.
"A pretty cutter," he said. "There arn't anything better worth looking
at afloat than a man-o'-war's launch or cutter well manned by a smart
crew. Makes me wish I'd got my understandings again and was an AB once
more. Not as I grumbles--not me. Rockabie arn't amiss, and things has
to be as they is. Here, let's get all ship-shape afore Master Aleck
comes. Wish I'd got a bit o' sand here to give them ring-bolts a rub or
two. I like to see his boat look a bit smart.
"Wonder what them two's come in for--they arn't lying off here for
nothing! Some 'un's been sending 'em word there's a cargo going to be
run along the shore, and so they've come in for soft tack and
wegetables. Haw! haw! haw!" he laughed, as he bent over his work.
"It's well I know that game. Fresh wegetables for the cook, a look
round to find out what's what, and as soon as it's dark a couple o'
well-armed boats to beat up the quarters and a dozen or so o' men
pressed. I know. Well, I s'pose it's right; the King must have men to
fight his battles. They ought to volunteer; but some on 'em won't.
They don't like going until they're obliged, and then they do, and
wouldn't come back on no account. Strikes me there's going to be a
landing to-night. Some un must ha' let 'em know. Wonder who could do
it, for there's a bit o' fun coming off to-night, I lay my legs. Eben
Megg wouldn't be here for nothing, and there's half a dozen more hanging
about.
"Well," he added, after a pause. "I'm not going to tell tales about
either side. Don't know much, and what I do know I'm going to keep to
myself. Smuggling arn't right; no more arn't playing spy and informer--
so I stands upon my wooden pegs and looks on. They won't take me.
Wouldn't mind, though, if they did. There, that looks quite decent and
tidy, that does, and if Master Aleck don't say a word o' praise, why I
say it's a shame. Well done; just finished in time. Here you are,
then, my lad. Got a load? Why didn't yer let me come and carry it?
Hold hard a minute, and I'll fetch it aboard."
For Tom Bodger had heard a step on the pier right above him as he
stooped and saw the shadow of him who had made the sound cast right down
upon the thwart and flooring of the boat, the maker of the shadow being
evidently the bearer of some oblong object, which he carried at arm's
length above his head.
Tom was balancing himself upon his wooden legs, and in the attitude of
rising from his bent-down position, when he was conscious of a faint
sound and an alteration in the shadow cast down, while the next instant
there was a tremendous crash.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
A splintering crash as of a heavy mass of stone or metal striking full
upon the thwart behind him, while crash again, right upon the first
sound, there was a duller and more crushing noise.
"Here, hi! Hullo! Here, what in the name o' thunder! Ahoy! Help!"
Tom Bodger was standing bolt upright as he uttered these last words,
fully realising what had happened as he stared down at a rugged hole in
the frail planking of the bottom of the boat, up through which the water
was rising like a thick, squat, dumpy fountain.
"What game d'yer call this, Master Aleck? Eh, not there? I seed his
shadder. He must ha' let it fall. Went through like a sixty-four-pound
shot. Master Aleck! Ahoy! Frightened yerself away, my lad? Here,
quick; come and lend a hand--the boat's going down!"
Tom Bodger talked and shouted, but he did not confine himself to words,
for he saw the extent of the emergency. The boat seemed to be filling
rapidly from the salt fount in the middle prior to going down. So,
acting promptly, he hopped on to the next thwart, down into the water in
the bottom, which came above his stumps, and then on to the next thwart
forward and the locker. From here he put one peg on to the bows and
swung himself on to the lowest step, where he could seize the boat's
painter, fastened to a huge rusty ring in the harbour wall.
It was not many moments' work to cast the rope loose, and then he began
to haul the rope rapidly through the ring, just having time to send the
boat's head on to one of the steps under water, and hanging on with all
his might, while the water rose and rose aft, till, with the bows still
resting on the stone step, the after part of the boat was quite
submerged.
As a rule there were fishermen hanging over the rail on the top of the
cliff a couple of hundred yards or so away, men busy with trawl or seine
net on the smacks and luggers, and a score or two of boys playing about
somewhere on the pier; but there was, as Tom Bodger had said, something
going on in the town, and as soon as those ashore had done watching the
man-o'-war's men and seen them row off, there was a steady human current
setting away from the harbour, and not a listening ear to catch the
sailor's hails and pass the word on for help, as he hung on to the
boat's rope with all his might, feeling assured that if he slacked his
efforts she would glide off the slimy stone and go to the bottom.
"I arn't got no breath to waste in hollering," he panted. "Why, there's
a good fathom and a half or two fathom o' water under her keel, and if I
slack out down she'll go. Wants a couple o' boats to back in, one on
each side, and get a rope under her thwarts. They could get her ashore
then. Oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear! For him to leave me in charge, and
then come back and find I've sunk her! I warn't asleep, for I was
standin' up at work, so I couldn't ha' dreamed I heard him come, and see
his shadder cast down. No; it's all true enough. But what could he
have had in his hands? I see his shadder plain, with a something held
up in his hands. Paper, didn't he say, he'd come to fetch? Well,
paper's heavy when it's all tight up in a lump, and he must ha' pitched
it down off the pier to save carrying it and to let it come plop, so as
to frighten me, not thinking how heavy it was, and then as soon as he
see the mischief he'd done he squirms and runs away like a bad dog with
his tail between his legs. Why, I wouldn't ha' thought it on him.
"Oh, dear! what a weight she is! If I could only get a turn o' the rope
round anywhere I could hold on easy, but if I move an inch down she'll
go.
"Can't do it!" he groaned; "it's quite impossible. One hitch round the
ring or a catch anywhere else'd do it, but I've got enough to do to hold
on, and if I try any other manoover I shall make worse on it. It's no
good, Tommy, my lad, that there's your job; bite yer teeth hard and hold
on. Bime by it'll be too much for yer, and she'll begin to slide and
slither; but don't you mind, it'll be all right--up'll go your hands
with the rope, and then in they'll go, fingers first, into the ring.
It's big enough to take your pretty little fists as far as yer
knuckleses, and then they'll jam and jam more, and the more they jams
the tighter they'll hold the rope till some 'un comes. Take the skin
off? Well, let it. Sarve it right for not being stuck tighter on to
the hones. Have to grow again, that's all. I arn't going to let Master
Aleck's boat sink to the bottom if I die for it. But, hub, there!
Ahoy! Is everybody dead yonder up town? Why, I'd say bless him now if
I could on'y set a hye on the wery wust o' them boys."
The poor fellow hung on desperately, but he knew from his symptoms that
he could not hold on much longer. The perspiration stood in huge drops
all over his face, and they began to run together and trickle down,
while now a queer thought flashed across his brain, bringing hope for
the moment, but only for his heart to sink lower directly after.
"No, no," he groaned, "I couldn't do it. If I could it'd be just fine;
but who's to hang on with his hands and double hisself up enough to take
aim with both his wooden pegs at once so that they could go right into
that ring and stopper the rope like a cable going through a hawse hole?
"Can't be done, can't be done; but--ahoy there! Dozens on yer hanging
about if yer warn't wanted, and now not a lubber within hail. Ahoy
there! Ship ahoy! Is everyone dead, I say? Ship a-a-hoy-y-y-y!" he
yelled, in a despairing voice.
"Ahoy there! What's the matter? That you, Tom Bodger?"
"Bodger it is, Master Aleck. Here, quick, or I shall have both my hands
off as well as my legs, and you'll have to put me out of my misery
then."
"Why, Tom," cried Aleck, wildly. "What ever--oh!"
The lad wasted no more breath, for he grasped the position as soon as he
reached the head of the steps.
"Can you hold on a minute?"
"I can't, sir, but my fists will," groaned the man, and then in a hoarse
whisper--"Rope!"
"I see," cried Aleck, and he ran back a dozen yards along the pier to
where he could see a coil of small rope for throwing aboard vessels in
rough weather to bring back their looped cables and pass them over the
posts.
He was back again directly, uncoiling it as he came and leaving it
trailing, while, end in hand, he reached the top of the steps, went down
to where the poor fellow hung on, and shouting out words of
encouragement the while, he passed a hand down, got hold of the loose
painter below Bodger's, and with the quick deft fingers of one used to
the sea and the handling of lines he effected a quick firm knotting of
the two ropes.
This done, he made for the next ring hanging from the harbour wall,
passed the fresh rope through, and hauled in all the slack.
"Now, Tom," he cried, "both together--ahoy--ahoy!"
He threw all his strength into the hauling, aided by the man-o'-war's
man's last remaining force; no little either, for despair gave the poor
fellow a spasmodic kind of power, so that the rope passed through the
ring and whizzed and quivered, it was so tight. Then another stay was
found and a hitch taken twice round that before Aleck fastened off, and,
panting heavily, went up a step or two to the assistance of his humble
friend.
"You can let go now, Tom. I have her fast."
"Sure, Master Aleck?"
"Yes, certain. Let go; and mind what you're about, or you'll slip
overboard."
"It's all right, sir," said the man, in a hoarse whisper. "I've let go
now."
"Nonsense! What are you thinking about? You've got hold tight as
ever."
"Nay, I arn't, Master Aleck. I let go when you telled me. I'm on'y
leaning agen the rope to keep from going down into the water."
"Why, Tom, what's the matter with you?" cried Aleck, wonderingly, as he
placed his hands on his companion's. "I tell you that you're holding on
as tight as ever."
"Eh?" said the man, feebly. "No, sir, I arn't; 'strue as goodness I
arn't."
"But you are," cried Aleck, angrily, as he now grasped the full
misfortune to his boat--not the very full, for he was not aware of the
hole in her bottom. "Your fingers are clasped tightly round the rope."
"Are they, sir?"
"Yes."
"'Tarn't my doing then, sir. I hoped and prayed as they might hold on
to the last, and I s'pose that's how it is. Ah-h!"
He uttered a low groan, his eyelids dropped, and his fingers suddenly
became inert, while it needed all the lad's strength to keep the poor
fellow from slipping off the wet steps into the deep water of the
harbour.
"Tom," he shouted; "rouse up, lad. Do you hear?" he cried, frantically,
as he held the man erect, and then in obedience to a sudden flash of
thought forced him back into a sitting position on one of the steps.
"Hah!" he panted. "I couldn't have held you much longer. Hold up, man.
Can't you hear what I say?"
"Eh? Yes, Master Aleck, on'y don't talk so far off like, and--and--tell
'em to leave off ringing them bells in my ears."
Coupled with the loss of the boat, Aleck's first thought was that the
man had been indulging in a sailor's weakness and was the worse for rum;
but a second glance at the ghastly face below him opened the lad's eyes
to the simple truth, and he spoke more gently:
"Feel faint, Tom?"
"Ay, sir, I s'pose it's that. I feel just as I did after that there
cannon ball took off my legs. I'm getting better now you've stopped
that ringing o' the bells in my ears."
"That's right, Tom."
"But is the boat safe, sir? Don't let her go right down."
"She's safe enough so long as the rope doesn't part."
"Then look at her knots, sir. I did teach yer proper. Don't say as
you've tied one as'll slip."
"The rope's all right, Tom."
"Hah!" groaned the man. "Then if you wouldn't mind, sir, just help me
up the other steps and lie me down flat on my back for a minute. I feel
as if that would set me right."
"Come on, then," said Aleck; "but you must help, or we shall both go
overboard."
"I'm a-going to help, sir," said the man, with his voice beginning to
grow stronger. "I think I can keep upright on my pegs again if you'll
lend me a hand. No, hold hard a minute like, sir; there's no room for
two on these bits o' steps. You've got plenty o' slack line, sir?"
"Yes."
"Then pass the end round under my arms and make fast. Then you go atop
and haul, and you can twist the line round a post so as I can't slip."
"Of course," cried Aleck, and following out the poor fellow's
instructions he went up to the pier, passed the rope round the nearest
post, and hauled steadily, while without rising to his feet the poor
fellow hitched himself, after a way he had learned, in a sitting
position by means of his hands, right on to the pier, where once landed
he rolled over with a groan, and fainted dead away.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
It was quite a minute before Tom Bodger opened his eyes again, to lie
staring blankly up at the dazzling blue sky. He looked, for a mahogany
and red sun-tanned individual, particularly unwholesome and strange with
his fixity of expression, and in his anxiety Aleck forbore to speak to
him, but watched for the complete return of his senses, wondering the
while that so sturdy a fellow could be affected in a way which he had
always understood was peculiar to women.
After staring straight upward for some little time the man began to
blink, as if the intense light troubled him. Then his eyes began to
roll slowly round, taking a wider and wider circle, till at last they
included Aleck in their field of view and remained fixed, staring at him
wonderingly.
Aleck's lips parted to ask the natural question, "How are you now?" But
before he could utter a word Tom frowned and said, severely:
"What are you up to, my lad?"
"It's what are you up to, Tom? Here, how are you now?"
"Quite well, thankye, Master Aleck. How are you? But, here," he cried,
changing his manner, "what does it all mean? Why, what--when--
wh-wh-what--ah, I know now, Master Aleck! I say, don't tell me the
boat's gone down!"
As he spoke he rose quickly into a sitting position and stared down
through the opening where the steps began, uttered a sigh of content,
and then said:
"I was afraid you hadn't made them knots fast."
"Oh, they're all right. But has your faintness gone off?"
"Yes, sir, that's gone."
"To think of a big sturdy fellow fainting dead away!"
"Ah, 'tis rum, sir, arn't it? All comes o' having no legs and feet. I
never knew what it was till I lost 'em, as I telled yer."
"Well, you're better now. But, I say, Tom, how did you manage to get
the boat full of water like this?"
"Oh, come, Master Aleck," cried Tom, indignantly. "I like that! How
come you to chuck that great lump o' paper down and make that great hole
in her bottom?"
"I do what?" cried Aleck. "Here, wait a bit and rest. You haven't
quite come to yet."
"Me, sir? I'm right as a trivet," cried Tom; and to prove it he turned
quickly over on his face propped himself up on his hands, with his
elbows well bent, and then gave a sharp downward thrust which threw him
up so that he stood well balanced once more upon his stout wooden legs.
"That's right," said Aleck, after a glance at the half-submerged boat.
"Now, then, how did you manage it?"
"Me manage it, sir? Oh, that's how I allus gets up when I'm down."
"No, no, no," cried Aleck, impatiently. "I mean about the boat. Did
some other boat foul her?"
"No-o-o!" cried Tom. "You chucked that great lump of paper down and it
went through the bottom."
"Paper? What, the paper I went to fetch?"
"Ay, sir."
The lad went and picked up a small parcel he had dropped on the pier and
held it up in the man's sight as he gazed wonderingly at him again, and
then said, very severely:
"Look here, Tom, you are mad, or have you been--you know?"
Aleck turned his hand into a drinking vessel and imitated the act of
drinking.
"No-o-o-o!" cried Tom, indignantly. "Haven't had a drop of anything but
water for a week."
"Then how did you get my boat half full of water?"
"I didn't, sir. You came and chucked that heavy lump of paper down, and
it broke the middle thwart, being a weak 'un, because of the hole
through for the boat's mast, and went on down through the bottom."
"What! I did nothing of the sort, sir."
"Oh, Master Aleck! Why, I seed yer shadow come right over me with yer
hands up holding the lump o' paper, and afore I could straighten myself
up down it come, and went right through the bottom."
"You don't mean to tell me that there's a hole right through the bottom
of my beautiful Seagull?" cried Aleck, wildly.
"Why, how could she have got full o' water if you hadn't chucked that
down? I would ha' come up and fetched it, sir. That comes o' your
being so rannish."
"How dare you!" cried Aleck, passionately. "I tell you I did nothing of
the sort."
"What's the good o' telling an out-an'-outer about it, Master Aleck,
sir, when I see yer quite plain; leastwise, I see yer shadow when yer
come to the edge."
"You saw nothing of the sort," cried Aleck, fiercely. "You scoundrel!
You've been sailing her about while I've been up the town, and run her
on a rock. I did trust you, Tom, and now you try to hoodwink me with a
miserable story that wouldn't deceive a child. Tell me the truth at
once, sir, or never again do you sail with me."
"I won't," growled Tom, sturdily.
"What! You won't tell me the truth?"
"I didn't say I wouldn't tell you the truth, Master Aleck. I mean I
won't say as I took her out and run her on a rock."
"But you did, sir."
"Tell yer I didn't, Master Aleck; she've been tied up ever since you
went away, and I've given her a thorough clean up."
"And started a plank or two by jumping down upon her with your wooden
legs."
"Nay, I wouldn't be such a fool, sir. Of course if I did I should go
through."
"I'd have forgiven you the accident," said Aleck, sternly, "but I can't
forgive the lie."
Tom stared up at his young employer, and took off his hat to give his
head a thorough good scratch, before saying, quietly:
"Say, Master Aleck, you says to me just now with a sign like as I'd been
having a drop o' rum. Well, I arn't; but, you'll scuse me, sir, have
you happened to call and see anyone as has given you some cake and wine
as was rather too strong for a hot sunny day like this?"
"No!" roared Aleck, in a thorough passion now. "Such insolence! Say
again that I threw a weight of paper and broke a hole through her."
"Well, sir, I see your shadder."
"You did not, for I've not been back till just now."
"Then it was somebody else's, sir."
"Somebody else's, sir!" cried Aleck, scornfully. "Own at once that you
had an accident with her."
"Me say that?" cried Tom, waxing angry in turn. "I won't. I'd do a
deal for you, Master Aleck, and if I'd stove in the boat I'd up and say
so; but I arn't a-going to tell an out-an'-out wunner like that to
screen you when you've had an accident. Why, if I did you'd never trust
me again."
"I never will trust you again, sir. But, there, what's to be done? How
am I to get back to the Den? Would a plug of oakum keep the water out?"
"Would a plug o' my grandmother keep the water out?" growled Tom,
scornfully. "Why, she couldn't keep it out if we set her in it. I jest
got one peep, and then the water hid it, but there's a hole pretty nigh
big enough for you to go through."
"My poor boat!" cried Aleck, in agony. "But, there, it's of no use to
cry after spilt milk. What's to be done?"
"Well, I've thought it out, sir, and seems to me that what's best to be
done is to make her fast between two big boats, run her up on to the
beach, get two or three of the fisher lads to turn her over, and then
see what I can do with a bit o' thin plank. Patch her up and pitch up
the bit where I claps the plaster on, and I dessay she'll be watertight
enough for you to run home in. I can mend her up proper when we get her
back in the creek."
"How long would it take to put on the patch?"
"I can't say till I sees the hole, sir, but I might get it done by
to-night."
"By to-night? How am I to get back in the dark?"
"Oh, I dessay we could steer clear o' the rocks, sir."
"We? No, thank you, sir. I don't want a man with me whom I can't
trust."
Tom took his hat off and had a good rub before looking wistfully up in
his young employer's face.
"Say, Master Aleck, arn't you a bit hard on a man?" he said.
"No, not half so hard as you deserve. You told me an abominable lie."
"Nay, sir. I see your shadow just as you were going to throw down that
there lump o' paper."
"You--did--not, sir!" cried Aleck, fiercely.
"Well, then, it must ha' been somebody else's, sir; that's all I can
say."
"Whose, pray?" cried Aleck. "Who would dare to do such a thing as that?
Stop!" he cried, as a sudden idea flashed through his brain. "I saw
two lads in a boat sculling away from the pier as hard as they could
go."
"You see that, Master Aleck?"
"Yes, when I came down from High Street."
"Where was they going, sir?" cried the man, staring hard.
"Towards the curing sheds."
"Could you see who they was, sir?"
"No; they seemed to be two big lads, just about the same as the rest."
"Where was they going from?" asked Tom, excitedly.
"From the pier; there was nowhere else they could be coming from. They
wouldn't have been fishing at this time of day."
"Look here, Master Aleck, you mean it, don't you? It wasn't you as
pitched something down?"
"Look here, Tom, do you want to put me in a passion?"
"No, sir, course I don't."
"Then don't ask such idiotic questions. Of course I didn't."
"Then it was one of they chaps, Master Aleck."
"Well, it does look like it now, Tom. But, nonsense! It must have been
very heavy to go through the boat."
"It weer, sir."
"But why should anyone do that? You don't think that a boy would have
been guilty of such a bit of mischief as that?"
"What, Master Aleck?" cried the sailor, bursting into a loud guffaw.
"Why, there arn't anything they Rockabie boys wouldn't do. Why, they're
himps, sir--reg'lar himps; and mischief arn't half bad enough a word for
what they'd do."
"Oh, but this is too bad. Why, the--the--"
"Stone, I should say it were, sir. Bet a halfpenny as it was a ballast
cobble as was hev down."
"But it might have come down on you and killed you."
"Shouldn't wonder, sir."
"But you have no one with such a spite against you as to make him do
that?"
"Haven't I, Master Aleck? Why, bless your innocence, there's dozens as
would! I'd bet another halfpenny as that young beauty as I brought down
with my stick this mornin' felt quite sore enough to come and drop a
stone on my head. 'Sides, they've got a spite agen you, too, my lad,
and like as not Big Jem would try to sarve you out by making a hole
through your boat for leathering him as you did a fortnit ago."
"Tom!"
"Ah, you may shout `Tom!' till you're as hoarse as a bull, Master Aleck,
but that seems to be about the bearings of it; and now I think more on
it, that's about the course I means to steer. Two on 'em, you says as
you saw?"
"Yes, two biggish lads."
"Sculling hard?"
"Yes, the one who stood up in the boat was working the oar as hard as he
could."
"Which means as he was in a hurry, sir."
"It did seem like it, Tom."
"On a hot day like this here, sir. Boys, too, as wouldn't work a scull
if they warn't obliged. Why, they'd been and done it, and was cutting
away as hard as they could."
"It does look likely, Tom."
"That's it, sir. We've got the bearings of it now. It were Big Jem and
young Redcap, warn't it?"
"One of the boys had on a red cap, Tom. I remember now."
"Then don't you wherrit your head no more about it, Master Aleck. It
was them two as did it, and I shall put it down to their account."
"But we ought to be sure."
"Sure, sir? Why, we are sure, and they'll have to take it."
"Take _it_? Take what?"
"Physic, sir. Never you mind about it any more; you leave it to me.
It's physic as they've got to take when the time comes; and all I've got
to say is as I hopes they'll like it."
"Well, never mind that now, Tom. What about my boat?"
"Oh, I'll see about her at once. I'll stop and take care of her while
you go up to the houses on the cliff yonder, and you says as you have
had an accident with your boat and you wants Joney to come with a couple
o' mates to help. They'll come fast enough."
"Very well. Let's have a look first, though."
They stepped to the edge of the pier and looked down into the disabled
boat, while the water being still and as clear as crystal, they could
see through the broken thwart and the splintered jagged hole through the
bottom.
Aleck drew a deep breath like a sigh, and Tom nodded his head sagely:
"Stone as big a killick, Master Aleck; that's what did that. Precious
big 'un too. Now, then, you be off and get they chaps here while I
chews it over a bit about how I'm to manage; but I tell yer this--it's
going to be dark afore I gets that done. What d'yer say about walking
over to the Den to tell the captain what's happened?"
"I say no, Tom. I'm going to stay here and help you. You won't mind
sailing over with me in the dark?"
"Not me, sir, and you needn't wherrit about what to do wi' me. I shall
spread a sail over the boat when we've got her moored back in the creek,
and creep under and sleep like a top. You'll give me a mug o' milk and
a bit o' bacon in the morning afore I start back?"
"Of course, of course, Tom. There, I'll run off at once."
"Hold hard a moment, Master Aleck. Mebbe you'll see them two beauties."
"I shouldn't wonder, Tom."
"Looking as innercent as a pair o' babbies, sir," said Tom, with a
knowing wink. "Then what you've got to do, sir, is look innercent too.
You arn't going to suspeck them for a minute, cause they wouldn't do
such a thing. We're a-going to wait till the right time comes."
"And we're quite sure, Tom?"
"That's it, Master Aleck; and then--physic."
Aleck laughed, in spite of the trouble he was in, for Tom's face was a
study of mysterious humour and conspiracy of the most solemn nature.
The next minute the lad was going an easy dog-trot along the pier
towards the town.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
"Hole in her bottom?" said the friendly fisherman who had presented the
brill, in answer to Aleck's application, "and want her brought ashore?
Sewerly, my lad, sewerly."
His application to the big fisherman who had taken his part over the
fight met with a precisely similar reply, when the lad found the men
collected with a number of their fellows outside one of the
public-houses, where something mysterious in the way of a discussion was
going on, and Aleck noted that their conversation ceased as soon as he
appeared, several of the men nudging each other and indulging in sundry
nods and winks.
But the lad was too full of his boat trouble to dwell upon the business
that seemed to have attracted the men together, and he led the way down
to the harbour with his two fishermen acquaintances, finding that all
the rest of the party followed them.
Had he wanted fifty helpers instead of three he could have had willing
aid at once. As it was, his friends selected four more to help put off
their boats, and the rest trudged slowly down the pier to form an
audience and look on, while under Tom Bodger's direction the damaged
boat was lashed by its thwarts to the fresh corners, and then set free
and thrust off the step.
The rest was easy. In a very short time she was rowed ashore, cast
loose again, and half a dozen men waded in knee-deep to run her up a few
feet at a time, the water escaping through the broken-out hole, till at
last she was high and--not dry, but free from water.
Then the mast was unstepped and with the other fittings laid aside,
while Tom Bodger had procured a basket of tools and the wood necessary
for the repairs, and the little crowd of fishermen formed themselves
into a smoking party, sitting upon upturned boats, fish boxes and
buckets, to discuss the damage and compare it with that sustained by
other boats as far back as they could remember. For Tom required no
further help then, save such as was given by Aleck, preferring to work
his own way, the idea being to make a temporary patchwork sufficient for
safety in getting the boat home.
To this end he measured and cut off, almost as skilfully as a ship's
carpenter--consequent upon old experience at home with boats and at sea
with the mechanic of a man-o'-war--a piece of board to form a fresh
thwart, which was soon nailed tightly on the remains of the old.
Then the hole in the bottom was covered with this boarding, laid
crosswise, the necessary fitting taking a great deal of time, so that
the afternoon was spent before help was needed, and plenty of willing
hands assisted in turning the boat right over, keel uppermost, ready for
the laying on of plenty of well-tarred oakum to cover the fresh inside
lining, Tom having a kettle of pitch over a wood fire, and paying his
work and the caulking liberally as he went on, whistling and chatting
away to Aleck the while, only pausing now and then to have a big sniff
and to inhale much of the smoke cloud his friends were making.
"I should like to stop and have a pipe mysen, Master Aleck," said Tom,
once.
"Well, have one; only don't be long, Tom."
"Nay, sir; I'll have it as we sails over, bime by. I won't stop now.
It's a long job, and it'll be quite dark afore I've done."
He fetched the pitch kettle from the little fire a fisherman had been
feeding with chips of wreck-wood and adze cuttings from a lugger on the
stacks.
"Now then," he said, after carefully stuffing the damaged hole with
oakum, "this ought to keep the inside dry, on'y the worst on it is that
the pitch won't stick well to where the wood's wet."
"But you're not going to pour all that in?"
"I just am," said Tom, with a chuckle. "I arn't going to spyle a ship
for the sake of a ha'porth o' tar. There we are," he continued,
spreading the melted pitch all over the patch with a thin piece of wood
till, as it cooled, it formed a fairly level surface ready for the
pieces of planking intended to form the outside skin.
Tom was a very slow worker, but very sure, and a couple more hours
glided by and the sun had long set with the boat still not finished. So
slow had the repairing been that at last Aleck expressed his
dissatisfaction; but Tom only grinned.
"I know what water is, sir, and how it'll get through holes. I don't
want for us to go to the bottom, no more'n I want us both to be allus
baling. Didn't I say as it would take me till dark?"
"You did, Tom, but you needn't drive in quite so many nails. This is
only temporary work."
"Tempry or not tempry, I want it to last till we gets home."
"Of course," said Aleck, and to calm his impatience he turned to look at
the group of fishermen, who sat and stood about, smoking away, and for
the first time the lad noticed that the men had ceased to watch Tom
Bodger but had their eyes fixed intently upon the sloop-of-war and the
cutter, which lay at anchor a couple of miles from the harbour, and were
now showing their riding lights.
"'Bout done, arn't yer, Tommy?" said the man who was mending the fire.
"Nay, keep the pitch hot, messmet," said Tom. "I'll just pay her over
inside as soon as we've got her turned right again."
"Then that's going to be now, arn't it, matey?" said the big fisherman.
"Yes," said Tom, to Aleck's great satisfaction. "Lend a hand, some on
yer."
The words seemed to galvanise the group into action, twice as many men
offering to help as were needed, and in another few minutes, to the
owner's delight, the boat was turned over, with the iron-plated keel
settling down in the fine shingle and the rough inner workmanship
showing in the dim twilight.
"Now," cried Tom, "just that drop o' pitch. Power it in, messmet.
That's your sort. It'll soon cool. Now, then, I'll just stick a bit or
two of board acrorst there, Master Aleck, to protect that pitch; and
then we'll say done."
"And time it was done, Tom," said Aleck, impatiently. "Look, you've
tired everybody out!"
Tom looked round, and laughed softly.
"Yes," he said, as he noted how to a man the fisher folk had begun to
saunter away. "I see. They've been all on the fidget to go for the
last half-hour."
"And no wonder; but they might have waited a bit longer, to launch her."
"She arn't ready to launch yet, my lad, and she'll be all the better for
waiting till that pitch is well cooled. Besides, in less than an hour
the tide'll be up all round her, and we can shove her off oursens."
"Oh, yes, of course; and as we have to go in the dark I suppose it
doesn't matter to an hour."
"That's what I've been a-thinking of, Master Aleck. But, I say, do you
know why they wanted to be off?"
"Hungry, I suppose."
"Nay! Not them. They're suspicious."
"What of?"
"Why, didn't you see how they kep' one eye on the man-o'-war out
yonder?"
"Yes, of course."
"Well, what does that mean? They've made up their minds as boats'll
come in from the sloop arter dark just to see in a friendly way if they
can't pick up a few likely lads to sarve the King."
"From the smugglers who are hanging about?" said Aleck, eagerly, as he
recalled what had passed between him and Eben Megg that afternoon.
"Smugglers, or fishermen, or anyone else. All's fish that comes into a
press-gang's net--'cept us, Master Aleck. They wouldn't take a young
gent like you, and I should be no good to 'em now, sir," continued the
poor fellow, with a ring of sadness in his voice, which gave place to a
chuckle as he added, "unless they kep' me aboard the man-o'-war to poke
my pins down the scupper holes to keep 'em from being choked. These
here two bits o' thin board I'll nail in close together, and then we'll
let the water come up all round and harden the pitch. Just you rake
them ashes together, Master Aleck, so as not to let the fire go quite
out. I shan't be above half an hour now, and then I shall want a light
for my pipe, and by the time I've done that you'll be back again."
"Back again? I'm not going away."
"Oh, yes, you are, Master Aleck; you're going up to the little shop
yonder to get a noo crusty loaf and a quarter of a pound o' cheese."
"Oh, I can't eat now, Tom," said the lad, impatiently.
"Can't yer, sir?" said Tom, with a grin. "Well, I can--like fun--and if
you'll buy what I says I'll teach you how."
"Oh, of course, Tom. How thoughtless of me! I've been so anxious; but,
of course, you must be very hungry! I'll go and get some bread and
cheese. And you'd like a mug of beer, wouldn't you?"
"Well, Master Aleck, I wouldn't say no to a drop if it was here."
"I'll go at once, Tom, without you want me to hold the boards while you
nail them."
"All right, sir. Nay, nay, don't make a blaze. Just rake the ashes
together; any little ember will do to light my pipe. I say, Master
Aleck, we haven't had a single boy nigh us."
"No, not one. How strange!"
"Not it, sir. Just shows as they all know about the boat, and whose
game it was."
Aleck hurried off and obtained the simple provisions needed, and
returned to find the last nails being driven triumphantly into the boat.
"There you are, Master Aleck," cried Tom, "and I warrant she won't leak
a spoonful. There's the tide just beginning to lap up round the stern,
so we'll get the rudder on again, step the mast, and put all ship-shape
ready for a start, and if it's all the same to you I'll just light up my
pipe at once, and smoke it as we get the tackle back in its place."
"Go on, then," said Aleck, and, after filling the bowl of his pipe, the
sailor went to the glowing embers of the fire, one of which he picked up
with his hardened thumb and finger, lit the tobacco, and began smoking
away.
His first act was to scoop up a little water in the boat's baler and
extinguish the fire.
"Too hot as it is, Master Aleck. We can feel the way to our mouths, and
I'm allus mortal feared of sparks blowing about among boats and sheds."
The shipping of the rudder, the stepping of the mast, and fastening of
the boat's grapnel to the ring-bolt followed. Then oars, boat-hook, and
ropes were laid in, and the pair seated themselves in the darkness, to
begin discussing their much-needed meal, listening the while to the
whispering and lapping of the water, Aleck thinking anxiously of how
uneasy his uncle would be.
"How soon shall we be able to start, Tom?" he said.
There was a strange sound which made Aleck start.
