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diff --git a/15124.txt b/15124.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7952aef --- /dev/null +++ b/15124.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10955 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lighthouse, by Robert Ballantyne + +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: The Lighthouse + +Author: Robert Ballantyne + +Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15124] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIGHTHOUSE *** + + + + +Produced by Roy Brown, Wiltshire, England + + + + + +THE LIGHTHOUSE + +By R.M.BALLANTYNE +Author of "The Coral Island" &c. + +BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED +LONDON GLASGOW BOMBAY + +E-Test prepared by Roy Brown + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + +I. THE ROCK. +II. THE LOVERS AND THE PRESS-GANG. +III. OUR HERO OBLIGED TO GO TO SEA. +IV. THE BURGLARY. +V. THE BELL ROCK INVADED. +VI. THE CAPTAIN CHANGES HIS QUARTERS. +VII. RUBY IN DIFFICULTIES. +VIII THE SCENE CHANGES--RUBY IS VULCANIZED. +IX. STORMS AND TROUBLES. +X. THE RISING OF THE TIDE--A NARROW ESCAPE. +XI. A STORM, AND A DISMAL STATE OF THINGS ON BOARD THE + PHAROS. +XII. BELL ROCK BILLOWS--AN UNEXPECTED VISIT--A DISASTER AND A + RESCUE. +XIII. A SLEEPLESS BUT A PLEASANT NIGHT. +XIV. SOMEWHAT STATISTICAL. +XV. RUBY HAS A RISE IN LIFE, AND A FALL. +XVI. NEW ARRANGEMENTS--THE CAPTAIN'S PHILOSOPHY IN REGARD TO + PIPEOLOGY. +XVII. A MEETING WITH OLD FRIENDS, AND AN EXCURSION. +XVIII. THE BATTLE OF ARBROATH, AND OTHER WARLIKE MATTERS. +XIX. AN ADVENTURE--SECRETS REVEALED, AND A PRIZE. +XX. THE SMUGGLERS ARE "TREATED" TO GIN AND ASTONISHMENT. +XXI. THE BELL ROCK AGAIN--A DREARY NIGHT IN A STRANGE + HABITATION. +XXII. LIFE IN THE BEACON--STORY OF THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. +XXIII. THE STORM. +XXIV. A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. +XXV. THE BELL ROOK IN A FOG--NARROW ESCAPE OF THE SMEATON. +XXVI. A SUDDEN AND TREMENDOUS CHANGE IN FORTUNES. +XXVII. OTHER THINGS BESIDES MURDER "WILL OUT". +XXVIII. THE LIGHTHOUSE COMPLETED--RUBY'S ESCAPE FROM TROUBLE BY A + DESPERATE VENTURE. +XXIX. THE WRECK. +XXX. OLD FRIENDS IN NEW CIRCUMSTANCES. +XXXI. MIDNIGHT CHAT IN A LANTERN. +XXXII. EVERYDAY LIFE ON THE BELL ROOK, AND OLD MEMORIES + RECALLED. +XXXIII. CONCLUSION. + + + +THE LIGHTHOUSE + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ROCK + +Early on a summer morning, about the beginning of the nineteenth +century, two fishermen of Forfarshire wended their way to the shore, +launched their boat, and put off to sea. + +One of the men was tall and ill-favoured, the other, short and +well-favoured. Both were square-built, powerful fellows, like most +men of the class to which they belonged. + +It was about that calm hour of the morning which precedes sunrise, +when most living creatures are still asleep, and inanimate nature +wears, more than at other times, the semblance of repose. The sea was +like a sheet of undulating glass. A breeze had been expected, but, +in defiance of expectation, it had not come, so the boatmen were +obliged to use their oars. They used them well, however, insomuch +that the land ere long appeared like a blue line on the horizon, then +became tremulous and indistinct, and finally vanished in the mists of +morning. + +The men pulled "with a will,"--as seamen pithily express in silence. +Only once during the first hour did the ill-favoured man venture a +remark. Referring to the absence of wind, he said, that "it would be +a' the better for landin' on the rock." + +This was said in the broadest vernacular dialect, as, indeed, was +everything that dropped from the fishermen's lips. We take the +liberty of modifying it a little, believing that strict fidelity here +would entail inevitable loss of sense to many of our readers. + +The remark, such as it was, called forth a rejoinder from the short +comrade, who stated his belief that "they would be likely to find +somethin' there that day." + +They then relapsed into silence. + +Under the regular stroke of the oars the boat advanced steadily, +straight out to sea. At first the mirror over which they skimmed was +grey, and the foam at the cutwater leaden-coloured. By degrees they +rowed, as it were, into a brighter region. The sea ahead lightened +up, became pale yellow, then warmed into saffron, and, when the sun +rose, blazed into liquid gold. + +The words spoken by the boatmen, though few, were significant. The +"rock" alluded to was the celebrated and much dreaded Inch Cape--more +familiarly known as the Bell Rock--which being at that time unmarked +by lighthouse or beacon of any kind, was the terror of mariners who +were making for the firths of Forth and Tay. The "something" that was +expected to be found there may be guessed at, when we say that one of +the fiercest storms that ever swept our eastern shores had just +exhausted itself after strewing the coast with wrecks. The breast of +ocean, though calm on the surface, as has been said, was still +heaving with a mighty swell, from the effects of the recent elemental +conflict. + +"D'ye see the breakers noo, Davy?" enquired the ill-favoured man, who +pulled the aft oar. + +"Ay, and hear them, too," said Davy Spink, ceasing to row, and +looking over his shoulder towards the seaward horizon. + +"Yer een and lugs are better than mine, then," returned the +ill-favoured comrade, who answered, when among his friends, to the +name of Big Swankie, otherwise, and more correctly, Jock Swankie. +"Od! I believe ye're right," he added, shading his heavy red brows +with his heavier and redder hand, "that _is_ the rock, but a man wad +need the een o' an eagle to see onything in the face o' sik a +bleezin' sun. Pull awa', Davy, we'll hae time to catch a bit cod or a +haddy afore the rock's bare." + +Influenced by these encouraging hopes, the stout pair urged their +boat in the direction of a thin line of snow-white foam that lay +apparently many miles away, but which was in reality not very far +distant. + +By degrees the white line expanded in size and became massive, as +though a huge breaker were rolling towards them; ever and anon jets +of foam flew high into the air from various parts of the mass, like +smoke from a cannon's mouth. Presently, a low continuous roar became +audible above the noise of the oars; as the boat advanced, the swells +from the southeast could be seen towering upwards as they neared the +foaming spot, gradually changing their broad-backed form, and coming +on in majestic walls of green water, which fell with indescribable +grandeur into the seething caldron. No rocks were visible, there was +no apparent cause for this wild confusion in the midst of the +otherwise calm sea. But the fishermen knew that the Bell Rock was +underneath the foam, and that in less than an hour its jagged peaks +would be left uncovered by the falling tide. + +As the swell of the sea came in from the eastward, there was a belt +of smooth water on the west side of the rock. Here the fishermen +cast anchor, and, baiting their hand-lines, began to fish. At first +they were unsuccessful, but before half an hour had elapsed, the cod +began to nibble, and Big Swankie ere long hauled up a fish of goodly +size. Davy Spink followed suit, and in a few minutes a dozen fish lay +spluttering in the bottom of the boat. + +"Time's up noo," said Swankie, coiling away his line. + +"Stop, stop, here's a wallupper," cried Davy, who was an excitable +man; "we better fish a while langer--bring the cleek, Swankie, he's +ower big to--noo, lad, cleek him! that's it!--Oh-o-o-o!" + +The prolonged groan with which Davy brought his speech to a sudden +termination was in consequence of the line breaking and the fish +escaping, just as Swankie was about to strike the iron hook into its +side. + +"Hech! lad, that was a guid ane," said the disappointed man with a +sigh; "but he's awa'." + +"Ay," observed Swankie, "and we must awa' too, so up anchor, lad. The +rock's lookin' oot o' the sea, and time's precious." + +The anchor was speedily pulled up, and they rowed towards the rock, +the ragged edges of which were now visible at intervals in the midst +of the foam which they created. + +At low tide an irregular portion of the Bell Rock, less than a +hundred yards in length, and fifty yards in breadth, is uncovered and +left exposed for two or three hours. It does not appear in the form +of a single mass or islet, but in a succession of serrated ledges of +various heights, between and amongst which the sea flows until the +tide has fallen pretty low. At full ebb the rock appears like a dark +islet, covered with seaweed, and studded with deep pools of water, +most of which are connected with the sea by narrow channels running +between the ledges. The highest part of the rock does not rise more +than seven feet above the level of the sea at the lowest tide. + +To enter one of the pools by means of the channels above referred to +is generally a matter of difficulty, and often of extreme danger, as +the swell of the sea, even in calm weather, bursts over these ledges +with such violence as to render the channels at times impassable. The +utmost caution, therefore, is necessary. + +Our fishermen, however, were accustomed to land there occasionally in +search of the remains of wrecks, and knew their work well. They +approached the rock on the lee side, which was, as has been said, to +the westward. To a spectator viewing them from any point but from +the boat itself, it would have appeared that the reckless men were +sailing into the jaws of certain death, for the breakers burst around +them so confusedly in all directions that their instant destruction +seemed inevitable. But Davy Spink, looking over his shoulder as he +sat at the bow-oar, saw a narrow lead of comparatively still water in +the midst of the foam, along which he guided the boat with consummate +skill, giving only a word or two of direction to Swankie, who +instantly acted in accordance therewith. + +"Pull, pull, lad," said Davy. + +Swankie pulled, and the boat swept round with its bow to the east +just in time to meet a billow, which, towering high above its +fellows, burst completely over the rocks, and appeared to be about to +sweep away all before it. For a moment the boat was as if embedded in +snow, then it sank once more into the lead among the floating tangle, +and the men pulled with might and main in order to escape the next +wave. They were just in time. It burst over the same rocks with +greater violence than its predecessor, but the boat had gained the +shelter of the next ledge, and lay floating securely in the deep, +quiet pool within, while the men rested on their oars, and watched +the chaos of the water rush harmlessly by. + +In another moment they had landed and secured the boat to a +projecting rock. + +Few words of conversation passed between these practical men. They +had gone there on particular business. Time and tide proverbially +wait for no man, but at the Bell Rock they wait a much briefer period +than elsewhere. Between low water and the time when it would be +impossible to quit the rock without being capsized', there was only a +space of two or three hours--sometimes more, frequently less--so it +behoved the men to economize time. + +Rocks covered with wet seaweed and rugged in form are not easy to +walk over; a fact which was soon proved by Swankie staggering +violently once or twice, and by Spink falling flat on his back. +Neither paid attention to his comrade's misfortunes in this way. +Each scrambled about actively, searching with care among the +crevices of the rocks, and from time to time picking up articles +which they thrust into their pockets or laid on their shoulders, +according as weight and dimensions required. + +In a short time they returned to their boat pretty well laden. + +"Weel, lad, what luck?" enquired Spink, as Swankie and he met--the +former with a grappling iron on his shoulder, the latter staggering +under the weight of a mass of metal. + +"Not much," replied Swankie; "nothin' but heavy metal this mornin', +only a bit of a cookin' stove an' a cannon shot--that's all." + +"Never mind, try again. There must ha' bin two or three wrecks on the +rock this gale," said Davy, as he and his friend threw their burdens +into the boat, and hastened to resume the search. + +At first Spink was the more successful of the two. He returned to the +boat with various articles more than once, while his comrade +continued his rambles unsuccessfully. At last, however, Big Swankie +came to a gully or inlet where a large mass of the _debris_ of a +wreck was piled up in indescribable confusion, in the midst of which +lay the dead body of an old man. Swankie's first impulse was to shout +to his companion, but he checked himself, and proceeded to examine +the pockets of the dead man. + +Raising the corpse with some difficulty he placed it on the ledge of +rock. Observing a ring on the little finger of the right hand, he +removed it and put it hastily in his pocket. Then he drew a red +morocco case from an inner breast pocket in the dead man's coat. To +his surprise and delight he found that it contained a gold watch and +several gold rings and brooches, in some of which were beautiful +stones. Swankie was no judge of jewellery, but he could not avoid the +conviction that these things must needs be valuable. He laid the case +down on the rock beside him, and eagerly searched the other pockets. +In one he found a large clasp-knife and a pencil-case; in another a +leather purse, which felt heavy as he drew it out. His eyes sparkled +at the first glance he got of the contents, for they were sovereigns! +Just as he made this discovery, Davy Spink climbed over the ledge at +his back, and Swankie hastily thrust the purse underneath the body of +the dead man. + +"Hallo! lad, what have ye there? Hey! watches and rings--come, we're +in luck this mornin'." + +"_We!_" exclaimed Swankie, somewhat sternly, "_you_ didn't find that +case." + +"Na, lad, but we've aye divided, an' I dinna see what for we should +change our plan noo." + +"We've nae paction to that effec'--the case o' kickshaws is mine," +retorted Swankie. + +"Half o't," suggested Spink. + +"Weel, weel," cried the other with affected carelessness, "I'd scorn +to be sae graspin'. For the matter o' that ye may hae it all to +yersel', but I'll hae the next thing we git that's worth muckle a' to +_mysel_'." + +So saying Swankie stooped to continue his search of the body, and in +a moment or two drew out the purse with an exclamation of surprise. + +"See, I'm in luck, Davy! Virtue's aye rewarded, they say. This is +mine, and I doot not there'll be some siller intilt." + +"Goold!" cried Davy, with dilated eyes, as his comrade emptied the +contents into his large hand, and counted over thirty sovereigns. + +"Ay, lad, ye can keep the what-d'ye-ca'-ums, and I'll keep the +siller." + +"I've seen that face before," observed Spink, looking intently at the +body. + +"Like enough," said Swankie, with an air of indifference, as he put +the gold into his pocket. "I think I've seed it mysel'. It looks like +auld Jamie Brand, but I didna ken him weel." + +"It's just him," said Spink, with a touch of sadness. "Ay, ay, +that'll fa' heavy on the auld woman. But, come, it'll no' do to stand +haverin' this way. Let's see what else is on him." + +They found nothing more of any value; but a piece of paper was +discovered, wrapped up in oilskin, and carefully fastened with red +tape, in the vest pocket of the dead man. It contained writing, and +had been so securely wrapped up, that it was only a little damped. +Davy Spink, who found it, tried in vain to read the writing; Davy's +education had been neglected, so he was fain to confess that he could +not make it out. + +"Let _me_ see't," said Swankie. "What hae we here? 'The sloop is hard +an--an--'" ("'fast,' maybe," suggested Spink). "Ay, so 'tis. I canna +make out the next word, but here's something about the jewel-case." + +The man paused and gazed earnestly at the paper for a few minutes, +with a look of perplexity on his rugged visage. + +"Weel, man, what is't?" enquired Davy. + +"Hoot! I canna mak' it oot," said the other, testily, as if annoyed +at being unable to read it. He refolded the paper, and thrust it into +his bosom, saying, "Come, we're wastin' time. Let's get on wi' our +wark." + +"Toss for the jewels and the siller," said Spink, suggestively. + +"Very weel," replied the other, producing a copper. "Heeds, you win +the siller; tails, I win the box;--heeds it is, so the kickshaws is +mine. Weel, I'm content," he added, as he handed the bag of gold to +his comrade, and received the jewel-case in exchange. + +In another hour the sea began to encroach on the rock, and the +fishermen, having collected as much as time would permit of the +wrecked materials, returned to their boat. + +They had secured altogether above two hundredweight of old +metal,--namely, a large piece of a ship's caboose, a hinge, a lock of +a door, a ship's marking-iron, a soldier's bayonet, a cannon ball, a +shoebuckle, and a small anchor, besides part of the cordage of the +wreck, and the money and jewels before mentioned. Placing the heavier +of these things in the bottom of the boat, they pushed off. + +"We better take the corp ashore," said Spink, suddenly. + +"What for? They may ask what was in the pockets," objected Swankie. + +"Let them ask," rejoined the other, with a grin. + +Swankie made no reply, but gave a stroke with his oar which sent the +boat close up to the rocks. They both re-landed in silence, and, +lifting the dead body of the old man, laid it in the stern sheets of +the boat. Once more they pushed off. + +Too much delay had been already made. The surf was breaking over the +ledges in all directions, and it was with the utmost difficulty that +they succeeded in getting clear out into deep water. A breeze which +had sprung up from the east, tended to raise the sea a little, but +when they finally got away from the dangerous reef, the breeze +befriended them. Hoisting the foresail, they quickly left the Bell +Rock far behind them, and, in the course of a couple of hours, sailed +into the harbour of Arbroath. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE LOVERS AND THE PRESS-GANG + +About a mile to the eastward of the ancient town of Arbroath the +shore abruptly changes its character, from a flat beach to a range +of, perhaps, the wildest and most picturesque cliffs on the east +coast of Scotland. Inland the country is rather flat, but elevated +several hundred feet above the level of the sea, towards which it +slopes gently until it reaches the shore, where it terminates in +abrupt, perpendicular precipices, varying from a hundred to two +hundred feet in height. In many places the cliffs overhang the water, +and all along the coast they have been perforated and torn up by the +waves, so as to present singularly bold and picturesque outlines, +with caverns, inlets, and sequestered "coves" of every form and size. + +To the top of these cliffs, in the afternoon of the day on which our +tale opens, a young girl wended her way,--slowly, as if she had no +other object in view than a stroll, and sadly, as if her mind were +more engaged with the thoughts within than with the magnificent +prospect of land and sea without. + +The girl was + + "Fair, fair, with golden hair," + +and apparently about twenty years of age. She sought out a quiet nook +among the rocks at the top of the cliffs, near to a circular chasm, +with the name of which (at that time) we are not acquainted, but +which was destined ere long to acquire a new name and celebrity from +an incident which shall be related in another part of this story. + +Curiously enough, just about the same hour, a young man was seen to +wend his way to the same cliffs, and, from no reason whatever with +which we happened to be acquainted, sought out the same nook! We say +"he was seen", advisedly, for the maid with the golden hair saw him. +Any ordinary observer would have said that she had scarcely raised +her eyes from the ground since sitting down on a piece of +flower-studded turf near the edge of the cliff, and that she +certainly had not turned her head in the direction of the town. Yet +she saw him,--however absurd the statement may appear, we affirm it +confidently,--and knew that he was coming. Other eyes there were that +also saw the youth--eyes that would have caused him some degree of +annoyance had he known they were upon him--eyes that he would have +rejoiced to tinge with the colours black and blue! There were +thirteen pair of them, belonging to twelve men and a lieutenant of +the navy. + +In those days the barbarous custom of impressment into the Royal Navy +was in full operation. England was at war with France. Men were +wanted to fight our battles, and when there was any difficulty in +getting men, press-gangs were sent out to force them into the +service. The youth whom we now introduce to the reader was a sailor, +a strapping, handsome one, too; not, indeed, remarkable for height, +being only a little above the average--five feet, ten inches, or +thereabouts--but noted for great depth of chest, breadth of shoulder, +and development of muscle; conspicuous also for the quantity of +close, clustering, light-brown curls round his head, and for the +laughing glance of his dark blue eyes. Not a hero of romance, by any +means. No, he was very matter of fact, and rather given to meditation +than to mischief. + +The officer in charge of the press-gang had set his heart on this +youth (so had another individual, of whom more anon!) but the youth, +whose name was Ruby Brand, happened to have an old mother who was at +that time in very bad health, and she had also set her heart, poor +body, on the youth, and entreated him to stay at home just for one +half-year. Ruby willingly consented, and from that time forward led +the life of a dog in consequence of the press-gang. + +Now, as we have said, he had been seen leaving the town by the +lieutenant, who summoned his men and went after him--cautiously, +however, in order to take him by surprise, for Ruby, besides being +strong and active as a lion, was slippery as an eel. + +Going straight as an arrow to the spot where she of the golden hair +was seated, the youth presented himself suddenly to her, sat down +beside her, and exclaiming "Minnie", put his arm round her waist. + +"Oh, Ruby, don't," said Minnie, blushing. + +Now, reader, the "don't" and the blush had no reference to the arm +round the waist, but to the relative position of their noses, mouths, +and chins, a position which would have been highly improper and +altogether unjustifiable but for the fact that Ruby was Minnie's +accepted lover. + +"Don't, darling, why not?" said Ruby in surprise. + +"You're so rough," said Minnie, turning her head away. + +"True, dear, I forgot to shave this morning----" + +"I don't mean that," interrupted the girl quickly, "I mean rude +and--and--is that a sea-gull?" + +"No, sweetest of your sex, it's a butterfly; but it's all the same, +as my metaphysical Uncle Ogilvy would undertake to prove to you, +thus, a butterfly is white and a gull is white,--therefore, a gull is +a butterfly." + +"Don't talk nonsense, Ruby." + +"No more I will, darling, if you will listen to me while I talk +sense." + +"What is it?" said the girl, looking earnestly and somewhat anxiously +into her lover's face, for she knew at once by his expression that he +had some unpleasant communication to make. "You're not going away?" + +"Well, no--not exactly; you know I promised to stay with mother; but +the fact is that I'm so pestered and hunted down by that rascally +press-gang, that I don't know what to do. They're sure to nab me at +last, too, and then I shall have to go away whether I will or no, so +I've made up my mind as a last resource, to----" Ruby paused. + +"Well?" said Minnie. + +"Well, in fact to do what will take me away for a short time, +but----" Ruby stopped short, and, turning his head on one side, while +a look of fierce anger overspread his face, seemed to listen +intently. + +Minnie did not observe this action for a few seconds, but, wondering +why he paused, she looked up, and in surprise exclaimed-- + +"Ruby! what do you----" + +"Hush! Minnie, and don't look round," said he in a low tone of +intense anxiety, yet remaining immovably in the position which he had +assumed on first sitting down by the girl's side, although the +swelled veins of his neck and his flushed forehead told of a fierce +conflict of feeling within. + +"It's the press-gang after me again. I got a glance of one o' them +out of the tail of my eye, creeping round the rocks. They think I +haven't seen them. Darling Minnie--one kiss. Take care of mother if +I don't turn up soon." + +"But how will you escape----" + +"Hush, dearest girl! I want to have as much of you as I can before I +go. Don't be afraid. They're honest British tars after all, and won't +hurt _you_, Minnie." + +Still seated at the girl's side, as if perfectly at his ease, yet +speaking in quick earnest tones, and drawing her closely to him, Ruby +waited until he heard a stealthy tread behind him. Then he sprang up +with the speed of thought, uttered a laugh of defiance as the sailors +rushed towards him, and leaping wildly off the cliff, fell a height +of about fifty feet into the sea. + +Minnie uttered a scream of horror, and fell fainting into the arms of +the bewildered lieutenant. + +"Down the cliffs--quick! he can't escape if you look alive. Stay, one +of you, and look after this girl. She'll roll over the edge on +recovering, perhaps." + +It was easy to order the men down the cliffs, but not so easy for +them to obey, for the rocks were almost perpendicular at the place, +and descended sheer into the water. + +"Surround the spot," shouted the lieutenant. "Scatter +yourselves--away! there's no beach here." + +The lieutenant was right. The men extended themselves along the top +of the cliffs so as to prevent Ruby's escape, in the event of his +trying to ascend them, and two sailors stationed themselves in ambush +in the narrow pass at the spot where the cliffs terminate in the +direction of the town. + +The leap taken by Ruby was a bold one. Few men could have ventured +it; indeed, the youth himself would have hesitated had he not been +driven almost to desperation. But he was a practised swimmer and +diver, and knew well the risk he ran. He struck the water with +tremendous force and sent up a great mass of foam, but he had +entered it perpendicularly, feet foremost, and in a few seconds +returned to the surface so close to the cliffs that they overhung +him, and thus effectually concealed him from his pursuers. + +Swimming cautiously along for a short distance close to the rocks, he +came to the entrance of a cavern which was filled by the sea. The +inner end of this cave opened into a small hollow or hole among the +cliffs, up the sides of which Ruby knew that he could climb, and thus +reach the top unperceived, but, after gaining the summit, there still +lay before him the difficulty of eluding those who watched there. He +felt, however, that nothing could be gained by delay, so he struck at +once into the cave, swam to the inner end, and landed. Wringing the +water out of his clothes, he threw off his jacket and vest in order +to be as unencumbered as possible, and then began to climb +cautiously. + +Just above the spot where Ruby ascended there chanced to be stationed +a seaman named Dalls. This man had lain down flat on his breast, with +his head close to the edge of the cliff, so as to observe narrowly +all that went on below, but, being a stout, lethargic man, he soon +fell fast asleep! It was just at the spot where this man lay that +Ruby reached the summit. The ascent was very difficult. At each step +the hunted youth had to reach his hand as high above his head as +possible, and grasp the edge of a rock or a mass of turf with great +care before venturing on another step. Had one of these points of +rock, or one of these tufts of grass, given way, he would infallibly +have fallen down the precipice and been killed. Accustomed to this +style of climbing from infancy, however, he advanced without a +sensation of fear. + +On reaching the top he peeped over, and, seeing that no one was near, +prepared for a rush. There was a mass of brown turf on the bank above +him. He grasped it with all his force, and swung himself over the +edge of the cliff. In doing so he nearly scalped poor Dalls, whose +hair was the "turf" which he had seized, and who, uttering a hideous +yell, leaped upon Ruby and tried to overthrow him. But Dalls had met +his match. He received a blow on the nose that all but felled him, +and instantly after a blow on each eye, that raised a very +constellation of stars in his brain, and laid him prone upon the +grass. + +His yell, however, and the noise of the scuffle, were heard by those +of the press-gang who were nearest to the scene of conflict. They +rushed to the rescue, and reached the spot just as Ruby leaped over +his prostrate foe and fled towards Arbroath. They followed with a +cheer, which warned the two men in ambush to be ready. Ruby was lithe +as a greyhound. He left his pursuers far behind him, and dashed down +the gorge leading from the cliffs to the low ground beyond. + +Here he was met by the two sailors, and by the lieutenant, who had +joined them. Minnie was also there, having been conducted thither by +the said lieutenant, who gallantly undertook to see her safe into the +town, in order to prevent any risk of her being insulted by his men. +On hearing the shout of those who pursued Ruby, Winnie hurried away, +intending to get free from the gang, not feeling that the +lieutenant's protection was either desirable or necessary. + +When Ruby reached the middle of the gorge, which we have dignified +with the name of "pass", and saw three men ready to dispute his +passage, he increased his speed. When he was almost up to them he +turned aside and sprang nimbly up the almost perpendicular wall of +earth on his right. This act disconcerted the men, who had prepared +to receive his charge and seize him, but Ruby jumped down on the +shoulders of the one nearest, and crushed him to the ground with his +weight. His clenched fist caught the lieutenant between the eyes and +stretched him on his back--the third man wisely drew aside to let +this human thunderbolt pass by! + +He did pass, and, as the impetuous and quite irresistible locomotive +is brought to a sudden pause when the appropriate breaks are applied, +so was he brought to a sudden halt by Minnie a hundred yards or so +farther on. + +"Oh! don't stop," she cried eagerly, and hastily thrusting him away. +"They'll catch you!" + +Panting though he was, vehemently, Ruby could not restrain a laugh. + +"Catch me! no, darling; but don't be afraid of them. They won't hurt +you, Minnie, and they _can't_ hurt _me_--except in the way of cutting +short our interview. Ha! here they come. Goodbye, dearest; I'll see +you soon again." + +At that moment five or six of the men came rushing down the pass with +a wild cheer. Ruby made no haste to run. He stood in an easy attitude +beside Minnie; leisurely kissed her little hand, and gently smoothed +down her golden hair. Just as the foremost pursuer came within +fifteen yards or so of them, he said, "Farewell, my lassie, I leave +you in good hands"; and then, waving his cap in the air, with a cheer +of more than half-jocular defiance, he turned and fled towards +Arbroath as if one of the nor'-east gales, in its wildest fury, were +sweeping him over the land. + + + +CHAPTER III + +OUR HERO OBLIGED TO GO TO SEA + +When Ruby Brand reached the outskirts of Arbroath, he checked his +speed and walked into his native town whistling gently, and with his +hands in his pockets, as though he had just returned from an evening +walk. He directed his steps to one of the streets near the harbour, +in which his mother's cottage was situated. + +Mrs. Brand was a delicate, little old woman--so little and so old +that people sometimes wondered how it was possible that she could be +the mother of such a stalwart son. She was one of those kind, gentle, +uncomplaining, and unselfish beings, who do not secure much +popularity or admiration in this world, but who secure obedient +children, also steadfast and loving friends. Her favourite book was +the Bible; her favourite hope in regard to earthly matters, that men +should give up fighting and drinking, and live in peace; her +favourite theory that the study of _truth_ was the object for which +man was created, and her favourite meal--tea. + +Ruby was her only child. Minnie was the daughter of a distant +relation, and, having been left an orphan, she was adopted by her. +Mrs. Brand's husband was a sailor. He commanded a small coasting +sloop, of which Ruby had been the mate for several years. As we have +said, Ruby had been prevailed on to remain at home for some months in +order to please his mother, whose delicacy of health was such that +his refusal would have injured her seriously; at least the doctor +said so, therefore Ruby agreed to stay. + +The sloop _Penguin_, commanded by Ruby's father, was on a voyage to +Newcastle at that time, and was expected in Arbroath every day. But +it was fated never more to cast anchor in that port. The great storm, +to which reference has been made in a previous chapter, caused many +wrecks on the shores of Britain. The _Penguin_ was one of the many. + +In those days telegraphs, railroads, and penny papers did not exist. +Murders were committed then, as now, but little was said, and less +was known about them. Wrecks occurred then, as now, but few, except +the persons immediately concerned, heard of them. "Destructive +fires", "terrible accidents", and the familiar round of "appalling +catastrophes" occurred then, as now, but their influence was limited, +and their occurrence soon forgotten. + +We would not be understood to mean that "now" (as compared with +"then",) all is right and well; that telegraphs and railways and +daily papers are all-potent and perfect. By no means. We have still +much to learn and to do in these improved times; and, especially, +there is wanting to a large extent among us a sympathetic telegraphy, +so to speak, between the interior of our land and the sea-coast, +which, if it existed in full and vigorous play, would go far to +improve our condition, and raise us in the esteem of Christian +nations. Nevertheless, as compared with now, the state of things then +was lamentably imperfect. + +The great storm came and went, having swept