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diff --git a/21303.txt b/21303.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ef81ba --- /dev/null +++ b/21303.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14159 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Devon Boys, by George Manville Fenn + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Devon Boys + A Tale of the North Shore + +Author: George Manville Fenn + +Illustrator: Gordon Browne (1858-1932) + +Release Date: May 4, 2007 [EBook #21303] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEVON BOYS *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + + +The Devon Boys, a Tale of the North Shore, by George Manville Fenn. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +As per the title, the story revolves round the cliffs of the north shore +of Devon, in South West England. It is 1752. There are three local +teenage boys, who are all boarders at the nearby Barnstaple Grammar +School. It is the summer holidays. Bob Chowne is the son of a local +doctor, and is a bit cross in his manner; Bigley Uggleston is the son of +a local fisherman (or smuggler), and is a very pleasant-mannered boy; +while Sep Duncan, the "I" of the story, is the son of Arthur John +Duncan, a naval officer, who has just bought an extensive stretch of the +cliffs. + +The boys decide to move a rock from the top of the cliff, to the bottom. +They use explosives, and there is exposed a rich vein of galena, a lead +and silver ore, so Sep's father begins a mine, which does very well. + +The boys get up to various daring escapades, which generally end up in +near-disaster, from which they are rescued by various turns of fortune, +including being rescued from way out at sea by a Frenchman, a smuggler +of course, who is in league with Bigley's father. + +There is a French attack on the coast, but they were definitely looking +for the twenty boxes of silver bullion Sep's father has amassed. Luckily +they don't get away with it. NH + +________________________________________________________________________ + +THE DEVON BOYS, A TALE OF THE NORTH SHORE, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +SELF AND FRIENDS. + +Bigley Uggleston always said that it was in 1753, because he vowed that +was the hot year when we had gone home for the midsummer holidays from +Barnstaple Grammar-school. + +Bob Chowne stuck out, as he always would when he knew he was wrong, that +it was in 1755, and when I asked him why he put it then, he held up his +left hand with his fingers and thumb spread out, which was always his +way, and then pointing with the first finger of his right, he said: + +"It was in 1755, because that was the year when the French war broke +out." + +Then he pushed down his thumb, and went on: + +"And because that was the year we had a bonfire in June, because Doctor +Stacey was married for the third time, and we burned all the birches." + +Then he pushed down his first finger. + +"And because that was the year we had an extra week's holiday." + +Down went his second finger. + +"And because that was the year the Spanish galleon was wrecked on Jagger +Rock." + +Down went the third finger. + +"And because that was the year your father bought the whole of Slatey +Gap." + +Down went the fourth finger, so that his open hand had become a clenched +fist held up, and then in his regular old pugnacious way he looked round +the room as if he wanted to hit somebody as he snarled out: + +"Now, who says I'm wrong?" + +I could have said so, but what's the use of quarrelling with a fellow +who can't help being obstinate. It was in his nature, and no end of +times I've known that when my old school-fellow was snaggy and nasty and +quarrelsome with me, he'd have fought like a Trojan on my side against +half the school. + +But that fourth finger of Bob Chowne's settled it as to the time, for it +was not in 1755 but in 1752, for there's the date on the old parchment, +which sets forth how the whole of the Gap from the foreshore right up +the little river for five hundred yards inland, and the whole of the +steep cliff slope and precipice, each side, to the very top, was +conveyed to my father, Arthur John Duncan, of Oak Cottage, Wistabay, +lieutenant and commander in the Royal Navy of His Most Gracious Majesty +King George the Second. + +It doesn't matter in the least when it was, only I may as well say when, +any more than it does that everybody who knew my father, including +Doctor Chowne of Ripplemouth, said he must be mad to go and buy, at the +sale of Squire Allworth's estate, a wild chasm of a place, all slaty +rock and limestone crag and rift and hollow, with a patch of scraggy +oak-trees here, some furze and heath there, and barely enough grass to +feed half a dozen sheep, and that, even if it was cheap, because no one +else would buy it, he was throwing good money away. + +But I didn't think so that hot midsummer afternoon when I was back home, +and had set out to explore the place as I had never explored it before. + +That was not saying much, for I pretty well knew the spot by heart, but +it was my father's now--"ours." + +We three boys had ridden home together the day before, sitting on our +boxes in Teggley Grey's cart, for he was the carrier from Ripplemouth to +Barnstaple. + +I say we rode, though it wasn't much of a ride, for every now and then +the red-faced old boy used to draw the corner of his lips nearly out to +his ears, and show us how many yellow stumps of teeth he had left, as he +stopped his great bony horse, to say: + +"I'm sure you young chaps don't want my poor old horse to pull you up a +hill like this." + +Of course we jumped down and walked up the hill, and as it was nearly +all hill from Barnstaple to our homes we were always jumping down, and +walked quite half of the twenty miles. + +Old Teggley must begin about it too, as he sat with his chin nearly down +upon his knees, whisking the flies away from his horse's ears with his +whip. + +"We'm bit puzzled, Mas' Sep Duncan, what your father bought that place +for?" + +"It's all for bounce," said Bob Chowne, "so as to be Bigley Uggleston's +landlord. Look out, Big, or Sep 'll send you and your father packing, +and you'll have to take the lugger somewhere else." + +"I don't care," said Bigley. "It don't matter to me." + +All in good time we got to the Gap Valley, where there was our Sam +waiting with the donkey-cart to take mine and Bigley's boxes, and Bob +Chowne went on to Ripplemouth, after promising to join us next day for a +grand hunt over the new place. + +The next day came, and with it Bob Chowne from Ripplemouth and Bigley +Uggleston from the Gap; and we three boys set off over the cliff path +for a regular good roam, with the sun beating down on our backs, the +grasshoppers fizzling in amongst the grass and ferns, the gulls +squealing below us as they flew from rock to rock, and, far overhead +now, a hawk wheeling over the brink of the cliff, or a sea-eagle rising +from one of the topmost crags to seek another where there were no boys. + +Now I've got so much to tell you of my old life out there on the wild +North Devon coast, that I hardly know where to begin; but I think I +ought, before I go any farther, just to tell you a little more about who +I was, and add a little about my two school-fellows, who, being very +near neighbours, were also my companions when I was at home. + +Bob Chowne was the son of an old friend of my father--"captain" Duncan, +as people called him, and lived at Ripplemouth, three or four miles +away. The people always called him Chowne, which they had shortened +from Champernowne, and we boys at school often substituted Chow for Bob, +because we said he was such a disagreeable chap. + +I do not see the logic of the change even now, but the nickname was +given and it stuck. I must own, though, that he was anything but an +amiable fellow, and I used to wonder whether it was because his father, +the doctor, gave him too much physic; but it couldn't have been that, +for Bob always used to say that if he was ill his father would send him +out without any breakfast to swallow the sea air upon the cliffs, and +that always made him well. + +Bigley Uggleston, my other companion, on the contrary, was about the +best-tempered fellow that ever lived. He was the son of old Jonas +Uggleston, who lived at the big cottage down in the Gap, on one side of +the little stream. Jonas was supposed to be a fisherman, and he +certainly used to fish, but he carried on other business as well with +his lugger--business which enabled him to send his son to the +grammar-school, where he was one of the best-dressed of the boys, and +had about as much pocket-money as Bob and I put together, but we always +spent it for him and he never seemed to mind. + +I have said that he was an amiable fellow, and he had this peculiarity, +that if you looked at him you always began to laugh, and then his broad +face broke up into a smile, as if he was pleased because you laughed at +him, and tease, worry, or do what you liked, he never seemed to mind. + +I never saw another boy like him, and I used to wonder why Bob Chowne +and I should be a couple of ordinary robust boys of fourteen, while he +was five feet ten, broad-shouldered, with a good deal of dark downy +whisker and moustache, and looked quite a man. + +Sometimes Bob and I used to discuss the matter in private, and came to +the conclusion that as Bigley was six months older than we were, we +should be like him in stature when another six months had passed; but we +very soon had to give up that idea, and so it remained that our +school-fellow had the aspect of a grown man, but what Bob called his +works were just upon a level with our own, for, except in appearance, he +was not manly in the slightest degree. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +OUR CLIFFS. + +I believe the sheep began all the creepy paths in our part of the +country--not sheep such as you generally see about farms, or down to +market, but our little handsome sheep with curly horns that feed along +the sides of the cliffs in all sorts of dangerous places where a false +step would send them headlong six or seven hundred feet, perhaps a +thousand, down to the sea. For we have cliff slopes in places as high +as that, where the edge of the moor seems to have been chopped right +off, and if you are up there you can gaze down at the waves foaming over +the rocks, and if you looked right out over the sea, there away to the +north was Taffyland, as we boys called it, with the long rugged Welsh +coast stretching right and left, sometimes dim and hazy, and sometimes +standing out blue and clear with the mountains rising up in the distance +fold behind fold. + +I say I think the sheep used to make the cliff paths to begin with, for +they don't feed up or feed down, but always go along sidewise, unless +they want to get lower, and then they make a zigzag, so far one way and +so far another, backwards and forwards, down the slope till they come to +where it goes straight down to the sea with a raw edge at the top, and +the cliff-face, which keeps crumbling away, in some places lavender and +blue where it is slate, and in others all kinds of tints, as red and +grey, where it's limestone or grit. + +In the course of time the sheep leave a regular lot of tracks like tiny +shelves up the side of the sloping cliffs, and the lowest of these gets +taken by the people who are going along the coast, and is trampled down +more and more, till it grows into a regular footpath, such as we were +going along this hot midsummer day. + +Part of our way lay close to the edge of the cliff, where it was about +four hundred feet straight down, but a dense wood of oak-trees grew +there, and their trunks formed a regular fence and screen between us and +the edge, so that the pathway was quite safe, though it would not have +troubled us much if it had not been, being used to the place; but in a +short time we were through the wood, and out on the open cliff--from +shade to sunshine. + +I ought not to leave that wood, though, without saying something about +it, for just there the trees grew very curiously. Of course you know +what an oak-tree is, and how it grows up tall and rugged and strong, but +our oak-trees didn't grow like that. You've seen horses out in a field +on a stormy day, I suppose, when the wind blows, and the rain beats. If +they have no trees, hedges, or wall to get under, they always turn their +backs to the wind, and you can see their tails and manes streaming out +and blown all over them. + +Well there's no shelter out there on our coast, only in the caves, and +the oak-trees there do just the same as the horses, for they seem to +turn their backs to the wind; and their boughs look as if they are being +blown close down to the side of the cliff slope and spread out ready to +spring up again as soon as the wind has passed. But they don't, for +they stop in that way growing close down and all on one side, and they +very seldom get at all big. + +That was a capital path as soon as we were out of the wood, running up +and down the slope sometimes four, sometimes six or seven hundred feet +above the sea, just as it happened, and with the steep cliff above us +jagged with great masses of rock that looked as if they were always +ready to fall rolling and crashing till they got to the broken edge, +when they would leap right down into the sea. Sometimes they did, but +only when a thaw came after a severe frost. There was none of that sort +of thing though at midsummer, and the overhanging rocks did not trouble +us as we scampered along in the bright elastic air, feeling as if we +were so happy that we must do something mischievous. + +The path was no use to us, it was too smooth and plain and safe, so we +went down to the very edge of the precipice, and looked over at the +beautiful clear sea, hundreds of feet below, and made plans to go +prawning in the rock pools, crabbing when the tide was out, and to get +Bigley's father to lend us the boat and trammel net, to set some calm +night and catch all we could. + +"Think he'll lend it to us, Bigley?" asked Bob. + +"I don't know. I'm afraid he won't." + +"Why not?" I said. "He did last holidays." + +"Yes," said Bigley; "but your father hadn't got the Gap then, and made +him cross, for he said he was going to buy it, only your father bought +it over his head." + +"But had he got the money?" I said. + +"Oh, yes. He's got lots of money, though he never spends any hardly." + +"He makes it all smuggling," said Bob. "He'll be hung some day, or shot +by some of the king's sailors." + +Bigley turned on him quickly, but he did not say a word; and just then a +stone-chat's nest took his attention. After that we had to go round the +end of a combe, as they call the valleys our way, and there we stopped +by the waterfall which came splashing down forming pool after pool in +the sunny rocks. + +It was not to be expected that three boys fresh from school could pass +that falling stream without leaping from rock to rock, and penetrating a +hundred yards inland, to see if we could find a dipper's nest, for one +of the little cock-tailed blackbirds gave us a glimpse of his white +collar as he dropped upon a stone, and then walked into a pool, in whose +clear depths we could see him scudding about after the insects at the +bottom, and seeming to fly through the water as he beat his little +rounded wings using them as a fish does fins. + +The nest was too cleverly hidden for us to find, so, tiring of the +little stream, and knowing that there was one waiting for us in the Gap +where we could capture trout, we went on along the cliff path, gossiping +as boys will, till we reached the great buttress of rock that formed one +side of the entrance to the little ravine, and there perched ourselves +upon the great fragments of rock to look down at where the little stream +came rushing and sparkling from the inland hills till it nearly reached +the sea at the mouth of the Gap, and then came to a sudden end. + +It looked curious, but it was a familiar object to us, who thought +nothing of the way in which the sea had rolled up a bank of boulders and +large pebbles right across the little river, forming a broad path when +the tide was down, and as the little river reached it the bright clear +stream ended, for its waters sank down through the pebbles and passed +invisibly for the next thirty or forty yards beneath the beach and into +the sea. + +But when the tide was up this pebble ridge formed a bar, over which +there was just room for Uggleston's lugger to pass at high-water; and +there it was now in the little river, kept from turning down on its side +by a couple of props, while the water rippled about its keel. + +From where we were perched it looked no bigger than a row-boat, and the +house that formed our school-fellow's home--a long, low, stone-built +place thatched with reeds--seemed as if it had been built for dolls, +while the fisherman's cottage on the other side, where an old sailor +friend lived, was apparently about as big as a box. + +The scene was beautiful, but to us boys its beauty lay in what it +offered us in the way of amusement. + +We were not long in deciding upon a ride down one of the clatter +streams--a ride that, though it is very bad for the breeches and worse +for the boots, while it sometimes interferes with the skin of the +knuckles, and may result in injury to the nose, is thoroughly enjoyable +and full of excitement while it lasts. + +You don't know what a clatter stream is? Then I'll tell you. + +Every here and there, where the slate cliffs run down in steep slopes to +the valleys, you can see from the very top to the bottom, that is to say +on a slope of some nine hundred feet, what look like little streams that +are perhaps a foot wide at the top and ten or a dozen at the bottom +where they open out. These are not streams of water, though in wet +weather the water does trickle down through them, and makes them its +bed, but streams of flat, rounded-edge pieces of slate and shale that +have been split off the face of the rock and fallen, to go slowly +gliding down one over the other, perhaps taking years in their journey. +Some of the pieces are as small as the scraps put in the bottom of a +flower-pot, others are as large as house slates and tiles, perhaps +larger; but as they go grinding over one another they are tolerably +smooth, and form a capital arrangement for a slide. + +This thing determined upon we each selected a good broad piece big +enough to sit or kneel on, and then began the laborious ascent, which, I +may at once tell you, is the drawback to the enjoyment, for, though the +coming down is delightful, the drag up the steep precipitous slope, with +feet frequently slipping, is so toilsome a task that two or three slides +down used to be always considered what Dr Stacey at Barnstaple School +called _quantum sufficit_. + +As a matter of course we were soon tired, but we managed three, starting +from right up at the top, and close after one another, with the stones +beneath us rattling, and sometimes gliding down swiftly, sometimes +coming to a standstill; but if it was the foremost, those behind +generally started him again. + +In this case Bob went first, I followed, and Bigley came last, and +though we two stuck more than once, he never did, his weight overcoming +the friction of the stones to such an extent that, towards the last, he +charged down upon us and we all rolled over together into a heap. + +We tried again, but the fall had made Bob disagreeable. I don't think +he was much hurt, but he pretended to be, and said that Bigley had done +it on purpose. + +It was of no use for Bigley to protest. Once Bob had made up his mind +to a thing he would not give in, so after about half a slide down we +stopped short without being driven on again by our companion, and the +game was voted a bore. + +"'Tisn't as if there were a couple of sailors at the top with a capstan, +to haul you up again when you've slid down," said Bob. + +"Ah, I wish there were!" cried Bigley, "I get so tired." + +"No rope would pull you up; you're too heavy," sneered Bob. "Never +mind, Sep, let's do something else. The clatter streams ain't half so +slippery as they used to be. I s'pose we may do something else here +though it is your father's place?" + +"Don't be so disagreeable," I cried. + +"Who's disagreeable?" he retorted. "I didn't make the stones stick and +old Bigley come down squelch on us, did I?" + +"Oh, if you want to quarrel, Bob, we may as well go home," I said. + +"There, just hark at him, Big! Quarrel! Just as if I wanted to +quarrel. There, I shall go." + +"No, no, don't go, Bob," I cried. + +"No, no, don't go, Bob," chimed in Big. "It's holidays now, and we can +get up a row when we're at school." + +The force of this, and its being waste of time now the long-expected +holidays had come, made an impression on Bob, who sat down and began +sending rounded pieces of slate skimming through the air towards the +little stream. + +"Didn't I tell you I didn't want to quarrel," he grumbled out. "I ain't +so fond of--there, you chaps couldn't do that." + +"Ha! Ha! Couldn't we?" I cried, as a stone he threw went plash into +the stream, and I jerked a piece of slate so far that it went right +over. + +This made Bob jump up, and, as there was plenty of ammunition, the old +contention was forgotten in the new, Bigley Uggleston joining in and +helping us throw stones till we grew tired, when we looked round for +something fresh to do. + +"Let's climb right to the top of Bogle's Beacon," I said, as my eyes lit +upon the highest crags at our side of the ravine. + +"Oh, what's the good?" said Bigley. "It'll make us so hot." + +"Get out, you great lazy fellow," cried Bob, whose lips had been apart +to oppose my plan; but as soon as Bigley took the other side he was all +eagerness to go. + +"Oh, all right then," said Bigley. "I don't mind. If you're going I +shall come too; but wait a minute." + +As he spoke he set off at a trot down the slope, and as we two threw +ourselves down to watch him, we saw him run on and on till he reached +the smuggler's cottage, and go round to the long low slate-roofed shed +where his father kept his odds and ends of boat gear, and then he dived +in out of sight. + +"What's he gone for?" said Bob. + +"Dunno," I said lazily as I turned over on my chest and kicked the loose +slates with my toes. "Yes, I do." + +"No, you don't," said Bob sourly. + +"Yes, I do; he's gone to get a bit of rope. Don't you remember when we +climbed up last year we didn't get quite to the top, and you said that +if we'd had a bit of rope to throw over the big stone, one of us might +have held the end while the other climbed up?" + +"No, I don't remember, and don't believe I ever said so." + +"Why, that you did, Bob. What's the good of contradicting?" + +"What's that to you, Sep Duncan?" he retorted. "You arn't everybody. I +shall contradict if I like." + +"But you did say so." + +"I didn't." + +"You did. Now, just you wait till old Big comes and see if he don't say +so too." + +"Yah! He'd say anything. What does he know about it?" + +"Well, here he comes," I said. + +"Let him come; I don't care." + +"And he has got a coil of rope over his shoulder." + +"Well, what do I care? Any fool might get a ring of rope over his +shoulder." + +"Yes, but what for?" + +"Oh, I dunno; don't bother!" said Bob surlily. + +Meanwhile Bigley Uggleston was coming along at a lumbering trot, and as +soon as he was within hearing I shouted to him: + +"What are you going to do with that rope?" And now for the first time I +noticed that he was carrying a long iron bar balanced in his right hand. + +Big did not answer, but came panting on. + +"There, I told you so!" cried Bob; "didn't I say so?" + +"I don't care if you did," I retorted; and just then our companion +panted up to us and threw himself down, breathless with his exertions. + +"What did you fetch the rope for?" I cried eagerly. + +"To"--puff--"throw it over"--puff--"the big stone"--puff--"up atop, +same"--puff--"as Bob Chowne said"--puff--"last year." + +"There!" I cried triumphantly, turning on Bob. + +I was sorry I had spoken directly after, for Bob tightened his lips and +half shut his eyes as he rose slowly to his feet, thrust his hands in +his pockets, and began to move off. + +"Here, what are you going to do?" I cried. + +"Going home." + +"What for?" + +"What for? Where's the use o' stopping? You keep on trying to pick a +quarrel with a fellow." + +"Why, I don't, Bob. I say, don't go. We're just going to have no end +of fun." + +"Yes," cried Big; "and I've brought one of my father's net bars to drive +in the rock and fasten the rope to, and then no one need hold it." + +"No, I sha'n't stop," grumbled Bob sourly. "Where's the use o' stopping +with chaps as always want to quarrel?" + +"I don't want to quarrel," I said. + +"And I'm sure I don't," said Big. "I hate it." + +"More don't I," growled Bob. "It's Sep Duncan; he's always trying to +have a row with somebody." + +"Here, come on," cried Big. "I've got the rope and the bar." + +"No," said Bob, sticking his hands farther into his pockets and sidling +off; "I'm going home." + +"Oh, I say, don't spoil our fun, Bob," I cried. + +"'Taint me; it's you," he said. "I sha'n't stay." + +"Oh, if it's me I'm very sorry," I said, "I didn't mean to be +disagreeable." + +"Oh, well, if you're sorry and didn't mean to be disagreeable I'll +stay," he said. "Only don't you do it again." + +"Say you won't," whispered Big. + +"Well, I won't do it again," I cried, though I felt all the time as if I +wanted to laugh outright. + +"Then I sha'n't say any more about it," said Bob, relenting all at once. +"I say, Big, is that rope strong?" + +"Strong enough to hold all of us," he replied. "Here, come along. +It'll soon be dinner-time. I'm getting hungry now." + +"Why, you're always hungry, Big," cried Bob as we began to climb the +steep slope diagonally. + +"Yes, I am," he assented. "I do eat such a lot, and then I always feel +as if I wanted to eat a lot more." + +It was a stiff climb over the loose slates and in and out among the +rough masses of stone that projected every here and there; but the air +grew fresher and cooler as we made our way from sheep-track to +sheep-track, where the little brown butterflies kept darting up in our +path; and as we stopped again and again, it was to get a wider view of +the sail-dotted sea all rippling and sparkling like silver in the sun, +while as we climbed higher still we began to get glimpses of the high +hills along the coast to the west, and the great moor into which the Gap +seemed to run like a rugged trough. + +At last after many halts we reached the piled-up mass of rocks known as +the Beacon--a huge heap of moss-grown grey fragments that stood on the +very crest of the ridge. + +It was a favourite place with us, and many an expedition had been made +here to sit under the shelter of the great lump of rock that crowned the +heap, a mass about fifteen feet high, and as many long and broad, the +whole forming just such a cube as you find in the sugar basin, and whose +sides were so perpendicular that we had never reached the top. + +But this time, provided with rope, and, by Bigley Uggleston's +forethought, with the iron bar, the ascent seemed easy, and we set about +it at once. + +Big soon found a place on the shoulder of our little mountain where +blocks of a ton-weight and less lay around, some of them so weakened and +overhanging that they looked as if a touch would send them thundering +down into the gorge. + +Between two of these Big drove in the long iron bar, the rope was thrown +right over the rock, one end tied securely to the bar, the other held by +Bigley on the other side, the great heavy fellow hanging on to it, and +the question arose as to whether Bob or I was to make the first attempt. + +I wanted to go, but I felt that if I did, Bob would be affronted, so I +gave way and let him lead, giving him a hoist or two as he seized the +rope, and climbed, and scratched, and kicked, and got up half-way and +then slid down again. + +"Here, Big," he shouted, "what's the good of bringing such a stupid +little thin rope? It's no good." + +"Can't you get up?" cried Big. + +"No, nor anyone else. It's no use. Let's get back." + +"No, no; let me try," I cried eagerly. + +"Don't I tell you it's of no use," he said angrily. "Here, I'll go +again and show you. Hold on tight, Big." + +"Yes, I'm holding," came from deep down in Bigley's chest, and Bob made +another attempt, scrambling up over my back and on to my shoulders, and +ending in his struggles by giving me so severe a kick on the head that I +leaped away, leaving him hanging by his hands, so that when he relaxed +his hold he came down in a sitting position, with so hard a bump upon +the stones that he seemed to bounce up again in a fit of fury to begin +stamping about with rage and pain. + +"Oh--oh--oh!" he gasped. "You did that on purpose." + +"Oh, I say, you do make me laugh," spluttered out Bigley, who held on +tightly to the rope to keep it strained. + +"Yes, I'll make you laugh," cried Bob, flying at him and punching away, +while Bigley held on by the rope, and the more Bob punched the more he +laughed. + +"Oh, I say, don't," he panted. "You hurt." + +"I mean to hurt," cried Bob. "You and Sep Duncan got that up between +you, and he did it to make you laugh." + +"I didn't say you kicked me on the ear on purpose," I grumbled. "Oh, I +say, Bob, your boot-toe is hard." + +"Wish it had been ten times harder," he snarled. + +"Oh, never mind," said Bigley, "I'm getting tired of holding the rope. +Why don't you climb up? Make haste!" + +"I'm going home," grumbled Bob. "If I had known you were two such +fellows I wouldn't have come." + +"Here, you get up, Sep," cried Bigley. "I'll stand close up to the +rock, and you can climb up me, and then lay hold of the rope." + +"No, no," I whispered; "it would only make Bob savage." + +"Never mind; he'll come round again. He won't go--he's only +pretending." + +I glanced at our school-fellow, who was slowly shuffling away some +twenty or thirty yards down the slope, and limping as he went as if one +leg was very painful. + +"Here, Bob!" I cried, "come and have another try." + +He did not turn his head, and I shouted to him again. + +"Here, Bob, mate, come and have another try." + +He paid no heed; but while I was speaking Bigley placed himself close to +the great rock, reaching up as high as he could, and holding on by the +rope with outstretched arms. + +"Now, then, are you ready?" he cried. + +The opportunity was too tempting to be resisted, and making a run and a +jump, I sprang upon his broad back, climbed up to his shoulders, got +hold of the rope, and steadied myself as I drew myself into a standing +position, and then reaching up the rope as high as I could, I managed to +get my toes on first one projection, then upon another, and in a few +seconds was right at the top. + +Bigley burst into a hoarse cheer, and began to jump about and wave his +cap, with the effect of making Bob stop short and turn, and then come +hurrying back more angry than ever. + +"There: you are a pair of sneaks," he cried. "What did you go and do +that for?" + +"I helped him," said Bigley. "Hoo--rayah!" + +"Yes, and I'll pay you for it," he snarled; but Bigley was too much +excited to notice what he said; and, taking hold of the rope again, he +planted himself against the rock to turn his great body into a ladder. + +"Go on up, Bob, and then you two chaps can pull me up to you." + +The temptation was too great for Bob, who began to climb directly, and +had nearly reached where I stood, when I bent down and held out my hand. + +"Catch hold, Bob!" I cried, "and I'll help you." + +"I can get up by myself, thank you," he cried very haughtily, and he +loosed his hold with one hand to strike mine aside. + +It was a foolish act, for if I had not snatched at him he would have +gone backwards, but this time he clung to me tightly, and the next +minute was by my side. + +"Oh, it's easy enough," he said, forgetting directly the ugly fall he +had escaped. + +"Here, now, you two lay hold of the rope and pull me up!" shouted +Bigley. "I want to come too." + +We took hold of the rope and tightened it, and there was a severe course +of tugging for a few minutes before we slackened our efforts, and sat +down and laughed, for we might as well have tried to drag up any of the +ton-weight stones as Bigley. + +"Oh, I say," he cried; "you don't half pull. I want to come up." + +"Then you must climb as we pull," I said, and in obedience to my advice +he fastened the rope round his waist, and tried to climb as we hauled, +with the result that after a few minutes' scuffling and rasping on the +rock poor Bigley was sitting down rubbing himself softly, and looking up +at us with a very doleful expression of countenance. + +"You can't get up, Big; you're too heavy," cried Bob, who was now in the +best of tempers. "Here, let's look round, Sep." + +That did not take long, for there were only a few square feet of surface +to traverse. We were up at the top, and could see a long way round; but +then so we could fifteen or twenty feet below, and at the end of five +minutes we both were of the same way of thinking--that the principal +satisfaction in getting up to the summit of a rock or mountain was in +being able to say that you had mastered a difficulty. + +Bob thoroughly expressed my feelings when, after amusing himself for a +few minutes by throwing dry cushions of moss down at Bigley, he +exclaimed: + +"Well, what's the good of stopping here? Come on down again!" + +"I'm ready," I said, "only I wish old Big had come up too." + +"I don't," said Bob; "what's the good of wishing. I'm not going to make +my hands sore with tugging. He had no business to grow so fat." + +"I should like to come up," cried Bigley dolefully. + +"Ah, well, you can't!" shouted back Bob. "Serves you right pretending +to be a man when you're only a boy." + +"I can't help it," replied Bigley with a sigh. + +"Let's have one more try to have him up," I cried. + +"Sha'n't. What's the good? I don't see any fun in trying to do what +you can't." + +"Never mind: old Big will like it," I said. "Come on." + +Bob reluctantly took hold of the rope, and after giving a bit of advice +to our companion, he made another desperate struggle while we pulled, +but the only result was that we all grew exceedingly hot and sticky, and +as Bigley stood below, red-faced and panting with his efforts, Bob put +an end to the project by sliding down the rope to his side, so there was +nothing left for me to do but to follow. + +This I did, but not till I had had a good long look round from my high +perch at the deeply-cut ravine with its rugged piled-up masses of cliff, +and tiny river, to which it seemed to me I was now the heir. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +A GUNPOWDER PLOT. + +We three boys sat down at the edge of the steepest side of the crags +after this to rest, and think what we should do next, and to help our +plans we amused ourselves by pitching pieces of loose stone down as far +as we could. + +Then the rope was dragged over the Beacon rock and coiled up, while I +tugged and wriggled the iron bar to and fro till I could get it free. + +"Let's go down to the shore now, and see if we can find some crabs," I +said. "The tide's getting very low." + +"What's the good?" said Bob picking up the iron bar, and chipping this +stone and loosening that. "I say, why don't some of those stones rock? +They ought to." + +He began to wander aimlessly about for a few minutes, and then, finding +a piece that must have been about a hundredweight, he began to prise it +about using the iron bar as a lever, and to such good effect that he +soon had it close to the edge. + +"Look here, lads," he cried, "here's a game! I'm going to send this +rolling down." + +We joined him directly, for there seemed to be a prospect of some +amusement in seeing the heavy rugged mass go rolling down here, making a +leap down the perpendicular parts there, and coming to an anchor +somewhere many hundred feet below where we were perched. + +For there was not even a sheep in sight, the side of the valley below us +being a rugged mass of desolation, only redeemed by patches of +whortleberry and purple heath with the taller growing heather. + +"Over with it, Bob," cried Bigley; "shall I help?" + +"No, no, you needn't help neither," said Bob. "I'm going to do it all +myself scientifically, as Doctor Stacey calls it. This bar's a +fulcrum." + +"No, no," I said; "that isn't right." + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Bigley. + +"Then what is it, please, Mr Clever? Doctor Stacey said bars were +fulcrums, and you put the end under a big stone, and then put a little +one down for a lever--just so, and then you pressed down the end of the +bar--so, and then--" + +"Oh! Look at it," cried Bigley. + +For Bob had been suiting the action to the word, and before he realised +what he was doing the effect of the lever was to lift the side of the +big stone, so that it remained poised for a few moments and then fell +over, gliding slowly for a few feet, and then gathering velocity it made +a leap right into a heap of _debris_ which it scattered, and then +another leap and another, followed by roll, rush, and rumble, till, +always gathering velocity, amidst the rush and rattle of stones, it made +one final bound of a couple of hundred feet at least, and fell far below +us on a projecting mass of rock, to be shivered to atoms, while the +sound came echoing up, and then seemed to run away down the valley and +out to sea. + +No one spoke for a few moments, for the feeling upon us was one of awe. + +"I say, that was fine!" cried Bob at last. "Let's do another. You +don't mind, do you, Sep?" + +"N-no," I said, "I don't think it does any harm." + +I spoke hesitatingly, as I could not help wondering what my father would +have said had he been there. + +"Come along," cried Bob, who was intensely excited now, "let's send a +big one down." + +His eagerness was contagious, and we followed him up a little along the +edge of the steep cliff to find a bigger piece; but, though we could +find plenty of small ones, which we sent bounding down by the help of +the iron lever with more or less satisfactory results, the heavy masses +all seemed to have portions so wedged or buried in the live rock that +our puny efforts were without avail. + +"I tell you what," said Bigley at last, "I know!" + +"What do you know?" cried Bob with a sneer, for somehow, though he could +easily have taken us one under each arm, Bigley used to be terribly +pecked by both. + +For answer Bigley pointed up at the ragged comb-like ridge above us. + +"Well, what are you doing that for?" cried Bob. + +"Let's send down the big boulder." + +We looked up at the great stone which we had long ago dubbed the +Boulder, because it was so much like one of the well-rolled pieces on +the shore, and there it lay a hundred feet beyond us, looking as if a +touch would send it thundering down. + +"Hooray!" cried Bob. "Why, I say, Sep, he isn't half such a stupid as +you said he was." + +"I didn't say he was stupid," I cried indignantly. + +"Oh, yes, you did!" said Bob with a grin; "but never mind now. Come on, +lads. I say, it's steeper there, and as soon as it comes down it will +make such a rush." + +"Can't hurt anything, can it?" I said dubiously. + +"Yes; it'll hurt you if you stand underneath," said Bob grinning. "Come +along. What can it hurt? Why, it wouldn't even hurt a sheep if there +was one there. My! Wouldn't he scuttle away if he heard it coming." + +Bob was right, there was nothing to harm, and the displacement of a big +stone in what was quite a wilderness of rough fragments would not even +be noticed. So up we climbed, and in a few minutes were well on the +ridge grouped on one side of the big boulder. + +"Now, then," Bob cried; "you are strongest, old Big, and you shall help +her. Look here; I'll get the bar under, and Sep and I will hoist. Then +you put your shoulder under this corner and heave, and over she goes." + +"Bravo, skipper!" I said, for he gave his orders so cleverly and +concisely that the task seemed quite easy. + +"Wait a moment," he cried. "I haven't got the bar quite right. That's +it. My! Won't it go!" + +"_Pah_! _Tah_! _Tah_! _Tah_!" rang out over our heads just like a +mocking laugh, as a couple of jackdaws flew past, their dark shadows +seeming to brush us softly as they swept by. + +"Now, then, Big. Don't stand gaping after those old powder-pates. Now: +are you ready?" + +"Yes, I'm ready," cried Bigley. + +"And you, Sep? Come and catch hold of the bar. Now, then, altogether. +Heave up, Big. Down with it, Sep. Altogether. Hooray! And over she +goes." + +But over she did not go, for the great mass of stone did not budge an +inch. + +"Here, let's shift the bar, lads," cried Bob. "I haven't got it quite +right." + +He altered the position of the lever, thrusting in a piece of stone +close under the rock so as to form a fulcrum, and then once more being +quite ready he moistened his hands. + +"Get your shoulder well under it, Big; shove down well, Sep, and we +shall have such a roarer." + +"Wait a moment," I said. + +"What for?" + +"Let's make sure there's nobody below." + +"Oh! There's nobody," cried Bob; though he joined me in looking +carefully down into the gorge; but there was nothing visible but a bird +or two below, and a great hawk circling round and round high above us in +the sunny air, as if watching to see what we were about. + +"Oh! There's no one below, and not likely to be," cried Bob. "Now, +then, my jolly sailor boys, heave ho. One--two--three, and over she +goes." + +No she didn't. + +We pressed down at the lever, and Bigley heaved and grunted like an old +pig grubbing up roots, but the grey mass of stone did not even move. + +"Oh! You are a fellow, Big!" cried Bob, stopping to wipe his forehead. +"You didn't half shove." + +"That I did!" cried Bigley, rising up and straightening himself. "I +heaved up till something went crack, and I don't know whether it's +buttons, or stitches, or braces. Braces," he added, after feeling +himself about. "Oh! Here's a bother, it's torn the buckle right off!" + +"Never mind the buckle, lad. Let's send this stone over. I want to see +it go; don't you, Sep?" + +"Of course I do," I said. "Now, then, all together once more. Shove +the bar in here, Bob." + +"Oh, it's of no use to shove it there," he replied. "No; here's the +place. Ah! Now we've got it." + +"Shall I come there and help with the bar?" cried Bigley. + +"No, you sha'n't come there and help with the bar," sneered Bob. "There +ain't hardly room for us two to work, and you'd want a great bar half a +mile long all to yourself. Only wish I was as strong as you, an' I'd +just pop that stone over in half a minute." + +"Would you?" said Big, staring at him sadly. "I can't." + +"No, because you don't half try." + +"Oh, don't I? Now you both heave again, and this time we'll do it." + +"All right," cried Bob excitedly. "Now, then, all together, heave ho, +my lads, heave ho! And this does it. One--two--three--and--" + +"Oh, look at that!" cried Bigley, straightening himself again. "There +now, did you ever see such a chap?" cried Bob, stamping with rage; "just +as she was going over, and it only wanted about half a pound to do it, +he leaves off." + +"Well, how would you like your other brace buckle to get torn up by the +roots?" said Bigley reproachfully. + +"Brace buckles! Why, your brace buckles are always coming off," said +Bob. "I wouldn't be such a great lumbering chap as you are for all +Devonshire and part o' Wales." + +"I can't help it," said Bigley sadly, as he tried to repair damages, and +failing that, secured his clothing by tying his braces tightly round his +waist. "I didn't want to grow so big all at once. Everybody laughs at +me for it." + +"Nobody minds your being big," cried Bob, "if you would only be useful. +Your braces are always breaking." + +"I'm very sorry, Bob, old chap." + +"What's the good of being sorry now?" replied Bob. "You've spoiled all +the fun. It's no use stopping if you chaps won't help." + +"Why, we did help, Bob," I said, "and the stone didn't move a bit. It's +too heavy." + +"It did move, I tell you. If you want to quarrel you'd better say so, +and I'll be off home. I don't want to fight." + +"More do I, Bob," I replied; "but it didn't really move. Did it, Big?" + +"If you say it didn't, Big, I'll give you a crack right in the eye," +cried Bob fiercely, as he doubled his fist. + +Bigley's mouth was opened to speak, but Bob was so energetic and fierce +that it remained like a round O, and the great fellow looked so comical +that I burst out into a fit of laughter which set Bob laughing too, and +this made Big stare at us both in a puzzled way; but by degrees he +caught the mood of the moment and laughed too, and the cloud that +overhung our expedition drifted away. + +"Well," said Bob at last in a disappointed tone, "I s'pose we may as +well go down on the beach crabbing, for we can't move that stone." + +"I know how we could move it," cried Bigley suddenly. + +"Tchah! How?" I said. + +"Same as my father moved the great rock out there in the cove. There +was a big lump there that was always dangerous for the lugger when she +was coming in." + +"Well, what then?" said Bob contemptuously. + +"Why," continued Big eagerly, "he waited till the spring tides and the +water was terribly low, and then he put a lot of gunpowder in a hole +under it and laid a train, and smeared a piece of rag with powder, and +nicked the flint and steel till the rag caught fire, and then he ran +away." + +"Well?" I said. + +"Well, then the rag sparked and spit fire till the train began to run, +and then the train set light to the powder, and there was a big _bom +boom_." + +"A big what?" we both cried. + +"A big _bom boom_," said Bigley. + +"Why, you didn't say anything about a big _bom boom_ being there +before," cried Bob. "I don't believe there is such a thing." + +"Now, how you do go on!" cried Bigley. "You know what I mean--a big +bang when the powder went off." + +"Then why don't you call things by their right name?" said Bob. "A +bang's a bang and nothing else." + +"Well, the powder went bang and knocked the big rock right off the place +where it stood." + +"What! Up in the air?" I said. + +"Up in the air? No; over into the deep water, where it sank to the +bottom." + +"Well, you don't suppose we're such old stupids as to think it floated, +do you?" cried Bob. + +"No, of course not, but that's what it did." + +"I don't believe it," said Bob stubbornly. + +"You don't believe it?" I said, while poor Bigley stood staring at the +last speaker. + +"No. If that had been true old Big would have been bouncing about it at +school, and told us that story, as he always does everything he knows, +nine hundred thousand times, till we were all tired of hearing it." + +"But I'd forgotten all about it till just now," pleaded Bigley. + +"Ah, well," said Bob, who was sitting on the big stone swinging his legs +to and fro, "I don't believe it, and if I did, what then?" + +"Why, I thought," said Bigley eagerly, "if we were to put some powder +under that stone, and make a train, and strew some wet powder on a piece +of rag--" + +"And light it, and make it fizzle, and then run away," cried Bob, +mimicking Bigley's speech. + +"Yes," cried the latter eagerly, "it would topple it over right down +into the glen." + +"There's an old stupid for you," said Bob, looking at me. Then turning +to Bigley he said sharply, "Why, I haven't got my pockets full of +powder, have I?" + +"N-no," stammered Bigley, who was taken aback by his fierce way. + +"And powder don't grow in the furze pops, does it?" + +"N-no," faltered Bigley; "but--" + +"Here, Sep Duncan," cried Bob, "go and see if any of the rabbits have +got any in their holes. There, get out! I shall go home. What's the +good of fooling about here?" + +"But father's got lots of gunpowder in the shed," cried Bigley. + +"Eh?" said Bob starting. + +"I could go and get a handful. He'd give it me if he was at home, and +he wouldn't mind my fetching some." + +"Wouldn't he?" cried Bob, whose sour looks changed to eagerness. +"Hooray, then! Cut off and bring your handkerchief full, and we'll send +the stone sky-high." + +"All right," said Bigley eagerly. + +"And bring a flint and steel." + +"Yes: anything else?" + +"No, that'll do." + +"But, I say," I ventured to put in, "wouldn't it be dangerous?" + +"Dangerous! Ha, ha, ha! Hark at him, Big. Here's Miss Duncan very +much afraid that the powder might go off and pop him. Oh, here's a +game!" + +"I'm not afraid," I said; "only I shouldn't like to do anything +dangerous." + +"Well, who's going to, stupid?" said Bob importantly. "Think I don't +know what powder is. There, cut off, Big, and see how soon you can get +back. We'll make a hole for the charge, same as they do in the quarry, +and have it ready by the time you come. Run." + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE EXPLOSION. + +Bigley wanted no further telling, but started off at full speed +diagonally down the slope, while Bob, who was all animation and good +temper again, seized the iron bar, and began to look out for a suitable +place for the charge. + +"Hadn't we better wait and see if he can get the powder?" I ventured to +say. + +"Not we," said Bob. "He'll be sure to get it, and then--oh, I say, Sep, +it will be a game!" + +Once more I began to feel misgivings as to whether it would be such a +game; but I said nothing, only looked on sometimes at Bob, who, in +imitation of what he had seen at the quarries, or the places where they +blasted out shelves in the cliff-side for houses to be built, was busy +driving in a hole right under the big rock by means of the bar, and +sometimes at where Bigley was shuffling and sliding down the side of the +Gap till he disappeared behind the shed. + +"If he gets the powder I wouldn't put much in," I said. + +"Why not?" + +"Because it may be dangerous." + +"There, get out! Just as if I didn't know what I'm doing. I've watched +the quarry-men lots of times." + +"Will it split the rock?" I asked. + +"All depends how you put your charge," said Bob very sagely. "I'm going +to make it lift the rock, and drop it down over the side, and then away +it'll go and sweep a lot of those big bits with it, just as if they were +skittles, and they'll all go down like a big clatter stream to the +bottom." + +"Here's a better place here," I said, crawling down on the opposite side +of the rock. + +"No, it ain't," said Bob in his opiniated manner, and without looking. +"It ain't half so good. This is the place. Now go and look, and see if +old Big's coming back." + +I rose up again, and shading my eyes looked down to the cottage, beyond +which the sea was glittering in the sun. + +"No," I said; "not yet. Yes, he is: here he comes." + +"Has he got it?" cried Bob. + +"I don't know," I replied, "he's so far-off; but he has got something. +He's waving his handkerchief." + +"Here, hi! Stop! Don't do that!" cried Bob, jumping up and throwing +his arms about. "You'll spill all the powder. There's an old stupid. +He don't take any notice." + +"Why, how can he at all that distance away? You couldn't make him hear +if he was only a quarter as far." + +Bob did not reply, but sat down watching, and I did the same, while poor +old Bigley came panting and toiling up the slope in the hot sun. + +"Oh, isn't he jolly slow," cried Bob. "I wish I'd gone myself. It'll +take him all day." + +"You'd have lain down and gone to sleep before you were half-way up the +hill," I said maliciously, and Bob tightened his lips. + +"Go on," he said sourly. "I know what you want. You want to fall out, +but I sha'n't. I hate a fellow who always wants to get up a fight. I +came here to-day to see if we couldn't have a bit of fun, so I sha'n't +quarrel. Oh, I say, what a while he is! He's just like old Teggley +Grey's horse, only he ain't so quick." + +Poor old Bigley wasn't quick, certainly, for it was hot, and hard +climbing to where we were perched. To have come straight up was next to +impossible: the only way was to come sidewise, getting a little higher +as you walked along; and toiling industriously at his task, Bigley at +last reached the foot of the piled-up mass where we were waiting. + +"Oh, I say, come up. Be quick. What a while you have been!" said Bob. +"Got it?" + +"Oh, it's all very well to talk," panted Bigley wiping his forehead, +"sitting down there so quietly. It's hot." + +"Never mind about it's being so hot," cried Bob. "Have you got it?" + +"Got what?" + +"Did you ever hear such a chap?" cried Bob. "The powder." + +"Why, of course I have. Didn't I go on purpose to get it?" + +We both thought that the intention was not always followed by the deed, +but we said nothing in our anxiety to get the material for our +experiment; and as Bigley had come to a halt, we had to go down about a +hundred feet to help him climb up the rest of the way, when he drew out +a pint tin can full of powder, the flint and steel, and a piece of rag, +which he had taken the precaution to damp in the stream and then wring +out before starting back. + +We set to work at once making the damp rag into a fuse by rubbing it +well with the coarse-grained gunpowder, and then, it being decided that +we could not do better than leave the powder in the tin canister, whose +opening answered admirably for the insertion of the rag fuse, Bob set to +work to enlarge the hole he had made till it was big enough to admit the +charge. + +Then with great care the end of the rag was thrust into the powder, and +held there with a piece of slaty chip, sufficient length of the rag +being left to reach out beyond the side of the stone. + +Next Bob took the tin and thrust it into its place far under the rock, +and the only remaining thing to do was to light the fuse and get well +out of the way. + +"Who's going to nick the steel?" I said. + +"Well," said Bob coolly, "as I've done nearly all the rest of the work +you may as well do that." + +I felt a moment's hesitation, nothing more, and taking the flint, steel, +and tinder-box, with a brimstone match, I went down on my knees beside +the stone, where the piece of rag lay out ready, and after a great deal +of nicking I made one of the sparks I struck fall into the tinder-box, +and, after the customary amount of blowing, produced enough glow to +ignite the tip of the brimstone-dipped match, which by careful shading +fluttered and burned with a blue flame nearly invisible in the noontide +light. + +It was an extremely risky proceeding, for we had dropped some of the +powder in among the short dry moss and stones, and then, too, the rag +was drying fast, and it was quite within the range of possibilities that +when I lit one end it might communicate too rapidly with the powder in +the canister, and the explosion would take place before I could get out +of the way. + +But Bob Chowne and Bigley were standing only a couple of yards behind +me, ready to dodge behind some of the great rocks on the comb of the +ridge, and I believe that in those days I possessed so much of the +Spartan fortitude which pervaded our school, that I would sooner have +been blown up than show fear. So I sheltered my match, bending lower +and lower, till I could bring it to a level with the powder-smeared rag, +which caught at once, and began to sparkle and scintillate, sending up a +thin blue flame at the same time. + +That was enough, and throwing the match away, I began to back towards +the lookers-on, but hearing a scuffling noise among the stones, I looked +round to see that they were both running. + +"Come on!" shouted Bob. "Look sharp, Sep!" + +As they had begun to run it seemed to be no shame for me to do the same, +so I darted after them, and found them just on the other side of the +ridge, lying down behind some of the great rocks. + +"That's right," cried Bob. "Creep close; nothing can hurt us here. Are +you sure you left the thing burning?" + +"Quite," I said. "It must be off directly." + +I don't know whether Bigley was aware of the fact, but he crept close +between two rocks and behaved just as an ostrich is said to do, for he +stuck his head right in and then seemed to consider that he was quite +safe. + +Suddenly, as we were listening impatiently for the explosion, an idea +occurred to me. + +"I say," I said, "what's the good of all this? We sha'n't see the stone +go down." + +Bob started up in a sitting position, and gave Bigley a tremendous slap +which made him follow suit. + +"Why, you are a chap!" he said as the idea came home to him too. "Why +didn't you say so sooner?" + +"I didn't think of it," I replied. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Big dolefully, "what was the use of me taking all that +trouble about the powder. I'm hot yet with climbing." + +"It's all Sep Duncan's fault," cried Bob. "I never did see such a chap +as he is. Well, what's to be done now?" + +"Let's go on the top again and see it go," cried Big. + +"Oh, no," I said, "it wouldn't be safe till the powder's gone off." + +"You mean it wouldn't have been safe if I'd done what you wanted," cried +Bob triumphantly. "I say, Big, he wanted me to put the powder under the +stone on the other side, so that when it went off it would have blown +the stone over this side instead of down into the Gap, only I wouldn't." + +"Well, it does seem a pity after taking all that trouble," cried Bigley +dolefully. "I say, isn't it time it started?" + +"Yes," said Bob in his sour way. "I don't believe old Sep lighted the +rag." + +"That I'm sure I did, and it was smoking fast when I came away." + +"Ran away, you mean, you coward!" + +"Ho--ho--ho!" laughed Bigley. + +"What are you laughing at, stupid?" said Bob. + +"At you. Didn't you say to me, `come on, Big, let's run for it now. +It's all alight.'" + +"Well, I thought it was then, old clever-shakes. Don't you be so +precious ready with your tongue." + +"Here, don't make all this bother," I said pettishly. "I did light the +rag, and it has gone out again. Never mind, I can soon get another +light." + +"Let's wait a minute first," said Bob cautiously. + +It was good advice, and we did wait I suppose quite a minute, but to us +it seemed more than five, and considering now that it was quite safe, I +jumped up and we went back to the ridge, looking eagerly towards the +place where the stone hung over the Gap, but it was hidden from us by +the great blocks we had run round, or else probably we might have seen +what we smelt--the thin blue stream of smoke that curled up from beneath +the great block. + +As it was, our noses and not our eyes saved us, for I being in front, +and just about to pass on to the open edge of the Gap, stopped suddenly +and said: + +"I can smell burning. Can't you?" + +"I can smell the tinder," said Bob. "Go on and--" + +He did not finish his speech, for the earth shook beneath our feet, and +we saw a flash and a great puff of smoke, and quite a hurricane of bits +of slate and stone and earth came flying by our ears, turning us into +statues for the moment. Then I bounded forward, followed by my +companions, to stand beneath a broad canopy of smoke that floated +inland, and just in time to see the great stone go rumbling and bounding +down the precipitous place like a pebble, gathering force moment by +moment, till it seemed to glance from a stone and make one tremendous +leap of quite a couple of hundred feet right into a clump of rugged +masses of rock half-way down the precipice, and these it scattered and +drove before it in one great avalanche of _debris_ down and down and +down till the bottom was reached, and what had increased into quite a +little landslip settled into its new home with a sullen roar. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +WE DINE WITH A SMUGGLER. + +We three boys stood gazing down at our work with a feeling closely akin +to awe, staring at the rushing stone cataract which kept throwing off +masses of grey foam which were great pieces of rock bouncing and leaping +and bounding down as if delighted at being set free to move after being +fixed to the earth since who could say when? No one spoke, no one moved +till all was still below, and then, while I was wondering what my father +would say, Bigley Uggleston suddenly made us start by tossing up his cap +and shouting "Hooray!" + +This roused Bob, who began to smile. + +"I thought that would move it," he said coolly. "Why, what's the matter +with you, Sep? Here, Big, look at him; he's quite white. Here's a +game! He's frightened." + +"No, I'm not," I said stoutly. "I was only thinking about what my +father will say when he sees what we've done." + +"Get out! Hark at him. One can't come down to the Gap now without old +Sep Duncan dinning it into your ears about his father, and what he'll +say, and all to show how proud he is, just because an old chap has +bought a bit of land down by the sea. Why, what harm have we done?" + +"Torn all that ragged place down the bottom of the cliff," I said +dolefully. "It wasn't like that before." + +"And what of it? Who's to know but what the stone tumbled down by +itself? Nobody heard." + +We looked guiltily round, but the Gap was perfectly solemn and silent, +the only thing suggesting life after the two cottages and the lugger +being the vessels out at sea between us and the Welsh coast. + +"But it seems such a pity!" I said ruefully. "I didn't think the stone +would make so much of a mark coming down." + +"There he goes again!" sneered Bob. "Afraid of spoiling his father's +estate. Oh, arn't we proud of two sides of a hole and a water-gully!" + +I had some reason for my remarks, for as I looked down there below us, +where the great mass had struck so heavily, there appeared to be a +smooth grey patch as if the surface had been scraped away. + +"Hi! Look, look!" cried Bigley. "See the rabbits!" We looked, and +could see at least a dozen little fellows that had been scared out of +their holes, scuttling about among the stones, their white cottony tails +showing quite plainly in the clear air. But these soon disappeared, and +the others yielding to my desire to go down and see what mischief had +really been done by the fall, we all began to slip and slide and stumble +down the precipitous place, keeping as nearly as we could in the course +taken by the stone, till we came upon the bare-looking spot. + +It was just as it had struck me; the great rock we had sent down had +started a number more, and they had literally scraped off all the loose +surface pieces and earth, and scoured the valley slope for a space of +about three yards wide and fifty feet in depth down to the ancient rock. +Below this the valley grew less steep, and the stone slide had had less +force, beginning after a time to leave fragments behind, so that the +place seemed little changed, except here half-way up the slope. + +"Tchah!" exclaimed Bob; "nobody will notice this, and if they saw it +from down below they wouldn't take the trouble to climb up." + +His words seemed full of truth, for it seemed to me that nothing but the +sheep and rabbits was likely to come rambling and climbing up here; so, +feeling more at my ease, I began to look about with the eyes of +curiosity to see if there was anything to be found. + +My companions followed my example, and we examined the places that had +been scoured bare, to see that they were very much like the cliffs down +by the shore, being evidently of the slate common there, a coarse grey +slate, stained with markings of lavender and scarlet pink, which, where +it was freshly fractured, glistened in the sun like some portions of a +wood-pigeon's breast. + +There was nothing else to see, and my companions went on climbing down, +while I lingered for a few minutes picking up a bit of broken stone here +and another there, to throw them away again, all but one bit which +looked dark and shiny, something like a bit of Welsh coal, only it +wasn't coal, and that I put in my pocket. + +"Come on!" shouted Bob; "we're going down to the shore." + +I hurried after them, and we went lower and lower till we reached the +little river, which ran glistening and rippling over the stones. + +We had no tackle but our hands, and so the little trout that revelled in +the clear water escaped that day; but we were obliged to stop at every +swirling pool where the water grew deep and dark, to have a good stare +at the little speckled beauties, and lay plots against their happiness. + +These pauses took up a good deal of time, so that it was about one +o'clock when we reached Uggleston's cottage, and, as it happened, just +as its tenant was coming up from his boat, having just landed from some +expedition along the coast. + +He was not alone, for old Binnacle Bill, as we called him, was behind, +carrying the oars and the mast with the little sail twisted round, so as +to put them in Uggleston's lean-to shed. + +As we drew nearer I began to wonder what sort of a reception we were +going to receive from old Jonas Uggleston; and it struck me very +forcibly then, how strange it seemed that he should be the father of my +school-fellow, who was always well dressed, that is as school-boys are, +while he was just like an ordinary fisherman of the coast, with rough +flannel trousers rolled up, big fisherman's boots, blue worsted shirt, +and an otter-skin cap, from beneath which his grisly hair stuck out in +an untended mass, while his beard, that was more grisly still, half +covered his dark-brown face. + +He was a stern, fierce-looking man, with large dark eyes that seemed to +ferret out everything one was thinking about, and as he came up he +looked at us all searchingly in turn. + +"Hallo, father! Been along the coast?" cried Bigley, striding up to +him; and there was just a faint kind of smile on Jonas Uggleston's face +as his son shook hands and then took his arm in a way that seemed to +come like a surprise to me, for it seemed so curious that my +school-fellow Bigley could like that fierce, common-looking man. + +"Hallo, Big!" growled old Jonas grimly, "keeping your holidays then. +Who've you got here? Oh! It's you, young Chowne, is it? Ah! I was +coming over to see your father 'bout my foot as I got twisted 'tween two +bits o' rock--jumping; but it's got better now. Home from school?" + +"Yes, sir; we came home yesterday," said Bob, staring hard at old +Uggleston's mahogany hands. + +"And who's this, eh? Oh, young Cap'n Duncan, eh?" continued the old +fellow, turning to me as if he were not sure. "So you've come home from +school, eh?" + +"Yes, sir," I said; "I came with them yesterday." + +"Well, I know that, don't I?" he said sharply. "Think folk as don't go +to school don't know nothing, eh?" + +"Oh, no, sir," I said apologetically. + +"'Cause they do, you know. And so we must buy the Gap, must we, and get +to be landlords, must we, and want to turn parties as has lived here +twenty or thirty years or more out of their houses and homes, must we? +Now, look ye here, young gent, what I've got to say is--Bah! What a +fool I am," he cried, smiting his open left hand with his fist. "What +am I talking about? 'Tar'n't his fault." + +I was standing aghast and wishing myself a long way off, when his whole +manner changed and he patted me on the shoulder. + +"'Tar'n't your fault, my lad, 'tar'n't your fault. So you've come home +for the holidays, eh?