"What?" he cried. "What's the matter?"
"Beg pardon, Master Aleck; couldn't say it no better. Mouth was full o'
hard crust."
"How long before we start?"
"Good hour, sir. There's a lot o' shallow yonder."
"Oh!" cried Aleck, impatiently. "Let's get some of the fishermen to
come and launch us."
"I don't think you'd find anyone as would come, sir. They're all lying
low somewhere for fear o' the press-gang."
"Nonsense! Here they come, a lot of them, to get us off."
"Why, so they be," grumbled Tom, in a disappointed way. "Can't see no
faces, but--Master Aleck," he whispered, sharply, "it's them!"
"Well, I said so," began Aleck, impatiently; but he got no farther, the
words being checked by a feeling of astonishment. For a voice suddenly
exclaimed:
"Quick, lads; surround!" and a hand was laid sharply upon the lad's
collar, while two men grappled Tom.
"Now, then," he growled, "what is it?"
"Hold your noise, or you'll have a fist in your mouth," said a sharp
voice. "Who are you?"
"Name Bodger. AB, King's Navee. Pensioner for wounds. See?"
It was dark, but the shooting out of Tom's wooden legs at right angles
to his body from where he sat was plain enough to all of the group of
well-armed sailors who surrounded the boat.
"What are you doing here?"
"Eating my supper; been mending our boat."
"Then who is this?" said the same sharp voice.
"My young master. We got a hole in the boat's bottom and had to put in
for repairs."
"That's right enough, sir; here's the oakum and tools. Been a fire.
Here's the little pitch kettle."
"O' course it's right, messmets. What's yer game--press-gang?"
"Hush!" whispered the commanding voice. "You're an old sailor?"
"Nay, not old, your honour," said Tom. "Thirty-two, all but the legs I
lost. They warn't so old by some years."
"A joker, eh? Well, look here, my lad. We're on duty, and it's yours
as an ex-Navy man to help. Where are the fishermen? There seem to be
none hanging about the cliff."
"I d'know, your honour; up at the publics, p'raps, in the town."
"There's a party of smugglers here to-night?"
"Is there, sir? Running a cargo?"
"You know they are."
"That I don't, your honour. I haven't seen one."
Just at that moment there was the sound of yelling, and a couple of
shots were fired. Then more shouts arose, and a shrill whistle was
heard.
"Answer that, bo'sun," cried the officer in command of the party, and a
shrill chirping sound seemed to cut the night air. "Now, my lads,
forward!"
"One minute," cried Aleck. "We want to get afloat. Tell your men to
give my boat a shove off."
"Hang your boat!" cried the officer, angrily. "Keep together, my lads.
Yes, all right; we're coming."
The party went off after their leader at a run, for another sharp
whistle rang out at a distance.
"Well, he might have been civil," said Aleck.
"Haw! haw! haw! Fancy your asking a luff-tenant on duty that, Master
Aleck!" said Tom, laughing, and talking with his mouth full, for he had
recommenced his unfinished meal.
"It wouldn't have hurt him," said Aleck. "Here, leave off eating, Tom,
and let's get away from here. I don't want to be mixed up with this
horrid business."
"'Tis horrid, sir, to you, but I got used to it," said the man, rolling
off the side to begin swaying the boat, Aleck leaping out on the other
side.
"No good, sir. She's fast for another half-hour. Tide rises very
slowly round here."
"Then we shall have to stop here and listen. Hark, that's glass
breaking. People struggling too. I say, Tom, try again; push hard."
"Hard as you tells me, sir; but it's no good--her deep keel's right down
in this here fine shingle. We must wait till the tide lifts her."
The sailor stopped short to listen, for the noise which came to them on
the still night air increased. Hoarse voices ringing out defiance,
savage yells and curses, mingled with the shrieks and appeals of angry
women, smote upon the listeners' ears, and Aleck stamped one foot with
impatient rage.
"Oh, Tom," he cried, "I can't bear it. I never heard anything of this
kind before."
"And don't want to hear it again, sir, o' course. Well, it arn't nice.
I didn't like it till I got used to it, and then I didn't seem to mind."
"How brutal!" said Aleck, angrily. "Hark at that!"
"I hear, sir. That's some o' the fishermen's wives letting go."
"Yes; and you speak in that cool way. Aren't you sorry for them?"
"Nay, sir; not me. I'm sorry for the poor sailor boys."
"What!" cried Aleck, angrily. "Tom, I didn't think you could be so
brutal."
"You don't understand, sir. That's the women shouting and screaming as
they give it to the press-gang. It's the sailors gets hits and
scratches and called all sorts o' names, and they're 'bliged to take it
all. But, my word, there's getting to be a shindy to-night and no
mistake. Let's try again to get the boat off!"
They tried; but she was immovable, save that they could rock her from
side to side.
"We'll do it in another ten minutes, Master Aleck, and then we'd better
row till we're outside the harbour. Hark at 'em now! That's not the
women now; that's the men. I say, I b'lieve there's a good dozen o' the
smuggling lot about the town, Master Aleck, but I hadn't seen one. Did
you catch sight o' any on 'em?"
"I saw Eben Megg," said the lad.
"And he's about the worst on 'em, Master Aleck. Well, it strikes me his
games are up for a bit. He's a wunner to fight, and he'll stick to his
mates; but they won't beat the press-gang off, for when they want men
and it comes to a fight it's the sailors who win. Well, it'd do young
Megg good. He's too much of a bully and rough 'un for me. Fine-looking
chap, but thinks too much of hisself. Make a noo man of him to be
aboard a man-o'-war for a few years."
"Pst, Tom! Listen! They're fighting up at the back there."
"And no mistake, my lad."
For fresh shouts, orders, and another whistle rang out, followed by what
was evidently a fierce struggle, accompanied by blows, the sounds as
they came out of the darkness being singularly weird and strange.
"Let's get away, Tom," said Aleck, huskily; "it's horrible to listen to
it."
"Yes, sir. Heave away, both together. Now, then, she moves. No, she's
as fast as ever."
"Oh!" groaned Aleck, striking both hands down with a loud smack upon the
boat's gunwale and then stopping short as if paralysed, for there were
quick steps, then a rush, evidently up the nearest narrow way among the
sheds.
Then all was silence, and a sharp voice cried:
"Halt there! Surrender, or I fire."
A rush followed the command, and then a pistol shot rang out, Aleck
seeing the flash; but the shot did not stop the man who received the
command. As far as Aleck in his excitement could make out he rushed at
and closed with him who tried to stop him, when a desperate struggle
ensued as of two men wrestling upon the cobble stones, their hoarse
panting coming strangely to the listeners' ears.
All thought of launching the boat was swept away by the excitement of
listening to the struggle, which grew more painful as the voice that had
uttered the command rose again in half-stifled tones:
"This way, lads; help!"
A dull thud followed, as of a heavy blow being delivered, followed by a
fall and the rush of footsteps again, but this time over the loose
shingle, and the next minute a dimly-seen figure approached, running
straight for the water.
But instead of the man running into the harbour, he turned sharp to his
left on catching sight of the boat and staggered up to it.
"Who's that?" he said, hoarsely. "You, Tom Bodger--Master Aleck? Here,
quick, sir; for the love of heaven save a poor fellow! It's the
press-gang. Got five on us. Help, sir! Shove off with me. I'm too
dead beat to swim."
"I can't help you, Eben. I dare not," cried Aleck. "What could I do?"
"Oh! but, Master Aleck--hark! there's more coming!"
"I tell you I can't. I dare not. They're the King's men, and--"
"Where are you, your honour?" came out of the darkness, to be answered
by a groan and a feeble attempt at a whistle.
"This way, lads," rang out, and there was the rush of feet and a deeper
groan.
"Eben, you've killed the officer," whispered Aleck, in his horror.
"I was on'y fighting for my liberty, master," whispered the man,
hoarsely. "Master Aleck, you don't like me, I know. I'm a bad 'un, I
s'pose; but there's my young wife and the little weans yonder waiting
for me, and when they know--"
The great rough fellow could say no more, but choked.
"Run for it, then," said Aleck; "wrong or right, we'll try and cover
you."
"It's no good, sir," whispered the man; "there's no end of 'em
surrounding us, and I'm as weak now as a rat."
He caught Aleck's hand, as the lad thought, to cling to it imploringly,
but the next moment he held it to his forehead, and it was snatched away
in horror, for the man had evidently been cut down and was bleeding
profusely.
"He's wounded badly, Tom," whispered Aleck, excitedly. "We must help
him now."
"Ay, ay, sir," said Tom, gruffly.
"Ah, the boat! The boat!" panted the smuggler.
"In with you then," said Aleck.
"Nay, nay," whispered Tom. "She arn't afloat, Eben Megg. Here, lay yer
weight on to her if yer can't shove."
"Hi! hallo there!" cried a voice from the direction where the struggle
had taken place.
In response there was the sound of the boat's keel grating on the
water-covered shingle, and the smuggler pressed close up to Aleck's
side.
"Do you hear there?" came from the same quarter. "In the King's name,
stand!"
"Lay yer backs into it," grunted Tom. "Shove, my lads, shove!"
"Come on, my lads! We must have them, whoever they are," came from
apparently close at hand.
"Ah, look sharp! There's a boat."
"Now for it," whispered Tom, and as he grunted hard the boat began to
glide from shingle and water into water alone, while as Aleck thrust
with all his might, knee-deep now, he felt the boat give way, and then
it seemed to him that the smuggler sank down beside him, making a feeble
clutch at his clothes and uttering a low groan.
Aleck's left hand acted as it were upon its own responsibility, closing
in the darkness upon Eben's shirt and holding fast, while the lad's
right hand held up the boat's gunwale.
The next moment he felt himself drawn off his feet and being dragged
through the water, in which the boat was jerking and dancing as if to
shake itself free.
It was too dark to see, but this is what was taking place. As the party
of three were trying their best to get the little yawl afloat the
shingle clung fast to its keel and very little progress was made,
although Tom Bodger thrust and jerked at it with all his might, more
like a dwarf than ever, for his wooden legs went down in the wet shingle
at every movement, right to the socket stumps; but at last, when their
efforts began to appear to be in vain, a little soft swell rolled in,
just as a rush was being made by the press-gang, the boat lifted astern,
and as the water passed under it, literally leaped up forward, shaking
itself free of the clinging sand and stones, and, yielding to the three
launchers, glided right away.
It was none too soon. Aleck was holding on upon one side nearly
amidships, while Tom on the other side let the gunwale glide through his
hands till they were close to the bow, and then holding on fast with
both hands he made one of his jumps or hops, to add impetus to the
boat's way and get his breast over the bow and scramble in.
His bound--if it could be so-called--was very successful, for the next
moment he was balanced upon his chest across the gunwale, gripping at
the edge of the fore-locker, with his legs sticking out behind, and
exulting over the sensation of the boat dancing under him, when he felt
himself seized by one of the press-gang party, who had dashed in after
the boat and made a grab at the first thing that offered in the dark.
The sailor was unlucky in his hold, but no wonder, for the darkness gave
him no opportunity of making any choice, and as it happened he gripped
one of Tom's pegs with his right and followed it up by clapping his left
hand alongside, trying hard to drag his prisoner out or to stop the
boat.
As aforesaid he was unlucky, for he was to suffer an entirely new
experience. Had he grasped an ordinary human leg in the black darkness
he would only have had a jerking kick or two, and most probably he would
have held on, but here it was something very different.
"Got 'em!" he cried, loudly. "Come on!" and then he was smitten with a
strange surprise, and also with something else.
For Tom Bodger, as he lay balanced upon the lower part of his chest,
half in and half out of the boat, had got his fingers well under the
side of the locker and was holding on with all the strength of his horny
fingers.
"Ah, would yer!" he roared, as he felt himself seized, and, unable to
kick for want of yielding joints, he began to work his stumps, to his
holder's horror, like a pair of gigantic shears gone mad. The one that
was free struck the sailor a sounding rap on the ear and made him
release his hold of the prisoned piece of timber for the moment, and
when he splashed after the boat, after recovering from his surprise, and
made another grab, the second free peg caught him on the arm like a blow
from a constable's truncheon. The sailor uttered a yell for help, but
it was cut short by a blow on each side of his neck as Tom's legs
snapped together, and then he fell forward with a splash and was helped
out by a couple of his mates, who stood, waist-deep, gazing into the
darkness after the boat.
"Where are yer, my lads?" panted Tom, as he progressed over the side
like a huge toad.
"Help! Help!" came from his right, and with the boat rocking from side
to side he felt about along the gunwale till his hand came in contact
with Aleck's fingers, clinging desperately to the edge of the boat.
"Got yer," said Tom, gripping the lad's wrist and hanging over the side
to speak. "Can't yer hold on while I get an oar out and move her a bit
furder away?"
"No. Help me in," said Aleck, huskily.
"Right, sir. Here, let me get my hands under yer arms, and I'll heave
yer in. I say, wheer's Eben Megg?"
"Out here. I've got hold of him."
Tom Bodger whistled softly in his astonishment.
"Hold tight on him, my lad," he growled; and then putting forth his
great strength of arm and back, he raised Aleck right over the boat's
side, and as Eben was drawn close in, loosened the former and got tight
hold of the latter.
"Can yer shift for yourself now, Master Aleck?" he whispered.
"Yes; but have you got Eben?"
"Ay, ay! Got him fast. Out o' my way."
The next minute the smuggler lay perfectly inert at the bottom of the
boat and Aleck was passing an oar over the stern and beginning to scull.
"Get another oar out, Tom," he whispered, "or they'll have us yet."
"Ay, ay!" was growled, softly.
But it was too loud, for a voice close at hand shouted:
"Now, then, you in the boat, it's of no use. Surrender, in the King's
name!"
The splashing made by the oars ceased, and Tom put his lips close to
Aleck's ear.
"You arn't going to surrender, are yer, Master Aleck?"
"No; use your oar as a pole, and get us farther away."
"Do you hear there?" cried another voice. "Heave-to, or I'll fire."
"All gammon, Master Aleck; I know. Don't believe they've got any
pistols."
"There was a shot fired," said Aleck.
"Orficer's, p'raps, sir. Here, I can't do no good a-poling; it's
getting deeper here."
"Scull then," said Aleck; "and be careful. They've got boats
somewhere."
Just then there was a flapping noise, which gave them a turn.
"What's that?" said Aleck, sharply.
"Wind got the sail loose," said Tom. "There's a nice breeze coming on.
Shall I shake out a reef or two of the sail, sir?"
"Yes, if you think we can see to steer?"
"Dunno about that, sir. We must go gently, and feel."
The next few minutes were devoted to preparations for spreading a
portion of the canvas to the light breeze, as they listened to hail
after hail from the shore; and then, as they began to glide softly
along, one of the hails from the shore bidding them heave-to was
answered from round to their right.
"Ay, ay, sir!"
"Keep a sharp look out for a boat somewhere off here. Three prisoners
in her escaping."
"My hye!" muttered Tom Bodger. "That's nice. Resisting the law too.
Strikes me as we're going to be in a mess."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
Aleck, in the midst of his excitement in his novel position, had
somewhat similar thoughts to those of his rough sailor companion. For
what was he doing, he asked himself--resisting the King's men performing
a duty--for a duty it was, however objectionable it might be--and
helping a man they were trying to impress. Worse still, trying to
secure the liberty of a well-known smuggler, one of the leading spirits
in as determined a gang as existed on the coast.
It was that appeal for the sake of the wife and children that had turned
the scale in Eben's favour, and, as Aleck argued now to himself as they
glided steadily over the waters of the outer harbour, what was done was
done, and to hang back now would mean capture and no mercy, for he would
probably find himself bundled aboard the sloop-of-war and no heed paid
to his remonstrances.
"Say, Master Aleck," was suddenly whispered to him, "I hope Eben Megg
arn't going to die."
"Die? Oh, Tom, no. I forgot all about his cut head. We must tie it
up."
"Tied up it is, sir, wi' my hankychy, but he's got a nasty cut on the
head. Ah, it's bad work resisting the law, for lawful it is, I s'pose,
to press men."
"Don't talk so loud. Feel Eben's head, and find out whether it has
stopped bleeding."
"Did just now, sir, and it about hev. But, I say, Master Aleck, I'm all
in a squirm about you."
"About me? Why?"
"You see, we don't know hardly which way to turn, and I expects every
minute to be running into one o' the man-o'-war boats."
"Well, if we do we do; but I think we can get right out, and it won't be
so dark then."
"I b'lieve there's a fog sattling down, sir, and if there is we shall be
ketched as sure as eggs is eggs. I'm sorry for you, my lad, and I
s'pose I'm sorry for Eben Megg, though we arn't friends. Bit sorry,
too, for myself."
"Oh, they can't hurt you, Tom."
"Can't hurt me, sir? Why, they'll hev me up afore the magistrits, and
cut me shorter than I am."
"Nonsense!" said Aleck, with a laugh. "They don't behead people now,
and even if they did they wouldn't do it for helping a pressed man to
escape."
"Tchah! I don't mean that way, my lad. I mean chop off my pension,
and--"
"Pst!"
Unwittingly they had been slowly sailing right for one of the sloop's
boats, and their whispers had been heard, for from out of the darkness,
and apparently a very little way off, came a hail and an order to stop.
"Shall us stop, sir?" said Tom.
"Stop going that way. Helm down, Tom," whispered Aleck; and the little
sail swung over and filled on the other side, the water rippling gently
under their bows. Otherwise it was so silent that they could hear
whispers away to their right, followed by a softly given order, which
was followed by the dip, dip, dip, dip of oars, and they glided so
closely by the rowers that Aleck fancied he could see the man-o'-war's
boat.
A couple of minutes later they tacked again, and were sailing on, when
all at once Aleck whispered, as he leaned over his companion:
"That must be the low line of the fog bank, Tom. Look how black it is!"
"Where, sir?"
"Over where I'm pointing," replied Aleck.
"By jinks!" growled Tom, excitedly, shifting the rudder and throwing the
wind out of the sail, which flapped for a bit and then once more filled
on the other tack.
"What was it, Tom?"
"What was it, my lad? Why, that warn't no fog bank lying low on the
water, but the harbour wall. Why, we should ha' gone smash on it in
another jiffy, stove in, and sunk, for there's no getting up the place
this side."
"Are you sure it was?"
"Sartain. We're all right, though, now, and it's done us good, for I
know where we are, and I think we can get away now unless the boat's
headed us once more."
"Keep her away a little more then. Ah! Hark at Eben! He sounds as if
he's coming to."
The smuggler was very far from being dead, for he muttered a few words,
and then all at once they heard the backs of his hands strike the boat
sharply, while to their horror he yelled out the word "Cowards!"
Tom Bodger was active enough, in spite of his misfortune, as he
abundantly proved--perhaps never more so than on this occasion--when
again, with almost the action of a toad, he leaped right upon the
smuggler, driving him back just as he was trying to rise, and covering
his face with a broad chest and smothering his next cries.
Then Aleck grew more horrified than ever, for a tremendous struggle
began, the smuggler, evidently under the impression that he was in the
hands of the press-gang, fighting hard for his liberty, bending himself
up and calling to his companions for help. But his voice sounded dull
and stifled, and in spite of his strength Tom's position gave him so
great an advantage that he was able to keep him down.
"Mind, mind, Tom," whispered Aleck; "you are smothering him."
"And a precious good thing too, Master Aleck. He'll say thankye when he
knows. Why, if I let him have his own way he'd--lie still, will yer?--
want to have the press-gang down upon us. Lookye here, messmet, if you
don't lie quiet I'll make Master Aleck come and sit on yer too."
"But I'm afraid, Tom."
"So'm I, my lad. Pretty sort o' onreasonable beggar. Asts us to save
him from the King's men, and when we've got him off, kicking up such a
fillaloo as this to show 'em where we are. I arn't got patience with
him, that I arn't."
The man struggled again so violently that he got his hand on one side,
making the boat rock and Tom Bodger grunt in his efforts to keep his
prisoner down.
"It's no good, Master Aleck," he whispered, hoarsely; "if I'd got my
legs I could twist 'em round him and keep him still; but there's no grip
in a pair of wooden pegs. Come and sit on his knees and help keep him
quiet. Lash the helm, sir. She'll run easy enough then."
But at this the smuggler suddenly ceased his desperate efforts to get
free, and lay perfectly still.
"He's turned over a noo leaf, Master Aleck, and p'raps I shall manage
him now. I say, wish I hadn't put them two pieces o' board over the
pitch; he's got it just under his back, and it would have helped to hold
him still."
"Who's that?" said the smuggler, hoarsely.
"It's me, what there is left on me," growled Tom. "Great ugly rough
'un. Best thing you can do will be smuggle me a noo blue shirt from
Jarsey."
"Tom Bodger?"
"Tom Bodger it is."
"Why are you sitting on me? I thought--"
"You thought," growled Tom, scornfully. "What right's a chap like you
to think?"
"But I thought the press-gang had got me."
"Well, I was pressing on yer as hard as I could to keep yer from
shouting and flying out of the boat. Here's Master Aleck and me getting
oursens into no end o' trouble to keep you out o' the press-gang's
hands, and you begins shouting to 'em to come and take you."
"I'm very sorry, mate. I s'pose I was off my head a bit--seemed to wake
up out of a bad dream about fighting. Yes, that's it; I recollect now.
Where's the gang?"
"Cruising about trying to find us."
"It's so dark. Where are we?"
"Somewheers out beyond the pier head, and it's all as black as the
inside of a barrel o' pitch. Keep quiet; don't talk so loud."
"No, mate," said the smuggler, petulantly; "but I'm not quite myself. I
got a crack on the head from something; I've been bleeding a bit. But,
tell me, are we safe?"
"Dunno yet. Hope so."
"Am I lying in Master Aleck's boat?"
"Yes, on yer back," growled Tom. "Are yer comfy? I put in a nice noo
bit o' pine board 'sevening for yer to lie on."
"No; of course I'm not comf'table with you sitting on me."
"Course you arn't. Think I am with that great brass buckle o' yourn
sticking in the bottom o' my chest?"
"Is Master Aleck there?" said the smuggler, after a short pause.
"Yes, I'm here, Eben, steering."
"Ah, I can see you now, sir."
"No, yer can't," growled Tom, "so none o' your lies. Just because you
want to be civil to the young master."
"I tell you I can see him quite plain. Think I've got eyes like a
mole?"
"Look out then, and tell us where we are."
"How can I look out with my head down here?"
"Let him get up, Tom," said Aleck.
"Easy, Master Aleck. Let's make sure first as he won't go off his head
again."
"I shan't go off my head again now I'm safe, stoopid," cried the
smuggler, angrily. "Master Aleck, sir, thankye kindly for helping a
poor desprit fellow. I can't say much, but my poor little wife'll say:
`Gord bless yer for this for the sake of our weans.'"
"There, don't talk about it, Eben; only let it be a lesson to you not to
go smuggling any more. Do you bear?"
"Yes, sir, I hear; but this hadn't nothing to do with running a cargo or
two. We was unlucky enough to be in Rockabie, and someone has sold us
to the press-gang. Warn't you, were it, mate?"
"Get out!" growled Tom; "is it likely?"
"No. Someone did, but I don't believe it was old Double Dot, Master
Aleck."
"And you believe I didn't, now?"
"B'lieve yer? Yes, sir; and I'll never forget this night."
"Look here," growled Tom, "hadn't you and him better be quiet, Master
Aleck? You're both talking very fine about saving and gettin' free and
never forgettin', and all the time there's boats out arter us and they
may be clost up for all I can say. It's about the darkest night I was
ever out in."
"Let me get up, mate, and have a look round," said the smuggler.
"Think he's safe, Master Aleck?"
"Oh, yes, of course. Let him get up and try if he can make out where we
are."
"But I can't get him down again if he goes off his head, sir, and tries
to turn us out of the boat."
The smuggler uttered a low, mocking laugh.
"Bit too strong for yer, eh, Tommy?"
"Ay; but you wouldn't be if I was all here. There; get up then."
Tom's legs rattled on the planks of the boat as he rolled himself off
and stood up and listened to the smuggler with a low, deep sigh as he
sat up, tried to stand, and sat down again in the bottom of the little
craft.
"Bit giddy," he said, apologetically; "things seems to swim round."
He had put his hands up to his head as he spoke. Then suddenly:
"Who tied my head up with a hankychy?"
"I did," growled Tom, surlily, "and just you mind as your missus washes
it out and irons it flat for you to give it me agen next time you comes
to Rockabie."
"I will, mate," said the smuggler, quietly. "There," he added, after
drawing a long, deep breath, "I'm beginning to come right again. Yes,
it is a bit dark to-night," he added, after staring about him for a
minute or two. Then, uttering a sharp ejaculation, "Here, quick, put
your helm hard up, Master Aleck. Quick, my lad; can't you see where
you're going?"
"No," said Aleck, obeying the order quickly, with the result that the
sail began to flap, while, as it filled again and the boat careened in
the opposite direction, there was a dull, hissing, washing sound,
followed by a slap and a hollow thud, as if a quantity of water had been
thrown into a rift.
"Where are we?" said Aleck, who felt startled.
"Running clear now, sir; but in another moment you'd ha' been right on
the East Skerries."
"What!" cried Tom.
"Don't holler, mate," said the smuggler, drily. "Mebbe there's one o'
the man-o'-war's boats."
"Running right on the East Skerries! Right you are, messmet. That was
the tide going into the Marmaid's Kitchen. Here, I feel as if I'd never
been to sea and took bearings in my life, Master Aleck!"
"Yes; what is it?"
"Don't you never trust me again."
"But do you mean to say that you can't see those rocks just abeam, Tom
Bodger?"
"Not a rock on 'em, messmet; but I can hear the bladder-wrack washing in
and out."
"But you, Master Aleck?"
"I can see it looks a little darker there," replied the lad, "and a
little lighter lower down."
"Well, it's amazin', sir. I can see 'em quite plain. I s'pose my eyes
must be a little better than yourn through being out so much of a
night."
"Smuggling, Eben?" said Aleck, quietly.
The man laughed softly, and, standing up now, holding on by one of the
stays, he shaded his eyes and looked about him for some time.
"There's the riding lights of the two King's ships," he said, half
aloud, "but I can't see the boats. They'd be giving the rocks about
here a wide berth, and you pretty well left 'em behind, Master Aleck.
Now, sir, what are you going to do?"
"Run home, of course," said Aleck.
"Round outside the point, sir?"
"Of course."
"You'd save a good two miles by running close to shore and inside the
big island and the point."
"But the rocks?"
"You could steer clear of them, sir."
"But you mean run through the narrows--through the channel?"
"Of course, sir."
"Oh, it couldn't be done," said Aleck, excitedly.
"Easy enough at high water, sir; and that's what it'll be in another
hour."
"Have you ever done it, Eben?"
"Often, sir, and in a bigger boat than this."
"Could you steer us safe through?"
The smuggler laughed.
"My father taught me to do it, sir, when I was a little boy."
"It would save an hour?"
"Quite, sir."
"What do you say, Tom? Would you go?"
"Me, sir? I'd go anywhere as Eben Megg dared to steer."
"But it is so dark," said Aleck, hesitating.
"The breaking water makes it lighter, sir, and the sea brimes to-night
out yonder. Look, we're getting to where it flashes, where it breaks!"
"To be sure; it's beginning, too, where the boat cuts the water. Come
and take the helm then. But, stop; what about the wind?"
"Westerly, sir, and blowing astern of us all the way through."
"Then we will go, Tom. Why, no man-o'-war boat dare follow us there."
"That they won't, sir," said Tom, decidedly. "I say, messmet, what do
you say to a couple o' reefs in the sail?"
"Let her be," said the smuggler, taking his seat by Aleck, who handed
him the little tiller. "There, sir, you may say good-bye to the
press-gang boats now. I daresay they'll be hanging about on their way
to their ship, but we shall hug the rocks in and out all along."
All talking ceased now, and in his new-found confidence in and
admiration of the smuggler's knowledge of the intricate ways between the
huge rocks that had from time to time become detached from the
tremendous cliffs, and stood up forming the stacks and towers frequented
by the myriads of sea-birds, the lad sat in silence watching the anchor
lights of the men-o'-war, which came into sight and then disappeared
again and again. Then, as they approached the wall-like cliffs, it
seemed to grow lighter low down where the tide rushed and broke in foam,
shedding a pale lambent glow, while deep down beneath them tiny points
of light were gliding along as if the whole universe of stars had fallen
into the sea and were illumining the dark depths below the boat.
There was a strange fascination, too, in the ride, as without hesitation
the smuggler turned the boat's head into channels where the tide rushed
like a mill-race close up to towering masses, and round and in and out,
threading the smaller skittle-like pieces, whose lower parts had been
fretting away beneath the action of the sea till the bottom was not a
third of the distance through near the top.
Tom, too, sat very silent for a long time, chewing a piece of pigtail
tobacco, evidently feeling perfectly comfortable about the smuggler's
knowledge of the coast.
At last, though, he found his tongue:
"I say, messmet, how's that head o' yourn?"
"Very sore, Tommy."
"Ay, it will be. Dessay you lost a lot o' blood."
"I believe I did," said the steersman.
"Well, you're a big, strong fellow, and it'll do you good. But, I say,
mind I has that hankychy back!"
"I won't forget, mate," said Eben, quietly. Then to himself, "I shan't
forget this night."
"I don't like Eben Megg, and I don't like smugglers in general," Tom
Bodger; "but human natur's human natur', even with old King's pensioned
men as oughtn't to; but if Eben comes to me with that there hankychy and
slips a big wodge of hard Hamsterdam 'bacco and a square bottle o' stuff
as hasn't paid dooty into my hands in the dark some night, what am I to
do? Say I can't take it? Well, I oughter, but--well, he arn't offered
the stuff to me yet."
The other occupants of the boat were thinking deeply during the latter
part of the sail. Aleck was wondering what his uncle would say, and
Eben Megg thinking of his future, and he was startled from his reverie
by Aleck, who suddenly said:
"What about the press-gang, Eben--do you think they will know you
again?"
"Hope not, sir; but I'm not very comf'table about it. Someone set 'em
on--someone as knows me; and, worse luck, they've got some of our
chaps."
"But they haven't caught you."
"Not yet, sir, but there's chaps as don't like me, and if they've been
pressed they'll be a-saying to-morrow morning as it arn't fair for them
to be took and me to get away. See?"
"Yes; but what difference will that make?" The smuggler laughed aloud.
"Only that they might put the skipper of the man-o'-war cutter up to
where he'd find me."
"But you had nothing to do with the cutter's men--that officer was from
the sloop?"
"Ay, sir; but they're all working together, and the cutter's skipper has
got a black mark against my name."
"Oh!" said Aleck, thoughtfully. "Then I suppose you'll go into hiding?"
"That's right, sir; but I shan't feel safe then. Eh, Tom Bodger?"
"Right, messmet; they'll be ferreting all along the coast arter yer.
Tell you what I should do if I was you."
"What?" said the man, eagerly.
"Have a good wash up in the morning, and then jump in a boat and go and
board the sloop like a man."
"What!"
"And then, says you, `I want to see the skipper,' you says, and as soon
as he comes on deck, `Here I am, your honour,' you says. `I warn't
going to let your men take me last night as if I were an enemy or a
thief; but if the King wants sailors, here I am, and I'll sarve him like
a man.'"
"Well done, Tom!" cried Aleck.
"Think so, Master Aleck?" said the smuggler. "Yes, it sounds very nice,
I suppose; but it won't do. I'm the wrong sort. Can't alter now."
"You know your own affairs best, Eben," said Aleck, quietly; "but I
expect they'll catch you, and then you'll be obliged to serve."
"I expecks so too, Master Aleck, but I mean to have a fight for it
first. There we are. P'raps you'd better take the tiller now and run
your boat into the gap. You know the way better than I do. You, too,
Tom Bodger."
The latter went forward, to stand boat-hook in hand, while, after
passing the tiller to the lad, Eben laid hold of the rope and loosened
it from the pin, ready to lower down the yard as soon as Aleck passed
the word.
The next minute the boat had been run into the narrow jaws of the great
chasm, the sail had been lowered, and after they had glided some
distance along, helped by the boat-hook deftly wielded by Tom Bodger,
the smuggler suddenly sprang out on to a shelf of rock at the side.
"What are you doing?" cried Aleck. "You can't get up there in the
dark."
"Can't I, sir? You wait, and I'll hail you from the top before you get
up to your mooring-rings."
The smuggler kept his word, a low farewell shout coming from on high,
and echoing in whispers right along the gap.
"Good-night or good morning!" he cried, and then he was gone.
"I couldn't have got up there even in daylight, Tom," said Aleck.
"Nor me nayther, sir. Might ha' done it once upon a time, but wooden
legs arn't the best kind o' gear for rock-climbing, sir, any more than
they are for manning the yards aboard ship; and that's why I was
pensioned-off."
"Yes, Tom; but what about you to-night?"
"Me, sir? I'm a-going to kiver mysen up with the sail and snooze away
in the bottom of the boat."
"Very well; and I'll bring you something to eat as soon as I get in."