thousands of souls into +eternity, and hundreds of thousands of pounds into nonentity. +Lifeboats had not been invented. Harbours of refuge were almost +unknown, and although our coasts bristled with dangerous reefs and +headlands, lighthouses were few and far between. The consequence was, +that wrecks were numerous; and so also were wreckers,--a class of +men, who, in the absence of an efficient coastguard, subsisted to a +large extent on what they picked up from the wrecks that were cast in +their way, and who did not scruple, sometimes, to _cause_ wrecks, by +showing false lights in order to decoy vessels to destruction. + +We do not say that all wreckers were guilty of such crimes, but many +of them were so, and their style of life, at the best, had naturally +a demoralizing influence upon all of them. + +The famous Bell Rock, lying twelve miles off the coast of +Forfarshire, was a prolific source of destruction to shipping. Not +only did numbers of vessels get upon it, but many others ran upon the +neighbouring coasts in attempting to avoid it. + +Ruby's father knew the navigation well, but, in the confusion and +darkness of the furious storm, he miscalculated his position and ran +upon the rock, where, as we have seen, his body was afterwards found +by the two fishermen. It was conveyed by them to the cottage of Mrs. +Brand, and when Ruby entered he found his mother on her knees by the +bedside, pressing the cold hand of his father to her breast, and +gazing with wild, tearless eyes into the dead face. + +We will not dwell upon the sad scenes that followed. + +Ruby was now under the necessity of leaving home, because his mother +being deprived of her husband's support naturally turned in distress +to her son. But Ruby had no employment, and work could not be easily +obtained at that time in the town, so there was no other resource +left him but to go to sea. This he did in a small coasting sloop +belonging to an old friend, who gave him part of his wages in advance +to enable him to leave his mother a small provision, at least for a +short time. + +This, however, was not all that the widow had to depend on. Minnie +Gray was expert with her needle, and for some years past had +contributed not a little to the comforts of the household into which +she had been adopted. She now set herself to work with redoubled zeal +and energy. Besides this, Mrs. Brand had a brother, a retired +skipper, who obtained the complimentary title of Captain from his +friends. He was a poor man, it is true, as regarded money, having +barely sufficient for his own subsistence, but he was rich in +kindliness and sympathy, so that he managed to make his small income +perform wonders. On hearing of his brother-in-law's death, Captain +Ogilvy hastened to afford all the consolation in his power to his +sorrowing sister. + +The captain was an eccentric old man, of rugged aspect. He thought +that there was not a worse comforter on the face of the earth than +himself, because, when he saw others in distress, his heart +invariably got into his throat, and absolutely prevented him from +saying a single word. He tried to speak to his sister, but all he +could do was to take her hand and weep. This did the poor widow more +good than any words could have done, no matter how eloquently or +fitly spoken. It unlocked the fountain of her own heart, and the two +wept together. + +When Captain Ogilvy accompanied Ruby on board the sloop to see him +off, and shook hands as he was about to return to the shore, +he said-- + +"Cheer up, Ruby; never say die so long as there's a shot in the +locker. That's the advice of an old salt, an' you'll find it sound, +the more you ponder of it. Wen a young feller sails away on the sea +of life, let him always go by chart and compass, not forgettin' to +take soundin's w'en cruisin' off a bad coast. Keep a sharp lookout +to wind'ard, an' mind yer helm--that's _my_ advice to you lad, as +ye go + + 'A-sailin' down life's troubled stream, + All as if it wor a dream'". + +The captain had a somewhat poetic fancy (at least he was impressed +with the belief that he had), and was in the habit of enforcing his +arguments by quotations from memory. When memory failed he +supplemented with original composition. + +"Goodbye, lad, an' Providence go wi' ye." + +"Goodbye, uncle. I need not remind you to look after mother when +I'm away." + +"No, nephy, you needn't; I'll do it whether or not." + +"And Minnie, poor thing, she'll need a word of advice and comfort now +and then, uncle." + +"And she shall have it, lad," replied the captain with a tremendous +wink, which was unfortunately lost on the nephew, in consequence of +its being night and unusually dark, "advice and comfort on demand, +gratis; for + + 'Woman, in her hours of ease, + Is most uncommon hard to please'; + +but she _must_ be looked arter, ye know, and made of, d'ye see? so +Ruby, boy, farewell." + +Half-an-hour before midnight was the time chosen for the sailing of +the sloop _Termagant_, in order that she might get away quietly and +escape the press-gang. Ruby and his uncle had taken the precaution to +go down to the harbour just a few minutes before sailing, and they +kept as closely as possible to the darkest and least-frequented +streets while passing through the town. + +Captain Ogilvy returned by much the same route to his sister's +cottage, but did not attempt to conceal his movements. On the +contrary, knowing that the sloop must have got clear of the harbour +by that time, he went along the streets whistling cheerfully. He had +been a noted, not to say noisy, whistler when a boy, and the habit +had not forsaken him in his old age. On turning sharp round a corner, +he ran against two men, one of whom swore at him, but the other +cried-- + +"Hallo! messmate, yer musical the night. Hey, Captain Ogilvy, surely +I seed you an' Ruby slinkin' down the dark side o' the market-gate +half an 'oor ago?" + +"Mayhap ye did, an' mayhap ye didn't," retorted the captain, as he +walked on; "but as it's none o' your business to know, I'll not tell +ye." + +"Ay, ay? O but ye're a cross auld chap. Pleasant dreams t' ye." + +This kindly remark, which was expressed by our friend Davy Spink, was +lost on the captain, in consequence of his having resumed his musical +recreation with redoubled energy, as he went rolling back to the +cottage to console Mrs. Brand, and to afford "advice and comfort +gratis" to Minnie Gray. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE BURGLARY + +On the night in question, Big Swankie and a likeminded companion, who +went among his comrades by the name of the Badger, had planned to +commit a burglary in the town, and it chanced that the former was +about that business when Captain Ogilvy unexpectedly ran against him +and Davy Spink. + +Spink, although a smuggler, and by no means a particularly +respectable man, had not yet sunk so low in the scale of life as to +be willing to commit burglary. Swankie and the Badger suspected this, +and, although they required his assistance much, they were afraid to +ask him to join, lest he should not only refuse, but turn against +them. In order to get over the difficulty, Swankie had arranged to +suggest to him the robbery of a store containing gin, which belonged +to a smuggler, and, if he agreed to that, to proceed further and +suggest the more important matter in hand. But he found Spink proof +against the first attack. + +"I tell 'ee, I'll hae naething to do wi't," said he, when the +proposal was made. + +"But," urged Swankie, "he's a smuggler, and a cross-grained hound +besides. It's no' like robbin' an honest man." + +"An' what are we but smugglers'!" retorted Spink; "an' as to bein' +cross-grained, you've naethin' to boast o' in that way. Na, na, +Swankie, ye may do't yersel, I'll hae nae hand in't. I'll no objec' +to tak a bit keg o' Auchmithie water [Footnote] noo and then, or to +pick up what comes to me by the wund and sea, but I'll steal frae +nae man." + +[Footnote: Smuggled spirits.] + +"Ay, man, but ye've turned awfu' honest all of a suddent," said the +other with a sneer. "I wonder the thretty sovereigns I gied ye the +other day, when we tossed for them and the case o' kickshaws, +havena' brunt yer pooches." + +Davy Spink looked a little confused. + +"Aweel," said he, "it's o' nae use greetin' ower spilt milk, the +thing's done and past noo, and I canna help it. Sae guid-night to +'ee." + +Swankie, seeing that it was useless to attempt to gain over his +comrade, and knowing that the Badger was waiting impatiently for him +near the appointed house, hurried away without another word, and Davy +Spink strolled towards his home, which was an extremely dirty little +hut, near the harbour. + +At the time of which we write, the town of Arbroath was neither so +well lighted nor so well guarded as it now is. The two burglars found +nothing to interfere with their deeds of darkness, except a few bolts +and bars, which did not stand long before their expert hands. +Nevertheless, they met with a check from an unexpected quarter. + +The house they had resolved to break into was inhabited by a widow +lady, who was said to be wealthy, and who was known to possess a +considerable quantity of plate and jewels. She lived alone, having +only one old servant and a little girl to attend upon her. The house +stood on a piece of ground not far from the ruins of the stately +abbey which originated and gave celebrity to the ancient town of +Aberbrothoc. Mrs. Stewart's house was full of Eastern curiosities, +some of them of great value, which had been sent to her by her son, +then a major in the East India Company's service. + +Now, it chanced that Major Stewart had arrived from India that very +day, on leave of absence, all unknown to the burglars, who, had they +been aware of the fact, would undoubtedly have postponed their visit +to a more convenient season. + +As it was, supposing they had to deal only with the old lady and her +two servants, they began their work between twelve and one that +night, with considerable confidence, and in great hopes of a rich +booty. + +A small garden surrounded the old house. It was guarded by a wall +about eight feet high, the top of which bristled with bottle-glass. +The old lady and her domestics regarded this terrible-looking defence +with much satisfaction, believing in their innocence that no human +creature could succeed in getting over it. Boys, however, were their +only dread, and fruit their only care, when they looked complacently +at the bottle-glass on the wall, and, so far, they were right in +their feeling of security, for boys found the labour, risk, and +danger to be greater than the worth of the apples and pears. + +But it was otherwise with men. Swankie and the Badger threw a piece +of thick matting on the wall; the former bent down, the latter +stepped upon his back, and thence upon the mat; then he hauled his +comrade up, and both leaped into the garden. + +Advancing stealthily to the door, they tried it and found it locked. +The windows were all carefully bolted, and the shutters barred. This +they expected, but thought it as well to try each possible point of +entrance, in the hope of finding an unguarded spot before having +recourse to their tools. Such a point was soon found, in the shape of +a small window, opening into a sort of scullery at the back of the +house. It had been left open by accident. An entrance was easily +effected by the Badger, who was a small man, and who went through the +house with the silence of a cat, towards the front door. There were +two lobbies, an inner and an outer, separated from each other by a +glass door. Cautiously opening both doors, the Badger admitted his +comrade, and then they set to work. + +A lantern, which could be uncovered or concealed in a moment, enabled +them to see their way. + +"That's the dinin'-room door," whispered the Badger. + +"Hist! haud yer jaw," muttered Swankie; "I ken that as weel as you." + +Opening the door, they entered and found the plate-chest under the +sideboard. + +It was open, and a grin of triumph crossed the sweet countenances of +the friends as they exchanged glances, and began to put silver forks +and spoons by the dozen into a bag which they had brought for the +purpose. + +When they had emptied the plate-chest, they carried the bag into the +garden, and, climbing over the wall, deposited it outside. Then they +returned for more. + +Now, old Mrs. Stewart was an invalid, and was in the habit of taking +a little weak wine and water before retiring to rest at night. It +chanced that the bottle containing the port wine had been left on the +sideboard, a fact which was soon discovered by Swankie, who put the +bottle to his mouth, and took a long pull. + +"What is't?" enquired the Badger, in a low tone. + +"Prime!" replied Swankie, handing over the bottle, and wiping his +mouth with the cuff of his coat. + +The Badger put the bottle to his mouth, but unfortunately for him, +part of the liquid went down the "wrong throat". The result was that +the poor man coughed, once, rather loudly. Swankie, frowning +fiercely, and shaking his fist, looked at him in horror; and well he +might, for the Badger became first red and then purple in the face, +and seemed as if he were about to burst with his efforts to keep down +the cough. It came, however, three times, in spite of him,--not +violently, but with sufficient noise to alarm them, and cause them to +listen for five minutes intently ere they ventured to go on with +their work, in the belief that no one had been disturbed. + +But Major Stewart had been awakened by the first cough. He was a +soldier who had seen much service, and who slept lightly. He raised +himself in his bed, and listened intently on hearing the first cough. +The second cough caused him to spring up and pull on his trousers; +the third cough found him half-way downstairs, with a boot-jack in +his hand, and when the burglars resumed work he was peeping at them +through the half-open door. + +Both men were stooping over the plate-chest, the Badger with his back +to the door, Swankie with his head towards it. The major raised the +boot-jack and took aim. At the same moment the door squeaked, Big +Swankie looked up hastily, and, in technical phraseology, "doused the +glim". All was dark in an instant, but the boot-jack sped on its way +notwithstanding. The burglars were accustomed to fighting, however, +and dipped their heads. The boot-jack whizzed past, and smashed the +pier-glass on the mantelpiece to a thousand atoms. Major Stewart +being expert in all the devices of warfare, knew what to expect, and +drew aside. He was not a moment too soon, for the dark lantern flew +through the doorway, hit the opposite wall, and fell with a loud +clatter on the stone floor of the lobby. The Badger followed at once, +and received a random blow from the major that hurled him head over +heels after the lantern. + +There was no mistaking the heavy tread and rush of Big Swankie as he +made for the door. Major Stewart put out his foot, and the burglar +naturally tripped over it; before he could rise the major had him by +the throat. There was a long, fierce struggle, both being powerful +men; at last Swankie was hurled completely through the glass door. In +the fall he disengaged himself from the major, and, leaping up, made +for the garden wall, over which he succeeded in clambering before the +latter could seize him. Thus both burglars escaped, and Major Stewart +returned to the house half-naked,--his shirt having been torn off his +back,--and bleeding freely from cuts caused by the glass door. + +Just as he re-entered the house, the old cook, under the impression +that the cat had got into the pantry, and was smashing the crockery, +entered the lobby in her nightdress, shrieked "Mercy on us!" on +beholding the major, and fainted dead away. + +Major Stewart was too much annoyed at having failed to capture the +burglars to take any notice of her. He relocked the door, and +assuring his mother that it was only robbers, and that they had been +beaten off, retired to his room, washed and dressed his wounds, and +went to bed. + +Meanwhile Big Swankie and the Badger, laden with silver, made for the +shore, where they hid their treasure in a hole. + +"I'll tell 'ee a dodge," said the Badger. + +"What may that be?" enquired Swankie. + +"You said ye saw Ruby Brand slinking down the market-gate, and that's +he's off to sea?" + +"Ay, and twa or three more folk saw him as weel as me." + +"Weel, let's tak' up a siller spoon, or somethin', an' put it in the +auld wife's garden, an' they'll think it was him that did it." + +"No' that bad!" said Swankie, with a chuckle. + +A silver fork and a pair of sugar-tongs bearing old Mrs. Stewart's +initials were accordingly selected for this purpose, and placed in +the little garden in the front of Widow Brand's cottage. + +Here they were found in the morning by Captain Ogilvy, who examined +them for at least half-an-hour in a state of the utmost perplexity. +While he was thus engaged one of the detectives of the town happened +to pass, apparently in some haste. + +"Hallo! shipmate," shouted the captain. + +"Well?" responded the detective. + +"Did ye ever see silver forks an' sugar-tongs growin' in a garden +before?" + +"Eh?" exclaimed the other, entering the garden hastily; "let me see. +Oho! this may throw some light on the matter. Did you find them +here?" + +"Ay, on this very spot." + +"Hum. Ruby went away last night, I believe?" + +"He did." + +"Some time after midnight?" enquired the detective. + +"Likely enough," said the captain, "but my chronometer ain't quite so +reg'lar since we left the sea; it might ha' bin more,--mayhap less." + +"Just so. You saw him off?" + +"Ay; but you seem more than or'nar inquisitive today----" + +"Did he carry a bundle?" interrupted the detective. + +"Ay, no doubt." + +"A large one?" + +"Ay, a goodish big 'un." + +"Do you know what was in it?" enquired the detective, with a knowing +look. + +"I do, for I packed it," replied the captain; "his kit was in it." + +"Nothing more?" + +"Nothin' as I knows of." + +"Well, I'll take these with me just now," said the officer, placing +the fork and sugar-tongs in his pocket. "I'm afraid, old man, that +your nephew has been up to mischief before he went away. A burglary +was committed in the town last night, and this is some of the plate. +You'll hear more about it before long, I dare say. Good day to ye." + +So saying, the detective walked quickly away, and left the captain +in the centre of the garden staring vacantly before him, in +speechless amazement. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE BELL ROCK INVADED + +A year passed away. Nothing more was heard of Ruby Brand, and the +burglary was believed to be one of those mysteries which are destined +never to be solved. + +About this time great attention was being given by Government to the +subject of lighthouses. The terrible number of wrecks that had taken +place had made a deep impression on the public mind. The position and +dangerous character of the Bell Rock, in particular, had been for a +long time the subject of much discussion, and various unsuccessful +attempts had been made to erect a beacon of some sort thereon. + +There is a legend that in days of old one of the abbots of the +neighbouring monastery of Aberbrothoc erected a bell on the Inchcape +Rock, which was tolled in rough weather by the action of the waves on +a float attached to the tongue, and thus mariners were warned at +night and in foggy weather of their approach to the rock, the great +danger of which consists in its being a sunken reef, lying twelve +miles from the nearest land, and exactly in the course of vessels +making for the firths of Forth and Tay. The legend further tells how +that a Danish pirate, named Ralph the Rover, in a mischievous mood, +cut the bell away, and that, years afterwards, he obtained his +appropriate reward by being wrecked on the Bell Rock, when returning +from a long cruise laden with booty. + +Whether this be true or not is an open question, but certain it is +that no beacon of any kind was erected on this rock until the +beginning of the nineteenth century, after a great storm in 1799 had +stirred the public mind, and set springs in motion, which from that +time forward have never ceased to operate. + +Many and disastrous were the shipwrecks that occurred during the +storm referred to, which continued, with little intermission, for +three days. Great numbers of ships were driven from their moorings +in the Downs and Yarmouth Roads; and these, together with all vessels +navigating the German Ocean at that time, were drifted upon the east +coast of Scotland. + +It may not, perhaps, be generally known that there are only three +great inlets or estuaries to which the mariner steers when overtaken +by easterly storms in the North Sea--namely, the Humber, and the +firths of Forth and Moray. The mouth of the Thames is too much +encumbered by sand-banks to be approached at night or during bad +weather. The Humber is also considerably obstructed in this way, so +that the Roads of Leith, in the Firth of Forth, and those of +Cromarty, in the Moray Firth, are the chief places of resort in +easterly gales. But both of these had their special risks. + +On the one hand, there was the danger of mistaking the Dornoch Firth +for the Moray, as it lies only a short way to the north of the +latter; and, in the case of the Firth of Forth, there was the +terrible Bell Rock. + +Now, during the storm of which we write, the fear of those two +dangers was so strong upon seamen that many vessels were lost in +trying to avoid them, and much hardship was sustained by mariners who +preferred to seek shelter in higher latitudes. It was estimated that +no fewer than seventy vessels were either stranded or lost during +that single gale, and many of the crews perished. + +At one wild part of the coast, near Peterhead, called the Bullers of +Buchan, after the first night of the storm, the wrecks of seven +vessels were found in one cove, without a single survivor of the +crews to give an account of the disaster. + +The "dangers of the deep" are nothing compared with the _dangers of +the shore_. If the hard rocks of our island could tell the tale of +their experience, and if we landsmen could properly appreciate it, we +should understand more clearly why it is that sailors love blue (in +other words, deep) water during stormy weather. + +In order to render the Forth more accessible by removing the danger +of the Bell Rock, it was resolved by the Commissioners of Northern +Lights to build a lighthouse upon it. This resolve was a much bolder +one than most people suppose, for the rock on which the lighthouse +was to be erected was a sunken reef, visible only at low tide during +two or three hours, and quite inaccessible in bad weather. It was the +nearest approach to building a house in the sea that had yet been +attempted! The famous Eddystone stands on a rock which is _never +quite_ under water, although nearly so, for its crest rises a very +little above the highest tides, while the Bell Rock is eight or ten +feet under water at high tides. + +It must be clear, therefore, to everyone, that difficulties, unusual +in magnitude and peculiar in kind, must have stood in the way of the +daring engineer who should undertake the erection of a tower on a +rock twelve miles out on the stormy sea, and the foundation of which +was covered with ten or twelve feet of water every tide; a tower +which would have to be built perfectly, yet hastily; a tower which +should form a comfortable home, fit for human beings to dwell in, and +yet strong enough to withstand the utmost fury of the waves, not +merely whirling round it, as might be the case on some exposed +promontory, but rushing at it, straight and fierce from the wild +ocean, in great blue solid billows that should burst in thunder on +its sides, and rush up in scarcely less solid spray to its lantern, a +hundred feet or more above its foundation. + +An engineer able and willing to undertake this great work was found +in the person of the late Robert Stevenson of Edinburgh, whose +perseverance and talent shall be commemorated by the grandest and +most useful monument ever raised by man, as long as the Bell Rock +lighthouse shall tower above the sea. + +It is not our purpose to go into the details of all that was done in +the construction of this lighthouse. Our peculiar task shall be to +relate those incidents connected with this work which have relation +to the actors in our tale. + +We will not, therefore, detain the reader by telling him of all the +preliminary difficulties that were encountered and overcome in this +"Robinson Crusoe" sort of work; how that a temporary floating +lightship, named the _Pharos_, was prepared and anchored in the +vicinity of the rock in order to be a sort of depot and rendezvous +and guide to the three smaller vessels employed in the work, as well +as a light to shipping generally, and a building-yard was established +at Arbroath, where every single stone of the lighthouse was cut and +nicely fitted before being conveyed to the rock. Neither shall we +tell of the difficulties that arose in the matter of getting blocks +of granite large enough for such masonry, and lime of a nature strong +enough to withstand the action of the salt sea. All this, and a great +deal more of a deeply interesting nature, must remain untold, and be +left entirely to the reader's imagination. [Footnote] + +[Footnote: It may be found, however, in minute detail, in the large +and interesting work entitled _Steveson's Bell Rock Lighthouse.] + +Suffice it to say that the work was fairly begun in the month of +August, 1807; that a strong beacon of timber was built, which was so +well constructed that it stood out all the storms that beat against +it during the whole time of the building operations; that close to +this beacon the pit or foundation of the lighthouse was cut down deep +into the solid rock; that the men employed could work only between +two and three hours at a time, and had to pump the water out of this +pit each tide before they could resume operations; that the work +could only be done in the summer months, and when engaged in it the +men dwelt either in the _Pharos_ floating light, or in one of the +attending vessels, and were not allowed to go ashore--that is, to the +mainland, about twelve miles distant; that the work was hard, but so +novel and exciting that the artificers at last became quite enamoured +of it, and that ere long operations were going busily forward, and +the work was in a prosperous and satisfactory state of advancement. + +Things were in this condition at the Bell Rock, when, one fine summer +evening, our friend and hero, Ruby Brand, returned, after a long +absence, to his native town. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE CAPTAIN CHANGES HIS QUARTERS + +It was fortunate for Ruby that the skipper of the vessel ordered him +to remain in charge while he went ashore, because he would certainly +have been recognized by numerous friends, and his arrival would +speedily have reached the ears of the officers of justice, who seem +to be a class of men specially gifted with the faculty of never +forgetting. It was not until darkness had begun to settle down on the +town that the skipper returned on board, and gave him leave to go +ashore. + +Ruby did not return in the little coaster in which he had left his +native place. That vessel had been wrecked not long after he joined +her, but the crew were saved, and Ruby succeeded in obtaining a berth +as second mate of a large ship trading between Hull and the Baltic. +Returning from one of his voyages with a pretty good sum of money in +his pocket, he resolved to visit his mother and give it to her. He +therefore went aboard an Arbroath schooner, and offered to work his +passage as an extra hand. Remembering his former troubles in +connexion with the press-gang, he resolved to conceal his name from +the captain and crew, who chanced to be all strangers to him. + +It must not be supposed that Mrs. Brand had not heard of Ruby since +he left her. On the contrary, both she and Minnie Gray got letters as +frequently as the postal arrangements of those days would admit of; +and from time to time they received remittances of money, which +enabled them to live in comparative comfort. It happened, however, +that the last of these remittances had been lost, so that Mrs. Brand +had to depend for subsistence on Minnie's exertions, and on her +brother's liberality. The brother's power was limited, however, and +Minnie had been ailing for some time past, in consequence of her +close application to work, so that she could not earn as much as +usual. Hence it fell out that at this particular time the widow found +herself in greater pecuniary difficulties than she had ever been in +before. + +Ruby was somewhat of an original. It is probable that every hero is. +He resolved to surprise his mother by pouring the money he had +brought into her lap, and for this purpose had, while in Hull, +converted all his savings into copper, silver, and gold. Those +precious metals he stowed separately into the pockets of his huge +pea-jacket, and, thus heavily laden, went ashore about dark, as soon +as the skipper returned. + +At this precise hour it happened that Mrs. Brand, Minnie Gray, and +Captain Ogilvy were seated at their supper in the kitchen of the +cottage. + +Two days previously the captain had called, and said to Mrs. Brand-- + +"I tell 'ee what it is, sister, I'm tired of livin' a solitary +bachelor life, all by myself, so I'm goin' to make a change, lass." + +Mrs. Brand was for some moments speechless, and Minnie, who was +sewing near the window, dropped her hands and work on her lap, and +looked up with inexpressible amazement in her sweet blue eyes. + +"Brother," said Mrs. Brand earnestly, "you don't mean to tell me that +you're going to marry at _your_ time of life?" + +"Eh! what? Marry?" + +The captain looked, if possible, more amazed than his sister for a +second or two, then his red face relaxed into a broad grin, and he +sat down on a chair and chuckled, wiping the perspiration (he seemed +always more or less in a state of perspiration) from his bald head +the while. + +"Why, no, sister, I'm not going to marry; did I speak of marryin'?" + +"No; but you spoke of being tired of a bachelor life, and wishing to +change." + +"Ah! you women," said the captain, shaking his head--"always +suspecting that we poor men are wantin' to marry you. Well, pr'aps +you ain't far wrong neither; but I'm not goin' to be spliced +yet-a-while, lass. Marry, indeed! + + 'Shall I, wastin' in despair, + Die, 'cause why? a woman's rare?'" + +"Oh! Captain Ogilvy, that's not rightly quoted," cried Minnie, with a +merry laugh. + +"Ain't it?" said the captain, somewhat put out; for he did not like +to have his powers of memory doubted. + +"No; surely women are not _rare_," said Minnie. + +"Good ones are," said the captain stoutly. + +"Well; but that's not the right word." + +"What _is_ the right word, then?" asked the captain with affected +sternness, for, although by nature disinclined to admit that he could +be wrong, he had no objection to be put right by Minnie. + +"Die because a woman's f----," said Minnie, prompting him. + +"F----, 'funny?'" guessed the captain. + +"No; it's not 'funny'," cried Minnie, laughing heartily. + +"Of course not," assented the captain, "it could not be 'funny' +nohow, because 'funny' don't rhyme with 'despair'; besides, lots o' +women ain't funny a bit, an' if they was, that's no reason why a man +should die for 'em; what _is_ the word, lass?" + +"What am _I_?" asked Minnie, with an arch smile, as she passed her +fingers through the clustering masses of her beautiful hair. + +"An angel, beyond all doubt," said the gallant captain, with a burst +of sincerity which caused Minnie to blush and then to laugh. + +"You're incorrigible, captain, and you are so stupid that it's of no +use trying to teach you." + +Mrs. Brand--who listened to this conversation with an expression of +deep anxiety on her meek face, for she could not get rid of her first +idea that her brother was going to marry--here broke in with the +question,-- + +"When is it to be, brother?" + +"When is what to be, sister?" + +"The--the marriage." + +"I tell you I _ain't_ a-goin' to marry," repeated the captain; +"though why a stout young feller like me, just turned sixty-four, +_shouldn't_ marry, is more than I can see. You know the old proverbs, +lass--'It's never too late to marry'; 'Never ventur', never give in'; +'John Anderson my jo John, when we was first--first----'" + +"Married," suggested Minnie. + +"Just so," responded the captain, "and everybody knows that _he_ was +an old man. But no, I'm not goin' to marry; I'm only goin' to give up +my house, sell off the furniture, and come and live with _you_." + +"Live with me!" ejaculated Mrs. Brand. + +"Ay, an' why not? What's the use o' goin' to the expense of two +houses when one'll do, an' when we're both raither scrimp o' the +ready? You'll just let me have the parlour. It never was a comf'rable +room to sit in, so it don't matter much your givin' it up; it's a +good enough sleepin' and smokin' cabin, an' we'll all live together +in the kitchen. I'll throw the whole of my _tree_mendous income into +the general purse, always exceptin' a few odd coppers, which I'll +retain to keep me a-goin' in baccy. We'll sail under the same flag, +an' sit round the same fire, an' sup at the same table, and sleep in +the same--no, not exactly that, but under the same roof-tree, +which'll be a more hoconomical way o' doin' business, you know; an' +so, old girl, as the song says-- + + 'Come an' let us be happy together, + For where there's a will there's a way, + An' we won't care a rap for the weather + So long as there's nothin' to pay'." + +"Would it not be better to say, 'so long as there's _something_ to +pay?'" suggested Minnie. + +"No, lass, it _wouldn't_," retorted the captain. "You're too fond of +improvin' things. I'm a stanch old Tory, I am. I'll stick to the old +flag till all's blue. None o' your changes or improvements for me." + +This was a rather bold statement for a man to make who improved upon +almost every line he ever quoted; but the reader is no doubt +acquainted with parallel instances of inconsistency in good men even +in the present day. + +"Now, sister," continued Captain Ogilvy, "what d'ye think of my +plan?" + +"I like it well, brother," replied Mrs. Brand with a gentle smile. +"Will you come soon?" + +"To-morrow, about eight bells," answered the captain promptly. + +This was all that was