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Hah! Bigley, my big babby, often talks about you when he writes to me, +lad. You're mates, eh?" + +"Oh, yes," I said, finding his tone roughly kind now. "We sleep in the +same room." + +"Hah, yes! Well, and what have you chaps been about?" + +"Oh, climbing about, and down by the stream, father," put in Bigley +quickly. + +"And you ar'n't hungry a bit, eh, lads? Well, I am," he said, without +waiting for us to speak. "Let's go in and see what Mother Bonnet has +got for us." + +I was for hanging back, and so was Bob, who was jealous of the extra +notice taken of me; but old Jonas Uggleston took hold of us both by the +shoulders and marched us before him as if we were prisoners, and +regularly pushed us in at the low door and into the low rustic-looking +room, with its floor formed of big rough slabs of slate, and its +whitewashed walls hung with all kinds of fishing gear and odds and ends, +that looked very much as if they had come from different wrecks, so out +of keeping were they with the plain, homely room, smelling strangely of +sea-weed with a dash of fish. + +"And I thought there'd be something ready to eat," said old Jonas. +"That's right, Big, put some chairs to the table, and come to an anchor +all of you." + +He smiled grimly as he thrust both Bob and me into chairs and then +turned to his son. + +"Take the big pitcher, boy, and fill it from the cider barrel. It's in +the back place yonder. Good cider won't hurt boys. It's only like +drinking apples 'stead o' chewing of 'em. I'm going to dip my hands. +Back directly." + +He nodded and left the room with his son, leaving Bob and me staring at +each other across the table. + +"Don't it seem rum," he whispered, "having no table-cloth?" + +I said it did, but then the table was beautifully clean, and so were the +silver table-spoons, and the silver mug at the end where old Jonas sat. +While, to make the table thoroughly attractive to us hungry boys, who +had been walking all the morning, there was a good-sized cold salmon on +a big dish; a great piece of cold ham; a large round loaf that looked as +if it had been baked in a basin, and a plate of butter and a dish of +thick yellow cream. + +These substantial things had a good effect upon Bob Chowne, whose face +began to look smooth and pleasant, and who showed his satisfaction +farther by kicking me under the table, for he was afraid to make any +more remarks, because we could hear Jonas Uggleston, in some place at +the back, blowing and splashing as if he were washing himself in a +bucket; and of this last there was no doubt, for we heard the handle +rattle, then a loud splash, as if he had thrown the dirty water out of +the window, and the bucket set down and the handle rattling again. + +This made Bob kick me again painfully, and he grinned and his eyes +seemed to say, "No jug and basin, and no washstand." + +Just then Bigley came in with a great brown jug of cider, smiling all +over his face. + +"I say, I am glad father has asked you to stop," he said. "We'll get +him to let us have the boat after dinner." + +Just then old Jonas came in without his otter-skin cap, combing the +thick grisly fringe round his head, the top of which was quite bare; and +directly after from another door--for there were doors nearly +everywhere, because Jonas Uggleston had built the cottage very small at +first and then kept on adding rooms, and kitchens, and wash-house with +stores--Mother Bonnet came in, an elderly plump woman, who always put me +in mind of a cider apple when it was ripe. + +Mother Bonnet was Binnacle Bill's wife, and lived at the cottage on the +other side of the stream, but she came and "did for" Master Uggleston, +as she called it; that is to say, she cooked and kept the house clean; +and she bore in hand a dish of hot new potatoes, which were very scarce +things with us and a deal thought of by some people for a treat. + +She nodded to us all in turn, and was going away again, when Jonas +shouted "Winegar," and Mother Bonnet hurriedly produced a big black +bottle from a corner cupboard, and placed it upon the table. + +That was about as rough a dinner as Bob Chowne and I had ever sat down +to, but how delicious it was! + +"'Live last night," said Jonas, digging great pieces of the salmon off +with a silver spoon, and supplying our plates. + +"You catch him, father?" said Bigley. + +"Yes, Big. Weir." + +"Weir," I thought to myself. "Weir? What does he mean by weir?" + +"Eat away, my lads," cried Jonas Uggleston. "Big: have off some bread." + +"When did you finish the weir, father?" said Bigley, with his mouth +full, in spite of all Dr Stacey had said. + +"Seccun April, boy. You can work it a bit, now you're down." + +Bigley looked at us with eager eyes, but we were too busy to pay much +attention, though I was anxious to see a weir that would catch salmon, +and ready to ask questions as soon as the dinner was done. + +"Pour out the cider, lad. It's a fresh cask, and it's good. I bought +some at Squire Allworth's sale." + +Bigley began to pour out for us, old Jonas having pushed his silver mug +to my side, while he took a brown one from a shelf for his and Bob's +use; and I was feeling sorry that he should have given me the silver +mug, because Bob would not like it, when, just as old Jonas mentioned +Squire Allworth's sale, his face changed again, and I saw his scowl as +he looked at me. + +"He's thinking about my father buying the Gap," I said to myself; but +forgot it all directly, for the fierce look passed away as the old man +lifted his cup. + +"Taste it, boys, and it'll make you think of being in the sunshine in an +orchard, with the sun ripening the apples. Now then: salmon getting +bony. Who'll have some ham?" + +We all would, and we were quite ready afterwards to attack and finish +off a pot of raspberry jam which Mother Bonnet brought in with a smile; +and the raspberry jam, the beautiful butter and bread, and the cream +worked such an effect upon Bob Chowne that he exclaimed suddenly: + +"Oh, don't I wish Dr Stacey would give us dinners like this!" + +Old Jonas uttered a hoarse harsh laugh, which made me feel +uncomfortable, for he did not look as if he were laughing, but as if he +were in a very severe and angry fit with somebody. + +"There," he said, when we had quite done, "be off, boys, now. I'm going +to be busy." + +"Yes, father," said Big. "May we have the boat and go out for a sail?" + +Old Jonas turned sharply round on him, and looked as if he were going to +knock his son down, so fierce was his aspect. + +"No!" he roared. + +"No, father?" faltered Bigley. + +"No!" said old Jonas, not quite so fiercely. "Do you think I want to +spend all next week on the look-out to find you chaps when you're washed +ashore--drowned?" + +"Oh, father! Just as if it was likely!" + +"Haw, haw!" laughed old Jonas, and it did not seem like a laugh, but as +if he were calling his son bad names. "You can manage a boat all of +you, can't you, and row and reef and steer? Get out. Books is in your +way, and writin', and sums, not boats." + +"But father--" + +"Hold your tongue. I don't want to lose my boat, and I don't want to +lose you. May be useful some day. Doctor wants his boy too, teach him +to make physic; and I ar'n't no spite again' young Duncan here, so I +dunno as I partic'lar wants him throw'd up on the beach with his pockets +full o' shrimps; so, No. Now be off. Go and look at the weir." + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +A SEA-SIDE WEIR. + +"It's of no good," said Bigley, as we tramped down over the rough sand +and pebbles. "When he says `no' he means it. We could have managed the +boat all right. I say, I'll get him some day to let Binnacle Bill take +us, and we'll buy some twisty Bristol for him, and make him spin yarns." + +"But where's the weir?" I said, as we were getting close down to where +the sea was breaking, and where the fresh-water of the little river came +bubbling up from among the boulders after its dive down below, and was +now mingling with the salt water of the sea. + +"Where's the weir?" cried Bigley. "Why, this is it." + +"This?" said Bob, "why it's only a lot of hurdles." So it appeared at +first sight, but it was ingeniously contrived all the same for its +purpose; and in accordance with the habits of the salmon and other fish +that are fond of coming up with the tide to get into fresh-water, and +run up the different rivers and streams. + +It was a very simple affair, and looked to be exactly what Bob had +said--a lot of old hurdles. But it was strongly made all the same, and +consisted of a couple of rows of stout stakes driven down into the +beach, just after the fashion of the figure on the opposite page, with +one row towards the sea, and the other running up beside where the +stream water bubbled up and towards the shore. In and out of these +stakes rough oak boughs were woven so closely, that from the bottom to +about four feet up, though the water would run through easily enough, +there was no room for a decent-sized fish to go through, while down at +the bottom all this was strengthened by being banked up with stones +inside and out, and all carefully laid and wedged in together, and +cemented with lime. + +Now when the tide was up all these posts and hurdles were covered with +water, and as the fish swam up to meet the fresh stream, a great many +would sometimes be over the ground inclosed by the weir, searching about +for food washed down by the stream, or for the little shrimps and other +water creatures that hung about the hurdles, which were a favourite +place too with mussels, which cling to such wood-work by thousands. Now +though they are easily frightened it does not seem as if fish have much +brain, for sometimes they stopped swimming about inside these hurdles +till the tide had run down as low as the tops of the posts, and then, +feeling it was time for them to be off with the tide, they'd start to +swim off, but only to find themselves shut in. + +Sometimes it would be a shoal of grey mullet, sometimes a salmon or two +that had tried to get up the stream, and could not get by the pebble +bar; and there they would be swimming about, not feeling their danger +till it was too late. + +First of all they would try to get through the hurdles, and there they +would keep on trying till some wise one amongst them thought that by +swimming round the ends at A or B they would reach the open sea. + +Sometimes they would do this and escape. They all follow one another +like sheep in a flock; but generally they do not try to get round the +ends till it is too late, for while there is still plenty of water at C +there is very little at B and none at all at A, and the consequence is +that the fish are left splashing when the tide goes out, in a few little +shallow pools, where there is nothing to do but scoop them out with a +bit of a net. + +The tide was getting well down, and the hurdles were nearly all bare, +but there was too much water for us to see whether there were any fish +left, and so we stood on first one big boulder, and then upon another, +as they were left dry, every now and then making a bold leap on to a +rock, to stand there surrounded by water, and now and then obliged to +jump back to avoid a wetting. + +But at last the hurdles and stones at the sea end of the weir were +completely left by the tide, so that we could walk down, and then, as +the water shallowed more and more in the triangular inclosure, we looked +out eagerly for fish. + +"There they are--lots of 'em!" cried Bob excitedly, for he was too much +interested to be disagreeable and say unpleasant things. + +"Oh, those are only little ones," cried Bigley, as the little silvery +fry kept flashing out of the surface. "They'll all go out through the +holes. You'll see none of them will be left." + +And so it proved; for as the water in the inclosure sank lower and lower +the small fry were seen no more, but a swirl here and there showed that +one, if not more, good-sized fish were left, and in the anticipation of +a good catch we hopped about from stone to stone, and clambered along +the hurdles. + +"Hooray!" shouted Bob, who was now in a high state of delight, "isn't +this better than learning our jolly old _hic_--_haec_--_hoc_, eh, Sep?" + +"I should think so." + +"Oh!" + +There was a shout and a splash and we two roared with laughter, for +Bigley had just then made a jump to gain a stone standing clear of the +falling water, when, not allowing for the slippery sea-weed that grew +upon it in a patch, his feet glided over the smooth stone and he came +down in a sitting position in the water, which flew out in spray on all +sides. + +"Here! Hi! Net!--net!" shouted Bob. "Come on, Sep, here's such a big +one--a Bigley big one. It's a shark, I know it is. Look at his teeth!" + +"It's all very well to laugh," said Bigley, getting up and standing +knee-deep in the water to squeeze the moisture out of the upper part of +his clothes, "but how would you like it?" + +"Ever so," cried Bob; "I'm as hot as hot. Mind how you go near him, +Sep, he'll bite. Oh, don't I wish I had a boat-hook, I'd fetch him +out." + +"I don't care. It's only sea-water. I don't mind," grumbled Bigley +wading about in the pool. "I say, boys, here's a salmon and a whole lot +of mullet." + +"Where, where?" cried Bob, and, without a moment's hesitation he jumped +in and waded towards Bigley. + +"There! Can't you see 'em? There they go!" cried Bigley pointing. + +"No." + +"Why, out yonder! They're lying there quiet now amongst the stones." + +"Oh, won't I give it you for this, old Big!" cried Bob. "There are no +fish there at all. You gammoned me to make me come in and get my legs +wet like yours are. Never mind, I'll serve you out." + +"Why, there are some fish," cried Bigley indignantly. + +"Don't you believe him, Sep," said Bob. "It's all nonsense." + +"Yes, there are," I said from where I had climbed over the deepest part +by clinging to the hurdles, "I can see them." + +"Oh no, you can't, my lad. You'd like me to come splashing through the +water there for you to laugh at me, but it won't do. There isn't a +single fish in the place, only old Bigley--old Babby as his father calls +him. I say, Sep, what a game! Did you ever see such a babby?" + +"Don't do that," said Bigley sharply. + +"Don't do what?--splash you?" cried Bob. "There--and there." + +He suited the action to the word, and scooping up the water, he sent it +flying over our tall schoolmate. + +"You know what I mean," said Bigley, speaking in a low angry tone such +as I had never before heard from him. + +"Why, what do you mean?" cried Bob offensively. "Do you want me to +thrash you?" + +"I want you to leave my father alone, and what he says to me," said +Bigley sharply. "I don't mind your making fun of me. I don't mind what +you call me; but that's his name he has always used since I was a little +baby, and you've no business to say it." + +"Ha--ha--ha!" laughed Bob, "here's a game. Do you hear, Sep! He says +he was once a little baby. I don't believe it. Ha--ha--ha!" + +Bigley did not take any notice, and I did not join in the laugh, so Bob +made a movement as if he were going to wade out of the pool, and his +lips parted to say something disagreeable. I knew as well as could be +that he was going to say that he should go home if we were about to turn +like that; but his legs were wet, and the walk home was long, and not +pleasant to take alone. And then there were the fish in the pool to +catch, and in spite of his expressions of unbelief he knew that there +must be some. So he altered his mind, and changed his tone. + +"I didn't want to upset you, Big, old matey," he said. "I didn't, did +I, Sep Duncan? Here, what's the good of quarrelling when it's holidays? +There, I won't call you so any more." + +Bigley's face cleared in a moment, and with a couple of splashes he was +at Bob's side with one hand extended, and the other upon his +school-fellow's shoulder. + +"It's all right," he said quickly. "Shake hands, and let's get the +fish. There, I'll go for the prawn net and a basket." + +He ran splashing out of the water, and up over the boulders towards the +cottage, leaving me and Bob together. + +"I wouldn't be as big as he is," said Bob, "and I wouldn't have such a +nasty temper for thousands of pounds. Here, what are you grinning at?" + +"At you." For there was something so comic in his speech, coming as it +did from the most ill-tempered boy in the school--Dr Stacey had often +said so, and Bob proved it every day of his life--that I burst into a +hearty laugh. + +Bob stood knee-deep in the water staring hard at me. For the first few +moments he looked furious; then he seemed to grow sulky, and then in a +low surly voice he said: + +"I say, Sep, it isn't true, is it?" + +"Isn't what true?" + +"About the--about what old stay-sail said?" + +"About you being disagreeable?" + +"Yes. It isn't true, is it?" + +I nodded. + +"I don't believe it," he said impetuously. "I'm as good-tempered a chap +as anybody, only people turn disagreeable with me. Well, you are a +pretty mate to turn against me like that." + +"I don't turn against you, Bob, and I don't mind your being +disagreeable," I said; "but you asked me, and I told you the truth." + +Bob stood quite still and thoughtful, as if he were watching the fishes, +and he began to whistle softly a very miserable old tune that the +shepherds sang out on the moor--one which always suggested winter to me +and driving rain and cold bleak winds. + +"Look here!" I said, for the water was draining away fast out of the +pool now, the stones that banked up the bottom of the woven hurdle-work +being visible here and there. + +But Bob did not move. He stood there with his hands deep in his pockets +and the water up to his knees still, the part where he was being deeper, +and he kept on whistling softly to himself. + +"Why can't you look, Bob?" I said. "You can see the fishes quite +plain." + +"I don't want to see 'em," he replied sulkily. "When are you going +home?" + +"Oh, not forever so long; not till tea-time. Here comes Big!" + +Bob did not look round, but his ears seemed to twitch as the sound of +our schoolmates' heavy tread came over the stones, for he lumbered along +at a trot with a big maund, as we called the baskets there, in one hand, +a great landing-net in the other. But as Bigley came to the edge of the +pool Bob waded out and said in a low quiet voice: + +"Shall I carry the basket?" + +We both stared, for in an ordinary way Bob would have shouted, "Here, +give us hold of the net," and snatched at it or anything else in his +desire to take the lead. + +"No, no," cried Bigley, though. "You two chaps are visitors. You have +the first go, Bob, and then let Sep Duncan try. But it's no use yet." + +He was quite right; there was too much room for the fish to dart about, +and so we stood here, and crept there, to watch them as they glided +about among the swaying sea-weed, all brown and olive-green, and full of +bladder-like pods to hold them up in the water. Sometimes there was a +rush, and a swirl in the pool. At another time we could catch sight of +the silvery side of some fish as it turned over and glided through the +shoal. Then for a few minutes all would be perfectly still and calm--so +still that it was hard to imagine that there was a fish left in the +place. + +And all the time the tide kept on retiring, and the water in the pool +lowering, till all at once there was a tremendous rush, a great silvery +fish flashed out into the air, and then fell flat upon its side, making +the drops fly sparkling in the sun. + +"Salmon," cried Bigley, "and a big one." + +"Well, let's catch him, then," cried Bob excitedly, the gloomy feeling +forgotten now in the excitement of the scene. + +"Go on!" cried Bigley, handing him the net, and armed therewith Bob +began to wade about, hunting the salmon from side to side of the pool, +under my directions, for being high up on the dry, I could see the fish +far better than those who were wading. + +But it was all labour in vain. Twice over Bob touched the salmon, but +it was too quick for him, and flung itself over the net splashing him +from head to foot, but only encouraging him to make fresh exertions. + +"Here, you come and try!" he cried at last. "You're not tired. Do you +hear? You come and try, Sep Duncan. They're the slipperiest fishes I +ever saw." + +I shook my head. I was dry, and meant to keep so now, and said so. + +"It's of no use to try," said Bigley, "not till the water's nearly gone. +You can't catch 'em." + +"Why, you knew that all along!" I cried. + +"To be sure I did; but you wouldn't have believed me if I'd said so. +Let's wait. In half an hour it will be all right, and we can get the +lot." + +So we waited impatiently, wading and creeping from stone to stone, and +trying to count the fish in the weir pool; but not very successfully, +for some we counted over and over again, and others were like the little +pig in the herd, they would not stand still to be counted. + +All at once it seemed as if a big retiring wave left room for nearly all +the water left to run out, and though another wave came and drove some +back, the next one took it away, leaving room for the weir to drain, and +with a shout of triumph we charged down now at the luckless fish, which +were splashing about in about six inches of water among the sea-weed and +stones. + +I forgot all about not meaning to get wet, for I was in over my +boot-tops directly. But what did it matter out there in the warm +sunshine and by the sea! + +It was rare sport for us, though it was death to the fishes. But the +weir was contrived to obtain a regular food supply, and we thought of +nothing but catching the prisoners and transferring them to the basket. + +Bob was pretty successful with the net, but he only caught the mullet. +The honour of capturing the eleven-pound salmon, for such it proved to +be, was reserved for Bigley and me, as I managed to drive the beautiful +silvery creature right up on to the stones, and there Bigley pounced +upon it, and bore it flapping and beating its tail to the basket. + +As we worked, the remainder of the water sank away, leaving only a pool +of an inch or so deep, and from which Bob fished three small mullet, the +total caught being eleven, the largest five pounds, and the salmon +eleven, the same number of pounds as there were mullet. + +We bore our capture up to the cottage in triumph, where old Jonas +presented me and Bob with a fine mullet a piece, the salmon and the rest +being despatched at once by Binnacle Bill to Ripplemouth for sale. + +It was now getting so near tea-time that we set off for home, it being +understood that Bigley was to come with us as far as my home, where we +were all to have tea, after which he was to set off one way, and I was +to go the other; that is to say, walking part of the way home with Bob. + +This I did; but when we set off I could not help feeling how much +pleasanter it would have been to have gone with Bigley, for I did not +anticipate any very pleasant walk. And I was right; for, whether it was +the new bread, or the strength of our milk and water, I don't know--all +I do know is, that Bob was as sour as he could be, and insisted upon my +carrying his mullet, because he said I should have nothing to carry +going home. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +I STARTLE MY FATHER. + +My father was first up next morning, and had been out for an hour before +I went down the garden to join him, and found him walking the +quarter-deck. + +You must not think by these words that he was on board a ship. Nothing +of the kind. He called by that name a flat place at the bottom of the +garden just at the edge of the cliff, where there was a low stone wall +built to keep anyone from falling over a couple of hundred feet +perpendicular to the rocks and beach below. + +This was my father's favourite place, where he used to spend hours with +his spy-glass, and along the edge of the wall, all carefully mounted, +were six small brass cannon, which came out of a sloop that was wrecked +below in the bay, and which my father bought for the price of old metal +when the ship was broken up and sold. + +I used to think sometimes that he ought to have called the place the +battery, but he settled on the quarter-deck, and the quarter-deck it +remained. + +Always once a year on his birthday he would load and fire all the +cannons, and it was quite a sight; for he used to call himself the crew +and load them and prime them, and then send me in for the poker, which +had all the time been getting red-hot in the kitchen. + +Then he used to take the poker from me, and I used to stop my ears. But +as soon as I stopped my ears, he used to frown and say, "Take out the +tompions, you young swab!" + +So I used to take out the tompions--I mean my fingers--and screw up my +face and look on while with quite a grand air my father, who was a fine +handsome man, with a fresh colour and curly grey hair, used to stand up +very erect, give the poker a flourish through the air, and bring the end +down upon a touch-hole. + +Then _bang_! There would be a tremendous roar, and the rocks would echo +as the white smoke floated upwards. + +A quarter of a minute more and _bang_ would go another gun, and so on +for the whole six, every one of them kicking hard and leaping back some +distance on to the shingle. + +When all were fired, my father used to push them on their little +carriages all back into their places; then he used to "bend," as he +called it, the white ensign on to the halyards, and run it up to the +head of a rigged mast which stood at the corner, and close to the edge +of the cliff, and after this shake hands with himself, left hand with +right, and wish himself many happy returns of the day. + +It was not his birthday that one on which I ran down the garden to join +him; but there he was by his guns, busy with his spy-glass sweeping, as +he called it, the Bristol Channel and talking to himself about the +different craft. + +"Hallo, Sep, my boy!" he said; "here's a morning for a holiday +landsman--or boy. Well, I didn't see much of you yesterday." + +"No, father," I said; "I was out all day with Doctor Chowne's boy and +young Uggleston." + +"Rather a queer companion for you, my boy, eh? Uggleston is a sad +smuggler, they say; but let's see, his boy goes to your school?" + +"Yes, father, and he's such a good fellow. We went to his house down in +the Gap, and had dinner, and Mr Uggleston was very civil to me, all +but--" + +"Well, speak out, Sep. All but what?" + +"He spoke once, father, as if he did not like your having bought the +Gap." + +"Hah! Very likely; but then you see, Sep, I did not consider myself +bound to ask everybody's permission when I was at the sale, much more +Mr Jonas Uggleston's, so there's an end of that." + +"He seemed to think he would have to turn out and go, father," I said, +looking at him rather wistfully, for it appeared to me as if it would be +a great pity if old Uggleston and Bigley did have to turn out, because +we were such friends. + +"If Mr Jonas Uggleston will behave, himself like a Christian, and pay +his rent," said my father, "he'll go on just the same as he did under +old Squire Allworth, so he has nothing to complain about whatever." + +"May I go and tell him that, father!" I said eagerly. + +"No: certainly not." + +"I mean after breakfast, father." + +"So do I, my boy," he replied. "Don't you meddle with such matters as +that. So you had a good look round the place, eh?" + +"Yes, father." + +"See many rabbits?" + +"Yes, father, plenty." + +"That's right. I want to keep that place for a bit of shooting, and I'm +thinking of buying a bigger boat, Sep, and I shall keep her there." + +"Oh!" I cried, "a bigger sailing boat?" + +"Yes, a much bigger one, my boy--big enough to take quite a cruise. You +must make haste and get finished at school, my lad, and then I can take +you afloat, and make a sailor of you, the same as your grandfather and +great-grandfather used to be." + +"Yes, I should like to be a sailor, father," I said. + +"Ah, well, we shall see," he replied; "but that is not the business to +see to now. The first thing is to take in rations, so come along and +have breakfast." + +I was quite willing, and in a few minutes we were seated in the snug +cottage parlour with the window open, and the scent of the roses brought +in by the breeze off the sea. + +"Why, Sep," said my father, after I had been disposing of bacon and eggs +and milk for some time, "how quiet you are! Isn't the breakfast so good +as you get at school?" + +"Heaps better, father;" for schools were very different places in those +days to what they are now. + +"Then what makes you so quiet?" + +"I was thinking how nice it would be if it was always holidays." + +"With the sun shining warmly like it is now, and the sky blue, and the +sea quite calm, eh?" + +"Yes, father." + +"You young goose--I mean gander," he said laughing. "Pleasure that has +not been earned by hard work of some kind is poor tasteless stuff, of +which everybody would soon tire; and as to its being always hot and +sunshiny, why, my dear boy, I've been out in the tropics when the sky +has been for weeks without a cloud, the seams oozing pitch, and the +rails and bolts and bell all so hot you could not touch them, and we +would have given anything for a thick mist or a heavy rain, or a good +puff of cool wind. No, no, my dear boy, England and its climate are +best as they are. In all my travels I never found a better or more +healthy place; and as to the holidays--bah! Life was not made for play. +Kittens are the most playful things I know, but they soon give it up, +and take to work." + +"Yes, father," I said with a sigh, "but school exercises are so hard." + +"The better lad you when you've mastered them. It's hard work to learn +to be a sailor, but the more credit to the young man who masters +navigation, and gets to know how to thoroughly handle a ship; better +still how to manage his men, for a crew is a very mixed-up set of +fellows, Sep." + +"Yes, father, I suppose so. But I am trying very hard at school." + +"I know you are, Sep. Have another egg--and that bit of brown. You've +got room, I know. Make muscle." + +He helped me to what I was by no means unwilling to take, and then +continued: + +"Of course you are trying hard, and I know it. Otherwise I shouldn't +have been so glad to see you home for the holidays you've earned, and be +ready to say to you, `Never mind about holiday lessons, I don't approve +of them, my lad; put them aside and I'll make excuses for you to the +doctor. Work as hard as you can when you are at school, and now you are +at home, play as hard as you can.' We must have a bit of fishing. I've +got some new lines, and a trammel net to set, and we'll do a good deal +of boating. You sha'n't stand still for want of something to do. +What's that?" + +"Only a stone, father," I replied, for in pulling out my handkerchief, +the piece that I had put in my pocket on the previous day flew out, and +fell with a crash in the fireplace. + +"What do you want with stones in your pocket?" he said rather crossly, +as he rose and picked up the piece to throw it out of the window; but, +as soon as he had it in his hand, its appearance took his attention. He +turned it over, weighed it in his hand, and then held it more to the +light. + +I went on eating my breakfast and watching him closely, for I did not +want to lose that piece of stone, and I was afraid that he would ask me +more questions about it, sooner than bear which I was ready to see him +throw the piece of rock out of the window, when, if he threw it far +enough, the chances were that it would go over the cliff and fall upon +the beach. + +Just as I feared, the questions came as he put on his glasses and +examined the fragment more closely. + +"Where did you get this, Sep?" he said--"on the beach?" + +"No, father, up on this side of the Gap." + +"Whereabouts?" + +"About three hundred yards from Uggleston's cottage, and half-way up the +slope, where the rocks stand up so big on the top." + +"Hah! Yes, I know the place. It was lying on the slope, I suppose?" + +"Well, ye-es, father." + +"Humph, strange!" he muttered. "There can't be any metals there. +Somebody must have dropped it." + +I hesitated. I wanted to speak out, but I was afraid, for I did not +know what he would say if he heard that we had blown up one of the rocks +with gunpowder, and sent all those stones hurtling down the side of the +cliff. + +"Yes," continued my father, "somebody must have dropped it. A good +specimen--a very good specimen indeed." + +Just then he raised his eyes, and caught me gazing at him wistfully. + +"Hallo!" he said, "what does that mean? Why are you looking so serious +and strange?" + +"Was I, father?" + +"Yes, sir: of course you were. No nonsense. Speak out like a man, and +a gentleman. Not quite the same thing, Sep, for a gentleman is not +always a thorough man; but a thorough man is always a gentleman. Now, +what is it?" + +I did not answer. + +"Come, Sep," he said sharply, "you're getting a great fellow now, and I +want you, the bigger you grow, the more frank and open. I don't want +you to grow into one of those men who look upon their father as someone +to be cheated and blinded in every way, instead of as their truest and +firmest friend and adviser. Now, sir, you have something on your mind." + +"Yes, father," I said slowly. + +"Hah! I thought as much. In mischief yesterday?" + +"I'm afraid so, father." + +"Well, out with it. You know my old saying, `The truth can be blamed, +but can never be shamed.'" + +"Yes, father." + +"Well, I'm sure my boy could not bear to be shamed." + +"Oh, no, father." + +"Of course not," he said quietly. "And I'm sure you've got manly +feeling enough not to be afraid of being blamed; so out with it, sir, +and take your punishment, whatever it is, as the son of a sailor +should." + +"Yes, father," I exclaimed with a sort of gasp, and then I told him what +we had done with the powder. + +"Humph! Nice fellows!" he exclaimed as I ended. "Why, you might have +blown each other to pieces. Powder wants using only by an experienced +man, and young Chowne, who seems to have played first fiddle, seems to +know more about his father's powders than that out of a keg. Humph! So +you blew down one of the lumps of stone?" + +"Yes, father." + +"Well, why didn't you say so at once?" he continued tartly, "and not +shuffle and shirk. It was a foolish, monkeyish trick, but I suppose no +great harm's done. What did you do it for?" + +"To see the stones rush down, sir," I said. + +"Humph! Well, don't do so any more." + +"I will not, father," I said hastily. + +"That's well. Now we will not say any more about it. Many stones come +down?" + +"Yes, father, they swept a bare place down the side of the cliff right +to the old rock." + +"Here, Sep," said my father excitedly, holding out the lump of mineral, +"did you pick this up before or after?" + +"After, father; where the rock was swept bare." + +My father looked at me quite excitedly. + +"Done breakfast?" he said sharply. + +"Yes, father." + +"Put on your hat and come with me to the Gap. Stop a moment. Did your +school-fellows notice that piece of rock--did you show it to them?" + +"No, father. I was alone when I found it." + +"So much the better. Then, look here, Sep; don't say anything to them +about it, nor about what you see to-day." + +"No, father; but--" + +"Don't ask any questions, boy. I am not sure but you may have made a +very important discovery in the Gap. I had no idea of there being any +metals there." + +"And are there, father?" + +"We are going to see, my boy. So now, keep your counsel. Put on your +cap and we will walk over to the Gap at once, when you can show me the +exact spot where you found this piece." + +I grew as excited as my father seemed to be, but with this difference, +namely, that as I grew warmer he grew more cool and business-like. + +After I had given him some better idea of the place where the specimen +had been found, he decided that we would not go round by the cliff path, +and past Jonas Uggleston's cottage, but take a short cut over the high +moorland ground at the back of the bay, and so on to the Gap, where we +could descend just where we lads had blown down the rock. + +It was not a long walk that way, though a hilly one, and before half an +hour had passed we were close to the edge of the ravine, and directly +after on the spot from whence the stone had been dislodged. + +Here for the first time I noticed the handle of a hammer in my father's +pocket as he stooped down and examined the place where the rock lay, and +then shook his head. "No, not here," he said. "Go on first." I led +the way and he followed, noting where the rock had bounded off, and then +descending to where it had charged the other pieces and rushed on down, +baring a portion of the side of the ravine, as I have said, to the very +rock. + +"Hah!" ejaculated my father suddenly, as he seemed to pounce upon a +fragment of stone something like the first I held. "Here's another, and +another, and another," I said. "Yes, plenty," he replied rather +hoarsely, as he picked up a couple more pieces. "Place them in your +pocket, boy." + +As he spoke he looked about him up and down, and ended by uttering +another sharp exclamation, for in one place there was a rugged patch of +rock just like the fragments we held, and seeming as if the cliff-side +there was one solid mass. + +"Look here, Sep," he said quietly; "be smart, and gather up all the +rough pieces of common grey slate you can find and throw them about here +I'll help." + +I set to work and he aided me vigorously, with the result that in a +short time we had hidden the bright metallic-looking patch, and then he +laid his hand upon my arm. + +"That will do," he said. "Now, keep a silent tongue in your head. I'll +talk more to you afterwards. Let's go home now. Stop," he cried, +starting; "don't seem to look, but turn your head slightly towards the +sea. Your eyes are better than mine. Who's that standing on the piece +of rock over yonder. Can you see?" + +"No, father, not yet." + +"Look more to the north, boy. Just over the big rock that stands out of +the cliff-side. There's a man watching us." + +"Yes, I see, father," I cried. + +"Who is it?" he whispered, as he led the way along by the steep slope so +that we might descend and go up the Gap by the stream side and reach the +shore. + +"Yes, I know, I'm sure now," I cried. "It's old Jonas Uggleston." + +"Humph! Of all men in the world," said my father. "Well, the place is +my own now, and no one has a right to interfere." + +He walked on silently for a few minutes, and then said softly: "I would +rather no one had known yet." Then aloud to me: "Come, Sep, let's get +home and see what these rocks are made of. I'm beginning to think that +you have made a great find." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +THE DOCTOR AND I BUILD A FURNACE. + +My father was very silent as we walked swiftly back home, where he +locked up the specimens we had obtained, and then after a few minutes' +thought he signed to me to follow him and started for Ripplemouth. + +About half-way there we met Doctor Chowne on his grey pony with Bob +walking beside him, and directly after the doctor and my father were +deep in conversation, leaving us boys together. + +"What's the matter!" said Bob. "Your father ill?" + +"No," I replied; "I think it's about business." How well I can +recollect Doctor Chowne! A little fierce-looking stoutish man, in drab +breeches and top-boots, and a very old-fashioned cocked hat that looked +terribly the worse for wear. He used to have a light brown coat and +waistcoat, with very large pockets that I always believed to be full of +powders, and draughts, and pills on one side; and on the other of +tooth-pincers, and knives, and saws for cutting off people's legs and +arms. Then, too, he wore a pigtail, his hair being drawn back and +twisted up, and bound, and tied at the end with a greasy bit of ribbon. +But it was not like anybody else's pigtail, for, instead of hanging down +decently over his coat collar, it cocked up so that it formed a regular +curve, and looked as if it was a hook or a handle belonging to his +cocked hat. + +Before my father and he had been talking many minutes, the doctor turned +sharply round in his saddle, with one hand resting on the pony's back. +He was going to speak, but his hand tickled the pony, which began to +kick, whereupon Doctor Chowne, who looked rather red-faced and excited, +stuck his spurs into the pony's ribs, and this made him rear and back +towards the cliff edge, till the doctor dragged his head round so that +he could see the sea, when he directly ran backwards and stood with his +tail in the bank. + +"Quiet, will you?" cried the doctor, and, as the pony was not being +tickled, he consented to stand still. "Here, Bob!" said the doctor +then. + +"Yes, father." + +"Go home." + +"Go home, father! Mayn't I go along with Sep Duncan?" + +"I said go home, sir," said the doctor sternly; and Bob turned short +upon his heel, and I saw him go along the road cutting viciously at the +ferns and knapweeds at every step. + +"Come along, Sep," said my father, and I followed them as they walked +slowly back towards our cottage, my father holding on by the pony's mane +as he talked quickly to the doctor. + +For my father and Doctor Chowne were great friends, having once served +for a long time in the same ship together; and so it was that, when my +father left the service and settled down to his quiet life at the little +bay, Doctor Chowne bought the practice off the last doctor's widow, and +settled himself, with his boy, at Ripplemouth. + +As I say, the doctor and my father were very great friends, such great +friends that when one day my father felt himself to be dangerously ill, +and sent over in great haste for Doctor Chowne, that gentleman galloped +over and examined him carefully, and then began to bully him and call +him names. He told him there was nothing the matter with him but fancy, +and made him get up and go out for a walk, and told him afterwards that +if they had not been such great friends he--the doctor--would have run +him up a twenty-pound bill for attendance instead of nothing at all. + +And there before me were those two, one walking and the other riding, +with their heads close together, talking in a low eager tone, while I +was thinking about how hard it was for Bob Chowne that he should be sent +away, and began to wish that I had not found that piece of stone. + +We reached home, and our Sam, who kept the garden in order, and cleaned +the boots and knives, and washed the boat, was called to take the +doctor's pony, after which Doctor Chowne whispered something to my +father. + +"Oh, no," my father said. "He found it, and we can trust him." + +Doctor Chowne whispered something else, and it set me wondering how my +father could be such good friends with a man who made himself so very +disagreeable and unpleasant to every one he met; but all at once it +seemed to strike me that I was always good friends with Bob Chowne, who +was the most disagreeable boy in our school, and that though he could be +so unpleasant, there was something about him I always liked; for though +he bullied and hectored, he was not, like most bullying and hectoring +boys, a coward, for he had taken my part many a time against bigger and +stronger fellows, and at all times we had found him thoroughly staunch. + +As soon as Sam had gone off with the pony, my father called Kicksey, our +maid, a great, brawny woman of forty, who was quite mistress at our +place, my father being, like Doctor Chowne and Jonas Uggleston, a +widower. + +Kicksey came in a great hurry, with her muslin mob-cap flopping and her +eyes staring, to know what was the matter. + +"Light the back kitchen fire," said my father. + +"No," said Doctor Chowne, "put some wood and charcoal ready, and fetch a +dozen bricks out of the yard." + +"Is Master Sep ill?" cried Kicksey. "Oh, no: there he is. I was +quite--" + +"There, be quick," said my father; "and if anybody comes, go to the gate +and say I'm busy." + +Kicksey stared at us all, with her eyes seeming to stand out of her head +like a lobster's, she was so astounded at this curious proceeding, but +she said nothing and hurried out. + +And here I ought to say that her name was Ellen Levan, only, when I was +a tiny little fellow after my mother died, she used to nurse me, and in +my childish prattle I somehow got in the habit of calling her Kicksey, +and the name became so fixed that my father never spoke of her as Ellen; +while our Sam, who was an amphibious being, half fisherman, half +gardener, with a mortal hatred of Jonas Uggleston's Bill Binnacle, and +the doctor's man, always called her Missers Kicksey and nothing else. + +"Now, then, Duncan, are we to do this together, or is--" + +He made a sign towards me. + +"Let him stop and help," said my father. "I can trust Sep when I've +told him not to speak. But can you stop? I understood you to say that +you were going to see a couple of patients." + +"Only old Mrs Ransom at the Hall, and Farmer Dikeby's wife. The old +woman's got nothing the matter but ninety-one, and as for Mistress +Dikeby, she has had too much physic as it is, and if I go she won't be +happy till I give her some more, which she will be far better without. +No: I am going to stay and see this through." + +"I shall be very glad." + +"And so shall I, Duncan. I said you were an idiot to buy that Gap, and +I told you so; but no one will be better pleased than I shall if it +turns out well." + +He held out his hand and my father took it without a word. + +"Now, then," said the doctor, "let's see the stuff." + +My father opened the corner cupboard and took out the pieces of rock, +and Doctor Chowne put on his glasses and examined them carefully, +frowning severely all the time and without a word. + +"Do you think it _is_ tin?" said my father at last. + +"No, sir, I don't," said Doctor Chowne, throwing down one of the pieces +in an ill-humoured way. "I'll take my oath it isn't." + +"Oh!" ejaculated my father in a disappointed tone; "but are you sure?" + +"Sure, sir? Yes. I'm not clever, and I'm better at gunshot wounds and +amputations than at medical practice, but I do know a bit about metals +and mining. Why, didn't we touch at Banca in '44 and see the tin mining +there?" + +"Yes," said my father; "but I took no interest in it then." + +"Well, I did, my lad. Tin? No. Tin would either be stream-tin, +looking like so much grey stone, or else tin in quartz, all little +blackish grains." + +"Then this is--" + +"Like the yellow iron you showed me once, and wanted to make me believe +was gold--a mare's nest?" + +My father looked at him with his brow all wrinkled up. + +"No," said the doctor quickly, "it is not tin, Duncan, but very fine +galena--" + +"Galena?" said my father; and I stared at the glittering blackish ore +like metallic coal. + +"Yes, sir, galena-lead ore, and I shall be very much surprised if we do +not find in it a large proportion of silver." + +"Silver!" cried my father excitedly. "Then it is a great find." + +"Great find, my boy? A very great find. Now get a hammer and let's +powder some of this up, and see whether we can melt it. Got a pair of +bellows?" + +"Oh yes, big ones." + +"Hah! That's right," said the doctor. "Now the way would be to take +our powdered specimens to the blacksmith's forge, and melt them there, +but that would be like letting the whole country-side know about it, and +we've no occasion to do that. I suppose no one knows as yet?" + +"No--I'm not sure," said my father; and he mentioned how Jonas Uggleston +seemed to be watching him. + +"That's bad. But never mind; the place is yours. Have you got your +deeds?" + +"No," said my father, "Lawyer Markley said they would be ready in a day +or two. That was last week." + +"Take the pony and ride over to Barnstaple at once, and get them. Don't +come back without them, or, mark my words, there'll be some quibble or +hindrance thrown in the way. Make quite sure of the place at once I +say." + +"But to-morrow, when we've tested these stones," said my father. + +"My dear Duncan," cried the doctor, "I'm a disagreeable crotchety +fellow, but you know you can trust me. Now, take my advice, and go +directly. If I saw a patient in a bad way, should I put off my remedies +till to-morrow; and if you saw that you were getting your ship +land-bound on a lee shore, would you wait till to-morrow before you +altered your course?" + +"No," said my father smiling. "There, I'll go." + +He started directly, and as soon as we heard the pony's hoofs on the +road the doctor turned to me. + +"Come along, Sep," he said, "and let's see if we can't make your +father's fortune." + +He was quite at home in our house, and I followed him into the back +kitchen, where he set me at work powdering up the specimens with a +hammer on a block of stone, while he built up in the broad open +fireplace quite a little furnace with bricks, into which he fitted a +small deep earthen pot, one that he chose as being likely to stand the +fire, which he set with wood and charcoal, after mixing the broken and +powdered ore with a lot of little bits of charcoal, and half filling the +earthen pot. This he covered with more charcoal, shut in the little +furnace with some slate slabs, and then, when he considered everything +ready, started the fire, which it became my duty to blow. + +This did not prove necessary after the fire was well alight, for the +doctor had managed his furnace so well that it soon began to roar and +glow, getting hotter and hotter, while, as the charcoal sunk, more and +more was heaped on, till the little fire burned furiously, and the +bricks began to crack, and turn first of a dull red, then brighter, and +at last some of them looked almost transparent. + +All this took a long time, and our task was a very hot one, for from +between the places where the bricks joined, the fire sent out a +tremendous heat, where it could be seen glowing and almost white in its +intensity. + +But hot as it was on a midsummer day, the whole business had a great +fascination for me, and I would not have left it on any account. + +The doctor, too, seemed wonderfully interested. Kicksey came about two +o'clock to say that the dinner was ready, but the doctor would not leave +the furnace; neither would I, and each of us, armed with a pair of tongs +from the kitchen and parlour, stood as close as we could, ready to put +on fresh pieces of charcoal as the fire began to sink. + +"How long will it take cooking, sir?" I said, after the furnace had +been glowing for a long time. + +"Hah!" he said, "that's what I can't tell you, Sep. You see we have not +got a regular furnace and blast, and this heat may not be great enough +to turn the ore into metal, so we must keep on as long as we can to make +sure. It is of no use to be sanguine over experiments, for all this may +turn out to be a failure. Even with the best of tools we make blunders, +my lad, and with a such a set out as this, why, of course, anything may +happen." + +"Anything happen, sir?" I said. + +"To be sure. That ore ought to have been put in a proper fire-clay +crucible." + +"What's a crucible, sir?" I said. + +"A pot made of a particular material that will bear any amount of heat. +Now perhaps while we are patiently waiting here that pot in the furnace +may have cracked and fallen to pieces, or perhaps melted away instead of +the ore inside." + +"Oh, but a pot would not melt, sir, would it?" I said. + +"Melt? To be sure it would, if you make the fire hot enough. Did you +ever see a brick-kiln?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And did you never see how sometimes, when the fire has been too hot, +the bricks have all run together?" + +"And formed clinkers, sir? Oh yes, often." + +"Well, then, there you have seen how a mixture of sand and powdered +stone and clay will melt, so, why should not that earthen pot?" + +"Then if that pot melts or breaks all our trouble will have been for +nothing, sir?" + +"Yes, Sep, and we must begin again." + +"But shouldn't we find the stuff melted down at the bottom of the fire?" + +"Perhaps; perhaps not; we might find it run into a lump, but we should +most likely find it not melted at all, and then, as I said, we should +have to begin over again." + +"That would be tiresome," I said. "But never mind, we should succeed +next time, perhaps." + +"We should try till we did succeed, Sep, my lad. There, that's the last +of the charcoal." + +"Shall I fetch some more?" I cried. + +"No, my lad, perhaps what has been burned may have melted it, so we'll +wait and see." + +"And take out the pot?" + +"No, we couldn't do that. We must wait till it cools down. Maybe by +and by I can take out a brick, and we shall be able to see whether the +ore has melted." + +I waited impatiently for this to be done, and about an hour later the +doctor took the top brick from the glowing furnace with the tongs, and +touched the charcoal embers, which fell at once down to a level with the +top of the pot, the interior having burned away, so as to leave quite a +glowing basket or cage of fire. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +THE RESULT OF THE SMELTING. + +But there was nothing to see yet, and the brick was replaced, the fire +roared once more, and for what must have been quite another quarter of +an hour we waited before the doctor took out the brick again. + +It was now possible to make out what seemed to be a regular ring red-hot +in the midst of so much glowing ember with which the pot was filled; and +into this the doctor thrust the poker, to find that it passed through +what was light as feathers. + +"I must be gentle," he said quietly, as he thrust the poker lower, till +he could gently tap the bottom of the pot. + +"It's quite sound," he said, as he gave the poker a stirring motion and +ended by withdrawing it. + +"I think we may let out the fire," he said; and we proceeded to bear +away the slates we had used for screens, and then to take down the +glowing bricks one by one, and toss them into the yard. + +This done, I proposed throwing a bucket of water over the heap of +embers, in the midst of which stood the pot. + +"No, thank you, young wisdom," said Doctor Chowne. "I should like to +have some result to show your father when he comes back. If you did +what you say, the pot would fly all to pieces, and where would our work +be then?" + +"I say, Doctor Chowne," I said, looking at him rather wistfully, "I wish +I knew as much as you do." + +"Learn then," he said. "I did not know so much once upon a time." + +As he spoke, he slowly and carefully drew the ashes down from about the +pot, and as they were spread about the brilliant glow began to give +place to a pale grey feathery ash, which flushed red, and then yellow, +whenever the air was disturbed, while the earthen pot that had been +red-hot changed slowly to a dull drab. + +"There, Sep," said the doctor, "that pot will take pretty well an hour +to get thoroughly cool, so we may as well go and have some dinner. What +do you say?" + +"I was thinking, sir," I said, "that if there is any metal in that pot +now, it would be something like the lead when we are casting sinkers for +fishing. Why couldn't we lift the pot with the tongs, and pour out +what's at the bottom and run it into a mould." + +"Have you got a mould, Sep?" he said. + +"Yes, sir; three different sizes--up here on the shelf." + +I went to a corner of the back kitchen, and reached down three dusty +clay moulds, one of which the doctor took and set upon the floor. + +"You are right," he cried. "There, take your tongs, and we'll catch +hold of the pot together, and set it out here. Then, both together, +mind, we'll pour out what there is into the mould." + +It was easy enough. We each got a good hold of the pot, lifted it out +with its glowing feathery charcoal ashes half filling it, and then, +after setting it down to get a more suitable hold, we tilted it +sidewise, and then more and more and more, but nothing came out save +some glowing ashes, which fell beyond the mould in a tiny heap. + +"Higher still, Sep, higher, higher," the doctor kept on saying; and we +tilted it more and more; but still nothing came till, just as we were +about to turn it upside down, there was a flash of something bright and +silvery, and a tiny drop of fluid metal ran out on to the mould, and +down the side. + +"That's it. Up with it, Sep. A little more this side. Now then." + +Up went the bottom of the pot higher still, and out came a little rush +of glowing charcoal, and directly after a bit of heavy clinker, and that +was all. + +"Oh, I say, doctor," I cried, "what a pity!" + +"Pity, my lad! I don't think so. Here, let me do it." + +He lifted up the piece of hard clinker and set it upon the slate slabs +by itself, and then taking hold of the mould with the tongs, he raised +it and gave it a tap or two on the floor, to get rid of the feather ash, +and I could see that there was what seemed to be a piece of thin lead +beginning in a sort of splash running to the edge in a thread, then down +the side of the mould, to finish off in a little round fat button of +metal. + +"Hah! I don't think we've done so badly after all, Sep," he said, as he +placed the mould upon the table; "but first of all, brush those embers +lightly aside, and let's see if there is anything left." + +I took a wisp of birch and did as I was told, but there was nothing to +be seen, and when the doctor took the pot out into the yard, and +carefully examined it, he found nothing there, and brought the little +clay vessel back. + +"You must take care of that pot, Sep," he said. "It is nothing to look +at, but a thing which will stand fire in that way may prove valuable. +Now, then, my lad, bring that bit of refuse, and we will go in and have +some dinner. These things will be quite cool by the time we have done." + +We carried our treasures into the parlour, and, to Kicksey's great +delight, had a wash and our dinner, while she obtained leave to clear +away what she was pleased to call our "mess." + +But the doctor did not let the dinner pass without carefully examining +the rugged piece of metal and the button, and then the piece of refuse, +the remains of the broken-up specimen. + +For my part I was not at all dazzled by the result of our experiment, +and at last, with my mouth full of jam and bread and cream, I said: + +"But that's only a shabby little bit to get out of all those bits I +broke up, isn't it, sir?" + +"Do you think so, Sep?" he replied smiling. + +"Yes, sir!" + +"Well, I think quite differently. We put in rough stony uncleansed ore, +and we have got out this piece. If there's plenty of it in the sides of +the Gap, my boy, and it is properly worked, your father will be a rich +man from the produce of the lead alone; and I feel pretty sure," he +continued, as he examined the scrap of metal through his glass, "that +there is a great deal of silver in this as well. Here, what are you +doing?" he cried. + +"I was looking to see if father was coming," I cried, as I turned back +at the door. + +"You need not look," he said quietly, "for it will be three hours at the +least before he can get back. The pony must have a rest at the town." + +I came back slowly, for I felt that what the doctor said was true, and +it seemed to be all so curious that our bit of mischief should turn out +so strangely that I did what was a very unusual thing for me in those +days, sat down and thought. + +The piece of metal was lying before me, and I took it up and examined +it, turning it over and over in my hands, while I could not keep a +strong feeling of doubt from creeping in. + +"Perhaps the doctor is wrong," I said to myself, and this may be worth +nothing at all; and as I thought in this fashion, I longed for my father +to come back, so as to hear what he had to say about the value of the +metal. For in those days I had a very frank loyal feeling towards my +father, and a belief in his being about the best man anywhere in the +neighbourhood, and that he knew better than anybody else. + +The silence in the room was broken by the entrance of Kicksey to take +away; and as she did so she took the opportunity of informing us that +she had cleared everything away, and that the kitchen was as clean once +more as a new pin. + +As I have before said, the doctor, as my father's old friend and +companion, was quite at home in our house, and, after refreshing himself +with a pinch of snuff, he proceeded to have some tobacco in another +form, for he went to the corner cupboard and got out the jar and a long +pipe, which he filled and lit, and then sat there in silence, watching +the piece of rugged metal. + +As he sat watching the metal and surrounding himself with smoke, I sat +and watched him, till it became so tiresome and dull that I rose quietly +at last, and stole out into the garden and had a look at the sea, all +aglow now with the evening sunshine, and looking curiously like the +burning charcoal when it had been spread out on the kitchen floor. + +It was very beautiful, but I had watched that too often, so I crossed +the garden and went out into the lane to see if I could find anything +amusing there. + +For it seemed to me that it might be very nice for my father to have +found a mine of lead and silver, and that it would be very interesting +to see it dug out and melted, as we had melted those pieces that day--of +course in a large way; but I did not feel as if I wanted to be rich, and +I would a great deal rather then have been wandering out there on the +cliff with Bob Chowne or Bigley Uggleston, when I heard a shout, and, +looking in the direction, there, high up on the cliff path, and coming +towards me with long strides, was my last-named school-fellow. + +"Hallo, Big!" I shouted, running towards him; "where are you going?" + +"Coming to look after you," he said. "Why didn't you come over again?" + +"Because I was wanted at home," I replied. "You might have come over to +me." + +"I couldn't. I didn't like to. Father was put out this morning, +because he saw you and your father on our grounds." + +"Your grounds!" I said. "Oh, come, that is a good one." + +"Well, father always talks about it as if all the Gap belonged to him. +What were you doing there?" + +"Having a walk," I was obliged to say. + +"Oh, well, you might have stopped." + +"Didn't I tell you my father wanted me," I replied in a pettish way. +"I've only just got out again." + +"I've been waiting at home to see if my father would come back. He +started off to walk to Barnstaple." + +"Your father has?" I cried involuntarily. "Why, that's where my father +has gone." + +"What! To Barnstaple, Sep?" + +I nodded. + +"I say," he said, "I hope they won't meet one another." + +"Why?" I exclaimed. + +"Because they might quarrel. I say, Sep, I wish your father and my +father were good friends like we are." + +I shook my head at that, and felt rather lofty. + +"I don't see how that can ever be," I replied; and then I felt quite +uncomfortable as I recalled my father being uneasy about old Jonas +watching us that morning. I felt, too, that it would be much worse now +if Jonas got to know that there was a mine upon the estate, and it +seemed as if we were going to be at the beginning of a good deal of +trouble. + +"Father went up the Gap after you had gone," said Bigley, "and I saw him +go right up to the place where we blew down the big rock, and when I saw +him go there I went indoors and got his spy-glass and watched him out of +the window." + +"I say, you oughtn't to watch people," I said sharply. + +"I know that," replied Bigley; "but I was afraid there was going to be a +bother, and I wanted to tell you if there was." + +"Well, what did he do?" + +"Why, if he didn't seem to make it all out exactly just where we had +been, and he followed down the place where the stone fell, and then went +on down till he came to the rough part where the rock was all bared, and +stooped and looked it all over and over. Oh, he has got eyes, my father +has. I could see as plain as could be through the spy-glass that he +picked up bits of the stone, and once he knelt down and I think he smelt +the stones." + +"Smelt them!" I exclaimed. + +"Yes, to find out about the gunpowder. He has found it all out, I'm +sure." + +"So am I," I said sadly, but without telling Bigley I meant something +else. + +"And then he went right down slowly just where the big rock slipped +along, and down to the stream, and washed his hands and came home." + +"And did he speak to you about it?" + +"No," replied Bigley. "I expected him to say a lot. I didn't mind, for +I should have told him all about it, and I don't think he would have +been very cross with me; but he didn't say a single word about it, +though I saw him shake his fist several times when he was talking to +himself, and soon after he set off to walk in to Barnstaple, and, as I +told you, he hasn't got back." + +Just then there was the clattering of hoofs, and I looked up and saw my +father coming down the zigzag road. + +"I must go now," I said. "Don't think me unkind, Big, old chap. Or you +stop and I'll come out to you again." + +"Yes, do," he said. "I'll go and sit down on the rocks till you come. +Only, mind you do." + +I promised that I would and we parted, one going down towards the sea, +the other along the lane, where I met my father looking very hot and +tired; but he seemed in good spirits, so I supposed that he had not met +old Jonas. + +"Well, Sep," he cried, "how about the experiment? What luck?" + +"Oh, we melted the stones, father, and got out of them a little bit of +lead." + +"It was lead, then?" he said eagerly, as we reached the cottage. + +"Yes, father, and Doctor Chowne says he thinks there's silver in it as +well." + +"You young dog!" cried the doctor, coming out pipe in mouth. "Why, you +are telling all the news, and there'll be nothing left for me to do." + +"Only show the stuff," I said. + +"Ah, yes; show the result," said the doctor. "But come in, Duncan, the +tea's waiting, and I want a cup myself." + +"And I am regularly tired out," cried my father. "Here, Sam, feed the +pony well, for he has worked hard." + +Sam, who had heard the pony coming, took the rein and led it off to the +stable, while I followed my father into the little parlour, where the +doctor caught him by the arm. + +"Here's the specimen, father," I said; but he did not turn his head, for +the doctor was speaking to him. + +"Did you get the deeds?" he said. + +"Chowne, you're as good as a witch," cried my father. + +"Why?" + +"As I came out of the lawyer's office, who should I see but old Jonas +Uggleston coming along the street, and as I went into the hotel I saw +him turn in where I had been." + +"But did you get the deeds?" cried the doctor. + +"Specimen, Sep?" said my father. "Oh, that's it, is it? Well, it +doesn't look worth all this trouble." + +"Duncan, what a man you are!" said Doctor Chowne pettishly. "I've said +twice over, Did you get the deeds?" + +"I beg your pardon, Chowne. Yes, of course. He wanted to put me off, +said I'd better let them stop with him, and that there was no hurry, and +that a little endorsing was wanted." + +"Oh, of course!" said the doctor. + +"But when he saw that I was in earnest, and that I meant to wait for +them, he set to work and got the business done--that is, all that was +wanted. In fact, it was a mere nothing." + +"And he wanted to keep them in his charge unsigned, with the chance of +making more of the estate to somebody else if that somebody else turned +up." + +"Jonas Uggleston to wit?" said my father. + +"Exactly. Duncan, old fellow, you see that you were just in time." + +"That's what I felt, Chowne; but there the deeds are safe and sound; the +Gap is thoroughly mine--my freehold." + +"And you may congratulate yourself on being the owner of a valuable lead +and silver mine." + +"Then you feel sure of that, Chowne?" said my father, who seemed quite +overcome. + +"I am certain of it; but of course I can't say what is the quantity." + +"Silver?" + +"Probably. Lead, certain." + +"Then, Sep, my boy--" cried my father excitedly, catching me by the +shoulder. + +"Yes, father," I said. + +I believe now that my father was going to say something about my growing +up to be a rich man; but he checked himself, and only said quietly: + +"Come and sit down to tea." + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +WE BALE THE ROCK POOL. + +Now there was very little done during the rest of our holidays; all I +remember was, that instead of old Jonas Uggleston being very +disagreeable, and making himself my father's enemy, he grew very civil +and pleasant, and nodded to my father when they met, and called him +"Captain." + +He was wonderfully kind to me too, asking me into the house, and seeming +very pleased whenever he knew that Bigley had come over to see me. + +The news that there was lead and silver in the Gap soon spread, and a +great many people came to see my father, and wanted to buy the little +estate; but he said no, that he should work it himself, for he wanted +some occupation; and he and the doctor planned it all out, how to begin +in a small way; and men were set to work to wall in the part where the +mine was to be opened, and to build sheds and pumping-house. + +But after a few days this became monotonous to us boys, who had plenty +of things to tempt us about the cliffs and the shore, and I'm going to +put down one or two of our bits of adventure which we had about this +time. + +Our little bay or cove was one of three or four little bays within one +big bay, formed by Norman's Head at the west and Barn's Nose in the +east, and all round from point to point there was one tremendous wall or +cliff of reddish or bluish rock, nowhere less than a couple of hundred +feet high; and the only places where you could get down to the sea were +at the heads of the coves, or where one of the little streams from the +moor made its way down to the beach. Here and there when the tide was +low lay patches of blackish sand, but the foot of the cliffs nearly all +the way was one jumble of great rocks, beginning with lumps, say as big +as a chest of drawers, and running up to rugged masses as large as +cottages. + +They did not look so big when you were up on the cliff path, six or +seven hundred feet above them; but when the tide went down, and we boys +went for a ramble over and among them, it was to find the smaller blocks +nearly as high as our heads, while the big ones made the most +magnificent climbing any lad could wish for who was an enemy to the +knees of his breeches and the toes of his boots. + +Of course we could have gone east or west along the cliff path as +peaceably as the sheep; but what was a walk like that to wandering in +and out among the sea-weed-hung masses, full of corners and ways as a +maze; with rock pools amongst them, and chasms and rifts, and rock +arches and hollows, and caves without end? + +Some of these blocks were of a sort of limestone or grit, and they were +rugged and rounded at the corner, and lumpy, but the slaty rocks were +generally flat-sided, and split off regularly, forming smooth flat forms +that often rose one above another in rough steps, so that you could +easily climb to the tops, or, where they had fallen and split away from +the cliff, and lay resting against one another, you could walk under +what seemed to be like great stone lean-to sheds, whose floors were as +often as not water as pure and clear as crystal. + +It was a wonderful place, and never ceased to attract us, for there was +always something to find when the tide had gone down leaving the rocks +bare. + +All the things that lived or grew upon them had been seen by us hundreds +of times, but after some months at school they always seemed new again, +and we got our little pawn nets and baskets, and went prawning with as +great zest as ever. + +There are plenty of ways to go prawning, I daresay, but I'll tell you +how we managed. We each used to have a small ring net, fixed at the end +of a six-foot stick that answered two or three purposes, and, with our +little baskets slung at our backs, set off along the shore. + +I remember one morning very well. It was about three weeks after +finding the lead vein that Bob Chowne and Bigley came over to the Bay, +and we started, our Sam saying that it was going to be a very low tide. + +Off we went down by the little waterfall which came along by the back of +our house, and down to the beach, getting as close to the sea as the +rocks would let us, and looking out for the first pool where the sea had +left a few prisoners. + +We were not long in seeing one, and then the thing was to approach as +quietly as possible and look in. + +These pools were generally fringed with sea-weed, great greenish-brown +fronds in one place, dark streaks of laver in another, and lower down +the bottom would be all pink with the fine corallite, while all about +the sea-anemones would dot every crack and hole, like round knobs of +dark red jelly, where the water had left them high and dry, spread out +like painted daisy flowers, where they were down in the pool. + +No matter how cautiously we approached, something would take fright. +Perhaps it would be a little shore crab that betrayed itself by +scuffling down amongst the corallite or sea-weed, perhaps a little +fierce-looking bristly fish, which shot under a ledge of the rock all +amongst the limpets, acorn barnacles, or the thousands of yellow and +brown and striped snaily fellows that crawled about in company with the +periwinkles and pelican's feet. + +Those were not what we wanted, but the prawns, which would be balancing +themselves in the clear water, and then dart backwards with a flip of +their tails right under the sea-weed or ledges. + +I remember that day so well because it was marked by a big black stone, +of which more by and by; and everything connected with our doings that +morning seems to stand out quite clear, as the Welsh coast did under the +clear blue sky. + +We reached our first pool, and Bob Chowne shouted, "There's one!" while +I was certain I saw two more. Then Bob and Bigley softly thrust in +their nets, and it became my duty to poke about among the sea-weed and +under the ledges where we had seen the prawns take shelter. + +At about the second stirring of the overhanging weed on one side, out +darted a big prawn. "I've got him!" cried Bob, and we all shouted +"Hooray!" but when the net was raised, dripping pearls in the bright +sunshine, the prawn was not there, for, preferring open water to nets, +it had shot between the two and taken shelter under the ledges on the +other side. + +But there he was, for there was no way out to where the sea sucked and +gurgled among the rocks three or four yards away, and we continued our +hunt, not to dislodge this one, but three more, one being larger, and +two much less. + +For a good ten minutes they dodged us about, hiding in all manner of +out-of-the-way corners, till all at once it seemed as if they must have +gone. The water, that had been brilliantly clear when we started, was +now thick with sand and broken sea-weed, and Bigley lifted out his net +to clear it and to let the water settle a little before we started +again. + +"I don't know where they've got to," said Bob sourly. "Prawns are not +half so easy to catch as they used to be." + +"Hallo! Why, here's one," cried Bigley just then, as he found one of +the biggest kicking about among the sea-weed that he had turned out of +the bottom of his net. + +This first capture was soon transferred to the basket, and the fact of +one being taken so encouraged Bob that he set to with renewed energy, +and the result was that we caught two more out of that pool, the biggest +of all--at least Bob Chowne said it was--having to be left behind in the +inaccessible crack where he had hidden himself. + +Another pool and another was visited with excellent luck, for the tide +was down lower than usual, and prawns seemed plentiful, there having +been plenty of time for them to collect since they were last disturbed, +for we boys were the only hunters on that deserted shore. So on we +went, one poking about among the weeds till the prawn darted backwards +into the nets held ready, and we had soon been able to muster over a +dozen. + +Then, all at once, we came upon quite a little pool right under a large +mass of rock with a smaller and deeper pool joined to it by a narrow +channel between two blocks of stone, and farther from the sea. + +We caught sight of several prawns darting under cover as we came in +sight, but, to our disgust, found that we could not attack them, the +pool being so sheltered by overhanging rocks that the only possible way +seemed to be by undressing and going into what was quite a grotto. + +Travellers tell us how the natives of some far-off islands dive into the +sea and do battle with sharks; but no boy ever lived who could dive into +a pool and catch a prawn in his native element--at least I never knew +one who could, and we were going to give it up after a few frantic +thrusts with our nets, when an idea occurred to me. + +"Here, I know!" I cried. "Let's bale out the little low hole, and that +will empty the big one." + +"To be sure," cried Bob. "Go it! But we've got nothing to bale with." + +"Big's shoes," I cried as I caught sight of them hanging from his neck, +tied together by their thongs, and each with a knitted worsted stocking +plugging up the toes. + +Big made not the slightest objection, but laughed as he pulled out his +stockings and thrust them into his breeches' pockets. + +The next minute he and I were scooping out the water at a tremendous +rate, making quite a stream flow down from the upper part under the +rock, and it soon became evident that in less than an hour both would be +dry. + +We worked away till I was tired and gave place to Bob Chowne, Bigley all +the while working away and sending out great shoefuls over the lower +edge of the rocks. + +I sat down to rest, and as I watched where the water fell I suddenly +made a dart at something thrown out, but it only proved to be a prickly +weaver. + +Five minutes later, though, Big threw out a prawn which had come down +with the current, and this encouraged him to work harder, but Bob began +to be tired, and he showed it by sending a shoeful of water at me, +making me shout, "Leave off!" + +Then he sent one flying over Bigley, who only laughed and worked on for +a few moments till Bob was not looking, and then sent a shower back. + +Bob jumped out of the hole like a shot and turned upon Bigley angrily: + +"You just see if I'm going to stop down there and be smothered with +water. Yah! Get out, you ugly old smuggler." + +As he spoke he flung Bigley's great shoe with a good aim down by his +feet, and splashed him completely all over. + +Some lads would have jumped out and pursued Bob in a fury, but Bigley +only brushed the water out of his eyes and began to laugh as if he +rather enjoyed it. + +"Come on, Sep," he cried to me; "you and I will finish, and if he comes +near we'll give him such a dowsing." + +I went to his help, and we worked so well that no less than six more +prawns came down to our pool, and were scooped out; and at last the +upper one was completely emptied, but it was nearly an hour's work. + +"Now then, I'll go in," said Bob, and he crept in through the rift +between the two pools, and under the overhanging rocks. + +"Oh!" he cried as soon as he was in, "what a jolly place! And--ugh! +Here's a conger." + +"No!" we cried together. + +"Yes there is, long as my arm, and he's squirming about. Here, give me +a landing-net. I'll poke him, and make him come out to you chaps." + +We handed him the net, and he began banging and thrusting at the rock +for some time without result. + +"Well, isn't he coming?" I cried. + +"No; he gets up in a corner here so that I can only feel his slippery +tail with the stick, and he won't come out." + +"Take hold of it with your hand and pull," said Bigley. + +"Oh yes, I daresay. Just as if I didn't know there's only one place +where you can hold on." + +"Where's that?" said Bigley. + +"With your hand in his mouth. You come and put yours in." + +Of course Bigley did not respond to the invitation, and the banging and +rattling went on for a few minutes longer. + +"Why don't you chaps stand away from the light? I can't see," cried +Bob. "That's better: now I can tell. Look out, boys, look out! Here +he comes." + +"Catch him in the net, Bob," I shouted. + +"Yah! Don't talk stuff," was the answer. "Look out! Is he coming your +way?" + +"No!" we both shouted, and then "Yes!" for there was a quick movement in +the channel between the two pools, and the next instant a large eel was +splashing and writhing in the water and sea-weed of the pool which we +had baled. + +"Here he is, Bob!" we shouted; and, as we finished the struggle which +resulted in our getting the eel into one of the nets, and then out on +the open rocks, and in a position to make it cease its writhings, Bob +Chowne backed out to look on and help us gloat over our capture, which +proved to be a plump young conger of a yard long. + +"Well, that's something," said Bob. "Now I'm going after the prawns. +No, you go, Sep," he said. "I don't see why I should do all the work." + +I went into the dripping grotto nothing loth, and by careful search +among the wet weed I found first one prawn and then another, till I had +thrown out six, the work being tolerably easy, for the little +horny-coated fellows made known their presence by their movements, +flipping their tails sharply and making a noise that betrayed their +hiding-places. + +The grotto-like place, shut in by some rocks overshadowed by others, was +so gloomy that it was hard to make out everything, but twice over I +noted a bit of a rift on my left all fringed with sea-weed and slippery +with anemones, where it was not rough with limpets and barnacles. + +"Was it down here, Bob, down on the left, that you found the conger?" + +"No," he shouted, "on the right." + +I looked round, and found the crack where the conger must have been, and +then came a summons from without. + +"Well, can't you find any more?" + +"No," I said; "but there's a big hole here. Perhaps there's another +conger." + +"Put your hand in and pull him out, then," cried Bob with a sneer. + +I did not answer, for I felt now very plainly how much easier it is to +give orders than to obey them. But a little consideration taught me +that there was nothing to fear, for if there was a conger in the hole +the chances were that he would have thrust his head into the farthest +corner, and that it would be his tail that I should touch. + +"Now, then," cried Bob. "Ar'n't you going to find any more prawns?" + +"I don't know," I said, as I carefully introduced my hand and arm, going +down on one knee so as to get closer, and so by degrees hand, arm, and +shoulder had nearly disappeared, as I touched the far end of the cleft. + +"Nothing," I said to myself, as I felt about with my cheek touching the +wet slippery sea-weed. Then I uttered a loud "Ugh!" and started away. + +"What's the matter?" cried my companions. + +"I don't know," I cried. "Here's something alive in a hole here." + +"Well, why don't you pull it out?" cried Bob. + +"I--I don't know," I said. But I'm afraid I did know. The feeling, +though, that my companions were laughing at me was too much, and with a +sudden burst of energy I thrust my hand right into the rift again, felt +down cautiously till my hand touched, not the slimy serpentine form of +an eel, but the hard back of a shell-fish, and as I touched it, there +was a curious scuffling down beneath my fingers that told me it was a +crab. + +"Hooray, boys!" I shouted. "Crab!" + +"Have him out, Sep! Mind he don't nip you!" they shouted; and after a +minute's hesitation I plunged my hand into the hole again, knowing that +I must feel for a safe place to get hold of the claw-armed creature, so +that I should not have to suffer a severe pinch or two, from its +nippers. + +I was pretty quick, but the crab was quicker, and as I caught it the +left claw seized tight hold, but only of my sleeve. + +My natural instinct was to start back, and this had the effect of +dragging the crab out of its lurking place, and I ran to the opening +holding out my arm, just as the crab dropped with quite a crash into the +little channel, and then began running sidewise back towards me and the +darkness. + +I stopped my prisoner with my foot, and he scuffled back and into the +little empty pool, where he tried hard to hide himself under the +sea-weed fronds, but Bigley worked him out, and by clever management +avoided the pincers, which were held up threateningly, and popped him +into one of the baskets. + +"It's my turn now," said Bigley. "Think there's anything else?" + +"I don't know," I said. "Try." + +"What's the good of saying that?" said Bob laughing. "He couldn't get +in." + +"Oh, couldn't I?" cried Bigley. "You'll see. Mind that eel don't slip +out. Now you'll see." + +He rolled up his sleeves nearly to the shoulder, and picking out the +widest spot began to crawl in, dragging himself slowly through, and at +last drawing his legs in after him, and standing in a bent position +right under the rock. + +"There!" he cried triumphantly. "Who can't get in? Now then, where are +these cracks?" + +"Right up at the other end," I cried; and he groped on into the narrower +part, Bob and I looking into the slippery grotto-like place enjoying his +slow cumbersome manner, and paying no heed to the fact that the tide had +turned, and that already a little water had run into the little pool +where we had baled. + +"Found anything, Big!" we shouted, though he was only a couple of yards +away. + +"N-no. Nothing here. I'm going to try this other hole. Oh, I say, +isn't it deep?" + +"Mind! Mind!" shrieked Bob, and Bigley scuffled back. + +"What--what is it?" he panted. + +"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" roared Bob. "Did he bite you?" + +"What a shame!" grumbled Bigley in his gruff voice. "I didn't try to +scare you. I don't care though. You won't frighten me again." + +He crept back, and we could hear him grunting and panting. + +"I say, it is deep," he said. "I've got my arm in right to the shoulder +and there's nothing here. Stop a minute; here's a crack round this +corner where I can get my hand. It's quite a big opening with water in +it, and slippery things in the rock, and--Ugh!