"Thankye, sir; that's about the right sort for me, as I didn't make much
of a business over that there bread and cheese; and here we are!"
"Make her fast, Tom," cried Aleck, springing out. "I want to go and
explain to uncle. I wonder what he'll say," the lad continued, to
himself, as he hurried up the slope. "He can't be so very cross when he
knows all."
There was a candle burning in the kitchen window, evidently placed there
to light the wanderer on his return up the gloomy depression; and, after
glancing up at his uncle's room, to see that all was dark there, the lad
made for the kitchen door.
This was opened, and in a voluble whisper the housekeeper began:
"Oh, Master Aleck, I've been in sech a way about you! I made sure you'd
been and drownded yourself, and here have I been sitting hours, fully
expecting to see your white ghost coming up the dark path from off the
sea."
"Don't be disappointed," said Aleck, merrily; "but, tell me," he
whispered, "has uncle gone to bed?"
"Hours ago, my dear."
"Was he very angry because I hadn't come back?"
"He didn't say so, Master Aleck."
"But he asked if I'd come home?"
"Nay, he didn't."
"He went down into the boat harbour?"
"That he didn't, Master Aleck."
"Then he went up on the cliff to look out with the glass?"
"Nay; he's been writing his eyes out of his head almost, Master Aleck.
Wouldn't come down to his dinner nor yet to his tea, and I had to take
him up something on a tray, or else he wouldn't ha' eat a mossle. I
shall be glad when he's writ his book."
"Then he didn't know I hadn't come?"
"No, I don't believe he thought about you a bit."
"Hah!" sighed Aleck.
"But what have you been a-doing of, Master Aleck? Not fighting again,
have you?"
"You don't see any marks, do you?"
"Nay, I don't see no marks; but whatever did make you so late, Master
Aleck?"
"Someone broke a hole in the boat, and we had to mend it, that's all.
Now cut me some bread and ham for Tom Bodger down at the boat-shelter;
he's nearly starved."
The provender was willingly out and carried down, and soon after Aleck
lay dreaming over the adventures of the day.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
The next morning one of the first things that saluted Aleck's eyes on
making his way up to the look-out on the cliff, was the sloop-of-war
about a couple of miles out, sailing very slowly along, followed at a
short distance by the Revenue cutter, and the lad had not been watching
five minutes before he became aware of the fact that Ness Dunning's work
in the garden was at a standstill, that individual being laid flat upon
his chest watching the vessels' movements through a piece of pipe.
Away to the right on the cliffs, dotted about which lay Eilygugg, there
was a white speck here and a blue speck there, and a little more intent
gazing proved to the lad that there was another speck upon the edge of
the farthest cliff in view.
"Women on the look-out to give warning to the smugglers," thought Aleck,
and he hurried back to see if his uncle was down, and if he were not to
return to the cliff-top with the glass.
But the captain was just descending, and his first words were:
"That's right, my boy; let's have breakfast. By the way, did you get my
paper?"
This started the lad, who was crammed with his news, which he hurriedly
made known.
"Humph!" said the old man. "Rather a lively experience for you, my lad;
but you must be careful, for I don't want to have you in trouble over
helping smugglers to escape."
"No, uncle, of course not," said Aleck; "but do you think I did wrong?"
"Certainly, my boy. This fellow--ill-conditioned fellow Megg--was
fighting against the law. He was doubtless there on some business
connected with smuggling, and nearly got caught by the press-gang--an
institution I do not admire, but those in authority consider it a
necessity for the supply of the Navy. Keep away from all these worries,
and as much as possible from Rockabie and its young ruffians."
"Yes, uncle; but I really did not seek to be amongst all that business
in Rockabie yesterday," pleaded Aleck.
"Of course not, my boy, and you need not look so penitent. The law's
the law, of course, but I'm afraid if I had been appealed to as you were
last night I should have done the same, and given the scoundrel a good
talking to as I brought him away. There, have no more to do with it,
and keep out of sight if there are boats landed, as there most probably
will be, to make a search."
"But suppose the officers land and know me again, uncle?"
"There, there, I'm just in the midst of a tiresomely intricate chapter
of my book, and don't want to have my attention taken off."
"No, uncle, of course not; but if the officers and men know me again?"
"Why, let them, my lad. You were doing no harm, and they can do you
none. Now let's finish our breakfast."
"Shall I stay in, uncle?" said Aleck. "Tom Bodger slept down in the
boat last night, and I wanted to take him some breakfast."
"Go and take it then, of course."
"And then stay in?"
"No, no; nonsense. Now don't bother me any more."
"I won't get into any trouble," Aleck said to himself, as he hurried
out, armed with two huge sandwiches and a mug of well-sweetened coffee,
with which he got on pretty well going through the garden, hardly
spilling a drop, till he was startled by the voice of the gardener,
saying, from the other side, in anticipation:
"Thankye, Master Aleck. That's very good of yer."
That startling made the lad half stop, and about a tablespoonful of the
hot preparation flew out on to the path. But Aleck paid no attention,
not even turning his head, but increasing his pace, with the mug
troubling him a good deal in his efforts to preserve the liquid in a
state of equilibrium in a rapidly descending and very slippery and
uneven rocky path.
"I daresay you'd like it," muttered Aleck, as he hurried on, followed
directly after by:
"I'm over here, Master Aleck."
"Thank you for the information, Ness, but they say none are so deaf as
those who will not hear."
At the next zigzag of the path he was out of sight and hearing, and a
few minutes later close upon the niche devoted to his boat, with the big
sandwiches complete, and quite three parts of the coffee in the mug.
"Sorry to have been so long, Tom," he cried, breathlessly, "but here
you--"
Aleck was going to say _are_, but he felt that it would not be correct,
for Tom was not there, nor anywhere within sight down the narrow
waterway in the direction of the sea. He had left tokens of his
presence in the shape of tidy touches, for the boat tackle had all been
taken out and stowed away in the overhanging cavernous part, and the
boat lay ready for any amount of necessary repairs, for, in spite of the
sailor's declaration the previous evening, she had been leaking to such
an extent during the night since she had been tied up, that she was one
quarter full of water.
"Why, he ought to have stopped to mend the hole properly. Seen the
men-o'-war coming, I suppose, and gone back to Rockabie so as not to be
found if the sailors come searching here. But how stupid! What am I to
do with this coffee and bacon?"
A moment was sufficient for his decision, and he turned and hurried
back, made straight for the tool-house, where he placed the mug on the
bench, with the sandwiches carefully balanced across. Then, carefully
keeping out of the gardener's sight till the last minute, he turned down
a path which led him near, and then, putting his hands to his lips, he
shouted:
"Ness!"
"Yes, Master Aleck," came directly from where the man was making believe
to have been busy for hours.
"I've put some coffee and something to eat in the tool-shed," bellowed
Aleck. "Let him think what he likes," he muttered, as he ran back
indoors, obtained the glass, and was off again to make for the cliff and
watch the proceedings of the men-o'-war.
Their proceedings seemed to be nil, for both vessels were hove to, and
after watching them for a few minutes by means of the glass, Aleck
closed it, and hung about, undecided what to do.
A minute later he had made up his mind, for the cave in which the
smugglers' boats lay drawn up attracted him, and he was level with the
cottages and preparing to descend when it occurred to him that he had
better not go, for if Eben had been suspicious of his visit and ready to
think him guilty of giving information to the press-gang people and
Revenue men, it was quite possible that others there might be the same,
while doubtless the women who had lost son, husband, or father during
the past night would be in no pleasant temper to encounter.
So instead of descending, Aleck went on in the direction of the great
gap in the cliff where he had had so exciting an encounter with the
smuggler, intending to make for the shelf again so as to sit down and
watch the sloop and cutter, but only to find when he reached the place,
that the view in that direction was cut off by towering rocks.
Consequently he climbed back, went round the head of the deep combe, and
crept round to the other side, mounted to the top, and then stood
looking down into another of the great rifts in the coast-line, one
which had perpendicular sides, the haunt of wild fowl, going sheer down
to the water, which here came several hundred yards right into the land.
There were plenty of capital places here where a strong-headed person
could go and perch and excite no more notice than a sea-bird. They were
what ordinary inshore folk would have called "terribly dangerous," but
such an idea never occurred to Aleck, who selected one of the most
risky, in a spot where the vast wall where he stood was gashed by a
great crack, which allowed of a descent of some thirty feet to a broad
ledge littered by the preenings of the sea-birds, which seemed, though
none were present, to have made it their home.
It was a delightful spot for anyone who could climb to it without
growing giddy; but there was no going farther, for the angle of the
ledge was quite straight, and when the lad peered over he was looking
straight into the gurgling, foaming and fretting water a hundred feet
below.
"What a boat cove that would have made," he thought, "if there were not
so many sharp rocks rising from the bottom! I shouldn't like to try and
take my kittiwake in there, big as it is."
The gloomy place, with its black shadowy niches and caves at the surface
of the water, had a strange fascination for him. In fact, with its
solemn twilight and irregular crag, arch and hollow, it looked quite an
ideal entrance to some mermaid city such as is described by the poets
who deal in fable.
But there were the two little men-o'-war to watch, and Aleck drew back a
step or two from the edge to select a comfortable seat, where the colour
of the rock which rose up behind was likely to assimilate with his
garments and not throw him up as a plainly-seen watcher if a telescope
were directed shoreward from one of the vessels.
"I wonder whether the smugglers ever come here," thought Aleck, as he
looked at the face of the rock in a spot that just suited his purpose;
and then he laughed to himself and felt no doubt at all, for there, just
level with his face, and about eighteen inches within a crack in the
rock, a shabby old horn lanthorn was wedged, and just below it was a
tinder-box and a square wide-mouthed bottle, well corked, evidently to
protect its contents from the spray which would come rushing up from
below in a storm, the contents being so many thin slips of wood, whose
sharply-pointed ends had been dipped in molten brimstone.
"One of their look-outs," he said to himself, as he turned again to sit
down, but only to start and crouch upon his knees in surprise; for close
up to the rock wall, half hidden by a tuft of sea-pink and grey sea
holly, was a very old ragged black silk neckerchief, folded and creased
as if lately torn off, and bearing strange rusty dark stains, dry and
unpleasant-looking, and with very little consideration Aleck settled in
his own mind that, if it were not the kerchief Tom had torn from his
neck to wind round the smuggler's wound, it was as like it as could be.
It did not look a nice thing to take up and handle, but the lad bent
lower, before rising up to say, decisively:
"It must be, I'm sure, for I almost seem to know the holes. Then Eben
must have been here this morning watching for the press-gang people."
Another thought flashed across the lad's brain directly:
"Perhaps he's close by somewhere, watching me."
This thought produced a very uncomfortable feeling, and Aleck was
divided between two forces which pulled different ways. One was to--as
Tom Bodger called it--look out for squalls, the other to sit down quite
calm and unconcerned to watch the vessels.
"I can't help it if Eben does fancy I'm watching his proceedings; he
must feel that I should be longing to know what is going on. No, after
last night I'm sure he won't think I should make signals to the ships.
Why should I? There's nothing to signal about."
He focussed and re-focussed the glass, and held its larger end towards
the sloop and placed one eye at the little orifice; but the left would
not close and the right would not look at the sloop, but persisted in
rolling about in every direction in search of Eben, who, the boy felt
certain now, must be crouching back in one of the rugged clefts watching
every movement he made.
Aleck did the best he could to look calm and unconcerned, but anyone who
had seen him from near at hand would have pronounced it as being a
dismal failure.
Then all at once he started. Down went the glass, and he craned forward
towards the edge of the shelf to look down, for all at once there was a
hoarse rumbling sound and a tremendous plash and crash as if a mass of
rock had fallen from somewhere beneath him right into the rock-strewn
gully below.
He could not resist the desire to lie down upon his breast and edge
himself forward till his face was over the edge and he could look right
down into the water, which was all in motion, swaying and eddying,
foaming round the half-submerged blocks of weed-hung stone, and behaving
generally according to its custom as the tide went and came, for these
chasms displayed little change, the water being very deep and never
leaving any part of the bottom bare.
There was nothing fresh to see, and after a time the lad drew back, to
resume his old attitude with the glass to his eye.
But he had hardly settled down again before he experienced a slight
quivering sensation, as if the cliff had suddenly received a blow, while
directly after there was a deep roar as of stones falling along some
vast slope. Then once more silence, with the water whispering and
gurgling far below.
"Part of the cliff given way," thought Aleck, as he called to mind
places here and there where masses of the rocky rampart which guarded
the western shores had evidently fallen, and about which he had heard
traditionary stories. But these falls had taken place in far distant
times. No one that he had heard speak of them could go farther back
than chronicling the event as something of which "my grandfather heered
tell."
Aleck thought no more of the sounds and went on watching the two
vessels, till suddenly they seemed to be doing something in the way of
action. A boat was lowered from each, and the lad's glass was powerful
enough to enable him to make out the faces of the officers in the
stern-sheets, one of whom was the midshipman who had charge of the boat
at Rockabie pier.
Aleck watched the boats rowing shoreward and separating after a time,
one of the sloop's making for the Eilygugg cove, the other rowing in the
direction of the gap which led up to the depression in which lay the
Den.
Feeling that he would like to be at home if the boat entered their
private chasm, as the lad dubbed it, he turned back along the cliff and
reached the garden so as to descend to the mooring-place just in time to
see the cutter's boat framed in the opening, the dark rocks round and
above, and the little craft floating upon a background of opalescent sea
and sky.
"They can't have come right in," thought Aleck, and after a time he made
for the cliff again to get near the edge and look down, in time to see
that both boats were being rowed back to their respective vessels.
An hour after they were slowly gliding away in the direction of
Rockabie, their examination having been of the most perfunctory kind.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
"No, Master Aleck, not gone, as you may say, right off," replied Tom
Bodger, a few days later, as he adzed and planed and hammered away at
the kittiwake down in front of the natural boat-house. "They're
a-dodging of it, strikes me. King's skippers is artful when they wants
men. They just got enough of that smuggling lot aboard the sloop to
make the cap'n hungry for more, and, you mark my words, he'll keep away
so as to make the likely ones think they're safe, and then there'll come
a night when they'll find they arn't."
"Oh, I don't think so, Tom," said Aleck, opening a fresh packet of
glistening golden-hued copper nails. "I don't believe the press-gang
will come again."
"All right, Master Aleck, you go on thinking they won't, and I'll go on
thinking they will, and let's see who's right."
"But what makes you suspicious, Tom?"
"Old sperience, sir," said the man, with a grim smile. "I 'member how
we used to pick 'em up aboard the Hajax--`our Jacks,' as the lads used
to call her. That's just how our old skipper used to work it; and if I
were Eben Megg and didn't want to go to sea I should give up smuggling
and take to an inland job, where he warn't known, and then he'd be safe.
Ha! Them's the sort," he said, taking the fresh nails. "No rusting
about them coppery nails."
"No; but uncle says you're to be careful and not use so many, for
they're expensive, and you do seem to like to drive in as many as you
can."
"Now, you lookye here, Master Aleck," said the sailor, solemnly; "a
copper nail may mean a man's life. You put in a hiron one and after a
bit the sea water eats it all away. Soon as the nail's eat away up
starts a plank, in goes the water, and before you knows where you are
down goes your boat and a man's drowned. Copper nail costs a ha'penny,
p'raps, and if it's a big 'un, a penny. Well, arn't a man's life worth
more'n that?"
"Of course; but how long shall you be before you've done?"
"Finish this week, sir; and then she'll last for years. You know how it
was; soon as I ripped off that patch we found that a lot of her streaks
under the pitch was rotten, and there was nothing for it but to cut a
lot away and make a good job of it. Well, sir, we're making a good job
of it, and she'll be like a noo boat when I've done."
"Of course," said Aleck; "and uncle said you were to do it thoroughly."
"And thorough it is," said Tom. "I've took a lot o' time, but there's
been every bit to make good. Let's see; this makes a week and three
days I've been coming over reg'lar."
"Yes, Tom," said Aleck, laughing; "and what do you think Ness says?"
"Dunno, Master Aleck," said the sailor, passing his hand, as if
lovingly, over the well-smoothed sweet-smelling wood he was putting into
the boat. "Wants some beer?"
"Oh, of course," said Aleck; "but he said he could have mended the boat
up in half the time."
"Ah, he would," said Tom, drily. "Done it in two days, maybe, and first
time she was out in bad weather the sea would undo all his work in
quarter the time. Won't do, Master Aleck; boat-building's
boat-building, and it's all the same as ship-building--it means men's
lives, and them who scamps work like this ought to be flogged. Our old
chips aboard the Hajax, as I worked with as mate, used to say precious
ugly things about bad boat-building, and he'd say what he'd do to him as
risked men's lives by bad work. He taught me, Master Aleck, and I feel
like him. I'd rather be paid a score o' shillings for doing a
fortnight's good work than have it for doing a week's; and I'm going to
drive in as many o' these here best copper nails as I thinks'll be good
for the boat, and you're going to hold my big hammer agen their heads
while I clinch 'em. Then I shall feel as the boat's as safe as hands
can make it. And, as I said afore, if I was Eben Megg, I'd drop the
smuggling and go inland for a bit. That there sloop'll come into
harbour some night when she arn't expected; you see if she don't! They
was fine young men the skipper got the other night, and I say he'll try
for another haul."
"And I say," cried Aleck, "that if he does send his men he'll be
disappointed, for Eben and the other smugglers will be too foxy to let
themselves be surrounded as the men were at Rockabie the other night."
"Well, Master Aleck, so much the better for them."
Then Tom began hammering and clinching the soft copper nails as if he
loved his work, and as soon as the sun went down started off to trudge
across the moor to Rockabie, taking his time over the task and looking
as cheerful at the end as he did at the beginning of the long day.
Aleck had worked pretty hard, too, in the hot sun, and he was so drowsy
that night that he was glad enough to see his uncle, wearied out with
the writing, which seemed as if it would never come to an end, begin to
nod and doze, and suddenly rise up and say:
"Let's go to bed!"
Aleck hardly knew how he got undressed, but he did afterwards recall
going to the fully-open window and looking out at the dull night, as he
drank in the soft cool air, which seemed so welcome after a still,
sultry day.
Then he was asleep, dreaming of nothing, till about midnight, when his
brain became active and he fancied that he was back in the darkness by
the unlaunched boat at Rockabie, growing wildly excited as he listened
to the shouting and scuffling up one of the narrow lanes, followed by
firing and what seemed to be either an order or a cry for help.
The next moment the sleeper was wide awake, listening to what was
undoubtedly a shout, and it was followed by another, both far away, but
sounding clear on the night air, while from time to time came a dull
murmur as of several voices together.
"They're landing a cargo," thought Aleck, and with his mind full of
luggers lying off the coast, with boats going to and fro to fetch kegs,
chests and bales, he hurried on his clothes, dropped from his bedroom
window, hurried down the garden to the cliff path, and began to climb up
the zigzag.
The landing-place would no doubt be away to the west and below Eilygugg,
where the smugglers' fishing-boats lay, and as soon as he was up out of
the depression on to the level down, Aleck went off at a trot to get
right at the edge of the cliff, where, unseen, he calculated upon
getting a good view of what was going on by the light of, as he
expected, many lanthorns.
Before he was half way to the edge a thrill ran through him, for a wild
shrieking arose, beginning with one voice, and turning to that of
several.
"Oh, it's a wreck!" cried the lad, wildly, and he hurried on, hoping to
reach the way down to the boats and be of some use before it was too
late.
But as he ran on with throbbing heart and his breath growing short it
gradually dawned upon him that the shrieks were those of angry women
raging and storming, and this was soon confirmed, for there was the
gruff burr of men's voices in the distance, followed by a shout or two,
which sounded like the orders he had heard in his dream.
"Why, it's a fight," he cried, half aloud. "Tom Bodger's right; the
press-gang has landed again, but, instead of going to Rockabie, they've
come here."
He was as right as Tom Bodger, for at last when he made his way to the
edge of the cliff it was to look down on the lanthorns carried by three
boats, which were close up to the shingly patch of beach from which the
fishing craft put off.
As far as he could make out in the darkness, badly illumined by the
lanthorns, there was a desperate struggle going on in the shallow water
lying between the shingle and the boats.
For the first few moments it seemed to Aleck in his excitement that the
press-gang was being beaten off by the smugglers. Then he was puzzled,
for he could hear hoarse shouts and laughter, mingled with shrieks and
what seemed to be loud abuse in women's voices, followed by splashing in
the water as of struggles going on again and again.
After the last of these encounters the lights began to move outward in
obedience to an order given loudly from one of the boats; the regular
_dip-dip_ of oars came up, and then there was a rushing sound and a wild
passionate chorus of cries from the shore.
"I know," panted Aleck, with a feeling of angry indignation attacking
him. "They've taken and are carrying off some of the men, and the women
have been fighting to try and rescue them. Poor things, how horrible,
but how brave!"
He had confirmation of his surmises directly after, for there now rose
up to his ears a burst of sobbing cries in a woman's voice, followed by
confused eager talk from quite a party, who seemed to be trying to
comfort the weeping woman.
For a few moments there was a pause, during which in the deep silence
there was the regular dip of oars, and the lanthorns gently rose and
fell upon the smooth rollers of the tide. Then there was a cry which
went straight to Aleck's heart, so piteous and wailing were its tones:
"Oh, Eben! Eben! Come back, dear; come back!"
It reached him for whom it was intended, and was answered directly from
one of the boats in words which reached Aleck more clearly perhaps then
the listeners below him on the shore.
"All right, lass. Cheer up!"
The order had its effect, for a cheer given heartily in women's voices
was the result; but the lad's thoughts were active.
"Cheer up!" he said to himself. "How can the woman be cheerful with her
husband dragged away like that?"
The lights in the boats gradually grew more distant, while Aleck lay
thinking what he had better do, for the low eager murmur of voices down
below raised a feeling of commiseration in his breast, which made him
feel disposed to go down and try to say a few words of comfort to the
bereaved women, who had evidently been trying hard to save their
husbands. But he felt that he would only be able to act in a poor
bungling way and that the smugglers' people might look upon him as an
intruder and a spy. For though the Den was so short a distance from
Eilygugg, there had been very little intercourse, and that merely at
times when the help of the captain was sought in connection with some
injury or disease.
"They would likely enough turn on and begin fiercely at me," he thought.
"I can do no good;" and he lay still, wanting to get away, but afraid
to stir lest he should be heard.
"They'll go soon," he thought; and he waited patiently, watching the
lights gradually getting fainter and fainter as their distance from the
shore increased.
But the poor women seemed to have seated themselves just beyond reach of
the lapping waves, which kept on breaking regularly in the little cove,
and they, too, were watching the boat-lights till the last gleam had
died away and all was darkness as far as they could see.
Then a low sobbing was heard, half drowned at times by many voices
raised in angry protest, and mingled with threats.
This went on and on, rising, falling, and quite dying out at times, but
only to break out again, having a strange effect upon Aleck, who would
have given anything to get away unnoticed; but every now and then the
silence was so perfect that he felt confident of being heard if he made
the slightest movement, and consequently lay still.
"They'd be sure to look upon me as an intruder," he muttered, "and be
ready to resent my being here."
At last though the silence was broken by the trampling of feet amongst
the loose shingle, accompanied by a low murmured conversation, which was
continued up the gap and died out finally high up towards the cottages,
leaving the way for the listener clear.
Aleck took advantage of this, and, sad at heart, he was going slowly
back towards the Den, when suddenly became aware of steps coming from
the direction of the smugglers' scattered patch of cottages.
Whoever it was had approached so near and had come upon him so suddenly
that he obeyed his first impulse, which was to say, sharply:
"Who's that?"
"Eh? That you, Master Aleck?"
"Yes, it is I, Ness. What are you doing out here at this time of
night?"
"Mornin', arn't it, sir? Same as you, I s'pose. Who was to stop in bed
with press-gangs coming and dragging folkses off to sea?"
"Then you heard them?"
"Heerd 'em, yes, sir! I was that feared o' being took myself that I got
into hiding."
"You were not fighting, then?"
"Me? Fight? Not me! I lay low and listened."
"The press-gang landed and surprised the smugglers, then?"
"Yes, sir, and they've nabbed Eben Megg and six of his mates. Did yer
hear the women giving it to the sailors?"
"I heard something of it."
"They was fighting savage like to save their men, and the sailor chaps
was glad enough to get back to their boats; but they took Eben Megg and
half a dozen more along with 'em."
"You seem to know all about it, Ness," said Aleck, suspiciously.
"Me, Master Aleck? Well, you see, being such near neighbours like I
can't help hearing a deal. But it's bad work smuggling, and I keep as
clear of the folk as I can. Going home to bed?"
"Yes."
"That's right, sir. Best place, too, of a night. But how did you know
the press-gang was coming?"
"I didn't know they were coming."
"But you were theer?" said the old gardener, suspiciously.
"I was there?" said Aleck, "because the noise woke me, coming through my
open window."
"Oh!" said the gardener. "I see."
The next minute their ways diverged, and Aleck soon after climbed up to
his bedroom window, to drop off into a sleep disturbed by fights with
press-gangs and smugglers all mixed up into a strange confusion, from
which he was glad to awaken and find that he had hardly time to get
dressed before his uncle would be down.
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
Captain Lawrence listened with knitted brows to his nephew's narration
of all that had taken place in the night, and shook his head.
"It's miserable work, my boy," he said; "so piteous for the poor women.
Well, perhaps good will come out of evil, and it may be the breaking up
of a notorious smuggling gang."
It was just as Aleck was finishing his third cup of coffee, which he set
down sharply in the saucer, startled by the sudden rush of the gardener
to the open window, through which he thrust his head without ceremony.
"Here's--" he began, excitedly. "Oh!"
For a big heavy hand appeared upon his shoulder, clutching him hard and
snatching him away.
"What is the meaning of this, boy?" cried the captain.
Aleck's head was already out of the window, and he drew it back again to
answer:
"A lot of sailors, uncle, and their officer."
The lad's words were followed by the appearance of Jane, whose eyes were
wide open and staring, her mouth following suit to some extent, so that
she had to close her lips before saying:
"Plee, sir, orficer, sir. To see you, sir."
The captain nodded shortly and rose to go, followed by Aleck, out into
the little ball, at whose door a naval officer and a boat's crew of men
were waiting.
"Good morning," said the officer, shortly; and then turning upon Aleck,
"Hallo, young man, I've seen you before!"
"Yes, in Rockabie harbour," said the lad, looking at him wonderingly,
while his heart began to beat fast as he glanced at the party of sturdy
sailors.
"Ah, to be sure," said the officer; then to the captain again, "You are
aware, I suppose, that we made a descent last night upon your nest of
smugglers here."
"I have just learned, sir, what took place," said the captain, coldly.
"Of course. Well, sir, in the struggle and after trouble with the
women, who resented the taking away of the men, the young officer of the
second boat was missed."
"Not the midshipman who was with your boat the other day?" said Aleck,
eagerly.
"Eh? Yes," cried the officer. "What do you know about him?"
"Only that we had a few words together."
"And you know that he was missed?"
"I did not know till you told me," said Aleck.
"Didn't know, I suppose, that there was that struggle over yonder by the
cove last night, eh?"
"Yes," said Aleck, frankly; "I saw some of it."
"Ah! Then you were with the smugglers, eh?"
"No," replied Aleck; and he briefly related his experience, including
his being awakened by shots.
"Ah, to be sure," said the officer; "they're a nice daring set of
scoundrels--fired on the King's men; but we got the rascals who did.
Well, sir, what's become of our officer?"
"How should I know?" said Aleck, staring.
"You must have seen something of what went on after we started back."
"No," said Aleck. "There seemed to be no one there but the women."
"But you saw them and heard what they said? You heard them talking
about him?"
"No, I did not go near the women."
"Why?" said the officer, sharply.
"Because I was afraid they would think I had something to do with the
press-gang coming."
"Well, he must be found. He's here somewhere."
"Is there any possibility of the poor young fellow having been knocked
overboard during the struggle?"
"Not the slightest," replied the officer, shortly. "He may have been
knocked down somewhere on the way between the cottages, where we pounced
upon the men, and the landing-place. Well, he must be found."
"Of course," said the captain, quietly. "You will go up, then, and
search the smugglers' cottages--fishermen they call themselves?"
"We have searched them thoroughly," said the officer, "and we've come
across now, sir, to search your place--what do they call it?--the Den."
Aleck glanced at his uncle's face, and could see the blood gathering in
his cheeks.
"Search my house, sir?" he said. "Are you so mad as to suppose that I
should entrap one of the King's officers?"
"Possibly, sir," replied the visitor, "on the _quid pro quo_ principle,
to hold on ransom. We've got some of your friends; you have snatched at
one of ours."
"This is the first time, sir, that I've been led to suppose that I was a
friend to the smugglers. Eh, Aleck?"
"What nonsense, uncle!" cried the lad, indignantly.
"Oh, indeed, young gentleman!" said the officer, turning upon him
sharply. "No friends of yours neither?"
"Certainly not," cried Aleck.
"Ho! Then, perhaps you will be good enough to explain how it is that
the gardener here is the smugglers' chief assistant in signalling,
spying, and warning them?"
"He isn't," said Aleck, sharply.
"He is," said the officer. "What is more, I found that cargoes are run
down here in a cove or rift upon your coast, where a handy boat is
kept."
"We've got a boat down the rift," said Aleck.
"Exactly; one that runs to and fro between here and Rockabie."
"Yes," said Aleck, mockingly; "to fetch fishing-tackle and grocery--and
writing paper; eh, uncle?"
The captain nodded, while the young lieutenant went on:
"And to take messages from here to Rockabie."
"No," cried Aleck; but the officer went on, quietly:
"Look here, sir, I am credibly informed that it was your boat that
rescued one of the most daring of the smugglers on the night of an
encounter we had there--a man whom I was holding with my own hands till
I was savagely struck down. It is quite likely that this may be
examined into later on, but my business now is to find my messmate.
Look here, it will save a good deal of trouble, and make things much
easier for you, if you put me up to the place where the prisoner is
hidden."
"Perhaps it would," said Aleck, firmly now; "but I tell you I know
nothing whatever about your young midshipman. If you think he is hidden
somewhere here you are quite wrong."
"Perhaps so," said the officer, sternly, "but we shall see."
Then, turning to the captain, he said, shortly:
"I shall have to search your place, sir," and then rather jeeringly, as
if suggesting that it would not matter in the least if the captain
objected, he added: "I presume that you will not put difficulties in my
way?"
"None whatever, sir," said the captain. "And as an old commissioned
officer in his Majesty's service should feel it my duty to help in any
way I could."
"Eh? Oh, thank you," said the officer, changing his manner. "I beg
your pardon. I heard the people called you captain, but I supposed that
you were captain of some fishing or trading boat."
The captain bowed coldly.
"Aleck," he said, "do you know anything about Dunning being intimate
with the smugglers?"
"Yes, uncle; I have been suspecting it lately."
"Oh, Master Aleck!" came from outside. "Me? How can you say such a
word! When did you ever know me smuggle anything? Oh, my dear lad,
tell the truth; when did you--whenever did you know me smuggle
anything?"
"Often," said Aleck, bluntly.
"What; tea and sperrits and 'bacco and silk?"
"No," said Aleck; "but fruit."
"Oh, fruit!" said the gardener, contemptuously. "What's a bit of
fruit?"
"Perhaps you will have my house and grounds searched at once, sir," said
the captain, waving the gardener back. "The house is small, and--"
"Stop a moment, sir," said the young lieutenant, for such he proved to
be; "will you give me your word of honour as an officer and a gentleman
that my brother officer is not concealed about your premises?"
"Certainly," said the captain. "I give you my word of honour that he is
not; and I add to it that I have never had any dealings with the
smugglers."
"That is enough, sir. Now, will you tell me where we are to find their
hiding-places, for they must have some stowages for the goods they run."
"I assure you, sir, that I have not the slightest knowledge of any such
places. I have often suspected the existence of a cave or caves.
Aleck, my boy, do you know of any?"
Aleck turned sharply to speak, and as he did so he caught the gardener's
eyes fixed upon him with a peculiar glare that might have been
threatening or imploring, the lad could not tell which; but he spoke out
frankly at once:
"No, uncle. I've often wondered whether there was a smuggler's cave,
but I never found one."
"Humph! That seems strange," said the officer. "You have a boat?"
"Yes, I have a boat."
"And go coasting and fishing about close in. Do you mean to tell me you
never found anything of the kind?"
"Yes."
"And you never saw a cargo being landed--I mean a cargo of smuggled
goods?"
"Never," said Aleck.
"Then you must have been very unobservant, young gentleman. I presume
that you have seen smugglers about here?"
Aleck's face lit up, and he once more caught Ness's eyes fixed upon him
as he spoke.
"Oh, yes," he said; "several."
"And you could direct us to their cottages?"
"I could," said Aleck, "but I'm not going to."
"Well done, Master Aleck!" shouted the gardener.
"Silence, sir," said the captain, sternly. "Go on, Aleck."
"I've no more to say, uncle," replied the lad, "only that I'm not going
to lead people to take and press men by force for sailors. Besides, the
lieutenant does not need showing--he has been to the men's cottages, and
taken some of them."