said on the subject. The thing was, as the +captain said, settled off-hand, and accordingly next morning he +conveyed such of his worldly goods as he meant to retain possession +of to his sister's cottage--"the new ship", as he styled it. He +carried his traps on his own broad shoulders, and the conveyance of +them cost him three distinct trips. + +They consisted of a huge sea-chest, an old telescope more than a yard +long, and cased in leather; a quadrant, a hammock, with the bedding +rolled up in it, a tobacco-box, the enormous old Family Bible in +which the names of his father, mother, brothers, and sisters were +recorded; and a brown teapot with half a lid. This latter had +belonged to the captain's mother, and, being fond of it, as it +reminded him of the "old ooman", he was wont to mix his grog in it, +and drink the same out of a teacup, the handle of which was gone, and +the saucer of which was among the things of the past. + +Notwithstanding his avowed adherence to Tory principles, Captain +Ogilvy proceeded to make manifold radical changes and surprising +improvements in the little parlour, insomuch that when he had +completed the task, and led his sister carefully (for she was very +feeble) to look at what he had done, she became quite incapable of +expressing herself in ordinary language; positively refused to +believe her eyes, and never again entered that room, but always spoke +of what she had seen as a curious dream! + +No one was ever able to discover whether there was not a slight tinge +of underlying jocularity in this remark of Mrs. Brand, for she was a +strange and incomprehensible mixture of shrewdness and innocence; but +no one took much trouble to find out, for she was so lovable that +people accepted her just as she was, contented to let any small +amount of mystery that seemed to be in her to remain unquestioned. + +"The parlour" was one of those well-known rooms which are +occasionally met with in country cottages, the inmates of which are +not wealthy. It was reserved exclusively for the purpose of receiving +visitors. The furniture, though old, threadbare, and dilapidated, was +kept scrupulously clean, and arranged symmetrically. There were a few +books on the table, which were always placed with mathematical +exactitude, and a set of chairs, so placed as to give one +mysteriously the impression that they were not meant to be sat upon. +There was also a grate, which never had a fire in it, and was never +without a paper ornament in it, the pink and white aspect of which +caused one involuntarily to shudder. + +But the great point, which was meant to afford the highest +gratification to the beholder, was the chimney-piece. This spot was +crowded to excess in every square inch of its area with ornaments, +chiefly of earthenware, miscalled china, and shells. There were great +white shells with pink interiors, and small brown shells with spotted +backs. Then there were china cups and saucers, and china shepherds +and shepherdesses, represented in the act of contemplating the +heavens serenely, with their arms round each other's waists. There +were also china dogs and cats, and a huge china cockatoo as a +centre-piece; but there was not a single spot the size of a sixpence +on which the captain could place his pipe or his tobacco-box! + +"We'll get these things cleared away," said Minnie, with a laugh, on +observing the perplexed look with which the captain surveyed the +chimney-piece, while the changes above referred to were being made in +the parlour; "we have no place ready to receive them just now, but +I'll have them all put away to-morrow." + +"Thank'ee, lass," said the captain, as he set down the sea-chest and +seated himself thereon; "they're pretty enough to look at, d'ye see, +but they're raither in the way just now, as my second mate once said +of the rocks when we were cruising off the coast of Norway in search +of a pilot." + +The ornaments were, however, removed sooner than anyone had +anticipated. The next trip that the captain made was for his hammock +(he always slept in one), which was a long unwieldy bundle, like a +gigantic bolster. He carried it into the parlour on his shoulder, and +Minnie followed him. + +"Where shall I sling it, lass?" + +"Here, perhaps," said Minnie. + +The captain wheeled round as she spoke, and the end of the hammock +swept the mantelpiece of all its ornaments, as completely as if the +besom of destruction had passed over it. + +"Shiver my timbers!" gasped the captain, awestruck by the hideous +crash that followed. + +"You've shivered the ornaments at any rate," said Minnie, +half-laughing and half-crying. + +"So I have, but no matter. Never say die so long's there a shot in +the locker. There's as good fish in the sea as ever come out of it; +so bear a hand, my girl, and help me to sling up the hammock." + +The hammock was slung, the pipe of peace was smoked, and thus Captain +Ogilvy was fairly installed in his sister's cottage. + +It may, perhaps, be necessary to remind the reader that all this is a +long digression; that the events just narrated occurred a few days +before the return of Ruby, and that they have been recorded here in +order to explain clearly the reason of the captain's appearance at +the supper table of his sister, and the position which he occupied in +the family. + +When Ruby reached the gate of the small garden, Minnie had gone to +the captain's room to see that it was properly prepared for his +reception, and the captain himself was smoking his pipe close to the +chimney, so that the smoke should ascend it. + +The first glance through the window assured the youth that his mother +was, as letters had represented her, much better in health than she +used to be. She looked so quiet and peaceful, and so fragile withal, +that Ruby did not dare to "surprise her" by a sudden entrance, as he +had originally intended, so he tapped gently at the window, and drew +back. + +The captain laid down his pipe and went to the door. + +"What, Ruby!" he exclaimed, in a hoarse whisper. + +"Hush, uncle! How is Minnie; where is she?" + +"I think, lad," replied the captain in a tone of reproof, "that you +might have enquired for your mother first." + +"No need," said Ruby, pointing to the window; "I _see_ that she is +there and well, thanks be to God for that:--but Minnie?" + +"She's well, too, boy, and in the house. But come, get inside. I'll +explain, after." + +This promise to "explain" was given in consequence of the great +anxiety he, the captain, displayed to drag Ruby into the cottage. + +The youth did not require much pressing, however. He no sooner heard +that Minnie was well, than he sprang in, and was quickly at his +mother's feet. Almost as quickly a fair vision appeared in the +doorway of the inner room, and was clasped in the young sailor's arms +with the most thorough disregard of appearances, not to mention +propriety. + +While this scene was enacting, the worthy captain was engaged in +active proceedings, which at once amused and astonished his nephew, +and the nature and cause of which shall be revealed in the next +chapter. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +RUBY IN DIFFICULTIES + +Having thrust his nephew into the cottage, Captain Ogilvy's first +proceeding was to close the outer shutter of the window and fasten it +securely on the inside. Then he locked, bolted, barred, and chained +the outer door, after which he shut the kitchen door, and, in default +of any other mode of securing it, placed against it a heavy table as +a barricade. + +Having thus secured the premises in front, he proceeded to fortify +the rear, and, when this was accomplished to his satisfaction, he +returned to the kitchen, sat down opposite the widow, and wiped his +shining pate. + +"Why, uncle, are we going to stand out a siege that you take so much +pains to lock up?" + +Ruby sat down on the floor at his mother's feet as he spoke, and +Minnie sat down on a low stool beside him. + +"Maybe we are, lad," replied the captain; "anyhow, it's always well +to be ready-- + + 'Ready, boys, ready, + We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again'." + +"Come uncle, explain yourself." + +"Explain myself, nephy? I can neither explain myself nor anybody +else. D'ye know, Ruby, that you're a burglar?" + +"Am I, uncle? Well, I confess that that's news." + +"Ay, but it's true though, at least the law in Arbroath says so, and +if it catches you, it'll hang you as sure as a gun." + +Here Captain Ogilvy explained to his nephew the nature of the crime +that was committed on the night of his departure, the evidence of his +guilt in the finding part of the plate in the garden, coupled with +his sudden disappearance, and wound up by saying that he regarded +him, Ruby, as being in a "reg'lar fix". + +"But surely," said Ruby, whose face became gradually graver as the +case was unfolded to him, "surely it must be easy to prove to the +satisfaction of everyone that I had nothing whatever to do with this +affair?" + +"Easy to prove it!" said the captain in an excited tone; "wasn't you +seen, just about the hour of the robbery, going stealthily down the +street, by Big Swankie and Davy Spink, both of whom will swear to +it." + +"Yes, but _you_ were with me, uncle." + +"Ay, so I was, and hard enough work I had to convince them that I had +nothin' to do with it myself, but they saw that I couldn't jump a +stone wall eight foot high to save my life, much less break into a +house, and they got no further evidence to convict me, so they let me +off; but it'll go hard with you, nephy, for Major Stewart described +the men, and one o' them was a big strong feller, the description +bein' as like you as two peas, only their faces was blackened, and +the lantern threw the light all one way, so he didn't see them well. +Then, the things found in our garden,--and the villains will haul me +up as a witness against you, for, didn't I find them myself?" + +"Very perplexing; what shall I do?" said Ruby. + +"Clear out," cried the captain emphatically. + +"What! fly like a real criminal, just as I have returned home? Never. +What say _you_, Minnie?" + +"Stand your trial, Ruby. They cannot--they dare not--condemn the +innocent." + +"And you, mother?" + +"I'm sure I don't know what to say," replied Mrs. Brand, with a look +of deep anxiety, as she passed her fingers through her son's hair, +and kissed his brow. "I have seen the innocent condemned and the +guilty go free more than once in my life." + +"Nevertheless, mother, I will give myself up, and take my chance. To +fly would be to give them reason to believe me guilty." + +"Give yourself up!" exclaimed the captain, "you'll do nothing of the +sort. Come, lad, remember I'm an old man, and an uncle. I've got a +plan in my head, which I think will keep you out of harm's way for a +time. You see my old chronometer is but a poor one,--the worse of the +wear, like its master,--and I've never been able to make out the +exact time that we went aboard the _Termagant_ the night you went +away. Now, can _you_ tell me what o'clock it was?" + +"I can." + +'"Xactly?" + +"Yes, exactly, for it happened that I was a little later than I +promised, and the skipper pointed to his watch, as I came up the +side, and jocularly shook his head at me. It was exactly eleven P.M." + +"Sure and sartin o' that?" enquired the captain, earnestly. + +"Quite, and his watch must have been right, for the town-clock rung +the hour at the same time." + +"Is that skipper alive?" + +"Yes." + +"Would he swear to that?" + +"I think he would." + +"D'ye know where he is?" + +"I do. He's on a voyage to the West Indies, and won't be home for +two months, I believe." + +"Humph!" said the captain, with a disappointed look. "However, it +can't be helped; but I see my way now to get you out o' this fix. You +know, I suppose, that they're buildin' a lighthouse on the Bell Rock +just now; well, the workmen go off to it for a month at a time, I +believe, if not longer, and don't come ashore, and it's such a +dangerous place, and troublesome to get to, that nobody almost ever +goes out to it from this place, except those who have to do with it. +Now, lad, you'll go down to the workyard the first thing in the +mornin', before daylight, and engage to go off to work at the Bell +Rock. You'll keep all snug and quiet, and nobody'll be a bit the +wiser. You'll be earnin' good wages, and in the meantime I'll set +about gettin' things in trim to put you all square." + +"But I see many difficulties ahead," objected Ruby. + +"Of course ye do," retorted the captain. "Did ye ever hear or see +anything on this earth that hadn't rocks ahead o' some sort? It's our +business to steer past 'em, lad, not to 'bout ship and steer away. +But state yer difficulties." + +"Well, in the first place, I'm not a stonemason or a carpenter, and I +suppose masons and carpenters are the men most wanted there." + +"Not at all, blacksmiths are wanted there," said the captain, "and I +know that you were trained to that work as a boy." + +"True, I can do somewhat with the hammer, but mayhap they won't +engage me." + +"But they _will_ engage you, lad, for they are hard up for an +assistant blacksmith just now, and I happen to be hand-and-glove with +some o' the chief men of the yard, who'll be happy to take anyone +recommended by me." + +"Well, uncle, but suppose I do go off to the rock, what chance have +you of making things appear better than they are at present?" + +"I'll explain that, lad. In the first place, Major Stewart is a +gentleman, out-and-out, and will listen to the truth. He swears that +the robbery took place at one o'clock in the mornin', for he looked +at his watch and at the clock of the house, and heard it ring in the +town, just as the thieves cleared off over the wall. Now, if I can +get your old skipper to take a run here on his return from the West +Indies, he'll swear that you was sailin' out to the North Sea _before +twelve_, and that'll prove that you _couldn't_ have had nothin' to do +with it, d'ye see?" + +"It sounds well," said Ruby dubiously, "but do you think the lawyers +will see things in the light you do?" + +"Hang the lawyers! d'ye think they will shut their eyes to _the +truth?_" + +"Perhaps they may, in which case they will hang _me_, and so prevent +my taking your advice to hang _them_," said Ruby. + +"Well, well, but you agree to my plan?" asked the captain. + +"Shall I agree, Minnie? it will separate me from you again for some +time." + +"Yet it is necessary," answered Minnie, sadly; "yes, I think you +should agree to go." + +"Very well, then, that's settled," said Ruby, "and now let us drop +the subject, because I have other things to speak of; and if I must +start before daylight my time with you will be short----" + +"Come here a bit, nephy, I want to have a private word with 'ee in my +cabin," said the captain, interrupting him, and going into his own +room. Ruby rose and followed. + +"You haven't any----" + +The captain stopped, stroked his bald head, and looked perplexed. + +"Well, uncle?" + +"Well, nephy, you haven't--in short, have ye got any money about you, +lad?" + +"Money? yes, a _little_; but why do you ask?" + +"Well, the fact is, that your poor mother is hard up just now," said +the captain earnestly, "an' I've given her the last penny I have o' +my own; but she's quite----" + +Ruby interrupted his uncle at this point with a boisterous laugh. At +the same time he flung open the door and dragged the old man with +gentle violence back to the kitchen. + +"Come here, uncle." + +"But, avast! nephy, I haven't told ye all yet." + +"Oh! don't bother me with such trifles just now," cried Ruby, +thrusting his uncle into a chair and resuming his own seat at his +mother's side; "we'll speak of that at some other time; meanwhile let +me talk to mother. + +"Minnie, dear," he continued, "who keeps the cash here; you or +mother?" + +"Well, we keep it between us," said Minnie, smiling; "your mother +keeps it in her drawer and gives me the key when I want any, and I +keep an account of it." + +"Ah! well, mother, I have a favour to ask of you before I go." + +"Well, Ruby?" + +"It is that you will take care of my cash for me. I have got a +goodish lot of it, and find it rather heavy to carry in my +pockets--so, hold your apron steady and I'll give it to you." + +Saying this he began to empty handful after handful of coppers into +the old woman's apron; then, remarking that "that was all the +browns", he began to place handful after handful of shillings and +sixpences on the top of the pile until the copper was hid by silver. + +The old lady, as usual when surprised, became speechless; the captain +smiled and Minnie laughed, but when Ruby put his hand into another +pocket and began to draw forth golden sovereigns, and pour them into +his mother's lap, the captain became supremely amazed, the old woman +laughed, and,--so strangely contradictory and unaccountable is human +nature,--Minnie began to cry. + +Poor girl! the tax upon her strength had been heavier than anyone +knew, heavier than she could bear, and the sorrow of knowing, as she +had come to know, that it was all in vain, and that her utmost +efforts had failed to "keep the wolf from the door", had almost +broken her down. Little wonder, then, that the sight of sudden and +ample relief upset her altogether. + +But her tears, being tears of joy, were soon and easily dried--all +the more easily that it was Ruby who undertook to dry them. + +Mrs. Brand sat up late that night, for there was much to tell and +much to hear. After she had retired to rest the other three continued +to hold converse together until grey dawn began to appear through the +chinks in the window-shutters. Then the two men rose and went out, +while Minnie laid her pretty little head on the pillow beside Mrs. +Brand, and sought, and found, repose. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SCENE CHANGES--RUBY IS VULCANIZED + +As Captain Ogilvy had predicted, Ruby was at once engaged as an +assistant blacksmith on the Bell Rock. In fact, they were only too +glad to get such a powerful, active young fellow into their service; +and he was shipped off with all speed in the sloop _Smeaton_, with a +few others who were going to replace some men who had become ill and +were obliged to leave. + +A light westerly breeze was blowing when they cast off the moorings +of the sloop. + +"Goodbye, Ruby," said the captain, as he was about to step on the +pier. "Remember your promise, lad, to keep quiet, and don't try to +get ashore, or be hold communication with anyone till you hear from +me." + +"All right, uncle, I won't forget, and I'll make my mind easy, for I +know that my case is left in good hands." + +Three hours elapsed ere the _Smeaton_ drew near to the Bell Rock. +During this time, Ruby kept aloof from his fellow-workmen, feeling +disposed to indulge the sad thoughts which filled his mind. He sat +down on the bulwarks, close to the main shrouds, and gazed back at +the town as it became gradually less and less visible in the faint +light of morning. Then he began to ponder his unfortunate +circumstances, and tried to imagine how his uncle would set about +clearing up his character and establishing his innocence; but, do +what he would, Ruby could not keep his mind fixed for any length of +time on any subject or line of thought, because of a vision of +sweetness which it is useless to attempt to describe, and which was +always accompanied by, and surrounded with, a golden halo. + +At last the youth gave up the attempt to fix his thoughts, and +allowed them to wander as they chose, seeing that they were resolved +to do so whether he would or no. The moment these thoughts had the +reins flung on their necks, and were allowed to go where they +pleased, they refused, owing to some unaccountable species of +perversity, to wander at all, but at once settled themselves +comfortably down beside the vision with golden hair, and remained +there. + +This agreeable state of things was rudely broken in upon by the +hoarse voice of the mate shouting-- + +"Stand by to let go the anchor." + +Then Ruby sprang on the deck and shook himself like a great mastiff, +and resolved to devote himself, heart and soul, from that moment, to +the work in which he was about to engage. + +The scene that presented itself to our hero when he woke up from his +dreams would have interested and excited a much less enthusiastic +temperament than his. + +The breeze had died away altogether, just as if, having wafted the +_Smeaton_ to her anchorage, there were no further occasion for its +services. The sea was therefore quite calm, and as there had only +been light westerly winds for some time past, there was little or +none of the swell that usually undulates the sea. One result of this +was, that, being high water when the Smeaton arrived, there was no +sign whatever of the presence of the famous Bell Rock. It lay +sleeping nearly two fathoms below the sea, like a grim giant in +repose, and not a ripple was there to tell of the presence of the +mariner's enemy. + +The sun was rising, and its slanting beams fell on the hulls of the +vessels engaged in the service, which lay at anchor at a short +distance from each other. These vessels, as we have said, were four +in number, including the Smeaton. The others were the _Sir Joseph +Banks_, a small schooner-rigged vessel; the _Patriot_, a little +sloop; and the _Pharos_ lightship, a large clumsy-looking Dutch-built +ship, fitted with three masts, at the top of which were the lanterns. +It was intended that this vessel should do duty as a lightship until +the lighthouse should be completed. + +Besides these there were two large boats, used for landing stones and +building materials on the rock. + +These vessels lay floating almost motionless on the calm sea, and at +first there was scarcely any noise aboard of them to indicate that +they were tenanted by human beings, but when the sound of the +_Smeaton's_ cable was heard there was a bustle aboard of each, and +soon faces were seen looking inquisitively over the sides of the +ships. + +The _Smeaton's_ boat was lowered after the anchor was let go, and the +new hands were transferred to the _Pharos_, which was destined to be +their home for some time to come. + +Just as they reached her the bell rang for breakfast, and when Ruby +stepped upon the deck he found himself involved in all the bustle +that ensues when men break off from work and make preparation for the +morning meal. + +There were upwards of thirty artificers on board the lightship at +this time. Some of these, as they hurried to and fro, gave the new +arrivals a hearty greeting, and asked, "What news from the shore?" +Others were apparently too much taken up with their own affairs to +take notice of them. + +While Ruby was observing the busy scene with absorbing interest, and +utterly forgetful of the fact that he was in any way connected with +it, an elderly gentleman, whose kind countenance and hearty manner +gave indication of a genial spirit within, came up and accosted him: + +"You are our assistant blacksmith, I believe?" + +"Yes, sir, I am," replied Ruby, doffing his cap, as if he felt +instinctively that he was in the presence of someone of note. + +"You have had considerable practice, I suppose, in your trade?" + +"A good deal, sir, but not much latterly, for I have been at sea for +some time." + +"At sea? Well, that won't be against you here," returned the +gentleman, with a meaning smile. "It would be well if some of my men +were a little more accustomed to the sea, for they suffer much from +sea-sickness. You can go below, my man, and get breakfast. You'll +find your future messmate busy at his, I doubt not. Here, steward," +(turning to one of the men who chanced to pass at the moment,) "take +Ruby Brand--that is your name, I think?" + +"It is, sir." + +"Take Brand below, and introduce him to James Dove as his assistant." + +The steward escorted Ruby down the ladder that conducted to those +dark and littered depths of the ship's hull that were assigned to the +artificers as their place of abode. But amidst a good deal of +unavoidable confusion, Ruby's practised eye discerned order and +arrangement everywhere. + +"This is your messmate, Jamie Dove," said the steward, pointing to a +massive dark man, whose outward appearance was in keeping with his +position as the Vulcan of such an undertaking as he was then engaged +in. "You'll find him not a bad feller if you only don't cross him." +He added, with a wink, "His only fault is that he's given to spoilin' +good victuals, being raither floored by sea-sickness if it comes on +to blow ever so little." + +"Hold your clapper, lad," said the smith, who was at the moment +busily engaged with a mess of salt pork, and potatoes to match. +"Who's your friend?" + +"No friend of mine, though I hope he'll be one soon," answered the +steward. "Mr. Stevenson told me to introduce him to you as your +assistant." + +The smith looked up quickly, and scanned our hero with some interest; +then, extending his great hard hand across the table, he said, +"Welcome, messmate; sit down, I've only just begun." + +Ruby grasped the hand with his own, which, if not so large, was quite +as powerful, and shook the smith's right arm in a way that called +forth from that rough-looking individual a smile of approbation. + +"You've not had breakfast, lad?" + +"No, not yet," said Ruby, sitting down opposite his comrade. + +"An' the smell here don't upset your stummick, I hope?" + +The smith said this rather anxiously. + +"Not in the least," said Ruby with a laugh, and beginning to eat in a +way that proved the truth of his words; "for the matter o' that, +there's little smell and no motion just now." + +"Well, there isn't much," replied the smith, "but, woe's me! you'll +get enough of it before long. All the new landsmen like you suffer +horribly from sea-sickness when they first come off." + +"But I'm not a landsman," said Ruby. + +"Not a landsman!" echoed the other. "You're a blacksmith, aren't +you?" + +"Ay, but not a landsman. I learned the trade as a boy and lad; but +I've been at sea for some time past." + +"Then you won't get sick when it blows?" + +"Certainly not; will _you_?" + +The smith groaned and shook his head, by which answer he evidently +meant to assure his friend that he would, most emphatically. + +"But come, it's of no use groanin' over what can't be helped. I get +as sick as a dog every time the wind rises, and the worst of it is I +don't never seem to improve. Howsever, I'm all right when I get on +the rock, and that's the main thing." + +Ruby and his friend now entered upon a long and earnest conversation +as to their peculiar duties at the Bell Rock, with which we will not +trouble the reader. + +After breakfast they went on deck, and here Ruby had sufficient to +occupy his attention and to amuse him for some hours. + +As the tide that day did not fall low enough to admit of landing on +the rock till noon, the men were allowed to spend the time as they +pleased. Some therefore took to fishing, others to reading, while a +few employed themselves in drying their clothes, which had got wet +the previous day, and one or two entertained themselves and their +comrades with the music of the violin and flute. All were busy with +one thing or another, until the rock began to show its black crest +above the smooth sea. Then a bell was rung to summon the artificers +to land. + +This being the signal for Ruby to commence work, he joined his friend +Dove, and assisted him to lower the bellows of the forge into the +boat. The men were soon in their places, with their various tools, +and the boats pushed off--Mr. Stevenson, the engineer of the +building, steering one boat, and the master of the _Pharos_, who was +also appointed to the post of landing-master, steering the other. + +They landed with ease on this occasion on the western side of the +rock, and then each man addressed himself to his special duty with +energy. The time during which they could work being short, they had +to make the most of it. + +"Now, lad," said the smith, "bring along the bellows and follow me. +Mind yer footin', for it's slippery walkin' on them tangle-covered +rocks. I've seen some ugly falls here already." + +"Have any bones been broken yet?" enquired Ruby, as he shouldered the +large pair of bellows, and followed the smith cautiously over the +rocks. + +"Not yet; but there's been an awful lot o' pipes smashed. If it goes +on as it has been, we'll have to take to metal ones. Here we are, +Ruby, this is the forge, and I'll be bound you never worked at such a +queer one before. Hallo! Bremner!" he shouted to one of the men. + +"That's me," answered Bremner. + +"Bring your irons as soon as you like! I'm about ready for you." + +"Ay, ay, here they are," said the man, advancing with an armful of +picks, chisels, and other tools, which required sharpening. + +He slipped and fell as he spoke, sending all the tools into the +bottom of a pool of water; but, being used to such mishaps, he arose, +joined in the laugh raised against him, and soon fished up the tools. + +"What's wrong!" asked Ruby, pausing in the work of fixing the +bellows, on observing that the smith's face grew pale, and his +general expression became one of horror. "Not sea-sick, I hope?" + +"Sea-sick," gasped the smith, slapping all his pockets hurriedly, +"it's worse than that; I've forgot the matches!" + +Ruby looked perplexed, but had no consolation to offer. + +"That's like you," cried Bremner, who, being one of the principal +masons, had to attend chiefly to the digging out of the +foundation-pit of the building, and knew that his tools could not be +sharpened unless the forge fire could be lighted. + +"Suppose you hammer a nail red-hot," suggested one of the men, who +was disposed to make game of the smith. + +"I'll hammer your nose red-hot," replied Dove, with a most undovelike +scowl, "I could swear that I put them matches in my pocket before I +started." + +"No, you didn't," said George Forsyth, one of the carpenters--a tall +loose-jointed man, who was chiefly noted for his dislike to getting +into and out of boats, and climbing up the sides of ships, because of +his lengthy and unwieldy figure--"No, you didn't, you turtle-dove, +you forgot to take them; but I remembered to do it for you; so there, +get up your fire, and confess yourself indebted to me for life." + +"I'm indebted to 'ee for fire," said the smith, grasping the matches +eagerly. "Thank'ee, lad, you're a true Briton." + +"A tall 'un, rather," suggested Bremner. + +"Wot never, never, never will be a slave," sang another of the men. + +"Come, laddies, git up the fire. Time an' tide waits for naebody," +said John Watt, one of the quarriers. "We'll want thae tools before +lang." + +The men were proceeding with their work actively while those remarks +were passing, and ere long the smoke of the forge fire arose in the +still air, and the clang of the anvil was added to the other noises +with which the busy spot resounded. + +The foundation of the Bell Rock Lighthouse had been carefully +selected by Mr. Stevenson; the exact spot being chosen not only with +a view to elevation, but to the serrated ridges of rock, that might +afford some protection to the building, by breaking the force of the +easterly seas before they should reach it; but as the space available +for the purpose of building was scarcely fifty yards in diameter, +there was not much choice in the matter. + +The foundation-pit was forty-two feet in diameter, and sunk five feet +into the solid rock. At the time when Ruby landed, it was being hewn +out by a large party of the men. Others were boring holes in the rock +near to it, for the purpose of fixing the great beams of a beacon, +while others were cutting away the seaweed from the rock, and making +preparations for the laying down of temporary rails to facilitate the +conveying of the heavy stones from the boats to their ultimate +destination. All were busy as bees. Each man appeared to work as if +for a wager, or to find out how much he could do within a given space +of time. + +To the men on the rock itself the aspect of the spot was sufficiently +striking and peculiar, but to those who viewed it from a boat at a +short distance off it was singularly interesting, for the whole scene +of operations appeared like a small black spot, scarcely above the +level of the waves, on which a crowd of living creatures were moving +about with great and incessant activity, while all around and beyond +lay the mighty sea, sleeping in the grand tranquillity of a calm +summer day, with nothing to bound it but the blue sky, save to the +northward, where the distant cliffs of Forfar rested like a faint +cloud on the horizon. + +The sounds, too, which on the rock itself were harsh and loud and +varied, came over the water to the distant observer in a united tone, +which sounded almost as sweet as soft music. + +The smith's forge stood on a ledge of rock close to the +foundation-pit, a little to the north of it. Here Vulcan Dove had +fixed a strong iron framework, which formed the hearth. The four legs +which supported it were let into holes bored from six to twelve +inches into the rock, according to the inequalities of the site. +These were wedged first with wood and then with iron, for as this +part of the forge and the anvil was doomed to be drowned every tide, +or twice every day, besides being exposed to the fury of all the +storms that might chance to blow, it behoved them to fix things down +with unusual firmness. + +The block of timber for supporting the anvil was fixed in the same +manner, but the anvil itself was left to depend on its own weight and +the small stud fitted into the bottom of it. + +The bellows, however, were too delicate to be left exposed to such +forces as the stormy winds and waves, they were therefore shipped and +unshipped every tide, and conveyed to and from the rock in the boats +with the men. + +Dove and Ruby wrought together like heroes. They were both so +powerful that the heavy implements they wielded seemed to possess no +weight when in their strong hands, and their bodies were so lithe and +active as to give the impression of men rejoicing, revelling, in the +enjoyment of their work. + +"That's your sort; hit him hard, he's got no friends," said Dove, +turning a mass of red-hot metal from side to side, while Ruby pounded +it with a mighty hammer, as if it were a piece of putty. + +"Fire and steel for ever," observed Ruby, as he made the sparks fly +right and left. "Hallo! the tide's rising." + +"Ho! so it is," cried the smith, finishing off the piece of work with +a small hammer, while Ruby rested on the one he had used and