--oh!--ah!" + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +A TERRIBLE DANGER. + +Bigley dragged his arm out of the crack and came scuffling back to us, +and as soon as he reached the opening we could see that he looked quite +pale. + +"Why, Big, what is it?" I cried eagerly. + +"Don't frighten him. He has seen the ghost of an old cock shark," cried +Bob Chowne grinning. + +"Oh, I don't know," he panted. "Something soft, and cold, and alive." + +"Why, it was a jelly-fish," we said together. "Did it sting?" + +"No. You wouldn't find jelly-fishes in a hole like that. It felt like +a tremendously great polly-squiggle with a big parrot's beak, and my +hand nearly went in." + +"Get out!" said Bob, "there are no big ones." + +"How do you know?" retorted Bigley. "That felt just like a large one." + +"Did he take hold of you with his suckers?" I said. + +"No, I didn't give him time." + +"If it had been a polly-squiggle it would have got you fast directly +with its suckers," I said oracularly. + +"Never mind what it was, old Big. Go in and fetch it out again." + +"No; one of you two go, I don't like," said Bigley. "You can't see +where you're putting your hand; and suppose he bites it off?" + +"Why, then, you could have a wooden peg," said Bob sneeringly. "Here, +come out, my poor little man, and let me go in. I'll soon fetch out my +gentleman, you see if I don't. Here, come out." + +Bob Chowne never meant to go in. His face said as much as he looked +round at me; but his words had the effect he intended, for Bigley +grunted and went back as far as the narrow crack in the grotto would +allow, and boldly thrust in his hand. + +"Mind, Big," I said seriously, "be ready to snatch away your fist." + +He did not answer, but we heard him draw his breath hard; then there +came a splashing noise, and directly after our school-fellow backed +towards us. + +"I've got him," he shouted, his voice sounding hollow and strange. + +"What is it?" + +"I dunno," he cried, and then, wrenching himself round, he dropped +something soft down upon the rock. + +"Why, it's a crab!" I cried. + +"A soft one," shouted Bob. "He can't nip now." + +As he spoke he poked the curious-looking object with his finger, making +it wince and threaten with its claws, but they were perfectly soft, and +it was evident that the creature had only just crept out of its old +shell, and was hiding away in the dark hole waiting for the new armour +to form. + +"Well, he is a rum one," said Bob, growing bolder. "Why, he's just like +a counterfeit is when you pull his tail out of a whelk shell." + +"Not quite so soft," I said, gaining confidence and handling the crab in +turn, for it was not so fleshy feeling as the back part of hermit crabs, +which we called counterfeits in our part of the world. + +"What shall we do with if?" said Big. "It isn't good to eat now." + +"Kill the nasty, bloaty thing, and throw it in for bait for the fishes." + +"No, no," I said, "put it down and let it creep back. It will grow into +a fine crab, and we know its hole and can come and get it some day when +the tide's down." + +"That's it," said Big; and taking the pulpy, soft crab, which pinched at +his hands without the slightest effect, he crept back and thrust it into +its hiding-place once again. + +We two were looking in after him when--_thud_!--_plash_!--came a wave, +breaking just below us and drenching us from head to foot, while a +quantity of the water rushed into our baled-out hole, filled it, and +began running swiftly up the channel, so swiftly that we saw at a glance +it would only take another or two to fill the upper pool. + +"Here, come out, Big. Quick!" I cried. "Tide's coming in. Now, Bob, +get the baskets and nets." + +I ran down a few yards, and was only just in time to snatch mine up +before a wave washed right over the spot where they had lain. For the +tide was coming in rapidly, and, as I have shown, we were on a part of +the shore that was only bare about once a month. + +"All right," cried Bob. "I've got mine and old Big's." + +"Where are Big's shoes?" I said. + +"Down by the pool. Come on, Big, old chap," shouted Bob. + +"I'll get them," I said, and I ran to the bottom pool and had to fish +them out of the bottom where they had been left. + +As I took them out I felt ready to drop them, but I did not, for I flung +them and my net and basket as far up the shore as I could, and held out +my hands to Bigley, who was looking out at me from the grotto-like +place. + +"Why don't you come out?" I cried. "Can't you see the tide's coming +in?" + +"Yes--yes," he said in a curious hollow voice, "I can see, but I can't +move. I'm stuck fast. Help!" + +I felt a chill of horror, and in those moments saw the tide rising +higher and higher till it had filled the little cavern and drowned my +poor school-fellow, we his companions being unable to drag him out. + +Those thoughts only occupied moments, but they made an impression that I +have never forgotten, and I don't think I ever shall have the memories +weakened. + +I saw it all plainly enough. Poor fellow! He had been startled by the +incoming tide and tried to creep out, but not in about the only part +that would permit of his passing, but in the first that offered, and he +had become fixed, and, as in a few words he explained, the harder he +tried to free himself the tighter prisoner he became. + +"Here, Bob! Bob!" I shouted in such a tone of anguish that he came +running from the back of the rocks to where I was standing knee-deep in +water. + +"Get out!" he shouted as soon as he saw me. "You can come. Look here, +if you play me a trick like--" + +"No, no, don't go," I shouted. "Bob: he's fast!" + +Bob dashed down to me now as quickly as the rough place would let him. +He had thrown down his load at my first appeal for help, and as he came +splashing through the water he looked horribly pale. + +He saw the position in an instant, and stood by me too much horrified to +act; and, as he told me afterwards, his thoughts were just like mine. +How long would it take to go to the Gap and bring Bigley's father with a +boat? + +"Can't you get any farther?" I cried at last as a fresh wave came +rushing in, and nearly swept me off my legs. + +"No; I'm fast; I can't move," said Bigley in a hoarse whisper. "Run for +help." + +"No, no," shouted Bob. "Don't go, Sep. We must get him out." + +The curious dreamy feeling of helplessness had left us both now; and, +taking hold of our companion's hands, we set our feet against the rock +and dragged with all our might, while poor Bigley struggled and +strained, but all in vain. He had by his unaided efforts got to a +certain distance and then stopped. Our united power did not move him an +inch. + +We stopped at last panting, and all looking horror-stricken in each +other's faces. It was a calm enough day, but down there among the rocks +the tide rushed in with such fierce power and so rapidly that we were +being deluged by every wave which broke, while at intervals the greater +waves threatened to be soon big enough to sweep us away. + +"Don't stop looking," cried Bob Chowne frantically. "Sep, Sep! Pull, +pull!" + +He dashed at poor Bigley again, and we dragged with all our might; but +the efforts were vain, and again we stared at each other in despair. + +"Try again!" I cried breathlessly, and with a horrible feeling coming +over me as I once more seized my school-fellow's hand. + +Bob followed my example, and again we dragged and hauled at the poor +fellow, whose great eyes stared at us in a wildly appealing way that +seemed to chill me. + +It was of no use. We could not stir him, and we stopped again panting, +as a bigger wave struck us and drove us against the rocks, and ran +gurgling up into the grotto where poor Bigley was fixed. + +"Shall I run for help?" groaned Bob, who was crying and sobbing all the +time. + +I shook my head, for I knew it was of no use, and then dashed at poor +Bigley again, to catch hold of his hand, not to drag at it, but to hold +it in both mine. + +I don't know why I did it, unless it was from the natural feeling that +it might encourage and comfort him to have someone gripping his hand in +such a terrible time. + +I tried not to think of the horror as the water splashed and hissed +about us, and gurgled horribly in the grotto; but something seemed to be +singing in my ears, and I heard again the shrieking of a poor boy who +was drowned years before by getting one leg fixed in a rift among the +rocks when mussel gathering and overtaken by the tide. + +He, poor fellow, was drowned, for they could not drag him out, and it +seemed to me that our poor schoolmate must lose his life in the same way +unless we could devise some means to rescue him. + +We looked round despairingly, and for a moment I tried to hope that the +tide might not, upon this occasion, rise so high; but a glance at the +top of the rocks showed them to be covered with limpets and weed, +indicating that they were immersed at every tide, as I well enough knew, +and I could not suppress a groan. + +"Sep," said poor Bigley, drawing me closer to him, with his great strong +hand, and gazing at me with a terribly pathetic look in his eyes. "Sep, +tell poor father not to take on about it. We couldn't help it. An +accident. Tell him it was an accident, will you?" + +I could not answer him, and I turned to Bob Chowne, who was standing +with his fingers now thrust into his ears. + +"Bob!" I cried. "Bob, let's try again!" + +He sprang to poor Bigley's other hand, and we dragged and tugged with +slow steady strain and sharp snatch, but without any effect; and every +now and then, as we pulled, the waves came right up, and drove us +against the rock. + +"It's of no use, boys," said Bigley at last. "I'm fast." + +"Help!" yelled Bob Chowne with all his might; but in that great solitude +his voice had no more effect than the wail of a sea-bird. There was not +a soul in sight either on cliff path or the shore. Out to sea there +were sails enough, small craft and goodly ships going and coming from +Bristol and Cardiff; but no signals on our part were likely to be seen. +And besides, if they had been understood, it would have been an hour's +row to shore from the nearest, and before a quarter of that time had +elapsed the rocks where we stood would be under water. + +"Big, Big!" I cried piteously in my despair and wonder to see him now +so pale and calm; "what shall we do?" + +"Nothing," he said in a low whisper. "Only be quiet now; I'm going to +say my prayers." + +I dropped down on my knees by him and hid my face, and how long I knelt +there I don't know; but it was till I was lifted by the tide and driven +heavily against the rocks. + +"It's of no use," said Bigley then, after a tremendous struggle. "I +can't get out. You must go." + +"For help?" I said. + +"No; run both of you, or you'll be drowned." + +As he spoke a wave came in, broke and deluged us, and I don't know what +my words would have been if Bob Chowne had not wailed out: + +"Nobody sha'n't say I didn't stick to my mate. I sha'n't go. I won't +go. Sep Duncan may if he likes, but I shall stop." + +He caught frantically at poor Bigley's collar as he spoke, set his +teeth, and then closed his eyes. + +"No, no! Run, Bob; run, Sep!" panted Bigley, as if he was being +suffocated; "the water will be over us directly, and you must go and +tell poor father where I am." + +"I sha'n't go and leave you two," I said sullenly; and I also caught +hold of him, set my teeth, and swung round as a bigger wave than ever +came rolling smoothly in, and regularly seemed to leap at us as it broke +upon the rocks, and after deluging us, rushed up, and came down again in +a rain of spray. + +What followed seems wild and confused, for the sea was rising fast, and +we were deluged by every wave, while the greater ones that came every +now and then threatened to snatch us away; but everything was as if it +occurred in a dream. + +Somebody said to me once that Bob Chowne and I behaved in a very heroic +manner, standing by our school-fellow as we did; but I don't think there +was much heroism in it. We couldn't go and leave him to drown. I +wanted to run away, and Bob Chowne afterwards said that he longed to go, +but, as he put it, poor fellow, it seemed so mean to leave him to drown +all alone. + +At all events we stayed, and, as I say, what followed appears to me now +to have been dreamy and strange. The water came splashing over us +always, but every now and then a great solid wave drove us together, +lifting us to strike against the rocks, and then letting us fall +heavily, but only to leap in again, and snatch us up as they beat, and +swirled, and hissed, and dragged at us like wild creatures, and if we +had not held on so tightly to poor Bigley, we must have been washed +outwards from the shore. + +As I say I don't know how long this lasted, only that we were getting +more and more helpless and confused, when a tremendous wave came rolling +in and struck full in the grotto-like opening where poor Bigley was +wedged. I felt as if my arms had been suddenly wrenched from their +sockets, and then I was being carried out by the retiring wave. + +It was so natural to us sea-side boys that I involuntarily struck out, +tossing my head so as to get the water out of my eyes, and then I saw +that Bob Chowne was swimming too, a short distance from me. + +My next glance was in the direction of the little cave now some ten +yards away, about whose mouth the water was rising and falling; and as I +looked, there was nothing but water; then Bigley seemed to crawl out +quickly into the next rising wave, and then he too seemed to be swimming +towards the shore. + +It appeared to be so impossible that I could not believe it, or do +anything but swim in amongst the rocks where the long slimy sea-tangle +was washing to and fro; but there was no fancy about it, as I found, for +Bigley was standing knee-deep in the water, and ready to give us each a +hand as we staggered in. + +"Why, Big," I exclaimed, "how did you manage to get out?" + +He could not answer me, nor yet Bob Chowne, when he repeated the +question, but walked slowly and heavily up towards the cliff, and sat +down upon a dry stone, to rest his head upon his hands, while we +respected his silence. + +It was some time before he could speak, and when he did, it was in a +dull half-stupefied way, to explain what was simple enough, namely, that +when that last big wave came, it struck him violently and buried him +deep, the blow, and the natural effort to escape from the water, making +him shrink backwards into the hole, a task he achieved without much +difficulty; while, when, as the wave retired, he made another effort to +pass out, he involuntarily tried where the rocks were a little farther +apart, or placed his body in a different position, for he glided out +over the slimy rock with ease. + +His explanations were, however, like our questions, confused; and we had +only one thought now, which was to get home and obtain dry clothes, so +we parted as we reached the nearest combe, Bigley going one way +bare-footed, and we the other, Bob Chowne afterwards going home in a +suit of mine. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +WE MAKE ANOTHER SLIP. + +I'm afraid that we thought very little about Bigley's escape from a +horrible death, for by nine o'clock the next morning he was over at the +Bay, and while we were talking outside, Bob Chowne came trotting up, +holding on to the mane of his father's pony, for the doctor had ridden +over to see my father. + +Half an hour later we were down on the beach to look for our baskets and +nets which had been covered by the tide, and which we were too much +exhausted to hunt for after our escape. + +For a long time we had no success, for, until the tide ran lower, we +were not quite sure of the spot; but we hung about hour after hour till +the cluster of rocks were uncovered, and as soon as the water was low +enough we were down at the place, and, but for the labour necessary to +bale out the lower pool, we should, I am sure, have crawled in again to +try how it was Bigley was held. + +It did not take much examination to show that, however, for it was plain +enough now to see how one part of the opening was a good deal narrower +than the other; and here it was that Bigley had become fast, never once +striving in his horror to get back, but always forward like an animal in +a trap. + +As I stood there looking, the whole scene appeared to come back again, +and I shuddered as I seemed to see my school-fellow's agonised face +gazing appealingly in ours, and for the moment the bright sunny day +looked overcast. + +"Come away," I said nervously; "let's look for the nets." + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Bob, who had quite recovered his spirits and took +up his usual manner; "look at old Sep! He's frightened, and thinks it's +his turn to be stuck in the rock." + +"Never mind; let's look for the nets," said Bigley, who seemed to be +more in sympathy with me, and we set to work, finding one before long, +buried all but a scrap of the net in the beach sand and shingle. + +This encouraged us, and we hunted with more vigour, finding another +wedged in between some blocks of rock, and soon after we discovered +something that we had certainly expected would have been swept out to +sea, namely, one of the baskets. + +It was the one which contained the crab, and it had been driven into a +rock pool surrounded by masses of stone, which had held it as the tide +retired. + +To our great satisfaction the crab was still inside alive and uninjured; +but we found no more relics of our expedition. The other baskets were +gone with the eel and prawns, and the third net was wanting. I must +except, though, one of Bigley's shoes, which had been cast up four +hundred yards from the rock pool, and lay at high-water mark in a heap +of sea-weed, battered wreck-wood and shells. + +I am not going to enumerate all our adventures during those holidays; +but I must refer to one or two more before passing on for a time to the +more serious matters in connection with the silver mine in the Gap, +where, while we were enjoying ourselves on the shore or up one of the +narrow glens baling out holes to catch the trout, business matters were +progressing fast. Our mishap was soon forgotten, and we determined to +have another prawning trip, for, as Bob Chowne said, there was no risk +over it, if we didn't go and stick ourselves between two stones ready +for the tide to come in and drown us. "But it was an accident," said +Bigley gravely. "Oh, no, it wasn't," cried Bob; "an accident's where +you can't help it--where a boat upsets, or a horse falls down, or a +wheel falls off, or you slip over the edge of the cliff." + +"Well, that was an accident too," I said; "wasn't he nearly drowned?" + +"No," cried Bob, "not nearly; and how could it be an accident when he +crept into the hole, and turned round and stuck fast when he tried to +get out?" + +It was of no use to argue with Bob that morning, as we three ran down to +the shore after finding that old Uggleston's lugger was at sea, crushing +the weed under our feet, and enjoying the curious salt smell that +ascended to our nostrils. We had another net, and a big basket, +borrowed of our Sam. It was not so handy as our old ones, for two of us +had to carry it; but as I said it would hold plenty, and we could lay a +bit of old net over the prawns to keep them from flicking themselves +out. + +"I don't believe we shall catch any to-day," said Bob, who was in one of +his hedgehog fits, as Bigley used to call them. But he was wrong, for +after walking about a mile along the shore, so as to go right away from +the cottages, the first pool we stopped at gave us three fine fat +fellows. + +In another we were more successful, and as we roamed: farther and +farther away the better became our sport. + +This time we went on past the Gap, and under the tremendous cliffs that +kept the sun from shining down upon the shore in winter. Then on and on +with our numbers always increasing, for we passed very few pools that +did not contain one prawn at least. + +"I tell you what," said Bob, as we stopped to rest, net in hand; "we'll +go to old Big's this afternoon, and get Mother Bonnet to boil the +prawns, and then have a thorough good feast. You'll find us some bread +and butter, won't you, Big?" + +"Of course," he replied; "but we haven't got them home yet." + +"No," said Bob, "we haven't got them home; but you're not going to get +stuck in a hole this time, are you?" + +Bigley shook his head, and the remarks were forgotten, as we discovered, +just washed in by the tide, a good-sized cuttlefish, that was quite +dead, however, having been killed I suppose by being bruised against the +rocks, so we were not favoured with a shower of ink. + +A little farther on we came to a bare smooth patch of dark sand, over +which the sea ran gently, sweeping before it a rim of foam which +sparkled and displayed iridescent colours like a soap-bubble. Here we +found our first jelly-fish, a beautifully clear disc of transparency +about the size of a penny bun, and from which, when we plunged it in the +first rock pool, hung down quite a lovely fringe of the most delicate +hues. + +Perhaps it was too nearly dead from being washed ashore, for it did not +sting, as some of these creatures do slightly, when encountered while +bathing. + +We thought the jelly-fish curious, but it was not good to eat, so it was +left in the little rock pool with a few tiny shrimps, to get well or +die, and we went on kicking over the little shells, getting our feet +wet, and finding more prawn-haunted pools, as we made for one big rock +which lay close to the water's edge, a quarter of a mile farther on, +where it stood up in the midst of a clump of smaller ones, the beach +around being tolerably level for some distance. + +"That's where old Binnacle always goes when he wants to find a lobster," +said Bigley; "and I shouldn't wonder if we get one, for he hasn't been +there lately." + +"How do you know?" I said. + +"Because he hasn't sold one, nor given us one, nor had one himself." + +"There, hark at him!" cried Bob. "How can you tell?" + +"Easy enough." + +"But how?" + +"Haven't lobsters got shells?" + +"Yes." + +"And aren't they red?" + +"Why, of course they are." + +"Well, don't they always throw the shells out on the heap by the +pig-sty?" cried Bigley. "And there hasn't been one there since I came +home. Old Bill has been too busy making a new net to go lobstering." + +"I say, what a day for a bathe!" cried Bob suddenly, as we approached +the big rock which formed out here a point, from which a series of +smaller rocks ran right to sea, for the heads of some were level with +the surface, and others only appeared at times. + +"Why, you couldn't bathe here," said Big; "you ought to know that." + +"Why not?" cried Bob. + +"Because the tide hits against those rocks, and then runs right out to +sea like the river runs down the Gap after a storm." + +"Oh, I don't believe all these old stories," cried Bob contemptuously; +"and suppose it did run out, couldn't I swim out of the stream and come +ashore?" + +"No." + +"Oh, couldn't I? Precious soon let you see." + +"Hi! Look there," cried Bigley, "there's father's boat." + +"Where?" I said. + +"Out yonder. He has been with Binnacle Bill to Swincombe, and that's +them coming back." + +"Why, you can't see anything but a bit of sail," cried Bob scoffingly, +as he shaded his eyes and looked far-off into the west. + +"No, but I know the shape of it," cried Bigley. "There isn't another +boat hereabouts with a sail like that." + +"I don't believe you know it," cried Bob. "It's a Frenchman, or a +Dutchman, or a Welsh boat." + +"Well, you'll see," said Bigley decisively, and the matter dropped, for +we were close up to the big rock now, a mass that stood about a dozen +feet above the beach, and to our great delight there were several little +pools about, all of which seemed to be well occupied by the toothsome +delicacies we sought. + +The baskets were set down and we were soon hard at work catching prawn +after prawn; but, though we peered into every crack, and routed about as +far as we could reach, there was no sign of a lobster large or small. + +"Never mind," said Bob sourly, "they're rather out of season if you do +catch them now. I don't mind." + +For another half hour or so, with the tide coming whispering and lapping +in, we went on prawning, getting a dozen fine ones. + +Then Bob insisted upon bathing, and it was only by an effort we stopped +him from going into the water at so dangerous a spot. + +It was Big who took off his attention at last, by telling him that he +could not scale the big rock and get on the top. + +"Tchah!" cried Bob sneeringly; "why, I could almost hop on it." + +We laughed at him, and he began to peer about for one of the surrounding +pieces to form a step to help him part of the way, but all were too +distant, the great stone lying quite isolated. There was one spot, +though, where the big stone was split, as if some gigantic wedge had +been driven in to open it a little way, and here, as it was encrusted +with limpets, there seemed to be a good prospect for us to climb up the +roughened sides. + +As it proved it was like many tasks in life, it looked more difficult +than it really was, and by the exercise of a little agility and some +mutual help we contrived to get to the top, where there was a large +depression like a caldron, scooped out by the action of the sea upon a +heavy boulder lying therein, and which looked as if, when the waves +beat, it must be driven round and round and to and fro. + +We all sat down with our legs in the hole, following Bigley's example as +he set himself to watch the coming of his father's boat, which was +growing plainer now every minute, and trying, by spreading all the sail +she could, to reach the Gap. + +"I wonder how long she'll be?" said Bob, sitting there with his chin +upon his hands. + +"About an hour," replied Bigley. + +"What! Coming that little way? Why, she's close here." + +"It isn't close here, and the boat's a good six miles away, I know," +replied Bigley. "Distances are deceiving by the sea-side." + +"Hark at the doctor," cried Bob; "he's going to give us a lecture. I +say, this isn't school." + +It was very pleasant seated there on that smooth, warm platform of rock +in the glowing sunshine, and with the soft sea-breeze fanning our +cheeks. There was plenty of room, and before long we were all lying +down in various attitudes. Bob turned himself into a spread-eagle by +lying upon his back, and tilting his cap over his nose as he announced +that he was going to sleep. + +We both laughed and did not believe him, as we each took up the position +most agreeable to him, Bigley stretching himself upon his breast, +folding his arms and placing his chin upon them, so as to gaze at his +father's boat with undivided attention. + +As for me, I lay on my side to stare at the great wall of cliff that ran +along the land, and curved over and over into great hills and mounds. + +It was very beautiful to watch the many tints in the distance, and the +bright colours of the broken rock. The upper parts were of a velvety +green; then in the hollows where the oak-trees flourished there were +endless tints, against which the soft grey of the gulls, as they floated +along, seemed to stand out bright and clear. + +We three lads had been walking and climbing and exerting ourselves for +hours now, and the strange restful sensation of stretching one's self on +that warm, smooth mass of rock was delicious. + +To make it more agreeable, the soft wind fanned our faces, and the sea +seemed to be whispering in a curious lulling way that was delightful. + +I remember raising myself a little to look at Bob Chowne in his lazy +attitude. Then I stared at Bigley, who had doubled back his long legs, +as he watched the boat, whose sails seemed to be coming nearer now, and +then I sank back in my former attitude, to gaze at the cliffs and the +soft blue sky flecked with silvery gauzy clouds. + +Then one of the big grey gulls fixed my attention, and I lay staring at +it hard, and watching its movements, as I wondered why it was that it +should keep flying to and fro, for nothing apparently, turning itself so +easily by a movement of the tail, and curving round and round without an +effort. + +That gull completely fascinated me. Sometimes it floated softly so near +that I could plainly see its clear ringed eye and the colour of its +beak, the soft white of its head and under parts, the delicate grey of +its back, and the black tips of its wings, which formed soft bends that +sustained the great bird with the slightest exertion. For now and then +it beat the air a little, then the wings remained motionless a minute at +a time, and the secret of flying seemed to me to be to float about in +that clear transparent air, just as a fish did in the sea. + +It was very wonderful to watch it, feeling so dreamy and restful the +while. The gull seemed to have fixed its eyes on me, and to know that I +was noting all its graceful evolutions, and I felt that it was flying +and floating and gliding to and fro, and round and round, now up, now +down, on purpose to show off its powers to me, for it never occurred to +me that the bird was waiting till my eyes were closed to make a pounce +down upon the big basket and help itself to the prawns. + +No, it all seemed done for my special benefit, and lulled by the lapping +of the sea, and with the fanning motion of the gull's wings having a +curiously drowsy effect, I lay there watching--watching, till I seemed +to be able to float with the gull, and to be gliding onward and onward +through space, up and down, up and down, in a soft billowy, heaving +movement, with the blue sky above me, the green cliff-side draped with +oak and ivy below, and all about me, and pervading me and sustaining me +as the sea did when I swam, there was the soft pure air. + +Was I a gull or myself? I did not know, only that I seemed to be +floating deliciously on with wide-spread invisible wings, and that there +was no such thing as the earth and shore, over which I laboriously +plodded, for me. + +It was one soft dreamy ecstasy, such as comes to the weary sleeping in +the summer breeze out in the open air. Now and then I seemed to hear +the wild softened harshness of the gull's cry, then all was still again, +and I was floating on and on, wishing nothing, wanting nothing, only to +go on, when all at once a huge roc-like bird seemed to sweep over +between me and the sunshine, to grasp me as Sindbad was seized, and +raise me up. + +But this roc spoke and cried harshly: + +"Quick! Wake up! You have been to sleep." + +"Sleep?" I said, rousing myself. "Sleep?" + +"Yes; we've all been to sleep, and--Here, Bob! Wake up! Wake up!" + +He shook Bob Chowne, who was so sound that it was with difficulty he +could be made to sit up, and in that little interval I realised why it +was that Bigley looked so scared. + +It was plain enough: tired out with our prawning, we had been +thoughtless enough to let our weariness get the better of us, and while +we had slept the enemy had not only approached, but surrounded us and +cut us off from the shore. In fact, as we stared about us, a wave +struck the rock and sent its soft spray right up to where we were +standing. + +"Here, what's the matter?" cried Bob. "I say, what is it? Oh, I say, +where are the prawns?" + +Prawns? They and the baskets were far away now, while the nets might be +anywhere. Between us and the shore the water for a good hundred yards +was six feet deep at least, and there was a swim of a hundred and fifty +before we could begin to wade, while, if we did not start at once, there +would be a swim of nearly half a mile, for the points of the little bay +where we were would soon be covered, the rocks were perpendicular, and +to stay in the bay was to be drowned. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +A PERILOUS SWIM. + +"I say, what shall we do?" cried Bob. + +"We must take off our clothes and swim for it," said Bigley. + +"No, no," I cried, for the idea was appalling. "Let's stay here." + +"What, and be swept off?" said Bob. "No; Bigley's right. We must swim +for it. No, I see! There's your father's lugger, Big. Let them come +and take us off." + +"They durstn't come in on account of the rocks," said Bigley slowly. + +"Then, let them send the boat. Let's hail them." + +"Yes, they might send the boat," said Bigley thoughtfully, "and they +would if we could make them understand." + +"Shout," cried Bob. + +"What's the use when they're nearly two miles away." + +"'Tisn't so far, is it?" I said in an awe-stricken whisper. + +"Almost," he said. "The wind's against them, and they're beating up +very slowly, and keeping off so as to run straight in when they get past +the point. You see they don't want to go in at the Gap till it's +high-water and the pebble bar is covered." + +"But they must hear us," cried Bob, "and send a boat to fetch us off. I +don't know that I could swim so far as the shore, and we should have to +undress and lose all our clothes. Here, ahoy! Boat--oh! Ahoy!" + +The sound died away in the vast space, but there was no movement aboard +of the lugger, and after each had hailed in turn, and we had all shouted +together, we looked at each other in despair. + +"Oh," cried Bob, "what a set of stupids we are! Only just now we went +and got into trouble, and lost our nets and baskets, and now we've been +and done it again. Here, Big, it's all your fault, what are we going to +do?" + +Bigley looked to sea, and he looked to shore, and then down at the +water, that kept lapping round the rock and rising and falling. The +small blocks all about us had long been covered, and at its most +quiescent times the sea was now within some three feet of the top, while +as the waves swayed and heaved, they ran up at times nearly to where we +stood. + +The peril did not seem very great, because we did not quite realise our +position; but stood disputing as to which would be the better +proceeding--to try and swim ashore, or to wait till we could attract the +notice of those on board the boat. + +Several attempts were made to do the latter, for the stripping to swim +with the loss of our clothes was not a course to be thought upon with +equanimity; and though we shouted and waved handkerchiefs, the lugger +pursued its slow way, and it was quite plain that we were not seen. + +Meanwhile the water was steadily rising up the sides of our little +island rock, and our position was beginning to wear a more serious +aspect. + +"We shall have to swim ashore, boys," said Bigley, speaking in a tone +which seemed to indicate that he would rather do anything else. + +He looked towards the cliff as he spoke, and being so much taller than +we, of course he had a much better view. + +"Oh!" he exclaimed, with a look of horror, "the tide is round both +points, and we shall have to swim right along ever so far before we can +land." + +"No, no," cried Bob, "let's swim straight in." + +"I tell you," cried Bigley, "if we do, we shall be drowned." + +"What nonsense!" cried Bob. "Why, we'd climb up the rocks." + +"There is not a place where you could climb," said Bigley gloomily. "I +know every yard all along here, and there isn't a single spot where you +could get up the cliff." + +"It's too far to swim," I said gloomily. "I know I can't go so far as +that. Could you, Bob?" + +He shook his head. + +"Oh, yes, you could," cried Bigley excitedly. "It would be swimming +with the stream, you know, and it would carry us along--I mean the tide +would, and you've only got to think you could do it, and you would." + +Bob Chowne shook his head, and I began to feel chilled and oppressed by +the task we had before us. + +"No, I couldn't swim so far," cried Bob suddenly. "It would take a +strong man who could keep on for hours to do that." + +"I tell you that you could do it," cried Bigley, who seemed to be quite +passionate now. "Don't talk like that, Bob, or you'll frighten Sep +Duncan out of trying." + +"I'm not going to try," I said gloomily. "It would be no use. I could +swim to the shore but not round the point." + +"What's the good of talking like that?" cried Bigley. "You both can +swim it, and you must." + +"Why, I don't believe you could, Big," cried Bob in a whimpering tone. + +"I do," said the great fellow doggedly, "and I'm going to try, and so +are you two fellows." + +"That we are not," we cried together. + +"Yes, you are, for it's our only chance, unless they see us from the +boat. You'll have to try, for the water will be up and over here before +long, and what will you do then?" + +"Drown, I s'pose," said Bob. + +"Nonsense!" cried Bigley, who astonished us by the eager business way he +had put on. "Who's going to stand still and drown, when he can swim to +a safe place? Here, let's try and get 'em to see us aboard the lugger," +he cried. "All together! Let's wave our caps and handkerchiefs." + +We did all wave our caps and handkerchiefs, together and separately, but +the boat went slowly on, as if there was no one in danger, and we turned +and looked at each other in despair. + +"They must be asleep," said Bob angrily. "Oh, it's too bad." + +"No," said Bigley sadly. "They can't be asleep, because there's someone +steering, and someone else attending to the sails when they go about. +It's only because they cannot see us. The rocks and cliffs hide us from +them." + +"Why, we can see them," said Bob bitterly. + +"Yes, because they are against the sky," I said. "We are against the +cliff. Oh, look at that!" + +My schoolmates wanted no telling, for they were looking aghast at the +way in which the water had washed up, and lapped over the edge of the +rock upon which we stood. It fell directly, but it had risen high +enough to show that in a few minutes it would sweep right to where we +were, and in a few more completely cover the stone. + +At this Bigley began to wave his jacket frantically, but the boat still +glided slowly on with its sail lit up by the sunshine, and the sea +glittering as far as we could see. + +"It's of no use; we must swim," cried Bigley; but we neither of us +stirred, though he began resolutely to take off his big shoes. We saw +what he was doing, but our eyes were strained towards the boat, which +was much nearer now, making a long reach in towards the land, and it +seemed so strange that those on board should be calmly sitting there, +while we were in such peril, looking longingly for a sign that we were +seen. + +And still the water slowly rose, threatening several times, and then +making a bold leap which carried it right over the stone, though it +barely wetted our feet. + +As it came over, Bigley stooped down quickly and caught up his shoes and +clothes to keep them dry, and it seemed very ridiculous to me that he +should trouble himself about that, when in a few more minutes they must +be afloat. + +Another wave and another came over us, and though I kept on waving my +handkerchief at times, there seemed to be no hope of help from the +lugger. So in a fit of despair, after a glance towards the shore, I +began to follow Bigley's example and undress, feeling that it was forced +upon me, and that I must make an effort and swim for my life. + +Bob Chowne stood with his forehead all wrinkled up watching me for a few +minutes, and then he began to undress slowly; but a wave came and rose +right up to our knees as it swept in, telling us plainly enough that +before many minutes had passed we should be unable to stand there, and +in frantic haste we tore off our garments, and followed Bigley's lead in +tying them together in a bundle, in the faint hope of being able to take +them in our teeth and carry them ashore. + +We were ready none too soon, for the tide rose rapidly, and it was +evident that the time had come for our plunge. + +"I'll go first, boys, and you follow," cried Bigley. "Now, don't hurry, +and try and keep together. I won't swim fast. Ready?" + +There was no answer. + +"Are you ready, I say? I want to give the word, and for us all to take +the water together." + +Still neither of us answered; and we stood there, bundles in hand, +unwilling to quit the firm rock on which we stood knee-deep, for the +treacherous sea. + +"I say, boys! Are you ready!" cried Bigley again. + +Still there was no answer, and the reluctance to stir would have +continued longer, but an unexpected termination was put to our +indecision by a larger wave sweeping over us, and making Bob Chowne slip +and stagger. + +He tried hard to recover himself, and we to catch him, but the wet rock +was bad for the feet, or he placed his foot upon a piece of sea-weed. +At all events over he went with a splash and disappeared. + +We two followed, bundles and all, and as Bob rose we were one on each +side, and started swimming level with the shore so as to round the point +between us and the western side of the Gap. + +Driven to it as we were, Bob Chowne and I forgot our dread and began to +swim steadily and well; but we had not been in the water five minutes +before I found that we had undertaken to do that which was impossible, +and that we had quite forgotten all about this being a dangerous spot +for bathing. + +I think we all discovered it about the same moment, but Bigley was the +first to speak. + +"Be cool, boys, as the doctor says," he called out to us. "This is no +use. We're not going with the tide, but fighting against it." + +"But the tide's coming in," I said. + +"Yes, underneath," cried Bigley; "but the top part of the water's +running out like a mill-race, and we must go with it now. Follow me." + +There was no help for it. The tide carried us along into a tremendous +current, caused by the meeting of two waters at the point formed by the +ridge of rocks which ran down into the sea, and to my horror, as I swam +steadily on, still holding to my bundle, I found that we were in a line +with the cliff about which I had watched the gull flying, but that it +was getting farther and farther away. + +It was all plain enough. We were well in the fierce current that ran +off the point, and being carried straight out to sea. + +My first idea was to shout this to my companions; but I felt that if I +did I should frighten them, and I knew well enough that as soon as +anyone grew frightened when he was swimming the best half of his power +had gone. + +It was a great thing to recollect, and I held my tongue. It was hard +work, and something seemed to keep prompting me to shout the bad news, +but somehow I mastered it, and instead of swimming faster made myself +take my strokes more slowly, so as to save my breath. + +Bigley told me afterwards, and so did Bob Chowne, that they felt just +the same, and would not shout for fear of frightening me, swimming +steadily on, though where we did not know. + +"I say, how warm the water is!" cried Bigley; and we others said it was. +Then I thought of something to say. + +We had each tied our clothes up as tightly as we could in our +pocket-handkerchiefs, and so it was a long time before they were +regularly saturated and heavy. + +"I say," I cried, "my bundle's just like a cork, and holds me up +beautiful. How are yours?" + +Bob Chowne panted out that his was better, and to prove hew good and +buoyant his was Bigley thrust it before him, and swam after it, giving +it pushes as he went. + +All this took up our attention for a little while from the horror of our +position, for a horrible position it was indeed. It was a glorious +sunny day, and sea and sky were beautiful, but the fierce current that +set off from the point was sweeping us rapidly away, and it was only a +question of how long we could keep on swimming--a quarter of an hour, +half an hour, an hour--and then first one and then another must sink, +unless in our efforts to save the first weak one we all went down +together, and the glittering sea flowed over our heads with only a few +bubbles of air to show where we had been. + +We must have been swimming twenty minutes when Bigley uttered a shout, +and looking up, Bob and I for the first time caught sight of a little +dinghy coming towards us, and far beyond it the lugger lying with her +sails flapping in the breeze. + +The boat was a long way off, but the man in it had evidently seen us, +and was coming down to our help, and a thrill of exultation ran through +me, as I struck out more vigorously to reach the haven of safety. + +The minute before we were all swimming steadily and well, but the sight +of help coming seemed to have completely unnerved us, and in place of +taking slow long regular strokes, and steady inspirations, with the +sides of our heads well down in the water, we all quickened our strokes +and strained our heads above the surface, while, as if moved by the same +thought, we all together shouted "Boat!" + +"Ahoy!" came back from what seemed a terrible distance, and the feeling +of fear I had begun to experience increased more and more. + +A couple of minutes earlier I had not thought about the distance I could +swim, but had kept on swimming. Now I could think of nothing else but +was it possible that I could keep on long enough for the boat to reach +me; and, instead of steadily trying to decrease the distance, and so +help the boatman, I began to make very bad progress indeed. + +"Hooray!" shouted Bigley just then. "Keep up, boys, and don't lose your +bundles. It's father, and he'll soon pick us up." + +Bundles?--bundles? Where was my bundle? + +I dared not turn my head to look, but it was not by me, and I must have +let it float away just when most excited by the coming of the boat, but +I could say nothing then. + +"Steady!" shouted Bigley again, checking his own speed, for he had been +getting ahead of us, and he waited till we were abreast of him, both +swimming too heavily and fast. + +"Don't do that," he cried. "Go steady. Go--" + +He said no more, poor fellow, for the curious dread that unnerves people +in the water, and robs them of the power and judgment that are their +saving, seemed to have attacked him, and he began to swim in a more and +more laboured fashion. + +His example affected us, and away went all coolness. We were all +swimming, and the tide was carrying us along towards the boat, that +seemed to be getting farther away instead of nearer to my dimming eyes. +Then in my rapid splashing I struck up the water, and grew confused; and +feeling all at once that I was regularly exhausted, I turned over on my +back to float. + +It was an unlucky movement, for I did it hastily and with the +consequence that my head went under. I inhaled a quantity of the +stinging briny salt water, and raising my head as I choked and +sputtered, I turned back again, struck out two or three times, and then +began to beat the surface frantically like a dog which has been thrown +into the water for the first time. + +I can remember no more of what occurred during the next few minutes, +only that I was staring up at the sky through dazzling water-drops; then +that all was dark, and then light again, and not light as it was before. +Then it was once more dark, and then I was sitting in a boat half +blind, shivering, and helpless, with the boat rocking about +tremendously, and Bob Chowne over the side holding on to the gunwale +with one hand, to my wrist with the other. + +It all seemed very wild and strange; but my senses were coming back +fast, and in an indistinct manner I saw someone swimming and plashing +the water about twenty yards from the boat. It was a man in a blue +woollen shirt, and his head was bald and shining in the sun, as I saw it +for a moment, and then, whoever it was, reared himself high as he could +in the water, and then struck off and swam away from us out to sea. + +He did not go far, but stopped suddenly and shouted to us; and as he did +so, I saw a gleam of something white, and then that he was holding +someone's face above water. + +Devon Boys--by George Manville Fenn + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +JUST IN TIME. + +"Ahoy, lad!" he shouted. "Shove a scull over the stern, and scull her +this way." + +This roused me, and I jumped up to seize a scull, but felt giddy and +nearly fell, for Bob Chowne had hold of my wrist. + +"Take hold of the gunwale, Bob," I panted, as I tried again, and this +time felt better, getting an oar over behind, and sending the boat +along, as I had learned to years before. + +It was slow and awkward work, with Bob hanging on to the side with his +eyes fixed, and his face white; but I got her along, and before I had +been sculling many minutes, a great brown hand was thrown over on the +opposite side to where Bob clung, and Jonas Uggleston said hoarsely: + +"Lay in your oar, mate, and lean over, and take hold of Bigley here. +Get your arm well under him. That's right. Keep his head out of the +water. I'm about beat for a bit." + +I obeyed him in a dreamy way, getting Bigley's arm over into the boat, +while I knelt down and put mine round him, and held him close to the +side. + +"Can you hold on, youngster?" said old Jonas hoarsely. This was to Bob +Chowne, who stared at him wildly, and did not speak. + +"Nice chance for me," growled old Jonas. "There, hold fast, my lads. +I'm going to get in over the starn." + +The boat rose and fell and rocked as he came round, passed me hand over +hand, to pause by the stern, and I thought he was going to climb in; but +he altered his mind, and went on round by where Bob Chowne clung, held +on with one hand, while he thrust his right arm under the water, and the +next moment he had hoisted Bob right up and rolled him over into the +boat, where he lay for a few moments apparently quite helpless. + +"Now, young Duncan," said old Jonas, "you hold him fast. I'll get in +this side. She won't go over." + +It was done in a moment; he let himself sink down, and turn, gave a +spring as I turned my head round to watch him; the gunwale of the boat +seemed to go down level with the water, and he was on board, while, +before I could realise it, he was bending over me to get his arms under +poor Big's and drag him into the boat, this time sending the gunwale so +low that a quantity of water came in as well. + +Old Jonas set his son up in the stern with his back against the rowlock, +and it was no easy job, for Big was limp, and tremendously heavy; but +the bumping about seemed to do him some good, for, just as I was about +to ask in a voice full of awe if he was dead, poor Bigley uttered a low +groan. + +"Hah! He's coming to, then," said old Jonas, panting heavily, as he +seated himself on the middle thwart. "Here, you young doctor, take that +pannikin, and bale out some of that water you're lying in. You don't +want another bath, do you?" + +Bob Chowne got up on to his knees in the bottom of the boat, shivering +and blue, and stared wildly at us all in turn. + +"Cold, eh?" growled old Jonas. "Well, then, I'll bale, and you two row +to the lugger." + +He glanced round at his son, who was showing signs of returning +animation; but it evoked no sympathy before us, whatever he might have +felt, for he only frowned as, in a shivering mechanical way, we two +wretched boys seized an oar apiece, sat down on the wet thwarts and +began to row. + +"Now, then," shouted old Jonas, "look where you're going. Pull, doctor! +Easy, captain! That's better." + +Between his words he kept sending out pannikins of water rapidly to ease +the boat, for it was above our ankles as we sat and pulled. + +"Nice fellows all of you!" grumbled old Jonas. "Why, you all look blue. +Fool's trick! Who put it up?" + +"I--I don't know what you mean, Mr Uggleston," I said. + +"Who proposed to swim off to the lugger? Was it Bigley?" + +"N-no, Mr Uggleston," I panted, half hysterically, as I tugged at the +oar, an example followed by Bob Chowne, who was very silent and very +blue. + +"Soon as I get you aboard, I'll give you all a good rope's-ending, and +chance what your fathers say," grumbled old Uggleston, as he sent the +water flashing over the side. "I suppose it was my Bigley as set you at +it, wasn't it?" + +"No, sir," I said, as I rapidly grew more composed now. "We were on the +rock yonder, and had to swim for it. We wanted to get to shore." + +"And the current took you out, eh? Of course it would. Then you +weren't swimming for the lugger, eh?" + +"Oh, no, sir," I cried; "we had forgotten all about the boat." + +"Then, where were you going to swim to--Swansea?" he cried. + +"I don't know, sir," I said dolefully. + +"No more do I," he snarled. "'Cross the sea to Ireland, eh? And no +biscuit and water. Ah, you ought to be all rope's-ended. How came you +on the rock?" + +I told him. + +"Lucky I saw you all standing on it white-skinned against the black +rocks. I see you all dive in and took my spy-glass, and see you +swimming this way, and when I told Binnacle Bill, he said just what I +thought, that you was swimming out to the lugger, and wouldn't do it, +and so I took the boat and come to you, and I'm sorry I did now." + +"Sorry, sir?" I said. + +"Ay, sorry. You're a set o' young swabs. What's the good of either of +you but to give trouble. Here, where are your clothes? Under the +cliff?" + +"No, sir," I said dolefully. "We undressed on the big flat rock there, +and tied them up in bundles." + +"Bundles? Where are they then?" + +"Lost mine," said Bob, speaking for the first time. + +"Oh, you're coming round then, are you?" cried old Jonas. "You've lost +yours then; and has my Bigley lost all his kit?" + +"Yes, sir; we've all lost our bundles, unless they get thrown up by the +tide." + +"Which they won't," snarled old Jonas. "Rope's end it is, for if I +don't thrash that big ugly cub of mine as soon as I get him aboard, +I'll--Now then, what are you yawing about that way for? Easy, captain! +Pull, doctor, will you? Now, both together. Regular stroke. That's +better. And so's that," he said, as he scooped out the last few drops +of water with the tin pannikin, and finished off by sopping the +remaining moisture with a piece of coarse flannel stuff which he wrung +out over the side. + +Bob and I did not speak, but tugged at our oars, as absurd-looking a +crew as was ever seen upon the Devon coast, while we kept looking +pityingly at poor Bigley. + +Poor fellow! He had placed his arms one on either side, resting upon +the gunwale, and appeared to be hard set to keep his head up from his +chest. Then he had one or two violent fits of coughing, and ended by +sitting back in the bottom of the boat with a weary sigh and closing his +eyes. + +"Look, sir, look!" I cried in agony, for I thought Bigley must be +dying. + +"Well, I am looking at him, boy. He's coming round. I can't do +anything for him here, can I? Pull hard, you young swabs, both of you, +and let's get aboard. I don't know what folks want to have boys for." + +We rowed hard, bending well to our oars, and after a few minutes I +ventured to speak again, for Bigley looked terribly ill. + +"Do you think he's getting better, sir?" I said. + +"Better, boy? Yes," he said, not unkindly, for I suppose my anxiety +about his son moved him. "He'll be all right when I've warmed and laced +him up with the rope's end. I'm going to make you all skip as soon as I +get you aboard and there's room to move." + +"But he looks so ill, sir," I said, quite ignoring the rope's-ending. + +"Of course he does, my lad. So would you if you had gone down as far as +he did, and swallowed as much water. Easy. In oars." + +I did not know we had rowed so far, but just then the boat bumped up +against the side of the lugger, and old Jonas rose, took the painter as +he stepped into the bows, and handed it to Binnacle Bill, whose grim old +face relaxed into a grin as he saw our plight. + +"What have you got, Master Uggles'on?" he said. "White seals?" + +"Ay, something o' the sort," grumbled old Jonas. "Here, boys, on board +with you." + +We needed no second order, but scrambled over the side into the lugger, +while, at a word from his master, Binnacle Bill unbolted the piece of +the lugger's bulwarks that answered the purpose of a gangway, and as, by +main force, old Jonas lifted up Bigley, the old sailor leaned down, put +his arm round the poor limp fellow, and lifted him on deck, where he lay +almost without motion. + +The next thing was to make fast the little boat astern, after which +Binnacle Bill seized the tiller, the sails filled, and the boat began to +glide through the sunny sea, while Bob and I picked out the sunniest +spot we could find, and watched old Jonas as he bent over Bigley and +poured a few drops of spirit between his teeth from a bottle he had +fetched from the little cabin. + +"Rowing's put you two right," said Jonas. "Ah, I thought that would do +him good." + +Certainly it did, for in a few minutes' time Bigley was able to sit up +in an oil-skin coat of his father's, while we two were accommodated with +a couple of Jersey shirts, which when worn as the only garment are nice +and warm, but anything but becoming. + +The little lugger tacked and tacked again before we could make the mouth +of the Gap; and, probably because he was too busy over Bigley and the +boat, old Jonas said no more about the rope's end, but ran us right in +over the pebble bar into the little river, when Binnacle Bill was sent +over to our cottage to fetch some clothes for me and Bob, he being about +my size, and till they came we lay in old Jonas's bed. + +Then a tremendous tea was eaten, Bigley being well enough to join in, +and afterwards in cool of the evening old Jonas rowed us round and along +the coast to see if we could pick up our bundles; but they had either +sunk or gone off to sea, and we returned without. + +Bigley was evidently very poorly, but he wouldn't give up, and started +to walk part of the way back with us. + +I noted one thing as we were going. Bob Chowne and I held out our hands +to say "Good-night," and to thank old Jonas for saving our lives. + +"Oh, it was nothing," he said, shaking hands very warmly with Bob +Chowne, but taking no notice of mine. "It's all right. Good-bye, lads, +but don't do it again." + +We said we would not, and started off home, where we both expected +severe scoldings; but before we had gone fifty yards up the cliff path +old Jonas hailed us with a stentorian, "Ahoy!" + +"What is it, father?" shouted Bigley. + +"Bring those boys back," roared old Jonas. "I forgot to give 'em the +rope's end." + +I need not tell you we didn't go back. But when we parted from Bigley +half a mile further on, I said to him: + +"Why wouldn't your father shake hands with me?" + +"Hush! Don't take any notice," said Bigley in low voice; "he's very +angry still about Captain Duncan buying the Gap and finding the silver +mine. That's all!" + +"That's all!" Bigley said. But it was not. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +BACK TO SCHOOL. + +I tried very hard not to meet Doctor Chowne when he next came over to +our cottage, which was two days after the escape from drowning, for he +was very frequently in confab with my father. + +They went into the little parlour, and so as to be out of the way I went +into the cliff garden to watch the sea seated astride of one of the +gates; but, as luck would have it, my father and the doctor came out to +talk in the garden, and as there was no way of escape without facing +them, I had to remain where I was and put on the boldest front I could. + +"Oh, you're there, are you, Mr Sep?" exclaimed the doctor grimly. + +"Yes, sir," I said. + +"That's right; I only wanted to ask a favour of you." + +"What is it, sir?" I said. + +"Oh, wait a minute and I'll tell you," said the doctor in his grimmest +way. "It was only this. You see I'm a very busy man, twice as busy as +I used to be since your father has taken to consulting me. What I want +you to do is this--" + +He stopped short and stared at me till I grew uncomfortable. + +"This, my lad," he continued. "To save time, I want you to tell me when +you are going to try next to kill my boy." + +"To kill Bob, sir?" + +"Yes, I want to be ready, as I've so little time to spare. I want to +order mourning from Exeter, and to give orders for the funeral." + +"I--I don't understand you, sir," I stammered. + +"Not understand me, my lad! Why, I spoke plainly enough. You've tried +to kill my Bob twice; third time never fails." + +"Doctor Chowne!" I exclaimed. + +"Your most humble servant, sir," he continued sarcastically. "I only +wanted to add, that I should like you to do it as soon as you can, for +he is costing me a great deal for clothes and boots." + +"There, there, Chowne," said my father, taking pity upon me, "boys will +be boys. I daresay your chap was just as bad as mine, and old +Uggleston's baby quite their equal." + +"They lead my Bob into all the mischief," cried the Doctor sharply. + +"Oh, no doubt, no doubt," said my father in his driest way. + +"And I should like to know as near as I can when it's to come to an +end?" + +"There, there, never mind," said my father good-humouredly. "Give them +another chance, and if they spoil these clothes we'll send into Bristol +for some sail-cloth, and have 'em rigged out in that." + +"Sail-cloth!" cried the doctor, "old carpet you mean. That's the only +thing for them." + +"Holidays will soon be over, Chowne, and we shall be rid of them." + +"Yes, that's a comfort," said the doctor; and, as he turned away, I +looked appealingly at my father, who gave me a dry look, and taking it +to mean that I might go, I slipped off and went in to Ripplemouth. + +I soon found Bob, sitting in a very ragged old suit, out of which he had +grown two years before, and he looked so comical with his arms far +through his sleeves, and his legs showing so long beneath his trouser +bottoms, than I burst out laughing. + +"Yah! That's just like you," cried Bob viciously. "I never saw such a +chap. Got plenty of clothes, and it don't matter to you; but look at +me!" + +"Well, I was looking at you," I said. "What an old guy you are!" + +"Do you want me to hit you on the nose, Sep Duncan?" he said. + +"Why, of course not," I said. "I came over to play, not fight. Where +are your Sunday clothes?" + +"Where are they?" snarled Bob, speaking as if I had touched him on a +very sore spot. "Why, locked up in the surgery cupboard along with the +'natomy bones and the sticking-plaster roll." + +"What! Has your father locked them up?" + +"Yes, he has locked them up, and says he isn't going to run all over the +country seeing patients to find me in clothes to lose--just as if I +could help it." + +"But haven't you been measured for some more?" + +"Yes, but they won't be done yet, and father says I'm to go on wearing +these the rest of the time I'm at home." + +I looked at him from top to toe as he stood before me, and it was of no +use to try to keep my countenance. I could not, and the more I tried +the more I seemed to be obliged to laugh. + +As for Bob he ground his teeth and clenched his hands, but this only +made him look the more comic, and I threw myself in a chair and fairly +roared, till he came at me like an angry bull; but as I made no +resistance, only laughed, he lowered his fists. + +"I can't help it, Bob; I was obliged to laugh," I cried. "There, you +may laugh at me now; but you do look so droll. Have you been out?" + +"Been out? In these? Of course I haven't. How can I? No: I'm a +prisoner, and all the rest of my holiday time is going to be spoiled." + +"Oh, I say, don't talk like that, old boy," I cried. "Why didn't you +keep the suit I lent you?" + +"I don't want to be dependent on you for old clothes," he said +haughtily. + +"Well, I'd rather wear them than those you have on, Bob. Oh, I say, you +do look rum!" + +"If you say that again I shall hit you," cried Bob fiercely. + +"Oh, very well, I won't say it," I said; "but I say, wouldn't you wear a +suit of old Big's?" + +I said it quite seriously, but he regularly glared and seemed as if he +were going to fly at me, but he neither moved nor spoke. + +"Never mind about your clothes," I said. "Big's sure to be over before +long. Let's get out on the cliff, or down by the shore, or go hunting +up in the moor, or something." + +"What, like this?" said Bob, getting up to turn round before me and show +me how tight his clothes were. + +"Well, what does it matter?" I said. "Nobody will see us." + +"It isn't seeing you," he replied, "it's seeing me. No, I sha'n't go +out till I get some clothes." + +Bob kept his word, and for the rest of the holidays when I went out it +always used to be with Bigley Uggleston. But we did not neglect poor +Bob, for we went to see him nearly every day, and played games with him +in the garden, and finished the gooseberries, and began the apples, +contriving to enjoy ourselves pretty well. + +As for the doctor, it was his way of dealing with his son, and I suppose +he thought he was right; but it was very unpleasant, and kept poor Bob +out of many a bit of enjoyment, those clothes being locked away. + +I said that Bob would not go out. I ought to have said, by daylight, +for he used to go with us after dark down to the end of the tiny pier, +where we sat with our legs swinging over the water, each holding a +fishing-line and waiting for any fish that might be tempted to take the +raw mussel stuck upon our hooks. + +But somehow that narrow escape of ours seemed to act like a damper upon +the rest of our holidays, and I spent a good deal of my time with +Bigley, watching the preparations made by the masons at the works in the +Gap. + +We all declared that we were not sorry when one morning old Teggley +Grey's cart stopped at our gate to take up my box. Bob Chowne's was +already in, and he was sitting upon it, while Bigley was half-way up the +slope leading over the moor waiting by the road-side with his. + +I said "Good-bye" to my father, who shook my hand warmly. + +"Learn all you can, Sep," he said, "and get to be a man, for you have a +busy life before you, and before long I shall want you to help me." + +I climbed in, and old Teggley drew out the corners of his lips and +grinned as if he was glad that Bob Chowne was so miserable. For Bob did +not move, only sat with his hands supporting his face, staring down +before him, bent, miserable, and dejected. + +"What's the matter, Bob?" I said, trying to be cheerful. "Got the +toothache?" + +"Yes," he said sourly, "all over." + +"Get out! What is it? Father made you take some physic?" + +"Yes, pills. Verbum nasticusis, and bully draught after." + +"What! Has he been scolding you?" + +"Scolding me! He never does anything else. I sha'n't stand it much +longer. I shall run off to sea and be a cabin-boy." + +"Hi, hi, hi!" + +"What are you laughing at?" snapped Bob, turning sharply upon old +Teggley. + +"At you, Mars Bob Chowne, going for a cabin-boy." + +_Whop_! + +That last was a severe crack given to admonish the big bony horse old +Teggley drove; but he was a merciful man to his beast, and always hit on +the pad, the collar, or the shafts. + +"S'pose I like to go for a cabin-boy, 'tain't no business of yours, is +it?" cried Bob snappishly. + +"Not a bit, my lad, not a bit. I'll take your sea-chest over to +Barnstaple for you when you go." + +"No, you won't," grumbled Bob viciously, "for I won't have one." + +"Ahoy! Bigley," I shouted, looking out from under the tilt. "Hooray +for school!" + +"Aha! Look at him--look at him!" shouted Bob, whose whole manner +changed as soon as he saw Bigley's doleful face. "I say, old Grey, +here's a little boy crying because he is going back to school." + +Bigley did not say anything, only gave Bob a reproachful glance as he +handed his box up to the carrier, and then climbed in. + +"Gently, Mars Uggles'on," cried the old carrier, who seemed to consider +that he had a right like other people to joke Bigley about his size; +"gently, my lad, or you'll break the sharps. I didn't know I was going +to have a two-horse load." + +"Look here, old Teggley Grey!" cried Bigley firing up; "if you say +another word about my being so large, I'll pitch you out of the back of +the cart, and drive into Barnstaple without you." + +"Do, Bigley, do," cried Bob in ecstasy. "Here, I'll hold the reins. +Chuck him out." + +"Don't talk that way, Mars Bob Chowne," whined the old man. "You +wouldn't like me to be hurt." + +"Oh, just wouldn't I!" cried Bob spitefully. "Pitch him overboard, +Bigley, old boy, and hurt him as much as you can." + +"No, no, you wouldn't, Mars Bob Chowne. You wouldn't like me to have to +be carried home on a wagon, and your father have to tend me for broken +bones and such." + +"I tell you I would," cried Bob savagely; "and I hope you'll bite your +tongue, and then you won't be so ready to ask questions. There!" + +"Me ask questions!" exclaimed the old carrier in an ill-used tone. "As +if I ever did. Well, never mind, he'll know better some day." + +The old man sniffed several times quite severely, and sat bolt upright +at the side of the cart, looking out at his horse's ears, and left us to +ourselves. Bob's fit of melancholy was over, and he was ready to make +remarks upon everything he saw; but neither Bigley nor I spoke, for we +were intent upon something the latter told me. + +"I don't want to tell tales," he said to me in a low tone, "but father +makes me miserable." + +"But do you think it is so bad as you say?" + +Bigley nodded. + +"He goes and sits on a stone with his spy-glass where he can see them, +but they can't see him, and he stops there watching for hours everything +they do, and comes back looking very serious and queer." + +"Well, what does it matter?" I said. "He won't hurt us. He can't, +because he is my father's tenant, and if he did he'd have to go." + +"Don't talk like that, Sep," whispered Bigley. "It's bad enough now, +and it would be worse then." + +"I say, what chaps you two are!" cried Bob Chowne. "Why don't you talk +to a fellow?" + +No one answered, and Bob turned sulky and went and sat on the front of +the cart, where he began to whistle. + +"What do you mean by being worse?" I said. + +Bigley shook his head. + +"I don't know; I can't say," he whispered. "I mean I don't want father +to be very cross." + +"I say, Big," I whispered. "Your father really is a smuggler, isn't +he?" + +Bigley looked sharply round to gaze at old Teggley Grey and Bob Chowne, +creeping as he did so nearer to the tail-board of the cart, and I +followed him. + +"I oughtn't to tell," he whispered back. + +"But you'll tell me. I won't say a word to a soul," I said. + +"Well, I don't know. I'm not sure, but--" + +Bigley paused, and looked round again before putting his lips close to +my ear and whispering softly: + +"I think he is." + +"I'm sure of it," I whispered back; "and I know he goes out in his +lugger to meet French boats and Dutch boats, and makes no end of money +by smuggling." + +"Who told you that?" whispered Bigley fiercely. + +"Nobody. It's what everybody says of him. They all say that he'll be +caught and hanged some day for it--hung in chains; but of course I hope +he won't, Big, because of you." + +"It's all nonsense. It isn't true," said Bigley indignantly, "and those +who talk that way are far more likely to be hung themselves. But I wish +your father hadn't bought the Gap." + +"I don't," I said. "He had a right to buy it if he liked, and I don't +see what business it is of your father. Why don't he attend to his +fishing?" + +Bigley looked up at me sharply, to see if I had any hidden meaning. + +"He does attend to his fishing," he said angrily; "and if he hadn't been +attending to his fishing he wouldn't have been out in his boat that day, +and saved you from being drowned." + +I never liked Bigley half so well before as when he spoke up like that +in defence of his father; but I was in a sour disappointed mood that +day, because the holidays were over and I was going back to school, so I +said something that was thoroughly ungenerous, and which I felt sorry +for as I spoke. + +"Yes, he saved us all from being drowned, I suppose," I said; "but he +hadn't been fishing, for there were no fish in the boat." + +"Just as if anybody could be sure of catching fish every time he went +out," cried Bigley angrily. "There, you want to quarrel because you are +miserable at having to go back to school, but I sha'n't. I hate it. Go +and fall out with old Bob Chowne." + +This made me feel angry and I drew away from him, for it was trying to +make out that I was as quarrelsome as Bob Chowne delighted to be. But I +felt so horribly in fault directly after that I went back to my place +and sat by him in silence. + +After a time the old carrier turned to us with a request that we would +get out and give the horse a rest up the hill. + +We all obeyed, two of us jumping out over the tail-board, the other by +the front, and leaping off the shaft. + +It was plain enough that the holidays were over, and that the joyous +hearty spirit of the homeward-bound was there no more, for Bob Chowne +took one side of the road in front of the horse, and the old carrier the +other, while Bigley and I hung back behind and walked slowly after them +on opposite sides after the fashion of those in front. + +Then came the stopping of the cart, and mounting again and descending a +couple more times, before we reached Barnstaple, dull, low-spirited, and +ready to find about a score of boys just back, and looking as doleful as +we did ourselves. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +OUR SILVER MINE. + +School life has been so often narrated, that I am going to skip over +mine, and make one stride from our return after Midsummer to Christmas, +when we all went back home in a very different frame of mind. + +The country looked very different to when we saw it last, but it was a +mild balmy winter, with primroses and cuckoo-pints pushing in the +valleys, and here and there a celandine pretending that spring had come. + +The roads were dirty, but we thought little about them, for we knew that +the sea-shore was always the same, and, if anything, more interesting in +winter than in summer. + +I was all eagerness to get home and see what had been done in the Gap, +for my father in his rare letters had said very little about it. + +Bigley was equally eager too. Six months had made a good deal of +difference in him, for, young as he was, he seemed to be more manly and +firm-looking, though to talk to he was just as boyish as ever, and never +happier than when he was playing at some game. + +He, too, was ready enough to talk about the Gap, and wonder what had +been done. + +"I hope your father has made friends with mine," he kept on saying as we +drew nearer home. "It will be so awkward if they are out when you and I +want to be in. Because we do, don't we?" + +"Why, of course," I cried. "And it will be so awkward, won't it?" + +"No," I said stoutly, "it won't make any difference; you and I are not +going to fall out, so why should we worry about it? I say, look at Bob +Chowne!" + +Bigley turned, and there he was once more seated upon his box, right up +on the big knot of the cord, just as if he liked to make himself +uncomfortable. Then his elbows were on his knees and his chin was in +his hands, as he stared straight before him from out of the tilt of the +big cart. + +"Why, what's the matter, Bob?" I said. + +"Nothing." + +"Why, there must be something or you wouldn't look like that. What is +it?" + +"Oh, I don't know; only that we're going home." + +"Well, aren't you glad?" + +"Glad? No, not I. What is there to be glad about? I haven't forgotten +last holidays." + +"What do you mean?" said Bigley and I in a breath. + +"Oh, wasn't I always getting in rows, because you two fellows took me +out and got me in trouble. I haven't forgotten about that old suit of +clothes." + +"But I say, Bob," I cried, "didn't you do your part of getting into +trouble?" + +"Oh, I don't know. Don't bother, I'm sick of it. I'm tired of being a +boy. I wish I was a man." + +"Nay, don't wish that," cried the old carrier, who had been hearing +everything, though he had not spoken before. "Man, indeed! Why, aren't +you all boys with everything you can wish for? How would you like to be +a man and have to do nothing else every day but sit in this here cart, +and go to and fro, to and fro, from year's end to year's end, and never +no change?" + +As we drew near the Bay Bob Chowne grew more fidgety and despondent, but +we tried to cheer him up by making appointments to go fishing and +exploring the shore; but my first intent was to run over to the Gap, and +see what was going on there. + +As the carrier's cart descended the hill and we came in sight of the +cottage, I saw some one at the gate, and leaning out on one side I saw +that it was my father and the doctor, but before I could say so there +was a jerk which nearly threw me off, and I heard a familiar voice cry: + +"There you are, then. Out with your box, lad. Here's Binnacle Bill +come to carry it. How do, young gentlemen! Well, young doctor, I've +got that rope's-ending saved up for you whenever you like to come." + +Old Jonas did not offer to shake hands with either of us, but Bigley did +after handing out his box. + +"You'll come on to-morrow," he said quickly. + +"Yes, we'll come," I said, answering for both; and I observed that old +Jonas smiled grimly, though he did not speak. + +Then Bob and I were alone and jogging down the zigzag road, traversing +another five hundred yards before we reached our gate, where my father +and the doctor were waiting for us. + +"Brought the lads home quite safe, captain," said old Teggley Grey. +"Shall I take Mars Robert's box on to the town, doctor?" + +The old carrier remained unanswered, for we were both being heartily +shaken by the hand, while old Sam came up smiling to carry in my box. + +"Yes, take on the other box, Grey," cried the doctor. "We shall walk +home, Bob." + +"After a good tea," put in my father; and I found that meal awaiting us +all, and very hearty and cosy it looked after the formal repasts at +school. + +"Why, you've both grown," said the doctor, as we sat down in the snug +old room, where every object around seemed to be welcoming me. + +"Yes, that they have," said my father. "Your Bob has the best of it +too." + +"Trifle," said the doctor, "trifle. Well, sir, how many suits of +clothes shall you want this time? I've never heard any more of the ones +you lost." + +I saw Bob turn red and take a vicious bite out of a piece of bread and +butter. + +"They're nearly six months older now," said my father smiling, as he +performed the feminine task of pouring out the tea, "and they'll be more +careful." + +"Will they?" said the doctor emphatically. "You see if the young +varlets are not in trouble before the week's out, sir." + +"Let's hope not," said my father. "Come, boys, help yourselves to the +ham and eggs." + +"Come, boys, help yourselves to the ham and eggs!" said Bob Chowne to +me, as soon as we were alone. "Who's to help himself to ham and eggs +when he's having the suit of clothes he lost banged about his +unfortunate head? It regularly spoiled my tea." + +"Why, Bob," I cried, "you had three big cups, six pieces of bread and +butter, two slices of ham, three eggs, a piece of cake, and some cream." + +"There's a sneak--there's a way to treat a fellow!" he cried, growing +spiky all over, and snorting with annoyance. "Ask a poor chap to tea, +and then count his mouthfuls. Well, that is mean." + +"Why, I only said so because you declared you had had a bad tea." + +"So I did--miserable," he retorted. "I seemed to see myself again +sitting at home in those old worn-out clothes, and afraid to go out at +any other time but night, when no one was looking." + +"Now, Bob: where are you?" cried his father. "I'll take him off at +once, Duncan, or he'll eat you out of house and home." + +"Hear that?" cried Bob, "hear that? Pretty way to talk of a fellow, +isn't it. I don't wonder everybody hates me. I'm about the most +miserable chap that ever was." + +"Not you, Bob. Come over to-morrow." + +"What for?" + +"Oh, I don't know. We'll go rabbiting or something." + +"Now, Bob!" came from the doctor. + +"Here, I must go. Good-bye. I'll come if I can. I wish I was you, or +old Bigley, or somebody else." + +"Or back at school," I said laughing. + +"Yes, or back at school," he said quite seriously; and then his arm was +grasped by his father. + +"Just as if I was a patient," he grumbled to me next day. "Father don't +like me. He only thinks I am a nuisance, and he's glad when I'm going +back to school. I shall run off to Bristol some day and go to sea, +that's what I shall do." + +But that was the next day. That evening I stood with my father at the +gate till Bob and his father were out of sight in the lane, and then we +went back into the parlour, where my father lit his pipe and sat smoking +and gazing at me. + +"Well, Sep," he said after a pause, "don't you want to know how the mine +is getting on?" + +"Yes, father," I said; "but I didn't like to ask." + +"Well, I'll tell you without, my boy. I've not got much profit out of +it at present, because the expenses of starting have been so great; but +it's a very fine thing, my boy." + +"Is it going to make you rich, father?" + +"I hope so, boy, for your sake. There's plenty of lead, and out of the +lead we are able to get about four per cent of silver." + +"Four per cent, father!" I said; "what--interest?" + +"No, boy, profit. I mean in every hundred pounds of lead there are four +pounds of pure silver, but of course it costs a good deal to refine." + +"And may I go and see it all to-morrow?" I asked. + +"To be sure; and I hope, after a year or two, you will be of great use +to me there." + +I felt as if I could hardly sleep that night when I went to bed. There +had been so much to see about the place, so much talk to have with old +Sam and Kicksey, that it hardly needed the thought of seeing the mine +next day to keep me awake. + +I thought I should never go to sleep, I say; but I awoke at half-past +seven the next morning, feeling as if I had had a thoroughly good +night's rest, and as soon as breakfast was over I started with my father +on a dull soft winter's morning to see the mine. + +Bob and Bigley were to come over; but I felt that it would be twelve +o'clock before Bob came, and that I should meet Bigley; so no harm would +be done in the way of breaking faith in the appointment. + +We walked sharply across the hill and descended into the Gap, but before +we had gone far we met old Jonas Uggleston. + +"Morning!" he said pleasantly. "Morning, squire!" to me. "Seen my +Bigley yet?" + +"No." + +"Ah! He has gone your way. Tell him I want to see him if he comes." + +We said we would, and old Jonas went his way and we ours. + +"Why, father," I said, "how civil he has grown!" + +"Yes," said my father gravely, "he has; but I would almost rather he had +kept his distance. Don't tell your school-fellow I said that." + +"Of course not, father," I said confidently; and we went on to the +mine--the silver mine, and I stood and stared at a part of the valley +that had been inclosed with a stone wall. There were some rough stone +sheds, a stack of oak props, and a rough-looking pump worked by a large +water-wheel, which was set in motion by a trough which brought water +from the side of the hill, where a tiny stream trickled down. + +There was one very large heap of rough stone that looked as if barrows +full of broken fragments were always being run along it, and turned over +at the end, for the pieces to rattle down the side into the valley; +there was a small heap close by, and under a shed there was a man +breaking up some dirty wet stuff with a hammer. + +That was all that was to see except some troughs to carry off dirty +water, and the rough framework and trap-doors over what seemed to be a +well. + +"Why, Sep," said my father laughing, "how blank you look! Don't you +admire the mine?" + +"Is--is this a silver mine, father?" I faltered. + +"Yes, my lad, silver-lead. Doesn't look very attractive, does it?" + +I shook my head. + +"But is it going to be worth a great deal of money?" + +"Yes, my boy; only wait and you'll see. But I suppose you expected to +see a hole in the earth leading down into quite an enchanted cave--eh?-- +a sort of Aladdin's palace, with walls sparkling with native silver?" + +"Well, not quite so much as that, father," I replied; "but I did expect +to find something different to this." + +"So do most people when they go to see a mine, Sep, and they are +horribly disappointed to find that they have not used their common +sense. They know that if they dig down into the earth to make a well, +in twenty feet or so, perhaps less, they come to water; and it has never +occurred to them that if they dig down to form a mine, it must naturally +be a wet dark muddy hole just like this one upon which you look with so +much disgust. But wait a bit, my boy. We shall soon have furnaces at +work and be smelting our ore and converting some of it into silver. +There'll be more to see then. You don't care to go down?" he said, +leaning his hand upon a windlass over the trap-doors. + +"Is there anything to see, father?" I said rather dolefully. + +"To see! Well, there are the sides of a big well-like hole which you +can see from here. Look!" + +He threw open a trap-door, and I gazed into a well-like place with a +couple of ropes hanging down it, and I noted that the walls were made of +the stone that had been dug and broken out. The place looked dark and +damp, and there was the trickling of dripping water. That was all. + +"Well, Sep, what do you say?--will you go?" + +"Is it all like this, father?" I said. + +"Yes, precisely, my lad. Shall I have you let down?" + +"No, thank you," I said; "I think I'll stop up." + +He nodded and smiled, and after staying with him for a time while he +examined some of the ore that the man was breaking up he set me free, +but not till I had asked him how many men he had at work, and been told +that at present there were only six. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +WE HAVE A LITTLE FISHING. + +I went away to see if I could find Bigley, feeling very much put out, +and full of hope that Bob Chowne, when he came, would not ask me to take +him to see the mine. + +For, truth to tell, I had made rather a fuss about that mine, talking +about silver-lead in a very important way at school; and, as I recalled +my words, I felt quite a shudder of horror as I thought of all the boys +in my class coming and standing at the mouth of the mine, and bursting +into a roar of laughter at this being the silver cavern in the earth. + +There was no likelihood of any of them coming save Bob Chowne; but there +was no knowing what he would say when we got back if I offended him and +he was in one of his teasing fits. + +I walked down to the end of the Gap, past the cottage, and was just +going to ask if Bigley had come back, when I saw old Jonas and Binnacle +Bill, with another man, putting off in the lugger, which was lying by a +buoy about a quarter of a mile from the shore. + +After five months at school it seemed such a pretty sight to see the red +sails hoisted and fill out, and the lugger begin to move slowly over the +smooth water, that I sat down on a stone and watched the boat, wishing I +were in her, till she gradually grew more distant, and there was a dull +thud close beside me. + +I looked round but saw nothing, and I was turning to watch the lugger +again, when I heard a fresh pat on the slate rubbish by me, and soon +after a piece of flat, thin shale struck the clatter stream behind me. + +"Some one throwing," I said to myself, and looking up, there, about six +hundred feet above me on the cliff path, were Bigley and Bob Chowne. + +I shouted to them, and they ran to the nearest clatter stream and began +to slide down standing. Sometimes they came swiftly for a few yards; +sometimes they stopped and each had a check, a fall, and a roll over, +but they were up again directly, and in less than half the time it would +have taken them to walk they were down by my side. + +"Here, where have you been?" cried Bob, who was in the highest of glee. +"Old Big says it's such a dark quiet day that the fish are sure to bite, +and he's going to ask his father to let us have the boat, and row out." + +"But Mr Uggleston isn't at home." + +"No, that he isn't," said Bigley, who had just caught sight of the +lugger. "That is tiresome." + +"But they haven't taken the boat," cried Bob, "so it don't matter." + +"Yes, it does," said Bigley gravely, "because I shouldn't like to take +the boat without leave." + +"Why, of course you wouldn't if your father was at home," said Bob +quickly; "but I'm quite sure Mr Uggleston wouldn't like us two to be +disappointed when we'd come on purpose to go." + +"Oh, I don't think he'd mind," said Bigley. + +"But I know he would," cried Bob, who spoke in the most consequential +manner. "Your father is rough, but he is very good at bottom." + +"Why, of course he is," cried Bigley. + +"Then he wouldn't like us to be cheated out of our treat, so you get the +mussels for the bait, and some worms, and let's go." + +Bigley hesitated. He wanted to go, for the sea was as smooth as a +mill-pond--a rare thing in winter; and perhaps we should have to wait +for some time before another such day arrived. + +He looked at me and I wanted to go too. That was plain enough, and the +chance seemed so tempting that, even if I did not openly abet Bob, I +said no word to persuade Bigley not. + +"You'd got all the lines and bait ready, hadn't you?" said Bob +cunningly. + +"Yes, everything's ready, and I meant to ask father as soon as I got +back. Here, hi! Mother Bonnet, how long will father be?" + +"Oh, all depends on the wind," said the fresh-looking old lady coming +out, smiling and smoothing her hair. "They've gone across to Swansea, +my dear. It will be a long time 'fore they're back." + +"There, you see, you can't ask, and it's no use to signal to them in the +lugger, because they couldn't understand, so you've got to take the +boat, and we shall be back long before they are." + +"But it would be so horrible if we were to meet with any accident this +time," said Bigley. "You know how unlucky we were over the prawns. +There, we'd better not go!" + +"There's a Molly for you!" cried Bob. "Just because we got in a muddle +twice over in catching prawns and crabs you think we're always going to +be in a mess." + +"No, I don't," said Bigley; "but it would be so queer if we got into a +scrape the very first time we go out." + +"Get out! Oh, I say, you do make me grin, old Big. There, go and get +your lines, and a gaff, and the basket of bait. Let's be off while the +sea is so smooth." + +Bigley hesitated, and after a good deal of banter from Bob, and an +appeal to me, he went off, sorry and yet pleased, to get the lines and +bait. + +"And now he'll be obliged to go, Sep. Don't let's give him time to +think, or he's such an old woman he'll back out." + +"But--" + +"Get out! Don't say but. There, we won't go out far, only to the mouth +there by the buoy, and we can catch plenty of fish without any trouble +at all." + +I gave way--I couldn't help it, and we two went on, so that when Bigley +came with the baskets and lines we were waiting for them, and his +scruples were nearly overcome. + +"Think it will matter if we take the boat?" he said dubiously, for he +evidently shared our longing to go. + +I said no, I did not think it would, for we could clean it out after we +had done fishing, and we had been boating so often with other people +that I for one felt quite equal to the management of the little vessel. + +But all the time there was a curious sensation of wrong-doing worrying +me, and I wished that I had not been so ready to agree. It was as if I +felt the impression of trouble that was coming; but I kept the feeling +to myself. + +"Well," said Bigley, "I did mean to ask for leave." + +"Of course you did," cried Bob Chowne; "but as your father is off you +can't. Come along, boys, and let's get a good haul this time." + +He seized the bait-basket and made the shells of the mussels rattle as +he trotted down towards where the little five-pointed anchor or grapnel +lay on the beach, and began to haul in the boat. + +As the light buoyant vessel came gliding over the smooth surface, and +grated and bumped against and over the stones, the thoughts of whether +we were doing right or wrong grew faint, and then, as the bait-basket +was thrown in, and the lines followed, they were forgotten. + +"In with you, lads!" cried Bob, making a spring, and leaping from a dry +stone right into the boat; but his feet slipped, and he came down +sitting in the basket of mussels with an unpleasant crash. + +"Now, look here!" he cried in a passion, "if you fellows laugh at me I +won't go." + +Of course this made us all the more disposed; but we turned our backs +and went down upon our knees to begin seeing to the hooks upon one of +the reeled-up lines. + +"There, you are laughing both of you!" cried Bob, who was easing the +pain he felt, or thought he was, by lifting up and setting down first +one leg and then the other. + +"That we are not!" I cried, and certainly our faces were serious +enough, as we hurriedly popped the lines over the bows, when I jumped +in, and, catching up the little grapnel, Bigley took one big stride with +his long legs, and was on the gunwale, which went down nearly to the +water with his weight; but as the boat rose again, the impetus of the +thrust he gave her in leaping aboard carried her out a couple of +lengths. + +There was no thought now of any wrong-doing, as Bob and I seized an oar +apiece and began to paddle as the boat rose and fell and glided over the +swelling tide. + +"Pull away, Sep!" cried Bob. "Here, old Big, you're sitting all on one +side and making the boat lop. Get in the middle or I'll splash you!" + +Bigley moved good-humouredly, and the boat danced beneath his weight. + +"Heave ho! Steady!" shouted Bob. "Don't sink us, lad. I say, what a +weight you are! Let's put him ashore, Sep. He's too big a Big for a +boat like this." + +"Make good ballast," said Bigley, laughing good-humouredly. "Boats are +always safer when they are well ballasted." + +"I daresay they are, but I like 'em best without Big lumps in 'em. I +say, how far out shall we go?" + +"Oh, about a quarter of a mile, straight out, over the Ringlet rocks. +You pull, I'll watch the bearings, and drop out the grapnel. Pull +hard!" + +We rowed away steadily, while, to save time, Bigley took out his +pocket-knife and, taking a board from the bait-basket, laid it upon the +seat, and began to open the mussels and scrape out the contents of the +shells ready for placing them upon the hooks when we reached the fishing +ground. + +For I may tell you that knowing the bottom well has a great deal to do +with success in sea-fishing. A stranger to our parts might think that +all he had to do was to row out in a little boat a few hundred yards, +and begin to fish. + +If he did that, the chances are that he would not catch anything, while +a boat three or four lengths away might be hauling in fish quite fast. + +The reason is simple. Sea fish frequent certain places after the +fashion of fresh-water fish, which are found, according to their sorts, +on muddy bottoms; half-way down in clear deeps; among piles; in gravelly +swims; at the tails of weeds; or under the boughs of trees close in to +the side of river or lake. + +So with the sea fish. If we wanted to catch bass, we threw out in +places where the tide ran fast; if we were trying for pollack, it was +along close by the stones of the rocky shore; if for conger, in deep +dark holes; and if for flat-fish, right out in deep water, where the +bottom was all soft oozy sand. + +Upon this occasion we had decided for the latter, and with Bigley giving +a word now and then to direct us, as he watched certain points on the +shore, we rowed away for quite half a mile, but keeping straight out +from the Gap. + +"Now we're just over the Ringlets," cried Bigley suddenly. + +"Heave over the anchor then!" I shouted. + +"No, go on a bit farther, about fifty yards, and then we shall be on the +muddy sand. I know." + +We boys pulled, and then all at once Bigley shouted "In oars!" and we +ceased rowing as the grapnel went over the side with a splash, and the +cord ran across the gunwale, grating and _scrorting_ as Bob called it, +till the little anchor reached the bottom, and the drifting of the boat +was checked. + +"I say, isn't it deep?" I said. + +"Just about nine fathoms," said Bigley. "You'll have plenty of hauling +to do." + +"I say, look!" I cried, as I happened to look shoreward, "you can see +right up the Gap nearly to the mine." + +"Isn't the sea smooth?" said Bob. "It's just like oil. Now then, first +fish. Put us on a good big bait, Bigley, old chap." + +The hooks were all ready with the weights and spreaders, and Bigley +began calmly enough to hook and twist on a couple of the wet and messy +raw mussels for Bob, and then did the same for mine, when we two began +to fish on opposite sides of the boat, letting the leads go rapidly down +what appeared to be a tremendous distance before they touched the ooze. + +It seemed quite a matter of course that we two were to fish, and Bigley +wait upon us, opening mussels, rebaiting when necessary, and holding +himself ready to take off the fish, should any be caught. + +I never used to think anything about Bigley Uggleston in these days, +only that he was overgrown and good-tempered, and never ready to +quarrel; and it did not seem to strike either of us that he was about +the most unselfish, self-denying slave that ever lived. I know now that +we were perfect tyrants to him, while he, amiable giant that he was, +bore it all with the greatest of equanimity, and the more unreasonable +we were, the more patient he seemed to grow. + +We fished for some few minutes without a sign, and then Bob grew weary. + +"It's no good here, Big, they won't bite. Let's go on farther." + +"Bait's off, perhaps," suggested Bigley. + +"No, it isn't. I haven't had a touch." + +"Perhaps not, but the flat-fish suck it off gently sometimes. Pull up." + +Bob drew in the wet line hand over hand, till the lead sinker hit the +side of the boat; and Bigley proved to be right, both baits were off his +hooks, and as they were being rebaited I hauled in my line to find that +it was in the same condition. + +By the time Bob's lead was at the bottom, my hooks were being covered +with mussel, and I threw in again. + +As mine reached the sandy ooze, and I held the line in one hand, there +was a slight vibration of the lead, but it passed away again, and I +fished, to pull up again at the end of a few minutes and find both baits +gone. + +Bob's were the same, and so we fished on till he declared that it was of +no use, that it was the tide washed the bait off, and that there wasn't +a fish within a hundred yards. "But I'm sure there are lots," said +Bigley. "Why, how can you tell?" cried Bob. "You can't see two feet +down through the water, it's so muddy." + +"I know by the baits being taken off," replied Bigley decidedly. "There +are fish here I'm sure, and--" + +"I've got him," I shouted, beginning to haul in, for I could feel +something heavy at the end of the line which had given several sharp +snatches as I hauled. + +"Oh, what a shame!" cried Bob. "I don't see why they should come first +to old Sep. Here, I know what it is. Only an old bow-wow." + +"No, it isn't," I exclaimed as I caught a glimpse of something white, +looking like a slice of the moon far down below the boat. "It's a +flat-fish, and a big one." + +I proved to be right, as I hauled it flapping over the side, and Bigley +seized what proved to be a nice plaice, and took the hook from its jaws. + +As the line, being rebaited, was thrown in again, there was a serious +examination of the prize, which was about to be transferred to the +basket brought to hold our captures, when Bob shouted, "I've got him!" +and began to haul in with all his might. + +We both adjured him to be careful, but in his excitement he paid no +heed, only dragged as hard as he could, and hoisted in a long grey fish, +at which he gazed with a comical aspect full of disgust. + +I laughed, and as I laughed he grew more angry, for his prize was what +he had previously called a "bow-wow" and attributed to me. For it was a +good-sized dog-fish, one which had to be held at head and tail lest in +its twining and lashing about it should strike with its spine and do +some mischief. + +"Here, let me take him off," cried Bob. + +"No, no; you mind the line isn't tangled," cried Bigley; but Bob gave +him a push, the dog-fish, which was nearly a yard long, was set free, +and began to journey about amongst Bob's line, while, when he placed his +foot upon its head, the fierce creature bent half round, and then let +itself go like a spring, with the effect that it struck Bob's shoe so +smart a blow with one of its spines that the shoe was pierced by the +toe, and it required a tug to withdraw the spine. + +"Are you hurt, Bob?" we both cried earnestly. + +"No, not a bit. My toes don't go down as far as that. Ah, would you?" + +This was to the fish, which was lashing about fiercely. + +"Let me do it, Bob. I'll kill it in no time, and I know how to manage +him." + +"So do I," said Bob independently, as he made another attack upon the +dog-fish, which resented it by a fresh stroke with its spine, this time +so near to Bob's leg that he jumped back and fell over the thwart. + +"I say, that was near," he cried. "You have a try, Big." + +Our school-fellow wanted no second bidding, and taking hold of the line, +he drew the fish's head under his right foot, pressed down its tail with +his left, took out the hook, and then with his knife inflicted so +serious a cut upon the creature that, when he threw it over, it only +struggled feebly, as it sank slowly and was carried away. + +"There's a cruel wretch!" cried Bob. "Did you see how vicious he was +with his knife?" + +"It isn't cruel to kill fishes like that," retorted Bigley. "See what +mischief they do hunting the other fish and eating everything. See how +they bite the herrings and mackerel out of the nets, only leaving their +heads." + +"He wouldn't have said anything if the dog had spiked him," I said. + +"Why, so he did spike me," cried Bob; "and--" + +"I've got another," I cried, beginning to haul up, and as I hauled Bob +sent his freshly-baited and disentangled hook down to the bottom. + +I had caught another flat-fish about the size of the first, and directly +after Bob caught one. Then there was a pause, and I took another +dog-fish, and after that we fished, and fished, and fished for about +half an hour and caught nothing. + +It was December, but the air was still, and we did not feel it in the +slightest degree cold. I suppose it was the excitement kept us warm, +for there was always the expectation of taking something big, even if +the great fish never came. + +Just as we were thinking that it was of no use to stay longer the fish +began to bite again, and we caught several, but all small, and then all +at once, as I was lowering my lead, I cried out: + +"Look here! I can't touch bottom." + +"Nonsense!" said Bob, lowering his line, but only to become a convert, +and exclaim accordingly. + +"Why, we're drifting," cried Bigley, going to the line that held the +anchor, to find that it had been dragged out of the muddy sand, and that +we had slowly gone with the tide into deeper water, whose bottom there +was not length enough of rope for the grapnel to touch. + +"I'll soon put that right," cried Bigley, unfastening the line and +letting about three fathoms more run out, but even then the anchor did +not reach bottom, and without we were stationary it was of no use to +fish. + +"Haul in your lines, lads," cried Bigley, setting us an example by +dragging away at the cord which held the anchor. "We must row back a +bit. We've drifted into the deep channel. I didn't know we were out so +far." + +"Oh, I say, look!" cried Bob. "It's beginning to rain, and we've no +greatcoats." + +"Never mind," said Big, getting hold of the anchor as we drew in our +leads, and laid them with the hooks carefully placed aside, ready for +beginning again. + +"Now, then, who's going to pull along with me!" + +"You pull, Sep," said Bob. "I want to count the fish." + +I took an oar, and just as I was about to pull the boat's head round I +looked towards the mouth of the Gap, which was nearly three-quarters of +a mile away, and though at present the smooth sea was just specked here +and there by the falling drops, over shoreward there was what seemed to +be a thick mist coming as it were out of the mouth of the Gap, and a +curious dull roar towards where we were. + +"Going to be a squall," said Bigley. "Pull away, Sep, and let's get +ashore." + +Easy enough to say--difficult enough to do, as we very soon found, in +spite of trying our very best. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +THE FOLLOWING NIGHT. + +I have told you who did not know what our coast was like--one high wall +of cliffs and hills from six hundred to a thousand feet high, with +breaks where the little rivers ran down into the sea, and these breaks, +after the fashion of our Gap, narrow valleys that run into the land with +often extremely precipitous walls, and a course such as a lightning +flash is seen to make in a storm, zigzagging across the sky. + +If you do not know I may as well at once tell you what is often the +effect of rowing or sailing along such a coast as ours: You may be going +along in an almost calm sea for hours, perhaps, till, as you row across +one of these valleys or combes, the wind suddenly comes rushing out like +an enormous blast from some vast pipe. All the time, perhaps, there has +been a sharp breeze blowing high up in the air, the great wall of rock +preventing its striking where you are, but no sooner are you in front of +the opening than you feel its power. + +Beside this, all may be calm elsewhere, while down the steep-sided +valley a keen blast rushes, coming from far inland, high up on the moor, +where it has perhaps behaved like a whirlwind, and having finished its +wild career there, has plunged down into the combe to make its escape +out to sea. + +It was just such a gust as this last which suddenly came upon us, +raising the sea into short rough waves, and bearing upon its wings such +a tremendous storm of sharp cutting rain and hail, that, after fighting +against it for some time and feeling all the while that we were drifting +out to sea, we ceased rowing and allowed the boat to go, in the hope +that the squall would end in a few minutes as quickly as it had come on. + +The rush of the wind and the beating and hissing of the rain was +terribly confusing. The waves, too, lapped loudly against the sides and +threatened to leap in; and while we glanced to right and left in the +hope of being blown in under shelter of the land, we found that the boat +was rushing through the water, our bodies answering the purpose of +sails. + +We crouched down together, not to diminish the power of the wind, but in +that way to afford each other a little shelter from the drenching rain. + +"It can't last long," shouted Bigley, for he was obliged to cry aloud to +make himself heard above the shrieking of the storm. + +But it did last long and kept increasing in violence. The heavens, in +place of being of the soft bluish-grey that had been so pleasant when we +came out, had grown black, the rain all about us was like a thick mist +that shut out the sight of the cliffs, and with it the power of seeing +the hissing water descend into the sea for a few yards round, we forming +what seemed to be the centre of the mist. + +And there we were, drive, drive before the wind at what we felt was +quite a rapid rate, till all at once the rain passed on, leaving us wet, +and cold, and wretched, and ready to huddle more closely still for the +sake of warmth. + +But though the rain had passed on, and it was clear behind us as it was +dark ahead, while we could see the mouth of the Gap and the lowering +cliffs, the wind did not cease, but seemed to be blowing more angrily +than ever--with such force, indeed, that we could hardly make each other +hear. + +There was an unpleasant symptom of danger, too, ready to trouble us, in +the shape of the waves, which made the boat dance up and down and then +pitch, as it still went rapidly on farther out to sea. + +"Ready?" shouted Bigley, as I sat with my teeth chattering in the +piercing wind. + +I nodded, for I did not care to open my mouth to speak; and, in +obedience to a sign, I held the water while he began to pull round as +fast as he could and get the boat's head to the wind. + +For a minute or so we were in very great danger, for as soon as we were +broadside to the wind the waves seemed to leap up and the wind to strive +to blow us over; but by sheer hard work Bigley got her head round, and +then we pulled together, with the boat rising up one wave and plunging +down another in a way that was quite startling. + +Bob Chowne did not speak, only crouched down in the bottom of the boat +and watched us as we tugged hard at the oars, under the impression that +we were rowing in. But we soon knew to the contrary. We were only +boys, the boat was a heavy one and stood well out of the water, and as +we pulled the wind had tremendous power over our oars. In fact all we +did was to keep the boat's head straight to the wind, and so diminished +the violence of its power over us, while of course this was the best way +to meet the waves that seemed to come directly off the shore. + +"Come and pull now, Bob," I shouted after tugging at the oar for a long +time. My feeling of chilliness had passed away, and I was weary and +breathless with my exertions. + +I kept on pulling while Bob came to my side, and as he took the oar I +gradually edged away and crept under it to go and take the place where +he had crouched. + +It was a black look-out for us; for it was already growing dim, and we +knew that in half an hour it would be quite dark. The wind was still +rising and the sea flecked with little patches of foam; while, as I +looked towards the Gap, I could not help seeing with sinking heart that +not only were the high rocks growing dim with the shades of the wintry +night, but with the distance too. + +You know how quickly the change comes on from day to night at the end of +December. You can imagine, then, in the midst of that sudden storm, how +anxiously I watched the shore, and tried to persuade myself that we were +getting nearer when I knew that we were not. + +If I had had any doubt about it, Bigley, who had been used to sea-going +from a little child, put an end to it by suddenly shouting: + +"It's of no good; we are only drifting out. I'm going to try and get +under shelter of the cliff." + +Then, shouting to Bob to ease a little, he pulled hard at the boat's +head to get her a little to the west instead of due south, and then +shouted to our companion again to pull with all his might. + +Bob did pull--I could see that he did; but we did not get under the +shelter of the cliff, for the change in the position of the boat +presented more surface to the wind, and we could feel that we were +drifting faster still. + +We tried not to lose heart; but it was impossible to keep away a certain +amount of despondency as we realised that all our pulling was in vain, +and as we grew wearied out Bigley said that it was of no use to row. +All we were to do was to keep the boat's head well to the wind. + +I crept after a time to Bigley's place in answer to a sign from him, for +we had grown very silent; and as he resigned his oar to me and I went on +pulling, while he crept aft to sit in the stern, it seemed as if it had +all at once grown dark above us. The shore died away, all but one spot +of light--a tiny spot that shone out like a star, one that we knew to be +in the cottage where Mother Bonnet had no doubt a good hot cup of tea +waiting for us, who were perishing with the cold and gradually drifting +farther and farther away. + +We could not talk for the wind. Besides, too, it was very hard work to +talk and row in such a sea; so I sat and thought of how hard it was to +be situated as we were, and to have again got into trouble in what was +meant for a pleasant recreation. + +I thought all this, and I believe my companions had very similar +thoughts as we danced up and down on the short cockling sea. + +Then all at once, as the darkness overhead seemed to have grown more +intense, and the sea with its foam to give the little light we enjoyed, +we were aware of a fresh danger. + +The wind and the hissing and beating of the sea made a great deal of +noise, but that loud washing splash sounded louder to us, and so did the +rattle of a tin pot which Bigley seized, and lifted the board from over +the bit of a well and began to bale. + +For one of the waves had struck the bows, risen up, and poured three or +four gallons of water into the boat. + +Bigley was ready for the emergency, though, directly, and we saw the +rise and fall of the tin pan as he swept it up and down and sent the +water flying on the wings of the wind. + +Before he had baled the boat out the first time another wave swept in, +and he had to work hard to clear that out; but he soon had that done +after correcting our rowing, for I was pulling harder than Bob, and the +consequence was that the boat was not quite head to wind and did not +ride so easily as she should. + +Darker and darker, with the faint star in the Gap quite gone now, and +all around us the hissing waste of waters upon which our frail shell of +a boat was tossed! It was so black now that we could hardly see each +other's faces, and in a doleful silence we toiled on till all at once +there was a sobbing cry from Bob Chowne, who fell forward over his oar. +Then the boat fell off and a wave came with a hissing rush over the +bows. + +"Back water, Sep!" yelled Bigley as he dragged Bob Chowne away, seized +his oar, and began pulling, when the boat seemed to be eased again and +rose and fell regularly; but a quantity of water kept rushing to and fro +about poor Bob Chowne, who kept receiving it alternately in his back and +face. + +"Sit up and bale, Bob!" shouted Bigley. "Do you hear? Take the +pannikin and bale." + +Bob did not move, and Bigley shouted to him again. + +"Take the pannikin and bale. Do you hear me? Take the pannikin and +bale." + +"I can't," moaned Bob. "I can't. Let me lie here and die." + +Dark as it was I could just make out Bigley's actions, for I was in the +fore part of the boat, and he before me. + +"Bale, I say! Do you hear? Bale!" he shouted in his deep gruff voice. + +"I can't," moaned Bob piteously. + +"Then we shall sink--we shall go to the bottom." + +"Yes; we're going to die," groaned Bob. + +"No, we're not," cried Bigley in a fierce angry way that seemed +different to anything I had before heard from him. "Get up and bale!" + +"No, no," groaned Bob again. + +"Get up and bale!" thundered Bigley, and I felt hot and angry against +him, as I heard a dull thud, and it did not need Bob Chowne's cry of +pain to tell me that Bigley had given him a kick on the ribs. + +"Oh, Big!" I cried. + +"Row!" he roared at me; and then to Bob: "Now, will you bale?" + +"Yes," groaned Bob, struggling to his knees, and, holding on with one +hand, he began to dip the baler in regularly and slowly, throwing out +about a pint of water every time. + +"Faster!" shouted Bigley; "faster, I say." + +"Oh!" moaned poor Bob; but he obeyed, and it seemed a puzzle to me that +our big companion, whom we bantered and teased, and led a sorry life at +school, should somehow in this time of peril take the lead over us, and +force us to behave in a way that could only have been expected of a crew +obeying the captain of a boat. + +I bent forward to Bigley as we kept on with the regular chop chop of the +oars, making no effort to get nearer to the shore, only to keep the +boat's head level, and I whispered in his ear: + +"Shall we get to shore again!" + +"Yes," he said confidently; "only you two must do what I tell you. I +must be skipper now. Go on, you, Bob Chowne!" he roared. "Heave out +that water. Do you want me to kick you again?" + +Bob whimpered, but he worked faster, scooping the water clumsily out and +throwing it over, the side, and, after he had done, and been sitting +crouched at the bottom, Bigley seemed to attack him again unkindly, as +if he were going to take advantage of his helplessness, and serve him +out for many an old piece of tyranny. + +"Now, then," he shouted--and it seemed to be his father speaking, not +our quiet easy-going school-fellow, but the rough seafaring man who had +the credit of being a smuggler--"Now then, you, Bob Chowne," he roared, +"get up, and come and take Sep Duncan's oar." + +"I can't," he groaned piteously, and he let himself fall against the +side of the boat. "I'm so cold, I'm half dead." + +"Oh, are you?" shouted Bigley. "No you ar'n't, so get up and creep over +here." + +"I can't," cried Bob again. + +"Then I'll make you," cried Bigley fiercely, and lifting his oar out of +the rowlocks he sent it along the gunwale, till he made it tap heavily +against the back of Bob Chowne's head. + +"Oh!" shrieked Bob, and I felt my cheeks burn, cold as I was. + +"Now, will you come and work, you sneak?" + +"I--I can't." + +"Get up, or I'll come and heave you overboard," roared Bigley. "I won't +have it." + +"Oh--oh!" sobbed poor Bob. + +"Let him be, Big," I cried. "I'm not very tired." + +"You hold your tongue," was the response I had in an angry tone. "You +be ready to give up your oar when he comes. Now, then, up with you, or +I'll do it again." + +Bob Chowne groaned piteously and crawled forward. + +"Why can't you let a fellow die quietly?" he sobbed out, and then he +crept over the seat where Bigley was rowing, so as to get to where I +still tugged at my oar in hot indignation. + +"Die, eh?" shouted Bigley with a forced laugh. "Yes, you'd better. +Leave us to do all the pulling, would you? Oh, no, you don't. I'm +biggest and I'll make you pull." + +"Oh--oh--oh!" whimpered Bob. "Why can't you let a poor fellow be?" + +"Be! What for?" shouted Bigley to my astonishment, for I could not have +believed him guilty of such brutality. "Yes, I'll let you be. I'll +make you work, that's what I'll do. I wish I'd a rope's end here." + +"It's too bad, it's too cruel, Big," I cried passionately. "How can you +behave so brutally to the poor fellow!" + +"Here, you stick to your own work," cried Bigley fiercely. "Look, +you're letting me do all the work. Keep her head to the wind, will +you?" + +His orders were so sharp and fierce that I found myself obeying them +directly, and went on baling while Bob whimpered, and Bigley kept on +hectoring over us, as I ladled out a little water now and then. + +The wind blew as fiercely as ever, and we knew that we were rapidly +being carried out farther and farther, right away to a certain extent +towards the Welsh coast, but of course being also in the set of the +tide, and going out to sea. The cold was terrible whenever we ceased +pulling from utter weariness, but we managed among us to keep the boat's +head to wind hour after hour, and danced over and over the waves till by +degrees the fury of the wind died out, though we could not believe it at +first. Soon, though, it become very evident that it was sinking, and I +heard Bigley utter a sigh of relief. + +It was quite time that the little gale did pass over, for during the +last half hour the water had been coming into the boat more and more, so +that it had become necessary for one of us to keep on baling, for the +waves seemed to be getting more angry; a sharp rain of spray was dashed +from their tops into our necks, and soaking our hair, and every now and +again there was a blow, a splash, and a rush of water through the boat. + +It was quite true, though we at first thought that we must be under +shelter of the land; the wind was sinking fast, and the waves lost their +fierce foaminess. They rose and fell, and leaped against the boat, but +it was with less splash and fury, and then, as the danger died away, so +did our remaining strength. Bigley and I, who were now rowing, or +rather dipping our oars from time to time, slowly threw them in, and the +boat lay tossing up and down at the mercy of the waves; but no water +dashed in over the gunwale, and Bob Chowne's hand with the baler rested +helplessly by his side. + +No one spoke out there in the darkness, but we sat in the terrible +silence, utterly exhausted, and rapidly growing chilled through and +through in our saturated clothes. I remember looking out, and away +through the darkness towards the shore as I thought, but I could see +nothing till I raised my eyes toward the sky, and then I saw that the +clouds had been driven away by the wind, and the stars were out, while +straight before me there was the only constellation I knew--the Great +Bear. + +I was too weary for it to trouble me, but I learned then that the boat +must have turned almost completely round since we had left off rowing, +for where I had thought the land lay was out to sea, and the Welsh +coast--in fact I had been looking due north instead of due south. + +It did not trouble me much, for I was hungry and thirsty, and then I +felt sleepy, and then shivering with cold, while a few minutes later I +felt as if nothing mattered at all, for I was utterly wearied out. + +Bigley was the first to speak, but it was not in the fierce tone of a +short time before. He seemed to have changed back into our big mild +school-fellow as he said: + +"Come on over here, Sep, and let's all creep together. It won't be so +cold then." + +I noted the change in his tone, but I could not say anything, only obey +him. + +"Come, Bob," I said, as I climbed over the thwart, and tried to stand +steadily in the dancing boat. + +But Bob did not move or speak, and we others crept close to his side, +beginning by edging up and leaning against each other, shivering the +while, but the improvement was so great at the end of a few minutes, +that we thrust our arms under each other's soaked jackets, and held on +as closely as we could, to feel bitterly cold outside but comfortably +warm on the inner. + +The stars came out more and more, the wind died away, and the short +dancing motion by very slow degrees subsided into a regular cradle-like +rock, that, in spite of the cold, had a lulling effect upon us; and at +last I seemed to be thinking of the miserable-looking mine in the Gap, +and my father scolding me for going away without asking leave, and then +everything seemed to be nothing, and nothing else. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +A FRIEND IN NEED. + +I suppose it was an uneasy movement made by Bob Chowne that awoke me, +and as I started away, and looked round at the darkness, and felt the +motion of the boat, I trembled, and could not for the time make out +where I was, or what all this peculiar sensation of cramped stiffness +meant. + +The stars were shining, and twinkling reflections flashed from the +water; the boat rocked to and fro, and the cold was horrible. This +feeling of bitter cold or else the stupefied sensation brought on by +exhaustion seemed to keep me from thinking, and it was a long time +before I quite realised the truth. + +Then I wanted to wake up Bigley and Bob Chowne, to get them to start +rowing again, for the sea had gone down, there was hardly a breath of +wind; and, though I could see nothing, I felt that the land could not be +very far away. + +I raised my hand to shake Bigley; but I did not, for the inclination was +stronger to creep close up to him, and try to warm myself; and this I +did, clinging closely to him and Bob Chowne; and then, as I crouched +shivering and cramped in the bottom of the boat, I felt as if all the +cold and darkness had suddenly sunk away and I was in oblivion. + +I don't know how long I slept, but I remember starting up again and +wondering why the boat was moving so curiously, and then I found that I +was being shaken, and a hoarse voice said: + +"Sep! Sep! Wake up." + +"What's matter?" I said drowsily. + +"It's dark and cold, and we'd better begin to row again. The sea has +gone down." + +"Has it?" I said sleepily. "Never mind. It don't matter." + +"Yes, it does. Wake up. I want to talk to you." + +"No, no. Let me go--sleep," I said. + +"I sha'n't. Wake up. Let you and me row for a bit, and then we'll make +Bob. Come along." + +Bigley half pushed me over the thwart to that in front, and placed the +oar in my hands; then, taking the other, he thrust it in the rowlocks, +and asked me if I was ready. + +"Ready? No," I said angrily. "I want to lie down and sleep. I'm so +cold. Let me lie down." + +"But you can't," he said. "Now, then, let's row. It will warm you." + +"But where are we to row?" I said dolefully, and with a curious sense +of not caring what happened now. + +"I'll show you. Look!" he cried, "you can see the north star." + +"Bother the north star!" I grumbled. "I don't want to see the north +star." + +"But if we keep staring straight up at that as we go, we are sure to +reach our shore--somewhere." + +I yawned and shivered. + +"Must we row, Bigley, old fellow?" I said dolefully. + +"Yes. Now, then. Both together." + +I let my oar fall in the water with a splash, and then began to pull, +feeling dreadfully stiff and cold, and aching so that I could hardly use +my arms. + +"Pull away!" cried Bigley; and I did pull away, making an angry snatch +at the water each time, for I was in pain and misery; but in a short +time the stiffness wore off, the aching was not so bad, and, to my great +delight, a curious sensation of glow began to run through me, and I was +beginning to feel comfortable, when Bigley exclaimed: + +"In oars! I'm going to wake up Bob." + +He leaned forward and shook Bob, who resented it by kicking, and then +throwing out a fist which struck the side of the boat a sharp rap. + +"Bob! Bob Chowne! Wake up!" cried Bigley taking him by both shoulders +and shaking him. + +Bob hit out again, striking Bigley this time viciously in the chest, and +the result was another sharp shake, for Bigley seemed disposed to take +up his father's tone again. + +"What is it?" whimpered Bob. "I am so precious cold. Let me alone, +will you?" + +"Just you get on that thwart and row, will you?" cried Bigley in a deep +fierce growl; and Bob slowly, and with many a groan and sigh, took his +place, and began to row straight away into the darkness. + +It was a wise thing to do, for it made us warmer, tired as we grew, and +so we kept on change and change about for quite an hour, when I saw +something which made me shout. + +"We're close home; there's the light." + +Bigley looked out in the direction I pointed, and watched for a minute +before he spoke. + +"No," he said; "it's moving. It's a light on board a ship." It was out +of our course, but it seemed the wisest thing to do; and with visions of +dry warm blankets, and something hot to drink, we tugged away at our +oars, but never seemed to get a bit nearer to the light, which kept +disappearing and then coming into sight again, looking if anything +smaller than before. + +How long the time seemed, and how bitterly cold it was! By degrees our +clothes seemed to be not quite so heavy and wet; but, though I could get +my arms and hands warmed, my legs and feet seemed to have lost all their +feeling, no matter what I did to bring it back. + +It was still dark all around, though overhead the sky now sparkled with +points of light, one of which that we kept seeing in the distance might +very well have been on the shore, only that we felt sure that we saw it +move. + +And so hour after hour we tugged away at the oars, changing about, and +the one who was off lying down to go to sleep directly in spite of the +wet and cold, for sheer exhaustion was stronger than either. + +At last the whole affair seemed to grow misty and dreamlike, and I was +only in a half-conscious state, when all at once I noted that the sky +looked pale and grey behind us, and this showed that we were rowing to +the west. + +But for a long time there was nothing but that pale grey look in the sky +to indicate that morning was coming; indeed, once, or twice as it became +cloudy, it seemed to be darker. + +By degrees, though, out of the dull drowsy, weary confusion of that +bitter night the day did begin to dawn; and in a hopeless way we tried +to make out how far we were from the shore. But for a long time we +could distinguish nothing but what seemed to be high hills, having long +missed the stars now on account of the clouds. + +Then we thought these must be clouds too, for it seemed impossible that +it could be land, and both Bigley and I said so to Bob. + +But he was sulky and dejected, and would not take any notice of us, +treating us both as if it was all our fault that we had been driven out +to sea, though we were quite as miserable as he; and at any moment I +felt ready to throw myself down in the bottom of the boat and give up. + +At last, though, as there comes an end to all dismal nights, this also +had its finish, and we made out, as we lay on the cold grey sea of that +fine winter morning, that we were about five miles from the Welsh coast, +and home lay as near as we could tell right beyond the range of our +vision, far away to the south-east. + +"What's to be done?" Bob said dolefully. "Hadn't we better row ashore +here, and ask for something to eat?" + +Big said _No_, decidedly, for he had caught sight of a good-sized vessel +some miles away to the south-east. + +"If we get ashore here we shall be farther away from home," he argued; +"and I've heard my father say there's sharp currents about this coast, +which would be too much for us, and besides, father is sure to come out +to look for us this morning, so let's try and get back." + +"And some ship is sure to see us, and give us something to eat," I said +hopefully. "Come, Bob, rouse up. We shall get across all right." + +Setting the boat's head as nearly as we could guess toward the opposite +shore, we began to row; and, though it was winter time, we were not long +before we were pretty warm, and Bob Chowne unwillingly took his turn. + +But we made poor progress. Miles take a great deal of getting over with +a small boat in the open sea at the best of times. So rowed as ours was +by three weary hungry boys, as may be supposed, we did not make the best +of way. + +We saw several vessels and tried to signal them, but no one took any +notice of us till about midday, when a very large lugger that was +beating across from the Devon shore began to bear down upon us, and +before long, to our great joy, we were able to make out the figures +looking over her bulwarks, one of whom waved something in answer to our +frantic tossing up of our caps and holding a jacket on the blade of an +oar. + +Then we set to work and rowed as hard as we could, making very little +progress though, for wind and tide were against us. But the big lugger +came rushing on, and we could see now that there were dark +foreign-looking men on her deck. + +It did not matter to us, though, what they were, so long as they would +take us on board, for we were starving and faint, and had long ago come +to the conclusion that we should not be able to row across before dark, +half the day being gone, and the night would come down very early seeing +the time of year. + +Bigley and I were in ecstasies, and even Bob began to look a little more +cheerful as the lugger came closer, and then rounded up with her head to +the wind, and lay with her dark red sails flapping. + +We rowed up to her side, and a man threw us a rope. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +THE CAPTAIN OF THE LUGGER. + +"Eh ben!" he shouted. "Eh ben! Eh ben!" while half a dozen +yellow-faced little fellows with rings in their ears looked down upon us +and grinned. + +All at once they made way for a quick dark-looking body, with tiny half +grey corkscrew ringlets hanging round under his fur cap, not only at the +sides but all over his forehead. It was a man evidently, but he looked +like an elderly sharp-eyed wrinkled-faced woman, as he pushed a big lad +aside, and putting his arms on the bulwark, stared down at us. + +"Vell, lad, vot you vant?" he said. + +"Hungry, sir. Blown off the shore, sir," I cried. "We can't row back. +Can you understand? No parly vous." + +"Bah, stupe, thick, headblock, who ask you parlez-vous? I am England +much, and speak him abondomment. How you do thank you, quite vell?" + +"No, sir; we're starving, and cold and--and--and--tell him Big, I +can't." + +I was done for. I could not keep it back, though I had said to myself +Bob Chowne was a weak coward, and, dropping on the thwart, I let my face +go down in my hands, and tried to keep back my emotion. + +"Ah, you bigs boys, you speak me," I heard the French skipper say. "How +you come from? Come, call yourself." + +"Uggleston, of the Gap," said Bigley, as boldly as he could. "Blown off +shore, sir, in the squall." + +"Aha! Hey, hey? Ugglees-tone. Ma foi, you Monsieur Jonas +Ugglees-tone?" + +"No, sir; I am his son," said Bigley. + +"What say, sare, you Monsieur Jonas Ugglees-tone, you b'long?" + +"Yes, sir; I belong to him. Will you give us something to eat?" + +"Aha! You Engleesh boys, big garcon, always hungries. Vais; come +aboard my sheeps. Not like your papa--oh, no. I know him mosh, very +mosh. Know you papa, votr' pere, mon garcon. Come-you-up-you-come." + +He said it all as if it were one word, so curiously that it seemed to +help me to get rid of my weakness, and I was about to stand up in the +boat when the French skipper said to Bigley: + +"Look you! Aha. Boy ahoy you. What sheep you fader?" + +"Do you mean what's the name of my father's lugger, sir?" + +"Yes; you fater luggair--chasse maree. I say so. Vat you call. Heece +nem?" + +"The _Saucy Lass_, sir." + +He leaned over and looked at the stern of the boat and nodded his head. + +"Yais, him's olright. Ze _Saucilass_. Come you up--you come, boys. +All you. Faites." + +This last was to one of the men, who, as we climbed over the side of the +French lugger, descended into our boat, and made her fast by the painter +to the stern. + +The skipper shook hands with us all, and smiled at us and patted our +shoulders. + +"Pauvres garcons!" he said. "You been much blow away ce mornings, eh?" + +"No, sir, last night," said Bigley. + +"How you say? You lass night dites, mon garcon." + +"We were fishing, sir, and the squall came, and we've been out all +night." + +"Brrrr!" ejaculated the French skipper, shrugging his shoulders and +making a face, then seizing me he dragged me to a hole away in the stern +deck, and pushed me down into quite a snug little cabin with a glowing +stove. + +"Come--venez. All you come," he cried, and he thrust the others down +and followed quickly. + +"Pauvres garcons! Warm you my fire. Chauffez vous. Good you eat +bread? Good you drink bran-dee vis vater? Not good for boy sometime, +mais good now." + +He kept on chattering to us, half in English, half in French; and as he +spoke he cut for us great pieces of bread and Devon butter, evidently +freshly taken on board that day. Next he took a large brown bottle from +a locker, and mixed in a heavy, clumsy glass a stiff jorum of brandy +with water from a kettle on the stove. Into this glass he put plenty of +Bristol brown sugar, and made us all drink heartily in turn, so as to +empty the glass, when he filled it again. + +"It is--c'est bon--good phee-seek--make you no enrhumee--you no have +colds. No. Eat, boys. Aha! You warm yourselves. Hey?" + +We thanked him, for the glowing stove, the sheltered cabin, the hot +brandy and water, and the soft new bread and butter, seemed to give us +all new life. The warm blood ran through our veins, and our clothes +soon ceased to steam. The French skipper, who had, as we rowed to the +side of the lugger, looked about as unpleasant and villainous a being as +it was possible to meet, now seemed quite a good genius, and whatever +his failings or the nature of his business, he certainly appeared to be +deriving real pleasure from his task of restoring the three +half-perished lads who had appealed to him for help, and the more we +ate, the more he rubbed his hands together and laughed. + +"How zey feroce like ze volf, eh? How zey are very mosh hunger. Eat +you, my young vrens. Eat you, my young son of ze Jonas Ugglee-stone. I +know you fader. He is mon ami. Aha! I drink your helse all of you +varey." + +He poured himself out a little dram of the spirit and tossed it off. + +For a good half hour he devoted himself to us, making us eat, stoking +the little stove, and giving us blankets and rough coats to wear to get +us warm again. After that he turned to Bigley and laid his arms upon +his shoulders, drooping his hands behind, and throwing back his head as +he looked him in the face. + +"You like me make my sheep to you hous, yais?" + +"Take us home, sir. Oh, if you please," cried Bigley. + +"Good--c'est bon--my frien. I make my sheep take you. Lay off, you +say, and you land in your leettle boats. My faith, yes! And you tell +you fader the Capitaine Apollo Gualtiere--he pronounced his surname as +if it was Goo-awl-tee-yairrrre--make him present of hees sone, and hees +young friens. Brave boys. Ha, ha!" + +He nodded to us all in turn, and smiled as he gave us each a friendly +rap on the chest with the back of his hand. + +"Now you warm mosh more my stove, and I go on le pont to make my sheep." + +"But do you know the Gap, sir?" said Bigley eagerly. + +"Do I know ze Gahp? Aha! Ho, ho! Do I not know ze Gahp vis him eye +shut? Peep! Eh? Aha! And every ozer place chez ze cote. Do I evaire +make my sheep off ze Gahp to de leettl business--des affaires vis +monsieur votre pere? Aha! Oh, no, nod-a-dalls." + +He gave his nose a great many little taps with his right forefinger as +he spoke, and ended by winking both his eyes a great many times, with +the effect that the gold rings in his ears danced, and then he went up +the little ladder through the hatchway, to stand half out for a few +minutes giving orders, while we had a good look at the lower part of his +person, which was clothed in what would have been a stiff canvas +petticoat, had it not been sewn up between his legs, so as to turn it +into the fashion of a pair of trousers, worn over a pair of heavy +fishermen's boots. + +Then he went up the rest of the way, and let in more light and air, +while the motion of the vessel plainly told us that her course had been +altered. + +"Well," said Bob Chowne, speaking now for the first time, "he's the +rummest looking beggar I ever saw. Looks as if you might cut him up and +make monkeys out of the stuff." + +"Well, of all the ungrateful--" + +I began a sentence, but Bob cut me short. + +"I'm not ungrateful," he said sharply; "and I'm getting nice and warm +now; but what does a man want to wear ear-rings for like a girl, and +curl up his hair in little greasy ringlets, that look as if they'd been +twisted round pipes, and--I say, boys, did you see his breeches?" + +I nodded rather grimly. + +"And his boots, old Big; did you see his boots?" + +"Yes, they looked good water-tighters," said Bigley quietly, and he +seemed now to have settled down into his regular old fashion, while Bob +Chowne was getting saucy. + +"And then his hands! Did you see his hands?" continued Bob. "I thought +at first I could not eat the bread and butter he had touched. I don't +believe he ever washes them." + +"Why, he had quite small brown hands," said Bigley. "Mine are ever so +much larger." + +"Yes, but how dirty they were!" + +"It was only tar," said Bigley. "He has been hauling new ropes. Look, +some came off on my hand when he had hold of it." + +"I don't care, I say it was dirt," said Bob obstinately. "He's a +Frenchman, and Frenchmen are all alike--nasty, dirty-looking beggars." + +"Well, I thought as he brought us down in the cabin here, and gave us +that warm drink and the bread and butter, what a pity it was that French +and English should ever fight and kill one another." + +"Yah! Hark at him, Sep Duncan," cried Bob. "There's a sentimental, +unnatural chap. What do you say?" + +"Oh, I only say what a difference there is between Bob Chowne now and +Bob Chowne when he lay down in the bottom of the boat last night, and +howled when old Big made him get up and row." + +"You want me to hit you, Sep Duncan?" + +"No," I said. + +"Because I shall if you talk to me like that. Old Big didn't make me. +I was cold and--" + +"Frightened," I said. + +"No, I wasn't frightened, sneak." + +"Well, I was, horribly," I said. "I thought we should never get to +shore again. Weren't you frightened, Big?" + +"Never felt so frightened before since I got wedged in the rocks," said +Bigley coolly. + +"Then you are a pair of cowards," cried Bob sharply. "I was so cold and +wet and stiff I could hardly move, but I never felt frightened in the +least." + +I looked at Bigley, and found that he was looking at me; and then he +laid his head against the bulkhead, and shut his eyes and laughed till +the tears rolled down his cheeks, and I laughed too, as the picture of +ourselves in the open boat came before me again, with Bigley ordering +Bob to get up and row, and him shivering and sobbing and protesting like +a child. + +"What are you laughing at?" he cried. "You've got out of your trouble +now and you want to quarrel, I suppose. But I sha'n't; I don't want to +fight. Only wait till we get across, you won't laugh when old Jony +Uggleston comes down on you both for taking the boat. I shall say I +didn't want you to, but you would. And then you've got my father and +your father to talk to you after that." + +But in spite of these unpleasant visions of trouble, which he conjured +up, Bigley and I still laughed, for, boy-like, the danger passed, its +memory did not trouble us much. We had escaped: we were safe; Bob was +making himself ridiculously comic by his hectoring brag, and all we +wanted to do was to laugh. + +In the midst of our mirth, and while Bob Chowne was growing more and +more absurd by putting on indignant airs, the hatchway was darkened +again by the French skipper's petticoats and boots, and directly after +he stood before us smiling and rubbing his hands. + +"Aha, you!" he said. "You better well, mosh better. I make you jolly +boys, eh?" + +"Yes, sir, we are much better now," I exclaimed, holding out my hand. +"We are so much obliged to you for helping us as you have." + +"Mon garcon, mon ami," he exclaimed; and instead of shaking hands, he +folded me in his arms and kissed me on both cheeks. I stepped back as +soon as I was free, and stood watching as he served Bigley the same, and +then took hold of Bob, whose face wore such an absurdly comical aspect +of horror and disgust, that I stood holding my breath, and not daring to +look at Bigley for fear I should roar with laughter. + +"Dat is well," exclaimed the skipper. "It is done, my braves. Good-- +good--good. You tink I speak Engleish magnificentment, is it not?" + +He looked round at us all, and nodded a great many times. "Now you are +warm dry, come on ze pont and see my sheep. Ze belle chasse maree. She +sail like de bird. Is it not? Now come see." + +We went on deck, and found as he took us about amongst the crew of seven +men, all wearing petticoat canvas trousers, that the big lugger was very +dirty and untidy, wanting in paint, and with the deck, or pont as the +skipper called it, one litter of baskets, packages, and uncoiled ropes. +On the other hand she seemed to be very long and well shaped, and her +masts, which were thick and short, had large yards and tremendous sails, +which in a favourable wind sent her through the water at a very rapid +rate. + +"Aha! You lofe my sheep," said the skipper, as he watched our faces. +"You tink she run herselfs very fas, eh?" + +We expressed our pleasure, which was the greater that we could see now +that the two bold masses which formed the entrance to the Gap were right +before us; but even now, as far as we could judge, six or seven miles +away. + +We took a good deal of notice of this, for it showed us how far we had +been driven out by the fierce little gale of the previous night; and as +I looked over the stern at where our boat was being towed along in the +foam, and was thinking that we must have had a narrow escape, the French +skipper clapped me on the shoulder, laughed, and said: + +"You wonder you not go to feed ze fishes at ze bottom? Yes, much; et +moi aussi. Ah, mon brave, you nearly go, and--no boat--no boy--no +noting. Hah!" + +I shivered as I realised the truth of what he said, and was musing over +what was to come, when Bigley came to me, for the skipper had gone to +his men. + +"Don't tease Bob," he said. "Don't say anything to him about being +queer last night, nor about me bullying him. He couldn't help it." + +"Oh, I sha'n't say anything," I said. + +"He couldn't help it," whispered Bigley again. "No more could I." + +We all grew very serious then, for as we neared the shore, there was the +question to think over about meeting our fathers, and what they would +say. Would they be exceedingly angry with us, or talk quietly about our +narrow escape? + +I found that my companions were thinking as I was, for Bigley said +quietly: + +"I'm afraid my father will be very cross." + +"So am I," was my reply, when Bob came to where we were gazing over the +bulwark shoreward, and said sulkily: + +"I say, I don't want to be bad friends with you two. My father's sure +to give me a big wigging for letting you persuade me to go. Well, I +don't mean that," he added with a droll twinkle of the eye, as he saw us +stare, "what I mean is, hadn't we all better stick together, and share +the blame?" + +"Yes, of course, Bob," I said; and I felt quite pleased with his +frankness, when if he didn't go and spoil it all again by saying: + +"I thought it would be best, because it would be nicer for you." + +Our conversation was stopped by Captain Gualtiere coming up, and +pointing westward. + +"Look you!" he exclaimed, "see, mes amis, la _Saucy Lass_." + +"So it is," cried Bigley eagerly, as he shaded his eyes, and gazed at +the lugger in full sail about a couple of miles away, and making for the +same point as we--"so it is: it's father's lugger." + +"Oui, my young frien," said the French skipper; "and he has been to +sweep ze sea to try and find you boys." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +THE KNIFE BOB WANTED. + +In half an hour the luggers were close together off the Gap with their +sails flapping, and the French skipper jumped into the boat with us, and +rowed to the _Saucy Lass_, on board of which we had long before descried +my father and the doctor along with old Jonas Uggleston. + +We leaped up the side eagerly, and yet with fear and trembling, not +knowing what our reception might be, and a few words explained all. + +"Humph!" said old Jonas, "nice chase we've had after you. Well, I +suppose I mustn't after all." + +He picked up a capstan-bar, and balanced it in his hands before throwing +it down under the little bulwark with a loud clatter. + +"Mustn't what, father?" said Bigley. + +"Knock you down with that, as you've had such a rough time of it. I was +in hopes that you were all three drowned." + +"And he went himself to see and find ze bodies, and sheat ze sharks!" +cried the French skipper laughing, and clapping us on the shoulders. + +"Perhaps Captain Duncan, my landlord, would like to use that bar on his +boy!" growled old Jonas sourly. + +"No!" said my father bluffly, "I can preserve discipline, Mr Uggleston, +without treating my boy like a dog. Come, Sep, my lad, let's get +ashore." + +"The doctor, then?" said old Jonas, with his eyes twinkling maliciously. + +"What, to knock my boy down, Uggleston? No, thank you, sir. I've +little things at home that will put him to bed for a fortnight and keep +him quiet without giving myself a job to mend his broken bones." + +He looked at Bob, and I saw my school-fellow turn yellow and shudder as +if he were about to take a dose of some horribly nauseous medicine. +Just then Bob caught my eye, and I suppose he saw that I was amused, for +he doubled his fist, and showed his teeth in a snarl just like a +disagreeable dog who had been threatened by a stranger with a stick. + +"My faith, gentlemen," said the French skipper, "ze boys is brave boys +and make fine sailor. Zey fight zis bad storm. Zey vin ze storm, and +behold me here ve are!" + +"Captain Gualtiere," said my father, holding out his hand, "as an old +sailor, sir, to one of the same noble profession, I thank you for your +kindness to my son." + +"Mon capitaine, I you embrace with my heart whole!" cried the French +skipper. "It is vell, Capitaine Ugglees-stone. Ve vill land ourselves. +Mon vieux brave--to your home, and trink von 'tit verre of ze bon +spee-reete vis ze friens. Come." Jonas Uggleston nodded his head and +exchanged a peculiar look with the Frenchman. + +"Let's get ashore," he said. "You, Bill, I'll come out again by and by. +Get her fast to the buoy." + +Binnacle Bill growled and crept behind us boys to watch his opportunity, +and give us each a nod, a wink, and a furtive shake of the hand. + +Then the boat was hauled alongside, we descended, and Bigley pulled us +ashore, where, almost in silence, and evidently a very uncomfortable +party, we walked up to the cottage where Mother Bonnet was in waiting, +and her first act was to rush at Bigley, hug him, kiss him soundly on +both cheeks, and burst into tears. + +I was afraid it was coming my way, and drew back; but it was of no use, +for the old woman seized me, and I had to be kissed in the same way, +while Bob Chowne submitted to the same operation with a worse grace than +mine. + +"Not a wink of sleep--not a wink of sleep--not a wink of sleep all +night!" the old woman kept on sobbing over and over again. "Master +Bigley--Master Bigley, I was afraid I should never see you any more!" + +"Brave vomans? Ha, ha! Brave vomans!" cried the Frenchman. + +"Look here, Duncan!" said the doctor. "I don't think we'll trouble Mr +Uggleston any more. We want to get back home." + +"Yes," said my father; "but--" + +He made a movement with his head towards the French skipper. + +"Oh, come along, Captain Duncan," growled old Jonas surlily. "You must +drink a glass with him. I won't poison you this time." + +"Thanks, Uggleston," said my father quietly; and, intimate as I was with +Bigley, school-fellows and companions as we were, I could not help +noticing the difference, and how thoroughly my father was the gentleman +and Jonas Uggleston the commonplace seafaring man. + +"Here, Mother Bonnet!" cried old Jonas, "the boys want something. You +see to them." + +The old woman took us into her kitchen, as she called it, and attended +to our wants; but I could hear what went on in the other room, and the +French skipper's words as they all partook of something together. + +Ten minutes after, my father called me by name, and I found him waiting +with the doctor outside, the Frenchman beaming on all in turn. + +"Ve are ze old amis, le vieux--ze old Jonas and myselfs. Sare, I am +been glad I receive ze boys on my sheep." + +"And I thank you, captain," replied my father. "You have saved my boy's +life. Will you accept this in remembrance? It is old but good." + +My father drew out his plain gold watch, and I saw the Frenchman's eyes +glisten as he stretched out a not very clean hand. + +But he snatched it back directly. + +"Mais non--but no!" he exclaimed. "I not have hims. We are sailors +all. Some day I am in open boat, and you take me in your sheep, and say +`Ma foi! Pauvre fellow, you cold--you hoongrai--you starve youselfs.' +And you give me hot grogs, and varm fires, and someting to eats. I no +give you ze gold vatch. Mais non--mais non--mais non. Voila. I take +zat hankshife, blue as ze skies of France, and I wear him roun' my +necks. Give me hims." + +My father smiled and then unknotted the bright blue silk neckerchief he +wore, and accompanied it with a hearty shake of the hand. + +"Thank you, captain," he said warmly. + +"And you--merci. We go to war some day. Who know I may be prisonaire. +I may come to fight against you, and then. Eh bien, ve fight, but you +take me prisonaire, ma foi. I am vis ze shentleman, and it is good." + +"And now it's my turn," said the doctor. "Will you keep this, captain, +from me?" + +"Ma foi. Yais, oui," cried the French skipper, whose eyes sparkled with +pleasure as the doctor handed him a very bright peculiarly-formed knife. +"I keep hims. Vat is ze mattaire vis ze young shipwrecked open +boatman?" + +"Nothing--nothing at all," said Bob Chowne hastily; but he had certainly +uttered a groan. + +"As for you, Uggleston," cried the doctor, "I sha'n't offer you a +present, for you'll want me some day to mend your head, or cut off a leg +or a wing. Only, recollect I'm in your debt." + +"As for me, Mr Uggleston," said my father. + +"There--there, that will do," cried old Jonas surlily. "We ar'n't such +very bad friends, are we?" + +"I hope not," said my father, and we took our leave, being embraced by +the French skipper, who said that we should meet again, shaking hands +with old Jonas, and giving Binnacle Bill a crown piece, which my father +slipped into my hand for him, making the old red-faced fellow's eyes +twinkle as he exclaimed: + +"Ba-c-co!" + +Then we started homeward in the lowest of spirits, we two boys expecting +the most severe of lectures; but to our intense surprise and delight we +were allowed to drop behind, for our elders were deep in conversation +about the mine. + +Then it was that, after hanging more and more behind, Bob Chowne +relieved his feelings. + +"It was a shame--it was too bad!" he kept on grumbling. + +"What was too bad--what was a shame?" I cried. + +"Why, for father to give old Parley Vous that knife!" + +"Why?" I said wonderingly. + +"Why? Because it was such a good un. I've tried to coax him out of it +lots o' times. It was as sharp as sharp, and he used to use it to cut +off fingers and toes, and that sort of thing. He never would give it to +me, because he said it was good for operating, and now that old Frenchee +Frenchee will use it for toasting frogs over his nasty little stove." + +"Here, you boys, come up here," said the doctor just then. + +We crept up very unwillingly, for the lecture was evidently going to +begin. + +"I thought we'd tell you," said the doctor in his grimmest fashion, +"we're going to find out a school where there are no holidays, and send +you there." + +But they did not, for in due time we went back to Barnstaple, and I had +the last of my education there. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +"HOW YOU HAVE GROWED, LADS; HOW YOU HAVE GROWED!" + +It seems a long time to look forward to, but when it has gone how +everyone finds out what a scrap of our lives three years appear to be. + +I am going to jump over three years now, and come to an exciting time +when we lads were leaving school at midsummer for good. + +Those were exciting times, and we all were as much infected as the rest +of English folk, for we were at war with France, and there was drumming, +and fifing, and enlisting, and men marching off to join their regiments, +and we boys were fully determined to arrange with our respected fathers +as soon as we got home to get us all commissions in cavalry regiments, +and failing commissions, we meant to petition for leave to enlist to +fight for our country. + +Bob Chowne and I of course knew better, but in spite of this knowledge +we were constantly feeling that there was something wrong with our +companion Bigley. + +He was just the same easy-going fellow as of old; ready to submit to any +amount of bullying and impertinence from us, except in times of +emergency, when he would quietly step to the front in the place Bob and +I shirked, and do what there was to be done, and as soon as it was over +go back patiently into the second rank, leaving us in the front. + +But as I say, though we knew better, it always seemed to us as if +something particular had taken place in Bigley, he who used to tower +above us, a big fellow with whiskers, a deep voice, and broad shoulders, +had now shrunk, so that he was no longer like a man and we both like +small boys, for he seemed to have come down so that he was only a trifle +taller than we were, and very little broader across the chest. It was +the whiskers and the thick down upon his chin which made nearly all the +difference. + +We used to laugh about it together, and Bigley would say that it was +rum, and only because he had started two years sooner than we did--that +was all. + +Of course the fact was that Bigley had not shrunk in the least. He had +not come down, but Bob Chowne and I had levelled matters by growing up, +so that at seventeen we were as big as Devon lads of that age know how +to be. + +While we had changed, old Teggley Grey had not. He always seemed to +have been the same ever since we could remember, and his horse too, but +he shook his head at us. + +"Mortal hard work for a horse to carry such big chaps as you. How you +have growed, lads; how you have growed!" + +I looked at him as he spoke, and it seemed to me that it was he who had +changed. But it did not matter; we were full of plans for the future. +Big as we were, we could take plenty of interest in fishing and such +other sport as came in our way, and we were talking eagerly about what +was to be done first, and how we were to contrive it without having some +mishap, when old Teggley summoned us to get down and walk. + +"Wouldn't be acting like a Christian to ask a horse to drag you three +big lads up a hill like this. I did think," he grumbled, "that with all +this talk about making good roads, something would have been done to +level ourn. Mortal bad they be for a horse sewer_ly_." + +"Why, what could you do to the roads?" I said, as I stood on the step +looking at the quaint old fellow. "Do, lad? Why, there's plenty of +stuff ar'n't there? Cutoff all the tops of the hills, and lay in the +bottoms, and there you are, level road all the way." + +We seemed to have only been away a few days, as, after parting from +Bigley, Bob and I reached the cottage, where, just as of old, were my +father and the doctor. + +I remember thinking that they both looked a little older and greyer, but +that was all. But that was soon forgotten in the interest and +excitement of what was going on around me, for I had, I found, gradually +been growing older, and ready to take an interest in matters more +important than hunting prawns and groping for crabs down on the rocky +shore. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +OLD SAM IS UNHAPPY. + +Seventeen, and grown as big as Bigley, with the consequence that I could +not help thinking a good deal of what people said to me when I went in +to Ripplemouth or down to the Gap. + +The salute I generally met was: + +"Why, Master Sep Duncan, you are growing quite a man." + +I suppose I was in appearance, but, thank goodness, I was still only a +boy at heart. + +Plenty to see, plenty to hear. + +The fishermen and people at the tiny port were always looking out to +sea, and shutting their eyes and shaking their heads. + +"Ay, and we need look out, master," they would say. "Strange doings +now. Who knows how soon they Frenchies will come down upon us and try +to take the town. But we're going to fight 'em to a man." + +I remember even then laughing to myself as I went home one morning after +being disappointed in finding Bob Chowne, who had gone on a round with +his father, for I asked myself what the French, whom the Ripplemouth +people saw in every passing vessel, would gain by making a descent upon +our rock-strewn shore. + +But when I ventured to hint at their being more likely to attack +Plymouth or Portsmouth, old Teggley Grey, who was down on the pier +loading up with coal that had come over in a sloop from Monmouth, shook +his head. + +"Ay, it be well for you, lad, with all they big cannon guns in front o' +your house ready to sink the Frenchy ships; but we ar'n't no guns here, +on'y the one in the look-out, and she be rusted through." + +Oddly enough, when I reached home there was no one in the house. My +father had gone down to the mine, and I was thinking about going after +him, but being hot with my walk, I strolled down first into the garden +on the cliff, but only to stop short, for there was a curious hissing +sound in the air. + +"What, a snake!" I said to myself. And then, "No, it's too loud." + +I stood listening, and I learned directly what caused the hissing, which +gave place directly to a peculiar humming, and then after more hissing a +familiar raspy voice roared out, its owner imagining he was singing: + + "For we be sturdy English lads, + And this here be our land; + And ne'er a furren furreneer + Shall ever in it stand." + +Then came a great deal of hissing before the strain was taken up again, +and accompanied by a good deal of scuffling on the beach-strewn path. + + "They say they'll have the English soil, + These overbearing French; + So if they come they'll find it here + In six-foot two o' trench." + +"Why, Sam," I said, "what are you doing?" + +"Ah, Mas' Sep: can't you see? Washing out the bull-dogs' throats to +make 'em bite the Peccavis when they come." + +I laughed as I looked at the old man, who was busy at work with a mop +and pail cleaning out the old cannons on my father's sham fort. + +"Why, Sam, what's the good of that?" + +"Good, my lad?" he cried, ramming the wet mop down one of the guns and +making the water spurt out of the touch-hole like a little fountain, +"Good! Why, we'll blow the Frenchy ships out of the water if they come +anigh us." + +"Why, there's no powder," I said. + +"Powder! Eh, but there is: lots, my lad." + +"But there are no cannon-balls." + +Old Sam stopped short with the mop right in the gun, and loosening one +hand, he tilted his old sou'-wester hat that he wore summer and winter +with no difference, only that he kept cabbage-leaves in it in summer, +and stood scratching his head. + +"No cannon-balls!" he said. "No cannon-balls!" + +"Not one," I said; "only the big one indoors we use for a door-weight, +and that would not go in." + +"Well, now, that be a rum un, Master Sep, that be a rum un. I never +thought o' that. Never mind, it don't matter. They Frenchies 'll hear +the guns go off and see the smoke, and that's enough for them. They'll +go back again." + +"Go back again," I said laughing. "Why, they'll never come." + +"Get out, lad! You're too young to understand they things. You wait a +bit, and you'll see that they will come and find us ready for them too." + +"With six-foot two of trench, eh, Sam?" I said. + +"Eh? What? What do you mean?" + +"Why, weren't you singing something about burying them all. Here, sing +us the rest." + +"Nay, nay, nay, my lad; I can't sing." + +"Why, I heard you, Sam." + +"Ay, but that's all I know; and I must get on with my job afore they +come." + +"Before they come, Sam! Why, they'll never come. Go and hoe up your +cabbages and potatoes and you'll be doing some good." + +"Nay, lad, this be no time for hoeing up cabbage and 'tater. Why, what +for?--ready for the French?" + +"French!" I said with a laugh as I leaned over the low wall and looked +down the perpendicular cliff at the piled-up masses of fallen fragments. +"No French will ever trouble us." + +For it looked ridiculous to imagine that a foreign enemy would ever +attempt to make a landing anywhere beneath the grand wall of piled-up +rock that protected our coast from a far more dangerous enemy than any +French fleet, for the sea was ready to attack and sweep away even the +land, and this a foreign fleet could never do. + +I sat on the edge looking down at the ivy, and toad-flax, and saxifrage, +and ferns that climbed and clustered all over the steep cliff-face; and +as I sat looking and enjoying the sea-breeze and the rest from all +school labours, old Sam went on cleaning out the guns and expressing in +his way the feelings of nearly everybody round the coast. + +"Is my father over at the mine?" I said. + +"Ay, my lad; he's always there. Going over?" + +"Yes, Sam, when I'm rested. They're very busy now, I suppose." + +"Wonderful, Master Sep, wonderful. Who'd ha' thought it?" he exclaimed, +sticking the mop handle on the path and resting his bare brown arms upon +the wet woollen rags that formed the top. + +"Who'd have thought what, Sam?" + +"Why, as there'd be lead and silver under they slates down at the Gap. +Always looked to be nothin' but clatter, and old massy rock and no +soil." + +"Ah, it was a discovery, Sam," I said. + +"Discovery, my lad! Why, when they said as the Captain had bought the +old place I went into my tool-shed and sat down on a 'tater heap and +'most cried." + +"'Most cried, Sam--you?" + +"Ay, my lad, for I thought the Captain had gone off his head and +everything would be in rack and ruin." + +"Instead of which my father is making quite a fortune out of it, Sam." + +"Ay, I s'pose so, my lad, but fortuns aren't everything. It makes him +look worried, it do, and he've give up his garden, as is a bad sign. I +don't like to see a man give up his garden. It means weeds." + +"Well, then, why don't you hoe them up, Sam?" I said sharply. + +"Hoe 'em up, lad? I can't put a hoe in his mind, can I? That's where +the weeds grows, my dear lad. Why, he never takes no interest in his +guns now, and if I hadn't set to this morning to scour 'em out and give +'em a regular good cleaning, where would they have been when the French +come?" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +DOWN THE SILVER MINE. + +I left Sam picking out the touch-holes with a piece of wire, walked +across the high ground of the wind-swept moor and descended into the +Gap, a well-beaten track now marking the way. + +It was too rough for wheels, but filled with the heavy hoof-marks of +donkeys, which were used largely for carrying wood, charcoal, and +sea-coal to the mine; and as I stood up by the spot where years before +Bob Chowne, Bigley, and I had blown up the big stone and set it rolling +down into the valley, it was wonderful what a change had taken place. + +Where we had swept the side of the ravine clear with an avalanche of +rock, there had now sprung up quite a tiny village built of the rough +stones dug from the mine. There was a large water-wheel slowly turning +and sending down the water led to it from above, in company with that +which it pumped out of the mine, all thick and discoloured, in quite a +torrent to the beautiful little stream below, which now ran turbid and +in which the trout were all dead. + +There was a row of stoutly-built sheds, and a big place with a high +chimney where the ore was smelted. Then there were offices, and a +building where the purified metal was passed through another furnace, +and in addition a place where the metal was kept. + +There seemed a total alteration in the place till I directed my eyes +towards the sea, where all appeared to be unchanged. There were the two +cottages--Binnacle Bill's, with some newly washed white garments hanging +over the rocks; and Jonas Uggleston's, with its stone sheds and +outbuildings bristling with spars and wreck-wood that had been thrown +up, and with nets and sails spread out to dry. + +Beyond lay his lugger; and the boat drawn up on the beach, suggesting to +my mind the horrors of that night when we were blown off the shore. + +I stood looking at the scene, with the bare sea beyond and the vast +cliff towering up a thousand feet on my left, and then began to descend +the rugged slope, making straight for the building which my father used +as his counting-house and office. + +"Well, Sep," he said, smiling, "I'm glad to see you." + +I noticed that he looked care-worn and anxious, and his aspect +reproached me, for I felt as if it was too bad of me to be making +holiday while he was working so hard. + +"Can I help you, father?" I said. + +"Help me! Yes, my boy, I hope so--a good deal; but I don't want to be +too hard upon you. Take a good look round for a few days, so as to rest +a little while, and then you shall come and help me here; for, Sep, an +affair like this is not without plenty of anxiety." + +"Oh, father!" I said, "I shall have plenty of time for amusement; let's +see if I can't help you now." + +He looked more and more pleased as he heard my words. + +"No," he said, "not yet. You shall have a look round first for a few +days, and perhaps you may be able quietly to pick up the cause of +something that is troubling me a great deal." + +"Troubling you, father!" I said. + +"Yes, my lad, troubling me, for things are not going as I could wish. +'Tis just as if, as fast as I get a few steps forward, someone pulls me +back." + +"But I thought the mine was very prosperous, father?" I said. + +"So it is, my boy, and I am getting it better and better; but there is +always mischief being done, or else some accident occurs, and I can't +tell how." + +"Do you suspect anybody?" + +"Well, er--no!" he said emphatically. "But, there--never mind now. I'm +busy with some calculations; go and have a look round." + +I left his office and had "a look round," the place seeming to have far +more interest for me than it had before. Men were busy wheeling broken +ore and taking it from one heap to another; the great pump was hard at +work sucking out water; and the wheel was winding up buckets of produce +from out of the deep shaft. + +I went and had a look there and shrank back, it seemed so repulsive and +dark; but as I did so I saw one of the men smiling, and this made me +turn red. + +"Look here," I said sharply, "can I go down there?" + +"Oh, yes, if you like, master," he replied, staring at me wonderingly +now. + +"Then I will," I said. "I'll have a look at the furnace first, and then +I'll go down." + +"Ay, do," he said; "and you're just in time. They're going to run off +the metal in a few minutes." + +I recalled our experiment at home with the little built-up furnace, when +the ore was first tried, as I walked to the stone-built house, where +from out of the centre came a low dull roar; from cracks and chinks and +crannies blindingly bright rays of light shot out and seemed to cut the +darkness, which, after the sunshine of out of doors, seemed to be black +and terrible. Now and then there came a peculiar crackling, as if +something were snapping and flying to pieces under the great heat, and +it was some time before I could see anything but the brilliant pencils +of light that cut the gloom. + +By degrees, though, I made out that a couple of men were moving here and +there, and that each of them carried a long black rod of iron. + +The flames seemed to flutter and burn and to be rushing upward with +tremendous force, while I could fancy that I heard the metal bubbling in +its bed, where it was seething and throwing off wonderful flames, as I +could judge by the gleams I saw. + +"Stand back, young master," said one of the men roughly--"there, right +up in the corner here. You won't hurt now. Just going to run her off." + +I backed into the corner he pressed me to, where there was a broad +shutter or screen, and I was getting so accustomed to the darkness now +that I could see just below, and in front of a place where golden tears +seemed to be dropping from a chink at the bottom of the furnace, several +long square trenches in the black charcoal floor, and the next minute I +made out that these trenches were all connected together by a little +channel. + +"The moulds," I thought to myself, and I looked eagerly now at one of +the men, who shouted something by way of warning to his fellow-worker; +and then, as the man stepped behind a similar screen of wood-work to +that which sheltered me, the one who uttered his words of warning thrust +and hammered with his long iron rod at the foot of the furnace. + +I did not quite see what he did afterwards, but he seemed to dart out of +the way, and then a stream of what looked like liquid gold came gushing +out, sputtering, snapping, and sending into the air myriads of glorious +firework-like sparks of blue and orange and scarlet and gold, and so +brilliant that they lit up the whole building and made my eyes ache and +my cheeks tingle. Where a minute before there were so many black +trenches were now so many dazzling ingots, over which played and +fluttered many-tinted flames that kept on waving and undulating as if +they were liquid, and swayed from side to side, giving forth with the +molten metal a glow that scorched my face. + +For the first few seconds the molten metal had run off quickly and +filled the moulds; now what came was sluggish and not half so brilliant; +and I noticed that by a quick movement of a long iron rake one of the +men drew some of the earth and charcoal which formed the floor on one +side, so as to alter the course of the running molten contents of the +furnace, and instead of its passing into moulds it seemed to settle down +in a patch. + +This, too, was most brilliant to the eye; and from it endless dazzling +coruscations darted up and played about, but for a much shorter period; +and in place of the ruddy glow of the metal, which rapidly cooled down +to look like silver, this last melting grew sombre and stony, ending by +looking of a blackish-grey. + +I was still watching the fading away of the brilliant display, when +there was a familiar voice at the door of the building, and my father +stepped in to make inquiries about the running off of the molten ore, +and as he examined the result, he expressed his satisfaction. + +"Mind!" he cried to me, as I was about to touch one of the ingots of +lead with my toes. "My good boy, these will not be cool enough to touch +yet. They retain the heat for a long while." + +He stopped talking to me for some time, and explained how the men were +closing the bottom of the furnace again with fire-clay, and that they +would now go on pouring in at the top barrows full of charcoal and +broken-up ore. How that dark grey stuff was the molten stones and +refuse which remained after the metal had been cleared, and then he +laughed at what he called my innocence, as I asked him if the ingots, as +he called the square masses which now looked quite white, were silver. + +"No, my boy," he said; "we are not so rich as that. If those pieces of +coarse metal, when melted down again, and submitted to a fresh process, +give us three pounds' weight of silver out of every hundred pounds of +lead we shall do well. Now then, would you like to go down the mine?" + +He spoke as if he expected to hear me decline; but I had made up my mind +to go, and he looked quite pleased when he heard me say that I was +ready. + +"Well," he said, as we reached the top of the shaft, "I'll go down +first, and you can follow. We can get candles at the bottom." + +If I had had any ideas of a silver mine being a cavern full of beautiful +sights, I was very soon deceived, for as I stood there at the top, I saw +my father step on to the top rounds of a rough-looking ladder, and begin +to descend slowly till he reached a platform, when he called to me to +follow. + +"Hold tight," he said. "But there, I needn't tell you after your cliff +climbing." + +I was just about to descend when a voice behind me made me turn. + +"Going down, Sep?" + +I turned to confront Bigley Uggleston, who looked at me imploringly. + +"Ask him if I may come down too?" + +"Who's that?" said my father sharply. "Oh, I see. Yes, he can come." + +Bigley flushed up with pleasure, and I let him go down next, and then +followed, to find that a gallery went off on a level with the platform; +but my father had already descended to the next platform below, and when +we followed him there, it was to find he had reached another. + +To get to this we passed another gallery, and then stood by where my +father was lighting a couple of candles, as he rested upon some +wood-work, beneath which we could hear the trickle and splash of falling +water, while away from our right, down a long passage propped here and +there with pieces of timber, came the dull echoing sound of blows. + +"Well, my lads, what do you think of the enchanted cave?" + +I looked about me by the light of the dim candles and saw that the shaft +was divided by a wood partition, one side being reserved for the +ladders, the other for the pump to work and the stout rope to go up and +down and draw the buckets, there being openings in the wood-work +opposite each of the galleries. + +"Well, you don't say anything," said my father. + +"It's very dark, sir," replied Bigley. + +"Yes," said my father; "and it's darker still farther in. What do you +say, will you go on?" + +"If Sep does." + +"Oh, yes," I said, "I shall go;" not that I wanted to go any farther, +but I felt that I could not draw back; though I would very gladly have +been up in the bright sunshine instead of in the damp gloomy hole, shut +in by ladders and wood-work, and with, the falling water seeming as if +it was gathering force, and ready to rise as it does in a well. + +But there was no time for thinking. My father was leading the way along +the large square-shaped gallery, the candles casting curious shadows +which glided along the walls, as if our company had been joined by some +of the spirits of the mine. + +As we went on, my father stopped from time to time to hold his light +against the wall, for us to see where the lead ore glistened, and +promised to be thick when he was disposed to work in another direction. + +We could hear the water trickling still along a channel which had been +cut on one side of the gallery, and every here and there great drops +gathered on the wood-work that propped the roof, and fell with a plash +making Bigley whisper to me: + +"Suppose the sea was to break in." + +He spoke as I say in a whisper, but it was heard by my father, who +answered quietly: + +"We should have to go down much lower before we were on a level with the +sea at high-water mark, my lads. If anything were likely to do us any +harm, it would be the brook." + +He stopped soon after, for we had reached the end of the gallery, giving +way while a workman wheeled by us a barrowful of ore, similar to a heap +which two others were hewing and picking out of the wall. + +"Well, my lads, what's it like?" said my father. + +"Cleaner and richer and better, I should say, master," said one of the +men. "It's a wonder, but I'm thinking you'll have to put more power on +there to pump. Farther we goes, the worse the water gets." + +"I've been thinking so myself," said my father quietly. "It sha'n't +stop you, my lads, I'll see to that." + +My father picked up a specimen of the ore, and placed it in his pocket; +the men resumed their picking and hewing, and we two lads inspected the +lode and the walls of the mine, and then, after looking at it up, down, +and in every direction, to try and find something more interesting than +the square passage with its dripping walls and patches of black mineral +that glistened in a dull manner when the light was moved, we ended by +staring at my father. + +"Well," he said smiling; "had enough?" + +"Is there no more to see than this?" I said in a disappointed tone. + +"There is another gallery below here, and two above, but they are just +the same. Shall we go and see them?" + +"If Bigley likes," I said rather gruffly. + +"No, I don't think I want to see any more," he replied. + +My father laughed, and went on in front with one candle while I followed +with the other, till we reached the foot of the shaft. + +"Silver mine sounds better than it looks, eh, my lads!" he said. + +We neither of us answered, for it seemed like damping his enterprise. +But he did not heed our silence, for he began to climb slowly up the +ladders, and as he reached the first platform, we followed, and then on +and on with the water splashing and the pump going, and now and then the +creaking sound of the windlass coming down to us as the men over the +bucket shaft wound up each heavy load of ore. + +"There, I'm going back into my office," said my father. "You, lads, +have had enough mining for to-day. I shall not want you, Sep." + +"Don't the open air look clear and fresh?" I said as soon as we were +alone, and I gazed round at the patches of green upon the hills, and the +bright sea out at the end of the Gap. + +"Yes," said Bigley, with a shiver. "I shouldn't like to work in a mine. +I say, I suppose your father's getting very rich now, isn't he?" + +"I suppose so," I said. + +"That's what the people say. Binnacle Bill says he has got heaps of +silver locked up in the strong place below the office under iron doors. +Have you seen it?" + +"No," I said; "and I shouldn't think it's true. Hallo! Look yonder. +Why, there's Bob Chowne!" + +Bob it was, and the mine, the coming of the French, and everything else +was forgotten, as we went down to the beach, ready enough for a ramble +beneath the rocks, after six months' absence from home. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +FRIENDS AND ENEMIES. + +At seventeen one's ideas are very different to what they are at +fourteen, and matters that seemed of no account in the earlier period +looked important at the more mature. For it used to seem to us quite a +matter of course that Bigley's father should have a lugger, and if the +people said he went over to France or the Low Countries with the men who +came over from Dodcombe, and engaged in smuggling, why, he did. It was +nothing to us. + +We never troubled about it, for Bigley was our school-fellow, and old +Jonas was very civil, though he never would let us have the boat again. +But now that we were getting of an age to think and take notice of what +was said about us, Bob Chowne began to suggest that he and I ought to +make a change. + +"You see it don't seem respectable for me, the son of the doctor, and +you of the captain, who is our mine owner, to be such friends with one +whose father is a regular smuggler." + +"How do you know he is?" I said. + +"How do I know? Oh, everybody says so. Let's drop him." + +"I sha'n't," I said, "unless father tells me to Bigley can't help it." + +"Then you'll have to drop--I mean I shall drop you," said Bob haughtily. + +"Very well," I said, feeling very much amused at the pompous tone in +which he spoke. Not that I wanted to be bad friends with Bob Chowne; +but I knew that he was only in one of his "stickly" fits, as we used to +call them, and that it would soon be over. + +"Very well, eh?" exclaimed Bob. "Oh, if you choose to prefer his +society to mine, Good morning." + +He walked off with his nose in the air, and, half annoyed, half amused, +I went over the hill to the mine, where my father was busily examining +some specimens of the lead that had been cut off the corners of some +newly-cast ingots. + +"Well, Sep," he said. "Coming to help?" + +I replied that I was, somewhat unwillingly, for I had caught sight of +Bigley coming up the valley, and I wanted to join him, and try and show +that I did not intend to give up an old school friend because his +father's name was often on people's lips. + +"Who's that you are looking for?" said my father. + +"Only young Uggleston, father," I said. + +I looked at him intently and felt troubled, for he frowned a little, +and, before I knew what I was saying, the words slipped: + +"You don't mind Bigley Uggleston coming here, do you, father?" + +"Yes--no," he said, sitting up up very stiffly. "I don't like your +giving up old companions, Sep, or seeming to be proud; but there are +beginning to be reasons why you should not be quite so intimate with +young Uggleston." + +"Oh, father!" I exclaimed dolefully. "Why, I thought that you and old +Uggleston were good friends now." + +"Oh, yes; the best of friends," said my father sarcastically. "He pays +his rent regularly, and we always speak civilly to each other when we +meet." + +As he spoke there was a look in his face which seemed to say, "We don't +like each other all the same." + +"Look here, Sep," continued my father. "You are getting a big fellow +now, and I am going to speak very plainly to you; of course, you +understand that this is in confidence; it is quite private." + +"Yes, father," I said sadly. + +"Then you must understand that, though Jonas Uggleston is my tenant +here, he is not a very satisfactory one, for there can be no doubt that +he carries on rather a risky trade; but, so long as the authorities do +not interfere with him, and he behaves himself, I am not going to take +upon myself the task of being his judge." + +"No, father." + +"At the same time I cannot be intimate with him. I don't like him, and +I don't like the companions who come over from Stinchcombe to man his +lugger, and I'll tell you why. Do you know that, now this little mine +is developing itself, I very often have blocks of silver here to a +considerable amount." + +"I have often thought you must have, father." + +"You were quite right, and they are stored below this floor in a strong +cellar cut and blasted out of the solid rock. I have good doors and +keys, and take every precaution; but at the same time I often feel that +it is very unsafe, and of course I send it into town as often as I can." + +"But you don't think, father--" + +"That Jonas Uggleston would steal it? I hope not, my boy; but at the +same time I feel as if I ought not to expose myself to risks, and I +prefer to keep Jonas Uggleston at the same distance as he has before +stood. We can be civil." + +"I'm sorry," I said. + +"Sorry?" + +"Yes, father," I replied, "because I like Bigley Uggleston." + +"So do I, my boy. I like his quiet modesty under ordinary +circumstances, and the sterling manner in which you have told me that he +has come to the front in emergencies. But stop: I don't ask you to +break with him, for he may be useful to us after all. There, let me +finish these figures I am setting down, and I'll talk to you again." + +I sat down and watched him, and then looked round the bare office, with +its high up window close to the ceiling, and ladder leading to the two +rooms above. Spread over the floor was a large foreign rug that my +father had brought from the Mediterranean many years before, and this +rug was stretched over the middle of the large office as if it had been +brought from the cottage to make the place more homelike and +comfortable. But it struck me all at once that the rug had been placed +there to hide a trap-door. Then, as I sat looking about, I noticed that +the door was very thick and strong, and that there were bars at the +window in which the glass was set. + +I might have noticed all this before, but it did not seem of any +consequence till my father talked of the bars of silver and their value, +and as I sat thinking, the place began to look quite romantic, and I +thought what a strange affair it would be, and how exciting if robbers +or smugglers were to come and attack it, and my father, and Sam, and the +men from the mine to have to defend it, and there were to be a regular +fight. + +Once started thinking in that vein my mind grew busy, and I felt that if +I were at the head of affairs I should arrange to have plenty of swords +and pistols, and that made me think of old Sam and the cannon down the +cliff garden. + +I laughed at that, though, as being absurd, and began to think directly +after that my father's sword and pistols that always used to hang over +the chimney-piece in the little parlour were not there now. + +"Why, I daresay he has brought them down here," I said to myself; and I +looked round, half expecting to see them, but they were not visible, and +I came to the conclusion that they must be in the cupboard in the +corner. + +My heart began to beat, and a curious feeling of excitement took +possession of me, as my imagination had a big flight. I began to see +myself armed with a sword helping my father, who, being a captain, would +be a splendid leader. + +"But we ought to have plenty of swords and guns," I thought, and I +determined when my father began to speak to me again, to propose that he +should have a little armoury in the cupboard. + +Then I began to think about old Jonas, and the possibility of his +getting a lot of men and coming and making an attack. There had been a +rumour that he and his people had once, many years ago, had a fight with +the king's men; but when Bob Chowne and I talked to him about it, Bigley +fired up and said it was all nonsense. But it occurred before he was +born. + +It had never occurred to me before that this was a strange declaration. +For how could it be all nonsense and yet have occurred before he was +born? + +It seemed now as if it was not all nonsense. + +One thought brought up another, and I found myself thinking that, if I +was helping my father defend the treasure of silver here in the store, +and fighting bravely, as I felt sure I should, Bigley would be helping +his father to make the attack, and I saw myself having a terrific +cutlass combat with him somewhere out on the slope. Then I should have +had a great deal of training from my father, who was an accomplished +swordsman, and I should disarm old Big and take him prisoner, and then +when night came, for the sake of old school-days, I should unfasten his +hands and let him escape. + +My thoughts ran very freely, and I was fully determined to grind the +sword that I had not seen, and which perhaps had not yet been made, as +sharp as a razor. It would be very easy, I thought, when I got it, to +make old Sam turn the grindstone at home, while I put on a tremendous +edge and tried it on the thin branches of some of the trees. + +"What an exciting time it would be!" I thought, and I could not help +wishing that I should have to wear some kind of uniform, for a bit of +gold lace would go so well with a sword. Then I stopped short, for in +all my planning there was no place for Bob Chowne, who was regularly +left out of the business. + +"Oh, how stupid!" I thought directly after. "He would be the +surgeon's--his father's--assistant, and bind up everybody's wounds." + +I'm afraid I was, like a great many more boys, ready to have my +imagination take fire at the idea of a fight, and never for a moment +realising what the horrors of bloodshed really were. + +"Poor Bob!" I thought to myself. "He wouldn't like that, having to do +nothing but tie and sew up wounds." He was so fond of a fight that he +would want to be in it; and I concluded that we would let him fight +while the fight was going on, and have a sword and pistols, and +afterwards I could help him bandage the wounds. + +Then I came back to Bigley, and began to think that, after all, it would +be very queer for him to be fighting on one side and me on the other, +and it did not seem natural, for we two had never had a serious quarrel, +though I had had many a set-to with other lads, and had twice over given +Bob Chowne black eyes, the last time when he gave me that terrible punch +on the nose, when it bled so long that we all grew frightened, and +determined to go to the doctor's, and it suddenly stopped. + +I don't know how much more nonsense I should have thought if my father +had not made a movement as if to get up, and that changed the current of +my thoughts. + +But he went on writing again, and this time I began watching a large +chest that stood in one corner of the room, bound with clamps of iron, +and it looked so heavy and strong that I concluded that it must be full +of ingots of silver ready to send away. + +I grew tired of looking at that box, and as my fancy did not seem +disposed to run again upon fighting and defence, I sat listening to the +scratching of my father's pen and the ticking of the clock, and then to +the dull roar of the furnace, while mingled with it came the clattering +of hammers, the creaking of the great windlass, and the rushing and +plashing of falling water. + +Just then there was a tap as of some one's knuckles at the door, and in +obedience to a look from my father I got up and opened it, to turn quite +red in the face, for there stood my old school-fellow about whom so much +had been said--Bigley Uggleston. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +FOREARMED AS WELL AS FOREWARNED. + +"Who is it?" said my father. + +"Bigley Uggleston," I replied, feeling very awkward. + +"Oh, come in, my lad," said my father quietly; and as I held the door +back for him to enter, it suddenly struck me what a frank, +handsome-looking fellow he had grown. + +I felt more awkward still, for it seemed to me that I was going to +listen to some very unpleasant remarks about our companionship being +broken off; but to my surprise my father said quietly: + +"Come after Sep?" + +"Yes, sir. I thought if he was not busy--" + +"Well, but he is," said my father smiling. "He was about to unpack that +box for me--I was just going to set him the task." + +Bigley drew back, but my father said good-humouredly: + +"Why don't you stop and help him?" + +"May I, sir? I should like to." + +"Go on, then, my lads. Take the lid off carefully, Sep. There is a +screw-driver in that cupboard." + +I went eagerly to the cupboard and opened it, to give quite a start, for +there, hanging upon nails at the back, were the pistols and sword I had +remembered were absent from home. + +I found the screw-driver in a sort of tool-chest, and as Bigley and I +took it in turns to draw the screws, my father cleared the table. + +"Be careful," he said. "You can lay the things out here. I shall soon +be back." + +He left us together, and, all eagerness now, I worked away at the +screws, which were very tight, and there were four on each side of the +lid, and others in the clamps, which had to be removed before the lid +could be raised. + +"I am glad I came, Sep," said Bigley. "I was wondering why you hadn't +been down to me." + +"Were you?" I said, feeling very uncomfortable. + +"Yes. What's in the box?" + +"I don't know," I said. "I thought it was blocks of metal, packed to +send away." + +I hesitated before I said metal. I was going to say silver; but I felt, +after my father's words, as if I ought to be cautious. + +"I believe I know what's inside," said my companion. + +"Well, what?" I cried, as I tugged at another screw which refused to go +round. + +"New tools for the mine." + +"Why, of course!" I exclaimed. "Here: you go on. I can't manage this +screw. How stupid of me not to think of it!" + +"There he goes!" said Bigley, giving the screw a good wrench. "How many +more are there? I see: these two." + +He attacked them one after the other, talking the while. + +"I wonder you don't know what's in the box," he said. "I thought your +father told you everything--so different to mine, who never says +anything to me." + +"He does say a great deal to me, but he didn't tell me about the box." + +"There, then!" cried Bigley, taking out the last screw and seating +himself suddenly upon the chest. "We've only got to lift the lid and +there we are. Who has first peep?" + +"Oh, I don't care," I said laughing. "You can." + +"Here goes, then!" cried Bigley. "Take care of the screws." + +I swept them into a heap and placed them on the table as Bigley threw +open the lid, which worked upon two great hinges, and then removing some +coarse paper he drew back. + +"You'd better unpack," he said. "Don't make a litter with the +shavings." + +For as the paper was removed the box seemed to be full of very fine +brown shavings mixed with fine saw-dust. + +I swept the shavings away and felt my hands touch a row of long parcels, +carefully wrapped in a peculiar-looking paper; and as I took them out, +and shook them free of the saw-dust, handing them one by one to Bigley +to place upon the table, my heart began to beat, and the blood flushed +into my cheeks. + +"Why, they're not mining tools!" cried Bigley excitedly. "Whatever are +you going to do? They're swords." + +"Yes," I said huskily; "they're swords--cutlasses." + +"Why, you knew all the time!" cried Bigley. + +"No; I did not," I said. "I had no idea." + +"But how comical!" he cried. "What are you going to do with them?" + +I did not answer, for all my thoughts of half an hour before seemed to +have rushed back, and I felt that I had been wondering why my father had +not done that which he really had; and, though Bigley evidently could +not realise the object of the weapons being there, it certainly seemed +to me that my father felt that there was danger in the air, and that he +meant to be prepared. + +"What are you thinking about?" cried my companion. "Why don't you +speak?" + +"I was thinking about the cutlasses," I said. + +"Well, it is a surprise!" cried Bigley. "Oh, I know. Your father's an +old sea captain, and they say the French are coming. He's going to arm +some men as volunteers." + +All this time I was handing out the wrapped-up weapons, as we supposed +them to be--as we felt they must be--and Bigley was arranging them upon +the table side by side. + +"That's the end of those," I said, and Bigley counted them. Twelve. + +"Twelve swords," he said. "I say, Sep, let's ask him to make us +volunteers too." + +But I was unpacking the next things, and felt in no wise surprised by +their weight and shape, to which the brown paper lent itself pretty +clearly. + +"Pistols!" cried Bigley, as I handed the first. "Oh, I say, Sep, do you +think there'll be any uniforms too?" + +"No," I said, "not in a box like this. Here, catch hold!" + +I handed the first pistol to him, and he laid it beneath the swords. + +"I know how many there ought to be!" he cried--"twenty-four. A brace of +pistols and a cutlass for every man. Here, pitch them and I'll catch." + +There was nothing to prevent my handing them to him; but, boy-like, it +seemed pleasant thus to turn work into play, and I began to pitch one by +one the little heavy packages as I drew them out of the chest. + +Bigley nearly let one fall, but he saved it, and laughingly placed it in +the row he was making, till, counting the while, he exclaimed-- + +"Twenty-three! Is that next one the last?" + +"Yes," I said, as I pitched it to him and it was placed in the range +upon the table. "You were right." + +"Is there anything else?" + +"Oh, yes," I said; "the box isn't half empty." + +I dived down and brought out next a long sword, more carefully wrapped, +and in superior paper to those which had been previously taken out. +Then followed a squarish case or box in paper, and for a few moments we +were undecided as to what it might be, concluding that it must be a +pistol-case with a brace of superior weapons inside. + +Still the chest was far from empty, and on continuing the unpacking I +found that I was handing out short carbines, such as artillerymen or +horse-soldiers would use. + +"Twelve!" cried Bigley, who was growing more and more excited. "What +next?" + +The next thing was a small square box wrapped in something soft, and +occupying the bottom corner of the chest, while the rest of the space +was occupied by small boxes that were not wrapped in paper, but fastened +down with copper nails, and on each was painted the big figures--250. + +I handed out eight of these little boxes, and they, being pretty heavy, +were placed close beside the wall of the office. + +"That's all," I said, and, concluding that it was the proper thing to +do, we replaced the shavings and saw-dust in the chest, shut down the +lid, put the loose screws in a piece of paper, and tied them to one of +the clamps before pushing the chest aside and making all tidy. + +This done, we hovered, as it were, about the table with longing eyes and +itching fingers, ending by looking at each other. + +"I say," said Bigley; "didn't your father say that we were to unpack the +box?" + +"Yes, and we've done it," I replied rather sulkily. + +"Well, oughtn't we to take the things out of the paper, and lay the +paper all neatly and save the string?" + +"Think so?" I said longingly. + +Bigley hesitated, took up a packet, turned it over, balanced it in his +hand, laid it down again, and rearranged several of the others without +speaking, but he heaved a deep sigh. + +"Think we ought to unpack them further?" I said. + +"No," said Bigley unwillingly. "I don't think it would be right. Do +you?" + +"No," I said with a sigh; "but I should like to have a look." + +We two lads went on hovering about the table, peering at first one +packet and then at another, feeling them up and down, and quite +convincing ourselves that certain ones were a little more ornamental +than others. There was no doubt about it, we felt. They were swords, +pistols, and carbines. + +"Here, I know," I exclaimed. + +"Know what, Sep?" + +"The boxes, 250." + +"Well, what about 'em?" + +"Cartridges," I said. "Two hundred and fifty in each." + +"So they are," cried Bigley with his eyes dilating; and, however much we +may have been disappointed over the silver mine, the counting-house now +seemed to be a perfect treasure cave, such an armoury had it become. + +"I say, they won't go off, will they?" cried Bigley. + +"Pshaw! Not they. I say, wouldn't old Bob like to be here now?" + +"Ah, wouldn't he?" said Bigley. "Why, it's like being in a real +robbers' cave." + +"No," I said; "not robbers'," and I recalled the thoughts I had indulged +in earlier in the day. + +"No; of course not," said Bigley thoughtfully; "it isn't like a robbers' +cave. I say, don't it look as if there were going to be a fight?" + +I nodded, and wondered whether there would be. + +"Should you like to be in it if there was?" I said in a curious +doubting manner. + +Bigley rubbed one ear, and picked up a sword. + +"I don't know," he said. "Sometimes I think I should; but sometimes I +feel as if it would be very horrid to give a fellow a chop with a thing +like this, just as if he was so much meat. I would, though, if he was +going to hurt my father," he cried with his eyes flashing. "I'd cut his +arm right off. Wouldn't you?" + +"Dunno," I said, and I began wondering whether there would ever be any +occasion to use these weapons, and I could not help a shrinking +sensation of dread coming over me, for I seemed to see the horror as +well as the glory of shooting down human beings, and more than ever it +occurred to me that if trouble did come, my old school-fellow might be +on one side and I on the other. + +"I say," said Bigley suddenly; "we've only undone one box, oughtn't we +to undo the other?" + +"What, that?" I said, looking at a shorter smaller box on end in the +corner behind the door. + +"Yes." + +"Father didn't say I was to." + +"But that looks as if it came from the same place." + +"Why, Big," I cried eagerly, "that must have the uniforms in it." + +"Hurray! Yes," he cried. "Wonder whether they're scarlet?" + +"No," I said. "They're sure to be blue, like the sailors'." + +"Oh! I don't know about that," he cried. "Marines wear scarlet. I +daresay they're red." + +"Should you open the box if you were me?" + +"Well, no," said Bigley; "perhaps not. He didn't tell us to. But oh, +how I should like to take the paper off one of these pistols!" + +"So should I," was my reply, with a longing look at the array of +quaint-looking parcels; "but we mustn't do that, though I do feel as if +I could do it up again just as neatly." + +"No; don't try," cried Bigley. "Let 'em be. We can think what's +inside. I shouldn't wonder if some of them are mounted with brass, and +have lions' heads on the butts." + +"Yes, and the swords too--brass lions' heads, holding the guards in +their mouths." + +"Why, we haven't seen any belts." + +"No; they would be with the uniforms. I say, I wonder whether the +cutlasses are very sharp?" + +"And whether they are bright blue half-way up the blade; you said your +father's sword was." + +"Yes," I replied; "and inlaid with gold. It was given to him when he +left his ship." + +"Here, come out!" cried Bigley, laying hold of my hand. + +"Come out? What for?" I said. + +"Because it's the best way. I always run off when I see anything very +tempting that I want to touch, and ought not to." + +"Get out!" I cried. + +"I do, Sep, honour bright, and I feel now as if I should be obliged to +undo some of those papers, and try the pistols, and pull the swords out +of the sheaths. Let's go out." + +I laughed, for I felt very much in the same way, only it seemed to be so +cowardly to go, and Bigley came to the same way of thinking, the result +being that we kept on picking up the different packages and feasting our +imaginations by means of touch, till suddenly the door opened, and my +father came in. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +READY FOR THE FRENCH. + +"Well, boys," said my father, "unpacked? That's right, but you might as +well have undone them." We each dashed at a package, whipped out our +knives, cut the string, and rapidly unrolled the contents, till Bigley +held a pistol, and I a cutlass, of the regular navy pattern both. + +My father took the sword from my hand, drew its short broad blade, and +made it whiz through the air as he gave a cut, guarding directly, and +then giving point. + +"Hah!" he said, as we watched him breathlessly, "I used to have two +hundred and fifty stout Jack-tars under me, boys, every one of whom +handled a cutlass like that." + +"Two hundred and fifty," I said; "just as many as there are cartridges +in those boxes." + +"How did you know that they were cartridges?" he said smiling. + +"Well, we guessed that they were, father," I replied colouring. "It +seemed as if there must be cartridges for the pistols." + +"Right, my boy," he replied. + +"And of course cartridges are not wanted for cutlasses," I continued. + +"No," he said laughing; "you load your cutlasses with muscles." + +"But they want belts," I ventured to observe. + +"To be sure," said my father. "There they are in that box. You shall +unpack them when we've undone these. Let me look at that pistol, +Uggleston." + +Bigley handed him the pistol, and my father drew the ramrod, thrust it +down the barrel, and gave it two or three taps to make sure that it was +not loaded. Then replacing the ramrod he cocked it, held it at arm's +length, and drew the trigger. + +There was a little scintillation as the flint struck the cover of the +pan, and he cocked and drew the trigger again, we two watching him with +intense interest, and longing to try the pistol ourselves, but not +liking to ask permission. + +"There, work away!" he said, "save the string, and lay the brown paper +in heaps; it may come in useful." + +We set to work, while my father took a hammer and some large nails from +a drawer, and, standing on a stool, drove the nails in a row along a +board at one side of the office, and as we unpacked he took the weapons +from us and hung them up, a cutlass between two pistols, arranging the +nails so that the arms looked ornamental, while at the same time they +were quite ready to hand in case they should be wanted. + +It took us some little time, but at last the task was done, and the +cartridge chests stowed away in a cupboard, but not till each one had +been carefully wrenched open, the copper nails taken out, and the lids +replaced loose on the top. + +"There, Master Bigley," said my father dryly. "That's what I call being +ready for action." Bigley nodded. + +"If those boxes were put away unopened, the chances are a hundred to one +that on the occasion of their being wanted the chisel and hammer would +not be in their places. Now, then, we'll undo that other box." + +I could not help seeing, or thinking I saw, a peculiar meaning in my +father's way of saying all this, but Bigley did not understand it I +felt, and we set to at once over the other chest, dragging it into the +middle of the room and prising off the lid, for this one was only +nailed. + +It was not so heavy either, but as we had made up our minds that it +contained the uniforms, we were not surprised. + +The lid was more tightly nailed down than seemed to be necessary; but we +had it off at last, and then drew out a dozen parcels, which, on being +opened, proved to be white buckskin belts for the waist, with a frog or +pouch to hold and support the cutlasses, and a cross belt of a broader +kind, to which was attached a cartouche-box, ready to hold the +ball-cartridge when required. + +Another row of nails was driven in for the belts, which were hung in +pairs, and then we drew out a couple more boxes of cartridges, and that +was all. + +"Why, what's the matter, Sep?" said my father, smiling at my +disappointed countenance. + +"I was wondering where the uniforms were," I said. + +"Uniforms, boy?" said my father. "When my two hundred and fifty lads +attacked the Spanish frigate and took her, they wore no uniforms. Every +man stripped to his shirt and trousers, put a handkerchief round his +waist, threw away his hat, rolled up his sleeves, and tucked up his +trousers. They fought the Spaniard bare-armed, bare-headed, +bare-footed; and if we have to fight, we can do the same, and drive off +our enemies too." + +"The French, father?" I said, feeling quite abashed. + +"Ay, my boy, or anyone else. These uniforms look very attractive, but +there's a great deal of vanity in them, and we are too busy to give way +to that." + +"Yes, father," I said meekly, and as I said it I thought about something +else. + +"There, you lads can go now. Thank you for helping to arrange my little +armoury." + +We should both have liked to examine those arms a little more. We +should even have liked to try one of the pistols, and shoot at a mark, +but this was a regular dismissal, and we went out, going quietly down to +the stream, all stained now with the dirty water from the mine, and for +some time we preserved silence. + +"What are you thinking about, Sep?" said Bigley at last. + +"I was thinking how nicely those belts would go with a uniform," I said. + +"Were you? How funny!" said Bigley. "That's just what I was thinking." + +"What, about a uniform?" + +"Yes." + +"Blue?" + +"No, scarlet." + +I went down to the shore with Bigley, and we had a good ramble, after +which he fetched the glass, and we climbed up to the place on the rocks +where his father used to station himself to look out--for fish, Bigley +said; but my father often said they were very rum fish--and there we +swept the horizon to see if we could make out the lugger, but she was +not in sight, and after a time we grew tired of this and lay down in the +warm sunshine upon the cliff, where Bigley dropped off to sleep. + +I did not feel sleepy, though, but full of thought. Above all, I could +not help thinking over my father's behaviour that day. It was evident +that he feared attack by making such preparations, and no doubt I should +soon see him drilling the work-people he had gathered around him, and I +dwelt a good deal, being tolerably observant, upon the fact of his +letting Bigley see all his preparations. I was asking myself why he had +done this, and what reason he had for it, when Bigley woke up and said +that it was time to go and get something to eat. + +I did not answer and say it was, but a silent monitor gave me a hint +that he was quite correct, and so we went to the cottage, and Mother +Bonnet gave us quite a feast of bread and butter and fried fish, which +form no bad refreshment for two hungry boys. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +DRILLING OUR MEN. + +My father's armoury was a good deal talked about, but when regular +drilling was commenced at the Gap it excited no surprise. The +grey-beards of Ripplemouth talked it over, and said they were glad that +Captain Duncan had woke up and was ready to defend the Gap when the +French came to our part of the coast, and they said they expected great +things of him. + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Bob Chowne one day, as he came over; "heard the +news?" + +"No," I said; "have the French come?" + +"No, not yet; but the Ripplemouth people are going to ask your father to +help them make a fort on the cliff over the harbour, and they're going +to get some guns from Bristol." + +"What nonsense!" I said. "Here, I'm going over to the Gap; will you +come?" + +"No, I don't want to come to the old lead pump and see your father's +people make the water muddy. What are you going to do?" + +"Sword drill." + +"Oh! I don't care for sword drill." + +"Bigley's coming too," I said; "and we're going through it all." + +"It's stupid work standing all in a row swinging your arms about like +windmills, chopping nothing, and poking at the air, and pretending that +someone's trying to stab you. I wouldn't mind if it was real fighting, +but yours is all sham." + +"Then we're going to do some pistol-shooting at a mark with +ball-cartridge." + +"Pooh! It's all fudge!" said Bob yawning. "I wouldn't mind coming if +you were going to do something with real guns." + +"Why, they're real pistols." + +"Pistols! Yes--pop-guns. I mean big cannons." + +"Ah, well," I said, "I'm sorry you will not come, but I must go." + +"That's always the way when a fellow comes away from our old physic-shop +and takes the trouble to walk all these miles. You're always either out +or going out." + +"I can't help it, Bob," I replied, feeling rather ill-used. "My father +expects me. I have to help him now. You know I like a game as well as +ever I did." + +"Ah, well, it don't matter. Be off." + +"I'm very sorry," I said, glancing at the old eight-day clock; "but I +must go now." + +"Well, didn't I say, Be off?" cried Bob. + +"Good-bye, then!" + +I offered him my hand, but he did not take it. + +"If you'll walk round by the cliff I'll come part of the way with you," +he said ill-humouredly. + +"Will you?" I cried. "Come along, then." + +I did not let him see it, but I had felt all the time that Master Bob +meant to come. He had played that game so many times that I knew him by +heart. I knew, too, that he was wonderfully fond of the sword practice, +in which he had taken part whenever he could, and to get a shot with a +pistol or a gun gave him the greatest pleasure. + +"He won't come away till it's all over," I said to myself; and we walked +on round by the high track watching the ships going up to Bristol, till +all at once, as we rounded the corner leading into the Gap, Bob +exclaimed: + +"Why, there's old Jonas's boat coming in!" + +"Where?" I said dubiously. + +"Why, out there, stupid!" cried Bob, pointing north-west. + +"What! That lugger?" I said. "No, that's not his. He went out four +days ago, and isn't expected back yet. That's more like the French +lugger we rode in--Captain Gualtiere's." + +"Yah! Nonsense!" + +"Well, but it is," I said. "That has three masts; it's a chasse maree. +Jonas's boat has only two masts--a regular lugger." + +"You've got sand in your left eye and an old limpet-shell over the +other," grumbled Bob. "French boat, indeed! Why, no French boat like +that would dare to come near England now. I s'pose that's a French boat +too!" + +He pointed to another about a mile behind. + +"No," I said; "that looks like a big yacht or a cutter. I shouldn't +wonder if it's a revenue cutter." + +"Well, you are a clever chap," said Bob mockingly--"setting up for a +sailor, and don't know any more about it than an old cuckoo." + +"I know what our old Sam and my father and Binnacle Bill have taught +me," I said quietly. + +"No, you don't--you don't know anything only how to be surly and +disagreeable to your visitors." + +"I say, Bob," I said, "is it true what people say?" + +"I don't care what people say." + +"Why, that your father gives you so much physic that it makes you sour?" + +I repented saying it directly, for Bob stopped short. "Want me to chuck +you off the cliff?" he said fiercely. + +"No, that I don't," I said, pretending to be horribly frightened. + +"Because, just you look here--" + +"Ahoy--oy!" + +"Ahoy--oy! Ahoy--oy!" I shouted back in answer to the faint cry that +came from below, where we could see Bigley waving his hat. + +It was easier work for us to go down the precipitous slope than for him +to climb up; but he did not seem to study that for he came eagerly +towards us, while we slipped and scrambled down, ignoring the path, +which was a quarter of a mile away. + +Bob did not speak as we were scrambling down, and the exertion made him +forget his ill-temper, so that he was a little more amiable when we came +within speaking distance of Bigley. + +"Going to the drill?" he shouted; and then without waiting for an +answer, "So am I. Has your father come back, Sep?" + +"Come back!" I said. "What do you mean? He came on here." + +"Yes," said Bigley; "and then he got our boat and went off in her--so +Mother Bonnet said. I was not here." + +"Why, where has he gone?" I asked. + +"I don't know. I thought he had rowed round to the Bay." + +I shook my head and began to wonder what it meant. + +"Father has been round to Penzance or Plymouth, I think," said Bigley. +"He'll be back soon, I expect." + +"What's he gone after?" said Bob shortly. + +"I don't know," said Bigley, colouring a little. "Fishing or trading or +carrying something, I expect." + +"I don't!" sneered Bob. "I know." + +"That you don't," said Bigley quietly; "even I don't." + +"No!" sneered Bob; "you never know anything. People at Ripplemouth do. +He has gone on a jolly good smuggling trip, I know." + +I saw Bigley's eyes flash, and for a moment I thought that he was going +to say something harsh, and that we were going to have a quarrel through +Bob Chowne's propensity for saying disagreeable things; but just then I +happened to turn my head and saw a boat coming round the western corner +of the entrance to the Gap. + +"Why, there's father!" I cried. "Where can he have been!" + +That exclamation changed the conversation from what was a terribly +touchy point with Bigley, who always felt it acutely if anyone hinted +that his father indulged in smuggling. + +"I know," said Bob Chowne, changing his attack so that it was directed +upon me. "Well, if my father was so precious selfish as to get a boat +and go out fishing without me, I should kick up a row." + +"Why, you are always making rows without," I said testily. "My father +has not been fishing, I'm sure." + +"There he goes again," cried Bob in an ill-used tone. "That's Sep +Duncan all over. I say, Big, he was trying to pick a quarrel with me up +on the cliff when you came, and I wouldn't. Now he's at it again." + +"Well, I sha'n't stop to quarrel now," I replied. "Come on down and +meet father." + +We were a good three hundred feet above the shore when I spoke, and +starting off the others joined me, and we went down over the crumbling +slates and then past the pebble ridge to where the little river bubbled +up again through the stones before it reached the sea, and then in and +out among the rocks, to stand and wait till my father rowed in. + +"Ah, boys," he cried, as the boat grounded, and we dragged it up over a +smooth patch of sand, "you are just in time to help." + +"Been fishing, father?" I said. + +"No; only on a little bit of investigation along the coast; but I found +I had not time as it was drill day. There, make the boat fast to the +buoy line, and let's get up to the mine, and we'll all go this afternoon +when the drill's over." + +"This afternoon?" I said eagerly. + +"Yes; the weather's lovely and warm, and you fellows can row me." + +I felt ready to toss up my hat and cheer, and I saw that Bigley was +ready to do the same; but we both felt that we were getting too old, so +we refrained. + +"I'm afraid I can't go, Captain Duncan," said Bob in an ill-used way. +"My father will be at home expecting me." + +"No, he will not, Bob," said my father smiling; "he will not be back +from Barnstaple till quite late. Come along, my lad, and we'll have +some lunch, and then begin drill. Had Sam started with the basket, +Sep?" + +"No, father," I replied; "but I saw Kicksey packing it when I came +away." + +"Sure to be there," said my father; and he led the way up the Gap with +Bigley, to whom he always made a great point of being kind, partly +because he was my old companion, and partly, as I thought, because he +wanted to smooth away any ill feeling, and to make up for the break +between us that kept threatening to come. + +This upset Bob, who hung back and began to growl about not being sure he +could stop to drill, and thought that, as we reached the end of the +cliff path, he ought to go now, and altogether he required a great deal +of coaxing to get him along, or rather he professed to want a great +deal, till we reached the mine, where all was going on just as of old, +the wheel turning, the water splashing, furnace roaring, and the pump +keeping on its regular thump. + +Old Sam was standing at the counting-house door with a big basket, the +one he always brought over, filled with provisions for our use, as so +much time was spent at the mine; and as my father pulled out a big key, +Sam took in the basket, cleared the table, and threw over it a white +cloth, upon which he spread the provisions. + +For a few minutes after we had sat down--Bob Chowne having to be fetched +in, after sliding off so that he might be fetched back--we could not eat +much for feasting our eyes on the bright swords and pistols; but young +appetites would have their way, and we were soon eating heartily till +the meat pasty and custard and cream were completely destroyed. + +"A very bold attack," said my father smiling. "Now that ought to make +muscle. Off with your coats, my lads, and roll up your sleeves." + +As he spoke he went to the door, and blew an old silver boatswain's +whistle, when work was dropped, and the men came running up quickly from +furnace, and out of the pit and stone-breaking sheds, till ten stout +work-stained fellows stood in a row, showing the effect of the drill and +discipline already brought to bear. + +"Like the old days on the quarter-deck," said my father to Bob Chowne. +"Now, Sep, serve out the arms." + +I had done this several times before, and rapidly handed to each man his +cutlass and belt, which was as quickly buckled on. Then one each was +given to Bob Chowne and Bigley, and I was left without. + +"Humph, twelve," said my father counting, as he saw me unarmed. "You +can take that new sword, Sep." + +I could not help feeling pleased, for this was the officer's sword which +had come down with the others; and as I buckled on the lion-headed belt +I had hard work to keep from glancing at Bob Chowne, who, I knew, would +feel disgusted. + +There was no time wasted, for my father at these drills kept up his old +sea-going officer ways; and in a few minutes we were formed into two +lines before him, opened out, proved distance with our swords, so as to +have plenty of room, and not be likely to cut each other; and there for +a good hour the sun flashed on the blades, as the sword exercise was +gone through, with its cuts, points, and guards, the men taking to it +eagerly as a pleasant change from the drudgery of the mine, and showing +no little proficiency already. + +"There," said my father at last, after the final order to sheathe swords +had been given. "Break off. No pistol practice to-day. Your hands +will be unsteady." + +"Always the way!" I heard Bob Chowne grumble. "I stopped on purpose to +have a bit of pistol-shooting, and now there's none. See if I'd have +stayed if I had known." + +I had to run to the door of the great stone-built counting-house and +receive the swords as the men filed up, and for the next ten minutes I +was busy hanging all in their places. + +When I had finished the men had all gone back to their work, and after a +look round, my father said a few words to a big black-looking +Cornishman, who had lately been selected as foreman from his experience +about mines, locked up the counting-house, and turned to us. + +"Now, boys," he said, "we'll go back to the boat." + +Bob Chowne's lips parted to say that he could not stop; but he had not +the heart to speak the words, and we went back to the beach, to enter +upon an adventure that proved rather startling to us all, and had a +sequel that was more startling, and perhaps more unpleasant still. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +WE LOSE OUR BOAT. + +"We're going to take the boat again, Mrs Bonnet," said my father, as we +passed Uggleston's cottage. + +"Oh, I'm sure master would say you're welcome, sir," said the rosy-faced +old lady. "It's a beautiful afternoon for a row." + +Ten minutes after we were well afloat, and Bigley and I were pulling, +making the water patter under the prow of the boat, as it rose and fell +on the beautiful clear sea. Below us were the rocks, which could be +seen far enough down, all draped with the brown and golden-looking weed; +and we felt as if it was a shame not to have a line over the side for +pollack or mackerel on such a lovely afternoon. But there was to be no +fishing, for my father evidently had some serious object in hand, +telling us how to pull so as to keep regularly along at a certain +distance from the mighty wall of rock that was on our left till, about a +mile from the Gap, where there were a great deal of piled-up stone in +huge fragments that had fallen from the cliff, he suddenly told Bigley +to easy, and me to row. Then both together, with the result that we +pulled right into a little bay where the cliff not only seemed to go up +perpendicularly, but to overhang, while in one place at the bottom a +dark patch or two showed where caves ran right in. + +As we neared the shore he bade us cease rowing, and taking one of the +oars he threw it over the stern, and sculled the boat in and out among +the rocks that were half covered by the sea, threading his way +carefully, and finally beaching her on a soft patch of sand. + +We all leaped out, and the little anchor was thrown ashore to keep the +boat safe while we went away. + +"For neither of you will care to be boat-keeper," said my father +smiling. + +"What are you going to do?" I asked as we walked up together. + +"Don't ask questions, my boy," he replied quietly. "If I tell you, of +course you cannot, without seeming mysterious, refuse to tell your +companions, and I do not care to say much at present. It does not +matter, but I prefer not to talk." + +We walked up straight to the caves, which were very beautiful, covered +as their mouths were with ivy and ferns, while over each a perfect sheet +of dripping rain fell like a screen and threatened to soak anyone who +attempted to enter. + +We did not attempt it, for my father led us away to the west, and soon +after, hammer in hand, he was examining the cliff-face and the various +blocks of stone that had fallen down in days gone by. + +We walked on for a time, but it soon became too monotonous, and we took +to something to amuse ourselves, to my father's great satisfaction, for +he evidently now preferred to be alone. + +We did not watch him, but to me it seemed evident enough that he was +searching for minerals, of which he believed that he had seen some +trace. + +As for us, we rather enjoyed our ramble, for this was a part of the +shore that we had not explored for some time, and the number of pools +and hollows among the stones were almost countless, while at every turn +we had to lament the absence of our baskets and nets. + +Sometimes we climbed on to some difficult-looking pile, at other times +we crept in under the cavernous-looking places, where, at high tide, the +sea rushed and roared. Wearying of this, we explored the edge where +high-water left its marks, to examine the curious shells washed up, and +the varieties of sea-weed driven right under the perpendicular wall of +rock, that towered up above us fully two hundred feet before it began to +slope upwards as a hill. + +Then after laughingly saying that if the French came, they would have to +bring very long ladders and use them at low tide if they wanted to get +into England, we sauntered back towards where we had left my father, but +chose our path as nearly as we could close down by the edge of the +water. + +The tide was coming up fast, but this was all the better, as it was +likely to bring in objects worthy of notice; but we found nothing, and +at last the time had so rapidly glided away that evening was coming in +as it were on the tide. + +We looked about us, and found that we were well inside the little bay +where we had first landed, its two arms stretching well out as jagged +points on either side, among whose rocks the sea was foaming and +plashing, although it was quite calm a little way out. + +"No getting back, boys, now," said Bigley, "if it wasn't for the boat." + +"Yah! Nonsense!" cried Bob. "If the tide was to catch me in a bay like +this, I should make a run and a jump at the cliff, catch hold of the +first piece of ivy I could see, and then go up like a squirrel." + +"Without a tail," I added laughing. + +"Hark at clever old Sep Duncan," sneered Bob. "He'd walk up the cliff +without touching. It's a strange thing that we can't come out without +your saying something disagreeable, Sep." + +"I'm very sorry," I said with mock humility, for I had just caught sight +of Bigley's face, and he was grinning. + +"Well, don't do it again, then," said Bob pompously, and then we +listened, for a voice hailed us from somewhere among the wilderness of +piled-up rocks. + +"Ahoy, there! Ahoy!" + +"Here we are, father!" I shouted, and trudging on we met him coming +down from a place where he had evidently been sitting smoking his pipe. + +"Didn't you hear me hail before?" he said as we met. + +"No, father." + +"Why, I've been shouting at intervals for this last hour, and I should +have been uncomfortable if I had not thought you had common sense enough +to take care of yourselves." + +"Oh! We minded that, sir," said Bob importantly. "We are older now +than we used to be." + +"Yes," said my father dryly, "so I supposed. Well, let's be off; we've +a long row, and then a walk, and it's time to feed the animals, eh, Bob +Chowne?" + +"Yes, sir," said Bob; "but I've got ever so much farther to go before I +can get anything to eat." + +"No, you have not," said my father in his driest way. "I should think +there will be enough for us all at the Bay." + +"I--I didn't mean," said Bob in a stammering way; but he had turned very +red in the face, and then he quite broke down and could get no further, +being evidently thoroughly ashamed of the way in which he had spoken. + +My father noticed it, and changed the conversation directly. "Found +anything very interesting?" he said; "anything good among the rocks?" + +"No, father," I said; "nothing much." + +"Why, you blind puppy!" cried my father; "nothing? Don't you know that +every pool and rock hole teems with wonders that you go by without +noticing. Ah! I shall have to go with you, boys, some day, and show +you a few of the grand sights you pass over because they are so small, +and which you call nothing. Why, how high the tide has risen!" + +"Didn't we leave the boat just beyond those rocks, sir?" said Bigley. + +"Yes," said my father. "One of you will be obliged to strip and wade +out to it. No, it couldn't have been those rocks." + +"No, sir," said Bob Chowne; "it was round on the other side of this +heap." + +He pointed to a mass of rock lying right in the centre of the embayment, +a heap which cut off our view on one side. + +"I suppose you must be right, Chowne," said my father; "come along." + +"I feel sure it was here, father," I said; "just out here." + +"No it wasn't," cried Bob pettishly. "I remember coming round here +after we left the boat." + +Bigley and I looked at each other, but we said nothing, only followed my +father and Bob Chowne as they went round to the other side of the pile +of rock, and there lay the sea before us with the tide racing in, and +sweeping over the rocks, but no boat. + +"It's very strange," said my father; "we must have left it in one of +these places." + +"Perhaps it was behind the other heap, sir," said Bob eagerly. + +"What heap?" said my father. + +"That one, sir," said Bob, pointing towards the west. + +"Impossible!" cried my father, and then he stopped and waited, while +Bigley, who had, by getting on my back and shoulders, managed to climb +up the highest part of the mass which stood like an island out of the +stones and sand, shaded his eyes with his hand, and looked all round. + +It was so still that the lapping of the evening tide sounded quite loud, +and the querulous call of a gull that swept by was quite startling. + +"Well," said my father, "can you see the boat? No no, don't look out +there, my lad, look in here close." + +"She isn't in here close," said Bigley quietly. + +"She must be, Big," cried Bob. "Here, let me come." + +"I see her!" cried Bigley just then. "No. Yes. There she is, sir!" he +said, pointing to the east. "She's broke adrift, and is floating yonder +half a mile away towards the Gap." + +"Tut, tut, tut!" ejaculated my father. "Are you sure?" + +"Yes, sir," said Bigley, "I'm quite sure. I was quite sure before that +we left her where we looked first, but I didn't like to say so." + +"Here, give me your hand," said my father. "You, Sep, let me try and +get up over you. Bob Chowne, you had better stand by him to strengthen +him. I'm heavy. Reach down, Bigley, and give me your hand." + +My father was active enough, and with our help scrambled up on to the +top of the rock, where he gave one glance at the speck Bigley pointed +out, and then uttered an impatient ejaculation. + +"Come down," he said. "You're quite right, my lad. But how can that +boat have got away? The grapnel was good." + +"I'm afraid I know," said Bigley sadly. "I don't think anyone looked to +see if the painter was made fast to the ring. I didn't." + +"And as I'm an old sailor, who ought to have known better, I confess +that I did not," said my father. "Well, boys, it's of no use to cry +over spilt milk. If the boat is not recovered unhurt, Mr Jonas +Uggleston will have a new one, and I must apologise for my carelessness. +Now, then, we must walk home." + +Bigley looked at him in rather a curious way; and as I divined what he +meant I glanced at the two points which projected and formed the bay, +and saw that they were being swept by the waves to such an extent that +it would have been madness to attempt to get round either wading or +swimming. + +"Yes," said my father, speaking as if someone had made this remark to +him, "it would be impossible to get round there. Come along, boys, help +me down; I can't jump. Let's see for a place to climb the cliff." + +We helped him down by standing with our heads bent upon our arms, as if +we were playing at "_Saddle my nag_," then he lowered himself till he +could rest his feet upon our shoulders, and the rest was easy. + +"We mustn't lose time," he said, as he stood on the rough shingle; "the +tide is running in very fast." + +It was quite true, and before long it would certainly completely fill +the bay. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +A NIGHT ON THE ROCKS. + +It was very satisfying in a case of emergency to have with us some one +so old and staid and full of authority as my father, who set the example +to us lads of hurrying close up to the cliff right at the head where the +caverns ran in, and the rain-like water streamed down from the ferns and +saxifrages to form a veil that now looked golden in the glow from the +west. + +"Hah!" said my father decisively, "no standing here; and it would not be +safe to go into the cave, the water rises six or seven feet here right +up the cliff." + +It was so all round, as we plainly saw by the sea-weed that clung in the +crevices, and the limpets and barnacles on the smooth places right above +the heads of us boys, while every here and there at our feet we could +see the common red sea creatures, which look like red jelly when the +tide is down, and like daisyfied flowers when it is up. + +"No stopping down here, boys," cried my father. "Now, then, where's the +best place to climb the cliff? You two try one way, Chowne and I will +go the other." + +We separated, and Bigley and I ran right round the steep wall, looking +eagerly for a spot where foothold could be obtained, but it was +generally overhanging, while elsewhere it rose up perfectly straight, so +that a cat could not have run up it. Only in one place where there was +a great crack did it seem possible to climb up any distance, and that +crack seemed to afford the means of getting to a shelf of rock just +beneath a tremendous overhanging mass, some fifty feet above where we +stood. + +This was very near the eastern arm of the little bay, where the tide was +fretting and splashing and gurgling among the rocks, and threatening +every minute to come right up amongst the stones that filled the foot of +the crack. + +"Let's look more carefully as we go back," said Bigley; and we did, but +our only discovery was the entrance to another cave, which seemed to be +quite a narrow doorway or slit behind some tall stones piled right above +it, and shutting it from the sight of anyone walking by. In fact, we +had missed it as we came. + +"That might be a good place," said Bigley; "but it wouldn't be safe to +try, for perhaps the sea fills it right up every tide." + +We went on back, looking eagerly upwards, and stumbling over the stones +that strewed our path, till we met my father and Bob Chowne. + +"Well," said my father, in his short stern way, as if he were addressing +his sailors on board ship. "Report!" + +"No way up to the top, sir," said Bigley. + +"No, father, none," I said. + +"No way?" said my father, and he frowned severely; "and there is no way +up whatever at our end. Boys, we shall have to venture out, and swim +round the point." + +Bob Chowne shuddered, and I felt a curious sensation of dread creeping +over me which I tried to shake off. + +"But there seems to be a way up to a shelf of rock, father," I said; +"close there by the point." + +"Ah!" he cried. + +"But no higher." + +"Never mind," he said sharply. "Go on first. Quick!" + +It was quite necessary to be quick, for the water was already lapping +among the stones at the foot of the chink and mounting fast. + +"Yes, I see," said my father. "There! Lose no time. Up with you, +Uggleston. You next, Chowne. Climb your best, boys, and help one +another." + +The climb was awkward and steep, but possible, and by one giving another +a back and then crouching on some ledge and holding down his hand to the +others, we got on up and up, till the big ledge was reached, and proved +to be some twenty feet long by about nine broad in the middle, but going +off to nothing at either end, while it went in right under a tremendous +projecting portion of the cliff, that looked as if it would crumble down +and crush us at any moment. + +"Hah!" ejaculated my father breathlessly, as he partly dragged himself +up, and was partly dragged by us on to the shelf. "What a place! Why, +we must be at least eighty feet above the shingle." + +"As much as that, father?" + +"Yes, my boy; so mind all of you. No rolling off. Now, then, is there +any other way of getting higher, and so on to the slope?" + +A very few minutes' examination satisfied him that there was none. + +"No; only a fly could get up there, boys," he said merrily. "Well, we +are safe and quite comfortable. This will be another adventure for you. +Why, my lads, I shall never have the heart to scold you for getting +into scrapes after leading you into this one. It is easier to get into +trouble than out." + +"Shall we have to stay here very long, father?" I said. + +"Only all night, my boys, so we must make ourselves as comfortable as we +can. We shall have to divide ourselves into two watches and make the +best of it. Certainly we shall not be able to climb down till daylight +to-morrow morning." + +"What! Do you mean for us to go to sleep in turns?" + +"Or sit up, which you like, my boys," he said quietly. "And no very +great hardship either. You have not touched upon our greatest +difficulty." + +"What's that, sir?" said Bob. + +"Nothing to eat, my boy, and we are all very hungry." + +"Oh!" groaned Bob; and if ever the face of boy suggested that he had +just taken medicine, it was Bob Chowne's then. + +"Worse disasters at sea, my lads; we shall not hurt. The worst is that +people at our homes will not know what we know, and be very much +troubled about us. If the boat is picked up they will fear the worst. +For my part, I hope it will not be found." + +"But are we safe, sir?" said Bob, with tribulation in his voice. + +"Perfectly, my lad, so long as you don't roll off the ledge, which, of +course, you will not do. There, boys, let's look on the bright side of +it all, and be very thankful that we have reached so comfortable a +haven. Make the best of it, and think you are on an uninhabited island +waiting for rescue to come, with the pleasant knowledge that it won't be +long." + +"Oh, I don't mind," I said. + +"Nor I," cried Bigley. + +"I rather like it," said Bob, with a very physicky face. + +"Then, choose your places, boys," said my father, "and we'll sit and +sing and tell stories, after we have grown tired of watching the +glorious sunset; for, my lads, while we are talking see what a +magnificent sea and sky are spread before you." + +We looked out from our niche under the stony canopy, to see that the sky +was one blaze of orange, and gold, and fiery red, which in turn seemed +to stain the sea, as if it was all liquid topaz, and sapphire, and +amethyst, like the old jewels that had belonged to my mother, and which +I had sometimes seen in my father's desk. Nothing, I suppose, could +have been more lovely, nothing more grand. If we looked to the left, +the rocky cliff was all glow hero, all dark purple shadow there, and the +clustering oaks that ran right up to the top were as if they were golden +green. If we looked to the right, the cliffs seemed as if on fire where +the rock was bare, and as our eyes fell to where the tide was coming in, +the waves, as they curled over, were burnished, and flashed and glowed +like liquid fire. + +It was all grand in the extreme, but somehow I felt, as did Bob and +Bigley, that a well-spread tea-table with some hot fried ham and some +eggs, with new bread, would have been worth it all. + +I am almost ashamed to put this down, but my companions confided their +feelings to me afterwards, and it is perfectly true. + +By degrees the bright colours on the sea and overspreading the sky faded +out, and all grew dark, save where there was a glow in the north. The +stars had come out bright and clear, and covered the sky like so many +points of light looking down at themselves in the mirror-like sea. The +tide came up fast, and as the waves heaved and swayed and ran in, it +seemed as if they were sweeping before them myriads and myriads of +stars, for the water was covered with light, some being the reflections +from the sky, others the curious little specks that we used to see in +the water in warm weather. + +We sat and talked and lay close to the edge to watch the waves come +sweeping in more and more, till the little bay was covered and the tide +rose over the outlying rock, the water sounding wild and strange as it +washed, and splashed, and sighed, and sucked in amongst the stones. +Then, by slow degrees, as we gazed down we found how necessary it had +been for us to climb up to our perch, for the tide rose and rose, higher +and higher, till it must have been seven or eight feet up the rocks +below us; and now it was that we listened with a peculiar creeping +sensation to the swell, as it rolled in and evidently right up into the +caves which we had seen. + +"Why, those places must go a long way into the cliffs," said my father +as we listened. "Hark at that." + +It was a curious creepy sound of hissing and roaring, as if there were +strange wild beasts right in amongst the windings of the cave, and they +had become angry with the sea for intruding in their domain. + +"Seals!" said Bob Chowne decisively. + +"No," said my father, "it is only the imprisoned air escaping from some +of the cracks and crevices into which it is driven by the sea. Why, +boys, those caves must be very large, or at all events they go in a long +way. You ought to explore them some day at low water. Warm enough?" + +We all declared that we were, and sat gazing out at the soft transparent +darkness overhanging the sea, which was wonderfully smooth now, in spite +of the soft western breeze that was blowing; and at last the silence +seemed to have become perfectly profound. So silent were we that every +one started as my father said suddenly: + +"Look here, boys, suppose I tell you a story." + +The proposal was received with acclamation, and he lay back against the +cliff and related to us one of his old sea-going experiences, to the +very great delight of all. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +THE SMUGGLERS' LANDING. + +After my father had finished his story it was arranged that watch should +be set, and the arrangement made was that Bob Chowne and I should take +the first spell, and it was to last as long as we liked--that is to say, +we were to watch until we were tired, and then call my father and +Bigley, who would watch for the rest of the night. + +Bigley said he should not sleep, but he followed my father's example and +lay down, while in a few minutes his regular breathing told that he had +gone off; and before long, as Bob Chowne and I sat talking in a low +tone, we knew that my father was asleep as well. + +And there we two lads sat on the shelf of rock listening to the sobbing +and sighing of the tide, and staring out to sea. Sometimes we talked in +a low voice about how uncomfortable some people would be about us, and +Bob said it was like my luck--that I had my father with me, while his +and Bigley Uggleston's would be in a terrible way. + +"And a nice row there'll be about it," he said dolefully. "There never +was such an unlucky chap as I am." + +"And Big?" + +"Oh, Big! Pooh! His father never takes any notice about him." + +Then we talked about the drilling, and the silver mine and my father's +success, and what a fine thing it was for me; and about school-days, and +what it would cost to get a new boat for old Jonas, and about Bob going +up to London to be a doctor; and we were prosing on, but this gave him a +chance to become a little animated. + +"I don't want to be a doctor," he said fiercely; "but I'll serve some of +'em out if I'm obliged to be. I'll let them know!" + +"What stuff!" I said. "Why, I should like to be a doctor, and if I was +I'd go in for being surgeon on board a ship." + +"Why?" said Bob. + +"So as to go all round the world, and see what there is to see." + +"Ah!" said Bob, "I hadn't thought about that; but it isn't half so good +as having a mine of your own, as you'll have some day. I wish we could +change fathers, but I suppose we couldn't do that." + +We did not argue out that question, but went on talking in a low prosy +tone, as we sat there with our backs supported against the cliff; and I +suppose it must have been Bob's low muttering voice, mingled with the +darkness, the natural hour for sleep, and the murmuring of the waves, +that had so curious and lulling an effect upon me, for all at once it +seemed that the water was running down from the mine shaft where it was +being pumped up, the big pump giving its peculiar beats as it worked, +and the splash and rush of the water sounding very soft and clear. + +Then I seemed to be down in the mine, and it was very dark and cold, and +I climbed up again and sat down on the ground to listen to the washing +of the water, the hurrying of the stream, and the regular beat of the +pump; and then I was awake again, staring out into the darkness that +hung over the sea. For a few minutes I was so confused that I could not +make out where I was. It was cold and I was shivering, and the rushing +of the water and the beat of the pump was going on still. + +No, it was not; for I was up there on the shelf of rock miles away from +our mine, and I had been set to keep watch with Bob Chowne; and here was +he, close by me, breathing heavily, fast asleep. + +I felt miserable and disgraced to think that I should have been so +wanting in my sense of duty as to have slept, and Bob was no better. + +"Bob! Bob!" I whispered, shaking him. + +"Yes," he said with a start; "I know--I wasn't asleep." + +"Hush! Listen!" I said. "What's that noise?" + +We both listened, and my heart throbbed as I heard a regular plash and +thud from off the sea. + +"Boat," said Bob decidedly. "Shall I hail it?" + +"No," I replied quickly. + +"Why not? It's a boat coming to fetch us." + +I could not think that it was, and creeping to where my father lay I +shook him. + +"Yes. Time to watch?" he said quietly. + +"Hush! Listen!" I said. + +He sat up: + +"Boat," he said, "close in." + +"Is it coming to fetch us, father?" I whispered. + +"No, boy; if it were, those on board would hail." + +"What shall we do--shout?" I asked him. + +"Certainly not. Here, Bigley, sit up, my lad! All keep perfectly still +and wait. We do not know whose boat it may be." + +He was our leader, and we neither of us thought of saying a word, but +sat and listened to the low plash and roll of the oars of some big boat +that seemed to be very close in; and so it proved, for at the end of a +few minutes we could distinctly see something large and black looming up +out of the darkness, and before long make out that it was quite a large +vessel that was being worked with sweeps or large oars till it was close +in; and then there was the noise of the oars being laid inboard, and the +sound of orders being given in a low firm voice. + +"Keep perfectly still," my father whispered to us; but it was +unnecessary, and we sat together there on the rock shelf, the projecting +portion making our resting-place quite black, as we watched and listened +to what was going on. + +Then for about three hours there was a busy scene below us. Men seemed +to have dropped down into the water from both sides of the vessel. Some +went up to the cliff-face away to our left where the caverns lay, and at +the end of a minute the light of a couple of lanthorns gleamed out and +then disappeared in the cave. + +Hardly a word was spoken save on board the vessel, where those upon deck +seemed from time to time to be doing something with poles to keep her +from getting aground as the tide fell. + +It must, I say, have been for nearly three hours that the busy scene +lasted, and a large body of men kept on plashing to and fro with loads +from the vessel to the cavern and back empty-handed. Everything seemed +to be done as quietly as if the men were well accustomed to the task. +Not a word was spoken, except by one who seemed to be leader, and the +only sounds we heard were the tramping upon the slate-sprinkled sand and +the splashing as they waded in to reach the vessel's side. + +It was evident enough that they were landing quite a store of something +of another from the vessel, and I knew enough of such matters to be sure +that it was a smuggler running a cargo. For the first few minutes I +felt that it must be the French coming to take us unawares; but the +French would have landed men, not packages and little barrels. + +It was a smuggler sure enough, and hence my father's strict order to be +silent, for the smugglers had not a very good character in our parts, +and ugly tales were told of how they had not scrupled to kill people who +had interfered with them when busy over their dangerous work. + +I was watching them eagerly, when, all at once, I turned cold and +shivered, for it had suddenly struck me that old Jonas was away with his +lugger, and that this must be it landing its cargo, while all the time, +so close to me that I could have stretched out my hand and touched him, +there lay my school-fellow--the old smuggler's son. + +"He must suspect him," I said to myself; and then, "What must he feel?" + +And all the while there below us was the busy scene--the men coming and +going and the cargo being landed, till all at once there was a +cessation. Those who returned from the cave stayed about the vessel, +and seemed, as far as we could make out, to be climbing on board, and as +I suddenly seemed to be making out their figures a little more clearly, +my father whispered, "Lie down, boys, or you will be seen. The day is +beginning to dawn." + +We obeyed him silently, and lay watching, seeing every minute more +clearly that the dark-looking vessel, which loomed up very big, was +being thrust out with long oars, and beginning to glide slowly away in a +thick mist which hung over the sea a hundred yards or so from shore. +Then as it reached and began to fade, as it were, into the mist, first +one then another dark patch rose from the deck. + +"Hoisting sail," I said to myself. "Two big lug-sails. It is the +_Saucy Lass_--old Jonas's lugger, and it looks big through the fog." + +Just then in the coming grey dawn I saw another patch rise up, following +a creaking noise, and I could make out that it was a third sail, when I +knew that it could not be the _Saucy Lass_, but must be a stranger. + +I was so glad, for Bigley's sake, that my heart gave quite a heavy +throb; and, unless I was very much deceived, I heard my father draw a +long breath like a sigh of relief. + +As we gazed at the sails and the dark hull in the increasing light, +everything looked so strange and indistinct that it seemed impossible +for it all to be real. The sails began to fill, and the vessel glided +silently away without a voice on board being heard, till it was so +far-off that my father said: + +"I think we may begin to talk, my lads, now." + +"I say, sir," cried Bob excitedly, "weren't those smugglers?" + +"I cannot say," replied my father coldly. + +"Let's get down now and look," said Bob. + +"I think," said my father, "that we had better leave everything alone, +and, as soon as the tide will allow us, get home to breakfast. You, Bob +Chowne, if I were you, I should keep my own counsel about this, and you +too, Sep." + +I noticed that he did not say anything to Bigley, who was kneeling down +gazing after the vessel in the mist which was dying away about the land, +and appeared to be going off with the vessel, surrounding it and trying +to hide it from those on shore, as with the faint breeze and the swift +tide it glided rapidly away. + +Soon after there was a warm glow high up in the east. Then hundreds of +tiny clouds began to fleck the sky with orange, the sea became glorious +with gold and blue, the sun peeped above the edge, and it was day once +more, with the vessel a couple of miles away going due west. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +DOING ONE'S DUTY. + +We did not have to stay very long before we descended. My father said +it would be better to stop, and while we were waiting Bob Chowne asked +whether we were going to search the cave and see what was there. + +"No!" said my father in very decisive tones. + +"But you said something about us lads exploring it, sir, yesterday--I +mean last night." + +"Yes, my lad, I did," replied my father so sternly that Bob Chowne was +quite silenced; "but I have changed my mind." + +I noticed that he still did not say anything to Bigley, and that my old +school-fellow was very silent, in fact we were none of us in a +conversational frame of mind, but every now and then the idea kept +creeping in that old Jonas must know about that cave, and the purpose +for which it was used; and then I seemed to understand my father's +thoughtful manner, for it was as though this discovery was likely to +widen the breach between them. + +In about an hour's time my father proposed that we should climb down, +and feeling very stiff and cold we began to descend. + +I went first, lowering myself from ledge to ledge, with my father lying +down and holding my hands, and then following me, though really it was +not very difficult, for we boys had been up and down far more dangerous +places after gulls' eggs in our earlier days. + +But, though we could go down in the bay, we could not get out of it as +yet, for the tide was some distance up the point we wanted to pass. The +eastern one was clear, and we could have gone that way, and, after two +miles' walk and scramble along the beach, have found a place where we +could climb up, but that was not our object, and we waited about looking +at the falling tide, and watching the rapidly disappearing three masts +of the lugger. Then, too, we noted the tracks on the beach, some of +which were quite plain, but they did not show higher up by the cavern, +and we knew that they would all disappear with, the next tide. + +The temptation was very strong to go in and explore the place, but +neither Bob nor I hinted at it, and Bigley was exceedingly quiet and +dull. In fact he went away from us after a time and sat down on the top +of a rock close to the eastern point, a rock to which he had to leap, +for it was still in the water, and there he sat waiting till he could +get to another and another, and at last waved his hand to us, when we +followed him and got round on to the shore on the other side. + +It was no easy task even there, for the beach was terribly encumbered +with rocks, but by creeping in and out, and by dint of some climbing, we +managed to get along, and at last reached the Gap just as Doctor Chowne +was about setting off back to get a boat at Ripplemouth and come in +search of us, after having been up all night waiting for Bob's return, +and then riding over to the Bay to hear from Kicksey that we had not +been back, and then on to the Gap, to find that we had all gone out in +Jonas Uggleston's boat, and not been heard of since. + +"Well," said the doctor, after hearing a part of our adventure, "I +suppose I must not thank Bob for this job, eh, Duncan? It was your +fault, you see. My word, sir, you did give me a fright." + +"I'll take all the blame, Chowne," said my father; "but let me tell Mrs +Bonnet that we're all right, poor woman, and then let's walk across to +my place to breakfast." + +There was no need to go and tell Mother Bonnet, for she had caught sight +of us, and came at a heavy trot over the pebbles to display a face and +eyes red with weeping, and to burst forth into quite a wail as she flung +her arms about Bigley, and hugged and kissed him. + +"Oh, my dear child! My dear child!" she cried, "I've been up and down +here all night afraid that you was drowned." + +Just then I noticed that Bob Chowne was backing behind his father, and +feeling moved by the same impulse, I backed behind mine, for we were +both in a state of alarm for fear that the good-hearted old woman should +want to hug and kiss us too. Fortunately, however, she did not, for all +her attention was taken up by Bigley, and we soon after parted, Bigley +going with Mother Bonnet towards old Jonas's cottage, and we boys +following our fathers to reach the cliff path and get home. + +"You will not come along here on the pony," said my father as the doctor +mounted his sturdy little Exmoor-bred animal. + +"Indeed but I shall," replied the doctor. "Why not?" + +"It will be so dangerous for a mounted man." + +"Tchah!" exclaimed the doctor, "my pony's too fond of himself to tumble +us down the cliff; but there, as you are so nervous about me I will not +ride. Here, Bob, you ride the pony home, and I'll walk." + +"Ride him home along the cliff path, father?" said Bob, looking rather +white. + +"Yes, of course. Captain Duncan is afraid of losing his doctor, and you +are not so much consequence as I. Here, jump up, and ride on first. +Then we shall see where you fall." + +Bob looked at me wildly. + +"Not afraid, are you?" + +"N-no, father," cried Bob desperately; and setting his teeth, he put his +foot in the stirrup, mounted, and rode on along the high path with the +rock on one side and the steep slope on the other, which ran down to +where the perpendicular cliff edge began, with the sea a couple of +hundred feet below. + +"I don't think I'd do that, Chowne," I heard my father say in +remonstrance. + +"Bah, sir! Give the boy self-reliance. See how bravely he got over his +scare. Haven't liked him so well for a week. Do you think I should +have let him get up if there had been any danger?" + +"But there is danger," said my father. + +"Not a bit, sir. The pony's as sure-footed as a mule. He won't slip." + +No more was said, and in this fashion we walked home, with Bob in front +on the pony and me by his side, for I ran on to join him, my father and +Doctor Chowne coming behind. + +Old Sam was outside as we came in sight of the cottage, and the old +fellow threw his hat in the air as he caught sight of us, and then came +to meet us at a trot, after disappearing for a moment in the house. + +"I said you'd come back all right. I know'd it when they telled me +about the boat," he cried to me as he came up. + +"Boat! What about the boat?" I said. + +"One o' the fishermen picked her up, and as soon as I heered as her oars +and hitcher were all right, I said there was no accident. The rope had +loosed and she'd drifted away." + +"But how did you know we had gone off in the boat, Sam?" I said +eagerly. + +"How did I know?" he said. "Think when you didn't come back a man was +going to bed and forget you all?" + +"Well, I hardly thought that, Sam," I said. + +"Because I didn't, and I went right over to the mine and asked, and you +weren't there, and then I went to Uggleston's and heerd you'd gone out +in the boat, and that's how I know'd, Mast' Sep, sir." + +"Here, Sam, run back and tell Kicksey to hurry on the breakfast," said +my father. + +"Hurry on the braxfass, captain," said Sam grinning, "why, I told +Kicksey to put the ham in the pan as soon as I see you a-coming." + +The result was that we were soon all seated at a capital breakfast and +ready to forget the troubles of the night, only that every now and then +the recollection of the smuggling scene came in like a cloud, and I +could not help seeing that my father was a good deal troubled in his +mind. + +Nothing, however, was said, and soon after breakfast the doctor went off +with Bob Chowne. + +As soon as we were alone my father began to walk up and down the room in +a very anxious manner, and once or twice he turned towards me as if +about to speak, but he checked himself and went on with his walk. + +At last the silence became so irksome that I took upon myself to speak +first. + +"Are you going over to the mine, father?" I said. + +"Yes, my boy," he replied. "But you had better go and lie down for an +hour or two." + +"Oh, no, father," I said. "I'm not tired. Let me go with you." + +He nodded, and then stood thoughtful, and tapping the ground with his +foot. + +All at once he seemed to have made up his mind. + +"Look here, Sep," he said; "you are growing a great fellow now. I've +been helping you all these years; now you must help me." + +"Tell me how, father, and I will," I said eagerly. + +"I know you will, my boy," he replied, "and I'm going to treat you now +as I would a counsellor. This is a very unfortunate business, my boy." + +"What, our seeing the smugglers last night?" + +He nodded. + +"Did you think, then, like I did, that it was Jonas Uggleston's boat?" + +"I did, my boy." + +"But it was not, father." + +"No, my boy; but--" + +"You think Jonas Uggleston knew the boat was coming, and he knows all +about that hiding-place, father?" + +"Is that what you have been thinking, Sep?" + +"Yes, father." + +"And so have I, my lad. Now, though I am, as I may say, still in the +king's service, and I feel it my duty to go and inform the officers of +what I have seen, on the other hand there is a horrible feeling of +self-interest keeps tugging at me, and saying, `mind your own business. +You are bad friends enough with Jonas Uggleston as it is, so let matters +rest for your own sake and for your son's.'" + +"Oh, father!" I exclaimed. + +"Then this feeling hints to me that I am not sure of anything, and that +I have no business to interfere, and so on. Among other things it seems +to whisper to me that old Jonas will not know, when all the time he +must. Now come, Sep, as a thoughtful boy, what should you recommend me +to do?" + +"It's very queer, father," I said rather dolefully; "but how often one +is obliged to do and say things one way, when it would be so easy and +comfortable to do and say things the other way." + +"Yes, Sep," he replied, turning away his face; "it is so all through +life, and one is always finding that there is an easy way out of a +difficulty. What should you do here?" + +"What's right, father," I said boldly. "What's right." + +He turned upon me in an instant, and grasped my hand with his eyes +flashing, and he gripped me so hard that he hurt me. + +As we stood looking in each other's eyes, a strange feeling of misery +came over me. + +"What shall you do, father?" I said. + +"I don't quite know, Sep," he replied thoughtfully. "I think I shall +wait till Jonas Uggleston gets home, and then tell him all I have seen." + +"But it seems so hard on poor Bigley," I said dolefully. + +"Ah!" shouted my father. "Stamp on it, Sep; stamp it down, boy. Crush +out that feeling, for it is like a temptation. Duty, honesty, first; +friends later on. It is hard, my boy, but recollect you are an +officer's son, and _officer_ and _gentleman_ are two words that must +always be bracketed together in the king's service. There's that one +word, boy, for you to always keep in your heart, where it must shine +like a jewel--duty--duty. It is the compass, my lad, that points +always--not to the north, but to the end of a just man's life--duty, +Sep, duty." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. + +OLD UGGLESTON IS TOO SHARP FOR THE REVENUE. + +We did not go over that afternoon till it was growing late, for my +father had a number of letters to write, and when we did go along the +cliff, and reached the descent to the Gap, to our surprise there lay +Jonas Uggleston's lugger, and we knew he had come home. + +"Hah!" ejaculated my father after drawing a long breath. "I shall have +to speak at once. He does not seem to have landed yet." + +For the lugger was swinging to the buoy that lay about a hundred yards +out, and we could see figures on board. + +There was a brisk breeze blowing down the Gap, and the lugger was end-on +towards us, rising and falling on the swell, while the sea was all +rippled by the wind. + +"Look, father," I said, as we went on down, seeing each moment more and +more of the opening to the sea; "there's a boat coming ashore." + +"Man-o'-war's," cried my father excitedly. "Look at the way the oars +dip, Sep. Hah, it's a treat to see the lads handle them again. There +she is!" he cried. "Look! Why, it's the revenue cutter." + +She had just rounded a bend as he spoke, and there, sure enough, was a +large cutter with snow-white sails lying off the point that formed the +east side of the Gap, head to wind, and waiting evidently for the return +of the boat that had come ashore. + +My father walked rapidly on, and we reached the shore nearly at the same +time as the boat, from which sprang an officer, and to our surprise +Jonas Uggleston stepped out more slowly. + +Just then Bigley appeared, I never knew where from; but I think he must +have been watching from among the rocks, and in a quick husky voice he +said to my father: + +"Captain Duncan, please, pray don't say that you saw that cargo landed +last night." + +"My poor lad!" said my father kindly. "But tell me; have the cutter's +men been aboard the lugger?" + +"Yes, sir, searching her, I think; and you see they chased her in, and +now they're bringing father ashore a prisoner." + +He could say no more, for the cutter's officer came up. + +"You are Captain Duncan, I think?" he said. + +"Yes," said my father, returning his salute. "Whom have I the pleasure +of addressing?" + +"Lieutenant Melton, His Majesty's cutter _Flying Fish_." + +They both saluted again, and old Jonas, who looked curiously yellow, and +with his eyes seeming to search the officer's, drew nearer. + +"Look here, Captain Duncan, I have been for some time on the look-out +for this man." + +"Well, sir, you have caught him," said my father coldly. + +"Yes, sir, I have, and I have overhauled the lugger, but without +success." + +Old Jonas glanced at me and then at my father, who did not speak, only +bowed, and the officer went on. + +"Now, then, Captain Duncan; you know this man to be a notorious +smuggler, do you not?" + +"I have heard him called so." + +"And you know it, sir." + +"I never detected Mr Uggleston in any act of smuggling," replied my +father more coldly, for the officer's hectoring manner offended him, and +I felt that if he told what he knew, it would be to someone more in +authority. + +I glanced at old Jonas, and his eyes twinkled with satisfaction. + +"This is prevarication, sir," cried the lieutenant; "but I am not to be +put off like this. Come, sir, I received information about a very +valuable contraband cargo that has been run from Dunquerque. It has +been landed here successfully during the past night or the night before. +Now, sir, if you please, where was that cargo landed?" + +My father was silent, but his face was flushed, and I saw Jonas +Uggleston dart a curious look at him as he screwed up his face, and at +the same moment Bigley grasped my hand. + +"I see," said the officer, "I shall have to question the boys. Once +more, sir, I ask you as an officer and a gentleman, do you not know +where that cargo was landed?" + +"Sir," said my father, "your manner is dictatorial and offensive to a +man of higher rank than yourself; but you ask me this question as one of +his majesty's servants, and I am bound to reply. I do know where a +cargo was landed, but it was not from this man's boat." + +"But he was in the business, captain," said the lieutenant with a laugh. +"Now, sir, if you please, where was it?" + +"In the second bay to the westward, sir," said my father coldly; and +Jonas Uggleston gave his foot a stamp, and uttered a fierce oath. + +"You see, he is in the business," said the lieutenant laughing. "There, +Uggleston, you have betrayed yourself." + +I heard Bigley utter a piteous sigh, and I looked round at him to see +the great drops standing on his forehead. + +"I am so sorry, Big," I whispered; but he did not reply. He went and +took hold of his father's arm. + +Old Jonas turned round fiercely, but he smiled directly, and whispered +something to Bigley, who fell back with his head drooping, and in a +dejected way. + +"Now, Captain Duncan, if you please, you will come with us on board the +lugger, and we'll run along to the second bay," said the lieutenant; "it +will not take long." + +"Sir," said my father, "I have replied to your questions as I was bound, +but I am not bound to act as your pilot." + +"Sir," said the lieutenant, "I demand this service of you as his +majesty's servant. Kindly step on board the boat. Now, Uggleston." + +I shall never forget old Jonas's fierce scowl as he walked down to the +boat, into which he stepped, and remained in the bows, while my father +went into the stern-sheets, and was followed by the lieutenant. The +bare-legged sailors ran the light gig out, and sprang over the side, +seized their oars and backed water, turned her, and began to row with a +light springy stroke for the lugger. + +"Big, old mate," I said, "I am so, so sorry." + +"Don't talk to me," he groaned. "I never said anything: but I was +always afraid of this." + +"Don't be angry with father," I said appealingly. "He was obliged to +speak." + +"I can't talk to you now--I can't talk to you now," the poor lad groaned +more than spoke, as we stood there close to where the waves came running +in. + +The lugger had a good many men on board as she lay out there, quite +three hundred yards away, though it had seemed only one from high up in +the Gap, and the cutter was quite half a mile from where we stood, and +more to the east. + +All at once Bigley lifted up both his arms, and stood with them +outstretched for quite a minute. + +"What are you doing that for?" I said. + +He made no answer but remained in the same position, and kept so while I +watched the boat rising and falling on the heaving tide, with every one +distinctly visible in the evening sun. + +As I have said the lugger lay with her bows straight towards the Gap; +but all of a sudden she began to change her position, the bows swinging +slowly round, and I realised that the rope by which she had swung had +been cast off, for the buoy was plainly to be seen now several fathoms +away. + +Just then I saw old Jonas start up in the bows of the boat and clap his +hands to his mouth, his voice coming clearly to us over the wave. + +"You, Bill! You're adrift! Lower down that foresail, you swab, lower +down that foresail! Throw her up in the wind!" + +This sail had begun to fill, but a man ran to the tiller, and the +lugger's position changed slowly, the sails flapping and the bows +pointing gradually in our direction again. + +All this while the men in the cutter's gig were pulling with all their +might, and rapidly shortened the distance, till the bow man picked up a +boat-hook, and stood ready to hold on. + +It was all so clear against the black side of the lugger, that we missed +nothing, and to my surprise, I saw old Jonas draw back as if to let the +bow man pass him, and then there was a tremendous splash, the bow man +was overboard, and old Jonas had made a leap driving the light gig away +with his feet, catching the side of the lugger, and swinging himself +aboard. + +It was so quickly and deftly done that the cutter's gig was driven yards +away, and Jonas was aboard before the lieutenant had recovered from his +surprise. + +Then the men pulled their hardest, and the distance between lugger and +boat diminished fast, but as it did the sails began to fill, and the +position altered, for a man had run to the tiller, while half a dozen +more stood at the side, one of whom was old Jonas. + +Bigley uttered a curious hissing noise as he caught my hand, while we +stood straining our eyes, and as we stared wildly there was a cheer, and +we saw the boat touch the lugger's side, the sailors and the lieutenant +spring up, and they made a dash to leap on board. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. + +I SEEM TO BE AN ENEMY TO AN OLD FRIEND. + +I don't know which of us lads gripped his companion's hand the harder as +we saw the struggle begin. + +"They'll half kill him," groaned Bigley; and then he remained panting +there with his eyes starting as we saw the men on the lugger, headed by +old Jonas, make a brave defence of their deck, being armed with +capstan-bars and cudgels, while the revenue cutter's men had cutlasses +which flashed in the evening sunshine as if they had been made of gold. + +We could hear the sound of the blows, some sounding sharp, which we knew +to be when the bars struck on the sides of the lugger; some dull, when +they struck upon the men; while others made a peculiarly strange +chopping noise, which was of course when sword encountered cudgel. + +"It's all over," groaned Bigley at last, as the sailors seemed for the +moment to have mastered the lugger; but just then I saw old Jonas tumble +one man over the side into the boat, and another over the bulwark into +the water with a great splash, and all the while the sails of the lugger +were full, and the little vessel was beginning to move faster and faster +through the water. + +One of the men in the gig was still holding on by the bulwark as the +struggle went on, but I suddenly saw old Jonas bring down a cudgel +smartly upon his head, the blow sounding like a sharp rap, when the man +fell back, and my father caught and saved him from going overboard. + +The next moment there seemed to be a gap between the lugger and the gig, +and we could see the heads of three men in the water swimming, and the +next minute or two were occupied in dragging them in, two being sailors, +and the other the lieutenant, who stood up in the stern-sheets and shook +himself. + +"Heave to!" he roared after the lugger; "heave to, or we'll sink you!" + +"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" came in a mocking laugh, that from its hoarse +harshness was evidently old Jonas's, and the lugger heeled over now and +began to skim through the water. + +"Why, they're going to run for it," I cried excitedly. + +"But the cutter will sink them," panted Bigley. "Oh, father, father, +why didn't you take me too?" + +"Never mind that, Big," I cried. "Look, they're going to row to the +cutter." + +For the oars were dipping regularly now as the gig was turned towards +the cutter, aboard which there was an evident change. Her main-sail, +which had been shaking in the breeze, gradually filled; we saw the +stay-sail run up, and the beautiful boat came gliding towards the gig so +as to pick her up with her crew before going in pursuit. + +"How quickly she sails!" cried Bigley. "Once they've got their men on +board they'll go like the wind." + +"But they haven't got them on board yet," I said, unable in spite of +myself to help feeling a little sympathy for the man who was making such +a bold effort to escape. "Why, they're taking my father prisoner +instead of yours, Bigley. I hope they'll bring him back." + +"Look!" cried Bigley; "father's getting up a topsail, and that'll help +them along wonderfully." + +"Look!" I cried; "the cutter's close up to the gig now." + +"Hurrah!" cried Bigley; "there goes the topsail. Look how tight they've +hauled the sheets, and how the lugger heels over." + +"The cutter has the gig alongside," I cried as excitedly, for, though I +did not want old Jonas caught, my father was there. + +"Why, they're running out another spar," cried Bigley, "so as to hoist +more sail. Look at the lugger, how she is spinning along!" + +"Yes," I said; "but look at the cutter now!" + +Bigley drew a long breath as he saw with me that the gig's crew were on +board the cutter, and that the boat was being hoisted up, while, at the +same time, with the speed to be seen on a man-of-war, even if it be so +insignificant a vessel as a revenue cutter, sail was being hoisted, and +she was off full chase. + +First we saw the jib-sail run up and fill. Then up went the gaff +topsail, and as it filled the cutter seemed to lie over, so that we +could not see her deck, while the white water foamed away from her bows, +and she left a long streak behind. + +She was now well opposite to the Gap, down which the breeze blew +straight. In fact the cutter seemed to have too much sail up, and +rushed through the water at a tremendous rate. + +"She'll soon catch the lugger going like that, Big," I said. "Look! +Your father's not going straight away; he's going more off the land." + +"Yes, because he knows what he's doing. He wants to get more out so as +to catch the wind. You'll see in a few minutes the cutter won't go half +so fast. Hah! I was afraid of that." + +For just then there was a puff of smoke from the cutter, and we could +just make out, by the way it dipped, the round shot that went +ricochetting over the sea. + +"That will stop him," I said gloomily. + +"No, it will not," said Bigley angrily. "You don't know my father. +He'll keep on as long as the lugger will swim." + +I shook my head as I strained my eyes at the exciting chase going on +before me. + +Bigley was right, for in place of lowering sails in token of submission, +the lugger ran out another from her bows, and kept on her rapid flight, +altering her course though, so as not to offer so fair a mark to the +cutter, and the cutter seemed to spit out viciously another puff of +white smoke, and then there was a dull thud and an echo among the rocks. + +We could not trace the course of the shot, but it evidently did not hit +its mark, the first having probably been aimed ahead. + +"They can't hit her," cried Bigley, clapping his hands. "Oh, I wish I +was aboard." + +"What, to be shot at?" I said. + +"Let them shoot!" he cried. "I should like to be there. Now, then, +what did I tell you? The cutter is not going half so fast now." + +He was quite right, for, as the white-sailed vessel got beyond the +entrance to the Gap, she was more and more under the shelter of the huge +headland and the mighty cliffs that ran on for miles, and instead of +lying over so that we half expected to see her keel, she rode more +steadily and upright in the water, and her speed was evidently far less. + +Another white puff of smoke, and another shot sent skipping after the +lugger, but with what result we could not see. The firing made no +difference, though, to the lugger, which continued its course towards +the west, and Bigley gave me a triumphant look from time to time. + +The firing had now become regular, and had brought down all the miners +from the pit, and Mother Bonnet, to see the exciting chase. One climbed +up the side of the Gap here, another there, and then higher and higher, +and seeing the advantageous position they occupied I turned quickly to +Bigley. + +"Run and get the glass, Big," I said, "and then we'll climb right up to +the top of the head." + +Big shook his head. + +"Father has it in the lugger," he said; "but let's climb up all the +same." + +We knew the ways of the great headland better than the people, and were +about to start upon our climb when Mother Bonnet came up and caught +Bigley's arm. + +"Think they'll get away, Master Big?" she whispered with her face +mottled with white blotches. + +"I'm sure of it," he cried triumphantly. "It will soon be dark, too, +and father will run in and out among the rocks where the cutter daren't +follow." + +"To be sure he will," said the old woman with a nod and a smile. "They +will get away if--if--Oh! There goes that horrible gun again!" + +The poor creature turned white and hurried away from us to get a better +view of the chase, while Bigley and I climbed right up by degrees to the +very highest point of the headland and sat upon the rocks watching the +long chase, with the cutter, in spite of her superior rig and sailing +powers, seeming to get no nearer to her prey, while the evening shadows +were descending, and the two vessels kept growing more distant from the +Gap. + +The cutter continued firing at regular intervals, and once we thought +that the lugger was hit. But if she was the shot made no difference to +her attempts at escape; and though we stayed up there in our windy +look-out, fully expecting to see her lying like a wounded bird upon the +water with broken wing, no spar came down, and at last the fugitive and +the pursuer had become specks in the distance, fading completely from +our sight. + +"It's no use to stay any longer," I said. "Let's go down now." + +Bigley strained his eyes westward and seemed unwilling to stir. + +"It will be so dark directly we shall have a job to get down," I said. +"Your father's sure to get away." + +"Yes," said Bigley; "they'll never catch him now. He'll get right away +in the darkness." + +Just then there was a familiar hail from below. + +"Chowne, ahoy!" I responded; and as we reached to about half-way down +we encountered Bob coming up panting and excited. + +"You are a nice couple!" he began to grumble. "I do call it mean." + +"What is mean?" I said. + +"Why, to have all the fun to yourselves and never send for a fellow. If +it hadn't been for the firing I shouldn't have known anything about it. +I wouldn't have been so shabby to you." + +"Why, I didn't think about you, Bob," I said. + +"That's just like you, Sep Duncan. But I say, what a game!" + +"I don't see much game in it," I said sadly. "Big's father is in the +lugger, and mine--" + +"In the cutter trying to catch him," cried Bob. "Oh, I say, what a +game!" + +"Look here!" said Bigley in a deep husky voice, "come down along with +me, Sep, and take hold of my arm. I feel as if I wanted to fight." + +I did as he asked me and we went down, with Bob very silent coming +behind, evidently feeling that he had said too much. + +Bigley went straight to the cottage, where Mother Bonnet was waiting for +him and ready to catch him by the shoulder. + +"There now, my dear! It's of no use for you to hang away," said the old +woman. "I've got a nice supper ready, and you must eat or else you +won't be able to help your poor father if he should come back." + +"But he won't come back," said Bigley. "He will not dare." + +"I don't know what he may not do when it's quite dark," said the old +woman. "There! You come and sit down, and you too, my dears, for you +must be famished." + +Bigley yielded, and Bob and I were going away, but Bigley jumped up and +stopped us. + +"I'm not bad friends, Bob," he said, holding out his hand. "You didn't +mean what you said, only when a fellow speaks against my father it hurts +me, and--" + +"I'm so sorry, Big," exclaimed Bob eagerly, and they shook hands. + +I was glad, but still I was going away. Bigley stopped me though. + +"I sha'n't eat if you don't," he said. + +"But I can't now after what has happened," I said. + +"It wasn't your fault," replied Bigley gloomily. "Your father was +obliged to speak. Come and sit down." + +I was so faint and exhausted that I yielded, and we three lads made a +tremendous meal, to Mother Bonnet's great delight. + +This ended, the inclination was upon us all to go fast asleep after the +broken night we had passed; but Bigley jumped up and led the way to the +door. + +"Come along," he said. "The cutter will be back soon to clear off the +cargo, and I want to hear what they say." + +He walked out and we followed him to the beach, which was quite +deserted; and we three lads began to walk up and down, too much excited +to feel sleepy now, and kept on gazing out to sea for the returning +cutter. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. + +BIGLEY DOES NOT THINK HIS FATHER IS A DOG. + +We went up to the cottage two or three times, to find Mother Bonnet +keeping up the fire and the table laid for a second supper; and then we +went back to the beach. + +Everything was perfectly still. The mine people had long before gone to +bed, but we watched on, feeling sure that something was going to happen; +and so it was that about half-past twelve we heard oars, and soon after +made out a boat which was being pulled by four men, while as soon as we +were seen a voice cried from the boat: + +"Ahoy! Who's there?" + +"Father!" cried Bigley excitedly. + +"Hush! Who's there?" said old Jonas as we felt quite stunned with +surprise. + +"Only Bob Chowne and Sep Duncan, father." + +"No one else?" + +"No one." + +"Pull, my lads!" cried old Jonas; and as the boat grated on the beach he +leaped ashore. + +"I shall not be a quarter of an hour," he said. "Keep her afloat. +Here, Bigley." + +He caught his son's arm and they went up to the cottage together at a +trot, and in less than a quarter of an hour they were back again, and +old Jonas clapped me on the shoulder. + +"Look here, Duncan," he said, "I always liked you, my boy, because you +and Bigley were such mates." + +"Are you going to take Big away, sir?" I said. + +"No, boy, but I'm going to ask you to be a true mate to him still. He's +going to stay with Mother Bonnet." + +"I will, sir," I said. + +"That you will, my lad," he cried, shaking hands. "Now, Bigley, no +snivelling--be a man! Good-bye! I'll write." + +He shook hands with his son, seized a bag they had brought down between +them, and the next minute he was on board the boat and they disappeared +into the darkness. + +"How came he back again, Big?" I whispered as we listened to the beat +of the oars which came from out of the gloom. + +"Doubled back along with the French boat _La Belle Hirondelle_. They +saw her about ten miles away." + +"Was it the _Hirondelle_ we saw last night!" I said. + +"Yes," said Bigley shortly. "Be quiet." + +"I think your father might have said good-bye to me, Bigley Uggleston," +said Bob Chowne shortly. "I've done nothing to offend him. But it +don't matter. Never mind." + +There seemed to be nothing to wait for, but we hung about the beach till +daylight, and then went in and had some breakfast, which Mother Bonnet, +who was red-eyed with weeping, had ready for us, and then we went down +to the beach again. + +By this time the mine people were out once more, and they came and had a +look, but there was nothing to see, and no one told the sturdy fellows +or their families that Jonas Uggleston had been back. As for me, I only +meant to tell my father when he returned. + +So the mining people went to work, and we lads stood gazing out to sea, +till suddenly Bob Chowne shouted: + +"I can see the cutter." + +He was quite right, for it proved to be the cutter, but there was no +prize coming slowly behind; and when at last she came close in, the boat +was lowered, and we saw my father step in and come ashore with the +lieutenant, we were ready to meet them. + +I wanted to speak to my father about what had happened in the night, but +I had no opportunity, and it seemed that he had only been brought ashore +so that he could go up to the mine, give some orders, and then return, +when he was to show the lieutenant where the cave lay to which the +smugglers had taken their cargo of contraband goods. + +The lieutenant walked up to the mine works with my father, and as he +evidently wished me to stop, I remained by the cutter's boat with my +companions, and, boy-like, we began to joke the sailors for not catching +the lugger. + +They took it very good-temperedly, and laughed and said no one had been +much hurt. + +"He was too sharp for us," the coxswain said grinning; "and--my! How he +did do the skipper over getting away. He's a cunning old fox, and no +mistake." + +"How did you lose the lugger?" I said. + +"Oh, it was too dark to do any more, and she went right in among the +rocks about Stinchcombe, where we were obliged to lie to and wait for +daylight. He's a fine sailor, I will say that of him." + +"What, your lieutenant?" I said. + +"Oh, he's right enough. I meant smuggler Uggleston. He's got away, and +it don't matter; we're bound to have a lot o' prize-money out of the +cargo we're going to seize." + +"Are you going to seize it this morning?" I asked. + +"Yes, my lad; and here comes the skipper back along o' the old cappen." + +They were close upon us already, and we boys looked eagerly at the +lieutenant, longing to go with them, but not being invited of course. + +It was too much for Bob Chowne though, who spoke out. + +"I say, officer," he cried, "we three saw the cargo landed night before +last." + +"You three boys?" + +"Yes," said Bob, "we were all there." + +"Jump in then, all of you," said the lieutenant. + +We wanted no further asking, and the men pushed off and rowed straight +for the little bay, where in due time we arrived in face of the caves. + +"And a good snug place too," said the lieutenant. "Good sandy bottom +for running the lugger ashore. Nice game must have been carried on +here. Come, Captain Duncan," he continued in a jocular tone, "you knew +of this place years ago." + +"I give you my word of honour, sir," replied my father coldly, "that I +was quite unaware of even the existence of the caverns till a few days +ago; and even then I did not know that they were applied to this +purpose." + +"Humph! And you so near!" + +"You forget, sir, that my house is two miles and a half along the coast, +and I have only lately purchased the Gap." + +My father was evidently very much annoyed, but as a brother officer he +felt himself bound in duty to put up with his visitor's impertinences, +and accordingly he said very little that was resentful. + +The men rowed on steadily, and as my father grew more reserved in his +answers the officer turned to Bob Chowne. + +"So you were there when the cargo was landed, were you?" he said. + +"Yes," replied Bob coolly. + +"Yes, _sir_," said the lieutenant sharply, "recollect that you are +addressing an officer." + +"Doctors don't say _sir_ to everybody they meet," retorted Bob quickly. + +"Doctors?" + +"Well, my father's a doctor, and I'm going to be one, so it's all the +same. I can make pills." + +The lieutenant frowned and looked terribly fierce; but his men had burst +into a hearty laugh at the idea of Bob making pills, so he turned it off +with a contemptuous "Pooh!" + +"Well," he said, "how came you to be there when the cargo was landed?" + +"Thought you knew," said Bob; "we were shut in by the tide. Our boat +had drifted away." + +"You three boys?" + +"Yes, and Captain Duncan," replied Bob. + +"And what did the smuggler say to you?" said the lieutenant, turning +sharply on me. + +"Say to us, _sir_?" I replied. + +"Yes, answer quickly, and don't repeat my words." + +"I didn't know smugglers spoke to people they could not see. Hasn't my +father told you that we were in hiding?" + +The lieutenant was about to say something angry; but we were coming +alongside of the bay, and my father stood up, very unwillingly as I +could see by his manner, and guided the men so that they might avoid the +rocks. + +"I suppose we could almost run the cutter in here, Captain Duncan, eh?" + +"Oh, yes, I think so," said my father, "on a very calm day. There is +deep water all along, and a way could be found with ease." + +"Such as the lugger people knew, of course. Steady, my lads, steady; +that's it, on that wave." + +The men followed his instructions, and the boat was beached pretty close +to the entrance to one cavern, the water being high, and we all jumped +out. + +"Get the lantern!" cried the lieutenant; "and light it now, coxswain." + +This was done, and two men being left in charge, the officer gave the +order, swords were drawn, and he led the way in. + +As he reached the mouth he placed two men as sentries at the entrance of +the other hole where the water rained down, and turned to my father. + +"You need not enter unless you like, captain. We may have a brush, for +some of the scoundrels are perhaps still here. By the way, where's the +ledge where you people were hidden?" + +"Up there," said Bob promptly, and I saw the officer scan the place. + +"What, coming?" said the lieutenant. + +"Yes," replied my father; "but I think these lads ought to stand aside +in case of danger." + +"Yes," was the short response. "Here, boys, you stop here. You are not +armed," he added with a sneering laugh. + +"I only wish we had your father's cutlasses here, Sep," whispered Bob, +"and we'd show them." + +We stood back as the man went first with the lantern, closely followed +by the lieutenant with his drawn sword; and we waited as the last +disappeared in the opening, fully expecting to hear shots fired. + +But all was perfectly still, and Bigley was creeping slowly nearer and +nearer to the opening when Bob Chowne made a rush. + +"Here, you chaps get all the fun," he exclaimed. "I shall go in and +see." + +The two sentries laughed, for they were big brown good-tempered looking +fellows, and in we all three went, to find ourselves in quite a long +rugged passage, running upward and opening into a big hollow at the end, +where the lantern was being used to peer in all directions, till it was +evident that nothing was there. + +"We're in the wrong hole," said the officer. "Now, my lads, forward!" + +He went sharply out into the daylight again, to where the two sentries +were on guard, and entered quickly, passing through the dripping water +closely followed by his men. + +But there was not room for all, and he backed out directly. + +"There's nothing here," he cried angrily. + +"Try the other hole," said Bob, running to where we had found the narrow +opening behind an outlying buttress of rock. + +Bob stepped in first this time, the lieutenant following, and then the +man with the lantern. + +"Bravo, boy!" cried the lieutenant; "this is the place. Rather awkward, +but here we are. Come along, my lads." + +The sailors scrambled in as quickly as they could, and we all followed +rather slowly down what was a jagged crack in the rock about two feet +wide and sloping, so that one had to walk with the body inclined to the +right. + +This at the end of about twenty feet opened out into quite a large rough +place, which contained some old nets and tins, along with about a dozen +half rotten lobster-pots, but nothing more. + +"There must be another place somewhere," cried the lieutenant after +convincing himself that there was no inner chamber. "Lead on, coxswain, +with the light." + +The man went on, and we were left to the last, hearing one of them +whisper to his mate: + +"This here's a rum game, Jemmy; don't look like much prize-money after +all." + +By the time we boys were out the lieutenant had disappeared with the +coxswain in the first cavern, and his men followed, leaving my father +outside. + +"Sep," he said, as I joined him, "where do you think the men went in?" + +"That first place," I said decisively. + +"Yes," said Bob Chowne; "that's the hole." + +"So I felt certain," said my father; and Bigley stood aside looking on, +with his forehead full of wrinkles. + +Another minute and the lieutenant was out with his men, the officer +furious with rage. + +"Captain Duncan, are you in league with these smuggling dogs, or are you +not?" + +"What do you mean, sir?" cried my father haughtily. + +"Well, look here, sir," cried the officer moderating his tone. "You've +brought us here on a fool's errand. Where's this cargo that you saw +landed?" + +"How can I tell, sir? You appealed to me as an officer to show you +where it was landed. It was here. The men were going in and out of +that cave for two or three hours." + +"Then there must be an inner place," cried the lieutenant, stamping his +foot with rage. "Come and search again, my lads." + +They disappeared for another ten minutes or so, and then came back with +the officer fuming with passion. + +"Fooled!" he exclaimed aloud, "fooled! Here, back to the boat." + +Everybody embarked again, and the boat was rowed back in silence to the +Gap, where we landed, and the lieutenant stepped out afterwards leaving +his men afloat. + +"Now, then, Captain Duncan," he said, "before I go let me tell you that +I shall report your conduct at headquarters. I consider that I have +been fooled, sir, fooled." + +"I had thought of doing the same by you, sir," retorted my father +coldly; "but I do not think it worth while to quarrel with an angry +disappointed man, nor yet to take further notice of your hasty words." + +"What do you mean, sir? What do you mean?" blustered the lieutenant. + +"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I see! Here's a game!" roared Bob Chowne, +dancing about in the exuberance of his delight. + +"What do you mean, sir? How dare you!" roared the officer turning upon +Bob. + +"Why, I know," cried Bob. "What a game! Don't you see how it was?" + +"Will you say what you mean, you young idiot?" cried the lieutenant. + +"Oh, I say, it wasn't me who was the idiot," cried Bob bluntly. "Why, +you let smuggler Uggleston dodge back in the night. He was here about +twelve or one, and he and his men must have been and fetched all the +stuff away again, while you and your sailors were miles away in the +dark." + +"Sep," cried my father, as the lieutenant stood staring with wrath, "was +Jonas Uggleston back here in the night?" + +"Yes, father," I replied. + +"And you did not tell me?" + +"I have had no opportunity, father; and I did not think anything of it. +He was here about one." + +"That's it, then," cried my father. "Lieutenant, he has been too sharp +for you. I noted that the sand was a good deal trampled. He has been +back with his men and cleared out the place in your absence." + +The lieutenant stood staring as if he could not comprehend it all for a +minute or two, and then flushing with rage he stamped about. + +"The scoundrel! The hound! The thief!" he roared. "I'll have him yet, +though, and when I do catch him I'll hang him to the yard-arm, like the +dog he is." + +"Dog yourself," cried a fierce voice that we did not recognise, it was +so changed; and Bigley struck the lieutenant full in the face with the +back of his hand. "My father is a better man than you." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SIX. + +THE LUGGER'S RETURN. + +The lieutenant staggered back from the effects of the blow. But +recovering, he whipped out his sword and made at Bigley, who hesitated +for a moment and then dashed up the cliff-side, dodging in and out among +the rocks, and he was twenty yards away before the lieutenant had gone +ten, and gaining at every leap. + +Seeing that he could not catch him, the lieutenant drew a pistol from +his belt and would have fired, but my father caught his arm. + +"Stop, sir," he cried; "he is but a boy." + +By this time the coxswain and four men had leaped ashore and run to +their leader's side. + +"Up and bring him back," shouted the lieutenant fiercely, and wresting +his arm free he fired at Bigley, but where the bullet went nobody could +say, it certainly did not go very near Bigley, who knew every rock and +crevice on the side of the headland, and wound his way in and out, and +higher and higher, leaving his pursuers far behind. + +"Forward! Quick!" roared the lieutenant; but it did not seem to me that +the sailors got on very quickly, for they kept on losing ground, and it +was so hopeless an affair at last that they were called off, and +descended to follow their officer to the boat. + +He did not come near us where we stood in a group, and we saw him spring +into the gig; but all at once he leapt out again and walked swiftly to +us. + +"Here," he said authoritatively, as if he had forgotten something, and +he pointed to the cottage. "Whose house is that?" + +"Mine," said my father promptly. + +The lieutenant looked disappointed, and turned sharply back again. + +"It is my house," said my father as soon as the officer was out of +hearing, and as if speaking to himself. "If he had said, `who lives +there?' it would have been a different thing. He would have burnt and +destroyed everything." + +We stood watching the gig as the lieutenant returned and it was pushed +off. It was not long reaching the cutter, whose sails were hoisted +rapidly, and, filling as they were sheeted home, the graceful vessel +began to glide away from the shore, and soon afterwards was careening +over and heading for the west in pursuit of the lugger or luggers, +whichever it might be. + +"There, my lads," said my father, "you may go and look for your +companion. He can come down safely now." + +"Will the cutter come back, father?" I said. + +"I daresay it will, to see if Uggleston's lugger returns; but I don't +think the lugger will, and certainly Uggleston will not dare to return +here to live for some time to come." + +"Then what's to become of Bigley?" cried Bob Chowne. + +"His father must settle that, my lad." + +"But till he does, father?" I said. "Will he stay here?" + +"Certainly, my boy. Why not? His father rents the cottage, and his son +has a perfect right there." + +"You will not turn him out, then, because his father is a smuggler?" + +"I always try to be a just man, Sep," replied my father quietly. + +"Ahoy!" came from high up over our heads, and, looking up there, we +could see Bigley standing on the highest part of the headland waving his +cap. + +"Come down!" shouted Bob and I in a breath, and he heard us, gave his +cap another wave, and disappeared. + +He was not long in scrambling down to us, my father stopping till he +came up looking very much abashed. + +"Well, sir," said my father sternly. "What have you to say for yourself +for striking one of his majesty's officers?" + +Bigley's manner changed directly, his face flushed and he set his teeth +as he raised his head boldly. + +"He called my father a dog and a thief," cried Bigley fiercely, "and-- +and--I don't want to offend you, Captain Duncan, but I couldn't stand by +and hear him without doing something." + +"And you did do something, my lad," said my father, holding out his +hand--"a very risky something. But there, I'm not going to say any more +about it. Now, tell me; your father has given you some instructions, I +suppose?" + +Bigley hesitated a moment. + +"Yes, sir; he said that he should not be able to come back here, but he +would write to me." + +"Yes; go on." + +"And that I was to stay with Mother Bonnet as long as you would let me, +and when you turned us out, we were to take lodgings in Ripplemouth." + +"When I turned you out!" said my father angrily. "Pish! Ah, well, stop +till I turn you out then. There, I must go now, Sep; this will be a +broken day for you. Bring your two friends over to the Bay, and we'll +have tea and dinner all together." + +He turned off and left us, but I saw him give Bigley a very friendly nod +and smile as he went away, and I felt sure that he rather admired what +Bigley had done, though he kept up the idea of being very fierce and +indignant with him for striking an officer of the royal navy. + +As soon as we were well alone Bob Chowne threw himself on the ground and +began to laugh and wipe his eyes. + +"Oh, what a game!" he cried, as he rolled about. "Didn't old Big run?" + +"Enough to make anybody run when a bullet was after him," I said. + +"But how he did go up the rocks. Just like a big rabbit. I say, Big, +you were frightened." + +"Yes, that I was," said Bigley frankly; "I don't know when I felt so +scared. Made sure he would hit me, and then that the sailors would cut +me down with their swords." + +This disappointed Bob, who had fully expected to hear a denial of the +charge of fear, and he sat up and stared at the speaker, who turned to +me then. + +"Why, Sep," he said, "they must have worked hard in the night to get all +those things away. Do you know, I'm sure that must have been the +_Hirondelle_. I wonder how they managed to get off." + +"I know," I said suddenly. + +"Yah! Not you," cried Bob. "Hark at old cock Solomon, who knows +everything." + +"I don't care what you say," I replied. "I'm sure this is how they've +got away." + +"Well, let's hear," said Bob, and Bigley's eyes flashed with eagerness. + +"Why, they haven't got away at all," I said. "They wouldn't dare to go +down Channel after getting the cargo out of the cave, for fear of +meeting the cutter just at daybreak." + +"And you think they've gone up towards Bristol?" cried Bigley excitedly. + +"Yes," I said; "and they are lying up somewhere over yonder on the Welsh +coast till to-night, when they'll be off again." + +"That's it," said Bigley. "I'm sure that's it." + +"I don't believe it," said Bob sharply. "And if it is true, I'm ashamed +of you both. Here's Sep Duncan taking part with the smugglers, and old +Big hitting the officers in the eye, and bragging about his father. I +shall look out for some fresh mates, that's what I shall do." + +"Come and have some tea and dinner first, Bob," I said mockingly. + +"Yes, I'll have some food first, for I'm getting hungry. My, what a +game, though! How old Big did run when the lieutenant was going to give +him a pill! Ha, ha, ha!" + +We strolled about the shore, and then went into the cottage for a bit, +and that afforded Bob another opportunity for a few sneers about this +being Bigley's home now, addressing him as the master of the house, +bantering him about being stingy with his cider, and finally jumping up +as he saw my father coming down from the mine, and then we all went over +to the Bay to our evening meal. + +That night Bigley and I went part of the way home with Bob, and then I +walked part of the way home with Bigley in the calm and solitude of the +summer darkness. + +We walked along the cliff path, and were about half-way to the Gap when +Big caught me by the arm and pointed down below, about a quarter of a +mile from the cliff, where, stealing along in the gloom, I caught sight +of the sails of a small vessel, and directly after of those of another +gliding on close at hand. They were so indistinct at first that I could +see but little. Then I could make out that they were both luggers by +their rig, and that one of them had three masts and the other only two. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN. + +SUSPICIONS OF DANGER. + +Like all bits of excitement the coming of the cutter was followed by a +time of calm. Bigley seemed to have settled down to a regular life at +the cottage, spending part of his days looking out to sea, and the other +part up at the mine, where my father seemed now to give him always a +very warm welcome. + +We saw the revenue cutter off the Gap now and then, and we had reason to +believe that the crew had landed and thoroughly examined the caves +again, but we saw nothing of them; it was only from knowing that one +evening the little vessel lay off the shore about a mile to the west of +the Gap, and Bigley went along the shore at next low tide, and said +afterwards that he thought he could make out footprints, but the tide +had washed over everything so much that he was not sure. + +He heard no news of his father as week after week rolled by, till all at +once came a letter from Dunquerque, inclosing some money, and telling +him that he had got away safely, and was quite well. + +"He said," Bigley told me in confidence, for he did not show me the +letter; "he said that if your father behaved badly to me I was to go +away at once with Mother Bonnet and take lodgings at Ripplemouth, just +as he told me; but I don't think I shall have to do that." + +I laughed as he told me this, and then asked him if he was going to +write back to his father. + +"No," said Bigley; "he says I am not to write, because it might give +people a clue to where he is. I don't care, now I know that he is quite +well." + +Then the time glided on, with everybody at the mine leading the busiest +of busy lives. I was there every day, and the men won the lead, others +smelted it and cast it into pigs, then the pigs were remelted and the +silver extracted and ingots cast, which were stored up, after being +stamped and numbered, down in the strong cellar beneath the +counting-house floor. + +I did a great deal: sometimes I was down in the mine, whose passages +began to grow longer; sometimes I was entering the number of pigs of +lead that were taken over to Ripplemouth, and shipped at the little quay +for Bristol; sometimes I was watching the careful process by which the +silver was obtained from the lead, and learning a good deal about the +art, while Bigley seemed to be growing more and more one of us, and +worked with the greatest of earnestness over the various tasks I had to +undertake. + +"No news of old Jonas, father?" I said one day as we were walking along +the cliff path to the mine, a lugger in the offing having brought him to +my mind. + +"No, Sep," said my father; "but I'm afraid that we shall have a visit +from him some day, and a very unpleasant one." + +"Why?" I asked. + +"Because he will never forgive me about that cave business. I saw the +look he gave me, my boy. He does not seem to have any very great ideas +of the meaning of the word honour, and he evidently could not see then +that I was bound to state what I had seen." + +"But do you think he will owe you a grudge for that, father?" + +"I am sure of it, my boy. He never forgave me for buying the Gap, and +now I'm afraid this exposure of his smuggling tricks has made matters +ten times worse." + +"Oh, I hope not, father," I said eagerly. + +"So do I, my boy; but I have very little faith in him, and I always +dwell in expectation that some day or other, or some night or another, +he will land with a strong party, and come up here to work all the +mischief he can--perhaps carry off all our silver." + +"But, father," I exclaimed, "that would be acting like a pirate." + +"Well, Sep, there is not much difference between a pirate and a +smuggler. They are both outlaws, and not very particular about what +they do." + +"Oh, but I hope we shall have no trouble of that sort, for Bigley's +sake." + +"So do I, Sep, but I feel this, that we are not safe, for we have made a +dangerous enemy--one who can descend upon us at any time, and then get +away by sea. What can we do if he makes such an attack?" + +"Fight," I said bluntly. "We have plenty of arms, and the men will do +just what they are bid." + +"Yes," said my father; "but I should be deeply grieved for there to be +any bloodshed. I've known what it is in my early days, Sep, and in +spite of all that has been said about honour and glory there is always +an unpleasant feeling afterwards, when in cool blood you think about +having destroyed your fellow-creatures' lives." + +"Yes, father," I said; "there must be, and we don't want to do it; but +if anyone comes breaking into the mine premises to steal, they must take +the consequences." + +"Yes, Sep," said my father sternly, "they must, for I have enough of the +old fighting-man left in me to make me say that I should not give up +quietly if I was put to the proof." + +I thought a good deal about my father's words, but though I regularly +made Bigley my confidant, and told him pretty well everything, I did not +tell him that, for I knew it would make him very uncomfortable, and +besides it seemed such a horrible idea for us to have to be fighting +against his father--our men against his. + +The time went on, and we kept on hearing about the French war, but we +seemed to be, away there in our quiet Devon combe, far from all the +noise and turmoil, and very little of the news excited us. + +We knew when there was a big fight, and when one side got the better of +the other; but to read the papers we always appeared to get the victory. +But, as I say, it did not seem to concern us much, only when the +country traffic was a bit disturbed, and our lead began to accumulate +for want of the means of sending it away. + +"I don't so much mind the lead, Sep," my father used to say; "what I +mind is the silver." + +This was when the store beneath the counting-house became charged with +too valuable a collection of ingots; and the second time this happened +my father suddenly altered his arrangements. + +"I can't rest satisfied that all is safe," he said, "when I am away at +the Bay, and this place is only depending upon locks and keys." + +"What shall you do then, father?" I asked. "Have a watchman!" + +He nodded. + +"Who? Old Sam?" + +"No," he said; "ourselves, Sep, my lad. It will not be so comfortable, +but while the country is so disturbed we will come and live over here." + +No time was lost, and in two days the upper rooms of the counting-house +and store had been filled with furniture, and Kicksey came over for the +day, and went back at night, after cooking and cleaning for us. + +As my father said, it was not so comfortable as being at home, but we +were ready enough to adapt ourselves to circumstances; and any change +was agreeable in those days. + +Bigley was delighted, for it robbed his rather lonely life of its +dulness, and he never for a moment realised why the change had been +made. + +But though we were always on the spot, my father relaxed none of his old +preparations. Every other day there was an hour's drill or sword +practice. Sometimes an evening was taken for the use of the pistols; +and, by degrees, under my father's careful instructions, the little band +of about twelve men had grown into a substantial trustworthy guard of +sturdy fellows, any one of whom was ready to give a good account of +himself should he be put to the test. + +At first my father had been averse to Bigley drilling with us, but he +raised no obstacle, for he said to me, "We can let him learn how to use +the weapons, Sep, but it does not follow that he need fight for us." + +"And I'm sure he would not fight against us, father," I said laughing. + +So Bigley grew to be as handy with the cutlass as any of the men, and no +mean shot with the pistol. + +As for Bob Chowne, he came over and drilled sometimes, and he was +considered to be our surgeon--that is, by Bigley and me--but he was not +with us very often, for his father kept him at work studying medicine, +meaning him to be a doctor later on; but, as Bob expressed it, he was +always washing bottles or making pills, though as a fact neither of +these tasks ever came to his share. + +Four months--five months--six months had gone by since the adventure +with the cutter, and Bigley had only had two or three letters sending +him money, and saying that his father was quite well, but there was not +a word of returning; and it struck me old Jonas must have had means of +knowing that his son was still in the old cottage, or he would not have +gone on sending money without having an answer back. + +The rumours about the war seemed to affect us less than ever, and I was +growing so accustomed to my busy life that I thought little of my old +amusements, save when now and then I went out for an evening's fishing +with Bigley, the old boat having been brought over from Ripplemouth, +none the worse for its trip. + +The mine went on growing more productive, and, in spite of the great +expenses, it seemed as if my father would become a wealthy man. Lead +was sent one way, silver another, and when the latter accumulated, as we +were on the spot, my father dismissed his anxiety, and we were gradually +becoming lulled into a feeling of repose, save when Bigley talked about +his father, and then once more a little feeling of doubt and insecurity +would slip in, as might have been the case in the olden times when the +people near shore learned that some Saxon or Danish ship was hovering +about the coast. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT. + +THE LANDING OF THE FRENCH. + +It was nine months now since the scene, at the little bay, when one soft +spring evening Bigley and I were walking slowly back to the Gap, after +seeing Bob Chowne part of the way home to Ripplemouth. The feeling of +coming summer was in the air, the birds were singing in the oak woods +their last farewell to the day, and from time to time we startled some +thrush and spoiled his song. + +Every now and then a rabbit gave us a glance at his furry coat as he +sprang along, but soon it grew so dark that all we saw after each rustle +was the speck of white which indicated his cottony tail, and soon even +that was invisible. + +The thin sharp line of the new moon hung low in the west, and the sea +had quite a steely gleam in the dying day, while the stars were peeping +out and beginning to look at themselves in the glassy surface of the +sea. + +Here and there we could see the coasting vessels going up and down the +Channel, and just beneath the sinking moon there was a larger vessel +coming up with the tide, but it was getting too dark to make out what it +was. We kept along by the cliff path, and as we came to the descent +that led to the cottage Bigley and I parted, little thinking what an +eventful night it was to prove. + +"You'll come up by and by," I shouted, when he was about half-way down; +and he sent back a cheery reply that he would, as I went on along the +Gap. + +I found my father seated before his books entering some statement by the +light of a candle, and as I came in he thrust the book from him wearily. + +"Oh, there you are, then," he said good-humouredly. "Look here, young +fellow, I don't see why I should go on worrying and toiling over this +mine just to make you well off. I was happy and comfortable enough +without it, and here am I wearing myself out, getting no pleasure and no +change, and all for you." + +"Sell it then, father," I said. "I don't want you to work so hard for +me. I don't want to be rich. Give it up." + +"No," he said smiling; "no, Sep. It gives me a great deal of care and +anxiety, but I do not mind. The fact is, Sep, I was growing fat and +rusty, and loosing my grip on the world. A do-nothing life is a +mistake, and only fit for a pet dog, and him it kills. I wanted +interesting work, and here it is, and I am making money for you at the +same time." + +"But I don't think I want much money, father," I said. + +"Maybe you will when you grow older." + +"I wish I could help you better," I said. + +"Help me? Why, I am quite satisfied with you, my boy. You help me a +great deal. There, put away those books, and let us have some supper. +I find we have nearly eight thousand ounces of silver down below here, +and it's far too much to have in our charge. We must get it away, Sep, +as soon as we can." + +"What would eight thousand ounces be worth?" I said. + +"Somewhere about two thousand pounds, my lad. But there, let's have +some supper, and then I should like to have a pipe for half an hour in +the soft fresh air." + +A tray was already waiting upon a side-table, and bringing it to occupy +the place where the books had lain, we sat down and ate a hearty meal +before we had done, after which I lifted the tray aside, and handed my +father the tobacco jar. + +In a few minutes he began to fill his pipe, and when he had lit it, I +sat watching him and noticed how the soft thin smoke began to curl about +his face, and float up between me and the row of cutlasses and pistols +with the belts that were arranged along the wall. + +"Now, let's have ten minutes' fresh air before we go to bed," he said +rising. "You don't want to come, I suppose." + +"Oh, yes, I'll come," I replied, and I stepped out with him into the +soft transparent night. + +"Ah, that's delicious!" he exclaimed as we walked a little way down the +Gap, and then struck up the path leading to the high cliff track. + +It was very dark, but at the same time clear; and as we paused after a +time there were the lights below us in the new cottages, while above the +stars shone out brilliantly and twinkled as if it was about to be a +frost. + +"What a calm peace there is over everything!" said my father +thoughtfully. "Why, Sep, my very weariness seems to be a pleasure, it +is so full of the promise of rest." + +"I'm tired too," I said. "I've been walking a good way to-day. How +plainly you can hear the sea!" + +"Yes, the wind must be from the north. But how soft, and sweet, and +gentle it is! What is that?" + +"What?" I replied listening, for I had not detected a sound. + +"That noise of trampling feet. Don't you hear?" + +I listened. + +"Yes, it is as if some people were coming along from the beach." + +"What people should be coming along from the beach?" exclaimed my father +in an excited manner. + +"Or is it the murmur of the waves, father?" I said. + +"No," he whispered after listening; "there are people coming, and that +was a sharp quick order. Run down to the cottages and warn the foreman. +Follow out the regular orders. You know. If it is a false alarm it +will not matter, for it will be exercise for getting the men together +against real trouble." + +"Right, father," I said, and I was just about to run off to give the +alarm to the foreman, who would alarm another man while I went to a +fresh house. Then there would be four of us to alarm four more, who +would run up to the rendezvous while we alarmed four more, and so the +gathering would be complete, and the men at the counting-house and armed +in a very few minutes. + +I say I was just about to rush off, when a dark figure made a rush at +us, and caught hold of my father's arm. + +"Quick, captain!" he whispered. "The French. Landed from a big sloop. +Coming up the Gap." + +"Are you sure?" said my father in a low voice. + +The answer came upon the soft breeze, and I stopped for no more, but ran +down the slope as hard as I could go, dashed into the foreman's cottage, +gave the alarm, and he leaped up, his wife catching up her child and +following to go along the Gap, as already arranged, the woman knowing +that the others would follow her so as to get to a place of safety in +case of the enemy getting the upper hand. + +It proved, as my father had trusted, but a matter of very few minutes +before four men were running to the counting-house to receive the +weapons ready for them, and for eight to follow, while the women and +children were being hurried from the cottages and away inland. + +The foreman and I were in front of the six men we were bringing, and as +we ran and neared the dim grey-looking building that was to be our fort, +we could hear the coming of what seemed to be quite a large body of men, +who were talking together in a low voice, while from time to time a +sharp command was uttered. + +Then, all at once, and just as we reached the counting-house, there was +a fresh order, and the sounds ceased, not a voice to be heard, and the +tramp completely hushed. + +"What did it mean?" I asked myself, as a curious sensation of +excitement came over me, for it seemed that the strangers, whoever they +were, perhaps the French, as Bigley had said, had halted to fire at us +as we rushed to the counting-house door, and I fully expected to see the +flashes of their muskets, and hear the reports and the whistling of the +bullets. + +But no, all remained still, and we paused at the door to let the others +pass in first, and then, with a wonderful sense of relief, I leaped in, +and heard the door closed behind quickly, but with hardly a sound. + +It was a curious sensation. The moment before I felt in terrible +danger. Now I felt quite safe, for I was behind strong walls, though in +reality I was in greater danger than before. + +There was no confusion, no hurry. The drilling had been so perfect, and +my father had been for so long prepared for just such an emergency as +this, that everything was done with a matter-of-fact ease. + +Already as we reached the door the four first comers had been armed; now +as the men entered they crossed over to the other side, and cutlass, +pistols, and a well-filled cartouche-box were handed to each, and he +took them, strapped on his belt, and then fell in, standing at ease. + +"All armed?" said my father then, as we stood in the dark. + +There was no answer--a good sign that everyone was supplied. + +"The women and children gone?" said my father then. + +No answer again. + +"Load!" said my father. + +Then there was a rustling noise, the clicking of ramrods, a dull +thudding, more clicking, and silence. + +"Now," said my father, "no man to fire until I give the word. Trust to +your cutlasses, and I daresay we can beat them off. Ready?" + +There was a dead silence. + +"I would light the candles," said my father in a low firm voice, "but it +would be helping the enemy, if enemy they are. Who's that?" + +"It is I, sir, Bigley," said a familiar voice. + +"I had forgotten you. What is it?" + +"I have no weapons, sir." + +"No, of course not. Boy, you cannot fight." + +"Why not, sir?" + +"Because--because--" I was close to them, and they were speaking in a +low tone; "because--" said my father again. + +"Because you think I should be fighting against my father," said Bigley +sharply; "but I'm sure, sir, that it is not so." + +"How do I know that?" said my father. + +_Rap, rap, rap_, came now at the door, and a voice with a decided French +accent, a voice that sounded familiar to me, said: + +"Ees any boady here?" + +"There, sir, it is the French." + +"I don't know that," said my father. Then: "Stand fast, my lads." + +"Ees any boady here?" said the same voice. + +"Yes. Who's there?" said my father. + +"Aha, it is good," came from outside. "My friends and bruders have make +great meestakes and lose our vays. Can you show us to ze Ripplemouts +towns?" + +"Straight down to the sea and along by the cliff path east," said my +father shortly. + +"Open ze doors; I cannot make myselfs to hear." + +My father repeated his instructions; there was a low murmur outside; and +then there was a sharp beating on the door, as if from the hilt of a +sword. + +"What now?" cried my father. + +"Le Capitaine Dooncane," cried a sharp fierce voice. + +"Well?" said my father. "I am Captain Duncan." + +"Open this door," said the same voice, speaking in French. + +"What if I refuse?" said my father in the same tongue. + +"If you refuse it will be broken down--directly." + +"Is it the war?" said my father mockingly. + +"It is the war," was the reply. "Open, and no harm will be done to you. +Resist, and there will be no quarter. Is it surrender?" + +"Monsieur forgets that he is talking to an English officer," said my +father. "Stand back, sir; we are well-armed and prepared." + +There was a low murmur of voices outside, and my father exclaimed: + +"Sep, Bigley, upstairs with you and six men. Two of you to each window, +and beat down with your cutlasses all who try to board. Well keep the +doors here. Now, my lads, tables and chairs against the doors. You'll +find the wickets handy. I thought so; they're at the back door +already." + +He darted to the back room, helped place a table against the door, +mounted upon it, and as the blows of a crowbar were heard, he placed a +pistol to the little wicket in the panel high up, and fired a shot to +alarm the attacking party. + +The blows of the crowbar ceased, and a low suppressed yell from many +voices broke out from all round the little stone-built place. + +"That has quieted them for the moment," said my father; and, applying +his eye to an aperture made for the purpose, he inspected the attacking +force. + +"French marines," he said quietly. "Well, my lads, they're outside and +we are in. If they leave us alone we will not injure them, if they +attack they must take the consequences. It is war time; they have +landed, and we are fighting for our homes and all belonging to us. Will +you fight?" + +There was a low dull growl at this, uttered it seemed by every man +present, and as my father's words had been distinctly heard upstairs, +the men with Bigley and me joined in. + +"That's good," said my father. "I thought so. Now once more trust to +your strong aims and cutlasses. A couple of shots and then swords. +They don't want loading again. If they break in we must retreat +upstairs. If they prove too much for us and force their way up, we must +hold out as long as we can, and then retreat by the north window and +back up the west side of the valley among the big stones; but no retreat +till I give the word. Now, my lads, do you want anything to make you +fight?" + +"Only the orders, captain," said the foreman, "or the French beggars to +come on." + +"All in good time. What are they doing?" said my father. "One shot +can't have scared them off. Ah, the cowards! I expected as much." + +For just then a dull light shone in through the window, and made every +bar clear. The dull light became brighter, and the Frenchmen set up a +cheer. + +"They've fired the big shed roof, sir," said the foreman. + +"Father," I cried down the stairs, "they have fired Sanders's cottage." + +"Curse 'em," growled the foreman. "I'll make pork crackling of +somebody's skin for that." + +"Now they've gone on to the next cottage," cried Bigley. + +"They're firing all the cottages," cried another of the men, and now the +growl that rose from our little force was furious and fierce, and full +of menace against the enemy, who had done this to give them ample light +as I suppose. + +"Never mind, my lads, they have forgotten that it will make it easier +for us," said my father. "But hold your fire. It will be wanted here." + +We could see each other plainly now, and it became necessary to look out +cautiously, for fear of offering ourselves as targets for the +Frenchmen's shots. + +We could see that about a dozen well-armed men were in front, and +another group of as many at the back of the house; but they were paying +little heed to us for the moment, being engaged in watching their +companions, who were running from cottage to cottage, firing them by +thrusting torches under the thatch, and shouting and chattering to each +other, as if these acts of wanton destruction were so much amusement in +which they had delight. + +Over and over again men made their pistols click, and were ready in +their rage to send bullets flying amongst the wreckers of their homes; +but my father uttered a low warning. + +"Stand fast. Not till I say _fire_. Never mind your homes, my lads, +we'll soon raise better ones, and your wives and children are all safe. +Wait." + +There was a low growl as if so many bull-dogs were being held back from +their prey, and once more all was silent within. + +Then there was a good deal of chattering and rushing, and the firing +parties came back to where their companions were waiting, and we knew by +the next order given that our time had come. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY NINE. + +DESPERATE TIMES. + +In my heat and excitement I wondered that my father did not order his +little company of men to begin firing at a time when every shot would +tell, for there was a feeling of rage within me, roused by the wanton +destruction of the cottages and every portion of the works that would +burn; but I had not learned all my lessons then, and how a just and +brave man, whether soldier or sailor, shrinks from destroying life until +absolutely obliged. + +My father came upstairs for a minute about the time when I was thinking +this the most, and I could see a peculiarly hard stern look in his eyes +as the fire flashed through the window upon his face. + +"Mind: no firing," he said, "until they attack, and I give the word." + +I felt afterwards how right he was, but then it seemed almost cowardly. + +I soon altered my opinion, for all at once the French leader came up to +the door and struck it with the hilt of his sword, as he exclaimed in +French: + +"Now, Captain Duncan, surrender!" + +No reply was given. + +"Open this door and pass out the whole of the silver bars you have +there," was the next command, and this time my father answered: + +"Come and take them if you can--_si vous osez_," he added in French. + +There was no more delay. A couple of men were ordered to the front with +iron bars, and they began to batter the door heavily, but without any +further effect than to chip off splinters and make dints. + +The men were called off, the rest standing ready to fire at anyone who +should show a face at the windows, but we gave them no opportunity, for +my father whispered: + +"They are sixty. We are only just over a dozen. Wait, men, wait." + +"What are they doing, Big?" I whispered to my companion, for he was in +a better post for observations than myself. + +"I can't quite see," he whispered back. "They've got a bag of +something, and they're bringing it to the door." + +I looked out quickly. + +"Powder!" I exclaimed, and then I ran to the head of the stairs and +called down to my father: "They are going to blow in the door with +powder." + +"Good!" said my father coolly, and issuing an order or two he drew all +his men together into the back room. "Stay where you are, Sep," he +whispered; "the explosion will not touch you, only, if we are hard +pressed afterwards, come down with your men and take the enemy in the +rear." + +I felt my heart swell with pride at being treated like this, and the +nervous sensation of dread grew less. + +"Sooner the better, Master Sep," said one of the workmen. "Better keep +away from the window, sir." + +"No," I replied, "I must see what they are doing." + +I felt that I must, and going to the window I stood upon a chair, and, +keeping out of sight, looked down from the upper corner just in time to +see a man run back from the door to join his companions, several of whom +held rough torches of oakum steeped in tar. + +"What are they doing, Big?" I whispered. + +"That fellow has just laid a powder-bag by the door. But, Sep, you +can't see any Englishmen there, can you?" + +"No," I said hastily; "but I'm sure that's the French skipper Gualtiere +standing to the left of the French captain." + +"So it is," whispered Bigley. "I thought I knew the face. Look out!" + +"What are they going to do?" + +"The men are being drawn back, all but the fellows with the lights, and +one of them is coming forward to light the powder. Yes; now all the +others are retiring." + +"I can see," I whispered. "Now I can see the man with the torch. I +say, will it blow the place up?" + +"I don't know," said Bigley in a low whisper; "but I feel horribly +frightened." + +"So do I," I whispered back; "but don't let's show it, Big." + +"I won't," he said sturdily. + +Just then the man who had approached slowly made a dash in close to the +house, and I was thinking that somebody ought to have shot him down when +he dashed back again, and his friends received him with a loud shrill +cheer. + +As the cheer died away there was a low hissing noise from outside, and I +knew it was the fuse burning, and then we all shrank together to the +farthest corner of the room, waiting in the most painful suspense for +the explosion, which we knew must follow, but which seemed as if it +would never come. + +It was only a matter of so many seconds, but they seemed to be minutes +of terrible suspense, before there was a flash, the air seemed to have +been sucked out of the room, and then, in the midst of a terrific roar, +the floor was lifted up, and one end then fell, so that we all slid down +into the room below in the midst of splinters, plaster, dust, and broken +joists, just as the Frenchmen uttered a yell, and came dashing towards +the open door. + +What followed was one scene of wild confusion. It seemed that my father +and his men came dashing out of the back room, and we were seized and +dragged over the heap of broken wood-work and plaster, to be placed +behind it, where we struggled to our feet, and then, in the midst of the +clouds of blinding dust and choking gunpowder smoke, everybody made a +breast-work of the damaged wood, and received the charge of the French +sailors with pistol-shots and blows from the cutlasses. + +This proved so effective that they fell back, running out as fast as +they came in, and my father took advantage of the lull to have a few +pieces of furniture dragged forward, and laid upon the heap of refuse so +as to give us a better breast-work to fight behind. + +"Hurt, Sep?" cried my father. + +"No," I replied, "only shaken." + +"That's well. Keep more back, my boy. Now, lads, cutlasses; here they +come!" + +There was a yell and a rush, the clashing of steel, with shouts and +groans, and the Frenchmen were beaten back again. + +"Time for breathing, my lads," cried my father, as we stood there in the +darkness with the light full upon our enemies as they gathered at a +short distance from the shattered doorway. "Who's hurt?" + +"No one much, captain," growled the foreman. "A few chops and +scratches. Here they are!" + +For just then there was a yell, and the enemy rushed at us, coming in a +little column, and this time led by an officer. + +They could only come in two at a time; but, as they darkened the doorway +and made their rush, they spread out as they entered like a fan right +and left, and once more the groans, yells, and blows rang out. + +It was clearer now, for the smoke and dust had floated out, and I could +see something of the desperate fight that was going on, with men +falling, and others of the Frenchmen from behind filling their places, +for they kept on thronging in through the open doorway, till the +counting-house was densely packed, and those behind literally drove +their companions forward, till the rough breast-work was beaten and +trampled down, and our little party forced back towards the wall that +separated us from the inner room, in which there was a doorway leading +into a back place, opening on to the cliff slope. + +I can't pretend to describe what took place accurately. All I know is, +that in the midst of a scene of shouting, yelling, and clashing +cutlasses, I found myself crushed against the back wall with my sword +above my head, and my ribs seeming to give way, as I was pinned there +helplessly, till all at once there was a tremendous crash, and we were +all driven backwards in a heap, friends and enemies together. + +For the wood-work partition, already damaged by the force of the +explosion, had given way, and we were precipitated into the back room. + +What followed I hardly know, for as the men struggled up from the ruin +the fight began again, and the result was that I found myself with my +father and five men in the little back place of all, where the door +opened out into the valley; but of course it was locked and barricaded +inside, and the door into the back room was held by my father, the +foreman, and two others, who were keeping about a dozen Frenchmen at +bay, yelling and cutting and thrusting at them. + +"Sep! Here! Quick!" my father shouted, without turning his head, for +the enemy kept him occupied parrying their cuts and points. + +"I am here, father," I said, getting close behind him. + +"Right. Stand firm, my lads!" said my father. "We're beaten, but we +must retreat in order. Ah, would you?" + +This last was to a Frenchman who dashed in at him, but only to have his +thrust parried, and to go down with an upward cut which disabled his +sword arm. + +"Sep," he whispered then, "open the back door. Be ready. We must now +make a dash for the rocks. You lead; I'll keep the rear. Mind, my +lads," he said to the stanch group about him, "keep together. If you +separate you are lost. You'll be cut down or prisoners before you can +raise a hand." + +These words were all said in a jerky way in the midst of plenty of +cutting and foining; for, though the Frenchmen did not attempt to pass +the doorway, they kept on making fierce thrusts at us, though with +little result. + +I crept back and unfastened the door silently, so as not to draw the +enemy's attention, and, holding my sword ready, I peered out, the noise +going on drowning that I made with the lock and bolts. + +To my dismay I saw that there were three of the enemy on guard, and, +closing the door softly, I took a couple of steps back, and told my +father. + +"Only three!" he said coolly. "Oh, that's nothing. Now, then, to the +door! Hold it ready. In a few moments you will see us make a dash and +drive these fellows back. Then we shall turn and follow you. Dash out +with a good shout, and strike right and left. The men there are sure to +run. Then all for the rocks, and don't look back; we shall follow." + +I obeyed him exactly. Just as I had the door ready to fling open, my +father, the foreman, and the others suddenly sprang forward, as if about +to drive the Frenchmen out of the counting-house, and they fell back. + +Then open went the door. I saw our fellows turn round, and, sword in +hand and feeling as if I was going to my death, I dashed right at the +three men guarding the back, shouting "Hurrah!" at the top of my voice. + +I felt sure that they would run me through, but my father was right. +One ran to the left, another to the right, and the other straight on up +the steep slope, and, as I cut at him desperately, down he went +untouched, save by a stone over which he tripped, and we all went over +him as we rushed up the valley side to the shelter of the rocks, and +with the enemy swarming out and after us. + +It was rough work, but we knew our way. The enemy were strange, and +before we had toiled up a hundred yards they began to tail off. In +another hundred we were some way up, and panting behind a clump of rocks +that formed quite a little fort, while below us we could see the enemy +gathered together in a group, and evidently about to return. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY. + +AFTER THE FIGHT. + +"Let's get breath first," said my father. "Sit down, my lads, anywhere. +How many are we? Only six all told? Who's hurt?" + +"Oh, I'm all right, captain," said the foreman; "only a bit of a cut." + +"Only a bit of a cut!" said my father. "Here, hold your arm." My +father drew out a bandage from his pocket, and tied up the foreman's +arm, and he had no sooner done this than another man offered himself to +be bandaged. + +Just then a couple of shots were fired in our direction, and we heard +the bullets strike the rocks not far away; but while our enemies were +below, and in the full glare of the burning cottages, we were above +them, and in the darkness of the shadows cast by the rocks. + +So the shots were allowed to go unheeded, while the bandaging went on, +every one having some injury which was borne without a murmur. + +"Are you hurt, Sep?" said my father then, anxiously, after he had +attended to his men. + +"I don't think I'm cut anywhere," I said; "but my left arm hurts a good +deal, and I can't breathe as I should like to." + +"Breathe?" he said eagerly. + +"Yes; it hurts my side here and catches." + +"Humph!" he said. "Can you tie this round my shoulder?" + +"Why, father," I said, "are you wounded too?" + +"A scratch, my boy; but it bleeds a good deal." + +He tore open his coat and tried to take it off, but could not, and we +had to help him, and then roughly bandage his shoulder, where he had +received a horrible cut. + +I trembled as I helped, and forgot my own pains. + +He noticed my trembling and laughed. + +"Bah, Sep!" he said; "this is nothing. I'm afraid some of our poor +fellows there are worse. Ah, who's that? Be ready, men; we must +retreat, we are not in fighting trim." + +For we could see a dark figure coming up after us, and it seemed to be +an enemy; but directly after half a volley was fired at the figure, and +we saw it drop and roll over. + +"Down!" said my father with a groan. "Oh, if we were only fresh and +strong! But they are six to one, my lads, and it would be madness." + +"Look, father!" I cried pointing; "they are going back." + +That was plain enough, and that they were going rapidly in answer to +shouts of recall. So, encouraged by this, we were about to run down and +help the man who had been shot, when by the glow of the fire we saw him +rise up on his knees, and directly after there were a couple of flashes +and reports, as he fired his pistols after the retreating foe, and then +began to crawl up towards where we were. + +"Why, it's Bigley, father," I said excitedly. "Ahoy!" + +"Ahoy!" came back; and I saw my school-fellow get up and begin limping +towards us as fast as he could come. + +I ran to meet him, but stopped before I had gone many yards, for the +painful sensation in my side checked me, and I was glad to hold my hand +pressed upon the place, and wait till he came up. + +"Oh, I am glad!" he cried, catching my hand. "I thought--no, I won't +say what I thought." + +"But you are hurt," I said. "Is it your leg?" + +"Yes, I feel just as if I was a gull, Sep, and someone had shot me." + +"And you are shot?" + +"Yes, but only in the leg. Is the captain up there?" + +"Yes," I said, "and three or four of the men. I say, Big, what a +terrible night!" + +"Yes," he replied, in a curious tone of voice; "but, I'm glad it's the +French, and that no one else has done it." + +My father had come down to where we were seated, and made us follow him +to the shelter of the rocks. + +"They may catch sight of you, my lads," he said, "and turn you into +marks." + +"Are you going to stop them now, captain?" said Bigley, following. +"What are you going to do?" + +"I'm ready to do anything, my lad," said my father sadly; "but what can +half a dozen injured men, whose wounds are getting stiff, do against +half a hundred sound?" + +Bigley sighed. + +"Couldn't we sit up here in the rocks and pick them all off with the +carbines, sir?" he said suddenly. + +"Yes, my lad, perhaps we could shoot down a few if we had the carbines, +which we have not. No: we can do nothing but sit down and wait till we +get well, comforting ourselves with the thought that we have done our +best." + +We were watching the French sailors now, not a man showing the slightest +inclination to retreat farther, but standing like beaten dogs growling +and ready to rush at their assailants if they could get the chance. +Swords had been sheathed, but only while pistols were recharged; and +then, as soon as these weapons were placed ready in belts, the cutlasses +were drawn again; and just as they had obeyed the order to retreat, the +men would have followed my father back, wounded as they were, to another +attack. + +Down below the Frenchmen were as busy as bees. We could hear the +crackle and snap of wood as they seemed to be tearing it out of the +counting-house; and then it was evident what they had been doing, for a +torch danced here and there, and stopped in one place and seemed to +double in size, to quadruple, and at last there was a leaping flame +running up and a pile of wood began to blaze. + +"There go years of labour!" said my father, speaking unconsciously so +that the men could hear. "One night to ruin everything!" + +"Nay, captain, such of us as is left 'll soon build un up again," said +the foreman. "Women and children's safe, and there's stuff enough in +the hillside to pay for all they've done." + +"Ah! So there is, my brave fellow," said my father warmly. "You are +teaching me philosophy." + +"Am I, captain?" said the man innocently. "Think they'll find the +silver?" + +"I'm watching to see," said my father; "I don't know yet. Five minutes +will show. I fear they know where to look." + +Bigley was leaning on my shoulder at this time, and he gave me quite a +pinch as his hand closed, but he did not speak; and there was no need, +for I understood his thoughts, poor fellow! And what he must be +feeling. + +As the fires at the cottages were beginning to sink, the one the +Frenchmen had lit by the counting-house blazed up more brightly. They +kept feeding it with furniture, joists, and broken planks, about a dozen +men running to and fro tearing out the broken wood-work and clearing the +interior till we could see that everything had been swept away; and then +there was a buzz of excitement by the ruined building while the hammer +and clangour of crowbars could be heard, followed by the tearing up of +more boards; and I knew as well as if I could see that the trap-door +leading to the cellar was being demolished. + +"They know where the silver be, captain," said our foreman; and once +more Bigley started and I felt him spasmodically grip my shoulder. + +"Yes," said my father between his teeth; "they know where the silver is. +A planned thing, my man--a planned thing." + +"None o' us had anything to do with it, captain, I swear," cried the +foreman excitedly. "There wasn't a lad here as would have put 'em up to +where it was hid." + +"Hush, man! What are you saying?" cried my father. "As if it were +likely that I should suspect any of the brave fellows who have been +ready to give their lives in the defence of my works." + +"But can't we get the rest together, captain, and stop 'em, or cut 'em +off, or sink their boats, or something?" + +"No, my lad, I'm afraid we can do nothing more than see them--Ah! They +have found it!" said my father as a loud shout of triumph rang out from +below. "Well, as you say, there's plenty more in the hillside, and we +must set to work again, I suppose, and take warning by this and never +keep a store here." + +It was all plain enough. The silver was found, and the little boxes in +which the ingots were packed in saw-dust were carried out and stood down +by the blazing fire--twenty of them; and just as this was done there was +the thud of a cannon away off the mouth of the Gap. + +"Signal for recall," said my father. + +It was quickly obeyed, for the French formed up round twenty of their +party who shouldered the boxes. Four men with drawn swords went first, +as if they were making a showy procession in the blaze of the burning +fire; then came the twenty men carrying silver, then six more with drawn +swords; then a group of about ten who seemed to be wounded, and four +more who were being carried; and lastly some twenty or thirty, with +swords flashing in the firelight, to form a rearguard. + +"_En avant_!" rang out clearly in the night air, and away they went +chattering and making plenty of noise, just as a second gun was fired +and seemed to make the air throb as the report echoed up the valley. + +"Why, there must be nigh a hundred on 'em. We may have a shot at 'em +now, captain, mayn't us?" cried the foreman. + +"What for, my man?" said my father kindly. "If we could save the silver +I would say yes, but it would be only spilling blood unnecessarily. We +made a brave defence and were beaten. We could not master them now, +even if we could fire volleys every five minutes. It would only mean a +fierce fight, and we should be hunted down one by one for nothing. No: +they have won. Let them go now, but I should like to see them embark. +A good-sized French man-of-war must be off the Gap." + +"Come on, then, captain, and let's get over the mouth." + +"No," said my father. "You go with my son and one of the men, but I +forbid firing. See all you can. I must stay and look after our poor +fellows here, unless they've taken them away as prisoners." + +"Ah! I forgot them," said our man. "Come along, Master Sep. Let's go +down here and cross, and get on the cliff path." + +"Will you go, Big?" I said. + +"No, I couldn't walk," he replied. "I can hardly get down here." + +"I'll look after him," said my father. "Go on, but take care not to be +caught." + +"We'll mind that, captain," was the reply; and we descended as rapidly +as pain would let us, reached the stream, crossed the path the Frenchmen +had taken, and went on diagonally up the slope, getting higher above the +enemy at every step, and talking together in a low tone about the fight, +and how the poor fellows were whom we had missed. + +"I hope and pray," said our foreman, "as no one ar'n't killed; and, my +lor', how my arm do hurt!" + +"So do I. Poor fellows!" I said, "how well they all fought!" + +"Ay, they did. But the captain, Master Sep, he was like a lion all the +time. Why, lad, what's the matter?" + +"I--I don't want to make too much fuss," I panted; "but I'm broken +somewhere, and it hurts horribly." + +"Sit you down, lad, and wait till we come back," said the foreman +kindly. + +"No," I said, grinding my teeth, "I won't give up;" and I trudged on, +knowing as well as could be that one or two of my ribs were broken when +I was crushed against the wall, just before it gave way. + +And all the time below us to the left wound the line of Frenchmen. It +was so dark that we could not have told that they were there, but for +the low babel of sounds that arose of voices and trampling feet, while +now and then a sound more painful to us still came up in the form of a +groan or a faint cry of pain, and after one of these outbursts the +foreman said: + +"I wonder whether that be one of our lads." + +"Nay, not it," said our companion roughly; "it be a Frenchy. One of our +lads wouldn't make a noise like that if you cut his head off." + +I felt sure he was right, and I could not help smiling, but I was in too +much pain to speak. + +And so we trudged on, our paths diverging in a way that took us higher +and higher towards where the track curved round the cliff at the east +side of the Gap, while theirs, of course, kept down by the stream to the +beach. + +It was a weary painful walk, for the excitement was now gone, and my +companions' wounds were stiffening, and giving them as much pain as my +chest did me; but no one murmured, and we kept on till we were at the +mouth of the Gap, high up above where four boats were lying, while half +a mile away we could see the lights and dimly make out the hull of a +large vessel. + +In spite of our pain we had made most progress, and were waiting some +minutes before the head of the column came up, and there, as we seated +ourselves hundreds of feet above, we could watch the embarkation of the +little force, and see in a dim way the boats run in, hear the plashing +of feet in the shallow water, and then the sound of the boxes as they +were laid in the bottom of one of the boats, this boat being then rowed +out about a dozen yards to wait for the others. + +"Only wish it was a storm instead of a calm smooth time," said our +foreman. "Everything seems for 'em. I can't see why the Ripplemouth +people haven't been over to help us. They must have seen the fires." + +"No," I said, "I don't suppose they would. See how deep down in the +valley the cottages are." + +It was quite dark where we were sitting, but there appeared to be a pale +light on the sea which enabled us to make out all that was going on +below; and we watched the boats fill, and one by one push off, the +wounded men being divided between the four. It was plain enough, and it +made me shudder when some poor fellow was lifted moaning in by his +comrades, who did not seem to be any too tender in their ways. + +At last all were on board, and the word was given to start. There was a +loud plashing as the oars dropped into the water, and we saw one boat +lead off, and then a second follow, then the third and the fourth in +single file, and making haste to join the big vessel, upon which signal +lights were burning. + +"Why, they don't know the way," I exclaimed, as I saw them bear off at +once to the eastward instead of following right out the meandering +channel of the little river. + +"Don't know the way?" cried our foreman; "why, it's plain enough. +They're at sea." + +"They're over a lot of dangerous rocks," I said excitedly; "and if there +don't happen to be water enough they'll come upon the Goat and Kids, and +perhaps be upset." + +"No fear," said the foreman; "they'll know better than that." + +They were now about four hundred yards from the shore, and fading away +into the darkness, heading for the lights of the French ship, and far to +the east now of the course of the river, where it ran down through the +sand and shingle--a course the lugger always followed when going out or +coming in. But all seemed to be well with the boats, the regular beat +of whose oars we could hear though they were quite out of sight, when +all at once there came out of the darkness a tremendous yell, and we all +started to our feet in alarm. + +We could see nothing, but as we listened to the cries for help, and the +shouting and splashing of the water, it was evident that an accident had +occurred, and it needed very little imagination to picture the men of an +overset boat struggling in the water, and being helped into the others. + +"There's one of them capsized on the Goat Rock," I said excitedly. + +"Think so, my lad?" said our foreman hoarsely. + +"I'm sure of it," I cried. "Oh! If the day would break and we could +only see." + +As if in response to my wish there was a faint gleam out in the darkness +just like a pale star, and then a blue glow which lit up the scene with +a curiously sickly glare. + +It made everything very plain, and by this light we could see that there +were three crowded boats out in the blue circle of light, while we could +just see the fourth beyond them upside down, the keel just above the +water, and three men seated astride. + +"Regular capsize," said our foreman. "Hope none of the wounded chaps +aren't drowned. Don't mind about the rest." + +The blue light burned out, but not before we had plainly seen that it +was burning in the bows of the largest boat, and that the men on that +capsized had been dragged into one of the others. Then, as we listened, +the babble of voices ceased, the plash of oars recommenced, and +gradually died away. + +"Well," I said, "we may as well go back and report what we have seen. +They've gone now." + +"Yes," growled our foreman, holding his hand to his wound, "and they've +left their marks behind." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY ONE. + +AMONGST THE WOUNDED. + +Weary as our walk down to the mouth of the Gap had been, that back +seemed far worse, and we reached the fire by the counting-house, which +still burned brightly, being fed with more wood, to find my father +anxiously awaiting our news. + +"Gone!" he said. "Yes, but they may return. Two--no we cannot spare +two men, one must go and keep watch to warn us of their return." + +"I'll go, Captain Duncan," said Bigley, limping up. "I can't walk about +much, but I can sit down there on the top rocks and watch." + +"Very good, my lad," said my father, "but take your pistols and fire +twice rapidly if boats come in again." + +As Bigley squeezed my hand and started off, my father exclaimed: + +"Now I must have a messenger to go to Ripplemouth for Doctor Chowne. +What man is not wounded?" + +There was a murmur among the group assembled about the fire, a grim +blood-smeared powder-blackened set of beings, several of whom had had +their hair scorched away by the explosion. There was not a man who was +not ready to go, but there was not one who was not wounded. + +"I hardly know whom to send," said my father. "Sep, can you get over +there?" + +"I'll try, father," I replied from where I was sitting down on a piece +of rock; but I spoke so faintly that my father came to my side, and +caught my cold damp hand, and laid his upon my wet forehead. + +"Madness!" he muttered. "Look here, my lads," he cried, "a couple of +the women must be found at once." + +"Ahoy! Duncan, ahoy!" + +It was a distant hail from high up on the track. + +"Heaven be praised!" cried my father, and then he shouted, "Chowne, +ahoy!" + +There was an answering hail, and in five minutes more Doctor Chowne came +scrambling down the side of the ravine upon his pony, with Bob hanging +on to its tail. + +"My dear boy!" exclaimed the doctor, grasping my father's hand. "We +heard the guns, and could make out the lights of a big vessel off here. +I was afraid that something was wrong, and going up the hill yonder I +could see the glow in the sky. That decided me, and we came over +together. Anybody hurt?" + +"Well, yes, a little," said my father grimly. + +As he spoke the first grey dawn of morning was beginning to show in the +valley and mingle strangely with the glow of the big fire and of the +sickly flickering gleam above the burned-out cottages. + +It was a doleful sight upon which the doctor gazed round as he stripped +off his coat. My father, blackened, scorched, and blood-stained, was +standing with the foreman, six men were sitting or half reclining on the +ground, and four more lay on their backs as if insensible. + +It was a ghastly answer to the question, "Is anybody hurt?" for there +was no one without a serious wound. + +"Ah! I see," said the doctor grimly. "Well, is anybody killed?" + +"Heaven forbid!" cried my father. + +"Amen," said the doctor. "Here, Bob, bandages, scissors. Fine lesson +in surgery for you. Now, captain, you first." + +"No, no--the men," said my father. + +"Here, I've no time to waste," cried the doctor. "Now, then, who's +worst?" + +"Mas'r Sep," cried the foreman loudly; and there was a sort of chorus of +"Ay, ay!" + +I tried to protest, but I felt sick, and as if I should faint, and the +doctor cried: + +"Hold your tongue, sir. Now then, what is it--bullet or sword cut?" + +"Oh!" I shrieked, for he had seized me rather roughly. + +"There, eh?" said the doctor, "that's it, is it? Here, knife, Bob." + +"What is it?" said my father excitedly; "an operation?" + +"Yes," said Doctor Chowne, "on his coat. Only going to rip it off, man. +What a fuss you do make about your boy!" + +"But tell me, Chowne," cried my father, "is he badly hurt?" + +"Badly hurt? No. A few ribs broken seemingly. I'll soon bandage him +up." + +He did, and very painful it was; but at the same time it seemed to give +me strength and confidence, as he wound the stout bandage round and +round and left Bob grinning at me as he fastened the ends, while he went +to another patient. + +"Been a regular fight, then?" said Bob, who kept on questioning me, and +making me tell him everything, though I felt as if I could hardly speak. + +"Yes," I said, "terrible." + +"But old Big; where's he?" + +"Wounded, and keeping watch where the Frenchmen went." + +"Old Big wounded, eh? And a regular fight--French and English too. +Well, of all the shabby mean beggars that ever lived, you and old Bigley +are about the two worst." + +"What do mean?" I cried angrily. + +"There, don't wriggle that way or I shall stick the needle in you. To +go and have a big genuine fight like that and never let me know." + +"Here, Bob, quick!" cried the doctor, and my old school-fellow had to go +and help bandage another's wound. + +"He will have his grumble," I said to myself, smiling as well as I could +for one in pain. + +The daylight grew broader, and the blackened counting-house and cottages +more desolate-looking, the whole place seeming to be suffering from the +effects of some terrible storm, and as I lay there I saw the doctor go +on busily bandaging the poor fellows' wounds, every one suffering the +pain he was caused without a murmur. The worst cases he temporarily +bandaged, leaving the rest till the men were better able to bear it, and +at last he came round to my father, who was wounded in two places. + +"Die? No: there are some ugly chops and holes, but I'm not going to let +any of the brave fellows die," cried the doctor cheerily. "Now the +first thing is to get the women back and a roof over that long shed in +case it should rain. I'll have a lot of ling cut for beds, but I must +have some help. Perhaps I had better ride over to the village--no, I'll +send my boy. But I say, Duncan, I think you ought to have given better +account of the Frenchmen." + +"Why, they had to get fifteen or sixteen wounded men away," I cried, and +then winced. + +"And serve 'em right," said the doctor. "Here, Bob!" + +_Bang, bang_! + +"What's that?" + +"Bigley's signal; and by the way, doctor, the poor lad is wounded too. +Come along and see." + +"No, I'll go," said the doctor. "You are not fit." + +"But I'm going all the same," cried my father; and I saw them go off +along the cliff path. + +"Here, Mars Sep," said our foreman, "I'm going to climb up yonder to see +what's going on; will you come?" + +"I don't think I can do it," I said, "but I'll try;" and with the help +of his hand now and then I managed to climb up the west slope of the Gap +right to the very top, where, in the bright sunny morning, we saw a +sight that filled us with horror, for a couple of well-filled boats were +rowing towards us from the side of a large sloop of war, from whose +port-holes projected a row of guns that seemed to threaten fresh +destruction to our coast. + +But all at once we saw a flag run fluttering up to the peak and then +blow out clear, with the result that the boats began to alter their +course, turning completely round and rowing back to the man-of-war. + +As they were going back we could see sail after sail drop down from the +yards of the sloop; and as the boats reached her and were hoisted up to +the davits, she began to move swiftly towards the west, her canvas +growing broader minute by minute till she passed out of our sight. + +"Why, she's gone," said our foreman. "Is she coming back?" + +"I hope not," I cried. "Look!" I pointed towards the east over a +depression in the Gap side through which we could catch a glimpse of the +sea, and there in the bright sunlight we could make out a couple of +vessels crowding on under all sail; and, little as I knew of such +matters, I was able to say that one was a small frigate and the other a +man-of-war cutter that looked very much like our old friend. + +"After the Frenchman--eh?" said our foreman, gazing hard, wide-eyed and +open-mouthed, as his cheeks flushed and he seemed to forget his wounds. +"Well, then, all I can say is, that I hope they'll be caught." + +"Let's get down," I said. "See, there's the doctor bringing Bigley +Uggleston back on his pony. I wonder how he is." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY TWO. + +A FIGHT AT SEA. + +We descended slowly and painfully, to get down in time to receive a +severe scolding from the doctor, while my father confirmed the news, as +Bigley was half-lifted off for Bob to mount the pony and go off for +help. + +The British ships had had news brought them of the attack, and had +started at daybreak in full chase, and an hour afterwards all who could +climbed to where we could catch sight of the sea, to find out the +meaning of the firing that was going on. + +It was plain enough. A large three-masted lugger was in full flight +with the frigate after her, and sending shot after shot without effect, +till one of them went home, cutting the lugger's principal mast in two, +and her largest sail fell down like a broken wing, leaving the lugger +helpless on the surface. Then a boat was lowered, and we saw her going +at full speed, pulled as she was by a dashing man-o'-war crew, and we +watched anxiously to see if there was going to be a fresh fight. But +no; the man-o'-war long-boat pulled alongside and the men leaped aboard +to send up the English colours directly, while the frigate went on in +full chase of the French sloop, and we soon after saw that the lugger +was being steered towards the mouth of the Gap. + +But meantime the doctor had been busy with poor Bigley, who had been +laid upon a soft bed of heather to form his couch while his wound was +examined. + +"Why, you cowardly young scoundrel!" he cried cheerfully, "the bullet is +embedded in the muscles of the calf of your leg, and it came in behind. +You dog: you were running away." + +"So would you have run away, doctor," I said warmly, "if half a dozen +Frenchmen were after you and firing." + +"Never, sir!" cried the doctor fiercely, as he probed the wound; "an +Englishman never runs. There, I can feel it--that's the fellow." + +"Oh, doctor!" groaned poor Bigley. + +"Hurt?" said Doctor Chowne. "Ah, well! I suppose it does. And so you, +an Englishman, ran away--eh?" + +"English boy," said Bigley grinding his teeth with pain, while I felt +the big drops gathering on my forehead, and was wroth with the doctor +for being so cool and brutal. + +"English boy!--eh?" he said. "Well, but boys are the stuff of which you +make young men. Ha, ha, ha! What do you think of that?" + +"You're half-killing me, doctor!" groaned poor Bigley. + +"Not I, my lad. I've got the rascal; come out, sir! There you are--see +there! What do you think of that for a nasty piece of French lead to be +sticking in your leg? If I hadn't fished it out it would have been +there making your leg swell and fester, and we should have had no end of +a game." + +As he spoke he held out the bullet he had extracted at the end of a long +narrow pair of forceps; and, as Bigley looked at it with failing eyes, +he turned away with a shudder and whispered to me, as I supported his +head upon my arm: + +"I'm glad Bob Chowne isn't here to see what a miserable coward I am, +Sep. Don't tell him--there's a good chap!" + +I was about to answer, but his eyes closed and he fainted dead away. + +"Poor lad!" said the doctor kindly. "Why, he was as brave as a lion. I +talked nonsense to keep up his spirits and make him indignant while I +hurt him in that cruel way. Poor lad! Poor lad!" + +"Doctor Chowne," I cried with the tears in my eyes, "I felt just now as +if I hated you!" + +"Just you say that again!" he cried, laughing grimly. "You forget, you +young dog, that I have you by the hip. You are my patient, and I have +as tight a hold of you as an old baron in the good old times had of his +prisoners. There! He is coming to, and I sha'n't have to hurt him any +more to-day." + +"Will he have to lose his leg, doctor?" I whispered. + +"What! Because of that hole? Pshaw, boy! The bullet is out, and +nature has begun already to pour out her healing stuff to make it grow +together. I'll make him as sound as a roach before I have done. Now we +must see to getting our wounded under cover. I didn't think the Gap +would ever be turned into such a hospital as this. Why, Sep, it's quite +a treat to get such a morning's practice in surgery. There! I'll go +and wash my hands, and I must have some breakfast or I shall starve." + +Breakfast! Starve! At such a time as this! I looked at him in horror, +and he read my thoughts and laughed. + +"Why, you young goose!" he exclaimed, "do you think I can afford to be +miserable and have the horrors because other people suffer? Not a bit +of it. I'm obliged to be well and hearty and--unfeeling--eh? Ah, well, +Sep! I'm not such an unfeeling brute as I seem; and I'd give fifty +pounds now to be able to find those poor fellows breakfast and shelter +at once." + +The doctor was able to supply his patients with refreshments without the +expenditure of fifty pounds, for Mother Bonnet had just come up to +announce that she had been back to the cottage to find it untouched, +after going away in alarm when the Frenchmen landed, and she said that +she had the fire lit and coffee and tea on the way for every one who +wanted it. + +"Mother Bonnet, you're a queen!" cried the doctor; and then turning to +me: "Rather strange that they should have spared the cottage and old +Jonas's goods, eh, Sep? There's something behind all this." + +We were not long in finding out what was behind all this. I had my own +suspicions without the doctor's, and they were soon confirmed by the +coming of the big three-masted lugger, which was brought close in by the +man-o'-war's men, who landed with a lieutenant at their head, and came +up the Gap to see our condition. + +He was a bright, manly fellow, and my father and he became friends at +once, while he was quite humorous in his indignation. + +"The cowardly scoundrels!" he cried. "Oh, if we had only been here! +How delighted my Jacks would have been to have a go at them!" + +"Do you think so?" said my father smiling. + +"Think so, sir? Why, my boys have been half mad with disappointment. +Poor fellows! Just about a dozen of you. Well, there's no mistake +about your having made a brave defence, Captain Duncan. Not a man +unhurt. Sir, I'm proud to know you." + +"My men behaved better than I did, sir," said my father modestly. + +"Oh, of course, sir," cried the lieutenant laughing; "but avast talking. +What can we do for you? I'm here ashore with the lugger and prisoners +till my ship comes back, so what shall we do? You don't want doctoring, +I see?" + +"We want covering in first of all, sir," said the doctor, pointing to +the unroofed shed. + +"Of course you do," cried the lieutenant; "and all your men wounded. +Here, heave ahead, my lads, and half of you run back to the lugger and +bring up all the spare sails and spars you can get hold of. If there +are no spars bring the sweeps." + +"Ay, ay, sir," cried the sailors; and half of them went off at the +double back along the valley, while the others, under the command of +their officer, set to work and shovelled and brushed out all the burnt +charcoal and smouldering wood from the long shed, and then from the +counting-house, and after that they were busy at work cutting ling and +heath with their cutlasses, when the men despatched to the lugger came +back loaded with sails and spars. + +At it they went, and in a very short time had rigged up a roof over the +shed for our poor fellows, carried in a quantity of ling, and spread +over that more sail-cloth, making quite a comfortable bed with room for +a dozen men, and ample space for the doctor to go between. + +Then, with the tenderness of women, the great bronzed fellows lifted the +wounded men who could not walk, slipped under them a hammock, and one at +each corner carried them in and laid them down. + +"There you are, messmates," said the biggest of the men; "now, then, a +quid apiece for you to keep down the pain. Make ready: pockets, 'bacco +boxes," he shouted, and his comrades laughingly obeyed. + +"Thank you, my lads, thank you," cried the doctor, going round and +shaking hands with all in turn; "why, it would be a pleasure to have to +do with such men as you. But there, you're safe and sound." + +"At present, sir," said the big sailor; "but hark! They're at it +yonder." + +We listened and sure enough there was the distant sound of heavy firing +coming from the west. + +"And we not in it, mates," said the big sailor dolefully. + +The wounded being cared for and the miners' wives beginning to come +back, we left them in the doctor's charge, and, in response to the +lieutenant's invitation, went back with him to the lugger. + +"I'll send your fellows up all I can," he said, "but you two come to the +lugger cabin, and I think I can scrape you up a bit of a meal." + +We were ready enough to go for many reasons, one of them being +curiosity; and having shaken hands with Bigley, and asked my father to +do the same, for the poor fellow was very miserable and despondent, away +we went. + +"The rascals!" said the lieutenant, "they've got all your silver then? +How much was it worth?" + +"Nearly two thousand five hundred pounds' worth," said my father. + +"What a haul!" exclaimed the lieutenant, "and so compact and handy. +Never mind, captain, hark at our guns talking to them. They'll have to +disgorge. But, I say, some one must have told them where to come." + +"I'm afraid so," said my father. + +"Who was likely to know?--this smuggling rascal that we have got in the +French lugger?" + +"Who is he? An Englishman?" + +"No, sir, a Frenchman who speaks English pretty well. The officer on +the revenue cutter knows him. A Captain Gualtiere, I believe." + +"Oh!" I exclaimed. + +"You know him then?" said the officer sharply. + +"Yes," said my father; "he picked up my son and two companions one day +after their boat had been blown out to sea." + +"He seems to have picked up something else beside, sir," cried the +officer--"knowledge of where you kept your silver. And you may depend +upon it his lugger has been playing leader to the French sloop, and +showed the captain where to land. Two thousand five hundred pounds in +bars of silver! We must have that back." + +"I'm afraid you are not quite right, sir," said my father sadly. "I +think we shall find that the betrayal of my place was due to a smuggler +who used to live in yonder cottage, information respecting whose cargo +landing I was compelled, as a king's officer, to give to the commander +of the cutter. It has been an old sore, and it has doubtless rankled." + +"Oh, father!" I said sadly, "do you think this really is so?" + +"Yes, Sep," he replied, "and so do you; but don't be alarmed, I shall +not visit it upon his son. The poor lad thinks the same, I am sure, and +he is half broken-hearted about it." We reached the beach soon after, +where a couple of Jacks were in charge of the boat, and soon after we +were pulled alongside of the lugger, to find that the men left on board, +in charge of a midshipman of about my own age, had been busy repairing +damages, _fishing_, as they called it, the broken spar, while the +lugger's crew sat forward smoking and looking on, in company with their +skipper, who rose smiling, and saluted. + +"Aha! Le Capitaine Dooncaine," he cried; "and m'sieu hees sone. I +salute you both." + +"Salute me?" cried my father angrily. "After this night's work?" + +"This night's work, mon capitaine?" he said lightly. "Vy node. I am +prisonaire; so is my sheep, and my brave boys. But it ees ze fortune of +var." + +"Yes; the fortune of war," said my father bitterly. + +"I do node gomplaine myself. You Angleesh are a grand nation; ve are a +grand nation. Ve are fighting now. If ze sloop sail vin she vill come +for me. If she lose ze capitaine vill be prisonaire, and behold encore +ze fortune of war." + +"Sir," said my father, "it is the act of pirates to descend upon a set +of peaceful people as your countrymen did last night, thanks to your +playing spy." + +"Spy? Espion? Monsieur insults a French gentleman. I am no spy." + +"Was it not the work of a spy to bring that French sloop here to ravage +my place and steal the ore that had been smelted down?" + +"True, saire, it vas bad; but ze espion was your own countrymen, saire. +Ze Capitaine Gualtiere does no do such not you calls dirty vorks as +zat." + +"Jonas Uggleston! It was he, then?" cried my father. "I felt sure of +it; but I believed you to have had a hand in it, Captain Gualtiere." + +"A hand in him, sair. Ze Capitaine Ugglee-stone ask me to join him, it +there is months ago, sair; but I am a smugglaire, and a shentilhomme, +node a pirate." + +"Captain Gualtiere," said my father, "you once saved my boy's life, and +I have insulted you--a prisoner. Sir, I beg your pardon." + +My father took off his hat, and before he realised what was about to +take place, the Frenchman had thrown his lithe arms about him and kissed +his cheek. + +"Sair," he exclaimed with emotion, "I am a prisonaire, but I look upon +ze Capitaine Dooncaine as a friend." + +They then shook hands, and my father coloured up as he saw the officer +of the frigate look on as if amused. + +"Monsieur," said Captain Gualtiere; "I am no longer the maitre here; but +you vill entaire my cabine, and I pray you to take dejeuner--ze +breakezefast vis me." + +The result was that we had a surprisingly good meal, and very refreshing +it proved, though I was in terrible pain all the time, and kept on +wondering whether I ought to eat and drink. + +The lieutenant from the frigate kept getting up and going on deck to +listen to the firing, which was very heavy in the distance, though +nothing could be seen, and he exclaimed once against the great headland, +the Ram's Nose, which shut off the view. + +"It's so hard," he said; "here have I been longing for an engagement, +and the first one that turns up I am away from my ship, and cannot even +see the fun." + +I saw my father, who was wincing with pain, smile at the lieutenant's +idea of fun. + +"Why, you are safer here," he said. + +"Safer!" exclaimed the lieutenant contemptuously. "Now, Captain Duncan, +would you have liked it when you were on active service?" + +"That I certainly should not, sir." + +"Ah, well," said the lieutenant, "I suppose I must be contented with our +little prize here. This Gualtiere has long been wanted. A most +successful smuggler, sir." + +The conversation was ceasing to interest me, so I went on deck, when the +middy came up to me directly from where he was standing listening to the +firing. + +I looked at him with the eyes of admiration, for his uniform, dirk, and +pistols gave him a warlike aspect, and besides he was in temporary +command of the sturdy Jacks who were overawing the smuggler's men. + +"Won't you sit down?" he said, turning up a little keg. + +I sank upon the seat with a sigh, for I felt weak. + +"Ah! You are a lucky fellow," he said. + +"Why?" I asked. + +"Why? To be in a fight last night and get wounded." + +"Oh!" I exclaimed laughing. + +"Ah, you may laugh!" he said. "I call it first rate. You're only a +landsman, and get all that luck. It's of no use to you. Why, if it had +been me, of course I am too young for promotion, but it would have been +remembered by and by. I say, tell us all about it." + +I told him, and to my surprise I found before long that all the sailors +were listening intently. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the middy as I finished; "don't I wish we had all been +there." + +"And don't I wish you had all been there!" I said dolefully; "our place +is regularly wrecked." + +"Never mind," cried the middy, shaking my hand. "They ar'n't getting +much by it. Hark! How our old girl is pounding away at 'em. I'll be +bound to say that the spars and planks are flying, and--oh, don't I wish +I were there!" + + + +CHAPTER FORTY THREE. + +BIGLEY FEELS HIS POSITION. + +During the day, after leaving an adequate guard over the prisoners in +the lugger, the lieutenant came up the Gap twice, and worked hard with +his men to get our poor work-people in a more comfortable state, though +now plenty of the Ripplemouth folk had been over, and help and +necessaries were freely lent, so that the night was made fairly +comfortable for the wounded and their families. We slept in the ruins +of the counting-house, whose roof was open to the sky, for my father had +not the heart to go home and rest there; and when he sent Bigley over, +and I felt that I should like to go and keep the poor fellow company, I, +too, had not the heart to go and leave my father alone. + +The next morning the lieutenant came to fetch us to breakfast on board +the lugger; but we made a very poor meal, our injuries being more +painful, and I felt weak and ill; but there was so much to see and hear +that I kept forgetting my sufferings in the interest of the time. + +There were our men to go and see, and sit and talk to where they were +too poorly to get up. There was Mother Bonnet to speak to when she +started for the Bay to attend on Bigley; and I had her to see again when +she came back, all ruffled and indignant, after a verbal engagement with +our Kicksey, who would not let the old woman interfere, because she +wanted to nurse Bigley herself. + +Then towards afternoon, when the lieutenant had nearly gone mad with +suspense about the frigate and at being bound to stop there with the +lugger, according to his orders, news came by a fishing boat, that there +had been a desperate engagement, and the frigate had been sunk. + +But on the top of that came news by a man who was riding over from +Stinchcombe, that it was the French vessel that had been sunk. + +This stopped the lieutenant just as he was putting off in the lugger, +and soon after a fresh news-bearer came in the shape of another +fisherman, who announced that the Frenchman was taken. + +There was a regular cheer at this, and I saw Captain Gualtiere's brow +knit; but he passed it off, and sat with the officer straining his eyes +to the west in search of the prize to our flag. + +It was no wonder that he looked as triumphant as our people seemed +chap-fallen when towards evening the frigate appeared alone, with every +stitch of canvas that she could show spread to the western breeze, but +the spy-glasses showed that she was in anything but good trim, for her +main-mast was gone by the board, only a short stump rising above the +deck, and as she came nearer, her shattered bulwarks told of a desperate +fight. + +There was a signal of recall flying; and at this the lieutenant shook +hands warmly, and with the middy bade us good-bye, setting sail directly +after with the prisoners in their own vessel, and towing the frigate's +boat behind. + +We learned afterwards that there had been a most desperate engagement, +far away to the west, and that the Frenchman was becoming hopelessly +beaten with half her guns silenced, and that she was on the point of +striking her colours, when a lucky shot from one of her big guns cut +through the frigate's main-mast, and it toppled over into the sea, +whereupon the French sloop made her escape, sinking the cutter which +bravely tried to check her, and carrying off her crew as prisoners. + +We only obtained this information in driblets; but one thing was +certain, the French sloop had got right away, and my father frowned as +he thought of his lost silver. + +He bore up famously for a few days, working hard, in spite of Doctor +Chowne's orders, in trying to make his wounded work-people comfortable, +and then when by the doctor's orders I was lying at home on a sofa in +the same room as Bigley, my poor father broke down and took to his bed. + +"I'm not surprised," Doctor Chowne said to me shaking his head. "You're +all a set of the most obstinate mules that ever kicked. I should have +had you all well by now, only young Bigley there would walk on his +crippled leg and irritate it; you would keep rolling and dancing about +and keeping your ribs from mending; and your father has gone on walking +about just as if nothing was the matter, when all the time he ought to +have been in bed." + +"But a little rest will soon set him right, will it not, doctor?" I +said anxiously. + +"A little rest? He'll be obliged to take a great deal now, and I'm glad +of it. Hang him: I'll bring him in a bill by and by!" + +The doctor was quite right; we had all been very disobedient, and +suffered for it; but in spite of the pain, and fever, and weakness, that +was a very pleasant time. How we used to lie there listening to the +birds! Sometimes it was the blackbirds piping softly in the garden. +Then from high up over the hill we could faintly hear the skylark +singing away, and then perhaps mingling with it would come the wild +querulous _pee-ew_! _pee-ew_! Of the grey and white gulls, as in +imagination we saw them gliding here and there about the cliffs. + +But there was war in our cottage at the Bay--desperate war. Mother +Bonnet coming every morning with fish and cream and chickens and fruit +for her boy, as she called Bigley; and our Kicksey snorting and +indignant at the intrusion, and telling old Sam that it was just as if +master was too poor to pay for things. + +Then by degrees my father grew well enough to sit out in the little +battery by his guns, and breathe the soft sea-breezes that came in from +the west; and here he used to receive our foreman, who came over every +morning to report how much lead had been smelted and cast, and how the +mine was growing more productive. + +For as fast as the men grew well enough, they returned to their duties. +The cottages were restored as quickly as was possible, and every day the +traces of the French attack grew less visible; but still my father did +not get quite well. + +Bob Chowne was over with us a great deal, and I believe he did both +Bigley and me a vast deal of good from being so cantankerous. He would +do anything for us; fetch, carry, or turn himself into a crutch for +Bigley to lean upon, as he hopped down the garden to a chair; but he +must be allowed to snarl and find fault, and snarl he did horribly. + +One day when I was beginning to feel quite strong again, and I was able +to take a long breath once more without feeling sharp pricking +sensations, and afterwards a long dull aching pain, I went down the +garden to find Bigley standing before my father with his head bent and +listening patiently to what seemed to be a scolding. + +"I've told you before, my lad. Ah, Sep, you there?" + +"Yes, father," I said. "I beg your pardon. I did not know." + +"There, stop," cried my father. "It is nothing that you may not hear. +Bigley Uggleston is talking again about going, and I am bullying him for +it." + +"I can't help it, Captain Duncan," cried poor Bigley passionately. "I +want to be frank and honest; and it always seems dreadful to me that, +after what has taken place and your terrible losses, I should be staying +here and receiving favours at your hands." + +"Now, my good lad, listen to me," said my father. "Do you think that I +am so wanting in gentlemanly feeling that I should wish to visit the sin +of another upon your head?" + +"No, sir; but I am in such a strange position." + +"You are, my lad; but you see your father has always had the worthy +ambition to give his son a good education, and make him something better +than he has been himself." + +"Yes, sir, but--" + +"Hear me out, Bigley. It has been my misfortune twice over to give him +deadly offence, and the last time he visited it upon me by giving +information to the French, which led to, as you call it, my serious +losses." + +"Yes, sir," cried Bigley, "and I am miserable. I feel as if I could not +look you in the face." + +"Why not?" said my father kindly. "Yours is a good, frank, honest face, +my lad, and you have always been my boy's companion and friend. Come, +come, no more of this nonsense. I have right on my side, and some day +your father will awaken to the fact that the information I gave was +given in the way of duty, and have a better opinion of me. As to you--" + +"I must go, sir--I must go," cried Bigley, "I cannot stay here any +longer." + +"No, you must not go," said my father firmly. "It is evidently your +father's wish that you should stay, or he would say so when he sends you +money so regularly. There, come, we'll say that he has done me a great +deal of injury, and caused me a very heavy loss." + +"Yes, sir, that is always on my mind." + +"And that kept you from getting better, my lad. So now I'm going to +make a bargain with you. Get quite strong again, as I hope to be myself +before long, and come and help us at the mine to recover the lost ground +again." + +"May I?" cried Bigley eagerly. + +"Of course," said my father; and as I saw quite a cloud disappear from +poor Bigley's countenance, I tossed up my cap and cried, "Hurrah!" + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FOUR. + +BIGLEY MAKES A DISCOVERY. + +The time glided on and the war did not trouble us, for we were too busy +in the Gap, where everything had been restored and even improved, and my +father was fighting bravely to recover from the terrible loss the French +descent had caused to the property, for the rebuilding of cottages and +repairs of machinery, after the store of silver had been taken, left him +very much impoverished; but, as he used to say, it was only a question +of time to get right. + +Bigley worked regularly with me, living at the smuggler's cottage with +Mother Bonnet for his housekeeper; and he used to hear regularly from +his father, who expressed no intention of ever returning, merely saying +that he was glad that his son was doing so well, and quite accepting the +position. He used to send money, but now Bigley had ceased to use it, +for he received a regular payment from my father, and this other money +used to be sent to a bank. + +The mine was fairly productive, but I knew that my father had been +compelled to borrow a good deal, and this preyed upon his mind so much +that one day he said to me: + +"Sep, I think I shall be obliged to sell the Gap, with the mine and all +it holds. I don't like this life of debt, and the prospect of years of +toil before I can clear it off." + +"But it would be such a pity, father," I exclaimed. + +"It would, my boy, but I am not so sanguine as I was. That terrible +night shook me a great deal, and if it were not for the thought of you I +should give up at once." + +He repeated this to me two or three times, and it made a very unpleasant +impression that troubled me a very great deal. + +Bob Chowne, who was shortly going up to London to study at one of the +hospitals, came over one evening, and we all three, as in the old days, +had tea at the smuggler's cottage, Mother Bonnet beaming upon us, and +never looking so pleased as when we wanted more of one of her home-made +loaves. + +Then after tea we decided, as the sea was so calm, to have a few hours' +fishing, and taking the boat we rowed out as far as the Goat and Kids, +the grapnel was thrown out, and we began to fish. + +It was a glorious evening, and we took rock-whiting, pout, and small +conger at such a rate that I cried, "Hold, enough!" + +"No, no, keep on," said Bob Chowne. "Let's see how many we can catch." + +"It will be a good feast for the work-people," said Bigley, as I +hesitated; and knowing how glad they all were of a bit of fish I turned +to again, throwing in my baited hooks, and hauling in the fine fellows +every minute or two. + +But at last the darkness forbade further work, so the lines were +reeled-up, the fish counted over into the two baskets, and Bigley +proceeded to haul up the grapnel. + +The intention was good, but the grapnel refused to be hauled up. The +boat's bows were dragged right over it, and Bigley stood up and tugged +till the boat was perceptibly pulled down, but not an inch would the +grapnel budge. + +"It has got between a couple of rocks, I suppose," said Bigley. + +"Here, stand aside!" cried Bob Chowne, "let the doctor come." + +He caught hold of the stout line, stood in Bigley's place, and hauled +till his wrists ached. + +"Here, come and pull, Sep," he cried; and I joined him and hauled, but +in vain. + +Then we changed the position of the boat, and dragged and jerked in one +direction and then in another. Every way we could think of did we try, +but could not stir the anchor, and as we were giving up in despair Bob +said: + +"I know; some big sea-monster has swallowed the hook and he won't move. +Here, let's get ashore." + +"But we must not lose a new grapnel," cried Bigley. "Here, I know what +we'll do." + +He hastily unfastened the rope from the ring-bolt in the bows, and +secured it to the boat-hook by a hitch or two, and then cast it +overboard. + +"There!" he said; "that will buoy it, and I'll come out to-morrow and +get it up somehow." + +Then taking the oars he rowed us ashore, where a couple of the mine men +were smoking their pipes and shining like glowworms as they waited to +see what sport we had had. + +The news spread respecting our exceptionally good fortune; and as soon +as the two men had helped to haul the boat right up beyond the reach of +the tide, as the grapnel was gone, they ran up to the miners' village +and came trooping back with the rest, armed with baskets, dishes, and in +some cases only bare-handed, to receive their portions of our big haul. + +They gave us a cheer, and soon afterwards we parted, Bob Chowne to sleep +at the smuggler's cottage, while I went back to the Bay. + +I woke at daylight next morning, and not feeling disposed to sleep, I +dressed and started off for the Gap to rouse up Bigley and Bob and +propose a bathe; but as I came in sight of the Gap mouth I found Bigley +already astir and just going down to the boat. + +I shouted and ran down to him waving my towel, to which he answered by +waving another, showing that he had risen with a similar idea to my own. + +"I thought I would have a bathe, and do some business too," he said; and +then, in answer to my inquiring look, "Try and get up the grapnel," he +added. + +"Oh!" I exclaimed; "but why didn't you rouse up Bob?" + +"Rouse up Bob!" he said gruffly. "Go and try and rouse up that block of +stone!" + +"What! Have you tried?" I said. + +"Tried! I've shaken him, and punched him, and done everything I could +but drenched him, and that would be a pity. He don't want to get up; so +let him lie. Here, help me run the boat down." + +I laid hold of one side, we balanced her on an even keel, and as it was +down a steep slope we soon ran her into the water, jumped aboard, and +began paddling out down the narrow part that formed the bed of the river +on the seaward side of the pebble ridge. + +The tide was very low, the sun up bright and high, and the water so +clear that there was every rock below us so close that it seemed as if +we could not go over some of them without touching. + +"We'll row out to the buoyed grapnel," said Bigley; "make fast, and +while you have your bathe I shall dive down, follow the rope, and see if +I can find out how the grapnel has got fast." + +"If you can," I said. + +"Well, I'm going to try," replied Bigley. "I don't suppose it's above +three fathoms deep." + +"You can't dive down three fathoms?" I said. + +"Can't I?" replied Bigley laughing. "I'm going to show you. Look +here!" + +He pointed to a big long stone in the bows of the boat weighing some +twenty-pounds. To this a thin line was attached, and I saw his meaning +at once. + +"Yes," I said, "that will do it, only don't forget to let go." + +"No fear," he replied; and we paddled on, with the beautiful view of the +cliffs opening out as we rowed farther from the shore. + +We had nearly a quarter of a mile to go before we struck against the +floating boat-hook close to the now exposed rocks, when Bigley threw in +his oar, hoisted the rough buoy aboard, unhitched the rope, ran it +through the ring-bolt, and hauled on till he had the boat's stem right +over the grapnel, which still refused to come; so we made fast. + +Bigley then began to undress rapidly, while I proceeded to work more +slowly, being curious to watch what he was doing. + +I had not long to wait, for after making fast one end of the thin line +to the thwart of the boat he poised the stone on the gunwale, leaped in, +and then putting his left arm round the grapnel rope he got well hold of +the stone, and drew it over to descend with it rapidly to the bottom. + +I crept to the bows and looked over to see his white body far below in +the clear water, and then he came up again to rub his eyes, pant, and +hold on by the side of the boat. + +"Why, what's the matter?" I said; "seen a shark?" + +"No," he cried, "but I've seen something else. Here, haul up the +stone." + +"Bother the stone!" I exclaimed, "I came to bathe." + +"Haul it up quickly," he said; and I obeyed, and afterwards lifted it on +to the gunwale. + +He seemed very excited, but he would not speak about what he had seen, +only beg me to do what he told me, which was to untie the line from the +stone and then make a running noose and put it loosely round. + +I did all this, wondering at his mysterious way, but only expecting that +it was to fasten round the grapnel so as to pull in a fresh direction. + +As soon as I had done he took hold of the loop that was round the stone, +drew a long breath, and asked me to lift it over into the water. + +This I did, and he went down head-first, while I again watched him below +among the waving weeds all indistinct in the troubled sea. + +He was down for a full minute as I crouched there with my head over the +side. He seemed to be so long that I began to grow alarmed lest he had +become entangled, and I was about to haul up the line attached to the +stone. I looked down anxiously with my face closer to the surface, but +only to make him out in a bleared indistinct manner, and then he shot up +like a line of light and swam to the side and held on. + +"Thought I shouldn't be able to do it," he said; "but I've got the line +round." + +"Well, what next?" I said. "But I say, is a grapnel worth all this +trouble?" + +"A grapnel?" he said with a peculiar smile. + +"Yes." + +"Wait a minute till I am in the boat." + +He climbed in, and came to my side. + +"Now," he said; "haul up steadily. I think she'll come." + +I tightened the line, and for a moment or two there was a dead +resistance. Then something heavy began to stir, and I hauled away +steadily, hand over hand. + +"I've got it," I said as I gazed down. "It was right in amongst some +strong weed. Here it comes." + +I pulled away till I had nearly got it to the top, and then Bigley came +to my help, reached over, and the object I was dragging up bumped +against the boat, slipped out of the noose, and went down rapidly just +like a mass of stone. + +"What did you fasten the line to that for?" I said. + +"What did I do it for, Sep?" he panted. "Didn't you see what it was?" + +"No," I said bluntly. + +"What did it look like?" + +"Box covered with sea-weed," I replied. + +"Well, don't you see now?" + +"No," I replied. + +"Why, Sep, how dull you are this morning!" he cried. "Didn't you see +that you had hold of one of your father's silver chests?" + +"_One of my father's what_?" I roared. + +"One of the silver chests. Sep, it was over these rocks, against that +one, I suppose," he cried, pointing to a huge block just below the +surface, and a favourite haunt of conger, "that the Frenchman's boat +capsized." + +"What, the one with the silver?" I cried. + +"Yes, and I believe all the chests are at the bottom there." + +"And they were coming back to try for them when the frigate came in +sight!" I shouted. + +"Yes, yes, yes." + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" I cried, leaping up in the boat, and waving +my arms about like an idiot. "Why, Bigley, it will set father free of +all his troubles. Here, I'm half mad. What shall we do? Hold hard a +moment: I'm going down to see." + +I had only my breeches on, and tearing these off, I stepped on to the +gunwale, leaped up, turned over, and dived down into the clear cold +water, trying with all my might to reach the bottom, but only describing +a curve, and coming up again about twenty feet from the boat. + +I swam back to have another try, but Bigley stopped me as I was about to +dive off. + +"No, no," he said; "it's of no use. You can't get down there without a +killick or some other weight." + +"But I'm not sure it is the silver," I cried in a despairing tone. + +"But I am," he said. "The boxes are lying all about. They look like +stones if you stare down, because they are all amongst the weed; but +when I got down to feel for the grapnel I was right upon them. It's in +amongst them somehow. That was why I came up again and tried to fasten +the line round one." + +"But are you quite sure, Big?" I said, trembling with eagerness. + +"Quite sure," he said. "There can't be any mistake about it. The +Frenchman's boat ran on the rock and capsized, and all the chests must +have gone to the bottom like a shot." + +"And my poor father suffering all that worry, when here lay all his +silver at the bottom, close to the shore. Here, what shall we do, +Bigley? We must stop and watch it, for fear anybody else should come +and find it." + +"No fear of that," he said, drawing the rope once more through the +ring-bolt, and then securing the boat-hook to the end, and throwing it +overboard to act as a buoy. "Here, let's dress and go and tell him." + +"Yes, yes," I cried, trembling with eagerness, and hurrying on my +clothes, as he did his, we rowed ashore, and after hauling the boat back +to its safe place, climbed up the slope, and prepared to walk to the +Bay. + +"Big," I said; "I'm afraid to leave it. Suppose while we are gone +someone goes and takes it all away." + +"Ah! Suppose they do," he said. "But it isn't such an easy task. +Nobody knows of it but us, Sep, and we can keep the secret." + +"You are right," I said. "Come along, and let's make haste and tell +him." + +We strode along the cliff path that morning faster, I think, than we had +ever gone before, and when we came in sight of our place I was going to +rush in and tell my father, but something struck me that it would be +only fair to let Bigley go, as he had made the discovery, so I told him +to go first. + +He would not, though, and we went up to the cottage together, to find +Kicksey kicking up a dust in the parlour with a broom. + +"Is father up yet?" I cried. + +"Yes, my dear, hours ago, and half-way to Barnstaple before now." + +"What!" I cried. + +"He's going to London, my dear, and here's a letter that Sam was to +bring over to you if you didn't come back to breakfast." + +I tore open the letter and read it in a few moments. + +It was very brief, and merely told me that he had had a letter the past +night making so stern a demand upon him for money that he had decided to +go up to London at once and sell the mine. + +"Big," I said dolefully; "we've come too late. What shall we do?" + +I gave him the letter to read, and he wrinkled up his brow. + +"Go after him and catch him," he cried. + +"Yes; but how?" + +"I don't know," he panted; "let's try." + +"But the silver?" + +"Is locked up safely where we found it, lad," he cried. "It is a +secret. Come on." + +"But how, Big? He is riding." + +"Then we must walk. A man can walk down a horse. Now, let's see if it +can't be done by boys." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FIVE. + +TRYING AN IMPOSSIBILITY. + +We two set out to perform an impossibility: for though, starting +together on a long journey, a good steady walker might tire out a horse +carrying a man, and in a fortnight's work, before we had got half-way to +Barnstaple, I knew that my father would have arranged to catch the +coach, and I remembered that the coach would change horses every ten or +twelve miles; and as all this forced itself into my mind, I sat down on +a stone by the road-side. + +"Tired?" said Bigley, wiping the perspiration from his face. + +"No, not yet; but I've been thinking, and my thoughts get heavier every +moment," I replied. + +"What do you mean?" cried Bigley. + +"That we cannot do this," I said; "and we should be doing something far +more sensible if we go back home, and write a letter to my father. Why, +it would get to him days before we could." + +Bigley took off his cap and rubbed his ear. + +"I'm afraid you are right," he said; "but I don't like to go back." + +"Then let's go on to Barnstaple, and write to him from there." + +"To be sure!" cried Bigley, jumping at the compromise. "Come along." + +"No, I said; it will not do. I've left his letter behind, and I don't +know where to write." + +"Oh, Sep!" cried Bigley reproachfully. "Then, we must go back." + +We stood looking at each other just as we had made a fresh start, and +the weariness we were beginning to feel brought with it a strange +low-spirited sensation that was depressing in the extreme. + +"Come along," I said. "Let's get back, or we shall lose another day +before we can get off a letter." + +"Wait a minute," said Bigley; "there's the half-way house not a quarter +of a mile away. We'll go on there and have some bread and cheese and +cider, then we shall be able to walk back more quickly." + +It did not take us long to reach the pretty little road-side ale-house, +where the first thing I saw was the doctor's pony tied up to the gate by +the rough stable or shed. + +"Some one ill?" I said. "Shall we tell Doctor Chowne what we were +going to do?" + +I had hardly spoken these words when my father appeared at the door. + +"Why, Sep, Uggleston!" he exclaimed; "you here?" + +"Why, father!" I cried, catching him by the arm. "I thought you had +gone." + +"The pony broke down, my boy," said my father, "and I have had to bring +him back here--walking all the way; and I was undecided as to whether I +should pay someone to take him home, or lead him myself, and make a +fresh start to-morrow." + +"Come back," I said with a look full of delight. "He ought to come +back, eh, Big?" + +Bigley nodded and smiled, and then I eagerly told him all. + +"It was Bigley's doing, father," I exclaimed. "He found it out." + +"My lad," said my father huskily, "you have saved me, for I could only +have sold my property at a terrible loss." + +"And you will come back with us, father," I said. + +"Come back, my boy? Of course. Why, Bigley, my lad, you have always +looked at me as if I felt a grudge against you for being your father's +son; now, my boy, I shall always have to look at you as a benefactor, +who has saved me from ruin." + +Bigley tried to say something about that dreadful night, and the attack +on the mine premises, but my father stopped him. + +"Never mind about all that," he said; "let's get back and see if you are +right, and that it is not a solitary chest which the Frenchmen have left +us." + +"No fear of that, sir," cried Bigley. "I was down long enough to see +that there was quite a lot of them." + +"Or of pieces of rock," said my father smiling. "I'm older than you +are, my lad, and not so sanguine." + +"But I feel so sure, sir," cried Bigley. + +"That's right, my lad. I'm glad you do; but you have seen them, I have +not." + +"But Sep saw them too." + +"I saw the box we hauled up," I said; "but I could not be sure about +what was at the bottom amongst the rocks and weeds." + +Bigley looked so disappointed that my father smiled. + +"Come," he cried; "you think I am ungrateful, and throwing cold water +upon your discovery, when there is plenty over it as it is. So come, +let us assume that the treasure is there, and begin to make our plans +about how to recover it." + +At the last moment we had been obliged to leave the pony at the little +inn, and we were walking steadily back as this conversation went on. + +"Well, sir, it will be very easy," said Bigley eagerly. + +"Not so easy," said my father. "We shall want a couple of men who can +dive." + +"Oh no, you will not, sir," replied Bigley. "I have thought it all out. +All we shall want will be a clear day with the sea smooth." + +"Yes, highly necessary, Bigley," said my father. + +"Then we should want a very long smooth pole, and if we could not get +one long enough two poles would have to be fished together." + +"And then you'd fish for the boxes?" I said. + +"No," said Bigley seriously; "you would have to sink the pole just down +to where the chests lie, and rig up a block at the top, run a rope +through it, hold one end of the rope in the boat to which the pole is +made fast, and at the other end have a thick strong bag made of net." + +"Well, what then?" said my father. + +"Why, then you would put a big pig of lead in the bag, let me take hold +of the bag, let the rope run slack, and I should go down to the bottom +in an instant. Then I should lift a box into the net-bag and come up, +leaving it there for you in the boat to haul it up." + +"Yes, that sounds very simple," said my father; "but could you do it?" + +"Could I do it!" cried Bigley. "Why, sir, we did get one up to the top +without any proper things. I can dive." + +"Yes, he can dive, father," I said eagerly. "You need not be afraid +about that." + +My father looked at us both, and grew very silent, as we trudged on, to +reach the cottage at last utterly tired; and though Bigley proposed that +we should go on and see whether the buoy we had left was all right, my +father said that it might very well wait till morning, and Bigley stayed +for the night. + +"I thought your father would have been ever so much more eager and +excited about it," said Bigley, speaking to me from the inner room where +he slept, the door having been left open. + +"He is excited," I said in a low voice, for across the passage I could +hear him walking up and down in his own room; and that kept on till I +dropped off asleep, and dreamed that the French had landed with four +large boats and a great pole which they lowered down into the sea. Then +they seemed to have got me fastened to the rope that ran through the +wheel-block at the head, and they had fastened a pig of lead on to my +chest, which pressed upon me as they hauled me up out of the boat, and +then let go. + +It was all wonderfully real. I felt myself suspended over the water, +which looked black as ink instead of lit up by the sun as it was when +Bigley went down. And as I hung there, the oppression from the pig of +lead was terrible, and it seemed to please Captain Gualtiere, who was +there in a boat opposite, giving orders and laughing at my struggles to +escape. "Now," I heard him say in his Frenchy English, "cease to hold +ze ropes, and laissez let him go." + +Then there was a dull splash, and with the weight always upon me I +seemed to part the waters and go down, down, down, into the deep black +depths, which appeared to have no bottom. There was a growing sensation +of suffocation; my boots hurt my feet, and the blister I had made upon +my heel smarted, and all at once the pony, as it stood at the half-way +house door, kicked out at me, just as I was beginning to suffocate; and +this broke the rope, and I shot up to the surface. + +In other words, I started up awake, to find that I had been lying on my +back, that I was bathed in perspiration, and that my father was still +walking up and down his bed-room. + +"What stuff to go and dream!" I said to myself, as I felt very much +relieved. "That comes of eating cold beef and pickled cucumber for +supper." + +I turned upon my side to settle myself off to sleep again; but I could +not doze off; and do what I would, the thought of being sent down into +the black water with a pig of our lead upon my chest, and the pony down +below ready to kick out at me kept haunting my mind, while across the +passage there was my father still keeping up the regular tramp. + +Just then the clock at the bottom of the stairs began to strike, and I +thought that it must be a dark morning and about four, but to my +astonishment it struck eleven, and I felt sure that it must be wrong. + +And all this while there was the restless pace up and down my father's +room, making the jug in the basin rattle faintly, and after turning over +three or four times I made up my mind that it was impossible to sleep, +so I would dress, and then go and wake Bigley and sit and talk. + +I had just made up my mind to this, as it seemed to me, when Bigley +stood in the doorway and said: + +"Now, Sep, old fellow, wake up." + +I started up in bed and stared, for the room was flooded with sunshine, +and I knew that I must have been sound asleep, while from across the +passage came the regular pace of my father walking up and down, and the +jug clattered in the basin. + +"Has he been walking up and down all night?" I said sleepily. + +"Oh, no!" said Bigley. "I have only just called him, and heard him get +up. But make haste. It's a splendid morning, and the sea's like +glass." + +"And the skin's all off my heel," I said; "and it's as sore as sore, and +so is one of my toes." + +"Sep!" shouted my father just then; "make haste down, and tell Ellen +that we want the breakfast as early as possible." + +"Yes, father," I said; but at the same moment Kicksey's voice came up +the stairs as she heard what he said, and it was to announce that +breakfast would be ready in ten minutes' time. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SIX. + +TREASURES FROM THE DEEP. + +It was a glorious morning. There had been no wind for nearly three +weeks beyond pleasant summer breezes, and the water was as clear as +crystal, which is not so very often the case on our shore. + +My father had soon completed his preparations, there being a fine larch +in the woody part of the Gap; and this was soon felled, stripped, and +cleared of branch and bark. Bigley soon found a suitable rope and block +in his father's store, and a couple of boats were got ready, with a +suitable bag of rough canvas, in which several holes were cut out so as +to allow the water to pass readily through. + +All this was got ready in a couple of hours, three pigs of lead were +placed in the boat, in case one would be lost, and with the foreman to +help, and a couple of men to pull, we set off from the beach with no +lookers-on, and in a short time we were fast to the line that marked the +spot where the boxes were supposed to lie. + +Bigley gave vent to a sigh of satisfaction, for he had been in a +terrible fidget, telling me over and over again that he was sure the +boat-hook which served as a buoy had been washed away, and totally +forgetting that the cluster of rocks known as the Goat and Kids were so +familiar to the fishermen about that the spot could easily have been +found again. + +However there we were. The line was hauled tightly in over the bows of +our boat, the pole thrust down straight to the bottom, but only to keep +rising up until one of the pigs of lead was lashed on to the thick end, +when it consented to stay. The block with its wheel had already been +secured in its place, and the rest of the gear being ready nothing +remained but to make the first descent, and for which Bigley was eager. + +"I scarcely like to send you down, Bigley," said my father just at the +last. "I hardly feel justified in doing so." + +"Why not, sir?" cried Bigley. "It's only like diving for fun." + +"But if anything happened?" + +"Why, nothing can happen, sir. It's as easy as can be." + +"One moment," said my father; "let's see how the tackle works." + +He gave the word, the men slackened the rope, and the bag with the pig +of lead in it went down with a splash and sank rapidly to the bottom, +where it was allowed to stay for a few minutes and then hauled up. + +"There, sir, that goes right enough, only when it went down it would +have taken me with it, and when it came up it would have brought the +first chest of silver." + +"If you have not been mistaken," said my father drily. "Well, sir, we +shall see," said Bigley colouring; and standing up in the boat he made a +spring and dived off, curving down and rising again like a seal before +swimming back to the side with a mastery over the water that I never +could approach, though there was a time when I could swim and dive +pretty well. + +"Now, then," cried Bigley, taking hold of the bag without waiting for +farther orders, "let the rope run quite clear, and don't haul till I +come up and tell you." + +"Do you feel sure that you can do it, my lad?" cried my father eagerly. +"Oh yes, sir!" + +"Then, mind, if there is any difficulty you will give up at once." + +"I will not do it, Captain Duncan, if I cannot," said Bigley laughing. +"Now, then, off!" + +The bag, which with the lead inside had been resting on the gunwale, was +lowered into the water; Bigley seized it, and in an instant over he +turned to go down head-first, with the line running rapidly through the +block, and then all at once growing slack. + +My father and the foreman held the end, but like the rest they leaned +over the side of the boat to watch the movements of the white figure +they could indistinctly see far below, for the water was of course +disturbed, and our movements in the boats kept up a series of ripples +which blurred the surface. + +My heart beat fast, for Bigley seemed to be down a long time, though it +was only a few seconds before he rose rapidly to the surface and swam to +the boat. + +"Well, my lad," cried my father excitedly, "there is nothing, then?" + +"I couldn't manage it the first time," panted Bigley. "I got hold of a +box, but it was awkward work getting it into the bag. I could not hold +it and get the chest in too. Haul up, please." + +"But are you sure you can do it?" said my father. + +"I am certain, sir," replied Bigley; and the men began to haul up the +bag. + +As Bigley was about to give the word to let go once more there came a +loud "Ahoy!" from the shore; and turning my head I saw that Bob Chowne +had come over and was asking to be fetched. + +"It is impossible," said my father--"he must wait;" and I knew as well +as if I were listening to him that Bob was saying something about our +always having all the fun. + +"Let go," cried Bigley; and away he went again, the weight drawing him +down so rapidly that I felt a little envious, and as if I should like to +make one of the trips. + +He was up again more quickly this time. + +"Haul up," he cried; "it's of no use. I can't get the box into the bag. +Here, I see!" he cried, "make fast that maund to the rope and put the +lead in there." + +He pointed, as he held on by the boat's edge, to a fish-basket in the +stern of the boat; and as soon as the bag had been hauled aboard the +rope was set free and fastened, scale-fashion, to the basket. + +Bigley's countenance brightened at this, and seizing it directly he gave +the word, declaring that he was all right; and away he went once more, +and came up again so quickly that we felt there was something wrong. + +"What's the matter?" I cried. + +"Haul up and see," was his reply; and as the men hauled, everyone held +his breath till the basket came up slowly and heavily to the surface. + +"It's a box or a stone," I cried; and then I gave a shout, in which all +the men joined, for there was a square box in the basket and my father +lifted it out. + +"He's right! He's right!" cried my father excitedly. "Bigley, my dear +lad, I could not believe that it was true!" + +"Over with the basket, sir," cried Bigley; "quick!" and he went down +again and once more rose. + +"All ready!" he cried; and so it was, for another box was hauled in-- +another unmistakable case of our silver, for there were the marks upon +it; and my heart beat with pride and pleasure at our success. + +"How do you feel?" cried my father. "Don't go down more than you can +bear." + +"I feel like this, sir," cried Bigley seizing hold of the two handles of +the basket and going down once more, to come up again almost as quickly, +and another box was hauled up. + +Just then there was a cheer from the shore, and on looking in that +direction there was the doctor now beside Bob Chowne, and they evidently +realised what was taking place, for both shouted and waved their hats. + +They would have come off to us, but there was no boat to be had nearer +than Ripplemouth; so they watched us while Bigley went down again and +again till ten boxes had been recovered, when my father refused to let +him go down any more, in spite of his prayers and declarations that he +was all right and could go down as often as we liked. + +My father was determined, though, and made him dress himself and help +row ashore with us so as to carry the chests up to the cottage; but as +soon as they were landed my father sent up to the mine and all the men +were fetched to bear the silver up, and it was placed in safety in the +restored cellar. + +The spot had of course been left buoyed, and a couple of men were +awarded the task of watching the place till after dinner, when towards +four o'clock we all went down again, Bigley declaring himself ready to +dive. + +By this time I had come to the conclusion that I was behaving in a very +cowardly way in letting him do all the work, and without saying a word I +determined to quietly undress ready, and take the next turn. + +The doctor and Bob Chowne, who had said just what I anticipated, joined +us this time, while everyone occupied in the Gap came down to see the +astounding fact that the Frenchmen had not got the silver after all. + +We rowed out and made fast as before, and Bigley went down; but instead +of paying any attention to his dive I let the others watch him, got +ready, and then, as a fresh box was recovered, I leaped overboard, +crying, "My turn now!" and swam to the basket. + +"You, Sep?" said my father in a hesitating tone. + +"Yes, father," I shouted. "Let go." + +The men obeyed, and almost before I could realise it, I felt a snatch at +my arms, and was dragged rapidly down. + +In spite of my preparation I was so surprised that I almost lost my +presence of mind; but, as luck had it, the basket settled down close to +a box, and somehow or another I got one hand under it and tilted it over +into the basket, to which I was holding on tightly the while. + +Then in a blind confused way, with the water seeming to thunder in my +ears, I loosened my hold, and almost directly my head popped out into +the fresh air, and I swam to the boat amidst a furious burst of +cheering. + +I felt quite ashamed, and hardly knew what was said to me, for the idea +was strong upon me that I had failed. But I had not, for the next +minute one of the little chests was hauled up and into the boat, my +father leaning over and patting my bare wet shoulder. + +"Bravo, Sep!" he exclaimed; and those two words sent a glow through me, +cleared away the confusion, and made me think Bigley a long while down +when he took his turn, I was so impatient to begin again. + +He was soon up, another hauled in, and this time I did not let the +weight drag at my shoulders, but plunged with it, went down, shuffled a +chest into the basket more easily, and came up. + +Then Bigley obtained another, and suggested that the next dive should be +from the stern of the boat. + +He was quite right, and in the course of about an hour we had gone on +turn for turn and obtained nineteen of the chests, so that there was +only one more to recover. + +The doctor had twice over suggested that we had been too long in the +water, but everyone was in such a state of excitement, and there was so +much cheering as box after box of silver was recovered, that his advice +was unheeded, and in the midst of quite a burst of cheers I seized the +basket by the handles and took my fifth plunge into what seemed to be a +sea of glowing fire, so glorious was the sunshine as the sun sank lower +in the west. + +I knew where the last one lay, just where it had been shot when the boat +overturned, and it was on its side in the midst of a number of blocks of +stone tangled with weed. The boat had been shifted a little, and I came +down right by it, turned it over and over into the basket; but as I did +so I slipped, and something dark came over me. My legs passed between a +couple of stones, and then as I tried to recover myself and rise the +darkness increased, a strange confusion came over me, and then all was +blank till I heard someone say: + +"Yes; he'll do now." + +My head was aching frightfully, and there was a strange confused +sensation in my head that puzzled me, and made me wonder why my feet +were so hot, and why my father was leaning over me holding my hand. + +Then he appeared to sink down out of sight as a door was shut, and I +heard him muttering as I thought to himself, and he seemed to say +something about being better that everything should have been lost than +that have happened. + +I couldn't make it out, only that he was in terrible trouble, and his +face looked haggard and thin as he rose up again and bent over me to +take me in his arms as he looked closely in my face. + +Then, as he held me to his breast, I could feel that he was sobbing, and +I heard him say distinctly in a low reverent tone: + +"Thank God--thank God!" + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN. + +LAST MEMORIES. + +I heard all about it afterwards; how they had hauled up quickly as I did +not rise to the surface, in the belief that I might be clinging still to +the basket; but though the last chest was there, that was all. + +Bigley seized the handles and went down, staying so long that everybody +grew cold with horror, and when they hauled up he was helpless, and with +one hand holding fast to the side of the basket. + +It was our foreman who went down next, and managed to get his arm round +me, where I was entangled in a tremendous growth of sea-weed, and with +one of my legs hooked, as it were, between and round a piece of rock. +By great good fortune he was able to drag me out, and rise with me to +the surface, but so overcome that he could hardly take a stroke; and as +for me, Doctor Chowne had a long battle before he could bring me back as +it were to life. + +I have little more to tell of my early life there on the North Devon +coast, for after that time rolled on very peacefully. We had no more +visits from the French, not even from Captain Gualtiere, and we saw no +more of old Jonas Uggleston. He had settled in Dunquerque, he told his +son in his letters, and these always contained the advice that he was on +no account to leave the service of Captain Duncan, but to do his duty by +him as an honest man. + +And truly Bigley Uggleston did do his duty by my father and by me, for +year by year we grew closer friends, the more so that Bob Chowne drifted +away after his course of training in London, and finally became a ship's +surgeon. + +As for us, we led a very uneventful life, going steadily on with the +management of the mine, which never was productive enough to make a huge +fortune, but quite sufficient to keep my father fairly wealthy, and give +employment and bread to quite a little village which grew up in the Gap. + +For the recovery of the silver was the turning-point in my father's +mining career. After that all went well. + +As I said, Jonas Uggleston never came back, but one day a bronzed +white-headed old sailor was seated at the door of the smuggler's cottage +when I went to call on Bigley, and this old fellow rose with quite a +broad grin on his face. + +I stared for a moment, he was so foreign-looking with his clipped beard +and quaintly cut garb. Then I realised who it was: Binnacle Bill come +back to his old wife, Mother Bonnet. + +"Couldn't leave the master before," he said. "But now I've come, and +you'll give me a job now and then, and Master Bigley, I should like +never to go away no more." + +Binnacle Bill did not go away any more, for he was at once installed +boatman, and bound to have boat, tackle, and baits ready every time +Bigley and I felt disposed to have an hour or two's fishing in the +evening. + +If Bob Chowne came down his work grew harder, for Bob was as fond of +fishing as ever. He used to come to see his father sometimes, for he +was devotedly attached to him, and the old doctor's place was full of +the presents his son sent him from abroad. + +But Bob always came over to the Bay, grumbling and saying that he was +sick of Ripplemouth; and then he grumbled at old Sam and Kicksey about +the dinner, or the fruit, or the weather, and then he used to grumble at +his two old school-fellows as we walked along the cliff path, or went +out with him in the boat. + +"Ah, you two always were lucky fellows," he said to us one day, when I +told him that I was going to spend my winter evenings setting down my +old recollections with Bigley Uggleston's help. "Nothing to do but +enjoy yourselves, and idle, and write. But what's the good of doing +that? Nobody will ever care to read about what such chaps as we've +been, did in such an out-of-the-way place as this." + +"Never mind," I said, "I mean to set it all down just as I can +recollect; and as to anybody reading it--well, we shall see." + +"Ah, well," said Bob, "just as you like; but if I was a grumbling sort +of fellow, and given to finding fault, I should say it's just waste of +time." + +This was too much for Bigley, who burst into a hearty fit of laughter, +in which I joined. + +Bob stared at us both rather sulkily for a moment, and then uttered his +favourite ejaculation, which was "Yah!" + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Devon Boys, by George Manville Fenn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEVON BOYS *** + +***** This file should be named 21303.txt or 21303.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/3/0/21303/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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