"To be sure," said the officer, good-humouredly; "and I don't want to be
hard on you. It is not the thing to ask a gentleman to do. But please
understand, sir, that I am not seeking for men to press now, but to find
my brother officer who is missing. Can you help me in that?"
"I'm afraid I can't," said Aleck, frankly; "but I will do all I can."
"Thank you; that's right," said the officer. "Come, Captain Lawrence,
we are making some progress after all."
"I'm glad of it, sir," replied the captain; "but, tell me, you pressed
some men last night?"
"Yes, we got seven sturdy fellows to the boats, in spite of a vigorous
resistance."
"Seven?" said the captain. "Well, surely that must be quite as many as
we have living in the little cluster of cliff cottages! Of course there
are their wives and children!"
"Yes," said the lieutenant, drily; "we learned to our cost that they had
wives, and strapping daughters too."
"Then how can it be possible that your brother officer can be here?
There is no one to keep him a prisoner."
"Well, it doesn't seem likely," said the officer, in a disappointed
tone. "Unless," he added, "these viragoes of women are keeping him, out
of spite."
"There's not the slightest probability of that," said the captain. "I'm
afraid, sir, that you will find an accident has befallen him."
The lieutenant shook his head, and then turned to Aleck.
"You have a boat and a wonderfully retired nook where you keep her!
Where is it--down below here?"
"Your men came to the mouth of it last time you were here."
"What, last night?"
"No, no; a fortnight ago."
"Ah, yes, I remember. You mean that narrow split in the rock; but
surely no boat could go in there?"
"Mine goes in, and out too," said Aleck; "and it's nearly as big as
yours. But what of that?"
"Is it likely that my brother officer, finding himself left behind, may
have hidden himself there?"
"Not a bit likely," said Aleck; "but, let's go and see!"
"By all means," said the captain; and Aleck led them off at once through
the sunken garden and down to the slope which led into the chasm.
"My word, what a place!" said the officer, in his admiration.
"Wonderful! And this is your boat-house, eh?" he added, when, followed
by his boat's crew, they reached sea level and gazed into the great
niche in which the kittiwake was securely moored.
"Not a bad place," said Aleck; "and it's easy enough to get in and out
when you know how."
"One moment," said the officer; "here are plenty of cracks and crevices
in the sides of this rift or cave, or whatever you call it, where a
fellow might hide. Here, my lads, give a good loud hail or two!
Raven--ahoy!"
The hail rang out, the men shouting together, their powerful voices
raising up a broadside of echoes as if the shout ran along zigzag to the
mouth of the place before the hail passed out to sea, while at the first
roar a multitude of sea-birds flung themselves off the shelf and flew up
to the surface and away over the cliffs, shrieking and screaming in
hundreds to add to the din.
The men shouted again, and as soon as the echoes had died out sent forth
a louder roar than ever; but there was no answering cry, and the
lieutenant turned disappointed away.
"He is evidently not here," he said. "Forward, my lads, back up to the
house. We're on the wrong tack, squire," he continued, speaking to
Aleck. "Look here; I'm going back to our boat in the smugglers' cove to
coast along each way as close in as we can get for the rocks. He may
have gone off a rock into deep water during one of the scuffles and then
swum to some nook or cavern, out of which he can't get on account of
deep water."
"That seems likely," said Aleck. "Like me to come and show you some of
the caves?"
"Smugglers' caves?"
"Oh, no; little places where you couldn't row in, but where anyone might
hide."
"Ah, that's better," said the officer. "You'll do that?"
"Of course I will," said Aleck; and after a short visit to the house
Aleck led the boat's crew and their leader across the cliff and down the
rough descent, feeling greatly relieved on finding that there was not a
fisherman's wife in sight, for he was pretty certain that his appearance
in company with their enemies might prove to be a very uncomfortable
thing.
In due time the beach was reached, and the keepers of the sloop's boat
backed in to allow the officer and crew to get aboard, after which there
was an order or two given, and then they rowed out a short distance and,
keeping in as close as possible, visited cave and crevice for about half
a mile, landing wherever it was possible, sometimes climbing over
weed-hung slimy rocks, sometimes wading, and then returning to continue
the search in the opposite direction far past the entrance to the Den,
before rowing back after an exhaustive search.
The officer gave the word to stop as the entrance to Aleck's boat haven
was reached, and, under guidance, rowed and poled up till he could land.
"Thank you for all you've done, youngster," said the lieutenant; "it has
been a barren search, but I shall give up for to-day. Maybe I shall
look you up again. Meantime I hope you'll keep your ears open, and if
you can pick up anything worth having hoist a white tablecloth or sheet
on your boat's mast on the top of the cliff, if it's by day, and if it's
night, burn one of the blue lights I'll leave with you. Neither of
these things will be fighting against your neighbours the smugglers, but
only helping us to find our midshipman and making more friends than you
know. You'll do this for us?"
"Of course," said Aleck, eagerly.
"Hand out three of those blue lights, coxswain! Next time we come,
squire, I'll bring you a rocket or two. There; thankye, and good day!"
"Good day," said Aleck; "but can you make your way out?"
"My lads will, never fear," said the lieutenant, and Aleck stood with
the blue lights in his hand, watching the boat till it passed round one
of the angles and was out of sight, when he turned round, to find that
he was not alone.
"You here, Tom?" he said to the sailor, who was standing in the shadow
of the boat haven, close up to the dark rocks.
"Me it is, sir."
"What is it--any news?"
"Me, sir? No; on'y what I got when I come across to see what was going
on about the press-gang coming here. Say, Master Aleck, I told yer so."
"Yes, Tom, you told me so," replied the lad, warmly. "There, I'm fagged
out; let's get up to the house. I want some dinner. You want some too,
don't you?"
"Oh, I dunno, sir! I had my braxfus."
"So did I, Tom, hours and hours ago. What time is it?"
"'Bout four, sir."
"Late as that? Come and have some dinner with me. It's a horrible
business about that poor midshipman."
"Ay, 'tis, sir. Smart lad as ever I see."
"Where do you think he can be?"
"Carried out by the tide, I should say, sir."
"Oh! Horrible! Then you don't think the smugglers can have taken him
prisoner?"
"Tchah! What could they do with prisoners, Master Aleck? May have
given him a crack on the head and knocked him into the water. Easy done
in a scrimmage, and nobody none the wiser."
"But mightn't he be hid in the smugglers' cave?"
"Well, he might be, sir, if there is one. If he is he's shut up tight
and they've took away them as knows how to get in."
"Yes," said Aleck, as they reached the garden and caught sight of the
gardener watching them. "I say, Tom, there must be a big cavern
somewhere."
"Very like, sir."
"You don't know where it is?"
"Not me, sir."
"Don't look that way, but tell me what you think. Isn't old Ness likely
to know?"
"Very likely, sir; but if he did know he wouldn't tell."
"Then you think he is mixed up with the smuggling gang?"
"That's so, sir."
"Then I'll make him tell me," said Aleck, between his teeth.
"Do, sir, for I should like us to find the young gen'leman, he being an
officer and me an old Navy man. Make old Ness tell yer. You are good
friends with him, arn't yer?"
"Yes, of course," said Aleck. "No, of course not," he cried, angrily,
for like a flash came the recollection of the scene that morning, when
the gardener had protested against being suspected of having any
dealings with such outlawed men. "Oh, Tom, what an unlucky fellow I
am!"
"Feel like that, sir?"
"Yes."
"That's because you wants yer dinner very bad, Master Aleck. You get
indoors and have your salt beef and biscuit, or whatever your Jane has
stowed away, and you'll feel like a noo man."
CHAPTER TWENTY.
The party from the sloop-of-war came twice, led by the lieutenant, and
had long and patient searches with Aleck in their boat ready to follow
or lead the men into one or other of the openings in the rocks where the
waves ran in with a peculiarly hollow echoing rush at low water, but
which were covered deeply at half tide. These chasms were examined
diligently, for the lieutenant had noted that the tide was very low when
the attack was made. But nothing was discovered.
Aleck noted that the young officer looked very despondent on the second
occasion, and the next morning when the lad went down to the smugglers'
cove to meet the boat, which he had sighted from his look-out place on
the cliff, where with Tom's help he had set up a spar ready for
signalling, he found another officer in command of a fresh set of men.
The lad met them as a matter of course, feeling that his services would
be welcome, but encountered a short, sharp rebuff in the shape of an
enquiry as to who he was, and, upon explaining, he was told sharply to
go about his business.
"Look here, sir," said the officer, "I don't want any natives to lead me
on a false scent."
"Very well," said Aleck, quietly, and he climbed up the cliff again, and
after noting which way the boat's head was turned he went off beyond the
smugglers' cove and reached the great gap, where he descended to the
shelf where he had found the lanthorn and tinder-box.
He had just reached it, when a figure started up and began to hurry
inland, just giving him a glimpse of her face before she disappeared
among the rocks, and he recognised Eben Megg's wife.
"Been looking out to sea, poor thing!" thought Aleck. "I'm afraid
she'll watch for a long time before she sees him coming back."
He forgot the woman again directly in the business of watching the boat,
which kept on coming into sight far below and disappearing again,
drawing forth the mental remark from Aleck, "Labour in vain," for he
felt that all the openings below where he stood had been thoroughly
searched.
Aleck hung about till the afternoon, and saw the boat shoot off from
beyond one of the points in the direction of the sloop lying at anchor,
and then went home.
The next morning, when he went up to his signalling spar to direct the
glass at the sloop, she was not there; but the cutter, which had been
absent, lay in about the same place, and after a time the lad made out
another boat coming towards the smugglers' cove.
"A fresh party," he said to himself. "Well, I should like to help them
find the poor fellow, but if they want help they must come and ask me;
I'm not going to be snubbed again."
He closed his glass and struck off by the shortest way across the head
of the smugglers' cove, making once more for the high ground beyond, for
it commanded the coast in two directions. But long before he reached
his favourite spot he again caught sight of the fluttering blue
petticoat of a woman, and saw her hurrying inland.
"Poor woman!" thought Aleck. "She needn't be afraid of me."
He kept an eye upon her till she disappeared, and then went on to the
niche in the rock face, settled himself down with his glass, and watched
the cutter's boat, which was steadily pulling in. The birds meanwhile
kept on flitting down from where they sat in rows along the inaccessible
shelves, skimmed over the water, dived, and came up again with small
fishes in their beaks, to return to feed the young, which often enough
had been carried off by some great gull, one of the many which glided
here and there, uttering their peculiarly querulous, mournful cries, so
different in tone from the sharp, hearty calls of the larger inland
birds.
There were a good many sailing about overhead, Aleck noted, and they
were more noisy than usual, and this, judging from old lore which he had
picked up from Tom Bodger and the fishermen, he attributed to a coming
change in the weather, wind perhaps, when the sea, instead of being soft
blue and calm, might be lashed by a storm to send the waves thundering
in upon the rocks, to break up into cataracts of broken water and send
the glittering foam whirling aloft in clouds.
"No more hunts then," thought Aleck; and then aloud to a great
white-breasted gull which floated overhead, watching him curiously,
"Well, what are you looking at? I've not come egging now."
The gull uttered a mournful cry and glided off seaward, to dive down
directly after beyond the cliff, its cry sounding distant and faint.
The boat came on nearer and nearer till it, too, disappeared, being
hidden by the great bluff to his left.
Then half a dozen more gulls rose up and came skimming along the rugged
trough-like depression towards where he sat, with bird-covered ledges to
left and right. When they caught sight of him they rose higher with a
graceful curve, and began wheeling round, uttering their discordant
cries, some of the more daring coming nearer and nearer upon their
widespread spotless wings, white almost as snow, till a sway would send
one wing down, the other up, giving the looker-on a glimpse of the soft
bluish grey of their backs, save in the cases of the larger birds--the
great thieves and pirates among the young--which were often black.
There was no boat to watch now, so Aleck, after sweeping the horizon in
search of the sloop-of-war, gradually turned the end of his glass inland
over the sweep of down and wild moor, till, just as he was in the act of
lowering it, he caught sight, some distance off and directly inland, of
some object which looked like a short, pudgy, black and white bird
sitting upon a rock.
"What's that?" he said, steadying the glass which had given him the
glimpse in passing over it; but, try he would, he could not catch the
object again.
"Couldn't have been a rabbit," he muttered. "Fancy, perhaps," and he
lowered the glass, to begin closing it as he trusted to his unaided
vision and looked in the direction of the grey weathered rocks.
"Why, there it is!" he cried. "It's a black bird with a white breast.
It must be some big kind of puffin sitting with its feathers stuck-up to
dry."
He began to focus the glass once more, and raised it to his eye; but he
could not get the object in the field of the glass again, nor yet when
he lowered it catch a glimpse of that which he sought with his naked
eye.
Turning away to look down the deep depression, he began to watch the
birds again, when he was impressed by the cry of one which seemed to
have settled, after passing overhead, somewhere on the open beyond the
ridge in which lay the niche containing the old lanthorn.
"Ahoy-oy-oy!" he cried, softly, trying to imitate, but with very poor
success, the gull's querulous cry.
"Tah! tah! That's a jackdaw," said Aleck, half aloud. "Plain enough;
but that mournful wail! It must be a different kind of gull.
Black-backed perhaps, with a bad cold through getting wet. I wonder
whether a gull could be taught to talk! I don't see why not. Let's
see, parrots can be taught, of course, and cockatoos learn to say a few
words. So do jackdaws and starlings, but very few. Oh, yes! then
there's the raven. Uncle said he knew of one at an old country inn that
used to say `Coming, sir,' whenever anyone called for the ostler. Then
there are those Indian birds they call Mynahs. Uncle says that some of
them talk beautifully. Hallo! There he goes again! It's just like
`Ahoy-oy-oy-oy!' Plain enough to deceive anyone if it came off the sea.
I'll wait till I catch sight of the gull that makes that noise, and
next nesting-time I'll watch for some of the same kind and get two or
three of the young ones to bring up. If they can say what sounds
something like `Ahoy!' so plainly it ought to be possible to teach one
to say more."
Aleck sat and mused again, running over in his mind such gulls as he
knew, and coming to the conclusion that unless it was some unusual
specimen, of great vocal powers, it could not be the black-backed nor
the lesser black-backed, nor the black-headed herring gull or kittiwake.
"I don't know what it is," he said, "but, whatever it may be, it's a
good one to talk," and as he listened he heard the peculiar, weird,
wailing cry again, sounding something like "Ahoy!"
"Gone now," said Aleck, half aloud, as he keenly watched in the
direction of the cry, which had now ceased. "It might as well have
flown over this way instead of down over the cliff. Hooray! There it
goes!"
He shaded his eyes to follow the steady regular course of a large bronze
black bird flying close down the trough-like depression, as close to the
bottom as it could keep clear of the rocks, till it reached the end,
where it dipped down towards the sea and disappeared.
"Well, I'm a clever one," cried the lad, with a scornful laugh; "lived
ever since I can remember close to the sea, and been told the name of
every bird that comes here in the winter and in the summer to nest, and
didn't know the cry of an old shag. Well, say that cry, for it was very
different from the regular croak I know. He had been fishing, having a
regular gorge, and ended by swallowing a weevil. The little wretch set
up its spines, I suppose, as it was going down and stuck, making the old
shag come up there to sit and cough to get rid of it. If ever I'm along
with anyone who hears that noise and wants to know what it is I can tell
him it's a shag or a cormorant suffering from sore throat."
Aleck began to use the glass again, for the cutter's boat came into
sight for a few minutes, before gliding along close in once more, to be
hidden by the perpendicular cliffs.
"Gone," he said to himself. "Well, they will not find the poor fellow,
for I don't believe they can search any better than we did. It's very
dreadful. Nice, good-looking chap; as clever as clever. Cocky and
stuck-up; but what of that? Fellow gets into a uniform and has a cocked
hat and a sword, it makes him feel that he is someone of consequence.
How horrible, though! Comes along with the boat ashore over that
press-gang kidnapping business, and the boat goes back without him. I
wonder whether he was better off than I am, with a father and mother!
They'll have to know soon, and then I wonder what they'll say!"
Aleck gave another look round, sweeping the sea, and carrying his gaze
round to the land, and then starting.
"There it is again!" he said, eagerly, as his eyes rested upon the
distant black and white object inland. "Come, I can get a shot at you
this time," he muttered, as, carefully keeping his eyes fixed upon the
squat-looking object amongst the rocks, he slowly raised the glass. "I
believe it must be a black and white rabbit. There are brown and white
ones sometimes, for I've seen them, so I don't see why there shouldn't
be black and white. Got you at last, my fine fellow. Ha, ha, ha," he
laughed. "How absurd! Why, it's Eben Megg's wife; just her face with
the patch of black hair showing above that bit of rock she's hiding
behind. Why, she must be watching me. I know; poor thing, she's
watching for me to go away so that she can come and look out to sea
again for poor Eben."
Aleck closed his glass and rose to make his way back along the cliff and
leave the place clear, a feeling of gentlemanly delicacy urging him to
go right off and not intrude his presence upon one who must be suffering
terribly from anxiety and pain.
"It seems so dreadful," he mused, as he went right on without once
turning his head in the woman's direction; "but somehow it only seems
fair that both sides should suffer. She's all in misery because her
husband has been dragged away. Yes, he said he'd come back to her, but
it's a great chance if she ever sees him again, and it's as great a
chance whether that poor young middy's friends ever see him again. I
don't like it, and it's a great pity there's so much trouble in the
world. Look at poor uncle! Why, I don't know what real trouble is. I
might have gone off to sea all in a huff after what uncle said, and then
might have come back as badly off as poor old Double Dot. Well, I'm
very, very sorry for poor Eben's wife, and--there I go again with my
poor Eben. Why should I talk like that about a man who has the
character of being a wrecker as well as a smuggler? He was never
friendly to me and I quite hate him. But whether the King wants men or
whether he doesn't, I just hate Eben so much that if he wanted to escape
back to his wife and asked me to help him I'd do it; and just the same,
if the smugglers had caught that young middy and were going to ill-use
him--kill him perhaps--why, I'd help him too. It's very stupid to be
like that perhaps, sort of Jack o' both sides, but I suppose it's how I
was made, and it isn't my fault. Why, I say, it must be near
dinner-time. How hungry I do feel!"
The coast was clear for Eben Megg's wife, and as soon as the lad was out
of sight she once more made her way towards the cliff.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
Aleck went along the cliff the next day to look out for the boat, fully
intending to turn back if he caught sight of Eben's wife; but as far as
he could make out she was nowhere in that direction. Still he concluded
that she might possibly come to the place she affected, so he determined
to keep on his own side of the depression, lowering himself down to the
shelf in which was the niche or crack, in the belief that he could get a
fair view over the sea from among the scattered masses of rock while
being quite out of the woman's sight if she should come after all.
He swung himself down till he stood upon the shelf, and gave one hasty
look round, to come to the conclusion directly after that if the poor
woman sought his favourite look-out spot he could not have chosen a
worse place, for he would be in full view, no matter where he crouched.
"I know," he said to himself; "I can get over here and lie down in the
crack on the other side."
He began to climb, after making for the hole where the lanthorn and
tinder-box still lay tucked tightly in beyond the reach of the wind; and
the next minute, after making his way diagonally upward, he came upon
the beginning of a steep narrow gully, going right down more and more
deeply, so that forty or fifty yards away he could not see the bottom,
the place having the appearance of being a vast crack formed by a sudden
subsidence of the rocky cliff.
He was now out of sight from the other side of the great depression, and
was just congratulating himself upon his selection of a hiding-place and
look-out combined, when he recalled the sounds he had heard during a
former visit.
"Why, it must have been caused by something falling down here," he
argued, and he looked outward, to see that this was one of the
narrowest, deepest and most savage-looking gullies he had seen, the
place being giddy to look down and impressing him with the belief that
the greatest care was necessary for anyone to move about; and as he
dropped down upon his knees it was with a feeling of relief and safety,
for accustomed though he was to climbing about upon the cliffs, this one
particular spot looked giddy and wild.
To his great satisfaction he found that he could follow the crack right
down to the sea and obtain a good view without being seen, unless anyone
had followed his example and climbed; but what most took his attention
was that though he had been climbing about the place often in search of
the eggs of rare birds, he had never been there before, or noted the
existence of such a deeply-split cavity in the cliffs.
"I must have been able to see it from off the sea," he argued, but gave
himself up to the thought directly after that ridges and hollows had a
completely different aspect when seen from below.
"I should know it now directly if I were sailing by and looked up, of
course. I fancy I can recollect this steep wall-like bit down below
where I'm sitting."
He started the next moment, for a great gull had come gliding up from
behind and passed so closely over his head that he was startled by the
faint whizz of its outspread wings, while the bird itself was so
startled that it uttered a hoarse cry of alarm and plunged down head
foremost like a stone.
"Why, that must have been the kind that made that cry like a hail,"
cried Aleck, as the bird disappeared into the depths of the gully, while
he had hardly realised the thought before there rose from below a faint,
hoarse cry.
"I thought so," he said; "those birds have different cries and they
sound strange, according to where you are."
He did not finish his words, for all at once the peculiar cry arose
again, and this time it seemed to come from out of the deep jagged
hollow, and certainly from the other side.
"How strange!" said the lad, with a feeling akin to dread running
through him. "That can't be a bird."
He listened again, waiting for some minutes in the midst of the silence
of the great wilderness in which he crouched.
Then "Ahoy!" came up, so clearly that there was no room for doubt, and
Aleck's heart began to beat fast as thought after thought flashed
through his brain.
"It must be someone calling," he felt and when after a few minutes the
cry arose again, the thought struck him that it must come from somewhere
beneath his feet, from an opening in the wall of the crack and then
strike against the opposite wall, from which it was reflected, so that
it seemed to come from that side, and from some distance away.
Aleck waited till the cry came across again, and then shouted in answer:
"Hallo there! What is it?"
There was no response. Then after a pause came "Ahoy!" once more.
"Where are you?" shouted Aleck, but there was no reply, and the result
was the same when he tried over and over again.
"Whoever it is, he can't hear me," thought the lad, and growing excited
now as he concluded that some fisherman, or perhaps a strange wanderer,
had slipped, fallen, and perhaps broken a limb, he began to set about
finding him and affording help.
Coming to the belief more fully that the sound came from beneath him,
Aleck lay down upon his chest with his head over the brink of the rocky
gash, and, holding on tightly, strained out as far as he could to look
down. But he could see nothing, and rose up again to look to his left
for the dying out in the solid cliff of the top end of the gorge.
That meaning a difficult climb, he made up his mind, to lower himself
down over the edge, and setting his teeth, he began to lower himself
over; but a slip at the outset so upset his nerves that he scrambled
back, panting as if he had been running a mile.
"Nearly went down," he muttered. "That's not the way to help anyone who
has just fallen."
He paused for a few moments to think about getting help from Eilygugg.
"There are no smugglers at home now," he said to himself, and his
thoughts turned homeward.
"Uncle couldn't climb up here and handle ropes," he muttered; "and as
for Ness--bah! he's a stupid muddling old woman.
"I must get right round somehow and see where the opening is," said the
lad, at last. "But when I have found it, what then? I must get back
here again; and then? Yes, I must have help and a rope. Oh, what a
lonely old place this is when you want anything done! Bah! What a
grumbler you are," he cried, the next moment. "You forgot all about
Tom. He's sure to be over to-day, and I'll bring him with a rope."
This thought heartened the lad up, and he set off cautiously and quickly
to get round by the head of the great rocky gash to the other side.
The journey was very dangerous and bad, but he was a good climber, and
at the end of a dozen yards he was stopped by a great block which lay
across his path with the portion to his right overhanging the gulf,
forcing him to go round by the other end.
This he passed with ease, and he uttered a cry of astonishment the next
moment, for he found himself at the narrow head of a transverse gash
which stopped further progress in the way he intended, but offered
apparently, as it curved round and down, an easy descent to the very
part he wished to reach. And so it proved, for proceeding cautiously,
he began to descend by a narrow ledge or shelf, with the overhanging
wall on his right and a sheer fall of twenty feet on his left.
A few yards further it was forty feet, and again a few yards placed him
in a position that cut off all view of the bottom.
"Won't do to be giddy here," he said to himself. "Who'd have thought of
finding such a place?"
He moved along cautiously, holding on by the rock on his right, and
found that it was singularly cracked and riven, but it afforded good
hold. Directly after a short pause and peer forward and downward to try
if he could see any signs of the poor fellow who had called for help, he
stepped on again slowly and cautiously, anchoring himself, as it were,
by thrusting his arm to the elbow in a perpendicular crack, so that he
could hang outward and get a better view down.
"Hullo!" he ejaculated, in wonder. "How strange!" and he began to
sniff, as a cool dank puff of air saluted his nostrils and he recognised
the peculiar odour of decaying seaweed.
"This narrow crack must go right down to the sea somewhere," he said to
himself. "Well, why not? Rocks do split all sorts of ways. There, I'm
right," he added, for there was another moist puff of cool air, and in
company with it a peculiar far-off whispering sound, one which he well
knew, for he had heard it thousands of times, it being the soft rattling
of pebbles running back over one another after being cast up by a wave.
"This is queer," he muttered, and, withdrawing his arm, he took another
step or two along the ledge, which curved more round to his right, so
that he could not see above a couple of yards, while upon getting to the
end of these he found that he had to pass an angle in the rock face
which brought him to where the ledge widened out considerably.
"I must be just under where I lay down to look over," he said to
himself, and having plenty of room now he turned to look upward, and
then stopped short as if turned to stone, for from somewhere just beyond
where he stood came the soft hollow rush and hiss of shingle following a
retiring wave, and with it a distant hollow-sounding "_Ahoy_!"
But Aleck did not start forward to peer down some deep chasm leading
through the huge cliffs to the sea, but, as has been said, stood fast,
looking upward, as if turned to stone, his attention having been seized
upon by the rattling, rustling sound made by something above his head,
and the next moment a pair of feet came into sight so close to him that
he could have touched them where they hung on a level with his eyes.
They stopped short, with the toes resting for a few moments upon a
projecting stone, and then a man dropped lightly upon the broad ledge
with a panting ejaculation of relief.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
There was another ejaculation uttered upon that rough ledge of rock, and
it was uttered by Aleck, in the form of the one word:
"Eben!"
The man gave forth a hoarse cry, sprang upon him, and pinned him by the
shoulders against the rock, panting breathlessly the while as if
exhausted by previous exertions, while his lips were drawn back from his
white teeth and he wore generally the aspect of some savage bunted beast
at bay.
"Don't!" cried Aleck, angrily, dragging at the man's wrists as he noted
his fierce looks; "you hurt. Let go. Why, I thought the press-gang had
taken you right away?"
"Did yer?" growled the man, breathlessly, through his set teeth, while
his dark eyes seemed to glitter. "Then you see they haven't. What are
you doing here?"
"Having the skin rubbed off the back of my head, I think," cried Aleck,
struggling to get free. "Be quiet! Are you mad?"
"'Most," panted the man, tightening his grasp.
"But you'll have me off the ledge here if you don't mind."
"Yes, and then you'll tell no tales," growled the man, in a hoarse
whisper, for he was recovering his breath.
"What about?" said Aleck, uneasily, for the man's manner was terrible in
its intensity.
"What about?" snarled Eben.
"Yes; I don't understand you. I say, Eben, have you escaped?"
The man glared at him, and the look which met his--a look full of
enquiry and perfectly fearless--seemed to disarm him somewhat.
"No," he said, "I won't think it was your doing, my lad."
"What?" asked Aleck.
"Putting the gang on to us the other night."
"Mine? No; I was fast asleep in bed when the shots woke me, and I went
up the cliff to see."
"Ah! I s'pose so," said the smuggler, in a hoarse whisper. "I've
escaped for a bit, but they're after me. I s'pose they felt I should
come back to the missus. I say," he continued, eagerly, "is she all
right, Master Aleck?"
"Yes. I've seen her two or three times right up the cliff."
"What for?" said the smuggler, sharply, and his eyes glittered fiercely
again.
"To look and see if you were coming, of course."
"Yes, of course," said the man, in a peculiar manner, and a curious
smile dawned upon his lip.
"But how did you manage to escape?"
"Jumped overboard and swam for it."
"From the cutter's boat?"
"No, from the sloop's port-hole, my lad. But what about the cutter's
boat?" he added, with a sharply questioning look.
"She came across to the cove this morning, and I saw her not long ago."
"Looking for me?"
"No; for the young middy who is missing. Tell me, Eben, did you know
anything about him?"
"Me? Hush, don't talk! The cutter's men have been hunting me this last
half-hour, and they're out yonder among the gullies now. They see me, I
think. So you've found it then?" he said, with a savagely malicious
grin.
"Yes; I never knew there was a way down here."
"Been often, I s'pose?"
"Been often? Why, I'd just got here when I heard you coming."
"Ahoy!" came faintly from somewhere in front. "There it is again,
Eben," cried Aleck, forgetting everything else now in the excitement of
his discovery. "You heard it?"
"Yes, I heard it," said the man, grimly.
"I heard it yesterday too," continued Aleck. "Some poor fellow has
fallen down the cliff somewhere about here, and I was trying to get down
to him."
The man looked at him curiously and as if he was trying to read him
through and through.
"What for?" he said, hoarsely.
"What for? Don't I tell you I've heard him before, crying for help? He
must have broken an arm or a leg, or he would have climbed back."
"If he could," said the smuggler, grimly. "Here, hold hard a minute.
Don't you stir, on yer life."
"Oh, I'm not going to run any risks!" said Aleck, coolly. "I know it's
dangerous."
"Very," said the hunted man, in a peculiar tone and with a peculiar
look. "You stand fast, my lad."
He had for some time released his hold of the lad, and turned to
re-mount the rock.
"What are you going to do?" said Aleck.
"Hush! Don't shout like that, youngster. Don't I tell you the cutter's
men saw me and are after me?"
"Oh, yes; of course," said Aleck, coolly; "but, look here; you hide a
bit, and I'll call them."
"What!" gasped the smuggler, in his astonishment. "What for? To take
me?"
"No, no! They could help to find the poor fellow lying somewhere below
there."
"No, they couldn't," said the man, fiercely. "You be quiet there, I
say."
"Well, of course you don't want to be taken, and I don't want them to
take you, Eben."
"Say that again, lad," cried the man, excitedly.
"What for? I say I don't want the press-gang to drag you away, even if
you are a smuggler."
"Why?" cried the man, excitedly.
"Because it seems so hard on your poor wife."
"Hah-ah-ah!" ejaculated the man, softly, as he turned away his face and
spoke more gently. "You keep quiet here, Master Aleck, while I go and
see what the cutter's men are about. I won't be long, and when they've
gone I'll help you to find the poor fellow for saying that."
"For saying what?"
"Your words about my poor lass. Master Aleck, I'm a bad 'un, but she
don't think so, and if I don't get back to her it'll be the death of the
poor gal. Now, after my saying that soft stuff will you go and split
upon me?"
"Betray you? No, you know I won't."
"Yes, I know you won't, my lad. You allus was a gentleman, Master
Aleck. There, I'm off. I shan't be long, and when I come back I'll
help you to find the poor chap as is hurt."
"Thank you, Eben; but mind the men don't take you."
"I'll mind, my lad; but if there's an accident and I don't come back you
wait till the cutter's men have rowed me away, and then you go and tell
the missus. Say she's to help you find the poor chap as is hurt and get
him away."
"But she couldn't climb about here, Eben."
"Better than you can, my lad."
"Very well, then. Thank you," said Aleck, feeling a bit puzzled at the
man's words. "In the meantime I'll go on looking for him. He must be
somewhere close by."
"No, he isn't," said the man, grimly.
"How do you know?"
"'Cause I do," was the reply, and then, actively as a goat, the smuggler
sprang up the rocks and was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
Eben Megg had only just disappeared when the faint, monotonous cry of
"Ahoy!" rose once more from below, setting the thoughts buzzing and
throbbing about in Aleck's brain in a most extraordinary way. For the
lad felt utterly puzzled--he knew not why. He felt that there was
something he ought to know, and yet he did not know it, and he failed to
grasp the reason why he could not understand it. There was some mystery
that he ought to clear up, he felt; but, all the same, simple as it was,
he could not find it out.
Like the children playing at a nursery game, he was so close that he was
burning, and at one moment he was on the point of being as wise as the
smuggler, but just then a loud piercing whistle rang out, followed by
answering shouts, and he did grasp at once from whence they came, and
waited anxiously, fully expecting to hear more shouts, some of a
triumphant character, telling that the fugitive was in view or perhaps
caught.
"I oughtn't to mind, of course," he muttered, as he strained his ears to
catch the next sound; "but somehow I do, and, as I said, for that poor
woman's sake. Ah! They've caught him now. No; it was only an order
shouted. Why, they're coming right up here--I can hear them plainly!"
The lad listened excitedly, for though he could see nothing of the
sailors he could follow them by the sounds they made and tell that they
had spread out over a good deal of ground in their hunt for the escaped
man.