wiped +the perspiration from his brow. "It always serves me in this way, +lad," continued the smith, without pausing for a moment in his work. +"Blow away, Ruby, the sea is my greatest enemy. Every day, a'most, it +washes me away from my work. In calm weather, it creeps up my legs, +and the legs o' the forge too, till it gradually puts out the fire, +and in rough weather it sends up a wave sometimes that sweeps the +whole concern black out at one shot. + +"It will _creep_ you out to-day, evidently," said Ruby, as the water +began to come about his toes. + +"Never mind, lad, we'll have time to finish them picks this tide, if +we work fast." + +Thus they toiled and moiled, with their heads and shoulders in smoke +and fire, and their feet in water. + +Gradually the tide rose. + +"Pump away, Ruby! Keep the pot bilin', my boy," said the smith. + +"The wind blowin', you mean. I say, Dove, do the other men like the +work here?" + +"Like it, ay, they like it well. At first we were somewhat afraid o' +the landin' in rough weather, but we've got used to that now. The +only bad thing about it is in the rolling o' that horrible _Pharos_. +She's so bad in a gale that I sometimes think she'll roll right over +like a cask. Most of us get sick then, but I don't think any of 'em +are as bad as me. They seem to be gettin' used to that too. I wish I +could. Another blow, Ruby." + +"Time's up," shouted one of the men. + +"Hold on just for a minute or two," pleaded the smith, who, with his +assistant, was by this time standing nearly knee-deep in water. + +The sea had filled the pit some time before, and driven the men out +of it. These busied themselves in collecting the tools and seeing +that nothing was left lying about, while the men who were engaged on +those parts of the rocks that were a few inches higher, continued +their labours until the water crept up to them. Then they collected +their tools, and went to the boats, which lay awaiting them at the +western landing-place. + +"Now, Dove," cried the landing-master, "come along; the crabs will be +attacking your toes if you don't." + +"It's a shame to gi'e Ruby the chance o' a sair throat the very first +day," cried John Watt. + +"Just half a minute more," said the smith, examining a pickaxe, which +he was getting up to that delicate point of heat which is requisite +to give it proper temper. + +While he gazed earnestly into the glowing coals a gentle hissing +sound was heard below the frame of the forge, then a gurgle, and the +fire became suddenly dark and went out! + +"I knowed it! always the way!" cried Dove, with a look of +disappointment. "Come, lad, up with the bellows now, and don't forget +the tongs." + +In a few minutes more the boats pushed off and returned to the +Pharos, three and a half hours of good work having been accomplished +before the tide drove them away. + +Soon afterwards the sea overflowed the whole of the rock, and +obliterated the scene of those busy operations as completely as +though it had never been! + + + +CHAPTER IX + +STORMS AND TROUBLES + +A week of fine weather caused Ruby Brand to fall as deeply in love +with the work at the Bell Rock as his comrades had done. + +There was an amount of vigour and excitement about it, with a dash of +romance, which quite harmonized with his character. At first he had +imagined it would be monotonous and dull, but in experience he found +it to be quite the reverse. + +Although there was uniformity in the general character of the work, +there was constant variety in many of the details; and the spot on +which it was carried on was so circumscribed, and so utterly cut off +from all the world, that the minds of those employed became +concentrated on it in a way that aroused strong interest in every +trifling object. + +There was not a ledge or a point of rock that rose ever so little +above the general level, that was not named after, and intimately +associated with, some event or individual. Every mass of seaweed +became a familiar object. The various little pools and inlets, many +of them not larger than a dining-room table, received high-sounding +and dignified names--such as _Port Stevenson, Port, Erskine, Taylor's +Track, Neill's Pool_, &c. Of course the fish that frequented the +pools, and the shell-fish that covered the rock, became subjects of +much attention, and, in some cases, of earnest study. + +Robinson Crusoe himself did not pry into the secrets of his +island-home with half the amount of assiduity that was displayed at +this time by many of the men who built the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The +very fact that their time was limited acted as a spur, so that on +landing each tide they rushed hastily to the work, and the amateur +studies in natural history to which we have referred were prosecuted +hurriedly during brief intervals of rest. Afterwards, when the beacon +house was erected, and the men dwelt upon the rock, these studies (if +we may not call them amusements) were continued more leisurely, but +with unabated ardour, and furnished no small amount of comparatively +thrilling incident at times. + +One fine morning, just after the men had landed, and before they had +commenced work, "Long Forsyth", as his comrades styled him, went to a +pool to gather a little dulse, of which there was a great deal on the +rock, and which was found to be exceedingly grateful to the palates +of those who were afflicted with sea-sickness. + +He stooped over the pool to pluck a morsel, but paused on observing a +beautiful fish, about a foot long, swimming in the clear water, as +quietly as if it knew the man to be a friend, and were not in the +least degree afraid of him. + +Forsyth was an excitable man, and also studious in his character. He +at once became agitated and desirous of possessing that fish, for it +was extremely brilliant and variegated in colour. He looked round for +something to throw at it, but there was nothing within reach. He +sighed for a hook and line, but as sighs never yet produced hooks or +lines he did not get one. + +Just then the fish swam slowly to the side of the pool on which the +man kneeled, as if it actually desired more intimate acquaintance. +Forsyth lay fiat down and reached out his hand toward it; but it +appeared to think this rather too familiar, for it swam slowly beyond +his reach, and the man drew back. Again it came to the side, much +nearer. Once more Forsyth lay down, reaching over the pool as far as +he could, and insinuating his hand into the water. But the fish moved +off a little. + +Thus they coquetted with each other for some time, until the man's +comrades began to observe that he was "after something". + +"Wot's he a-doin' of?" said one. "Reachin' over the pool, I think," +replied another. "Ye don't mean he's sick?" cried a third. The smile +with which this was received was changed into a roar of laughter as +poor Forsyth's long legs were seen to tip up into the air, and the +whole man to disappear beneath the water. He had overbalanced +himself in his frantic efforts to reach the fish, and was now making +its acquaintance in its native element! + +The pool, although small in extent, was so deep that Forsyth, long +though he was, did not find bottom. Moreover, he could not swim, so +that when he reached the surface he came up with his hands first and +his ten fingers spread out helplessly; next appeared his shaggy head, +with the eyes wide open, and the mouth tight shut. The moment the +latter was uncovered, however, he uttered a tremendous yell, which +was choked in the bud with a gurgle as he sank again. + +The men rushed to the rescue at once, and the next time Forsyth rose +he was seized by the hair of the head and dragged out of the +pool. + +It has not been recorded what became of the fish that caused such an +alarming accident, but we may reasonably conclude that it sought +refuge in the ocean cavelets at the bottom of that miniature sea, for +Long Forsyth was so very large, and created such a terrible +disturbance therein, that no fish exposed to the full violence of the +storm could have survived it! + +"Wot a hobject!" exclaimed Joe Dumsby, a short, thickset, little +Englishman, who, having been born and partly bred in London, was +rather addicted to what is styled chaffing. "Was you arter a mermaid, +shipmate?" + +"Av coorse he was," observed Ned O'Connor, an Irishman, who was +afflicted with the belief that he was rather a witty fellow, "av +coorse he was, an' a merry-maid she must have bin to see a human +spider like him kickin' up such a dust in the say." + +"He's like a drooned rotten," observed John Watt; "tak' aff yer +claes, man, an' wring them dry." + +"Let the poor fellow be, and get along with you," cried Peter Logan, +the foreman of the works, who came up at that moment. + +With a few parting remarks and cautions, such as,--"You'd better +bring a dry suit to the rock next time, lad," "Take care the crabs +don't make off with you, boy," "and don't be gettin' too fond o' the +girls in the sea," &c., the men scattered themselves over the rock +and began their work in earnest, while Forsyth, who took the chaffing +in good part, stripped himself and wrung the water out of his +garments. + +Episodes of this kind were not unfrequent, and they usually furnished +food for conversation at the time, and for frequent allusion +afterwards. + +But it was not all sunshine and play, by any means. + +Not long after Ruby joined, the fine weather broke up, and a +succession of stiff breezes, with occasional storms, more or less +violent, set in. Landing on the rock became a matter of extreme +difficulty, and the short period of work was often curtailed to +little more than an hour each tide. + +The rolling of the _Pharos_ lightship, too, became so great that +sea-sickness prevailed to a large extent among the landsmen. One +good arose out of this evil, however. Landing on the Bell Rock +invariably cured the sickness for a time, and the sea-sick men had +such an intense longing to eat of the dulse that grew there, that +they were always ready and anxious to get into the boats when there +was the slightest possibility of landing. + +Getting into the boats, by the way, in a heavy sea, when the +lightship was rolling violently, was no easy matter. When the fine +weather first broke up, it happened about midnight, and the change +commenced with a stiff breeze from the eastward. The sea rose at +once, and, long before daybreak, the Pharos was rolling heavily in +the swell, and straining violently at the strong cable which held her +to her moorings. + +About dawn Mr. Stevenson came on deck. He could not sleep, because he +felt that on his shoulders rested not only the responsibility of +carrying this gigantic work to a satisfactory conclusion, but also, +to a large extent, the responsibility of watching over and guarding +the lives of the people employed in the service. + +"Shall we be able to land to-day, Mr. Wilson?" he said, accosting the +master of the _Pharos_, who has been already introduced as the +landing-master. + +"I think so; the barometer has not fallen much; and even although the +wind should increase a little, we can effect a landing by the Fair +Way, at Hope's Wharf." + +"Very well, I leave it entirely in your hands; you understand the +weather better than I do, but remember that I do not wish my men to +run unnecessary or foolish risk." + +It may be as well to mention here that a small but exceedingly strong +tramway of iron-grating had been fixed to the Bell Rock at an +elevation varying from two to four feet above it, and encircling the +site of the building. This tramway or railroad was narrow, not quite +three feet in width; and small trucks were fitted to it, so that the +heavy stones of the building might be easily run to the exact spot +they were to occupy. From this circular rail several branch lines +extended to the different creeks where the boats deposited the +stones. These lines, although only a few yards in length, were +dignified with names--as, _Kennedy's Reach, Lagan's Reach, Watt's +Reach_, and _Slights Reach_. The ends of them, where they dipped into +the sea, were named _Hope's Wharf, Duff's Wharf, Rae's Wharf, &c_.; +and these wharves had been fixed on different sides of the rock, so +that, whatever wind should blow, there would always be one of them on +the lee-side available for the carrying on of the work. + +_Hope's Wharf_ was connected with _Port Erskine_, a pool about twenty +yards long by three or four wide, and communicated with the side of +the lighthouse by _Watt's Reach_, a distance of about thirty yards. + +About eight o'clock that morning the bell rang for breakfast. Such of +the men as were not already up began to get out of their berths and +hammocks. + +To Ruby the scene that followed was very amusing. Hitherto all had +been calm and sunshine. The work, although severe while they were +engaged, had been of short duration, and the greater part of each day +had been afterwards spent in light work, or in amusement. The summons +to meals had always been a joyful one, and the appetites of the men +were keenly set. + +Now, all this was changed. The ruddy faces of the men were become +green, blue, yellow, and purple, according to temperament, but few +were flesh-coloured or red. When the bell rang there was a universal +groan below, and half a dozen ghostlike individuals raised themselves +on their elbows and looked up with expressions of the deepest woe at +the dim skylight. Most of them speedily fell back again, however, +partly owing to a heavy lurch of the vessel, and partly owing to +indescribable sensations within. + +"Blowin'!" groaned one, as if that single word comprehended the +essence of all the miseries that seafaring man is heir to. + +"O dear!" sighed another, "why did I ever come here?" + +"Och! murder, I'm dyin', send for the praist an' me mother!" cried +O'Connor, as he fell flat down on his back and pressed both hands +tightly over his mouth. + +The poor blacksmith lost control over himself at this point +and--found partial relief! + +The act tended to relieve others. Most of the men were much too +miserable to make any remark at all, a few of them had not heart even +to groan; but five or six sat up on the edge of their beds, with a +weak intention of turning out They sat there swaying about with the +motions of the ship in helpless indecision, until a tremendous roll +sent them flying, with unexpected violence, against the starboard +bulkheads. + +"Come, lads," cried Ruby, leaping out of his hammock, "there's +nothing like a vigorous jump to put sea-sickness to flight." + +"Humbug!" ejaculated Bremner, who owned a little black dog, which lay +at that time on the pillow gazing into his master's green face, with +wondering sympathy. + +"Ah, Ruby," groaned the smith, "it's all very well for a sea-dog like +you that's used to it, but----" + +James Dove stopped short abruptly. It is not necessary to explain the +cause of his abrupt silence. Suffice it to say that he did not +thereafter attempt to finish that sentence. + +"Steward!" roared Joe Dumsby. + +"Ay, ay, shipmate, what's up?" cried the steward, who chanced to pass +the door of the men's sleeping-place, with a large dish of boiled +salt pork, at the moment. + +"Wot's up?" echoed Dumsby. "Everythink that ever went into me since I +was a hinfant must be 'up' by this time. I say, is there any chance +of gettin' on the rock to-day?" + +"O yes. I heard the cap'n say it would be quite easy, and they seem +to be makin' ready now, so if any of 'ee want breakfast you'd better +turn out." + +This speech acted like a shock of electricity on the wretched men. In +a moment every bed was empty, and the place was in a bustle of +confusion as they hurriedly threw on their clothes. + +Some of them even began to think of the possibility of venturing on a +hard biscuit and a cup of tea, but a gust of wind sent the fumes of +the salt pork into the cabin at the moment, and the mere idea of food +filled them with unutterable loathing. + +Presently the bell rang again. This was the signal for the men to +muster, the boats being ready alongside. The whole crew at once +rushed on deck, some of them thrusting biscuits into their pockets as +they passed the steward's quarters. Not a man was absent on the roll +being called. Even the smith crawled on deck, and had spirit enough +left to advise Ruby not to forget the bellows; to which Ruby replied +by recommending his comrade not to forget the matches. + +Then the operation of embarking began. + +The sea at the time was running pretty high, with little white flecks +of foam tipping the crests of the deep blue waves. The eastern sky +was dark and threatening. The black ridges of the Bell Rock were +visible only at times in the midst of the sea of foam that surrounded +them. Anyone ignorant of their nature would have deemed a landing +absolutely impossible. + +The _Pharos_, as we have said, was rolling violently from side to +side, insomuch that those who were in the boats had the greatest +difficulty in preventing them from being stove in; and getting into +these boats had much the appearance of an exceedingly difficult and +dangerous feat, which active and reckless men might undertake for a +wager. + +But custom reconciles one to almost anything. Most of the men had had +sufficient experience by that time to embark with comparative ease. +Nevertheless, there were a few whose physical conformation was such +that they could do nothing neatly. + +Poor Forsyth was one of these. Each man had to stand on the edge of +the lightship, outside the bulwarks, holding on to a rope, ready to +let go and drop into the boat when it rose up and met the vessel's +roll. In order to facilitate the operation a boat went to either side +of the ship, so that two men were always in the act of watching for +an opportunity to spring. The active men usually got in at the first +or second attempt, but others missed frequently, and were of course +"chaffed" by their more fortunate comrades. + +The embarking of "Long Forsyth" was always a scene in rough weather, +and many a narrow escape had he of a ducking. On the present +occasion, being very sick, he was more awkward than usual. + +"Now, Longlegs," cried the men who held the boat on the starboard +side, as Forsyth got over the side and stood ready to spring, "let's +see how good you'll be to-day." + +He was observed by Joe Dumsby, who had just succeeded in getting into +the boat on the port side of the ship, and who always took a lively +interest in his tall comrade's proceedings. + +"Hallo! is that the spider?" he cried, as the ship rolled towards +him, and the said spider appeared towering high on the opposite +bulwark, sharply depicted against the grey sky. + +It was unfortunate for Joe that he chanced to be on the opposite side +from his friend, for at each roll the vessel necessarily intervened +and hid him for a few seconds from view. + +Next roll, Forsyth did not dare to leap, although the gunwale of the +boat came within a foot of him. He hesitated, the moment was lost, +the boat sank into the hollow of the sea, and the man was swung high +into the air, where he was again caught sight of by Dumsby. + +"What! are you there yet?" he cried. "You must be fond of a +swing----" + +Before he could say more the ship rolled over to the other side, and +Forsyth was hid from view. + +"Now, lad, now! now!" shouted the boat's crew, as the unhappy man +once more neared the gunwale. + +Forsyth hesitated. Suddenly he became desperate and sprang, but the +hesitation gave him a much higher fall than he would otherwise have +had; it caused him also to leap wildly in a sprawling manner, so that +he came down on the shoulders of his comrades "all of a lump". +Fortunately they were prepared for something of the sort, so that no +damage was done. + +When the boats were at last filled they pushed off and rowed towards +the rock. On approaching it the men were cautioned to pull steadily +by Mr. Stevenson, who steered the leading boat. + +It was a standing order in the landing department that every man +should use his greatest exertions in giving to the boats sufficient +velocity to preserve their steerage way in entering the respective +creeks at the rock, that the contending seas might not overpower them +at places where the free use of the oars could not be had on account +of the surrounding rocks or the masses of seaweed with which the +water was everywhere encumbered at low tide. This order had been +thoroughly impressed upon the men, as carelessness or inattention to +it might have proved fatal to all on board. + +As the leading boat entered the fairway, its steersman saw that more +than ordinary caution would be necessary; for the great green billows +that thundered to windward of the rock came sweeping down on either +side of it, and met on the lee side, where they swept onward with +considerable, though much abated force. + +"Mind your oars, lads; pull steady," said Mr. Stevenson, as they +began to get amongst the seaweed. + +The caution was unnecessary as far as the old hands were concerned; +but two of the men happened to be new hands, who had come off with +Ruby, and did not fully appreciate the necessity of strict obedience. +One of these, sitting at the bow oar, looked over his shoulder, and +saw a heavy sea rolling towards the boat, and inadvertently expressed +some fear. The other man, on hearing this, glanced round, and in +doing so missed a stroke of his oar. Such a preponderance was thus +given to the rowers on the opposite side, that when the wave struck +the boat, it caught her on the side instead of the bow, and hurled +her upon a ledge of shelving rocks, where the water left her. +Having been _kanted_ to seaward, the next billow completely filled +her, and, of course, drenched the crew. + +Instantly Ruby Brand and one or two of the most active men leaped +out, and, putting forth all their strength, turned the boat round so +as to meet the succeeding sea with its bow first. Then, after making +considerable efforts, they pushed her off into deep water, and +finally made the landing-place. The other boat could render no +assistance; but, indeed, the whole thing was the work of a few +minutes. + +As the boats could not conveniently leave the rock till flood-tide, +all hands set to work with unwonted energy in order to keep +themselves warm, not, however, before they ate heartily of their +favourite dulse--the blacksmith being conspicuous for the voracious +manner in which he devoured it. + +Soon the bellows were set up; the fire was kindled, and the ring of +the anvil heard; but poor Dove and Ruby had little pleasure in their +work that day; for the wind blew the smoke and sparks about their +faces, and occasionally a higher wave than ordinary sent the spray +flying round them, to the detriment of their fire. Nevertheless they +plied the hammer and bellows unceasingly. + +The other men went about their work with similar disregard of the +fury of the elements and the wet condition of their garments. + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE RISING OF THE TIDE--A NARROW ESCAPE + +The portion of the work that Mr. Stevenson was now most anxious to +get advanced was the beacon. + +The necessity of having an erection of this kind was very obvious, +for, in the event of anything happening to the boats, there would be +no refuge for the men to fly to; and the tide would probably sweep +them all away before their danger could be known, or assistance sent +from the attendant vessels. Every man felt that his personal safety +might depend on the beacon during some period of the work. The +energies of all, therefore, were turned to the preliminary +arrangements for its erection. + +As the beacon would require to withstand the utmost fury of the +elements during all seasons of the year, it was necessary that it +should be possessed of immense strength. + +In order to do this, six cuttings were made in the rock for the +reception of the ends of the six great beams of the beacon. Each beam +was to be fixed to the solid rock by two strong and massive bats, or +stanchions, of iron. These bats, for the fixing of the principal and +diagonal beams and bracing chains, required fifty-four holes, each +measuring a foot and a half deep, and two inches wide. The operation +of boring such holes into the solid rock, was not an easy or a quick +one, but by admirable arrangements on the part of the engineer, and +steady perseverance on the part of the men, they progressed faster +than had been anticipated. + +Three men were attached to each jumper, or boring chisel; one placed +himself in a sitting posture, to guide the instrument, and give it a +turn at each blow of the hammer; he also sponged and cleaned out the +hole, and supplied it occasionally with a little water, while the +other two, with hammers of sixteen pounds weight, struck the jumper +alternately, generally bringing the hammer with a swing round the +shoulder, after the manner of blacksmith work. + +Ruby, we may remark in passing, occupied himself at this work as +often as he could get away from his duties at the forge, being +particularly fond of it, as it enabled him to get rid of some of his +superabundant energy, and afforded him a suitable exercise for his +gigantic strength. It also tended to relieve his feelings when he +happened to think of Minnie being so near, and he so utterly and +hopelessly cut off from all communication with her. + +But to return to the bat-holes. The three men relieved each other in +the operations of wielding the hammers and guiding the jumpers, so +that the work never flagged for a moment, and it was found that when +the tools were of a very good temper, these holes could be sunk at +the rate of one inch per minute, including stoppages. But the tools +were not always of good temper; and severely was poor Dove's temper +tried by the frequency of the scolds which he received from the men, +some of whom were clumsy enough, Dove said, to spoil the best +tempered tool in the world. + +But the most tedious part of the operation did not lie in the boring +of these holes. In order that they should be of the required shape, +two holes had to be bored a few inches apart from each other, and the +rock cut away from between them. It was this latter part of the work +that took up most time. + +Those of the men who were not employed about the beacon were working +at the foundation-pit. + +While the party were thus busily occupied on the Bell Rock, an event +occurred which rendered the importance of the beacon, if possible, +more obvious than ever, and which wellnigh put an end to the career +of all those who were engaged on the rock at that time. + +The _Pharos_ floating light lay at a distance of above two miles from +the Bell Rock; but one of the smaller vessels, the sloop _Smeaton_, +lay much closer to it, and some of the artificers were berthed aboard +of her, instead of the floating light. + +Some time after the landing of the two boats from the _Pharos_, the +_Smeaton's_ boat put off and landed eight men on the rock; soon after +which the crew of the boat pushed off and returned to the _Smeaton_ +to examine her riding-ropes, and see that they were in good order, +for the wind was beginning to increase, and the sea to rise. + +The boat had no sooner reached the vessel than the latter began to +drift, carrying the boat along with her. Instantly those on board +endeavoured to hoist the mainsail of the Smeaton, with the view of +working her up to the buoy from which she had parted; but it blew so +hard, that by the time she was got round to make a tack towards the +rock, she had drifted at least three miles to leeward. + +The circumstance of the _Smeaton_ and her boat having drifted was +observed first by Mr. Stevenson, who prudently refrained from drawing +attention to the fact, and walked slowly to the farther point of the +rock to watch her. He was quickly followed by the landing-master, who +touched him on the shoulder, and in perfect silence, but with a look +of intense anxiety, pointed to the vessel. + +"I see it, Wilson. God help us if she fails to make the rock within a +very short time," said Mr. Stevenson. + +"She will _never_ reach us in time," said Wilson, in a tone that +convinced his companion he entertained no hope. + +"Perhaps she may," he said hurriedly; "she is a good sailer." + +"Good sailing," replied the other, "cannot avail against wind and +tide together. No human power can bring that vessel to our aid until +long after the tide has covered the Bell Rock." + +Both remained silent for some time, watching with intense anxiety the +ineffectual efforts of the little vessel to beat up to windward. + +In a few minutes the engineer turned to his companion and said, "They +cannot save us, Wilson. The two boats that are left--can they hold us +all?" + +The landing-master shook his head. "The two boats," said he, "will be +completely filled by their own crews. For ordinary rough weather they +would be quite full enough. In a sea like that," he said, pointing to +the angry waves that were being gradually lashed into foam by the +increasing wind, "they will be overloaded." + +"Come, I don't know that, Wilson; we may devise something," said Mr. +Stevenson, with a forced air of confidence, as he moved slowly +towards the place where the men were still working, busy as bees and +all unconscious of the perilous circumstances in which they were +placed. + +As the engineer pondered the prospect of deliverance, his thoughts +led him rather to despair than to hope. There were thirty-two persons +in all upon the rock that day, with only two boats, which, even in +good weather, could not unitedly accommodate more than twenty-four +sitters. But to row to the floating light with so much wind and in so +heavy a sea, a complement of eight men for each boat was as much as +could with propriety be attempted, so that about half of their number +was thus unprovided for. Under these circumstances he felt that to +despatch one of the boats in expectation of either working the +Smeaton sooner up to the rock, or in hopes of getting her boat +brought to their assistance would, besides being useless, at once +alarm the workmen, each of whom would probably insist upon taking to +his own boat, and leaving the eight men of the Smeaton to their +chance. A scuffle might ensue, and he knew well that when men are +contending for life the results may be very disastrous. + +For a considerable time the men remained in ignorance of terrible +conflict that was going on in their commander's breast. As they +wrought chiefly in sitting or kneeling postures, excavating the rock +or boring with jumpers, their attention was naturally diverted from +everything else around them. The dense volumes of smoke, too, that +rose from the forge fire, so enveloped them as to render distant +objects dim or altogether invisible. + +While this lasted,--while the numerous hammers were going and the +anvil continued to sound, the situation of things did not appear so +awful to the only two who were aware of what had occurred. But ere +long the tide began to rise upon those who were at work on the lower +parts of the beacon and lighthouse. From the run of the sea upon the +rock, the forge fire was extinguished sooner than usual; the volumes +of smoke cleared away, and objects became visible in every direction. + +After having had about three hours' work, the men began pretty +generally to make towards their respective boats for their jackets +and socks. + +Then it was that they made the discovery that one boat was absent. + +Only a few exclamations were uttered. A glance at the two boats and a +hurried gaze to seaward were sufficient to acquaint them with their +awful position. Not a word was spoken by anyone. All appeared to be +silently calculating their numbers, and looking at each other with +evident marks of perplexity depicted in their countenances. The +landing-master, conceiving that blame might attach to him for having +allowed the boat to leave the rock, kept a little apart from the men. + +All eyes were turned, as if by instinct, to Mr. Stevenson. The men +seemed to feel that the issue lay with him. + +The engineer was standing on an elevated part of the rock named +Smith's Ledge, gazing in deep anxiety at the distant _Smeaton_, in +the hope that he might observe some effort being made, at least, to +pull the boat to their rescue. + +Slowly but surely the tide rose, overwhelming the lower parts of the +rock; sending each successive wave nearer and nearer to the feet of +those who were now crowded on the last ledge that could afford them +standing-room. + +The deep silence that prevailed was awful! It proved that each mind +saw clearly the impossibility of anything being devised, and that a +deadly struggle for precedence was inevitable. + +Mr. Stevenson had all along been rapidly turning over in his mind +various schemes which might be put in practice for the general +safety, provided the men could be kept under command. He accordingly +turned to address them on the perilous nature of their circumstances; +intending to propose that all hands should strip off their upper +clothing when the higher parts of the rock should be laid under +water; that the seamen should remove every unnecessary weight and +encumbrance from the boats; that a specified number of men should go +into each boat; and that the remainder should hang by the gunwales, +while the boats were to be rowed gently towards the _Smeaton_, as the +course to the floating light lay rather to windward of the rock. + +But when he attempted to give utterance to his thoughts the words +refused to come. So powerful an effect had the awful nature of their +position upon him, that his parched tongue could not articulate. He +learned, from terrible experience, that saliva is as necessary to +speech as the tongue itself. Stooping hastily, he dipped his hand +into a pool of salt water and moistened his mouth. This produced +immediate relief and he was about to speak, when Ruby Brand, who had +stood at his elbow all the time with compressed lips and a stern +frown on his brow, suddenly took off his cap, and waving it above his +head, shouted "A boat! a boat!" with all the power of his lungs. + +All eyes were at once turned in the direction to which he pointed, +and there, sure enough, a large boat was seen through the haze, +making towards the rock. + +Doubtless many a heart there swelled with gratitude to God, who had +thus opportunely and most unexpectedly sent them relief at the +eleventh hour; but the only sound that escaped them was a cheer, such +as men seldom give or hear save in eases of deliverance in times of +dire extremity. + +The boat belonged to James Spink, the Bell Rock pilot, who chanced to +have come off express from Arbroath that day with letters. + +We have said that Spink came off _by chance_; but, when we consider +all the circumstances of the case, and the fact that boats seldom +visited the Bell Rock at any time, and never during bad weather, we +are constrained to feel that God does in His mercy interfere +sometimes in a peculiar and special manner in human affairs, and that +there was something more and higher than mere chance in the +deliverance of Stevenson and his men upon this occasion. + +The pilot-boat, having taken on board as many as it could hold, set +sail for the floating light; the other boats then put off from the +rock with the rest of the men, but they did not reach the _Pharos_ +until after a long and weary pull of three hours, during which the +waves broke over the boats so frequently as to necessitate constant +baling. + +When the floating light was at last reached, a new difficulty met +them, for the vessel rolled so much, and the men were so exhausted, +that it proved to be a work of no little toil and danger to get them +all on board. + +Long Forsyth, in particular, cost them all an infinite amount of +labour, for he was so sick, poor fellow, that he could scarcely move. +Indeed, he did at one time beg them earnestly to drop him into the +sea and be done with him altogether, a request with which they of +course refused to comply. However, he was got up somehow, and the +whole of them were comforted by a glass of rum and thereafter a cup +of hot coffee. + +Ruby had the good fortune to obtain the additional comfort of a +letter from Minnie, which, although it did not throw much light on +the proceedings of Captain Ogilvy (for that sapient seaman's +proceedings were usually involved in a species of obscurity which +light could not penetrate), nevertheless assured him that something +was being done in his behalf, and that, if he only kept quiet for a +time, all would be well. + +The letter also assured him of the unalterable affection of the +writer, an assurance which caused him to rejoice to such an extent +that he became for a time perfectly regardless of all other sublunary +things, and even came to look upon the Bell Rock as a species of +paradise, watched over by the eye of an angel with golden hair, in +which he could indulge his pleasant dreams to the utmost. + +That he had to indulge those dreams in the midst of storm and rain +and smoke, surrounded by sea and seaweed, workmen and hammers, and +forges and picks, and jumpers and seals, while his strong muscles and +endurance were frequently tried to the uttermost, was a matter of no +moment to Ruby Brand. + +All experience goes to prove that great joy will utterly overbear the +adverse influence of physical troubles, especially if those troubles +are without, and do not touch the seats of life within. Minnie's +love, expressed as it was in her own innocent, truthful, and +straightforward way, rendered his body, big though it was, almost +incapable of containing his soul. He pulled the oar, hammered the +jumper, battered the anvil, tore at the bellows, and hewed the solid +Bell Rock with a vehemence that aroused the admiration of his +comrades, and induced Jamie Dove to pronounce him to be the best +fellow the world ever produced. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A STORM, AND A DISMAL STATE OF THINGS ON BOARD THE _PHAROS_ + +From what has been said at the close of the last chapter, it will not +surprise the reader to be told that the storm which blew during that +night had no further effect on Ruby Brand than to toss his hair +about, and cause a ruddier glow than usual to deepen the tone of his +bronzed countenance. + +It was otherwise with many of his hapless comrades, a few of whom had +also received letters that day, but whose pleasure was marred to some +extent by the qualms within. + +Being Saturday, a glass of rum was served out in the evening, +according to custom, and the men proceeded to hold what is known by +the name of "Saturday night at sea". + +This being a night that was usually much enjoyed on board, owing to +the home memories that were recalled, and the familiar songs that +were sung; owing, also, to the limited supply of grog, which might +indeed cheer, but could not by any possibility inebriate, the men +endeavoured to shake off their fatigue, and to forget, if possible, +the rolling of the vessel. + +The first effort was not difficult, but the second was not easy. At +first, however, the gale was not severe, so they fought against +circumstances bravely for a time. + +"Come, lads," cried the smith, in a species of serio-comic +desperation, when they had all assembled below, "let's drink to +sweethearts and wives." + +"Hear, hear! Bless their hearts! Sweethearts and wives!" responded +the men. "Hip, hip!" + +The cheer that followed was a genuine one. + +"Now for a song, boys," cried one of the men, "and I think the last +arrivals are bound to sing first." + +"Hear, hear! Ruby, lad, you're in for it," said the smith, who sat +near his assistant. + +"What shall I sing?" enquired Ruby. + +"Oh! let me see," said Joe Dumsby, assuming the air of one who +endeavoured to recall something. "Could you come Beet'oven's symphony +on B flat?" + +"Ah! howld yer tongue, Joe," cried O'Connor, "sure the young man can +only sing on the sharp kays; ain't he always sharpin' the tools, not +to speak of his appetite?" + +"You've a blunt way of speaking yourself, friend," said Dumsby, in a +tone of reproof. + +"Hallo! stop your jokes," cried the smith; "if you treat us to any +more o' that sort o' thing we'll have ye dipped over the side, and +hung up to dry at the end o' the mainyard. Fire away, Ruby, my +tulip!" + +"Ay, that's hit," said John Watt. "Gie us the girl ye left behind +ye." + +Ruby flushed suddenly, and turned towards the speaker with a look of +surprise. + +"What's wrang, freend? Hae ye never heard o' that sang?" enquired +Watt. + +"O yes, I forgot," said Ruby, recovering himself in some confusion. +"I know the song--I--I was thinking of something--of----" + +"The girl ye left behind ye, av coorse," put in O'Connor, with a +wink. + +"Come, strike up!" cried the men. + +Ruby at once obeyed, and sang the desired song with a sweet, full +voice, that had the effect of moistening some of the eyes present. + +The song was received enthusiastically. "Your health and song, lad," +said Robert Selkirk, the principal builder, who came down the ladder +and joined them at that moment. + +"Thank you, now it's my call," said Ruby. "I call upon Ned O'Connor +for a song." + +"Or a speech," cried Forsyth. + +"A spaitch is it?" said O'Connor, with a look of deep modesty. "Sure, +I never made a spaitch in me life, except when I axed Mrs. O'Connor +to marry me, an' I never finished that spaitch, for I only got the +length of 'Och! darlint', when she cut me short in the middle with +'Sure, you may have me, Ned, and welcome!'" + +"Shame, shame!" said Dove, "to say that of your wife." + +"Shame to yersilf," cried O'Connor indignantly. "Ain't I payin' the +good woman a compliment, when I say that she had pity on me +bashfulness, and came to me help when I was in difficulty?" + +"Quite right, O'Connor; but let's have a song if you won't speak." + +"Would ye thank a cracked tay-kittle for a song?" said Ned. + +"Certainly not," replied Peter Logan, who was apt to take things too +literally. + +"Then don't ax _me_ for wan," said the Irishman, "but I'll do this +for ye, messmates: I'll read ye the last letter I got from the +mistress, just to show ye that her price is beyond all calkerlation." + +A round of applause followed this offer, as Ned drew forth a +much-soiled letter from the breast pocket of his coat, and carefully +unfolding it, spread it on his knee. + +"It begins," said O'Connor, in a slightly hesitating tone, "with some +expressions of a--a--raither endearin' character, that perhaps I may +as well pass." + +"No, no," shouted the men, "let's have them all. Out with them, +Paddy!" + +"Well, well, av ye _will_ have them, here they be. + + "'GALWAY. + +"'My own purty darlin' as has bin my most luved sin' the day we wos +marrit, you'll be grieved to larn that the pig's gone to its long +home,'" + +Here O'Connor paused to make some parenthetical remarks, with which, +indeed, he interlarded the whole letter. + +"The pig, you must know, lads, was an old sow as belonged to me +wife's gran'-mother, an' besides bein' a sort o' pet o' the family, +was an uncommon profitable crature. But to purceed. She goes on to +say,-- + +"'We waked her' (that's the pig, boys) 'yisterday, and buried her +this mornin'. Big Rory, the baist, was for aitin' her, but I wouldn't +hear of it; so she's at rest, an' so is old Molly Mallone. She wint +away just two minutes be the clock before the pig, and wos burried +the day afther. There's no more news as I knows of in the parish, +except that your old flame Mary got married to Teddy O'Rook, an' +they've been fightin' tooth an' nail ever since, as I towld ye they +would long ago. No man could live wid that woman. But the +schoolmaster, good man, has let me off the cow. Ye see, darlin', I +towld him ye wos buildin' a palace in the say, to put ships in afther +they wos wrecked on the coast of Ameriky, so ye couldn't be expected +to send home much money at prisint. An' he just said, 'Well, well, +Kathleen, you may just kaip the cow, and pay me whin ye can'. So put +that off yer mind, my swait Ned. + +"'I'm sorry to hear the Faries rowls so bad, though what the Faries +mains is more nor I can tell.' (I spelled the word quite krect, lads, +but my poor mistress hain't got the best of eyesight.) 'Let me know +in yer nixt, an' be sure to tell me if Long Forsyth has got the +bitter o' say-sickness. I'm koorius about this, bekaise I've got a +receipt for that same that's infallerable, as his Riverence says. +Tell him, with my luv, to mix a spoonful o' pepper, an' two o' salt, +an' wan o' mustard, an' a glass o' whisky in a taycup, with a +sprinklin' o' ginger; fill it up with goat's milk, or ass's, av ye +can't git goat's; hait it in a pan, an' drink it as hot as he +can--hotter, if possible. I niver tried it meself, but they say it's +a suverin' remidy; and if it don't do no good, it's not likely to do +much harm, bein' but a waik mixture. Me own belaif is, that the +milk's a mistake, but I suppose the doctors know best. + +"'Now, swaitest of men, I must stop, for Neddy's just come in howlin' +like a born Turk for his tay; so no more at present from, yours till +deth, + + "'KATHLEEN O'CONNOR.'" + +"Has she any sisters?" enquired Joe Dumsby eagerly, as Ned folded the +letter and replaced it in his pocket. + +"Six of 'em," replied Ned; "every one purtier and better nor +another." + +"Is it a long way to Galway?" continued Joe. + +"Not long; but it's a coorious thing that Englishmen never come back +from them parts whin they wance ventur' into them." + +Joe was about to retort when the men called for another song. + +"Come, Jamie Dove, let's have 'Rule, Britannia'." + +Dove was by this time quite yellow in the face, and felt more +inclined to go to bed than to sing; but he braced himself up, +resolved to struggle manfully against the demon that oppressed him. + +It was in vain! Poor Dove had just reached that point in the chorus +where Britons stoutly affirm that they "never, never, never shall be +slaves", when a tremendous roll of the vessel caused him to spring +from the locker, on which he sat, and rush to his berth. + +There were several of the others whose self-restraint was demolished +by this example; these likewise fled, amid the laughter of their +companions, who broke up the meeting and went on deck. + +The prospect of things there proved, beyond all doubt, that Britons +never did, and never will, rule the waves. + +The storm, which had been brewing for some time past, was gathering +fresh strength every moment, and it became abundantly evident that +the floating light would have her anchors and cables tested pretty +severely before the gale was over. + +About eight o'clock in the evening the wind shifted to +east-south-east; and at ten it became what seamen term a hard gale, +rendering it necessary to veer out about fifty additional fathoms of +the hempen cable. The gale still increasing, the ship rolled and +laboured excessively, and at midnight eighty fathoms more were veered +out, while the sea continued to strike the vessel with a degree of +force that no one had before experienced. + +That night there was little rest on board the _Pharos_. Everyone who +has been "at sea" knows what it is to lie in one's berth on a stormy +night, with the planks of the deck only a few inches from one's nose, +and the water swashing past the little port that _always_ leaks; the +seas striking against the ship; the heavy sprays falling on the +decks; and the constant rattle and row of blocks, spars, and cordage +overhead. But all this was as nothing compared with the state of +things on board the floating light, for that vessel could not rise to +the seas with the comparatively free motions of a ship, sailing +either with or against the gale. She tugged and strained at her +cable, as if with the fixed determination of breaking it, and she +offered all the opposition of a fixed body to the seas. + +Daylight, though ardently longed for, brought no relief. The gale +continued with unabated violence. The sea struck so hard upon the +vessel's bows that it rose in great quantities, or, as Ruby expressed +it, in "green seas", which completely swept the deck as far aft as +the quarter-deck, and not unfrequently went completely over the stern +of the ship. + +Those "green seas" fell at last so heavily on the skylights that all +the glass was driven in, and the water poured down into the cabins, +producing dire consternation in the minds of those below, who thought +that the vessel was sinking. + +"I'm drowned intirely," roared poor Ned O'Connor, as the first of +those seas burst in and poured straight down on his hammock, which +happened to be just beneath the skylight. + +Ned sprang out on the deck, missed his footing, and was hurled with +the next roll of the ship into the arms of the steward, who was +passing through the place at the time. + +Before any comments could be made the dead-lights were put on, and +the cabins were involved in almost absolute darkness. + +"Och! let me in beside ye," pleaded Ned with the occupant of the +nearest berth. + +"Awa' wi' ye! Na, na," cried John Watt, pushing the unfortunate man +away. "Cheinge yer wat claes first, an' I'll maybe let ye in, if ye +can find me again i' the dark." + +While the Irishman was groping about in search of his chest, one of +the officers of the ship passed him on his way to the companion +ladder, intending to go on deck. Ruby Brand, feeling uncomfortable +below, leaped out of his hammock and followed him. They had both got +about halfway up the ladder when a tremendous sea struck the ship, +causing it to tremble from stem to stern. At the same moment someone +above opened the hatch, and putting his head down, shouted for the +officer, who happened to be just ascending. + +"Ay, ay," replied the individual in question. + +Just as he spoke, another heavy sea fell on the deck, and, rushing +aft like a river that has burst its banks, hurled the seaman into the +arms of the officer, who fell back upon Ruby, and all three came down +with tons of water into the cabin. + +The scene that followed would have been ludicrous, had it not been +serious. The still rising sea caused the vessel to roll with +excessive violence, and the large quantity of water that had burst in +swept the men, who had jumped out of their beds, and all movable +things, from side to side in indescribable confusion. As the water +dashed up into the lower tier of beds, it was found necessary to lift +one of the scuttles in the floor, and let it flow into the limbers of +the ship. + +Fortunately no one was hurt, and Ruby succeeded in gaining the deck +before the hatch was reclosed and fastened down upon the scene of +discomfort and misery below. + +This state of things continued the whole day. The seas followed in +rapid succession, and each, as it struck the vessel, caused her to +shake all over. At each blow from a wave the rolling and pitching +ceased for a few seconds, giving the impression that the ship had +broken adrift, and was running with the wind, or in the act of +sinking; but when another sea came, she ranged up against it with +great force. This latter effect at last became the regular intimation +to the anxious men below that they were still riding safely at +anchor. + +No fires could be lighted, therefore nothing could be cooked, so that +the men were fain to eat hard biscuits--those of them at least who +were able to eat at all--and lie in their wet blankets all day. + +At ten in the morning the wind had shifted to north-east, and blew, +if possible, harder than before, accompanied by a much heavier swell +of the sea; it was therefore judged advisable to pay out more cable, +in order to lessen the danger of its giving way. + +During the course of the gale nearly the whole length of the hempen +cable, of 120 fathoms, was veered out, besides the chain-moorings, +and, for its preservation, the cable was carefully "served", or +wattled, with pieces of canvas round the windlass, and with leather +well greased in the hawse-hole, where the chafing was most violent. + +As may readily be imagined, the gentleman on whom rested nearly all +the responsibility connected with the work at the Bell Rock, passed +an anxious and sleepless time in his darkened berth. During the +morning he had made an attempt to reach the deck, but had been +checked by the same sea that produced the disasters above described. + +About two o'clock in the afternoon great alarm was felt in +consequence of a heavy sea that struck the ship, almost filling the +waist, and pouring down into the berths below, through every chink +and crevice of the hatches and skylights. From the motion being +suddenly checked or deadened, and from the flowing in of the water +above, every individual on board thought that the ship was +foundering--at least all the landsmen were fully impressed with that +idea. + +Mr. Stevenson could not remain below any longer. As soon as the ship +again began to range up to the sea, he made another effort to get on +deck. Before going, however, he went through the various apartments, +in order to ascertain the state of things below. + +Groping his way in darkness from his own cabin, he came to that of +the officers of the ship. Here all was quiet, as well as dark. He +next entered the galley and other compartments occupied by the +artificers; here also all was dark, but not quiet, for several of the +men were engaged in prayer, or repeating psalms in a full tone of +voice, while others were protesting that if they should be fortunate +enough to get once more ashore, no one should ever see them afloat +again; but so loud was the creaking of the bulk-heads, the dashing of +water, and the whistling noise of the wind, that it was hardly +possible to distinguish words or voices. + +The master of the vessel accompanied Mr. Stevenson, and, in one or +two instances, anxious and repeated enquiries were made by the +workmen as to the state of things on deck, to all of which he +returned one characteristic answer--"It can't blow long in this way, +lads; we _must_ have better weather soon." + +The next compartment in succession, moving forward, was that allotted +to the seamen of the ship. Here there was a characteristic difference +in the scene. Having reached the middle of the darksome berth without +the inmates being aware of the intrusion, the anxious engineer was +somewhat reassured and comforted to find that, although they talked +of bad weather and cross accidents of the sea, yet the conversation +was carried on in that tone and manner which bespoke ease and +composure of mind. + +"Well, lads," said Mr. Stevenson, accosting the men, "what think you +of this state of things? Will the good ship weather it?" + +"Nae fear o' her, sir," replied one confidently, "she's light and +new; it'll tak' a heavy sea to sink her." + +"Ay," observed another, "and she's got little hold o' the water, good +ground-tackle, and no tophamper; she'll weather anything, sir." + +Having satisfied himself that all was right below, Mr. Stevenson +returned aft and went on deck, where a sublime and awful sight +awaited him. The waves appeared to be what we hear sometimes termed +"mountains high". In reality they were perhaps about thirty feet of +unbroken water in height, their foaming crests being swept and torn +by the furious gale. All beyond the immediate neighbourhood of the +ship was black and chaotic. + +Upon deck everything movable was out of sight, having either been +stowed away below previous to the gale, or washed overboard. Some +parts of the quarter bulwarks were damaged by the breach of the sea, +and one of the boats was broken, and half-full of water. + +There was only one solitary individual on deck, placed there to watch +and give the alarm if the cable should give way, and this man was +Ruby Brand, who, having become tired of having nothing to do, had +gone on deck, as we have seen, and volunteered his services as +watchman. + +Ruby had no greatcoat on, no overall of any kind, but was simply +dressed in his ordinary jacket and trousers. He had thrust his cap +into his pocket in order to prevent it being blown away, and his +brown locks were streaming in the wind. He stood just aft the +foremast, to which he had lashed himself with a gasket or small rope +round his waist, to prevent his falling on the deck or being washed +overboard. He was as thoroughly wet as if he had been drawn through +the sea, and this was one reason why he was so lightly clad, that he +might wet as few clothes as possible, and have a dry change when he +went below. + +There appeared to be a smile on his lips as he faced the angry gale +and gazed steadily out upon the wild ocean. He seemed to be enjoying +the sight of the grand elemental strife that was going on around him. +Perchance he was thinking of someone not very far away--with golden +hair! + +Mr. Stevenson, coupling this smile on Ruby's face with the remarks of +the other seamen, felt that things were not so bad as they appeared +to unaccustomed eyes, nevertheless he deemed it right to advise with +the master and officers as to the probable result, in the event of +the ship drifting from her moorings. + +"It is my opinion," said the master, on his being questioned as to +this, "that we have every chance of riding out the gale, which cannot +continue many hours longer with the same fury; and even if she should +part from her anchor, the storm-sails have been laid ready to hand, +and can be bent in a very short time. The direction of the wind being +nor'-east, we could sail up the Forth to Leith Roads; but if this +should appear doubtful, after passing the May we can steer for +Tyningham Sands, on the western side of Dunbar, and there run the +ship ashore. From the flatness of her bottom and the strength of her +build, I should think there would be no danger in beaching her even +in a very heavy sea." + +This was so far satisfactory, and for some time things continued in +pretty much the state we have just described, but soon after there +was a sudden cessation of the straining motion of the ship which +surprised everyone. In another moment Ruby shouted "All hands a-hoy! +ship's adrift!" + +The consternation that followed may be conceived but not described. +The windlass was instantly manned, and the men soon gave out that +there was no strain on the cable. The mizzen-sail, which was +occasionally bent for the purpose of making the ship ride easily, was +at once set; the other sails were hoisted as quickly as possible, and +they bore away about a mile to the south-westward, where, at a spot +that was deemed suitable, the best-bower anchor was let go in twenty +fathoms water. + +Happily the storm had begun to abate before this accident happened. +Had it occurred during the height of the gale, the result might have +been most disastrous to the undertaking at the Bell Rock. + +Having made all fast, an attempt was made to kindle the galley fire +and cook some food. + +"Wot are we to 'ave, steward?" enquired Joe Dumsby, in a feeble +voice. + +"Plumduff, my boy, so cheer up," replied the steward, who was busy +with the charming ingredients of a suet pudding, which was the only +dish to be attempted, owing to the ease with which it could be both +cooked and served up. + +Accordingly, the suet pudding was made; the men began to cat; the +gale began to "take off", as seaman express it; and, Although things +were still very far removed from a state of comfort, they began to be +more endurable; health began to return to the sick, and hope to those +who had previously given way to despair. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +BELL ROCK BILLOWS--AN UNEXPECTED VISIT--A DISASTER AND A RESCUE + +It is pleasant, it is profoundly enjoyable, to sit on the margin of +the sea during the dead calm that not unfrequently succeeds a wild +storm, and watch the gentle undulations of the glass-like surface, +which the very gulls seem to be disinclined to ruffle with their +wings as they descend to hover above their own reflected images. + +It is pleasant to watch this from the shore, where the waves fall in +low murmuring ripples, or from the ship's deck, far out upon the sea, +where there is no sound of water save the laving of the vessel's bow +as she rises and sinks in the broad-backed swell; but there is +something more than pleasant, there is something deeply and +peculiarly interesting, in the same scene when viewed from such a +position as the Bell Rock; for there, owing to the position of the +rock and the depth of water around it, the observer beholds, at the +same moment, the presence, as it were, of storm and calm. + +The largest waves there are seen immediately after a storm has passed +away, not during its continuance, no matter how furious the gale may +have been, for the rushing wind has a tendency to blow down the +waves, so to speak, and prevent their rising to their utmost height. +It is when the storm is over that the swell rises; but as this swell +appears only like large undulations, it does not impress the beholder +with its magnitude until it draws near to the rock and begins to feel +the checking influence of the bottom of the sea. The upper part of +the swell, having then greater velocity than the lower part, assumes +more and more the form of a billow. As it comes on it towers up like +a great green wall of glittering glass, moving with a grand, solemn +motion, which does not at first give the idea of much force or +impetus. As it nears the rock, however, its height (probably fifteen +or twenty feet) becomes apparent; its velocity increases; the top, +with what may be termed gentle rapidity, rushes in advance of the +base; its dark green side becomes concave; the upper edge lips over, +then curls majestically downwards, as if bowing to a superior power, +and a gleam of light flashes for a moment on the curling top. As yet +there is no sound; all has occurred in the profound silence of the +calm, but another instant and there is a mighty crash--a deafening +roar; the great wall of water has fallen, and a very sea of churning +foam comes leaping, bursting, spouting over rocks and ledges, +carrying all before it with a tremendous sweep that seems to be +absolutely irresistible until it meets the higher ledges of rock, +when it is hurled back, and retires with a watery hiss that suggests +the idea of baffled rage. + +But it is not conquered. With the calm majesty of unalterable +determination, wave after wave comes on, in slow, regular succession, +like the inexhaustible battalions of an unconquerable foe, to meet +with a similar repulse again and again. + +There is, however, this peculiar difference between the waves on the +ordinary seashore and the billows on the Bell Rock, that the latter, +unlike the former, are not always defeated. The spectator on shore +plants his foot confidently at the very edge of the mighty sea, +knowing that "thus far it may come, but no farther". On the Bell Rock +the rising tide makes the conflict, for a time, more equal. Now, the +rock stands proudly above the sea: anon the sea sweeps furiously over +the rock with a roar of "Victory!" + +Thus the war goes on, and thus the tide of battle daily and nightly +ebbs and flows all the year round. + +But when the cunning hand of man began to interfere, the aspect of +things was changed, the sea was forced to succumb, and the rock, once +a dreaded enemy, became a servant of the human race. True, the former +rages in rebellion still, and the latter, although compelled to +uphold the light that warns against itself, continues its perpetual +warfare with the sea; but both are effectually conquered by means of +the wonderful intelligence that God has given to man, and the sea for +more than half a century has vainly beat against the massive tower +whose foundation is on the Bell Rock. + +But all this savours somewhat of anticipation. Let us return to Ruby +Brand, in whose interest we have gone into this long digression; for +he it was who gazed intently at the mingled scene of storm and calm +which we have attempted to describe, and it was he who thought out +most of the ideas which we have endeavoured to convey. + +Ruby had lent a hand to work the pump at the foundation-pit that +morning. After a good spell at it he took his turn of rest, and, in +order to enjoy it fully, went as far out as he could upon the seaward +ledges, and sat down on a piece of rock to watch the waves. + +While seated there, Robert Selkirk came and sat down beside him. +Selkirk was the principal builder, and ultimately laid every stone of +the lighthouse with his own hand. He was a sedate, quiet man, but +full of energy and perseverance. When the stones were landed faster +than they could be built into their places, he and Bremner, as well +as some of the other builders, used to work on until the rising tide +reached their waists. + +"It's a grand sight, Ruby," said Selkirk, as a larger wave than usual +fell, and came rushing in torrents of foam up to their feet, sending +a little of the spray over their heads. + +"It is indeed a glorious sight," said Ruby. "If I had nothing to do, +I believe I could sit here all day just looking at the waves and +thinking." + +"Thinkin'!" repeated Selkirk, in a musing tone of voice. "Can ye +tell, lad, what ye think about when you're lookin' at the waves?" + +Ruby smiled at the oddness of the question. + +"Well," said he, "I don't think I ever thought of that before." + +"Ah, but _I_ have!" said the other, "an' I've come to the conclusion +that for the most part we don't think, properly speakin', at all; +that our thoughts, so to speak, think for us; that they just take the +bit in their teeth and go rumblin' and tumblin' about anyhow or +nohow!" + +Ruby knitted his brows and pondered. He was one of those men who, +when they don't understand a thing, hold their tongues and think. + +"And," continued Selkirk, "it's curious to observe what a lot o' +nonsense one thinks too when one is lookin' at the waves. Many a time +I have pulled myself up, thinkin' the most astonishin' stuff ye could +imagine." + +"I would hardly have expected this of such a grave kind o' man as +you," said Ruby. + +"Mayhap not. It is not always the gravest looking that have the +gravest thoughts." + +"But you don't mean to say that you never think sense," continued +Ruby, "when you sit looking at the waves?" + +"By no means," returned his companion; "I'm only talking of the way +in which one's thoughts will wander. Sometimes I think seriously +enough. Sometimes I think it strange that men can look at such a +scene as that, and scarcely bestow a thought upon Him who made it." + +"Speak for yourself, friend," said Ruby, somewhat quickly; "how know +you that other men don't think about their Creator when they look at +His works?" + +"Because," returned Selkirk, "I find that I so seldom do so myself, +even although I wish to and often try to; and I hold that every man, +no matter what he is or feels, is one of a class who think and feel +as he does; also, because many people, especially Christians, have +told me that they have had the same experience to a large extent; +also, and chiefly, because, as far as unbelieving man is concerned, +the Bible tells me that 'God is not in all his thoughts'. But, Ruby, +I did not make the remark as a slur upon men in general, I merely +spoke of a fact,--an unfortunate fact,--that it is not natural to us, +and not easy, to rise from nature to nature's God, and I thought you +would agree with me." + +"I believe you are right," said Ruby, half-ashamed of the petulance +of his reply; "at any rate, I confess you are right as far as I am +concerned." + +As Selkirk and Ruby were both fond of discussion, they continued +this subject some time longer, and there is no saying how far they +would have gone down into the abstruse depths of theology, had not +their converse been interrupted by the appearance of a boat rowing +towards the rock. + +"Is yonder craft a fishing boat, think you?" said Ruby, rising and +pointing to it. + +"Like enough, lad. Mayhap it's the pilot's, only it's too soon for +him to be off again with letters. Maybe it's visitors to the rock, +for I see something like a woman's bonnet." + +As there was only one woman in the world at that time as far as Ruby +was concerned (of course putting his mother out of the question!), it +will not surprise the reader to be told that the youth started, that +his cheek reddened a little, and his heart beat somewhat faster than +usual. He immediately smiled, however, at the absurdity of supposing +it possible that the woman in the boat could be Minnie, and as the +blacksmith shouted to him at that moment, he turned on his heel and +leaped from ledge to ledge of rock until he gained his wonted place +at the forge. + +Soon he was busy wielding the fore-hammer, causing the sparks to fly +about himself and his comrade in showers, while the anvil rang out +its merry peal. + +Meanwhile the boat drew near. It turned out to be a party of +visitors, who had come off from Arbroath to see the operations at the +Bell Rock. They had been brought off by Spink, the pilot, and +numbered only three--namely, a tall soldierlike man, a stout +sailor-like man, and a young woman with--yes,--with golden hair. + +Poor Ruby almost leaped over the forge when he raised his eyes from +his work and