Nearer and nearer they came till Aleck felt that they must have reached
the ledge from which he had watched the rippling sea, while directly
after they were so near to the hiding-place that he could catch a good
deal of what was said, the voices ascending and then seeming to curl
over and drop down the steep rockside where he stood.
"They haven't caught him yet," thought Aleck, after some few minutes'
beating of the cliff-top and slopes had taken place. "Perhaps they
won't catch him, after all, for he must be as cunning as a fox about
hiding-places. Why, they must be coming here!" he thought, excitedly,
as the voices began to come nearer and nearer. "They'll find me, for
certain, and then--
"Well, what then?" he thought, as he came to a sudden stop. "Suppose
they do catch me and ask me why I'm here! Why, I can tell them I came
to try and find someone whom I heard calling for help; and I can't help
what Eben says, I must let the sailors help me then."
He listened, and felt certain that the sailors and their leader came
along as far as the great piece of rock he had been obliged to
circumvent, and once round that the men were bound to find him.
"Ahoy!" came faintly again.
"Ahoy yourself!" said a voice. "Who's that so far off? Some fellow has
wandered right away and lost himself. Idiot! Why didn't he keep within
touch of his messmates? Ahoy, there! Ahoy! Ahoy!"
The cry was answered, and in a few minutes Aleck was able to detect the
fact from the dying-away of the voices that the search party were
growing more distant, so that the next mournful "Ahoy!" fell upon his
ears alone, sounding so despairing that the desire to go in search of
the appealer for help was stronger than he could restrain.
Glancing back and upward then at the spot where Eben had disappeared, he
went cautiously forward for a few yards, to find to his astonishment
that from being fairly broad the rugged shelf along which he was
proceeding rapidly narrowed till progress grew risky, while at the end
of another dozen feet or so it ceased, and he came to a dead stand,
looking in vain for a way forward and a sight of some crack or passage
along which he could descend towards the sea.
Then he listened for a repetition of the call for help as a guide to his
next proceedings; but all was still save the querulous cry of a gull.
"I can't understand it a bit," he said, looking about him in a more
perplexed way than ever. "Eben Megg spoke as if he knew about someone
being in trouble; yes, and that if he did not return I was to go to his
wife. Why, what nonsense it seems! How could he who has been away for
days know anything about--about--oh! Was there ever such a dense,
wooden-headed idiot as I am!" he raged out. "Why, of course! I can see
now as clear as clear. It's that young middy--what's his name?--calling
for help. They must have trapped him during the struggle, and there is
a regular smugglers' cave somewhere, after all. The poor fellow must be
shut up in it; and that explains why Eben looked so furiously at me when
he found me here. He thought I had discovered the secret hiding-place
that he was making for. Oh, my word, how plain and easy it all is when
you know how! Yes, that's it," he said aloud, excitedly, "and the
cutter's people are gone, so I'm not going to hold myself bound by
anything I have said to Eben. That poor fellow must have been left to
starve in some dark hole, and--no, he hasn't. `Go to my wife,' he said.
Of course! Because she knew where the prisoner was hid, and--to be
sure, she wasn't going to watch for Eben, as I thought, but to take the
prisoner something to eat and drink. Talk about wiping the dust out of
one's eyes! I've got mine clear now, and that poor fellow has to be
found, while, what is more, he must be somewhere down below where I
stand."
Aleck's brow ran into lines and puckers as he stood looking about him
for a few minutes before hurrying back to the perpendicular crevice he
had discovered, and upon reaching it there was the hissing rush of the
pebbles and a suggestion of a slapping sound as if water had struck
against the rock, but evidently far, far down, while the damp seaweedy
odour came cooler and fresher than ever to his nostrils.
"I could get down here," he muttered, "if I were no bigger than a
rabbit; but of course this isn't the way. There must be just such a
place as this, only many times as big, and I've got to find it."
"Ahoy!" came faintly the next minute, but not up the cavity, and the lad
stood puzzled and wondering for a few moments longer, before placing his
face as far in as he could, and, breathing in the soft, salt, moist air,
he shouted back down the hole, "Ahoy!" as loudly as he could.
Then he stood listening, for "Ahoy!" came from quite a different
direction, and then there was a reply from somewhere else, closely
followed by a shrill whistle.
"That's not from the prisoner," said Aleck, growing more excited. "The
sailors are coming back. Are they coming here, after all? Well, I'm
sorry for Eben, but that poor fellow must be rescued, and I shall have
to--"
Aleck did not say what, but hurried along the shelf again, startled by
the sound of falling stones, and the next minute he caught sight of the
smuggler's descending feet, and then the fierce-looking fellow dropped
lightly before him and caught him by the arm.
"They saw me," he panted, breathlessly, "and have been hot on my track--
I couldn't dodge them anyhow--quite surrounded. Look here, Master
Aleck--you know what it means if they get me--flogging now for escaping!
You don't want me to be took?"
"No, Eben; but--"
"Don't talk, my lad. I'm hard set. You're a gentleman, and won't
betray a poor fellow?"
"No, but I won't help to keep that poor young officer a prisoner."
"Ah, you've found out then--you know where he is?"
"Then it is true that you've got him shut up somewhere?"
"Somewhere?" cried the man, sharply, in a hoarse whisper. "Then you
haven't found the place?"
"No," said Aleck, frankly, "only guessed that he is somewhere hidden,
and keeps calling out."
"Look here, Master Aleck, it is true, and if I swear that as soon as all
is safe I'll help you to set him free and put him where he can get back
to his ship, will you swear, too, that you'll never tell where our
stores are?"
"I'm not going to swear anything, Eben."
The man made a fierce gesture, and the lad felt that he was at the
fellow's mercy, where a sharp thrust of the hand would send him headlong
down, most likely to his death. But he did not shrink.
"I promise you I won't betray you, Eben," he said, "if you give me your
word to set the poor young fellow free."
"Come on, then--if there's time," said the smuggler, hoarsely. "I can
hear 'em coming on fast. Now, then, I'm going to show you what all us
chaps have sworn on our lives never to let out. Quick! I know you've
got plenty of game in you, my lad. I'm going to jump down there."
He pointed down over the edge of the shelf as he spoke.
"Are you mad?" said Aleck, hoarsely, feeling that the man must be to
propose what seemed to be like a leap into the next world.
"Not me, my lad. Look! I trust you to come after me sharp--before the
cutter's men see you. Come, you won't shrink now?"
"He came along this way, I'll swear," came from overhead, quite loudly,
and a whistle rang out again.
Eben Megg seized Aleck's arm with his left hand, and with his right
caught the lad's fingers for a moment in a firm grip.
"Jump just as I do. I'll be ready to catch you."
Aleck nodded, and then felt ready to shut his eyes, for the man gave one
glance upward where a loud murmur of voices could be heard, and then
stepped close to the edge of the shelf, placed his feet close together,
drew himself up stiffly, and then made a little jump, just sufficient to
let himself drop, as it were, clear of the rock, his back being visible
just for a moment, and then there was a slight pat coming from below.
Aleck stood with his heart seeming to rise to his throat as if to choke
him, while he listened intently for the sound of a falling body
loosening a little avalanche of stones.
But all was still below, while above there was the trampling of feet,
and a voice said, loudly:
"Are you sure he came this way?"
"Quite, sir. He must have dodged round by that great block of stone."
"Forward then," cried the first voice, while from below where he stood
came a low, hoarse whisper:
"Now, then, jump!"
For a moment Aleck felt that it was too much. Coward or no coward, he
dared not make such a leap in the dark as that. Then, setting his
teeth, he stepped close to the edge of the shelf, placed his feet
exactly as he had seen the smuggler prepare to drop, and then, with his
elbows pressed close to his sides and his open hands raised to a level
with his chest, he took the little leap, with the opposite side of the
rift seeming to rush upward past his staring eyes, while he dropped what
seemed, from the time it lasted, to his overstrained nerves and
imagination a tremendous depth--in reality about seven feet--before his
feet came flat upon the rock and a strong arm caught him across the
chest like a living protecting bar.
Aleck's eyes turned dim, and the rock face in front spun round before
him as he felt himself pressed backward--a few feet beneath what seemed
to be a rugged stone eave, which protected him and his companion from
being seen by anyone who should peer over the edge, while the next
moment the smuggler's lips were close to his ear and the breath came hot
as the man whispered:
"I never knowed a lad before who dared to jump like that. Come on,
Master Aleck; I'd trust you with anything now."
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
Aleck resigned himself to the smuggler's guiding hand, which gripped his
arm tightly, and as the giddy sensation began to pass off and he saw
more clearly, he grasped the position in which he stood--to wit, that he
was upon another ledge of rock, apparently another stratum of the great
slowly-built-up masses which formed the mighty cliffs, one, however,
which had been eaten away more by the action of time, so that it was
much more deeply indented, while the upper stratum from which he had
dropped overlapped considerably, save in one place, where this lower
shelf projected in a rocky tongue, which resembled a huge bracket, and a
cold shiver ran through the lad as he saw now fully the perilous nature
of his leap.
"Haven't found out the way yet," said Eben, coolly; "but when they do
they won't find out which way we've come. What do you say, sir?"
"Oh, no!" said Aleck, trying to conceal a shiver. "But what a horrible
leap!"
"Nothing when you're used to it, sir. All right if you keep your head,
and safe from being found out."
"But suppose anyone were on the opposite side?"
"No good to suppose that, master. Nothing ever comes there but the
gulls and mews, with a few sea parrots. Nobody could get there without
being let down by a line, and the birds never nest there, so it's quite
safe. Now, then, if you're ready we'll go down."
"Go down?"
"Yes, my lad; this is the way down to the shore."
"With an opening to the sea?" said Aleck, eagerly, for his curiosity was
beginning to overcome the tension caused by the shock his nerves had
suffered.
The smuggler laughed.
"Well, you're asking a good deal, youngster," he said, "but it's of no
use for me to play at hide-and-seek with you now. Yes; there's a way
open to the sea just for 'bout an hour at some tides. Then it's shut up
again by the water, and that's what makes it so safe."
Half a dozen more questions were bubbling up towards his lips, but the
smuggler made a movement and Aleck felt that the best way to satisfy his
curiosity would be to remain silent and use his eyes as much as he
could.
He was gazing sharply round, to see nothing that suggested a way down to
the sea but the great gully beneath his feet, when he became aware of
the fact that Eben was watching him quietly with a dry, amused look in
his eyes.
"Well," he said, "can you find it now?" Aleck shook his head.
"Come along, then."
The smuggler took a few steps along beside the great wall on their
right, and Aleck followed closely, till his companion stopped short and
faced him.
"Well," he said, "see it now?"
"No," said Aleck.
"Look back, then."
The lad turned, and found that without noticing it he had passed a spot
where a great piece of rock terminated in a sharp edge, which overlapped
a portion of the wall, and as he looked in the direction from which he
had come there was a wide opening, quite six feet in height, looking as
if a portion of the rock had scaled off the main mass, forming an
opening some three feet wide, and remained fixed. Into this the lad
stepped at once, shutting out a portion of the light, and for a few
moments it seemed to him that the place ended some seven or eight feet
from the entrance; but as he ran his left hand along the wall for safety
and guidance, he found that instead of its being solid wall upon his
left, he had been touching a mere sheet of stone, which screened another
opening leading back to the original direction. Upon holding tight and
peering round a sharp corner Aleck found that he was gazing into black
darkness; but a breath of cool, moist air and the peculiar odour told
their own tale of what was beyond, and to endorse this came the soft,
sighing, whispering rush of waves sweeping over pebbles far enough
below.
"Now you know the way down, my lad," said Eben.
"Yes, I suppose I do."
"But even if you'd found it all by yourself I suppose you wouldn't have
ventured down."
"What, into that horrible cavern?"
"'Tarn't a horrible cavern, my lad, only a sort of a dark passage going
straight down for a bit. Had enough, or will you come further?"
"I'll come, of course," said the lad, firmly.
"All right, then. That's right; there's nothing to be afraid of. You
do as I do."
It was a faint twilight now where the pair were standing, with a dark
forbidding chasm just in front, and Aleck was longing for a lanthorn,
which he half expected to see the smuggler produce. But instead of
doing so he stepped suddenly into the darkness.
"Now, then," he said, "you'll do as I do. It's nothing to what you did
just now in jumping, for there's no danger; only that looked better, for
it was in the light. This is in the darkness. That was straight down;
this is only a slope, and you'll hear me slide. I'll tell you when to
come after me."
"I understand," said Aleck; and then suddenly, "What's that?"
"What's what, my lad?"
"It felt as if something soft had come right up in my face."
"Wind," said the smuggler.
"But it's blowing the back of my head now, just as if something touched
me," said Aleck, in a husky voice.
"Yes, I know," said the smuggler. "It's just as if little soft snaky
fingers were feeling about your head."
"Yes, just like that," said Aleck, in a husky whisper. "I don't think
it could be the wind."
"Yes, it is. That's right; only the wind, my lad. The cave's sucking
because the sea keeps on opening and shutting the mouth at this time of
the tide, and one minute the air's rushing in here and the next it's
rushing out. Now do you see?"
"Yes, I think so," said Aleck.
"Then here goes."
Through the dim light the boy now saw his companion's face for a few
moments, and then the smuggler turned round, took another step, spread
out his arms to grasp the rocky sides, and the next minute there was a
low rustling sound and a puff of wind struck the lad in the face,
followed by silence.
"Are you there, Eben?" said Aleck, softly.
"Right, my lad. Now, then, you don't want no more teaching. Do as I
did, and come down."
"How far is it?" said Aleck, hesitating.
"Eight or nine fathom, my lad. Never measured it. Ready?"
"Yes," said the lad, and setting his teeth hard he pressed his hands
against the wall on either side, felt about with one foot, drew the
other up to it, and then let go and began to slide down a steep slope,
the passage taking away his breath, so that he was panting hard when his
heels met with a sudden check and the smuggler's voice, sounding like a
hollow whisper, said:
"Bottom o' this bit."
"What, is there any more?" faltered Aleck.
"Lots," said the man, laughing. "It's only a great ziggery-zag crack
running right through the rock from top to bottom. There's nothing to
mind, as you'd see if we'd got the lanthorn. They were so close after
me that I hadn't time to get the one I left up yonder in the cliffs.
Now, then, I'm going down again. It's quite dry, and worn smooth with
all sorts of things coming up and folk like us going down. Just the
same as before, my lad. I calls it Jacob's Ladder. Natur' made a good
deal on it, and my grandfathers, fathers, and us lot finished it a bit
at a time and made it what it is."
There was a rushing sound directly after, and the smuggler's voice next
time he spoke came from a lower stage.
Aleck followed again with more confidence that he would not plunge into
some horrible well-like hole full of water with he knew not what
horrible, eel-like creatures waiting to attack him. This time the slide
down felt comparatively easy, while at another angle of the zigzag, as
he followed his unseen guide, Aleck actually began to think that such a
way of progression must be bad for the clothes.
"You'll have to ease yourself down this next one," said Eben, as he was
starting for the next descent; "it's a bit steeper. Let your hands run
along the wall over your head, just touching it, and that'll be enough.
Don't shove hard, or you'll be taking the skin off."
"I'll mind," said Aleck, rather hoarsely.
"What's the matter?" said the man.
"I've hurt my head a little against the roof."
"Humph!" grunted the smuggler. "Forgot to tell you about that bit.
It's the only place where you can touch the top, and you run agen it.
Hurt yerself much?"
"No."
"Then come on."
The rather swift descent was accomplished more easily than Aleck
anticipated, and he slid down into a pair of hands.
"Now, then, the next bit's diff'rent," said the smuggler. "You'll sit
down on your heels like to slide, but it arn't steep, and every now and
then you'll have to give yerself a bit of a shove to help yer down to
the next bit, and that's worse still."
"Worse?" said Aleck, trying to suppress a catching of the breath; but
the smuggler detected it.
"Not what you think bad," he said, with a hoarse chuckle, "but what we
call bad. You have to walk all the way."
"And there are no side places where you might slip into?"
"Not half o' one, my lad. There was a nasty hole at the bottom of the
next but one, that seemed to go right down to the end of the world.
P'raps it did, but we brought up big bits o' rock till some on 'em
caught and got wedged into niches, and then we kept on till we filled it
up level, and you wouldn't know it's there. Now, then, let's get down."
"Stop a moment," said Aleck. "I don't feel the wind coming and going
now. Have we got below where it comes in?"
"Not us. The tide's up above the mouth now, and there'll be no wind to
feel till next tide. Here's off."
The rustling began, and the two next portions of the strange zigzag
series of cleft were passed down easily enough, while, as he descended a
couple more, Aleck felt how smoothly floor and sides were worn and
carved, and began to dwell upon the time that must have elapsed and the
industry bestowed upon the curious passage by the smugglers, who had by
virtue of their oaths and their interest in the place kept it a secret
for generations.
"I wonder how many more there are," Aleck was thinking as he glided
down, when all at once Eben said, loudly:
"Bottom! Stand fast, my lad, while I get a light."
"That you, you scoundrel?" came in a strange echoing voice from a
distance.
"Ay, ay, this is me," replied the smuggler. "I'll be there soon."
There was silence, for, though eager to speak to the prisoner, Aleck
concluded that he had better wait, and not commence his first meeting
with the prisoner in the character of one of his enemies.
The next minute there was the rattle of iron or tin, and then a short,
sharp, nicking sound began, accompanied by a display of flowery little
sparks. At the end of a minute the frowning face of the smuggler was
lit up as he blew softly at the tinder, into which a spark had fallen
and caught; the light increased, and as a brimstone match was applied to
the incandescent tinder, the brimstone melted, bubbled, and began to
turn blue. Then the splint of wood beneath began to burn, and at last
emitted a blaze, which was communicated to the wick of the candle.
This, too, began to burn, and then the door of the lanthorn was closed.
"There we are," said the smuggler. "Now let's go and see our bird."
Aleck made no reply, for his eyes were wandering over all that the
feeble light of the dim horn lanthorn threw up; and very little though
this was at a time, it was enough to fill the lad with wonder. For as
far as he could make out, they were in a vast cavern, whose floor about
where they stood supported stacks of kegs and piles of boxes and bales.
There was also a tremendous collection of wood, the most part being
evidently the gatherings of wrecks, and in addition there were the
fittings of vessel after vessel, so various in fact that Aleck hurriedly
turned away his eyes, to gaze with something like a shiver at the
reflection of the lanthorn in a far-stretching mirror of intense
blackness which lay smooth and undisturbed, save in one part away to his
left, where it was blurred and dimmed, rising and falling as if moved by
some undercurrent.
"Water," he said, at last, as the smuggler raised up his lanthorn and
smiled.
"Yes, and plenty of it."
"But where's the mouth of the cave?"
"Over yonder," said the man, pointing towards where the surface was in
motion.
"Let's walk towards it with the lanthorn," said Aleck.
"Why, my lad?"
"I want to see the daylight again."
"But we couldn't get far along there with the tide up, and even if we
could you wouldn't see the mouth of the cave."
"Why not?" asked Aleck.
"Because it's under water."
"Never mind; hold up the lanthorn, and let me see what I can."
"Then I'd better hide it or shut it," said Eben, and, setting the
lanthorn down upon the rocky floor, he slipped off his rough jacket and
covered the lanthorn so that not a ray of light could be seen escaping
through the panes of thinly-scraped horn.
To the lad's wonderment, no sooner was the lanthorn hidden than instead
of the place being intensely dark, it was lit up by a soft translucent
twilight, which seemed to rise out of the water where it was disturbed.
This light, where the water was wreathing and swaying softly, was of a
delicious, transparent blue, and by degrees, as he gazed in awe and
wonder, a low archway could be made out spanning a considerable space,
but beautifully indistinct, festooned as it was by filaments and ribands
of seaweed and wrack, all apparently of a jetty black, seen through
water of a wondrous blue. But the whole archway was in motion, as it
seemed, and constantly changing its shape, while the sea growth swayed
and curved and undulated, and at times lay out straight, as if swept by
some swift current.
"Is it always like this?" said Aleck, in a whisper, though he could not
have explained why he spoke in such awe-stricken tones.
"Oh, no, my lad; it's a deal darker than that when the tide's high."
"Tide--high?" said Aleck, in a startled voice. "Does the water ever
fill the cavern? No, no, of course not," he said, hastily. "I can see
it never comes up to those stacks of bales and things."
"That's right," said the smuggler.
"And the tide lays the mouth quite open?"
"Not very often," said the smuggler. "Just at certain tides."
"But I must have seen the mouth from outside sometimes."
"Like enough; my lad, but I don't s'pose you were ever there when a boat
could come in."
"Then a boat could come in?"
"Yes," said the smuggler, meaningly, "it could come in then. Want to
know exactly?" he added, with a laugh.
"No, I don't know that I do," said Aleck, shortly. "Now, then, I didn't
come to see how beautiful the place looked. I want to see and talk to
that poor fellow you've got shut up here."
"Um!" grunted the smuggler. "I don't know about `poor fellow.' He has
been better off, I daresay, than I was while they kept me a prisoner.
Better fed and all. Nothing the matter, only he couldn't get out."
"But why did you make a prisoner of him?"
"I didn't," said the smuggler, contemptuously; "it was the silly women."
"What for?"
"They got the silly idea in their heads that they could make the
press-gang officer exchange--give the pressed men back--if they held on
to the lad."
"But you'll set him free at once?" said Aleck, quickly.
"I don't know, my lad," was the reply. "It's rather a mess, I'm afraid,
taking a King's officer like that; and it seems to me it will be a worse
one to let him go."
"Oh, but you must let him go. The punishment will be very serious for
keeping him."
"So it will for breaking loose and swimming ashore after being pressed
for a sailor."
"Yes," cried Aleck; "but--"
"Yes, sir; but," said the smuggler, with a bitter laugh, "it's all
one-sided like. I didn't begin on them--they began on me, to rob a poor
fellow of his liberty. Now, I know it was a foolish thing for those
women to get hold of that boy, half smother him, and shut him up here;
and I don't want to keep him."
"Of course not."
"But what am I to do? If I let him go, and say `Run for it,' he'll be
back before I know where I am with another boat's crew to take me; and
of course, being a man, I shall have to stand fire for everybody.
'Sides which it'll be making known to the Revenue officers where our
lair is, and that'll be ruin to everybody."
"Then you must escape, Eben, for that poor fellow must be set free."
"Don't see it yet, Master Aleck," said the man, stubbornly. "It wants
thinking about. Simplest way seems to me to be that I should put him
out of his misery."
"What! Kill him?"
"Something of that sort, sir."
"Bah! You're laughing at me," cried Aleck. "Come, no nonsense--take me
to him; and he must be set at liberty directly."
"Well, don't be in quite such a hurry, Master Aleck," said the man.
"You ought to play fair after what has passed 'twixt us two."
"And so I will, Eben. I have promised you that I will not tell anyone
about this place."
"That's right enough, sir. So you say I must let him out?"
"Of course."
"Well, don't you think I ought to have my chance to get away?"
"Certainly."
"Very well, then, sir, you must wait a bit. You know what it'll be if
he's let out now."
"No, I don't."
"Very well, then, I'll tell you, sir. He'll forget all about being
treated well and all that sort o' thing, and go and get help to try and
catch me. Then he'll come directly upon the party who've been hunting
me, and I shall be took at once."
"Then you must have a few hours to escape, and then I will set him
free."
"I must have two or three days, or I shall be taken again. But you wait
a bit; he can't be set loose yet. Come and see him now if you like, or
would you rather stay away?"
"I'd rather go to him, poor fellow; he must be in a horrible state."
"Not he," said the smuggler, coolly. "He's had plenty to eat and drink,
and a lot of canvas for a bed. He hasn't hurt."
"You didn't hear his cries for help," said Aleck.
"No, or I should have come down to quiet him if I'd been near," said the
smuggler, gruffly. "Come on."
He led the way farther in away from the mouth of the cavern, and in and
out amongst rocks which lay about the rugged floor, the course being
beside the water, which now began to grow of a jetty black, while from
time to time Aleck caught a gleam of something bright overhead, showing
that here and there the roof came lower. He saw, too, that the winding,
canal-like channel of water gradually grew narrower, till the lanthorn
illumined the place sufficiently for the lad to see that they could
easily cross to the other side by stepping from rock to rock, which rose
above the shallow water.
"We'll go over here," said the smuggler, "but by and by the water will
be right over there, and you have to go right to the end and climb along
the ledge. Can you see where to step?"
"Yes. Go on."
"Mind how you come; the stones here are slippery with the wet seaweed."
"I can manage," said Aleck, and he carefully stepped across and stood on
the other side. "Now, where is he?"
"Yonder, half way up that side! There's a snug hole there, plenty big
enough for him. I've slept there lots of times when we've been busy."
Aleck did not enquire what the business was, but he surmised as he
followed the guide, with the light from the lanthorn enabling him to see
where to put his feet.
They were now going back towards the submerged mouth of the vast cavern,
and Aleck felt a strange sensation of relief even at this, for thoughts
would keep crowding into his brain about what would be the consequence
if a greater tide than usual flooded the place, a thought so horrible
that the perspiration stood out upon his forehead, though it might have
been caused by the exertion of stepping over the rugged floor and the
heat of the place.
"Isn't he very quiet?" whispered Aleck.
"Yes, but he's watching us," said the man, in a hoarse whisper, while
Aleck looked in vain for a likely place to be the young officer's
prison, "over yonder" being a very vague indication.
Just then the smuggler began to step up a steep slope of moderate-sized
rocks piled one upon the other, to stop short about ten feet above where
his companion was standing.
He held the lanthorn down low for the lad to see, and as Aleck stood
beside him he raised the light as high as he could, so that the dim rays
fell upon the angry staring eyes of the young officer, who lay upon a
thick cushion composed of many folds of sail-cloth, the bolt ropes and
reef points in which showed plainly that it had been in use possibly in
connection with some unfortunate vessel wrecked upon the rocks of the
iron-bound coast.
The face was familiar enough to Aleck as the midshipman hitched himself
up a little higher upon the elbow which supported him, and his new
visitor saw that the fierce eyes were not directed at him, but at the
smuggler who bore the lanthorn.
"Then you've come at last?" he said, fiercely. "Now, then, no more of
this tomfool acting; unlock this iron and take me out into the fresh
air, or as sure as you stand there, you great, black-muzzled,
piratical-looking scoundrel, I'll say such things about you to the
captain that he'll hang you to the yard-arm, and serve you right."
"What!" growled the smuggler. "Not got tame yet?"
"Tame, you miserable ruffian! How dare you speak to an officer in His
Majesty's Navy like that? There never was such an outrage before.
Unfasten these irons, I say, and take me out!"
"Why, skipper," said the smuggler, mockingly, "your temper gets worse
and worse."
"My temper, you dog!" cried the midshipman, furiously. "How dare you
treat me like this?"
"And how dare you come with your gang, knocking honest men on the head
and dragging them off to sea?" retorted Eben. "You'd think nothing of
putting them in irons because they wouldn't take to the sea. How do you
like it, my young springold?"
"I'm not going to argue with you, you ruffian, about that," cried the
midshipman. "Now, look here, that woman who brought me the wretched
food said she dare not and could not unlock that iron I've got round my
ankle, but that when her husband came I was to ask him. Now, then,
you're the husband, aren't you?"
"Oh, yes, I'm the husband, safe enough," growled the smuggler.
"Then I order you in the King's name to take these irons off."
"You wait a bit, captain," said the smuggler; "all in good time. Here,
take it coolly for a bit longer; I've brought you some company."
"Ah, who's that with you? I thought I saw someone and heard
whispering."
The smuggler held the lanthorn lower and opened the door, so that the
candle light shone full on Aleck's face.
"You?" cried the midshipman, excitedly. "Then I was right; I thought
you were one of the smuggling gang."
"Then you thought wrong," said Aleck, shortly.
"What do you want here?" cried the prisoner, wildly, for the fit of rage
and command into which he had forced himself was fast dying down into
misery and despair.
"I've come to help you, middy," cried Aleck, warmly, and he sank upon
one knee and caught the poor fellow's hand.
"To--to--to help me?" he gasped.
"Yes, and to have you out into the daylight again. You, Eben Megg, take
off the chain directly!" cried Aleck. "How dare you chain an officer
and a gentleman as if he were a thief or a dog?"
"Oh!" cried the prisoner, and the ejaculation sounded wildly hysterical
and passionate as that of a girl. "Oh--oh! Don't--don't speak to me--
don't! Oh, you--I can't bear it! I'm not a coward, but I've been shut
up down here in the horrible darkness of this place till I've been half
mad at times, and--and I'm half mad now. It's the loneliness--the being
alone down here night and day."
"Of course it is," cried Aleck, feeling half choked as he spoke; and
holding the lad's hand tightly between his own, he kept pressing it
hard, and ended by shaking it more and more warmly as he spoke. "Of
course, of course it is. It would have driven me quite mad; but you
shan't feel the loneliness again, for I'll stop with you till you're
out, happen what may."
"Hah! Thank you, thank you!" whispered the prisoner. "I couldn't help
breaking down. I did try so very hard. I didn't think that I should
behave like a girl."
"Hush!" whispered Aleck, who had interposed between the prisoner and the
gaoler with his lanthorn. "Hold up; don't let him see. There, it's
going to be all right now. There's a boat's crew and an officer from
the cutter somewhere above on the cliff, trying to find you."
"What!" cried the midshipman, holding on to Aleck now with both hands.
"Is that true, or are you saying it to keep up my spirits?"
"It's as true as true," cried Aleck.
"Then I'll hail again. Oh, how I have hailed! Do you think they could
hear me now the water's up?"
"Perhaps," said Aleck. "I heard you, and I've been hunting for long
enough to find the way down."
"What!" cried the middy, who was beginning to master the emotion from
which he had suffered. "Then you didn't know the way?"
"No, not till just now."
"But you knew of this horrible cave?"
"No; though it isn't above a mile from where I live."
"I--I thought you were mixed up with these smugglers, and--and--I beg
your pardon."
"There's nothing to beg pardon about," said Aleck, cheerfully. "There,
I'm going to have you out of this. Now, then, Eben, bring the light
closer. Where did these fetters come from?"
"Out of a King's ship as was wrecked off Black Point, Master Aleck. We
got dozens out of the sands. They're what they use when they put men in
irons."
"Nonsense."
"I tell you they are, sir. You ask Tom Bodger if they arn't."
"Yes, they're the regular irons," said the midshipman, huskily; and
Aleck, who still held his hand, felt that he was all of a tremble.
"So, you see, Master Aleck, it's on'y fair. Tit for tat, you know."
"That will do, sir," cried the lad, sharply. "Don't be a coward as well
as cruel to this gentleman. Now, then, set down the lanthorn on one of
the stones and unlock this fetter, or whatever it is."
"Can't, sir," said the man, gruffly.
"What! I order you to do it."
"Yes, sir, I hear you, but the chain's locked round his ankle."
"Well, I know that. Unlock it."
"Well, I would, sir, as it's come to this, but I arn't got the key."
"What!" cried Aleck, with a chill of despair running through him.
"Where is it, then?"
"My missus or one of the other women's got it."
"But you said there were a lot of these irons; there must be more than
one key."
"I never saw but one, sir, and that we had up at home. It was my old
woman's idee to chain him up like this. You see, it's three or four of
them irons locked together, and one end's about his ankle and the
other's locked to the ring there that we let into the rock and fixed
with melted lead so as to fix tackle to when we wanted to haul in casks
or moor a boat."
"Then you must go and find your wife, and get it," said Aleck, firmly.
"Go up on the cliff, young gentleman, and walk right into the hands of
the boat's crew hunting for me, eh?"
"I don't care; I will have this gentleman set free. You may not meet
any of the sailors," cried Aleck, and almost at every word of his brave
standing up for the prisoner he felt himself rewarded by a warm pressure
of the hand.
"That's all right enough, Master Aleck Donne, but you know what I've
told you 'bout being made prisoner and having to nearly lose my life in
swimming for my liberty?"
"Yes, perfectly well; but I must have him cast free, even if he has to
wait a bit before he goes out of the cave."
"But you heard, too, what he said, sir, and I shouldn't be a bit
surprised if, when they caught me, they did hang me to the yard-arm of
one of their ships."
"Yes, yes, I know," said Aleck; "but--"
"But you arn't reasonable, Master Aleck. My life's as much to me as
another man's is to him, whether he's a poor fellow or a gentleman.
Now, look here, you know yourself it arn't safe for me to go out of the
cave now, is it?"
"Well, I'm afraid it is not just yet, Eben; but--"
"Wait a minute, Master Aleck. Give a man a chance. Look here; as soon
as it's dark I'll go up on to the cliff and try and get to my cottage,
and as soon as I can get the key I'll come back and let your orficer
here go loose if he'll swear as he won't show his people the way down
here."
"No," cried the midshipman, firmly; "I can't promise that."
"Not to get free, squire?" said Eben, grimly.
"N-no, I can't do that. It's my duty to help clear out this place. I
can't; don't ask me. I can't promise that."
"Look here," said Aleck, smiling; "could you lead a party down here?"
The midshipman started, and was silent.
"How did you come down here?"
"Come down? I didn't come down. I was half stunned, and then thrown
into a boat. I can just recollect feeling myself dragged out again, and
then I lay sick and giddy, just as if I was in a horrible dream, till I
awoke in the darkness to find that I was chained up here."
"Then he could not lead a party here, Eben," said Aleck; "and you could
get him out of here so that he would never know how he was taken out."
"Ah!" said the middy, sharply. "Then you two didn't come in a boat?"
"Never you mind how we came or how we didn't, my lad," said the
smuggler, "we're here; and as the game's up, Master Aleck, and all I
want to do is to keep out of the clutches of the press-gang and the law,
I'll do as I said, go up by and by and try to get the key, and if I
can't get the key I'll bring down a file."
"That will do, Eben--I'll trust you; and as you're going to do your best
now I don't think Mr--Mr--"
"Wrighton," said the middy.
"Mr Wrighton will want to be hard on a man who wants to escape from
being pressed. How long will it be before it's safe to go up?"
"I daren't go till it's midnight, my lad. I've been run too close
before, and as it is I'm not sure but what they'll be waiting for me
about my home; but anyhow I'll try."
"And I must wait till then?" said the middy, with a break in his voice.
"Yes," said Aleck; "but I shall keep my word--I'll stick by you till
you're free."
"Ah!" ejaculated the lad, and his voice sounded more natural, as he
added, in a low tone to Aleck: "Don't think me a coward, please. You
don't know what it is to be shut up in a place like this."
"No," said Aleck; "but if I were I should feel and act just as you have,
and I hope be quite as brave."
A pressure of the hand conveyed the midshipman's thanks, and directly
after the two lads awoke to the fact that the smuggler was doing
something which could mean nothing else but the providing of something
to eat and drink.
For upon raising the lanthorn to look around, he came upon a basket, and
beside it a good-sized bottle, both of which he examined.
"Why, skipper," he said, "you haven't eat your dinner!"
"How could I eat at a time like this?" said the midshipman, angrily.
"Well, I s'pose it didn't give you much hankering arter eating tackle,"
said the smuggler, grimly. "I took nowt but water when I was aboard
your ship; but you ought to eat and drink now you ye got to the end of
your troubles, thanks to Master Aleck here. Why, you've got two lots.
What's in the bottles?"
The speaker screwed out the corks of two bottles, one after the other,
and smelt the contents.
"Ha! Water. Want anything stronger?" he said, with a grin. "Plenty o'
Right Nantes yonder," he added, with a jerk of his thumb over the right
shoulder.
"No, no, I don't want anything," said the midshipman, impatiently.
"Well, sir, I do," said Eben. "I'm down faint, and if you don't mind--
what do you say, Master Aleck?"
"I never thought of it," replied Aleck; "but now you talk about eating
and drinking you make me feel ready. Let's have something, Mr
Wrighton; it will help to pass away the time."
The result was that the contents of the basket were spread between them,
and from forcing down a mouthful or two of food the prisoner's appetite
began to return, and a good meal was made, Aleck and the smuggler
naturally playing the most vigorous part.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
Aleck ate heartily, for the state of affairs began to look bright, but
as he played his part his eyes were busy, and he noted that the
beautiful effect of light which came through the transparent water
beneath the submerged arch grew less and less striking till the colour
had nearly faded out, while the water had evidently risen a good deal in
the long canal-like pool, and was still rising, and where the cavern's
weird configuration had in one part appeared through a dim shadowy
twilight all was black darkness.
There had been a little talking during the consumption of the meal, but
when it was ended silence had fallen upon the group. The smuggler had
proceeded to fill a black pipe which he had lit at the lanthorn, and
then drawn back a little, leaving the two youths to themselves; but very
little was said, conversation in the man's presence seeming to be
impossible.
The pipe was smoked to the very last, and then, after tapping out the
hot ashes, the smuggler coughed and turned to the others.
"Look here, gen'lemen," he said; "I think we understand one another a
bit now, which means I'm going to trust you two and you're going to
trust me?"
"Yes," said Aleck.
"That's right, then. Of course, all I want to do is to get safe away so
as to bring back the key of them irons, or a file, and as soon as we've
got them off you're going to give me till to-morrow about this time
before you come out?"
"We can't stay in this horrible hole all night," cried Aleck,
impetuously.
"Don't see as it's much of a horrible hole, master," said the man;
"there's plenty to eat and drink, and a good roof over your heads. I've
slept here times enough. There arn't nothing to worry you--no old
bogies. Wust thing I ever see here was a seal, which come in one night,
splashing about; and he did scare me a bit till I knowed what it was.
But that's the bargain, gentlemen, and there's no running back. There's
the lanthorn, and there's a box yonder with plenty of candles, and a
tinder-box with flint, steel, and matches, so you never need be in the
dark. Plenty of bread and bacon, cheese, and butter too, so you'll be
all right; so there's no call to say no more about that. Now, then, I'm
going uppards to try if I can find out what's going on outside. I shall
keep coming down to tell you till I think my chance of getting home has
come, and then I shall run off and you'll wait till I come back."
"Very well," said Aleck, who found that he had all the talking to do,
and after a time the smuggler rose.
"There," he said, "I'm going now. Say good luck to me."
"Well," replied Aleck, "good luck to you! Be as quick as you can. But
what are you going to do about a light?"
"What for?" said the man, gruffly.
"To find your way to the zigzag slopes."
The smuggler laughed softly.
"I don't want any light to go about this place, squire. There arn't an
inch I don't know by heart."
"I suppose not," said Aleck, thoughtfully. "But, look here; what about
that place?"
"What about it, sir?"
"The getting up. Of course it was easy enough to slide down, but how
about getting up?"
"Didn't I tell you? No, of course, I didn't. Look here, sir; it's all
smooth in the middle, but if you keep close up to the left you'll find
nicks cut in the stone just big enough for your toes, and as close
together as steps. You'll find it easy enough."
"I understand," said Aleck, and the next minute they were listening to
the faintly-echoing steps, for the moment the man stepped out of the
faint yellow glow made by the lanthorn he plunged into intense black
darkness. But from what he had so far gleaned of the configuration of
the place the lad was pretty well able to trace the smuggler by his
footsteps, till all at once there was a faint rustling, and then the
gloom around was made more impressive by the silence which endured for a
couple of minutes or so, to be succeeded by a faint, peculiar, echoing,
scraping sound.
"What's that?" asked the midshipman, excitedly.
Aleck explained that it was evidently the noise made by the scraping of
the smuggler's boots against the stone, as he ascended the zigzag crack
to the surface.
This lasted for about a minute, to be succeeded by a peculiar harsh
noise as of stone being drawn upon stone, after which there was another
peculiar sound, also in some way connected with stone jarring against
stone; but Aleck could give no explanation to his companion as to what
that might be, feeling puzzled himself. Another stone seemed to be
moved then, and it struck the listener that it might be somehow
connected with the more level of the zigzag passages, though why he
should have thought that he could not have explained.
Probably not more than three minutes were taken up altogether before the
last faint sound had died completely away, and then Aleck found himself
called upon to explain the configuration of the natural staircase by
which ascent could be made and exit found. For it never occurred to the
lad that he was in any way breaking the confidence placed in him in
making the prisoner as familiar with the peculiarities of the cavern as
he was himself. The midshipman, his companion in the strange adventure,
had asked him about the shape and position of his prison, and he had
explained what he knew. That was all.
The account took some time, for the prisoner's interest seemed to
increase with what he learned, and his questions succeeded one another
pretty quickly, with the result that in his explanations Aleck had to
include a good deal of his own personal life, after which he did not
scruple to ask his companion a little about his own on board ship.
"I say," said Aleck, at last, "isn't it droll?"
"Droll!" groaned the midshipman. "What, being shut up here?"
"No, no; our meeting as we did in Rockabie harbour, and what took place
with the boys. I never expected to see you again, and now here have I
found you out, a prisoner, chained by the leg, and in ever so short a
time you and I have grown to be quite friends."
"Yes," said the midshipman, drawing a deep breath. "I didn't like you
the first time we met."
"And I didn't like you," said Aleck, laughing. "I thought you were
stuck-up and consequential. I say, I wish Tom Bodger were here!"
"What, that wooden-legged rase sailor?"
"Yes."
"What good could he do--a cripple like that?"
"Cripple! Oh, I never thought of him as a cripple. He's as clever as
clever. There isn't anything he won't try to do. I was thinking that
if he were here he'd be scheming some plan or another to get rid of the
chain about your leg."
"Hah!" sighed the midshipman, "but he isn't here. I say!"
"Well?"
"Hadn't you better have another candle to light--that one's nearly
burned down?"
"I've got one quite ready, lying out here on the stone."
"Hah! That's right," said the prisoner. "It's so horrible to be in the
dark."
"Oh, no; not when you've got company."
"But be quite ready. It might go out quickly."
"Well, if it did, I know where the flint and steel are."
"You couldn't find them in the dark."
"Oh, couldn't I? I kept an eye on everything Master Eben did."
"I say, do you think he will come back?"
"Yes; he's sure to, unless some of the cutter's men catch him and carry
him off."
"Ah! and you think, then, that he wouldn't speak, out of spite, and
leave us here to starve?" cried the middy, excitedly.
"No, I don't," said Aleck; "I don't think anything of the sort. Don't
you be ready to take fright."
"I've been shut up in this place so long," said the middy,
apologetically, "and it has made me as weak and nervous as a girl."
"Well, try not to be," said Aleck. "Look here; there's nothing like
seeing the worst of things and treating them in a common-sense way.
Now, suppose such a thing did happen as that Eben Megg did not come
back--what then?"
"We should be starved to death."
"No, we shouldn't, for I daresay there's a good store here of biscuits
and corned beef out of some ship, as well as smuggled goods, that we
could eat."
"Till all was finished," said the middy, sadly.
"What of that? We could get out, couldn't we? I know the way."
"Oh, yes. I had forgotten that. But was there any door to the way
down--trap-door?"
"Door? No," said Aleck, laughing. "It's all the natural stone, just
chipped a little here and there to make it easier."
"That's right," said the midshipman, sadly. "But it is a terrible place
to be shut up in. Hasn't he been very long?"
"Oh, no. I daresay he'll be a long time yet. Come, cheer up. Let's
watch the water there. I wish I knew what the time was. Can't we tell?
When the water looks blackest it ought to be high water. I wonder
whether we shall see the arch quite cleared and the light shining
through. Have you noticed it?"
"Don't!" said the young sailor, rather piteously. "I know what it
means--you are talking like this to keep up my spirits."
"Well, suppose I am?"
"Don't try; it only makes me more weak and miserable. You can't think
of the horrors I've suffered."
"But--"
"Yes, I know what you're going to say--that I ought to have been firmer,
and fought against the dread and horror, and mastered the feelings."
"Something of the sort," said Aleck.
"Well, I did at first, but I gradually got weaker and weaker, till in
the darkness and silence something happened which scared me ten times
more than the being here alone."
"Something happened? What?" said Aleck, wonderingly.
"I suddenly felt frightened of myself."
"I don't understand you."
"I was afraid that I was losing my senses."
"Well, then, don't be afraid like that any more, for you're not going to
lose them."
"Men have lost their wits by being shut up alone," said the middy,
piteously.
"Perhaps. But you're not going to, for you're not alone, and all you've
got to do is to lie there patiently and wait. I say, aren't you tired?"
"Oh, horribly. I couldn't sleep for the horror I felt."
"Well, you could now. Go to sleep, and I'll wake you when Eben Megg
comes back."
"No," said the middy; "I couldn't sleep now. Suppose I awoke at last
and found that you had gone!"
"Ah, you're going to imagine all sorts of things," said Aleck, who felt
that he must do something to keep his companion from brooding over his
position.
"Look here; suppose I go up the passage and see if I can make out
anything about Eben!"
Before he had finished speaking he became aware of how terribly the poor
fellow had been shaken by his confinement. For the lad caught him
spasmodically by the arm with both hands.
"No, no," he panted. "Don't leave me--pray don't leave me."
"Very well, then, I'll stay," said Aleck; "but I do hope the poor fellow
will not be caught by the cutter's men."
Aleck felt sorry as soon as he had said these words, for his companion
gave another start.
"You feel that he won't come back?"
"I feel," said Aleck, quietly, "that we seem to be wasting time. Have
you got a knife?"
"Yes, of course."
"So have I. Well, mine has a small blade; has yours?"
"Yes. Why?"
"One small blade would not be strong enough, but if two were thrust into
the back of those irons together we might be able to open them. I
believe all these fetters are opened by a square key, and I'm going to
try."
"Ah, yes; do."
"Once get you free, we could pass the time climbing up the natural
staircase, and get a look out from the top at the fresh green trees and
clear sky."
Aleck's attempt to take his companion's attention was successful,
inasmuch as after the production of the knives, and the changing the
position of the opened lanthorn so that the dim light should do its best
in illuminating the rusty anklet and chain, the midshipman began to take
some feeble interest in the proceedings.
Aleck knew as much about handcuffs and fetters as he did about the
binomial theorem, but he was one of those lads who are always ready to
"have a try" at anything, and, after examining the square deeply-set
holes which secured the anklets, he placed the two pen-blades of the
knives together, forced them in as far as they would go, and tried to
turn them.
The first effort resulted in a sharp clicking sound.
"There goes the edge of one blade," said the lad, coolly. "I hope it's
your knife, and not mine. Hullo! Hooray! It turns!"
For the blades held fast, jammed as they were into the angles of the
orifice, and the operator was able to turn the knives half way, and then
all the way round.
"Now try," said the midshipman, beginning to take deep interest in the
attempt.
"I have," said Aleck, gloomily; "the blades turn the inside, but the
thing's as fast as ever."
"But you are not doing it right," said the middy.
"I suppose not; you try."
"No, no; go on. But you haven't turned enough."
"It wants the proper key," said Aleck.
"No, I think those knives will do, after all. I saw a sailor put in
irons once for striking his superior officer, and I think that part
wants not only turning like a key in a lock, but turning round and
round, as if you were taking out a screw."
"Oh, I see," cried Aleck, with renewed eagerness, and he turned and
turned till, to his great delight, the anklet fell open like an
unclasped bracelet, and then dropped on to the folded sail-cloth which
formed the prisoner's couch.
"Hooray!" shouted Aleck again.
"Hurrah! Hurrah!" cried the young officer, with a decision in his voice
that brought up their first meeting in the harbour.
"There, it's all right," cried Aleck, as the young officer caught him by
the hands; "nothing like patience and a good try."
"I--I can't thank you enough," said the middy, in a half suffocated
voice.
"Well, who wants thanks, sailor?" cried Aleck. "Don't go on like that.
It's all right. I'm as glad as you are. Now, then--oh, I say, your
being shut up here has pulled you down!"
"Yes, more than I knew, old fellow," said the middy. "There, I'm better
now. You can't tell what an effect it had upon one. There were times
in the night when, after dragging and dragging at that miserable iron, I
grew half wild and ready to gnaw at my leg to get it free. Why, if you
know the way out we can escape now."
"Yes, but let's play fair by Eben Megg. He has gone to try and get the
key to open this thing, and I promised that I would wait till he came
back."
"But he will not come back, I feel sure. He's only a smuggler, and
ready to promise anything."
"Oh, no," said Aleck, "I don't think that. If he is not taken by the
men from the boat he'll come back, I feel sure. So let's wait till the
morning."
"I can't--I tell you I can't," cried the midshipman, half wild with
hysterical excitement. "I must get out now at any cost. I couldn't
bear another night in this place."
"Nonsense," cried Aleck, good-humouredly. "You bore it when you felt
almost hopeless as a prisoner; surely now that you are as good as free
you can manage to bear one more night!"
"No, I cannot and I will not," cried the young officer. "See to that
lanthorn at once, and let's get out of this living tomb."
Aleck lit a fresh candle and secured it in the sconce, watching the
midshipman the while as he sat up rubbing the freshly-freed leg, and
then stood up and stamped his foot as if the leg were stiff. Then, as
if satisfied that he could get along pretty well, he turned to his
companion.
"It's rather bad," he said, excitedly; "but--I can manage now. Jump up
and come along."
Aleck remained silent.
"Do you hear?" cried the middy.
"Yes. It's time now that we had something more to eat," said the lad,
quietly.
"Eat? Eat? Who's going to think of eating now? I want to get out and
breathe the cool, soft air. I feel just as if I were coming to life
after having been buried. Here, pick up the lanthorn and let's start."
"If Eben Megg does not come back by the morning," said Aleck, coldly.
"What! Do you mean to tell me that you are going to stay here all night
when the way's open?"
"The way is not open," said Aleck, coldly.
"Not open? You told me there was no door or fastening at all."
"There is neither, but it's shut up by the promise I gave that man."
"You tell me really that you mean to stop here all night waiting for
him?"
"Yes," said Aleck; "I was quite ready to stop here all night to keep you
company when you were a prisoner chained to that wall."
The midshipman stood staring down at his companion as if half stunned,
till better thoughts prevailed.
"Yes," he said, at last, in a quieter way. "So you were; and you would
have done it, wouldn't you?"
"Of course I would," said Aleck.
"And it wouldn't be fair to break your word, eh?"
"That's what I feel," was the reply.
"Yes, and I suppose it's right, Aleck--that's what they call you?"
"Yes, that's what they call me," said the lad, coldly.
"Yes--yes," said the middy, slowly. "I say, you're not an officer, but
you're a jolly deal more of a gentleman than I am. You see, I've been a
prisoner so long, and I want to get out."
"Of course; it's only natural."
"Well, then, you're going to show me the way out?"
"To-morrow morning, when I feel satisfied that Eben Megg will not come."
"No, no, to-night--if it is to-night yet. Come!"
"No," said Aleck, firmly. "I gave him my word that I'd wait, and I'll
stay even if he doesn't come back; but I have no right to try and stop
you."
"No, that you haven't; but I'm not going to behave worse than you do.
Now, once more, are you going to show me the way out?"
"No," said Aleck.
To his intense astonishment the midshipman threw himself back upon his
rough couch again.
"All right," he said; "I know what it means when you're all alone in the
stillness here and your brain's at work conjuring up all sorts of
horrible things. You've behaved very handsomely to me, old fellow, and
I'm not going to be such a miserable beggar as to go and leave you in
the lurch. If you stay, I stay too, and there's an end of it. Now,
then, snuff the candle and hunt out some prog. I've been so that
everything I put into my mouth tasted like sawdust, but I feel now as if
I could eat like anything. Look sharp."
"Do you mean this?" cried Aleck, turning to his companion, excitedly.
"Of course I do," said the middy, merrily. "Think you're the only
gentleman in the world?"
It was Aleck's turn to feel slightly husky in the throat, but he turned
away to the rough basket and began to hand out its contents, joining his
companion in eating hungrily, both working away in silence for a time.
Then the ex-prisoner opened the conversation, beginning to talk in a
boisterous, careless way.
"I say, Aleck, we shall have plenty of time before lying down to sleep.
Let's light two or three candles and have a jolly good rummage of the
smugglers' stores."
"We will," cried the lad addressed.
"I shouldn't wonder if we find all sorts of things. Treasure, perhaps,
from wrecked vessels. I wouldn't bet that these people hadn't been
pirates in their time. That Eben, as you call him--I say, it ought to
be Ebony--he looks a regular Blackbeard, skull-and-crossbones sort of a
customer. We'll collar anything that seems particularly good. I'm just
in the humour to say I've as good a right to what there is as anybody
else; but we'll share--fair halves. I say!"
"What?"
"Old Blackbeard will stare when he finds that we've opened the irons.
My word, I must go and see Mrs Ebony again. Nice woman she is, and no
mistake."
"Did she fasten the iron ring on your ankle?"
"Well, no; I think it was an ugly old woman of the party; but I couldn't
be sure, for they half killed me--smothered me, you know--and when I
came the half way back to life the job was done."
Aleck entered into the spirit of the rummage, as his companion called
it, and their search proved interesting enough; but after finding a vast
store of spirits, tobacco, and undressed Italian silks, the principal
things in the cavern were ship's stores--the flotsam and jetsam of
wrecks, over which they bent till weariness supervened.
"Tired out," said Aleck, at last.
"So am I," was the reply, as they threw themselves side by side on the
rough bed, after extinguishing all the candles they had stuck about the
rock and confining themselves to a fresh one newly set up in the
lanthorn.
"Shall we let it burn?" said Aleck, in deference to his comrade's
feelings.
"Oh, hang it, no!" was the reply. "It might gutter down and set us on
fire."
"Then you don't mind being in the dark?"
"Not a bit with you here. Do you mind?"
"I feel the same as you."
Five minutes later they were both sleeping quietly and enjoying as
refreshing a slumber as ever fell to the lot of man or boy.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
Aleck woke up wondering, for he felt as if he had had a good night's
rest and that it ought to be morning, whereas it was very dark.
This was puzzling, and what was more curious was the fact that on moving
he found that he had his clothes on.
Naturally enough he moved, and turned upon his other side, to find that
it was not so dark now, for he was looking at what seemed to be a
beautifully blue dawn. Then someone yawned, and the lad was fully awake
to his position.
"Sailor!" he said, loudly.
"Eh? My watch? My--my--I'll--here, Aleck, that you?"
"Yes, it's morning; rouse up. I fancy it must be late."
"Looks to me as if it is dreadfully early. I fancied I was being roused
up to go on deck. What are you doing?"
"Going to get a light."
This Aleck did after the customary nicking and blowing. The candle in
the lanthorn was lit, and the lads, after cautiously testing the depth
of the water, indulged in a good bathe, gaining confidence as they swam,
and finally dried themselves upon an exceedingly harsh towel formed of a
piece of canvas, one of many hanging where they had been thrown over
pieces of rock.
As they dressed they could see that it was getting lighter inside the
arch, which gradually showed more plainly, and as the water grew lower
during the time that they partook of the meal which formed their
breakfast, the twilight had broadened, so that both became hopeful of
seeing the tide sink beneath the crown of the arch so as to give them a
glance at the sunlit surface of the sea.
"How long are you going to wait for the smuggler?" asked the middy,
suddenly.
"Not long," was the reply. "It is not fair to you. But I should like
to give him a little law. What do you say to waiting here till the tide
has got to its lowest, and as soon as it turns we'll start?"
"Very well, I agree," said the midshipman, "for I don't think that we
shall have long to wait. I was expecting it to go down so low that I
should see the full daylight yesterday, but before I got the slightest
peep it began to rise again."
"But it came lighter than this?" said Aleck.
"No; I don't think it was so light as this. I believe it is just about
turning now."
The sailor proved to be right; and as soon as Aleck felt quite sure he
turned to his companion and proposed that they should start.
"I don't know what my uncle will say," he said. "You'd better come home
with me. He will be astonished when he sees that I have found you."
"Did he know that I was lost?"
"Of course. Your fellow officer came straight to our place to search
it, thinking we knew where you were. Well, uncle will be very glad.
Come along. I shall take the lanthorn with us to see our way up the
zigzag. I think I could manage in the dark, as I came down and know
something of the place, but it would be awkward for you."
"Oh, yes; let's have all the light we can," said the midshipman. "I'm
quite ready. Shall we start?"
"Yes, come on," was the reply, and, holding the lanthorn well down,
Aleck led the way along by the waterside till the rocks which had acted
as stepping-stones were reached, and which were now quite bare.
These were passed in safety, but not without two or three slips; and
then after a walk back towards the twilight, somewhere about equal to
the distance they had come, Aleck struck off up a slope and in and out
among the blocks that had fallen from the roof to where he easily found
the lowest slope of the zigzag, which they prepared to mount, the light
from the lanthorn showing the nicks cut in the stone at the side.
"It's much harder work climbing up than sliding down," said Aleck.
"Of course," replied the midshipman, who toiled on steadily in the rear;
"but it's very glorious to have one's leg free, and to know that before
long one will be up in the glorious light of day. I say, are you
counting how many of these slopes we have come up?"
"No," said Aleck, "I lost count; but I think we must be half way up."
"Bravo! But, I say, these smugglers are no fools. Who'd ever expect to
find such a place as this? It must have taken them years to make."
"They were making it or improving it for years," said Aleck; "but they
found the crack already made--it was natural."
"Think so?"
"Yes; the rock split just like a flash of lightning. Mind how you
come--the roof is lower down here. Let's see, this must be where I hit
my head in coming down. No, it can't be, for that was somewhere about
the middle of one of the slopes, I think, and this is the end, just
where it turns back and forms another slope."
Aleck ceased speaking and raised the lanthorn so as to examine the rock
above and around him more attentively.
"Nice work this for a fellow's uniform. What with the climbing and
sleeping in it I shall be in rags. But why don't you go on?" said the
midshipman.
"I--I don't quite know," said Aleck, hesitating. "It seems different
here to what it was when I came down."
"But you said you came down in the dark?"
"I did, and I suppose that's why it seems different."
"Well, never mind. Go on. It hurts my feet standing so long resting in
this nick."
Aleck was still busy with the lanthorn, and remained silent, making his
companion more impatient still.
"I say, go on," he said. "Why do you stop?"
"Because it seems to me as if I had come the wrong way, taken a wrong
turning that I did not know of--one, I suppose, that I passed in the
dark."
"But this must be right," said the midshipman; "it goes up. Here are
all the nicks for one's feet, and the part in the middle is all ground
out as if things were dragged up. Go on, old chap; you must be right."
"So I think," said Aleck; "but I can't go on. It seems to me as if the
place comes to an end here, and I can get no farther."
"That's a nice sort of a story. But you carried the light; have you
taken a wrong turning?"
"I didn't know that there were any turnings."
"Have another good look, and make sure."
Aleck peered in all directions by the aid of the lanthorn--a very short
task, seeing how they were shut in--and then carefully felt the stones.
"Well?" said the midshipman.
"I'm regularly puzzled," said Aleck. "Of course, it's very different
coming in the other direction, and by candlelight instead of the
darkness."
"Then you're regularly at fault."
"Quite."
"Try back, then. You light me and I'll lead."
They slid down to the bottom of the slope and stopped.
"I say," cried the midshipman; "you'll have to take me to your place and
find me some clothes, for I shan't have a rag on if we're going to do
much of this sort of thing."
"This must be right," said Aleck, without heeding the remark. "I can
shut my eyes here and be sure of it by the feel."
"Then it's of no use to go down any farther?"
"Not a bit," said Aleck, firmly. "Look for yourself. Here are the foot
nicks at the side, and the floor is all worn smooth. We must be right."
"Then forward once more. You must have missed something."
Aleck toiled up the slope again, reached the top, where the crack should
have run in a fresh direction and at a different inclination, and
carefully examined the place with his light, while his heart began to
beat faster and faster from the excitement that was growing upon him
rapidly. For as he ran his hands over the rock in front, which
completely blocked his way, he noted that there were three great
pieces--one which ran right into the angle, where the pathway should
have made its turn; a second, which lay between it and the smooth wall
at the bend; and another smaller piece, which lay over both, jammed
tightly in between the two other stones and the roof, and carrying
conviction to Aleck's mind as he now recalled the peculiar grating
sounds he had heard soon after the smuggler left them the previous day.
He was brought out of his musings by his companion, who suddenly
exclaimed:
"I say, look here; I'm not a puffin."
"Eh? No, of course not. What made you say that?"
"Because you seemed to think I was, keeping me perched up on a piece of
rock like this. Now, then, are you going on?"
Aleck was silent, for he had not the heart to say that which was within.
"Are you going dumb? If you've lost your way say so, and let's begin
again."
"It's worse than that," said Aleck.
"Worse? What do you mean?"
"Look here," said Aleck, holding the lanthorn up high with one hand, and
pointing with the other.
"Well, I'm looking, and I can see nothing but stone--rough stone."
"Neither can I. We can go no farther."
"What! You don't mean to say that the roof has fallen in?"
"No; it's worse than that."
"Can't be," cried the middy.
"Yes, it is, for we could have dug the fallen stones away. Sailor, I'm
obliged to say it--we're regularly trapped!"
"What! Who by? Oh, nonsense!"
"It's true enough, I'm afraid. The smuggler would not do as we did. We
trusted him, but he would not trust us."
"You don't mean to say he has blocked us in?"
"I'm obliged to say so. I heard him forcing down the stones after he'd
gone. Look for yourself. I can't move one."
"No," said the midshipman, quietly, as he reached past Aleck and tried
to give the top one a shake. "He has been too clever for us. Think we
can move these lumps? No; their own weight will keep them down. That's
it, Aleck; the things here are too good to lose, and he has got us
safe."
To Aleck's astonishment he had begun to whistle a dismal old air in a
minor key after propping himself across the rough crack so that he could
not slip.
"What's to be done?" said Aleck, at last.
"Done, eh?" was the reply. "Well, I'm afraid if I had been alone and
found this out, I should have lain down, let myself slide to the bottom,
and then set to and howled; but the old saying goes, `Two's company,
even if you're going to be hanged,' and you're pretty good company, so
let's go back to the cave. We can breathe there. The heat here is
awful. This shows that it doesn't do to be too cocksure of anything.
Come on down."
"But we must have a thoroughly good try to move the stones," said Aleck,
angrily.
"Not a bit of use. That brute has wedged them in and jumped upon them.
Why, we may push and heave till we're black in the face and do no good.
We're fixed up safe."
"And you're going to give up like that?"
"Not I," said the midshipman, calmly. "Show me what I can do, and if
it's likely to be any good I'll work as long as you like; but it's of no
use to make ourselves more miserable than we are. Come on down."
The young sailor spoke in so commanding a tone that Aleck yielded, and,
following his comrade's example, he slid down slope after slope, and
finally stood in the great open cavern, breathing in long deep breaths
of the fresh soft air.
"Hah! That's better," said the midshipman. "I felt stifled up in that
hole. Now I don't bear malice against anybody, but I think I should
like to see that smuggling ruffian shut up here for a few days. Look
here, Aleck; all he said was pretence--he never meant us to get out
again."
"Oh, I don't know," said Aleck, passionately. "He might, or he might
not. Now, then, what's to be done--try and find some tools, and then
get to work to chip those stones to pieces?"
"No, it would only mean try and try in vain."
"Here, what has come to you?" cried Aleck. "You take it all as coolly
as if it were of no consequence at all. I don't believe you can
understand yet how bad it all is."
"Oh, yes, I can," said the midshipman, coolly; "but I've got no more
miserables left in me. I used 'em all up when I was chained up by
myself in the dark. I feel now quite jolly compared to what I was."
"Nonsense. You can't grasp what a terrible strait we're in."
"Oh, yes, I can. We're buried alive."
"Well, isn't that horrible?" said Aleck.
"Pretty tidy, but not half so bad as being buried dead. It would be all
over then; but as we're buried alive perhaps we shall be able to unbury
ourselves."
"You must be half mad," said Aleck, angrily, "or you'd never talk so
lightly."
"Lightly? I don't talk lightly. I'm as serious as a judge."
"But what are we to do?"
"Wait a bit and let's think. We can live down here for ever so long;
that is, as long as the rations last. Then we shall have to try some
other way out."
"Yes; but what way?"
The midshipman pointed towards the dimly-seen submerged arch.
"Can you swim?" he said.
"Of course. Pretty well."
"And dive?"
"Yes."
"Then my notion is that we take it as coolly as we can till we think
it's a suitable time. Then we'll strip, make a couple of bundles of our
clothes, go in as near to that arch as we can, and then try to dive
under and out to the daylight."
Aleck raised the lanthorn to bring its dim light full upon his
companion's face, gazing at him hard as if in doubt of his sanity. For
the words were spoken as calmly and coolly as if he had been proposing
some ordinary jump into clear water at a bathing-place.
But he only saw that the speaker's countenance was perfectly unruffled,
and his next words convinced him that he was speaking in all
seriousness.
"Well, don't look so horrified," he said, half laughingly. "You haven't
been bragging, have you? Don't say you can't swim?"
"Oh, I can swim easily enough," said Aleck, impatiently; "but suppose
one rose too soon, right up amongst those rugged rocks, with the
sea-wrack hanging down in long strips ready to strangle us?"
"I'm not going to suppose anything of the sort," said the midshipman.
"Why should you suppose such horrors? I might just as well say: suppose
a great shark should rush in open-mouthed to swallow me down and then
grab you by the leg, throw you over on to his back, and carry you about
till he felt hungry again?"
"But you don't see the danger?" cried Aleck.
"And don't want to see it. I daresay it is dangerous, but nearly
everything is if you look at it in that way. Well, what now? Why do
you look at me like that?"
"Because I don't understand you," said Aleck. "Yesterday you seemed as
weak as a girl, while now you are proposing impossible things, and seem
to be trying to brag as if to make me feel that you are not so weak as
you were then."
"Perhaps so," said the middy, laughing good-humouredly. "I was as weak
as a girl yesterday, but I don't feel so now; and though you are partly
right, and I don't want you to think me such a molly, I really am ready
to make a dash at it if you will."
"I'll do anything that I think is possible," said Aleck, gravely, "but I
don't want to be rash."
"Then you think it would be rash to try and dive out under that
archway?"
"Horribly," said Aleck, with a shudder; and at that moment the candle,
which, unnoticed through the dull horn, had burned down and begun
flickering in the socket, suddenly flashed up brightly, flickered for a
moment or two, and went out.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
"Ugh!" ejaculated the midshipman. "I don't feel half so brave now, and
I don't believe I dare go in here in the darkness, set aside make a
dive. Where's the tinder-box? For goodness' sake, strike a light and
let's have another candle. Oh, you oughtn't to have let that out!"
"Come along," replied Aleck. "I think I can find the way to the place
again. Mind how you come; there are so many stones. I say, why is it
that one feels so shrinking in the dark and frightened of all sorts of
things that we never dream of in the light?"
"I don't know, and don't want to talk about it now. Let's have a light
first. I say, we must do something before the candles are all burnt
out."
"Mind!" cried Aleck, for his companion caught his foot against one of
the pieces of projecting rock against which he had been warned, and but
for the throwing out of a friendly hand he would have gone head first
into the water.
"Ugh!" he panted, as he clung, trembling now violently. "I wonder how
deep the water is just there! How horrible! I say, don't let go of my
hand. What are you doing?"
"I'm feeling for the lanthorn."
"What!" cried the midshipman, aghast. "Don't say you've lost that?"
"I wasn't going to," said Aleck, rather gruffly, as he thought that his
companion was about the strangest compound of bravery and cowardice he
had ever met. "But didn't you hear it go down crash?"
"No, I heard nothing. Here, what's this against my foot?"
Aleck stooped down and found that it was the missing lanthorn.
"It's lucky it did not roll into the water. Now, then, all right. Keep
hold of hands, and let's feel our way to where I left the tinder-box.
Hold up; don't stumble again."
"I can't help it," said the middy, with his teeth chattering. "It feels
as if all the strength had gone out of my legs. Here, Aleck, it's of no
use to be a sham; hold on tightly by my hand and help me along. I'm
afraid that was all brag about making the dive. I suppose I must be a
horrible coward, after all."
"I'm afraid I am too," said Aleck bitterly, as he held the other's hand
tightly and tried to progress cautiously in the dark. "I feel horrible,
and as if the next step I take will send us both into the water."
"Ugh! Don't say that," whispered the middy, huskily. "I remember what
that fellow said about the seals; but it's my belief that a dark piece
of water like this must swarm with all kinds of terrible creatures."
"And yet you wanted to dive into it for a swim?"
"Yes, when the candle was alight."
"I didn't feel anything attack us when we bathed," said Aleck, quietly.
"Oh, don't talk about it," said the middy, shuddering. "I bathed then,
but I don't feel as if, feeling what I do, I could risk another plunge
in."
Aleck felt no disposition whatever to talk about the venture his
companion in misfortune had proposed, for he was intent upon getting to
the spot where the light-producing implement had been bestowed, and
twice over he nearly lost his calmness, for the horrible idea attacked
him that he had wandered quite away from the spot in the darkness.
It was an ugly thought, bringing up others of a strangely confusing
nature, but at last, just when he was ready to confess to this fresh
trouble, he came upon candle and tinder-box, over which his trembling
fingers played for some minutes before the welcome spark appeared in the
tinder and suffered itself to be blown up into a glow instead of dying
out.
Hot and tired, the two lads made for the resting-place, and were
thankful to cast themselves down, to lie in silence for close upon an
hour before either of them ventured to advert to their position; but at
last the midshipman declared that he knew it from the first, and that
they were a pair of idiots to trust the word of a smuggler.
"I don't see it," said Aleck, who felt ready to give the man credit for
having met with some mishap.
"Well, I do. It was a deeply-laid scheme to trap us--shut us up here
and leave us to die while he escaped."
"Nonsense," cried Aleck. "Why, it would be a horrible murder!"
"Yes; horrible--diabolical--shocking."
"I don't believe Eben Megg would be such a wretch," said Aleck, stoutly.
"What, not a smuggler? They're the greatest villains under the sun."
"Are they?" said Aleck, drily.
"Yes, I know that," cried the middy angrily; "but I'll let the brute
see. I'll have him hung at the yard-arm for this. He shall find out he
made a mistake."
"When we get out," said Aleck, smiling in spite of their trouble, for
his companion's peppery way of expressing himself was amusing.
"Yes, when we get out, of course. You don't suppose I'm going to settle
myself quietly down here, do you?"
"Of course not," said Aleck; and then an idea occurred to him which made
him check his companion just as he was about to burst into a tirade
about what he would do.
"I say," cried Aleck, "it must be easy to get out of this if we wait
till the time when the boats can come in."
"But do they ever come in?"
"Of course. How else could the smugglers have landed all this stuff?"
"It must be at a spring tide then," said the middy.
"To be sure. When's the next?"
"I don't know," said the middy. "You do, of course?"
"Not I. You're a pretty sort of a sailor not to know when the next
spring tide is."
"And you're a pretty sort of a fellow who lives by the shore and don't
know. You seem to know nothing."
"Bother the spring tides," said Aleck, testily. "I know there are
spring tides, and that sometimes you can walk dry-shod half way down our
gully; but I can't tell the times. Tom Bodger would know."
"What, that wooden-legged sailor?"
"Yes."
"Then you'd better go and fetch him here."
"I wish I could," said Aleck, sadly. "What's the good of wishing?
Here, I'm hungry. Let's have something to eat."
"No, we mustn't do that," said Aleck. "We had better eat as little as
we can so as to make the food last as long as possible."
"No, we hadn't," replied the middy, roughly. "We may just as well eat
while we can. There's plenty to keep us alive; but if we can't get out
we shan't be able to live all the same."
"Why?"
The middy was silent for a few moments before he could master himself
sufficiently, the horror that he as a sailor foresaw not having been
grasped by his shore-going companion.
"You haven't been to sea?" he said, at last, in quite a different tone.
"Only about in my boat."
"In sight of land, when you could put ashore at any time."
"Yes; but what do you mean?"
"I mean, the first thing a sailor, thinks about is his supply of fresh
water."
"To be sure," said Aleck. "I always take a little keg from our spring
when I go for a long day's fishing."
"Pity you didn't bring it here," said the middy, dismally.
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"I want to know what we're going to do for water as soon as those
bottles are empty?"
It was Aleck's turn to be silent now, and in turn he was some moments
before he spoke.
"I never thought of that," he said, and he felt as if a cold chill was
running through him, to give place to a hot feverish sensation,
accompanied by thirst.
Then he recovered his boyish elasticity.
"Here," he cried, "never say die! I'm not going to give up like this.
Look here; we've got a spring at home where the water trickles out of a
crack in the rock and flows down into a great stone tank like a well.
It only comes in drops, but it's always dropping, and so we have enough
for our wants."
"Pity you didn't bring your tank here," said the middy. "What's the
good of telling me that?"
"Because the cliff all along here for miles has places where the water
trickles out, and I shouldn't be a bit surprised if we were to find that
the smugglers have something in the shape of a tank here in this place.
They must have wanted water here, and they would be sure to have saved
any that trickled in."
"Then you'd better find it," said the middy.
"Come along, then; let's search. This place is very big."
"You can if you like. I've had such a dose this morning, just when I
felt I was going to get out, that I'm going to lie down and try to
forget it."
"What! Go to sleep?" cried Aleck.
"Yes."
"That you're not. You're going to help me search the cavern."
"I'm not."
"You are," cried Aleck, firmly.
"Look here; do you want to make it a fight?"
"No, and you don't either. Come on; we'll light another candle and
stick it upon a piece of stone or slate. Then we'll have a good hunt."
"Oh, very well," said the middy, rising. "Come on, then; but I'm sure
we're only going to tire ourselves for nothing."
"Never mind, it will keep us from thinking."
There was no difficulty in picking up a flat piece of slate, and then a
fresh candle was cut free from the bunch, its end melted, and stuck on
to the stone, and then the lads looked at one another.
"Look here," said the middy; "I wish I wasn't such an awful beast."
Aleck laughed.
"You don't look one," he said.
"No, but I feel one. Fellows in trouble ought to be like brothers, and
I keep on having fits of the grumps. Here, I mean to work with you
now."
"I know you do," said Aleck, frankly, "but it's enough to make anyone
feel savage."
"Now, then, where are we going to look for water?"
"Right up at the narrowest end of the cave."
"Why?"
"Because what there is always seems to make for the sea."
"That's right," said the middy; and, taking the lead, he began to pick
his way along by the side of the canal-like pool, whose clear waters
reflected the lights as if it were a river.
"Water's higher now," said Aleck.
"Yes, and it looks good enough to drink; but it's salter than the sea, I
suppose. I say!"
"Well?" said Aleck.
"This place gets narrower. It seems to me that if the roof fell in it
would make another of those caves you have all along this coast. I
shouldn't wonder if in time all the top of this comes in and opens the
mouth so that the waves can rush in and wash it bigger and bigger."
"Very likely," said Aleck. "Look here!"
He held down the candle to show that they had come to the end of the
deep water, which was continued farther in by a series of pools, which
were probably only joined into one lane of water at very high tides.
The middy said something of the kind, and then pointed out, as they
progressed slowly, that the pools grew smaller and smaller till they
came to an end, where the cavern had grown very narrow and seemed to be
closing in, and where a huge mass of stone blocked the way.
"How are we to go now? Climb right over that big lump? I don't believe
there's room to crawl between that and the roof."
"I say," replied Aleck, excitedly, "it's wet right up."
"All the worse for our clothes," was the reply; "but is it any use to go
any farther?"
Aleck's answer took the shape of action, for he sank upon his knees, set
the piece of slate which formed his candlestick upon the rock floor, and
going down upon his chest reached out and scooped up some of the water
of the pool in his palm and raised it to his lips.
"Don't swallow it," said his companion; "it will only make you horribly
thirsty."
"No," cried Aleck, exultantly, "it's all right--fresh and sweet. Look
here; you can see how there's water trickling very slowly down."
"So there is," cried the middy. "You were all right about that."
"Yes," said Aleck, "and I believe we shall find ships' stores enough
amongst those barrels to last us for months."
"Let's see!" said the middy. "Oh! this is getting too jolly," he added.
"Let's open some of the boxes too. Why, the next thing will be that I
shall be finding a new uniform all ready for putting on, but--oh, dear!"
he added, dolefully.
"Well, of all the fellows," cried Aleck. "Here have we just found out
that things aren't half so bad as they seemed, and now you're breaking
out again. What is the matter now?"
"I was thinking about the uniform, been lying here perhaps for months;
it's sure to be too damp to put on."
"Bah!" cried Aleck. "Dip it right into the big pool and make it salt.
It won't hurt you then."
"Right," shouted the middy. "Now, then, what next? I believe if we
keep on we shall find a fresh way out."
"Like enough. Let's try."
They tried, but tried in vain. The middy held the light, and Aleck
climbed up the wet face of the huge mass which blocked the way, and then
began to crawl on beneath the roof.
"How do you get on?"
"Splendid. It goes upward, and I could almost stand."
"How are you getting on?" said the middy, after listening to the
scrambling noise made by the climber.
"Middling. Just room to crawl now." Five minutes later the middy
shouted again:
"Look here; hadn't I better come up now?"
"Yes, if you like."
"Is there plenty of room?"
"No."
"Then what's the use of my coming?"
"Only to keep me company. Better still, come and give a pull at my
heels."
"Pull at your heels?"
"Yes, it's like a chimney laid on its side, and I'm quite stuck fast."
"Oh!" cried the middy; and then, "All right, I'm coming."
"No, no, don't!" came to him in smothered tones, as he began to climb;
"I've got room again. Coming back."
There was a good deal of shuffling and scraping, and then Aleck's feet
came into the light over the top of the block. The next minute he was
on his feet beside his companion, hot, panting, and with the front of
his clothes wet.
"There's a tiny stream comes trickling in there," he said, brushing
himself down softly; "but there isn't room for a rat to get any further
than I did. My word, it was tight! I felt as if the water had made me
swell out, and it didn't seem as if I was going to get back."
"Phew!" whistled the middy. "We should have been worse off then. I
say, Aleck, you'd have had to starve for a few days to get thin, and
then I could have pulled you out. Here, I say, though, old fellow, I'm
not going on the grump any more; things might be worse, eh?"
"Ever so much," said Aleck, cheerfully. "Let's have a good drink now,
and then go and examine some of those barrels. If one of them turns out
salt beef or pork we'll go back and finish our stores, for we shall be
all right for provisions."
"Without counting the fish I mean to catch. I'm sure there'll be some
come in with the tide."
"Very foolish of them if they do," said Aleck, wiping his mouth after
lying down to take a long deep draught, in which action he was imitated
by his companion. "Now, then, I want to be satisfied about flour and
meat."
Within half an hour he was satisfied, for a little examination proved to
the prisoners that some unfortunate vessel had gone to pieces outside
and its stores had been run in by the smugglers.
"Yes," said the middy, as they returned to their resting-place, to begin
making a hearty meal, "things do look a bit more rosy, but you mustn't
be too chuff over it. I'll bet sixpence, if you like, that the tackle
in those tubs is as salt as brine."
"I'm afraid so," said Aleck, "and all the outside of the flour mouldy."
"Very likely," said the middy. "But never mind; if the outside's bad
we'll eat the in."
"Look at the crack over yonder now!" cried Aleck, after a time, during
which the only sounds heard were those of two people eating.
"What for?"
"It look's so light; just as if the sun was shining upon it outside. I
must try if I can't dive down and swim out."
"With a rope round your waist," said the middy, eagerly, "so that if you
stuck--"
"You could pull me back," said Aleck.
"And if you got through safely--" cried the middy.
"You would tie the other end round you," said Aleck, "ready for me to
haul and help you out in turn."
"Oh! What's the good of a fellow being grumpy?" cried the middy. "Why,
we're enjoying ourselves. This is one big adventurous game. I'm
getting to be glad those women took me prisoner. I don't believe there
ever were two who dropped in for such an adventure as this. But, I say,
I don't think we'll try the diving trick to-day. We ought to be rested
and fresh."
"Yes," replied Aleck, "and we ought to have another good try up the
zigzag first."
"Yes, it might be as well. I say, just ring for the people to clear
away. I want to have a nap now. What time is it?"
"Oh, I don't know. Why?"
"Because I want to know what to call it. You see, I don't know whether
I'm going to have a siesta or a genuine snooze."
"Have both," said Aleck, laughing, "and I'll do the same."
"And it doesn't matter, does it, for night and day seem to be about the
same? Put out that candle, and mind where the tinder-box is."
"Here, you see where it lies," was the reply, and then there was
silence, both lying thinking deeply before once more dropping fast
asleep, many hours having been taken up by the hard toil and suffering
they had gone through.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
The next morning, as it seemed from the beautiful limpid appearance of
dawn that rose from the surface of the waters, to become diffused in the
soft gloom overhead, the lads lit a candle and set off manfully to try
as to the possibility of making their way out through the zigzag
passage, Aleck trying first and dragging and pushing at the stones which
blocked his way, till, utterly exhausted and dripping with perspiration,
he made way for his comrade to have a try.
The latter toiled hard in turn, and did not desist till he found that
his fingers were bleeding and growing painful.
"It's of no good," he said, gloomily; "that scoundrel has done his work
too well. Let's get down to where we can breathe. I say, though," he
added, cheerily, "I've learned one thing."
"What?" asked Aleck.
"That I was never cut out for a chimney-sweep. This is bad enough; I
don't know what it would be if there was the soot."
They slid down, and as soon as they were back in the comparatively
cheerful cavern, where they could breathe freely, Aleck proposed that
they should look out amongst the sails and ships' stores for a suitable
rope for their purpose.
There was coil upon coil of rope, but for the most part they were too
thick, and it seemed as if they would be reduced to venturing upon their
dive untrammelled, when, raising the lanthorn for another glance round,
Aleck caught sight of the very piece he required, hanging from a wooden
peg driven in between two blocks of stone.
"Looks old and worn," said the middy, passing the frayed line through
his fingers. "Let's try it."
The means adopted was to tie one end round a projection of the rocky
side, run the line out to its full length, and then drag and jerk it
together with all their might.
Satisfied with the effects of this test, the rope was untied, the other
end made fast, and the dragging and snatching repeated without the tough
fibres of the hemp yielding in the least.
"Looks very old," said the middy, "but wear has only made it soft. If
it stands all that tugging with the weight of both of us on the end it
will bear one of us being dragged through the water, where one isn't so
heavy. Now, then, are we going to try this way?"
"Certainly," said Aleck.
"Very well; who's to go first?"
"I will," said Aleck.
"I don't know about that," replied the middy. "You're only a
shore-going fellow, while I'm a sailor. I think I ought to go first."
"It doesn't much matter who goes first, but I spoke first and I'll go."
"Look here," cried the middy; "if I give way and let you have first try,
will you play fair?"
"Of course. But what do you mean?"
"You won't brag and chuck it in my face afterwards that you got us out
of the hole?"
"Do you think I should be such a donkey?" cried Aleck. "Why, look here,
I'm going to try and chance it, but I don't believe I shall get through.
Never mind about who's to be first. Let's do all we can to make sure
of escaping. Now, then, shall we try now, or wait till the water's at
its lowest? It's going down now."
"If we wait till the tide's at its lowest it will be slack water, and we
shall get no help. It's running out now, and we can see the shape of
the arch."
"Yes, and how rugged and weed-hung it is. I say, I don't like the look
of it. You'd better go first."
"Very well," said the middy, promptly, and he began taking off his
jacket.
"Hold hard," cried Aleck, hurriedly stripping off his own. "Come
along."
He led the way to the edge of the water where, though not the nearest,
the best leap off seemed to present itself, and then stood perfectly
still, gazing down into the softly illuminated water, quivering and
wreathing as it ran softly out, and looking dim and blurred through
being kept so much in motion by the retiring waves.
"Then you still mean to go?" said the middy.
"Of course. But what shall I do--strip, or try in my clothes?"
"Strip, decidedly," cried the middy.
"I shall get scratched and scraped going under the rocks."
"You'll get caught by them and hung up if you keep your clothes on.
Have 'em all off, man; you'll slip through the water then like a seal."
"Yes," said Aleck, calmly, "I suppose it will be best."
It did not take him long to prepare, and as soon as he was ready his
companion made the rope fast just round beneath the arm-pits with a knot
that would neither slip nor tighten.
"There!" said the middy, as he finished his preparations by laying out
the rope in rings and curves of various shapes, such as would easily run
out. "I say, you are perfectly black when I look at you from behind,
but in front you seem like a white image on a black ground. Now, then,
what do you mean to do?"
"Dive in from here and try to keep right down and swim as deeply as I
can for the mouth."
"Try to swallow the job at one mouthful?"
"Yes."
"Won't do," said the middy, authoritatively. "You couldn't do it. You
must slip in gently here and swim to that rock that's just out of the
water."
"What! That one that seems just to the left of the arch?"
"That's the one. Get out on it, wait a few moments, and then take a
long, deep breath and dive."
Aleck pondered for a few moments.
"Yes," he said, "I think you're right. I should have had to swim so far
first if I started from here."
"To be sure you would. The less diving you have the better."
"I see," said Aleck. "Now, then, let the rope run out easily through
your fingers till I give it a sharp jerk. That means pull me back as
fast as you can."
"Yes, because you can go no further."
"If I pull twice it means I am safe through, and then--"
"I shall tie my end of the rope round my chest and come too. You need
not pull, only just draw in the line, unless it stops, because that
would mean I had got into difficulties. Do we both understand? I do."
"So do I," said Aleck, "so let's get it over. If I wait much longer I
shall be afraid to go."
"Don't believe you," said the middy, bluntly. "Now, then--ready?"
"Yes."
The word was no sooner uttered than Aleck slipped down into the water
and began to swim, with the rope being carefully paid out by his
comrade, and in a minute he was fairly started. He was at first
invisible, but very soon began to look like a black object making its
way over a surface that grew transparent.
Then all at once the rope ceased to run.
"What is it?" cried the middy, anxiously.
"Got to the rock."
"Is the water deep?"
"Very."
"Well, get up, ready for your dive."
"It's all seaweed, and horribly slippery."
"Never mind; up with you."
A peculiar splashing sound arose, and the middy could just make out the
dim shape of his companion climbing, or rather dragging, himself on to
the slimy rock, whose top was about a foot above the surface of the
water.
"Stop a minute or two first," said the middy, "so as to take--"
He was going to say "breath," but before the word could be uttered
Aleck, who had drawn himself up to stand erect, felt his feet gliding
from under him, and it was only by a violent effort that he escaped
falling heavily upon the weed-covered rock. As it was he came down with
a tremendous splash into the water, going head first in a sharp incline
down and down, while, obeying his first impulse, he struck out sharply.
The middy was about to obey his first impulse too, and that was not to
pay out, but begin to haul his comrade back. His hands tightened round
the line, but as he awoke to the fact that it was gliding through his
hands in obedience to the regular pulsation of the movements of a
swimmer, he felt that all must be right, and waited while, foot by foot,
the rope glided on and the transparent water grew more and more agitated
and strange to see.
Once he fancied he could clearly make out Aleck's steadily swimming
figure, but directly after he knew it was a great, waving, flag-like
mass of weed fronds, and he uttered an impatient gasp and turned cold.
"He couldn't have got his breath for the dive," he said to himself, "and
the current must be taking him helplessly away. Half the line must have
run out, and perhaps he's insensible. No; that means swimming, for it
goes in jerks, and--he has stopped. He must be through. Hooray! Well
done, old--oh, that's the signal to pull him back!"
It was surely enough, and the middy began at once to haul in, and then
the cold feeling became a chill of horror, for he had drawn the rope
quite tight at the second haul, and it was perfectly evident that the
swimmer had signalled because in some way he was caught fast.
What to do?
The middy was energetic enough, and in those perilous moments, full of
horror for his companion's sake, he hauled till he dared pull no more
for fear that the rope should part, and, obeying now a sudden thought,
he relaxed the strain, and the rope seemed to be snatched back towards
Aleck.
"That can't be a signal," he said to himself, in despair; but he began
to haul again, recovered the line lost, and to his intense delight he
found that the swimmer was once more free, and that he was drawing him
rapidly back to where he stood. The lad's action was as rapid now as he
could pass hand over hand, and in a very short space of time he had the
poor fellow close up to the rock edge, and then, taking hold of the rope
where it passed round Aleck's chest, he dragged him out, half
insensible, upon the rocks.
Another half minute or so might have been fatal, but Aleck had some
little energy left, and, after a strangling fit of coughing, he was able
to sit up.
"Take--the rope off!" he panted.
This was done, and in a few minutes he was breathing freely and able to
talk.
"I didn't get a fair start," he said, hoarsely. "I slipped, and went in
before I was ready; but I got on all right for a bit till I seemed to be
sucked in between two pieces of rock, and felt myself going into black
darkness. Then I signalled to you."
"I hauled directly."
"Yes, and it seemed to drag me crosswise so that I couldn't pass through
between the two rocks again. How did you manage then?"
"I did nothing, only let go so as to make a fresh start."
"Did you?" said Aleck, quietly. "Ah, I didn't know anything about that.
I only knew that it was very horrible, and I thought it was all over.
It was very near, wasn't it?"
"Oh, I don't know," said the middy, coolly. "You say that you didn't
have a fair start?"
"No; it was that fall. But it's queer work. You can't make out where
you are going, and the current grinds your head up against the weedy
rock."
"But you got nearly through, didn't you?"
"I suppose so, but I don't know. It was all one horrible confusion."
"Yes; but another few yards, I expect, and you would have been safe, and
could have pulled me through, or helped me as I swam."
"Perhaps," said Aleck, rather slowly, for he felt confused still. "But
what are you doing?"
"Peeling off my clothes."
"What for?" said Aleck, speaking now with more animation.
"To do my turn, and see how I get on."
"No, no, no!" cried Aleck, excitedly. "You mustn't try. It's too
horrible."
"Horrible? Nonsense. It's only a swim in the dark. I like diving."
"I tell you it can't be done, sailor," cried Aleck, angrily. "The risk
is too great. I should have been drowned if you had not hauled me out."
"Well, and if I'm going to be drowned you'll haul me out. You're strong
enough now, aren't you?"
"Oh, yes; but you mustn't risk it."
"You wait till I get these things off, my lad, and I'll show you. Why,
you'd have done it splendidly if you had dived off the rock instead of
going in flip-flap like a sole out of a basket. I'll show you how to do
it."
"You'd better take my word for it that it can't be done. Let's wait
till the tide's low enough, and then swim out in daylight."
"You wait till I get out of my uniform," said the middy, stubbornly,
"I'll show you, my fine fellow. I've practised diving a good deal.
Some day, if we get to the right place in the ocean, I mean to have a go
down with the sponge divers, and if I'm ever in the South Seas I mean to
try diving for pearl shell."
"Well," said Aleck, rather sadly, "I've warned you, and I suppose it is
of no use for me to say any more?"
"Not a bit," said the middy, dragging off his second stocking. "You
make fast the dry end of the line round my noble chest. Not too tight,
mind, and a knot that won't slip."
The young sailor possessed the greater will power now, for Aleck was yet
half stunned by what he had gone through. He obeyed every order he
received, and carefully knotted on the rope.
"Now, are you ready?" said the middy. "Feel up to hauling me back if I
don't get through?"
"Yes."
"And, mind, when I am through I shall not drag you. No, no, don't untie
your end of the rope; you'll want that. Now, do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Very well, then, as soon as I'm through I shall get on a dry rock and
signal to you to come. Then you'll slip in and swim to the rock again,
and take a header off it. Don't bungle it this time, and when you feel
my touch at the rope, mind it's not meant to haul, only to guide you to
where I'm sitting."
"But what about our clothes?" said Aleck, drearily.
"Bother our clothes! We want to save our skins and not our clothes.
Now, then, ready?"
"Yes, if you will go."
"Will go? Look here!"
The lad sprang, feet foremost, into the water, and rose directly from
out of the depths, to strike out, and as Aleck tried hard to follow his
movements, he heard him reach the weedy rock, drag himself out, and the
rope was gently drawn more and more through his hands as the middy
succeeded in getting erect upon the stone, close to its edge.
"See that?" he shouted.
"Yes."
"That's what you ought to have done. Now, then, slacken the line well.
I'm taking a long, deep breath, ready for you know what. That's it.
Ready--ho!"
The middy sprang into the air, and very dimly Aleck saw that he curved
himself over, and the next moment his hands divided the water, and he
plunged in for his dive almost without a splash, while as the rope ran
swiftly through his hands Aleck felt a flash of energy run through him,
and stood ready for any emergency that might befall.
Then a feeling akin to jealousy came over him, as he found the rope
drawn out vigorously, and it seemed to him that the midshipman was a far
better swimmer and diver than he.
"But he hasn't come to the difficult part yet," he thought, the next
moment. "He'll find that he can't keep down deep, and that while he is
trying to beat the tangling wrack to right and left something like a
current sucks him upward and forces him against the rocks that form the
arch."
Then, full of eagerness so as to be ready to help the diver when his
time of extremity came, Aleck held the rope attached to him with both
hands gingerly enough to let it pass easily through as wanted, but at
the same time, in the most guarded way, ready to let it fall against his
right shoulder when, as he intended, he turned sharply to walk swiftly
back into the interior of the cavern and draw his companion back to the
water's edge.
Then a curious thought struck him, consequent upon the rope beginning to
run out faster and faster.
"Why, he's getting through," he cried, mentally, with a suggestion of
disappointment in his brain at his comrade's better success. "He's
getting through, and he'll run out all the line quickly now and draw me
in.
"Well, so much the better," he thought. "If he can pass through I can,
and perhaps in a few moments we shall both have escaped.
"Wish I'd done something about our clothes," he muttered then. "We
shall want them, of course. But, I know; we can hide somewhere about
the mouth of the cave till it gets dark, and then I can take him up to
the Den, and--"
Aleck did not finish the plan he was thinking out, for the rope had
seemed to him to be running out to a far greater extent than he had
taken it himself; but in reality it had gone away at about the same
rate, so that something like the same quantity had been drawn through
his hands when it suddenly ceased to glide, and directly after a spasm
shot through the lad's brain, for it had stopped, and directly after the
signal was given sharply, sending a thrill through him.
He responded directly by clutching the rope tightly and beginning to
run.
It was only a beginning, for he was brought up short on the instant, and
so sharply that he was jerked backwards.
"Just the same as I must have been," he said to himself, excitedly,
after bearing hard against the rope and finding it quite fast. "It's
like conger fishing," he thought, "and I must give him line."
Slackening out at once, he waited for a moment or two, and then
tightened again, when to his great delight he found that he was no
longer dragging at something set hard, but at a yielding body, which he
drew easily to the edge of the pool by means of his long coil, before
dropping it and running to seize and repeat the middy's performance upon
himself.
"He's quite insensible," he gasped, as he drew the dripping lad right
out on to the driest part.
"That I'm not," panted the middy; "but another minute would have done
it."
He remained silent then, panting hard and struggling to recover his
breath, while Aleck untied the line and set his chest at liberty to act
as it should.
Then for some minutes nothing was said, the only sound heard being the
middy's hoarse breathing as he laboured hard to recover his regular
inspirations.
At last he spoke in an unpleasantly harsh, ill-humoured way.
"Well, aren't you going to have another try? It's lovely. Only wants
plenty of perseverance."
"Not I," replied Aleck. "You don't seem to have got on so very well."
"Got on as well as you did," snarled the middy. "Ugh! It was horrid.
Just as if, when I felt that I could hold my breath no longer, I was
suddenly seized and sucked into a great sink-hole, only the water was
running up instead of down."
"Yes, that's just how I felt," said Aleck.
"You couldn't have felt so bad as I did," said the lad, irritably and
speaking in the most inconsistent way. "I got my head rasped, too,
against the stones overhead, and it's bleeding fast. Look at it, will
you?"
Aleck examined the place, after opening the door of the lanthorn.
"It isn't bleeding," he said.
"Don't talk nonsense," cried the middy, irritably. "It smarts horribly,
and I can feel the blood trickling down the back of my neck."
"That's water out of your hair."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, certain. I can't even see a mark on your head."
"Well, there ought to be," grumbled the lad. "Aren't you going to have
another try?"
"No. Are you?"
"Not if I know it," replied the middy. "Once is quite enough for a trip
of that kind."
"I don't think it's possible to get out by swimming."
"Well, it doesn't seem like it; but the smugglers get in."
"Yes, at certain times."
"Then this is an uncertain time, I suppose!" said the middy, beginning
to dress.
"Hadn't we better get round and have a good rub with a bit of sail?"
asked Aleck.
"No; we can't carry our clothes without getting them wet, and if we
don't take them it means coming all the way round here again. Let's
dress as we are; the salt water will soon dry."
"Very well," said Aleck, and he followed his companion's example with
much satisfaction to his feelings, listening the while to the middy's
plaints and grumblings, for he had been under water long enough to make
him feel something like resuscitated people, exceedingly discontented
and ill-humoured.
Every now and then he burst out with some disagreeable remark. One
minute it was against his shirt for sticking to his wet back; another
time it was at Aleck for getting on so fast with his dressing consequent
upon his being drier; and then he began to abuse Eben Megg.
"A beast; that's what he is. It's just as bad as murdering us with a
knife or chopper, that it is."
They were dressed at something like the same time, Aleck having achieved
his task quietly, the middy with a sort of accompaniment of grumbles and
unpleasant remarks.
"There," he said, at last; "that seems to have done me a lot of good.
There's nothing like a good growl."
"Got rid of a lot of ill temper, eh?" said Aleck, smiling to himself.
"Yes, I suppose that's it. But, I say, we're not going to try that way
out again! I say it's perfectly impossible."
"So do I," said Aleck.
"We should both have been drowned if it hadn't been for the rope."
"That we should, for a certainty," replied Aleck. "Well, there's
nothing to be done but to wait patiently for the coming of that low tide
when a boat could come in, as Eben Megg said, and as it's plain it does,
or else all these stores couldn't have been brought in."
"And when it does come?" said the middy.
"We shall swim or wade out, of course," said Aleck.
"No, we shan't," grumbled the middy. "You see if it doesn't come in the
night, when we're asleep."
"We must be too much on the look-out for that," said Aleck.
"It will not come all at once, but by degrees--lower and lower tides,
till we get the one we want; and till then we shall have to be patient."
"Hark at him!" said the midshipman. "Who's to be patient at a time like
this? Well, I'm beginning to feel warm and dry again; what do you say
to getting back and having dinner, or whatever you like to call it? Oh,
dear! Eating and drinking's bad enough on ship board, but it's all
feasts and banquets compared to this."
"We must try to improve it," said Aleck. "I don't see why we shouldn't
be able to catch fish."
"What? You don't suppose fish would be such scaly idiots as to come
into a hole like this?"
"Perhaps not, but I believe they'd be shelly idiots enough. I shouldn't
be a bit surprised, if we had a lobster or crab pot thrown out here, if
we caught some fine ones."
"Set one, then," said the midshipman, sourly. "Perhaps there is one."
"Not likely," replied Aleck. "Never mind, let's make the best of what
we've got and be thankful."
"No, that I won't," cried his companion. "I'll make the best of what
we've got as much as you like, but I must draw the line somewhere--I
won't be thankful."
"I will," said Aleck, good-temperedly; "thankful enough for both."
"Come on," said the midshipman, gruffly.
"Wait a moment till I've coiled up the line loosely. We may want it,
and it must be hung up to dry."
This was done, and then after noting that the water was growing deeper
in the direction of the sea entrance, the pair made their way right
round by the head, stopped at the spring to have a hearty drink, and
then pressed on, lanthorn in hand, to their resting-place, where,
thoroughly upset by his adventure, the midshipman grumbled at everything
till Aleck burst into a hearty laugh.
"Hallo!" cried his companion, eagerly; "let's have it. Got a bright
idea as to how to get out?"
"No," said Aleck, "I was laughing at the comic way in which you keep on
finding fault."
"Humph! Well, I have been going it rather, haven't I?"
"Doing nothing else but growl."
"That's the worst of having a nasty temper. Don't do a bit of good
either, does it?"
"Not a bit," said Aleck. "Makes things still worse."
"Think so?"
Aleck nodded.
"Yes, I suppose you're right. I'll drop it then. Now, then, what do
you say to having a good long snooze?"
"I'm willing," said Aleck, "for I'm thoroughly tired out."
"Put out the light then. My word, what a good thing sleep is!" said the
midshipman, after they had lain in silence for a few minutes. "Makes
you able to forget all your troubles."
There was a pause, and then the midshipman began:
"I say it makes you able to forget all your troubles, doesn't it?"
Still silence.
"Don't you hear what I say?"
No answer.
"Hanged if he isn't asleep! How a fellow can be such a dormouse-headed
animal at a time like this I don't know."
He ought to have known, a minute later, for he was lying upon his back,
fast asleep and breathing hard, dreaming of all kinds of pleasant
things, some of which had to do with being feasted after getting free.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
The next day the two lads could only think of their attempt with a
shudder, for their efforts, though they did not quite grasp the
narrowness of their escape from death, had resulted in a peculiar shock
to their system, one effect of which was to make then disinclined to do
anything more than sit and lie in the darkness watching the faint
suggestion of dawn in the direction of the submerged archway. Then,
too, they slept a good deal, while even on the following day they both
suffered a good deal from want of energy.
Towards evening, though, Aleck roused up.
"Look here, sailor," he said, "this will not do. We ought to be doing
something."
"What?" said the middy, sadly. "Try again to drown ourselves?"
"Oh, no; that was a bit of madness. We mustn't try that again."
"What then? It seems to me that we may as well keep going to sleep till
we don't wake again."
"What!" shouted Aleck, his companion's words fully rousing him from his
lethargic state. "Well, of all the cowardly things for a fellow to
say!"
"Cowardly!" cried the middy, literally galvanised into action by the
sound of that word. "You want to quarrel, then, do you? You want to
fight, eh? Very well, I'm your man. Let's light the lanthorn and have
it out at once."
"Oh, very well," cried Aleck. "There's a nice soft bit of sand yonder
that will just do."
The middy snorted like an angry animal and began to breathe hard, while
Aleck, feeling regularly angry now, felt for the tinder-box and matches,
and began to send the sparks flying in showers.
The tinder was soon glowing, the match well alight, and a fresh candle
stuck in its place, the lanthorn being set upon a flat stone, with the
door open, after which the two lads slipped off their jackets and rolled
up their sleeves.
"Shut the lanthorn door, stupid," cried the middy.
"What for?"
"What for? To keep the candle from tumbling out the first time I knock
you up against that stone."
"I should like to catch you at it," said Aleck. "If I shut the door how
am I to see to hit you on the nose?"
"You hit me on the nose? Ha, ha!" cried the middy. "Why, I shall have
you calling out that you've had enough long before you get there."
"We shall see," said Aleck. "Don't you think that you're going to
frighten me with a lot of bounce. Now, then, are you ready?"
"Yes, I'm ready enough. I'll show you whether I'm a coward or not.
Here, hold out your hand."
"What for?"
"To shake hands, of course, and show that we mean fair play."
"I never stopped for that when I had a fight with the Rockabie boys, but
there you are."
Hands were grasped, and the midshipman was about to withdraw his, but it
was held tightly, and somehow or another his own fingers began to
respond in a tight clench.
And thus they stood for quite a minute, while some subtle fluid like
common-sense in a gaseous form seemed to run up their arms through their
shoulders, and then divide, for part to feed their brains and the other
part to make their hearts beat more calmly.
At last Aleck spoke.
"I say," he said, "aren't we going to make fools of ourselves?"
"I don't know," was the reply, "but I'll show you I'm not a coward."
"I never thought you were a coward, but you'd say I was one if I told
you that I didn't want to fight."
"No, I shouldn't," said the middy, "because I can't help feeling that it
is stupid, and I don't want to fight either."
"Then, why should we fight?"
"Oh," said the middy, "there are times when a gentleman's bound to stand
upon his honour. We ought to fight now with pistols; but as we have
none why, of course, it has to be fists. Besides, I don't suppose you
could use a pistol, and it wouldn't be fair for me to shoot you."
"I daresay I know as much about pistols as you do," said Aleck. "I've
shot at a mark with my uncle. But we needn't argue about that."
"No, we've got our fists, so let's get it done."
But they did not begin, for the idea that they really were about to make
fools of themselves grew stronger, and as they dropped their hands to
raise them again as fists, neither liked to strike the first blow.
Suddenly an idea struck Aleck as he glanced sidewise to see their
shadows stretched out in a horribly grotesque, distorted form upon the
dark water, and he smiled to himself as he saw his fists elongated into
clubs, while he said, suddenly:
"I say, I don't want, you to think me a coward."
"Very well, then, you had better show you are not by fighting hard to
keep me from giving you an awful licking."
"You can't do it," said Aleck; "but _I_ say I don't want to fight."
"Perhaps not; but you'll soon find you'll have to, or I shall call you
the greatest coward I ever saw."
"But it seems so stupid when we are in such trouble to make things worse
by knocking one another about."
"Well, yes, perhaps it does," replied the middy.
"Suppose, then, I do something brave than fighting you," said Aleck.
"What could you do?"
"Put the rope round me again and try to swim out. That would be doing
some good."
"You daren't do it?"
"Yes, I dare," cried Aleck, "and I will if you'll say that it's as brave
as fighting you."
"I don't know whether it's as brave," said the middy, "but I'd sooner
fight than try the other. Ugh! I wouldn't try that again for
anything."
"Very well, then, I will," said Aleck, stoutly. "You must own now that
it's a braver thing to do than to begin trying to knock you about.
There, put down your hands, I'm not going to fight."
"You're beaten then."
"Not a bit of it. I'm going to show you that I'm not a coward."
"No, you're not," said the middy, after a few minutes' pause, during
which Aleck ran to the rock and brought back the now dry rope in its
loose coil.
To his surprise the middy took a step forward and caught hold of it
tightly to try and jerk it away.
"What are you going to do?" said Aleck, in wonder.
"Put it back," said the middy.
"Why?"
"Because you're trying to make me seem a coward now."
"I don't understand you."
"Do you think I'm going to be such a coward as to let you do what I'm
afraid to do myself?"
"Then you would be afraid to go again?"
"Yes, of course I should be. So would you."
"Yes, I can't help feeling horribly afraid; but I'll do it," said Aleck.
"To show you're not a coward?"
"Partly that, and partly because I fancy that perhaps I could swim out
this time."
"And I'm sure you couldn't," said the middy, "and I shan't let you go."
"You can't stop me?"
"Yes, I can; I won't hold the rope."
"Then I'll go without."
"Why, there'll be no one to pull you back if you get stuck."
"I don't care; I'll go all the same."
"Then you are a coward," cried the middy, triumphantly.
"Mind what you're about," said Aleck, hotly. "Don't you say that
again."
"Yes, I will. You're a coward, for you're going to try and swim out,
and leave your comrade, who daren't do it, alone here to die."
"Didn't think of that," said Aleck. "There, I won't try to go now; so
don't be frightened."
"What!"
Aleck burst out laughing.
"I say," he cried, "what tempers we have both got into! Let's go and do
something sensible to try and work it off."
"But there's nothing we can do," said the middy, despondently.
"Yes, there is. As the lanthorn's alight, let's go and have a try at
the zigzag."
The middy followed his companion without a word, and they both climbed
up wearily and hopelessly to have another desperate try to dislodge the
stones, but only to prove that it was an impossible task.
Literally wearied out, they descended, after being compelled to desist
by the candle gradually failing, while it had gone right out in the
socket before they reached the cave.
But their utter despondency was a little checked by the sight of the
soft pale light which seemed to rise from the water more clearly than
ever before; and Aleck said so, but the middy was of the opposite
opinion.
"No," he said. "It only seems so after the horrible darkness of that
hole."
"I don't know," said Aleck; "it certainly looks brighter to me. See how
clear the arch looks with the seaweed waving about! I say, sailor, I've
a great mind to have another try."
"No, you haven't," growled the middy, wearily. "I can't spare you. I'm
not going to stop here and die all alone."
"You wouldn't, for I should drag you out after me."
"Couldn't do it after you were drowned."
"I shouldn't be drowned," said Aleck, slowly and thoughtfully.
"Be quiet--don't bother--I'm so tired--regularly beat out after all that
trying up yonder; and so are you. I say, Aleck, I'm beginning to be
afraid that we shall never see the sunshine again."
Aleck said nothing, but lay gazing sadly at the dimly-seen arch in the
water, and followed the waving to and fro of the great fronds of
sea-wrack, till he shuddered once or twice and seemed to feel them
clinging round his head and neck, making it dark, but somehow without
causing the horrible, strangling, helpless sensation he had suffered
from before. In fact, it seemed to be pleasant and restful, and by
degrees produced a sensation of coolness that was most welcome after the
stifling heat at the top of the zigzag, which had been made worse by the
odour of the burning candle.
Then Aleck ceased to think, but lay in the cool, soft darkness, till all
at once he started up sitting and wondering.
"Why, I've been asleep," he said to himself. "Here, sailor."
"Yes; what was that?"
"I don't know. I seemed to hear something."
"Have you been asleep?"
"Yes; have you?"
"I think so," said the middy. "We must have been. But, I say, it
really is much lighter this time."
"So I thought," said Aleck. "And, I say, I can smell the fresh seaweed.
Is the arch going to be open at last?"
_Phee-ew_! came a low, plaintive whistle.
"Hear that?" cried Aleck, wildly.
"Yes, I heard it in my sleep. The place is getting open then. There it
goes again. It must be a gull."
"No, no, no!" cried Aleck, wildly, his voice sounding cracked and broken
from the overpowering joy that seemed to choke him. "Don't you know
what it is?"
"A seagull, I tell you."
"No, no, no! It's Tom Bodger's whistle. You listen now."
There was a dead silence in the cavern, save that both lads felt or
heard the throbbing in their breasts.
"I can't hear anything," said the middy, at last. "What was it?"
"Nothing," gasped Aleck. "I can't--can't whistle now."
But he made another effort to control his quivering tips, mastered them
into a state of rigidity, and produced a repetition of the same low,
plaintive note that had reached their ears.
Directly after, the whistle was repeated from outside, and, as Aleck
produced it once more in trembling tones, the lads leaped to their feet,
for, coming as it were right along the surface of the water, as if
through some invisible opening, there came the welcome sound:
"Ship ahoy! Master Aleck--a--" _suck--suck--flop--flop_--a whisper, and
then something like a sigh.
"It is Tom Bodger!" cried Aleck, in a voice he did not know for his own,
and something seemed to clutch him about the throat, and he knelt there
muttering something inaudible to himself.
CHAPTER THIRTY.
_Phee-ew! Phee-ew_! The peculiar gull-like whistle once more, to run
in a softened series of echoes right up into the farthest part of the
cavern. Then there came the peculiar sucking, ploshing sound as of
water filling up an opening. A minute later "Ship ahoy!" from outside.
"Tom! Ahoy!" yelled Aleck, wildly.
"Ahoy, my lad! Ahoy!" and something else was cut off by the soft
sucking splash of water again, while to make the lads' position more
painful in their efforts to reply, twice over they were conscious of the
fact that when they replied with a shout their cries did not pass
through the orifice, which the water had closed.
But the tide was ebbing steadily, and the tiny arc of the rocks which
showed the way in was growing more open, so that at the end of a few
minutes they heard plainly:
"Where'bouts are yer, my lad?"
"In here!" shouted Aleck, but only in face of a dull _plosh_.
Another minute and the question was repeated, but from whence the lads
could hardly tell, for instead of coming from the cavern mouth the words
seemed to come from far up the cavern, to be followed by another splash.
It was quite half a minute before, taught by experience, Aleck shouted:
"Shut in here! Cave!"
There was another plosh, but they had proof soon after that the words
had been heard, for the hail now came:
"Are yer 'live, my lad?"
"Ye-es," cried Aleck. "Quite!" and then he could in his excitement
hardly control a hysterical laugh at the absurdity of the question and
answer.
"Thought yer was dead and gone, my lad," came now, in company with a
fainter splashing.
"Tom Bodger!"
"Hullo!" came quickly.
"We're shut in by the water."
"Who's `we'?"
"The cutter's midshipman and I."
"Wha-a-at! Then there arn't nayther on yer dead and drownded, my lad?"
"No-o-o-o!"
"Then I say hooray! hooray! But can't you swim out?"
"No. We've tried."
"Ho!" came back. "Wait a bit."
"What for? Can't you get help for us, Tom?"
"Ay, ay, my lad," came back. "But jest you wait."
Then there was silence, and the prisoners joined hands, to kneel,
waiting and listening.
"He has gone for help," said the middy.
"Yes, and before he gets back that little hole that let his words in
will be shut up again."
"Never mind," said the middy, sagely; "he knows we're here."
"Oh, but why didn't I think to tell him of the zigzag path? I daresay
they could get the stones out from above where they were pushed in."
"Perhaps he hasn't gone," said the middy. "Ahoy there!"
There was a peculiar sound as of the water rising up and gurgling along
a channel, while a lapping sound at their feet told that the water
inside was being put in motion.
"Why, he has dived down," cried Aleck, suddenly, "so as to try and get
to us."
"Tchah! Nonsense. That squat little wooden-legged man couldn't swim."
But at the end of what seemed to be a long period they heard a louder
splash, followed by another, and the illuminated water began to dance
and a curious ebullition to be faintly seen.
Then there was a panting sigh, and a familiar voice cried:
"Where'bouts are yer?"
"Here, here!" cried the lads, in a breath, and the next minute they were
conscious of something swimming towards them, which took shape more and
more till they saw that it was a man swimming on his back.
"What cheer-ho!" came now, in the midst of a lot of splashing. "Lend us
a hand, my lads, for I'm all at sea here. Thanky! Steady! Let's get
soundings for my legs. Mind bringing that lanthorn a bit forrarder?
That's right; now I can see where I go."
Tom Bodger had managed to find a hold for his stumps, and stood shaking
himself as well as he could for the fact that he had a lad holding
tightly on to each hand.
"Well, yer don't feel like ghostses, my lads!" cried the sailor. "This
here's solid flesh and bone, and it's rayther disappynting like."
"Disappointing, Tom?"
"Yes, Master Aleck. Yer see, your uncle says: `You find the poor lad's
remains, Bodger,'--remains, that's what he called it--`and I'll give yer
a ten-pound Bank o' Hengland note,' he says."
"Oh!" cried Aleck, passionately.
"And the orficer there from the Revenoo cutter, he says: `You find the
body o' young Mr Wrighton of the man-o'-war sloop, and there'll be the
same reward for that.'"
"Humph! I should have thought I was worth more than that," said the
midshipman.
"Ay, ay, sir!" cried Tom Bodger, who was squeezing his shirt and
breeches as he talked. "So says I, sir; but it's disappynting, for I
arn't found no corpses, on'y you young gents all as live-ho as fish; and
what's to come o' my rewards?"
"Oh, bother the rewards, Tom! How did you get in?"
"Dove, sir, and swimmed on my back with my flippers going like one o'
the seals I've seen come in here."
"But we tried to do that, both of us, and we couldn't do it."
"Dessay not, sir. Didn't try on the right tide."
"Nearly got drowned, both of us, my lad," said the midshipman. "But
don't let's lose time. You show the way, and we'll follow you."
"No hurry, sir; plenty o' time. Be easier bimeby. Tide's got another
hour o' ebb yet. But how in the name o' oakum did you two gents manage
to get in here? I knowed there was a hole here where the seals dove in,
and I did mean to come sploring like at some time or other; but it's
on'y once in a way as you can row in."
Aleck told him in a few words, and the man whistled.
"Well, I'll be blessed!" he said. "I allus knowed that Eben Megg and
his mates must have a store hole somewhere, and p'raps if I'd ha' lay
out to sarch for it I might ha' found it out. But I didn't want to go
spying about and get a crack o' the head for my pains. The Revenoo
lads'll find out for theirselves some day; and so you young gents have
been the first?"
"Stop a minute," said Aleck. "What about Eben Megg?"
"Oh, they cotched him days ago, sir--cutter's men dropped upon him while
they was hunting for this young gent's corpus, and he's aboard your
ship, sir, I expect, along with the other pressed men."
"But haven't they been looking for me any more?" said the middy.
"No, sir; they give it up arter they'd caught Eben; and, as I telled
yer, there was a reward offered for to find yer dead as they couldn't
find yer living."
"So that's why Eben didn't come back, sailor," said Aleck, quietly.
"Yes," said the middy, "but why didn't he tell the cutter's officer that
we were shut up here?"
"Too bitter about his capture, perhaps, or he might not have had a
chance to speak while he was ashore."
"I don't believe it was that," said the middy. "I believe he wouldn't
tell where their storehouse was."
"And so this here's the smugglers' cave, is it?" said Tom Bodger,
looking about. "But where's t'other way out, sir?"
Aleck explained that the smuggler had closed the way up.
"Well, sir, it's a wery artful sort o' place, I will say that. Lot o'
good things stored up here, I s'pose?"
"Plenty."
"Hah! Is there now? Well, it means some prize money, Mr Wrighton,
sir, and enough to get a big share."
"And I deserve it, my man," said the middy, with something of his old
consequential way; "but let's get out into the daylight. I'm afraid--
I'm--that is, I shouldn't like to be shut in again."
"No fear, sir. You trust me. Lot more time yet. 'Sides, the tide'll
fall lower to-morrow morning; but I'll get you out as soon as I can, for
your poor uncle's quite took to his bed, Master Aleck."
"Uncle has?"
"Yes, sir. Chuffy sharp-spoken gent as he always was, blest if he
didn't say quite soft to me, with the big tears a-standing in his eyes:
`It's all over, Bodger, my man,' he says, `and you may have the poor
boy's boat, for I know if he could speak now he would say, "Give it to
poor old Tom."'"
"Poor old uncle!" said Aleck, huskily. "Then you're cheated again, Tom,
and have lost your boat?"
"And hearty glad on it, too, Master Aleck, say I. A-mussy me, my lad,
what would the Den ha' been without you there? The captain wouldn't ha'
wanted me. I don't wonder as I couldn't rest, but come over here every
morning and stayed till dark, climbing about the rocks and cliffs, with
the birds a-shouting at me and thinking all the time that I'd come arter
their young 'uns--bubblins, as we calls 'em, 'cause they're so fat."
"And so they haven't been looking for me any more?" said the middy, in a
disappointed tone.
"No, sir; not since they telled me to keep on looking for yer. You see,
everybody said as you must ha' gone overboard and been washed out to
sea, same as the captain felt that you'd slipped off the cliff
somewhere, Master Aleck, and been drowned. But I kep' on thinking as
both on yer might ha' been washed into some crivissy place and stuck
there, and that's why I kep' on peeking and peering about, hoping I
might come upon one of you if I didn't find both; and sure enough, here
you are. I don't know what you gents think on it, but I call it a
right-down good morning's work for such a man as me."
"But you did not walk over from Rockabie this morning, my man?" said the
middy.
"Not walk over, sir? Oh, yes, I did."
"You must be very tired?"
"Not me, sir. My legs never get tired; and yet the queerest thing about
it is that they allus feel stiff."
"Don't talk any more, Tom," said Aleck. "I want to get to business.
Now, then, don't you think we might get out now?"
"Well, yes, sir; p'raps we might. It's a good deal lighter, you see,
since I come, but she's far from low water yet, and it'll come much
easier when tide's right down. But can't I have a bit of a look round,
Master Aleck?"
"Of course," was the reply, and the sailor grinned and chuckled as he
ran his eyes over what he looked upon as a regular treasure house for
anyone whose dealings were on the sea with boats.
The cavern was lighter now than the two prisoners had ever seen it, so
that Tom was able to have a good look; and he finished off by trotting
down as near to the mouth of the great place as he could, and then
turning to Aleck.
"There," he said, "I think we might venture out now. You can swim out
now without having to dive. What do you say, Mr Wrighton, sir?"
"I think we ought to go at once."
"Come on, then, gen'lemen. You'll get a bit wet, but there's a long
climb arterwards up the hot rocks in the sunshine, and you'll be 'most
dry 'fore you get home."
"Oh, never mind the water," cried the middy. "My uniform's spoilt. I'm
ready to do anything to get out of here."
"Will you go first, sir?" cried Tom Bodger.
"No, you found the way in," was the reply, "so lead the way out."
"Right, sir. Ready?"
"Then come on."
The man took three or four of his queer steps, to stand for a moment on
the edge of the deep pool, and then went in sidewise to swim like a seal
for the low archway, whose weed-hung edges were only a few inches above
the surface of the water, and as he reached it to pass under he laid his
head sidewise so that the dripping shell-covered weed wiped his cheek.
There had been no hesitation on the part of the prisoners. Aleck sprang
in as soon as their guide was a few feet away, and the middy followed,
both finding their task delightfully easy as they swam some fifty yards
through a low tunnel, whose roof was for the most part so close to the
surface that more than once, as the smooth water heaved, Aleck's face
just touched the impending smoothly-worn stone.
But there were two places, only a few yards in, where the arch was
broken into a yawning crack, from which the water dripped in a heavy
shower.
"Look up as you come along here," cried Aleck to his companion, and then
he shuddered, for his voice raised a peculiar echo, suggesting weird
hollows and tunnels, while as he increased his strokes to get past and
the middy came under in turn, he shouted again after his leader:
"Why, Tom, that must be where the water snatched us up and nearly
drowned us."
Five minutes later all three were swimming for a rough natural pier, and
Tom Bodger gave his head a sidewise wag towards another low cavernous
arch.
"'Nother way in there," he said. "Jynes the one we came out of. You
must have seen how the waves dance and splash there in rough weather,
Master Aleck?"
"No," was the reply. "I've only seen that it's a terribly rough bit of
coast. I never came down here, and of course I was never out in my boat
when it was rough."
"Course not, sir. It is a coarse bit. I had no end of a job to get
down, and I spect that it's going to be a bit worse going up agen. What
do you say to sitting up yonder in the sunshine on that there shelf?
The birds'll soon go. You can make yourselves comf'able and get dry
while I go up and get a rope. Dessay I can be back in an hour or so."
"No," cried the lads, in a breath. "We'll climb it if you can."
Climb up the dangerous cliff they did by helping one another, and with
several halts to look down at the still falling tide; and in one of
these intervals Aleck exclaimed:
"But I still can't see how the smugglers could run a boat up and row
into that cavern."
"Course they couldn't row, sir," replied Tom, "on'y shove her in. But
don't you see what a beautiful deep cut there is? Bound to say that at
the right time they'd run a big lugger close in. Look yonder! It's
just like the way into a dock, and sheltered lovely. Ah, they're an
artful lot, smugglers! You never know what they're after."
It was about an hour later that, without passing a soul on their
solitary way, the party reached the cliff path down into the Den garden,
where no Dunning was visible, and a chill came over Aleck like a warning
of something fresh in the way of disaster that he was to encounter.
It came suddenly, but it was as suddenly chased away by his hearing the
voice of Jane crooning over the words of some doleful old West Country
ballad, not of a cheering nature certainly, but sufficient to prove that
someone was at the house.
"Wait here," he whispered to his companions. "Let me go and see my
uncle first."
He crept in unheard, glanced round to see that the lower room was empty,
and then went softly up the stairs, his well-soaked boots making as
little noise as if they had been of indiarubber.
The study door yielded to a touch, and he stood gazing at the figure of
his uncle, seated in his usual place, but with pen, ink and papers
thrust aside so that he could bow his grey head down upon his clasped
hands.
"Asleep, uncle?" said the lad, softly.
"Aleck, my boy!" cried the old man, springing up to catch the lost one
in his arms. "Heaven be thanked! I was mourning for you as dead."
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
Comfortably settled down at the Den as Aleck's guest and made most
welcome, the middy felt not the slightest inclination to stir; but all
through life there is to all of us the call of duty, and the lad was
ready to recommence his, and eager to report to headquarters his
discovery of the notorious smugglers' cave.
Enquiries at Rockabie proved that the sloop and cutter had both sailed,
so a letter had to convey some of the information--"a despatch," the
young officer called it; and after it was sent he constituted himself
guardian of the smugglers' treasure and headed a little expedition,
composed of Aleck and Tom Bodger, to examine the land way down into the
cave, which they approached by a rope provided by Tom, who said he
didn't "keer" about jumping down from that there shelf, because his legs
were so stiff.
Then a descent was made by the sloping zigzag paths, till the corner was
reached, about half way down, where the way was blocked.
"Only fancy," said Aleck. "How we did fight to get out from below, and
it's all as simple as can be from up here."
And so it was, for three stones had been drawn down the slope, one
partly over the other and the other fitting nicely to either, but only
requiring a little effort to pull them back, _after_--
Yes, it was after one smaller wedge-shaped piece had been lifted out by
Tom Bodger, this wedge being like a key stone or bolt to hold the others
in place so tightly that it was impossible so shift them from below.
Tom Bodger had just removed the last stone into a big recess, which had
probably been formed by the smugglers to hold them, when the middy
turned round sharply upon a dark figure which had, unseen before, been
following them.
"Hallo!" he cried. "Who are you?"
"It's me, sir--Dunning, sir--the captain's gardener, sir. Come to see,
sir, if I could be of any help."
"No," cried Aleck, sharply, "you've come to play the spy, you deceitful
old rascal."
"Oh, Master Aleck, sir!" whined the man, "how can you say such a thing?"
"Because I know you by heart. You've been hand and glove with the
smugglers all through."
"Master Aleck, sir!"
"That will do," cried the lad, indignantly. "I've never told my uncle
what I've seen or heard, but I must now, and you know what to expect."
"Master Aleck!"
"That's it, is it?" said the middy. "He's one of the gang, and of
course I shall make him a prisoner as soon as we get out. Here, you,
Bodger, I order you in the King's name to take that man prisoner."
"Ay, ay, sir," cried Tom, and he made a move towards the gardener.
But it was ineffective, for the man suddenly thrust out a foot and
hooked one of the pensioner's wooden legs off the stone floor of the
slope, giving him a sharp thrust in the chest at the same time.
There is a game called skittles, or, more properly, ninepins, in which
if you strike one of the pins deftly it carries on the blow to the next,
which follows suit, and so on, till the blow given to number one has
resulted in all nine being laid low.
"Jes' like ninepins, Master Aleck," said Tom, "only there's nobbut three
on us. I beg your pardon, sir; I couldn't help it."
"No, no, no, no, no!" roared Aleck, each utterance being a part of a
hearty laugh, for the gardener had knocked Tom over, Tom had upset him,
and the blow he carried on to the midshipman had sent the latter rolling
down the slope, to come raging up as soon as he could gain his feet and
climb back.
"What are you laughing at?" he shouted.
"It was so comic," panted Aleck, wiping his eyes.
"Shall I go arter him, sir?" said Tom.
"No, no. He is half way to the top by now."
"Yes, yes," cried the middy; "and look sharp, or perhaps he'll be trying
to shut us up again."
"Not he," said Aleck; "he won't stop till he is safe. I don't believe
we shall see the lazy old scoundrel again."
Aleck's words proved to be true.
Later on he and his party made their way up to the smugglers' cottages,
to find them deserted by everyone save Eben Megg's wife, with three
pretty little dark-eyed children.
The woman looked frightened, and burst into tears as she recognised the
young officer, who began at her at once.
"You're a nice woman, you are," he said. "What have you got to say for
yourself for keeping me a prisoner below there?"
"I--I only did what I was told, sir," faltered the woman.
"Were you told to fasten us down there to starve?" cried the middy.
"Fasten?--to starve? Were you left down there, sir, when my Eben was
knocked down and carried away?"
"Of course we were."
"I didn't know, sir," sobbed the woman. "If I had, though I was in such
trouble, I'd have come and brought you all I could, same as I did
before, sir. Indeed I would."
"Humph!" grunted the middy. "Well, you did feed me as well as you
could. So you've lost your husband, then?"
The woman tried to answer, but only sobbed more loudly.
"There, don't cry," said the middy, more gently. "We shall make an
honest man of him."
"And what's to become of my poor weans, Master Aleck? We shall all be
turned out of the cottage."
"I don't think you will," said Aleck. "I daresay uncle won't let anyone
interfere with you."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
There were busy days during the next week, with men from the sloop and
cutter, brought back by the middy's "despatch," going up and down the
zigzag like so many ants, bringing up the principal treasures of the
cave, the sailors working with all their might over the greatest haul
they had ever made, and chuckling over the amount of prize money they
would have to draw.
There was a fair amount of work done and much recovering of valuable
gear during two days of the next spring tide, when Aleck and his
companion were rowed in one of the sloop's boats along a narrow channel
of deep water right up the cavern. They were poled in, and found so
much to interest them that they stayed too long and were nearly shut in
once more, for the tide rose fast, and the men had to lie down in the
boat and work her out with their hands, and then a wave came in and
lifted her, jamming the gunwale against the slimy rock and weeds,
threatening a more terrible imprisonment still; but just as matters were
very serious and the lives of the party in imminent danger, the water
sank a few inches and enabled the men to thrust the boat on into
daylight.
That was the last time a boat entered that cave, for during a terrific
storm in the ensuing winter the waves must have loosened and torn up
some of the supporting stones of the archway, letting down hundreds of
tons of rock in a land slide, so that where the cave had lain like a
secret, the waves played regularly at high water, working more and more
at every tide to lay bare the gloomy recesses to the light of day.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aleck saw no more of Willie Wrighton, midshipman, for two years, and
then he came on a visit to the Den.
The next morning the two young men went for a stroll along the cliffs to
have a look at the rocky chaos which had once formed the cave.
As they came near they caught sight of a solitary figure down towards
where the archway submerged had lain, and Aleck made put that it was a
big, well-built man-o'-war's man.
"Is that one of your fellows, sailor?" said Aleck, with the appellation
he had used when they were prisoners together.
"Yes, he came over with me from Rockabie. Capital fellow he is too.
Don't you know him again?"
"No," said Aleck, shading his eyes. "Yes, I do. How he is changed!
Why, Eben Megg, I hardly knew you again without your beard."
"Glad to see you, Master Aleck," said the man, warmly. "Mr Wrighton
here was good enough to bring me along with him to see the old place.
I'm coming to make a long stay, sir, as soon as we're paid off, and--
and--there, I arn't good at talking--about them things," continued the
man, huskily, "but God bless you and the captain, sir, for all you've
done for my poor wife and bairns."
"Oh, nonsense! Don't talk about it, Eben," said Aleck, huskily; "but, I
say, young man, you nearly made an end of us by not coming back after
you'd shut us in. What did you do it for--to kill us?"
"To kill you both, sir? Not me! I on'y wanted to make sure of you for
an hour or two till I'd been home and scraped a few things together to
take away with me. When I come back the cutter's lads dropped upon me,
and I showed fight till a crack on the head knocked all the say out of
me for about a fortnit. When I could speak they told me you'd both been
found."
"Ahoy!" cried the middy, excitedly. "Here comes your rase chap, old
wooden pegs. I'd nearly forgotten him. Does he live here?"
"Oh, yes, he's our gardener and odd man; been with us ever since Dunning
ran away. Capital gardener he makes, sailor--digs a patch and then
walks down it, making holes with his wooden legs to drop in the potatoes
or cabbage plants, before standing on one leg and covering in the earth
with the other. Hallo, Tom, what is it?"
"Sarvant, sir," said Tom, pulling his forelock, man-o'-war fashion, to
the young officer. "Been showing Eben Megg how the cave was busted up,
sir, in the storm. I beg pardon, sir; I've been scouring and swabbing
out the boat 'smorning in case you and the luff-tenant wanted to go for
a sail."
"To be sure," cried Aleck, eagerly. "Here, we'll go for a run to
Rockabie and back, Eben; come and take the helm and show Mr Wrighton
how the smugglers could run a boat close in among the rocks. You know;
the same as you did that night."
"Ay, ay, sir. Come along, Tom. Shall we go round to the Den gully and
fetch her, sir? We could run in up the channel below here, and pick you
up? Bodger says the channel's quite clear."
"Do you think you could find your way in, Eben?" said Aleck, with a
merry look.
"Find my way in, sir? Ay, sir, if it was black as ink, or with my eyes
shut."
THE END.
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