caught sight of Minnie's sweet face. Minnie had +recognized her lover before the boat reached the rock, for he stood +on an elevated ledge, and the work in which he was engaged, swinging +the large hammer round his shoulder, rendered him very conspicuous. +She had studiously concealed her face from him until quite close, +when, looking him straight in the eyes without the least sign of +recognition, she turned away. + +We have said that the first glance Ruby obtained caused him to leap +nearly over the forge; the second created such a revulsion of feeling +that he let the fore-hammer fall. + +"Hallo! Got a spark in yer eye?" enquired Dove, looking up anxiously. + +It flashed across Ruby at that instant that the look given him by +Minnie was meant to warn him not to take any notice of her, so he +answered the smith's query with "No, no; I've only let the hammer +fall, don't you see? Get on, old boy, an' don't let the metal cool." + +The smith continued his work without further remark, and Ruby +assisted, resolving in his own mind to be a little more guarded as to +the expression of his feelings. + +Meanwhile Mr. Stevenson received the visitors, and showed them over +the works, pointing out the peculiarities thereof, and the +difficulties that stood in the way. + +Presently he came towards the forge, and said, "Brand, the stout +gentleman there wishes to speak to you. He says he knew you in +Arbroath. You can spare him for a few minutes, I suppose, Mr. Dove?" + +"Well, yes, but not for long," replied the smith. "The tide will soon +be up, and I've enough to do to get through with all these." + +Ruby flung down his hammer at the first word, and hastened to the +ledge of rock where the visitors were standing, as far apart from the +workmen as the space of the rock would admit of. + +The stout gentleman was no other than his uncle, Captain Ogilvy, who +put his finger to his lips as his nephew approached, and gave him a +look of mystery that was quite sufficient to put the latter on his +guard. He therefore went forward, pulled off his cap, and bowed +respectfully to Minnie, who replied with a stiff curtsy, a slight +smile, and a decided blush. + +Although Ruby now felt convinced that they were all acting a part, he +could scarcely bear this cold reception. His impulse was to seize +Minnie in his arms; but he did not even get the comfort of a cold +shake of the hand. + +"Nephy," said the captain in a hoarse whisper, putting his face close +to that of Ruby, "mum's the word! Silence, mystery, an' all that sort +o' thing. Don't appear to be an old friend, lad; and as to Minnie +here-- + + 'O no, we never mention her, + Her name it's never heard.' + +Allow me to introduce you to Major Stewart, whose house you broke +into, you know, Ruby, when + + 'All in the Downs the fleet was moored,' + +at least when the _Termagant_ was waitin' for you to go aboard." + +Here the captain winked and gave Ruby a facetious poke in the ribs, +which was not quite in harmony with the ignorance of each other he +was endeavouring to inculcate. + +"Young man," said the major quietly, "we have come off to tell you +that everything is in a prosperous state as regards the investigation +into your innocence--the private investigation I mean, for the +authorities happily know nothing of your being here. Captain Ogilvy +has made me his confidant in this matter, and from what he tells me I +am convinced that you had nothing to do with this robbery. Excuse me +if I now add that the sight of your face deepens this conviction." + +Ruby bowed to the compliment. + +"We were anxious to write at once to the captain of the vessel in +which you sailed," continued the major, "but you omitted to leave his +full name and address when you left. We were afraid to write to you, +lest your name on the letter might attract attention, and induce a +premature arrest. Hence our visit to the rock to-day. Please to write +the address in this pocket-book." + +The major handed Ruby a small green pocket-book as he spoke, in which +the latter wrote the full name and address of his late skipper. + +"Now, nephy," said the captain, "we must, I'm sorry to say, bid ye +good day, and ask you to return to your work, for it won't do to +rouse suspicion, lad. Only keep quiet here, and do yer +dooty--'England expects _every_ man to do his dooty'--and as sure as +your name's Ruby all will be shipshape in a few weeks." + +"I thank you sincerely," said Ruby, addressing the major, but looking +at Minnie. + +Captain Ogilvy, observing this, and fearing some display of feeling +that would be recognized by the workmen, who were becoming surprised +at the length of the interview, placed himself between Minnie and her +lover. + +"No, no, Ruby," said he, solemnly. "I'm sorry for ye, lad, but it +won't do. Patience is a virtue, which, taken at the flood, leads on +to fortune." + +"My mother?" said Ruby, wishing to prolong the interview. + +"Is well," said the captain. "Now, goodbye, lad, and be off." + +"Goodbye, Minnie," cried Ruby, stepping forward suddenly and seizing +the girl's hand; then, wheeling quickly round, he sprang over the +rocks, and returned to his post. + +"Ha! it's time," cried the smith. "I thought you would never be done +makin' love to that there girl. Come, blaze away!" + +Ruby felt so nettled by the necessity that was laid upon him of +taking no notice of Minnie, that he seized the handle of the bellows +passionately, and at the first puff blew nearly all the fire away. + +"Hallo! messmate," cried the smith, clearing the dust from his eyes; +"what on airth ails ye? You've blowed the whole consarn out!" + +Ruby made no reply, but, scraping together the embers, heaped them up +and blew more gently. + +In a short time the visitors re-entered their boat, and rowed out of +the creek in which it had been lying. + +Ruby became so exasperated at not being able even to watch the boat +going away, that he showered terrific blows on the mass of metal the +smith was turning rapidly on the anvil. + +"Not so fast, lad; not so fast," cried Dove hurriedly. + +Ruby's chafing spirit blew up just at that point; he hit the iron a +crack that knocked it as flat as a pancake, and then threw down the +hammer and deliberately gazed in the direction of the boat. + +The sight that met his eyes appalled him. The boat had been lying in +the inlet named Port Stevenson. It had to pass out to the open sea +through _Wilson's Track_, and past a small outlying rock named +_Gray's Rock_--known more familiarly among the men as _Johnny Gray_. +The boat was nearing this point, when the sea, which had been rising +for some time, burst completely over the seaward ledges, and swept +the boat high against the rocks on the left. The men had scarcely got +her again into the track when another tremendous billow, such as +we have already described, swept over the rocks again and swamped the +boat, which, being heavily ballasted, sank at once to the bottom of +the pool. + +It was this sight that met the horrified eyes of Ruby when he looked +up. + +He vaulted over the bellows like an antelope, and, rushing over +_Smith's Ledge_ and _Trinity Ledge_, sprang across _Port Boyle_, and +dived head foremost into _Neill's Pool_ before any of the other men, +who made a general rush, could reach the spot. + +A few powerful strokes brought Ruby to the place where the major and +the captain, neither of whom could swim, were struggling in the +water. He dived at once below these unfortunates, and almost in a +second, reappeared with Minnie in his arms. + +A few seconds sufficed to bring him to _Smith's Ledge_, where several +of his comrades hauled him and his burden beyond the reach of the +next wave, and where, a moment or two later, the major and captain +with the crew of the boat were landed in safety. + +To bear the light form of Minnie in his strong arms to the highest +and driest part of the rock was the work of a few moments to Ruby. +Brief though those moments were, however, they were precious to the +youth beyond all human powers of calculation, for Minnie recovered +partial consciousness, and fancying, doubtless, that she was still in +danger, flung her arms round his neck, and grasped him convulsively. +Reader, we tell you in confidence that if Ruby had at that moment +been laid on the rack and torn limb from limb, he would have cheered +out his life triumphantly. It was not only that he knew she loved +him--_that_ be knew before,--but he had saved the life of the girl he +loved, and a higher terrestrial happiness can scarcely be attained by +man. + +Laying her down as gently as a mother would her firstborn, Ruby +placed a coat under her head, and bade his comrades stand back and +give her air. It was fortunate for him that one of the foremen, who +understood what to do, came up at this moment, and ordered him to +leave off chafing the girl's hand with his wet fists, and go get some +water boiled at the forge if he wanted to do her good. + +Second words were not needed. The bellows were soon blowing, and the +fire glowed in a way that it had not done since the works at the Bell +Rock began. Before the water quite boiled some tea was put in, and, +with a degree of speed that would have roused the jealousy of any +living waiter, a cup of tea was presented to Minnie, who had +recovered almost at the moment Ruby left her. + +She drank a little, and then closing her eyes, moved her lips +silently for a few seconds. + +Captain Ogilvy, who had attended her with the utmost assiduity and +tenderness as soon as he had wrung the water out of his own garments, +here took an opportunity of hastily pouring something into the cup +out of a small flask. When Minnie looked up again and smiled, he +presented her with the cup. She thanked him, and drank a mouthful or +two before perceiving that it had been tampered with. + +"There's something in it," she said hurriedly. + +"So there is, my pet," said the captain, with a benignant smile, "a +little nectar, that will do you more good than all the tea. Come now, +don't shake your head, but down with it all, like a good child." + +But Minnie was proof against persuasion, and refused to taste any +more. + +"Who was it that saved me, uncle?" (She had got into the way of +calling the captain "uncle".) + +"Ruby Brand did it, my darlin'," said the old man with a look of +pride. "Ah! you're better now; stay, don't attempt to rise." + +"Yes, yes, uncle," she said, getting up and looking round, "it is +time that we should go now; we have a long way to go, you know. +Where is the boat?" + +"The boat, my precious, is at the bottom of the sea." + +As he said this, he pointed to the mast, half of which was seen +rising out of the pool where the boat had gone down. + +"But you don't need to mind," continued the captain, "for they're +goin' to send us in one o' their own boats aboord the floatin' +lightship, where we'll get a change o' clothes an' some-thin' to +eat." + +As he spoke, one of the sailors came forward and announced that the +boat was ready, so the captain and the major assisted Minnie into the +boat, which soon pushed off with part of the workmen from the rock. +It was to be sent back for the remainder of the crew, by which time +the tide would render it necessary that all should leave. + +Ruby purposely kept away from the group while they were embarking, +and after they were gone proceeded to resume work. + +"You took a smart dive that time, lad," observed Joe Dumsby as they +went along. + +"Not more than anyone would do for a girl," said Ruby. + +"An' such a purty wan, too," said O'Connor. "Ah! av she's not Irish, +she should ha' bin." + +"Ye're a lucky chap to hae sic a chance," observed John Watt. + +"Make up to her, lad," said Forsyth; "I think she couldn't refuse ye +after doin' her such service." + +"Time enough to chaff after work is over," cried Ruby with a laugh, +as he turned up his sleeves, and, seizing the hammer, began, as his +friend Dove said, "to work himself dry". + +In a few minutes, work was resumed, and for another hour all +continued busy as bees, cutting and pounding at the flinty surface of +the Bell Rock. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A SLEEPLESS BUT A PLEASANT NIGHT + +The evening which followed the day that has just been described was +bright, calm, and beautiful, with the starry host unclouded and +distinctly visible to the profoundest depths of space. + +As it was intended to send the _Smeaton_ to Arbroath next morning for +a cargo of stones from the building-yard, the wrecked party were +prevailed on to remain all night on board the _Pharos_, instead of +going ashore in one of the ship's boats, which could not well be +spared at the time. + +This arrangement, we need hardly say, gave inexpressible pleasure to +Ruby, and was not altogether distasteful to Minnie, although she felt +anxious about Mrs. Brand, who would naturally be much alarmed at the +prolonged absence of herself and the captain. However, "there was no +help for it"; and it was wonderful the resignation which she +displayed in the circumstances. + +It was not Ruby's duty to watch on deck that night, yet, strange to +say, Ruby kept watch the whole night long! + +There was no occasion whatever for Minnie to go on deck after it was +dark, yet, strange to say, Minnie kept coming on deck at intervals +_nearly_ the whole night long! Sometimes to "look at the stars", +sometimes to "get a mouthful of fresh air", frequently to find out +what "that strange noise could be that had alarmed her", and at +last--especially towards the early hours of morning--for no reason +whatever, except that "she could not sleep below". + +It was very natural that when Minnie paced the quarterdeck between +the stern and the mainmast, and Ruby paced the forepart of the deck +between the bows and the mainmast, the two should occasionally meet +at the mainmast. It was also very natural that when they did meet, +the girl who had been rescued should stop and address a few words of +gratitude to the man who had saved her. But it was by no means +natural--nay, it was altogether unnatural and unaccountable, that, +when it became dark, the said man and the said girl should get into a +close and confidential conversation, which lasted for hours, to the +amusement of Captain Ogilvy and the major, who quite understood it, +and to the amazement of many of the ship's crew, who couldn't +understand it at all. + +At last Minnie bade Ruby a final good night and went below, and Ruby, +who could not persuade himself that it was final, continued to walk +the deck until his eyes began to shut and open involuntarily like +those of a sick owl. Then he also went below, and, before he fell +quite asleep (according to his own impression), was awakened by the +bell that called the men to land on the rock and commence work. + +It was not only Ruby who found it difficult to rouse himself that +morning. The landing-bell was rung at four o'clock, as the tide +suited at that early hour, but the men were so fatigued that they +would gladly have slept some hours longer. This, however, the nature +of the service would not admit of. The building of the Bell Rock +Lighthouse was a peculiar service. It may be said to have resembled +duty in the trenches in military warfare. At times the work was light +enough, but for the most part it was severe and irregular, as the men +had to work in all kinds of weather, as long as possible, in the face +of unusual difficulties and dangers, and were liable to be called out +at all unseasonable hours. But they knew and expected this, and faced +the work like men. + +After a growl or two, and a few heavy sighs, they all tumbled out of +their berths, and, in a very short time, were mustered on deck, where +a glass of rum and a biscuit were served to each, being the regular +allowance when they had to begin work before breakfast. Then they got +into the boats and rowed away. + +Ruby's troubles were peculiar on this occasion. He could not bear the +thought of leaving the _Pharos_ without saying goodbye to Minnie; but +as Minnie knew nothing of such early rising, there was no reasonable +hope that she would be awake. Then he wished to put a few questions +to his uncle which he had forgotten the day before, but his uncle was +at that moment buried in profound repose, with his mouth wide open, +and a trombone solo proceeding from his nose, which sadly troubled +the unfortunates who lay near him. + +As there was no way of escape from these difficulties, Ruby, like a +wise man, made up his mind to cast them aside, so, after swallowing +his allowance, he shouldered his big bellows, heaved a deep sigh, and +took his place in one of the boats alongside. + +The lassitude which strong men feel when obliged to rise before they +have had enough of rest soon wears off. The two boats had not left +the _Pharos_ twenty yards astern, when Joe Dumsby cried, "Ho! boys, +let's have a race." + +"Hooray!" shouted O'Connor, whose elastic spirits were always equal +to anything, "an' sure Ruby will sing us 'The girl we've left behind +us'. Och! an' there she is, av I'm not draymin'." + +At that moment a little hand was waved from one of the ports of the +floating light. Ruby at once waved his in reply, but as the attention +of the men had been directed to the vessel by Ned's remark, each saw +the salutation, and, claiming it as a compliment to himself, uttered +a loud cheer, which terminated in a burst of laughter, caused by the +sight of Ruby's half-angry, half-ashamed expression of face. + +As the other boat had shot ahead, however, at the first mention of +the word "race", the men forgot this incident in their anxiety to +overtake their comrades. In a few seconds both boats were going at +full speed, and they kept it up all the way to the rock. + +While this was going on, the _Smeaton's_ boat was getting ready to +take the strangers on board the sloop, and just as the workmen landed +on the rock, the _Smeaton_ cast loose her sails, and proceeded to +Arbroath. + +There were a few seals basking on the Bell Rock this morning when the +men landed. These at once made off, and were not again seen during +the day. + +At first, seals were numerous on the rock. Frequently from fifty to +sixty of them were counted at one time, and they seemed for a good +while unwilling to forsake their old quarters, but when the forge was +set up they could stand it no longer. Some of the boldest ventured to +sun themselves there occasionally, but when the clatter of the anvil +and the wreaths of smoke became matters of daily occurrence, they +forsook the rock finally, and sought the peace and quiet which man +denied them there in other regions of the deep. + +The building of the lighthouse was attended with difficulties at +every step. As a short notice of some of these, and an account of the +mode in which the great work was carried on, cannot fail to be +interesting to all who admire those engineering works which exhibit +prominently the triumph of mind over matter, we shall turn aside for +a brief space to consider this subject. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +SOMEWHAT STATISTICAL + +It has been already said that the Bell Rock rises only a few feet out +of the sea at low tide. The foundation of the tower, sunk into the +solid rock, was just three feet three inches above low water of the +lowest spring-tides, so that the lighthouse may be said with +propriety to be founded beneath the waves. + +One great point that had to be determined at the commencement of the +operations was the best method of landing the stones of the building, +this being a delicate and difficult process, in consequence of the +weight of the stones and their brittle nature, especially in those +parts which were worked to a delicate edge or formed into angular +points. As the loss of a single stone, too, would stop the progress +of the work until another should be prepared at the workyard in +Arbroath and sent off to the rock, it may easily be imagined that +this matter of the landing was of the utmost importance, and that +much consultation was held in regard to it. + +It would seem that engineers, as well as doctors, are apt to differ. +Some suggested that each particular stone should be floated to the +rock, with a cork buoy attached to it; while others proposed an +air-tank, instead of the cork buoy. Others, again, proposed to sail +over the rock at high water in a flat-bottomed vessel, and drop the +stones one after another when over the spot they were intended to +occupy. A few, still more eccentric and daring in their views, +suggested that a huge cofferdam or vessel should be built on shore, +and as much of the lighthouse built in this as would suffice to raise +the building above the level of the highest tides; that then it +should be floated off to its station on the rock, which should be +previously prepared for its reception; that the cofferdam should be +scuttled, and the ponderous mass of masonry, weighing perhaps 1000 +tons, allowed to sink at once into its place! + +All these plans, however, were rejected by Mr. Stevenson, who +resolved to carry the stones to the rock in boats constructed for the +purpose. These were named praam boats. The stones were therefore cut +in conformity with exactly measured moulds in the workyard at +Arbroath, and conveyed thence in the sloops already mentioned to the +rock, where the vessels were anchored at a distance sufficient to +enable them to clear it in case of drifting. The cargoes were then +unloaded at the moorings, and laid on the decks of the praam boats, +which conveyed them to the rock, where they were laid on small +trucks, run along the temporary rails, to their positions, and built +in at once. + +Each stone of this building was treated with as much care and +solicitude as if it were a living creature. After being carefully cut +and curiously formed, and conveyed to the neighbourhood of the rock, +it was hoisted out of the hold and laid on the vessel's deck, when it +was handed over to the landing-master, whose duty it became to +transfer it, by means of a combination of ropes and blocks, to the +deck of the praam boat, and then deliver it at the rock. + +As the sea was seldom calm during the building operations, and +frequently in a state of great agitation, lowering the stones on the +decks of the praam boats was a difficult matter. + +In the act of working the apparatus, one man was placed at each of +the guy-tackles. This man assisted also at the purchase-tackles for +raising the stones; and one of the ablest and most active of the crew +was appointed to hold on the end of the fall-tackle, which often +required all his strength and his utmost agility in letting go, for +the purpose of lowering the stone at the instant the word "lower" was +given. In a rolling sea, much depended on the promptitude with which +this part of the operation was performed. For the purpose of securing +this, the man who held the tackle placed himself before the mast in a +sitting, more frequently in a lying posture, with his feet stretched +under the winch and abutting against the mast, as by this means he +was enabled to exert his greatest strength. + +The signal being given in the hold that the tackle was hooked to the +stone and all ready, every man took his post, the stone was +carefully, we might almost say tenderly raised, and gradually got +into position over the praam boat; the right moment was intently +watched, and the word "lower" given sternly and sharply. The order +was obeyed with exact promptitude, and the stone rested on the deck +of the praam boat. Six blocks of granite having been thus placed on +the boat's deck, she was rowed to a buoy, and moored near the rock +until the proper time of the tide for taking her into one of the +landing creeks. + +We are thus particular in describing the details of this part of the +work, in order that the reader may be enabled to form a correct +estimate of what may be termed the minor difficulties of the +undertaking. + +The same care was bestowed upon the landing of every stone of the +building; and it is worthy of record, that notwithstanding the +difficulty of this process in such peculiar circumstances, not a +single stone was lost, or even seriously damaged, during the whole +course of the erection of the tower, which occupied four years in +building, or rather, we should say, four seasons, for no work was or +could be done during winter. + +A description of the first entire course of the lower part of the +tower, which was built solid, will be sufficient to give an idea of +the general nature of the whole work. + +This course or layer consisted of 123 blocks of stone, those in the +interior being sandstone, while the outer casing was of granite. Each +stone was fastened to its neighbour above, below, and around by means +of dovetails, joggles, oaken trenails, and mortar. Each course was +thus built from its centre to its circumference, and as all the +courses from the foundation to a height of thirty feet were built in +this way, the tower, up to that height, became a mass of solid stone, +as strong and immovable as the Bell Rock itself. Above this, or +thirty feet from the foundation, the entrance door was placed, and +the hollow part of the tower began. + +Thus much, then, as to the tower itself, the upper part of which will +be found described in a future chapter. In regard to the subsidiary +works, the erection of the beacon house was in itself a work of +considerable difficulty, requiring no common effort of engineering +skill. The principal beams of this having been towed to the rock by +the _Smeaton_, all the stanchions and other material for setting them +up were landed, and the workmen set about erecting them as quickly as +possible, for if a single day of bad weather should occur before the +necessary fixtures could be made, the whole apparatus would be +infallibly swept away. + +The operation being, perhaps, the most important of the season, and +one requiring to be done with the utmost expedition, all hands were, +on the day in which its erection was begun, gathered on the rock, +besides ten additional men engaged for the purpose, and as many of +the seamen from the Pharos and other vessels as could be spared. They +amounted altogether to fifty-two in number. + +About half-past eight o'clock in the morning a derrick, or mast, +thirty feet high, was erected, and properly supported with guy-ropes +for suspending the block for raising the first principal beam of the +beacon, and a winch-machine was bolted down to the rock for working +the purchase-tackle. The necessary blocks and tackle were likewise +laid to hand and properly arranged. The men were severally allotted +in squads to different stations; some were to bring the principal +beams to hand, others were to work the tackles, while a third set had +the charge of the iron stanchions, bolts, and wedges, so that the +whole operation of raising the beams and fixing them to the rock +might go forward in such a manner that some provision might be made, +in any stage of the work, for securing what had been accomplished, in +case of an adverse change of weather. + +The raising of the derrick was the signal for three hearty cheers, +for this was a new era in the operations. Even that single spar, +could it be preserved, would have been sufficient to have saved the +workmen on that day when the Smeaton broke adrift and left them in +such peril. + +This was all, however, that could be accomplished that tide. Next +day, the great beams, each fifty feet long, and about sixteen inches +square, were towed to the rock about seven in the morning, and the +work immediately commenced, although they had gone there so much too +early in the tide that the men had to work a considerable time up to +their middle in water. Each beam was raised by the tackle affixed to +the derrick, until the end of it could be placed or "stepped" into +the hole which had been previously prepared for its reception; then +two of the great iron stanchions or supports were set into their +respective holes on each side of the beam, and a rope passed round +them to keep it from slipping, until it could be more permanently +fixed. + +This having been accomplished, the first beam became the means of +raising the second, and when the first and second were fastened at +the top, they formed a pair of shears by which the rest were more +easily raised to their places. The heads of the beams were then +fitted together and secured with ropes in a temporary manner, until +the falling of the tide would permit the operations to be resumed. + +Thus the work went on, each man labouring with all his might, until +this important erection was completed. + +The raising of the first beams took place on a Sunday. Indeed, during +the progress of the works at the Bell Rock, the men were accustomed +to work regularly on Sundays when possible; but it is right to say +that it was not done in defiance of, or disregard to, God's command +to cease from labour on the Sabbath day, but because of the urgent +need of a lighthouse on a rock which, unlighted, would be certain to +wreck numerous vessels and destroy many lives in time to come, as it +had done in time past. Delay in this matter might cause death and +disaster, therefore it was deemed right to carry on the work on +Sundays. [Footnote] + +[Footnote: It was always arranged, however, to have public worship on +Sundays when practicable. And this arrangement was held to during the +continuance of the work. Indeed, the manner in which Mr. Stevenson +writes in regard to the conclusion of the day's work at the beacon, +which we have described, shows clearly that he felt himself to be +acting in this matter in accordance with the spirit of our Saviour, +who wrought many of His works of mercy on the Sabbath day. Mr. +Stevenson writes thus:-- + +"All hands having returned to their respective ships, they got a +shift of dry clothes, and some refreshment. Being Sunday, they were +afterwards convened by signal on board of the lighthouse yacht, when +prayers were read, for every heart upon this occasion felt gladness, +and every mind was disposed to be thankful for the happy and +successful termination of the operations of this day." + +It is right to add that the men, although requested, were not +constrained to work on Sundays. They were at liberty to decline if +they chose. A few conscientiously refused at first, but were +afterwards convinced of the necessity of working on all opportunities +that offered, and agreed to do so.] + +An accident happened during the raising of the last large beam of the +beacon, which, although alarming, fortunately caused no damage. +Considering the nature of the work, it is amazing, and greatly to the +credit of all engaged, that so few accidents occurred during the +building of the lighthouse. + +When they were in the act of hoisting the sixth and last log, and +just about to kant it into its place, the iron hook of the principal +purchase-block gave way, and the great beam, measuring fifty feet in +length, fell upon the rock with a terrible crash; but although there +were fifty-two men around the beacon at the time, not one was +touched, and the beam itself received no damage worth mentioning. + +Soon after the beacon had been set up, and partially secured to the +rock, a severe gale sprang up, as if Ocean were impatient to test the +handiwork of human engineers. Gales set in from the eastward, +compelling the attending sloops to slip from their moorings, and run +for the shelter of Arbroath and St. Andrews, and raising a sea on the +Bell Rock which was described as terrific, the spray rising more than +thirty feet in the air above it. + +In the midst of all this turmoil the beacon stood securely, and after +the weather moderated, permitting the workmen once more to land, it +was found that no damage had been done by the tremendous breaches of +the sea over the rock. + +That the power of the waves had indeed been very great, was evident +from the effects observed on the rock itself, and on materials left +there. Masses of rock upwards of a ton in weight had been cast up by +the sea, and then, in their passage over the Bell Rock, had made deep +and indelible ruts. An anchor of a ton weight, which had been lost on +one side of the rock, was found to have been washed up and over it to +the other side. Several large blocks of granite that had been landed +and left on a ledge, were found to have been swept away like pebbles, +and hurled into a hole at some distance; and the heavy hearth of the +smith's forge, with the ponderous anvil, had been washed from their +places of supposed security. + +From the time of the setting up of the beacon a new era in the work +began. Some of the men were now enabled to remain on the rock all +day, working at the lighthouse when the tide was low, and betaking +themselves to the beacon when it rose, and leaving it at night; for +there was much to do before this beacon could be made the habitable +abode which it finally became; but it required the strictest +attention to the state of the weather, in case of their being +overtaken with a gale, which might prevent the possibility of their +being taken off the rock. + +At last the beacon was so far advanced and secured that it was deemed +capable of withstanding any gale that might blow. As yet it was a +great ungainly pile of logs, iron stanchions, and bracing-chains, +without anything that could afford shelter to man from winds or +waves, but with a platform laid from its cross-beams at a +considerable height above high-water mark. + +The works on the rock were in this state, when two memorable +circumstances occurred in the Bell Rock annals, to which we shall +devote a separate chapter. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +RUBY HAS A RISE IN LIFE, AND A FALL + +James Dove, the blacksmith, had, for some time past, been watching +the advancing of the beacon-works with some interest, and a good deal +of impatience. He was tired of working so constantly up to the knees +in water, and aspired to a drier and more elevated workshop. + +One morning he was told by the foreman that orders had been given for +him to remove his forge to the beacon, and this removal, this +"flitting", as he called it, was the first of the memorable events +referred to in the last chapter. + +"Hallo! Ruby, my boy," cried the elated son of Vulcan, as he +descended the companion ladder, "we're goin' to flit, lad. We're +about to rise in the world, so get up your bellows. It's the last +time we shall have to be bothered with them in the boat, I hope." + +"That's well," said Ruby, shouldering the unwieldy bellows; "they +have worn my shoulders threadbare, and tried my patience almost +beyond endurance." + +"Well, it's all over now, lad," rejoined the smith. "In future you +shall have to blow up in the beacon yonder; so come along." + +"Come, Ruby, that ought to comfort the cockles o' yer heart," said +O'Connor, who passed up the ladder as he spoke; "the smith won't need +to blow you up any more, av you're to blow yourself up in the beacon +in futur'. Arrah! there's the bell again. Sorrow wan o' me iver gits +to slape, but I'm turned up immadiately to go an' poke away at that +rock--faix, it's well named the Bell Rock, for it makes me like to +_bellow_ me lungs out wid vexation." + +"That pun is _below_ contempt," said Joe Dumsby, who came up at the +moment. + +"That's yer sort, laddies; ye're guid at ringing the changes on that +head onyway," cried Watt. + +"I say, we're gittin' a _belly_-full of it," observed Forsyth, with a +rueful look "I hope nobody's goin' to give us another!" + +"It'll create a _rebellion_," said Bremner, "if ye go on like that" + +"It'll bring my _bellows_ down on the head o' the next man that +speaks!" cried Ruby, with indignation. + +"Don't you hear the bell, there?" cried the foreman down the +hatchway. + +There was a burst of laughter at this unconscious continuation of the +joke, and the men sprang up the ladder,--down the side, and into the +boats, which were soon racing towards the rock. + +The day, though not sunny, was calm and agreeable, nevertheless the +landing at the rock was not easily accomplished, owing to the swell +caused by a recent gale. After one or two narrow escapes of a +ducking, however, the crews landed, and the bellows, instead of being +conveyed to their usual place at the forge, were laid at the foot of +the beacon. + +The carriage of these bellows to and fro almost daily had been a +subject of great annoyance to the men, owing to their being so much +in the way, and so unmanageably bulky, yet so essential to the +progress of the works, that they did not dare to leave them on the +rock, lest they should be washed away, and they had to handle them +tenderly, lest they should get damaged. + +"Now, boys, lend a hand with the forge," cried the smith, hurrying +towards his anvil. + +Those who were not busy eating dulse responded to the call, and in a +short time the ponderous _materiel_ of the smithy was conveyed to the +beacon, where, in process of time, it was hoisted by means of tackle +to its place on the platform to which reference has already been +made. + +When it was safely set up and the bellows placed in position, Ruby +went to the edge of the platform, and, looking down on his comrades +below, took off his cap and shouted in the tone of a Stentor, "Now, +lads, three cheers for the Dovecot!" + +This was received with a roar of laughter and three tremendous +cheers. + +"Howld on, boys," cried O'Connor, stretching out his hand as if to +command silence; "you'll scare the dove from his cot altogether av ye +roar like that!" + +"Surely they're sendin' us a fire to warm us," observed one of the +men, pointing to a boat which had put off from the _Smeaton_, and was +approaching the rock by way of _Macurich's Track_. + +"What can'd be, I wonder?" said Watt; "I think I can smell +somethin'." + +"I halways thought you 'ad somethink of an old dog in you," said +Dumsby. + +"Ay, man!" said the Scot with a leer, "I ken o' war beasts than auld +dowgs." + +"Do you? come let's 'ear wat they are," said the Englishman. + +"Young puppies," answered the other. + +"Hurrah! dinner, as I'm a Dutchman," cried Forsyth. + +This was indeed the case. Dinner had been cooked on board the +_Smeaton_ and sent hot to the men; and this,--the first dinner ever +eaten on the Bell Rock,--was the second of the memorable events +before referred to. + +The boat soon ran into the creek and landed the baskets containing +the food on _Hope's Wharf_. + +The men at once made a rush at the viands, and bore them off +exultingly to the flattest part of the rock they could find. + +"A regular picnic," cried Dumsby in high glee, for unusual events, of +even a trifling kind, had the effect of elating those men more than +one might have expected. + +"Here's the murphies," cried O'Connor, staggering over the slippery +weed with a large smoking tin dish. + +"Mind you don't let 'em fall," cried one. + +"Have a care," shouted the smith; "if you drop them I'll beat you +red-hot, and hammer ye so flat that the biggest flatterer as ever +walked won't be able to spread ye out another half-inch." + +"Mutton! oh!" exclaimed Forsyth, who had been some time trying to +wrench the cover off the basket containing a roast leg, and at last +succeeded. + +"Here, spread them all out on this rock. You han't forgot the grog, I +hope, steward?" + +"No fear of him: he's a good feller, is the steward, when he's asleep +partiklerly. The grog's here all right." + +"Dinna let Dumsby git baud o't, then," cried Watt. "What! hae ye +begood a'ready? Patience, man, patience. Is there ony saut?" + +"Lots of it, darlin', in the say. Sure this shape must have lost his +tail somehow. Och, murther! if there isn't Bobby Selkirk gone an' +tumbled into Port Hamilton wid the cabbage, av it's not the carrots!" + +"There now, don't talk so much, boys," cried Peter Logan. "Let's +drink success to the Bell Rock Lighthouse." + +It need scarcely be said that this toast was drunk with enthusiasm, +and that it was followed up with "three times three". + +"Now for a song. Come, Joe Dumsby, strike up," cried one of the men. + +O'Connor, who was one of the most reckless of men in regard to duty +and propriety, here shook his head gravely, and took upon himself to +read his comrade a lesson. + +"Ye shouldn't talk o' sitch things in workin' hours," said he. "Av we +wos all foolish, waake-hidded cratures like _you_, how d'ye think +we'd iver git the lighthouse sot up! Ate yer dinner, lad, and howld +yer tongue." + +"O Ned, I didn't think your jealousy would show out so strong," +retorted his comrade. "Now, then, Dumsby, fire away, if it was only +to aggravate him." + +Thus pressed, Joe Dumsby took a deep draught of the small-beer with +which the men were supplied, and began a song of his own composition. + +When the song was finished the meal was also concluded, and the men +returned to their labours on the rock; some to continue their work +with the picks at the hard stone of the foundation-pit, others to +perform miscellaneous jobs about the rock, such as mixing the mortar +and removing debris, while James Dove and his fast friend Ruby Brand +mounted to their airy "cot" on the beacon, from which in a short time +began to proceed the volumes of smoke and the clanging sounds that +had formerly arisen from "Smith's Ledge ". + +While they were all thus busily engaged, Ruby observed a boat +advancing towards the rock from the floating light. He was blowing +the bellows at the time, after a spell at the fore-hammer. + +"We seem to be favoured with unusual events to-day, Jamie," said he, +wiping his forehead with the corner of his apron with one hand, while +he worked the handle of the bellows with the other, "yonder comes +another boat; what can it be, think you?" + +"Surely it can't be tea!" said the smith with a smile, as he turned +the end of a pickaxe in the fire, "it's too soon after dinner for +that." + +"It looks like the boat of our friends the fishermen, Big Swankie and +Davy Spink," said Ruby, shading his eyes with his hand, and gazing +earnestly at the boat as it advanced towards them. + +"Friends!" repeated the smith, "rascally smugglers, both of them; +they're no friends of mine." + +"Well, I didn't mean bosom friends," replied Ruby, "but after all, +Davy Spink is not such a bad fellow, though I can't say that I'm +fond of his comrade." + +The two men resumed their hammers at this point in the conversation, +and became silent as long as the anvil sounded. + +The boat had reached the rock when they ceased, and its occupants +were seen to be in earnest conversation with Peter Logan. + +There were only two men in the boat besides its owners, Swankie and +Spink. + +"What can they want?" said Dove, looking down on them as he turned +to thrust the iron on which he was engaged into the fire. + +As he spoke the foreman looked up. + +"Ho! Ruby Brand," he shouted, "come down here; you're wanted." + +"Hallo! Ruby," exclaimed the smith, "_more_ friends o' yours! Your +acquaintance is extensive, lad, but there's no girl in the case this +time." + +Ruby made no reply, for an indefinable feeling of anxiety filled his +breast as he threw down the fore-hammer and prepared to descend. + +On reaching the rock he advanced towards the strangers, both of whom +were stout, thickset men, with grave, stern countenances. One of them +stepped forward and said, "Your name is----" + +"Ruby Brand," said the youth promptly, at the same time somewhat +proudly, for he knew that he was in the hands of the Philistines. + +The man who first spoke hereupon drew a small instrument from his +pocket, and tapping Ruby on the shoulder, said-- + +"I arrest you, Ruby Brand, in the name of the King." + +The other man immediately stepped forward and produced a pair of +handcuffs. + +At sight of these Ruby sprang backward, and the blood rushed +violently to his forehead, while his blue eyes glared with the +ferocity of those of a tiger. + +"Come, lad, it's of no use, you know," said the man, pausing; "if you +won't come quietly we must find ways and means to compel you." + +"Compel me!" cried Ruby, drawing himself up with a look of defiance +and a laugh of contempt, that caused the two men to shrink back in +spite of themselves. + +"Ruby," said the foreman, gently, stepping forward and laying his +hand on the youth's shoulder, "you had better go quietly, for there's +no chance of escape from these fellows. I have no doubt it's a +mistake, and that you'll come off with flyin' colours, but it's best +to go quietly whatever turns up." + +While Logan was speaking, Ruby dropped his head on his breast, the +officer with the handcuffs advanced, and the youth held out his +hands, while the flush of anger deepened into the crimson blush of +shame. + +It was at this point that Jamie Dove, wondering at the prolonged +absence of his friend and assistant, looked down from the platform of +the beacon, and beheld what was taking place. The stentorian roar of +amazement and rage that suddenly burst from him, attracted the +attention of all the men on the rock, who dropped their tools and +looked up in consternation, expecting, no doubt, to behold something +terrible. + +Their eyes at once followed those of the smith, and no sooner did +they see Ruby being led in irons to the boat, which lay in _Port +Hamilton_, close to _Sir Ralph the Rover's Ledge_, than they uttered +a yell of execration, and rushed with one accord to the rescue. + +The officers, who were just about to make their prisoner step into +the boat, turned to face the foe,--one, who seemed to be the more +courageous of the two, a little in advance of the other. + +Ned O'Connor, with that enthusiasm which seems to be inherent in +Irish blood, rushed with such irresistible force against this man +that he drove him violently back against his comrade, and sent them +both head over heels into Port Hamilton. Nay, with such momentum was +this act performed, that Ned could not help but follow them, falling +on them both as they came to the surface and sinking them a second +time, amid screams and yells of laughter. + +O'Connor was at once pulled out by his friends. The officers also +were quickly landed. + +"I ax yer parding, gintlemen," said the former, with an expression of +deep regret on his face, "but the say-weed _is_ so slippy on them +rocks we're a'most for iver doin' that sort o' thing be the merest +accident. But av yer as fond o' cowld wather as meself ye won't +objec' to it, although it do come raither onexpected." + +The officers made no reply, but, collaring Ruby, pushed him into the +boat. + +Again the men made a rush, but Peter Logan stood between them and the +boat. + +"Lads," said he, holding up his hand, "it's of no use resistin' the +law. These are King's officers, and they are only doin' their duty. +Sure am I that Ruby Brand is guilty of no crime, so they've only to +enquire into it and set him free." + +The men hesitated, but did not seem quite disposed to submit without +another struggle. + +"It's a shame to let them take him," cried the smith. + +"So it is. I vote for a rescue," cried Joe Dumsby. + +"Hooray! so does I," cried O'Connor, stripping off his waistcoat, and +for once in his life agreeing with Joe. + +"Na, na, lads," cried John Watt, rolling up his sleeves, and baring +his brawny arms as if about to engage in a fight, "it'll raver do to +interfere wi' the law; but what d'ye say to gie them anither dook?" + +Seeing that the men were about to act upon Watt's suggestion, Baby +started up in the boat, and turning to his comrades, said: + +"Boys, it's very kind of you to be so anxious to save me, but you +can't----" + +"Fail, but we can, darlin'," interrupted O'Connor. + +"No, you can't," repeated Ruby firmly, "because I won't let yon. I +don't think I need say to you that I am innocent," he added, with a +look in which truth evidently shone forth like a sunbeam, "but now +that they have put these irons on me I will not consent that they +shall be taken off except by the law which put them on." + +While he was speaking the boat had been pushed off, and in a few +seconds it was beyond the reach of the men. + +"Depend upon it, comrades," cried Ruby, as they pulled away, "that I +shall be back again to help you to finish the work on the Bell Rock." + +"So you will, lad, so you will," cried the foreman. + +"My blessin' on ye," shouted O'Connor. "Ach! ye dirty villains, ye +low-minded spalpeens," he added, shaking his fist at the officers of +justice. + +"Don't be long away, Ruby," cried one. + +"Never say die," shouted another, earnestly. + +"Three cheers for Ruby Brand!" exclaimed Forsyth, "hip! hip! +hip!----" + +The cheer was given with the most vociferous energy, and then the men +stood in melancholy silence on _Ralph the Saver's Ledge_, watching +the boat that bore their comrade to the shore. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +NEW ARRANGEMENTS--THE CAPTAIN'S PHILOSOPHY IN REGARD TO PIPEOLOGY + +That night our hero was lodged in the common jail of Arbroath. Soon +after, he was tried, and, as Captain Ogilvy had prophesied, was +acquitted. Thereafter he went to reside for the winter with his +mother, occupying the same room as his worthy uncle, as there was not +another spare one in the cottage, and sleeping in a hammock, slung +parallel with and close to that of the captain. + +On the night following his release from prison, Ruby lay on his back +in his hammock meditating intently on the future, and gazing at the +ceiling, or rather at the place where he knew the ceiling to be, for +it was a dark night, and there was no light in the room, the candle +having just been extinguished. + +We are not strictly correct, however, in saying that there was _no_ +light in the room, for there was a deep red glowing spot of fire near +to Captain Ogilvy's head, which flashed and grew dim at each +alternate second of time. It was, in fact, the captain's pipe, a +luxury in which that worthy man indulged morning, noon, and night. He +usually rested the bowl of the pipe on and a little over the edge of +his hammock, and, lying on his back, passed the mouthpiece over the +blankets into the corner of his mouth, where four of his teeth seemed +to have agreed to form an exactly round hole suited to receive it. At +each draw the fire in the bowl glowed so that the captain's nose was +faintly illuminated; in the intervals the nose disappeared. + +The breaking or letting fall of this pipe was a common incident in +the captain's nocturnal history, but he had got used to it, from long +habit, and regarded the event each time it occurred with the +philosophic composure of one who sees and makes up his mind to endure +an inevitable and unavoidable evil. + +"Ruby," said the captain, after the candle was extinguished. + +"Well, uncle?" + +"I've bin thinkin', lad,----" + +Here the captain drew a few whiffs to prevent the pipe from going +out, in which operation he evidently forgot himself and went on +thinking, for he said nothing more. + +"Well, uncle, what have you been thinking?" + +"Eh! ah, yes, I've bin thinkin', lad (puff), that you'll have to +(puff)--there's somethin' wrong with the pipe to-night, it don't draw +well (puff)--you'll have to do somethin' or other in the town, for it +won't do to leave the old woman, lad, in her delicate state o' +health. Had she turned in when you left the kitchen?" + +"Oh yes, an hour or more." + +"An' Blue Eyes, + + 'The tender bit flower that waves in the breeze, + And scatters its fragrance all over the seas'-- + +has she turned in too?" + +"She was just going to when I left," replied Ruby; "but what has that +to do with the question?" + +"I didn't say as it had anything to do with it, lad. Moreover, there +ain't no question between us as I knows on (puff); but what have you +to say to stoppin' here all water?" + +"Impossible," said Ruby, with a sigh. + +"No so, lad; what's to hinder?--Ah! there she goes." + +The pipe fell with a crash to the floor, and burst with a Bright +shower of sparks, like a little bombshell. + +"That's the third, Ruby, since I turned in," said the captain, +getting slowly over the side of his hammock, and alighting on the +floor heavily. "I won't git up again if it goes another time." + +After knocking off the chimney-piece five or six articles which +appeared to be made of tin from the noise they made in falling, the +captain succeeded in getting hold of another pipe and the tinder-box, +for in those days flint and steel were the implements generally used +in procuring a light. With much trouble he re-lit the pipe. + +"Now, Ruby, lad, hold it till I tumble in." + +"But I can't see the stem, uncle." + +"What a speech for a seaman to make! Don't you see the fire in the +bowl?" + +"Yes, of course." + +"Well, just make a grab two inches astarn of the bowl and you'll hook +the stem." + +The captain was looking earnestly into the bowl while he spoke, +stuffing down the burning tobacco with the end of his little finger. +Ruby, acting in rather too prompt obedience to the instructions, made +a "grab" as directed, and caught his uncle by the nose. + +A yell and an apology followed of course, in the midst of which the +fourth pipe was demolished. + +"Oh! uncle, what a pity!" + +"Ah! Ruby, that comes o' inconsiderate youth, which philosophers tell +us is the nat'ral consequence of unavoidable necessity, for you can't +put a young head on old shoulders, d'ye see?" + +From the tone in which this was said Ruby knew that the captain was +shaking his head gravely, and from the noise of articles being kicked +about and falling, he became aware that the unconquerable man was +filling a fifth pipe. + +This one was more successfully managed, and the captain once more got +into his hammock, and began to enjoy himself. + +"Well, Ruby, where was I? O ay; what's to hinder you goin' and +gettin' employed in the Bell Rock workyard? There's plenty to do, and +good wages there." + +It may be as well to inform the reader here, that although the +operations at the Bell Rock had come to an end for the season about +the beginning of October, the work of hewing the stones for the +lighthouse was carried on briskly during the winter at the workyard +on shore; and as the tools, &c., required constant sharpening and +mending, a blacksmith could not be dispensed with. + +"Do you think I can get in again?" enquired Ruby. + +"No doubt of it, lad. But the question is, are ye willin' to go if +they'll take you?" + +"Quite willing, uncle." + +"Good: then that's all square, an' I knows how to lay my course--up +anchor to-morrow mornin', crowd all sail, bear down on the workyard, +bring-to off the countin'-room, and open fire on the superintendent." + +The captain paused at this point, and opened fire with his pipe for +some minutes. + +"Now," he continued, "there's another thing I want to ax you. I'm +goin' to-morrow afternoon to take a cruise along the cliffs to the +east'ard in the preventive boat, just to keep up my sea legs. They've +got scent o' some smugglin' business that's goin' on, an' my friend +Leftenant Lindsay has asked me to go. Now, Ruby, if you want a short +cruise of an hour or so you may come with me." + +Baby smiled at the manner in which this offer was made, and replied: + +"With pleasure, uncle." + +"So, then, that's settled too. Good night, nephy." + +The captain turned on his side, and dropped the pipe on the floor, +where it was shivered to atoms. + +It must not be supposed that this was accidental. + +It was done on purpose. Captain Ogilvy had found from experience that +it was not possible to stretch out his arm to its full extent and lay +the pipe on the chimney-piece, without waking himself up just at that +critical moment when sleep was consenting to be wooed. He also found +that on the average he broke one in every four pipes that he thus +attempted to deposit. Being a philosophical and practical man, he +came to the conclusion that it would be worth while to pay something +for the comfort of being undisturbed at the minute of time that lay +between the conclusion of smoking and the commence of repose. He +therefore got a sheet of foolscap and a pencil, and spent a whole +forenoon in abstruse calculations. He ascertained the exact value of +three hundred and sixty-five clay pipes. From this he deducted a +fourth for breakages that would have certainly occurred in the old +system of laying the pipes down every night, and which, therefore, he +felt, in a confused sort of way, ought not to be charged in the +estimates of a new system. Then he added a small sum to the result +for probable extra breakages, such as had occurred that night, and +found that the total was not too high a price for a man in his +circumstances to pay for the blessing he wished to obtain. + +From that night forward he deliberately dropped his pipe every night +over the side of his hammock before going to sleep. + +The captain, in commenting on this subject, was wont to observe that +everything in life, no matter how small, afforded matter of thought +to philosophical men. He had himself found a pleasing subject of +study each morning in the fact that some of the pipes survived the +fall of the previous night. This led him to consider the nature of +clay pipes in general, and to test them in various ways. It is true +he did not say that anything of importance resulted from his peculiar +studies, but he argued that a true philosopher looks for facts, and +leaves results alone. One discovery he undoubtedly did make, which +was, that the pipes obtained from a certain maker in the town +invariably broke, while those obtained from another maker broke only +occasionally. Hence he came to the conclusion that one maker was an +honest man, the other a doubtful character, and wisely bestowed his +custom in accordance with that opinion. + +About one minute after the falling of the pipe Ruby Brand fell +asleep, and about two minutes after that Captain Ogilvy began to +snore, both of which conditions were maintained respectively and +uninterruptedly until the birds began to whistle and the sun began to +shine. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A MEETING WITH OLD FRIENDS, AND AN EXCURSION + +Next morning the captain and his nephew "bore down", as the former +expressed it, on the workyard, and Ruby was readily accepted, his +good qualities having already been well tested at the Bell Rock. + +"Now, boy, we'll go and see about the little preventive craft," said +the captain on quitting the office. + +"But first," said Ruby, "let me go and tell my old comrade Dove that +I am to be with him again." + +There was no need to enquire the way to the forge, the sound of the +anvil being distinctly heard above all the other sounds of that busy +spot. + +The workyard at Arbroath, where the stones for the lighthouse were +collected and hewn into shape before being sent off to the rock, was +an enclosed piece of ground, extending to about three-quarters of an +acre, conveniently situated on the northern side of the Lady Lane, or +Street, leading from the western side of the harbour. + +Here were built a row of barracks for the workmen, and several +apartments connected with the engineer's office, mould-makers' +department, stores, workshops for smiths and joiners, stables, &c., +extending 150 feet along the north side of the yard. All of these +were fully occupied, there being upwards of forty men employed +permanently. + +Sheds of timber were also constructed to protect the workmen in wet +weather; and a kiln was built for burning lime. In the centre of the +yard stood a circular platform of masonry on which the stones were +placed when dressed, so that each stone was tested and marked, and +each "course" or layer of the lighthouse fitted up and tried, before +being shipped to the rock. + +The platform measured 44 feet in diameter. It was founded with large +broad stones at a depth of about 2 feet 6 inches, and built to within +10 inches of the surface with rubble work, on which a course of +neatly dressed and well-jointed masonry was laid, of the red +sandstone from the quarries to the eastward of Arbroath, which +brought the platform on a level with the surface of the ground. Here +the dressed part of the first entire course, or layer, of the +lighthouse was lying, and the platform was so substantially built as +to be capable of supporting any number of courses which it might be +found convenient to lay upon it in the further progress of the work. + +Passing this platform, the captain and Ruby threaded their way +through a mass of workyard _debris_ until they came to the building +from which the sounds of the anvil proceeded. For a few minutes they +stood looking at our old friend Jamie Dove, who, with bared arms, was +causing the sparks to fly, and the glowing metal to yield, as +vigorously as of old. Presently he ceased hammering, and turning to +the fire thrust the metal into it. Then he wiped his brow, and +glanced towards the door. + +"What! eh! Ruby Brand?" he shouted in surprise. + +"Och! or his ghost!" cried Ned O'Connor, who had been Appointed to +Ruby's vacant situation. + +"A pretty solid ghost you'll find me," said Ruby with a laugh, as he +stepped forward and seized the smith by the hand. + +"Musha! but it's thrue," cried O'Connor, quitting the bellows, and +seizing Ruby's disengaged hand, which he shook almost as vehemently +as the smith did the other. + +"Now, then, don't dislocate him altogether," cried the captain, who +was much delighted with this warm reception; "he's goin' to jine you, +boys, so have mercy on his old timbers." + +"Jine us!" cried the smith. + +"Ay, been appointed to the old berth," said Ruby, "so I'll have to +unship _you_, Ned." + +"The sooner the better; faix, I niver had much notion o' this fiery +style o' life; it's only fit for sallymanders and bottle-imps. But +when d'ye begin work, lad?" + +"To-morrow, I believe. At least, I was told to call at the office +to-morrow. To-day I have an engagement." + +"Ay, an' it's time we was under weigh," said Captain Ogilvy, taking +his nephew by the arm. "Come along, lad, an' don't keep them +waiting." + +So saying they bade the smith goodbye, and, leaving the forge, walked +smartly towards that part of the harbour where the boats lay. + +"Ruby," said the captain, as they went along, "it's lucky it's such a +fine day, for Minnie is going with us." + +Ruby said nothing, but the deep flush of pleasure that overspread his +countenance proved that he was not indifferent to the news. + +"You see she's bin out of sorts," continued the captain, "for some +time back; and no wonder, poor thing, seein' that your mother has +been so anxious about you, and required more than usual care, so I've +prevailed on the leftenant to let her go. She'll get good by our +afternoon's sail, and we won't be the worse of her company. What say +ye to that, nephy?" + +Ruby said that he was glad to hear it; but he thought a great deal +more than he said, and among other things he thought that the +lieutenant might perhaps be rather in the way; but as his presence +was unavoidable, he made up his mind to try to believe that he, the +lieutenant, would in all probability be an engaged man already. As to +the possibility of his seeing Minnie and being indifferent to her (in +the event of his being a free man), he felt that such an idea was +preposterous! Suddenly a thought flashed across him and induced a +question-- + +"Is the lieutenant married, uncle?" + +"Not as I know of, lad; why d'ye ask?" + +"Because--because--married men are so much pleasanter than----" + +Ruby stopped short, for he just then remembered that his uncle was a +bachelor. + +"'Pon my word, youngster! go on, why d'ye stop in your purlite +remark?" + +"Because," said Ruby, laughing, "I meant to say that _young_ married +men were so much more agreeable than _young_ bachelors." + +"Humph!" ejaculated the captain, who did not see much force in the +observation, "and how d'ye know the leftenant's a _young_ man? I +didn't say he was young; mayhap he's old. But here he is, so you'll +judge for yourself." + +At the moment a tall, deeply-bronzed man of about thirty years of age +walked up and greeted Captain Ogilvy familiarly as his "buck", +enquiring, at the same time, how his "old timbers" were, and where +the "bit of baggage" was. + +"She's to be at the end o' the pier in five minutes," said the +captain, drawing out and consulting a watch that was large enough to +have been mistaken for a small eight-day clock. "This is my nephy, +Ruby. Ruby Brand--Leftenant Lindsay. True blues, both of ye-- + + 'When shall we three meet again? + Where the stormy winds do blow, do blow, do blow, + And the thunder, lightenin', and the rain, + Riots up above, and also down below, below, below.' + +Ah! here comes the pretty little craft." + +Minnie appeared as he spoke, and walked towards them with a modest, +yet decided air that was positively bewitching. + +She was dressed in homely garments, but that served to enhance the +beauty of her figure, and she had on the plainest of little bonnets, +but that only tended to make her face more lovely. Ruby thought it +was perfection. He glanced at Lieutenant Lindsay, and perceiving that +he thought so too (as how could he think otherwise?) a pang of +jealousy shot into his breast. But it passed away when the +lieutenant, after politely assisting Minnie into the boat, sat down +beside the captain and began to talk earnestly to him, leaving +Minnie entirely to her lover. We may remark here, that the title of +"leftenant", bestowed on Lindsay by the captain was entirely +complimentary. + +The crew of the boat rowed out of the harbour, and the lieutenant +steered eastward, towards the cliffs that have been mentioned in an +earlier part of our tale. + +The day turned out to be one of those magnificent and exceptional +days which appear to have been cut out of summer and interpolated +into autumn. It was bright, warm, and calm, so calm that the boat's +sail was useless, and the crew had to row; but this was, in Minnie's +estimation, no disadvantage, for it gave her time to see the caves +and picturesque inlets which abound all along that rocky coast. It +also gave her time to--but no matter. + +"O how very much I should like to have a little boat," said Minnie, +with enthusiasm, "and spend a long day rowing in and out among +these wild rocks, and exploring the caves! Wouldn't it be delightful, +Ruby?" + +Ruby admitted that it would, and added, "You shall have such a day, +Minnie, if we live long." + +"Have you ever been in the _Forbidden Cave?_" enquired Minnie. + +"I'll warrant you he has," cried the captain, who overheard the +question; "you may be sure that wherever Ruby is forbidden to go, +there he'll be sure to go!" + +"Ay, is he so self-willed?" asked the lieutenant, with a smile, and +a glance at Minnie. + +"A mule; a positive mule," said the captain. + +"Come, uncle, you know that I don't deserve such a character, and +it's too bad to give it to me to-day. Did I not agree to come on this +excursion at once, when you asked me?" + +"Ay, but you wouldn't if I had _ordered_ you," returned the captain. + +"I rather think he would," observed the lieutenant, with another +smile, and another glance at Minnie. + +Both smiles and glances were observed and noted by Ruby, whose heart +felt another pang shoot through it; but this, like the former, +subsided when the lieutenant again addressed the captain, and devoted +himself to him so exclusively, that Ruby began to feel a touch of +indignation at his want of appreciation of _such_ a girl as Minnie. + +"He's a stupid ass," thought Ruby to himself, and then, turning to +Minnie, directed her attention to a curious natural arch on the +cliffs, and sought to forget all the rest of the world. + +In this effort he was successful, and had gradually worked himself +into the firm belief that the world was paradise, and that he and +Minnie were its sole occupants--a second edition, as it were, of Adam +and Eve--when the lieutenant rudely dispelled the sweet dream by +saying sharply to the man at the bow-oar-- + +"Is that the boat, Baker? You ought to know it pretty well." + +"I think it is, sir," answered the man, resting on his oar a moment, +and glancing over his shoulder; "but I can't be sure at this +distance." + +"Well, pull easy," said the lieutenant; "you see, it won't do to +scare them, Captain Ogilvy, and they'll think we're a pleasure party +when they see a woman in the boat." + +Ruby thought they would not be far wrong in supposing them a pleasure +party. He objected, mentally, however, to Minnie being styled a +"woman"--not that he would have had her called a man, but he thought +that _girl_ would have been more suitable--angel, perhaps, the most +appropriate term of all. + +"Come, captain, I think I will join you in a pipe," said the +lieutenant, pulling out a tin case, in which he kept the blackest of +little cutty pipes. "In days of old our ancestors loved to fight--now +we degenerate souls love to smoke the pipe of peace." + +"I did not know that your ancestors were enemies," said Minnie to the +captain. + +"Enemies, lass! ay, that they were. What! have ye never heard tell o' +the great fight between the Ogilvys and Lindsays?" + +"Never," said Minnie. + +"Then, my girl, your education has been neglected, but I'll do what I +can to remedy that defect." + +Here the captain rekindled his pipe (which was in the habit of going +out, and requiring to be relighted), and, clearing his throat with +the emphasis of one who is about to communicate something of +importance, held forth as follows. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE BATTLE OF ARBROATH, AND OTHER WARLIKE MATTERS + +"It was in the year 1445--that's not far short o' four hundred years +ago--ah! _tempus fugit_, which is a Latin quotation, my girl, from +Horace Walpole, I believe, an' signifies time and tide waits for no +man; that's what they calls a free translation, you must know; well, +it was in the winter o' 1445 that a certain Alexander Ogilvy of +Inverquharity was chosen to act as Chief Justiciar in these parts--I +suppose that means a kind of upper bailiff, a sort o' bo's'n's mate, +to compare great things with small. He was set up in place of one o' +the Lindsay family, who, it seems, was rather extravagant, though +whether his extravagance lay in wearin' a beard (for he was called +Earl Beardie), or in spendin' too much cash, I can't take upon me for +to say. Anyhow, Beardie refused to haul down his colours, so the +Ogilvys mustered their men and friends, and the Lindsays did the +same, and they went at it, hammer and tongs, and fowt what ye may +call the Battle of Arbroath, for it was close to the old town where +they fell to. + +"It was a most bloody affair. The two families were connected with +many o' the richest and greatest people in the land, and these went +to lend a hand when they beat to quarters, and there was no end o' +barbed horses, as they call them--which means critters with steel +spikes in their noses, I'm told--and lots of embroidered banners and +flags, though I never heard that anyone hoisted the Union Jack; but, +however that may be, they fowt like bluejackets, for five hundred men +were left dead on the field, an' among them a lot o' the great folk. + +"But I'm sorry to say that the Ogilvys were licked, though I say it +that shouldn't," continued the captain, with a sigh, as he relighted +his pipe. "Howsever, + + 'Never ventur', never win, + Blaze away an' don't give in," + +as Milton remarks in his preface to the _Pilgrim's Progress_." + +"True, captain," said the lieutenant, "and you know that 'he who +fights and runs away, shall live to fight another day'." "Leftenant," +said the captain gravely, "your quotation, besides bein' a kind o' +desecration, is not applicable; 'cause the Ogilvys did _not_ run +away. They fowt on that occasion like born imps, an' they would ha' +certainly won the day, if they hadn't been, every man jack of 'em, +cut to pieces before the battle was finished." + +"Well said, uncle," exclaimed Ruby, with a laugh. "No doubt the +Ogilvys would lick the Lindsays _now_ if they had a chance." + +"I believe they would," said the lieutenant, "for they have become a +race of heroes since the great day of the Battle of Arbroath. No +doubt, Miss Gray," continued the lieutenant, turning to Minnie with +an arch smile, "no doubt you have heard of that more recent event, +the threatened attack on Arbroath by the French fire-eater, Captain +Fall, and the heroic part played on that occasion by an Ogilvy--an +uncle, I am told, of my good friend here?" + +"I have heard of Captain Fall, of course," replied Minnie, "for it +was not many years before I was born that his visit took place, and +Mrs. Brand has often told me of the consternation into which the town +was thrown by his doings; but I never heard of the deeds of the +Ogilvy to whom you refer." + +"No? Now, that _is_ surprising! How comes it, captain, that you have +kept so silent on this subject?" + +"'Cause it ain't true," replied the captain stoutly, yet with a +peculiar curl about the corners of his mouth, that implied something +in the mind beyond what he expressed with the lips. + +"Ah! I see--modesty," said Lindsay. "Your uncle is innately modest, +Miss Gray, and never speaks of anything that bears the slightest +resemblance to boasting. See, the grave solemnity with which he +smokes while I say this proves the truth of my assertion. Well, +since he has never told you, I will tell you myself. You have no +objection, captain?" + +The captain sent a volume of smoke from his lips, and followed it up +with-- + +"Fire away, shipmet." + +The lieutenant, having drawn a few whiffs in order to ensure the +continued combustion of his pipe, related the following anecdote, +which is now matter of history, as anyone may find by consulting the +archives of Arbroath. + +"In the year 1781, on a fine evening of the month of May, the seamen +of Arbroath who chanced to be loitering about the harbour observed a +strange vessel manoeuvring in the offing. They watched and commented +on the motions of the stranger with considerable interest, for the +wary skill displayed by her commander proved that he was unacquainted +with the navigation of the coast, and from the cut of her jib they +knew that the craft was a foreigner. After a time she took up a +position, and cast anchor in the bay, directly opposite the town. + +"At that time we were, as we still are, and as it really appears +likely to me we ever shall be, at war with France; but as the scene +of the war was far removed from Arbroath, it never occurred to the +good people that the smell of powder could reach their peaceful town. +That idea was somewhat rudely forced upon them when the French flag +was run up to the mizzen-top, and a white puff of smoke burst from +the vessel, which was followed by a shot, that went hissing over +their heads, and plumped right into the middle of the town! + +"That shot knocked over fifteen chimney-pots and two weathercocks in +Market-gate, went slap through a house in the suburbs, and finally +stuck in the carcass of an old horse belonging to the Provost of the +town, which didn't survive the shock--the horse, I mean, not the +Provost. + +"It is said that there was an old gentleman lying in bed in a room of +the house that the shot went through. He was a sort of 'hipped' +character, and believed that he could not walk, if he were to try +ever so much. He was looking quietly at the face of a great Dutch +clock when the shot entered and knocked the clock inside out, sending +its contents in a shower over the old gentleman, who jumped up and +rushed out of the house like a maniac! He was cured completely from +that hour. At least, so it's said, but I don't vouch for the truth of +the story. + +"However, certain it is that the shot was fired, and was followed up +by two or three more; after which the Frenchman ceased firing, and a +boat was seen to quit the side of the craft, bearing a flag of truce. + +"The consternation into which the town was thrown is said to have +been tremendous." + +"That's false," interrupted the captain, removing his pipe while he +spoke. "The word ain't appropriate. The men of Arbroath doesn't know +nothin' about no such word as 'consternation '. They was _surprised_, +if ye choose, an' powerfully enraged mayhap, but they wasn't +consternated by no means," + +"Well, I don't insist on the point," said the lieutenant, "but +chroniclers write so----" + +"Chroniclers write lies sometimes," interrupted the captain curtly. + +"Perhaps they do; but you will admit, I dare say, that the women and +children were thrown into a great state of alarm." + +"I'm not so sure of that," interposed Ruby. "In a town where the men +were so bold, the women and children would be apt to feel very much +at their ease. At all events, I am acquainted with some women who are +not easily frightened." + +"Really, I think it is not fair to interrupt the story in this way," +said Minnie, with a laugh. + +"Right, lass, right," said the captain. "Come, leftenant, spin away +at yer yarn, and don't ventur' too much commentary thereon, 'cause +it's apt to lead to error, an' ye know, as the poet says-- + + 'Errors in the heart breed errors in the brain, + An' these are apt to twist ye wrong again.' + +I'm not 'xactly sure o' the precise words in this case, but that's +the sentiment, and everybody knows that sentiment is everything in +poetry, whether ye understand it or not. Fire away, leftenant, an' +don't be long-winded if ye can help it." + +"Well, to return to the point," resumed Lindsay. "The town was +certainly thrown into a tremendous state of _some_ sort, for the +people had no arms of any kind wherewith to defend themselves. There +were no regular soldiers, no militia, and no volunteers. Everybody +ran wildly about in every direction, not knowing what to do. There +was no leader, and, in short, the town was very like a shoal of +small fish in a pool when a boy wades in and makes a dash amongst +them. + +"At last a little order was restored by the Provost, who was a +sensible old man, and an old soldier to boot, but too infirm to take +as active a part in such an emergency as he would have done had he +been a dozen years younger. He, with several of the principal men of +the town, went down to the beach to receive the bearers of the flag +of truce. + +"The boat was manned by a crew of five or six seamen, armed with +cutlasses, and arquebusses. As soon as its keel grated on the sand a +smart little officer leaped ashore, and presented to the Provost a +letter from Captain Fall, which ran somewhat in this fashion:-- + + "'AT SEA, _May twenty-third_. + +"'GENTLEMEN,--I send these two words to inform you, that I will have +you to bring-to the French colour in less than a quarter of an hour, +or I set the town on fire directly. Such is the order of my master, +the King of France, I am sent by. Send directly the Mair and chiefs +of the town to make some agreement with me, or I'll make my duty. +It is the will of yours, G. FALL. + + "'To MONSIEUR MAIB of the town + called Arbrought, or in his absence + to the chief man after him in Scotland.' + +"On reading this the Provost bowed respectfully to the officer, and +begged of him to wait a few minutes while he should consult with his +chief men. This was agreed to, and the Provost said to his friends, +as he walked to a neighbouring house-- + +"'Ye see, freens, this whipper-snapper o' a tade-eater has gotten the +whup hand o' us; but we'll be upsides wi' him. The main thing is to +get delay, so cut away, Tam Cargill, and tak' horse to Montrose for +the sodgers. Spare na the spur, lad, an' gar them to understan' that +the case is urgent." + +"While Tam Cargill started away on his mission, the Provost, whose +chief aim was to gain time and cause delay, penned an epistle to the +Frenchman, in which he stated that he had neglected to name the terms +on which he would consent to spare the town, and that he would +consider it extremely obliging if he would, as speedily as possible, +return an answer, stating them, in order that they might be laid +before the chief men of the place. + +"When the Provost, who was a grave, dignified old man, with a strong +dash of humour in him, handed this note to the French officer, he did +so with a humble obeisance that appeared to afford much gratification +to the little man. As the latter jumped into the boat and ordered the +men to push off, the Provost turned slowly to his brother magistrates +with a wink and a quiet smile that convulsed them with suppressed +laughter, and did more to encourage any of the wavering or timid +inhabitants than if he had harangued them heroically for an hour. + +"Some time after the boat returned with a reply, which ran thus:-- + + "'AT SEA, _eight o'clock in the Afternoon_, + +"'GENTLEMEN,--I received just now your answer, by which you say I ask +no terms. I thought it was useless, since I asked you to come aboard +for agreement. But here are my terms:--I will have L30,000 sterling +at least, and six of the chiefs men of the town for otage. Be speedy, +or I shot your town away directly, and I set fire to it. I am, +gentlemen, your servant, G. FALL. + + +"'I sent some of my crew to you, but if some harm happens to them, +you'll be sure we'll hang up the mainyard all the prisoners we have +aboard. + +"'To Monsieurs the chiefs men +of Arbrought in Scotland.' + + +"I'm not quite certain," continued the lieutenant, "what were the +exact words of the Provost's reply to this letter, but they conveyed +a distinct and contemptuous refusal to accede to any terms, and, I +believe, invited Fall to come ashore, where, if he did not get +precisely what he had asked, he would be certain to receive a great +deal more than he wanted. + +"The enraged and disappointed Frenchman at once began a, heavy fire +upon the town, and continued it for a long time, but fortunately it +did little or no harm, as the town lay in a somewhat low position, +and Fall's guns being too much elevated, the shot passed over it. + +"Next day another letter was sent to the Provost by some fishermen, +who were captured while fishing off the Bell Rock. This letter was as +tremendous as the two former. I can give it to you, word for word, +from memory. + + "'AT SEA, _May 24th_. + +"'GENTLEMEN,--See whether you will come to some terms with me, or I +come in presently with my cutter into the arbour, and I will cast +down the town all over. Make haste, because I have no time to spare. +I give you a quarter of an hour to your decision, and after I'll make +my duty. I think it would he better for you, gentlemen, to come some +of you aboard presently, to settle the affairs of your town. You'll +sure no to be hurt. I give you my parole of honour. I am your, + 'G. FALL.' + + +"When the Provost received this he looked round and said, 'Now, +gentlemen all, we'll hae to fight. Send me Ogilvy.' + +"'Here I am, Provost,' cried a stout, active young fellow; something +like what the captain must have been when he was young, I should +think!" + +"Ahem!" coughed the captain. + +"Well," continued Lindsay, "the Provost said, 'Now, Ogilvy, you're a +smart cheel, an' ken aboot war and strategy and the like: I charge ye +to organize the men o' the toon without delay, and tak' what steps ye +think adveesable. Meanwhile, I'll away and ripe oot a' the airms and +guns I can find. Haste ye, lad, an' mak' as muckle noise aboot it as +ye can.' + +'"Trust me,' said Ogilvy, who appeared to have been one of those men +who regard a fight as a piece of good fun. + +"Turning to the multitude, who had heard the commission given, and +were ready for anything, he shouted, 'Now, boys, ye heard the +Provost. I need not ask if you are all ready to fight----' + +"A deafening cheer interrupted the speaker, who, when it ceased, +proceeded-- + +"'Well, then, I've but one piece of advice to give ye: _Obey orders +at once_. When I tell ye to halt, stop dead like lampposts; when I +say, "Charge!" go at them like wild cats, and drive the Frenchmen +into the sea!' 'Hurrah!' yelled the crowd, for they were wild with +excitement and rage, and only wanted a leader to organize them and +make them formidable. When the cheer ceased, Ogilvy cried, 'Now, +then, every man who knows how to beat a kettledrum and blow a trumpet +come here.' + +"About twenty men answered to the summons, and to these Ogilvy said +aloud, in order that all might hear, 'Go, get you all the trumpets, +drums, horns, bugles, and trombones in the town; beat the drums till +they split, and blow the bugles till they burst, and don't give in +till ye can't go on. The rest of you,' he added, turning to the +crowd, 'go, get arms, guns, swords, pistols, scythes, pitchforks, +pokers--anything, everything--and meet me at the head of +Market-gate--away!' + +"No king of necromancers ever dispersed his legions more rapidly than +did Ogilvy on that occasion. They gave one final cheer, and scattered +like chaff before the wind, leaving their commander alone, with a +select few, whom he kept by him as a sort of staff to consult with +and despatch with orders. + +"The noise that instantly ensued in the town was something +pandemoniacal. Only three drums were found, but tin kettles and pans +were not wanting, and these, superintended by Hugh Barr, the town +drummer, did great execution. Three key-bugles, an old French horn, +and a tin trumpet of a mail-coach guard, were sounded at intervals in +every quarter of the town, while the men were marshalled, and made to +march hither and thither in detached bodies, as if all were busily +engaged in making preparations for a formidable defence. + +"In one somewhat elevated position a number of men were set to work +with spades, picks, and shovels, to throw up an earthwork. When it +had assumed sufficiently large dimensions to attract the attention of +the French, a body of men, with blue jackets, and caps with bits of +red flannel hanging down the sides, were marched up behind it at the +double, and posted there. + +"Meanwhile Ogilvy had prepared a dummy field piece, by dismounting a +cart from its wheels and fixing on the axle a great old wooden pump, +not unlike a big gun in shape; another cart was attached to this to +represent a limber; four horses were harnessed to the affair; two men +mounted these, and, amid a tremendous flourish of trumpets and +beating of drums, the artillery went crashing along the streets and +up the eminence crowned by the earthwork, where they wheeled the gun +into position. + +"The artillerymen sprang at the old pump like true Britons, and began +to sponge it out as if they had been bred to gunnery from childhood, +while the limber was detached and galloped to the rear. In this +operation the cart was smashed to pieces, and the two hindmost horses +were thrown; but this mattered little, as they had got round a +corner, and the French did not see it. + +"Fall and his brave men seem to have been upset altogether by these +warlike demonstrations, for the moment the big gun made its +appearance the sails were shaken loose, and the French privateer +sheered off, capturing as he left the bay, however, several small +vessels, which he carried off as prizes to France. And so," +concluded the lieutenant, "Captain Fall sailed away, and never was +heard of more." + +"Well told; well told, leftenant," cried the captain, whose eyes +sparkled at the concluding account of the defensive operations, "and +true every word of it." + +"That's good testimony to my truthfulness, then," said Lindsay, +laughing, "for you were there yourself!" + +"There yourself, uncle?" repeated Minnie, with a glance of surprise +that quickly changed into a look of intelligence, as she exclaimed, +with a merry laugh, "Ah! I see. It was you, uncle, who did it all; +who commanded on that occasion----" + +"My child," said the captain, resuming his pipe with an expression of +mild reproof on his countenance, "don't go for to pry too deep into +things o' the past. I _may_ have been a fire-eater once--I _may_ have +been a gay young feller as could----; but no matter. Avast musin'! As +Lord Bacon says-- + + 'The light of other days is faded, + An' all their glory 'a past; + My boots no longer look as they did, + But, like my coat, are goin' fast.' + +But I say, leftenant, how long do you mean to keep pullin' about +here, without an enemy, or, as far as I can see, an object in view? +Don't you think we might land, and let Minnie see some of the caves?" + +"With all my heart, captain, and here is a convenient bay to run the +boat ashore." + +As he spoke the boat shot past one of those bold promontories of red +sandstone which project along that coast in wild picturesque forms, +terminating in some instances in detached headlands, elsewhere in +natural arches. The cliffs were so close to the boat that they could +have been touched by the oars, while the rocks, rising to a +considerable height, almost overhung them. Just beyond this a +beautiful bay opened up to view, with a narrow strip of yellow +shingle round the base of the cliffs, which here lost for a short +distance their rugged character, though not their height, and were +covered with herbage. A zigzag path led to the top, and the whole +neighbourhood was full of ocean-worn coves and gullies, some of them +dry, and many filled with water, while others were filled at high +tide, and left empty when the tides fell. + +"O how beautiful! and what a place for smugglers!" was Minnie's +enthusiastic exclamation on first catching sight of the bay. + +"The smugglers and you would appear to be of one mind," said Ruby, +"for they are particularly fond of this place." + +"So fond of it," said the lieutenant, "that I mean to wait for them +here in anticipation of a moonlight visit this night, if my fair +passenger will consent to wander in such wild places at such late +hours, guarded from the night air by my boat-cloak, and assured of +the protection of my stout boatmen in case of any danger, although +there is little prospect of our meeting with any greater danger than +a breeze or a shower of rain." + +Minnie said that she would like nothing better; that she did not mind +the night air; and, as to danger from men, she felt that she should +be well cared for in present circumstances. + +As she uttered the last words she naturally glanced at Ruby, for +Minnie was of a dependent and trusting nature; but as Ruby happened +to be regarding her intently, though quite accidentally, at the +moment, she dropped her eyes and blushed. + +It is wonderful the power of a little glance at times. The glance +referred to made Ruby perfectly happy. It conveyed to him the +assurance that Minnie regarded the protection of the entire boat's +crew, including the lieutenant, as quite unnecessary, and that she +deemed his single arm all that she required or wanted. + +The sun was just dipping behind the tall cliffs, and his parting rays +were kissing the top of Minnie's head as if they positively could not +help it, and had recklessly made up their mind to do it, come what +might! + +Ruby looked at the golden light kissing the golden hair, and he +felt---- + +Oh! you know, reader; if you have ever been in similar circumstances, +you _understand_ what he felt; if you have not, no words from me, or +from any other man, can ever convey to you the most distant idea of +_what_ Ruby felt on that occasion! + +On reaching the shore they all went up to the green banks at the foot +of the cliffs, and turned round to watch the men as they pulled the +boat to a convenient point for re-embarking at a moment's notice. + +"You see," said the lieutenant, pursuing a conversation which he had +been holding with the captain, "I have been told that Big Swankie, +and his mate Davy Spink (who, it seems, is not over-friendly with him +just now), mean to visit one of the luggers which is expected to come +in to-night, before the moon rises, and bring off some kegs of +Auchmithie water, which, no doubt, they will try to hide in +Dickmont's Den. I shall lie snugly here on the watch, and hope to nab +them before they reach that celebrated old smuggler's abode." + +"Well, I'll stay about here," said the captain, "and show Minnie the +caves. I would like to have taken her to see the Gaylet Pot, which is +one o' the queerest hereabouts; but I'm too old for such rough work +now." + +"But I am not too old for it," interposed Ruby, "so if Minnie would +like to go----" + +"But I won't desert _you_, uncle," said Minnie hastily. + +"Nay, lass, call it not desertion. I can smoke my pipe here, an' +contemplate. I'm fond of contemplation-- + + 'By the starry light of the summer night, + On the banks of the blue Moselle,' + +though, for the matter o' that, moonlight'll do, if there's no stars. +I think it's good for the mind, Minnie, and keeps all taut. +Contemplation is just like takin' an extra pull on the lee braces. So +you may go with Ruby, lass." + +Thus advised, and being further urged by Ruby himself, and being +moreover exceedingly anxious to see this cave, Minnie consented; so +the two set off together, and, climbing to the summit of the cliffs, +followed the narrow footpath that runs close to their giddy edge all +along the coast. + +In less than half an hour they reached the Giel or Gaylet Pot. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AN ADVENTURE--SECRETS REVEALED, AND A PRIZE + +The Giel or Gaylet Pot, down into which Ruby, with great care and +circumspection, led Minnie, is one of the most curious of Nature's +freaks among the cliffs of Arbroath. + +In some places there is a small scrap of pebbly beach at the base of +those perpendicular cliffs; in most places there is none--the cliffs +presenting to the sea almost a dead wall, where neither ship nor boat +could find refuge from the storm. + +The country, inland, however, does not partake of the rugged nature +of the cliffs. It slopes gradually towards them--so gradually that it +may be termed flat, and if a stranger were to walk towards the sea +over the fields in a dark night, the first intimation he would +receive of his dangerous position would be when his foot descended +into the terrible abyss that would receive his shattered frame a +hundred feet below. + +In one of the fields there is a hole about a hundred yards across, +and as deep as the cliffs in that part are high. It is about fifty or +eighty yards from the edge of the cliffs, and resembles an old +quarry; but it is cut so sharply out of the flat field that it shows +no sign of its existence until the traveller is close upon it. The +rocky sides, too, are so steep, that at first sight it seems as if no +man could descend into it. But the most peculiar point about this +hole is, that at the foot of it there is the opening of a cavern, +through which the sea rolls into the hole, and breaks in wavelets on +a miniature shore. The sea has forced its way inland and underground +until it has burst into the bottom of this hole, which is not inaptly +compared to a pot with water boiling at the bottom of it. When a +spectator looks into the cave, standing at the bottom of the "Pot", +he sees the seaward opening at the other end--a bright spot of light +in the dark interior. + +"You won't get nervous, Minnie?" said Ruby, pausing when about +halfway down the steep declivity, where the track, or rather the +place of descent, became still more steep and difficult; "a slip here +would be dangerous." + +"I have no fear, Ruby, as long as you keep by me." + +In a few minutes they reached the bottom, and, looking up, the sky +appeared above them like a blue circular ceiling, with the edges of +the Gaylet Pot sharply defined against it. + +Proceeding over a mass of fallen rock, they reached the pebbly strand +at the cave's inner mouth. + +"I can see the interior now, as my eyes become accustomed to the dim +light," said Minnie, gazing up wistfully into the vaulted roof, where +the edges of projecting rocks seemed to peer out of darkness. "Surely +this must be a place for smugglers to come to!" + +"They don't often come here. The place is not so suitable as many of +the other caves are." + +From the low, subdued tones in which they both spoke, it was evident +that the place inspired them with feelings of awe. + +"Come, Minnie," said Ruby, at length, in a more cheerful tone, "let +us go into this cave and explore it." + +"But the water may be deep," objected Minnie; "besides, I do not like +to wade, even though it be shallow." + +"Nay, sweet one; do you think I would ask you to wet your pretty +feet? There is very little wading required. See, I have only to raise +you in my arms and take two steps into the water, and a third step to +the left round that projecting rock, where I can set you down on +another beach inside the cave. Your eyes will soon get used to the +subdued light, and then you will see things much more clearly than +you would think it possible viewed from this point." + +Minnie did not require much pressing. She had perfect confidence in +her lover, and was naturally fearless in disposition, so she was soon +placed on the subterranean beach of the Gaylet Cave, and for some +time wandered about in the dimly-lighted place, leaning on Ruby's +arm. + +Gradually their eyes became accustomed to the place, and then its +mysterious beauty and wildness began to have full effect on their +minds, inducing them to remain for a long time silent, as they sat +side by side on a piece of fallen rock. + +They sat looking in the direction of the seaward entrance to the +cavern, where the light glowed brightly on the rocks, gradually +losing its brilliancy as it penetrated the cave, until it became +quite dim in the centre. No part of the main cave was quite dark, +but the offshoot, in which the lovers sat, was almost dark. To +anyone viewing it from the outer cave it would have appeared +completely so. + +"Is that a sea-gull at the outlet?" enquired Minnie, after a long +pause. + +Ruby looked intently for a moment in the direction indicated. + +"Minnie," he said quickly, and in a tone of surprise, "that is a +large gull, if it be one at all, and uses oars instead of wings. Who +can it be? Smugglers never come here that I am aware of, and Lindsay +is not a likely man to waste his time in pulling about when he has +other work to do." + +"Perhaps it may be some fishermen from Auchmithie," suggested Minnie, +"who are fond of exploring, like you and me." + +"Mayhap it is, but we shall soon see, for here they come. We must +keep out of sight, my girl." + +Ruby rose and led Minnie into the recesses of the cavern, where they +were speedily shrouded in profound darkness, and could not be seen by +anyone, although they themselves could observe all that occurred in +the space in front of them. + +The boat, which had entered the cavern by its seaward mouth, was a +small one, manned by two fishermen, who were silent as they rowed +under the arched roof; but it was evident that their silence did not +proceed from caution, for they made no effort to prevent or check the +noise of the oars. + +In a few seconds the keel grated on the peebles, and one of the men +leaped out. + +"Noo, Davy," he said, in a voice that sounded deep and hollow under +that vaulted roof, "oot wi' the kegs. Haste ye, man." + +"Tis Big Swankie," whispered Ruby. + +"There's nae hurry," objected the other fisherman, who, we need +scarcely inform the reader, was our friend, Davy Spink. + +"Nae hurry!" repeated his comrade angrily. "That's aye yer cry. Half +'o oor ventures hae failed because ye object to hurry." + +"Hoot, man! that's enough o't," said Spink, in the nettled tone of a +man who has been a good deal worried. Indeed, the tones of both +showed that these few sentences were but the continuation of a +quarrel which had begun elsewhere. + +"It's plain to me that we must pairt, freen'," said Swankie in a +dogged manner, as he lifted a keg out of the boat and placed it on +the ground. + +"Ay," exclaimed Spink, with something of a sneer, "an" d'ye think +I'll pairt without a diveesion o' the siller tea-pats and things that +ye daurna sell for fear o' bein' fund out?" + +"I wonder ye dinna claim half o' the jewels and things as weel," +retorted Swankie; "ye hae mair right to _them_, seein' ye had a hand +in findin' them." + +"_Me_ a hand in findin' them," exclaimed Spink, with sudden +indignation. "Was it _me_ that fand the deed body o' the auld man on +the Bell Rock? Na, na, freend. I hae naething to do wi' deed men's +jewels." + +"Have ye no?" retorted the other. "It's strange, then, that ye should +entertain such sma' objections to deed men's siller." "Weel-a-weel, +Swankie, the less we say on thae matters the better. Here, tak' hand +o' the tither keg." + +The conversation ceased at this stage abruptly. Evidently each had +touched on the other's weak point, so both tacitly agreed to drop the +subject. + +Presently Big Swankie took out a flint and steel, and proceeded to +strike a light. It was some some time before the tinder would catch. +At each stroke of the steel a shower of brilliant sparks lit up his +countenance for an instant, and this momentary glance showed that its +expression was not prepossessing by any means. + +Ruby drew Minnie farther into the recess which concealed them, and +awaited the result with some anxiety, for he felt that the amount of +knowledge with which he had become possessed thus unintentionally, +small though it was, was sufficient to justify the smugglers in +regarding him as a dangerous enemy. + +He had scarcely drawn himself quite within the shadow of the recess, +when Swankie succeeded in kindling a torch, which filled the cavern +with a lurid light, and revealed its various forms, rendering it, if +possible, more mysterious and unearthly than ever. + +"Here, Spink," cried Swankie, who was gradually getting into better +humour, "haud the light, and gie me the spade." + +"Ye better put them behind the rock, far in," suggested Spink. + +The other seemed to entertain this idea for a moment, for he raised +the torch above his head, and, advancing into the cave, carefully +examined the rocks at the inner end. + +Step by step he drew near to the place where Ruby and Minnie were +concealed, muttering to himself, as he looked at each spot that might +possibly suit his purpose, "Na, na, the waves wad wash the kegs oot +o' that if it cam' on to blaw." + +He made another step forward, and the light fell almost on the head +of Ruby, who felt Minnie's arm tremble. He clenched his hands with +that feeling of resolve that comes over a man when he has made up his +mind to fight. + +Just then an exclamation of surprise escaped from his comrade. + +"Losh! man, what have we here?" he cried, picking up a small object +that glittered in the light. + +Minnie's heart sank, for she could see that the thing was a small +brooch which she was in the habit of wearing in her neckerchief, and +which must have been detached when Ruby carried her into the cave. + +She felt assured that this would lead to their discovery; but it had +quite the opposite effect, for it caused Swankie to turn round and +examine the trinket with much curiosity. + +A long discussion as to how it could have come there immediately +ensued between the smugglers, in the midst of which a wavelet washed +against Swankie's feet, reminding him that the tide was rising, and +that he had no time to lose. + +"There's nae place behint the rocks," said he quickly, putting the +brooch in his pocket, "so we'll just hide the kegs amang the stanes. +Lucky for us that we got the rest o' the cargo run ashore at +Auchmithie. This'll lie snugly here, and we'll pull past the +leftenant, who thinks we havena seen him, with oor heeds up and oor +tongues in oor cheeks." + +They both chuckled heartily at the idea of disappointing the +preventive officer, and while one held the torch the other dug a hole +in the beach deep enough to contain the two kegs. + +"In ye go, my beauties," said Swankie, covering them up. "Mony's the +time I've buried ye." + +"Ay, an' mony's the time ye've helped at their resurrection," added +Spink, with a laugh. + +"Noo, we'll away an' have a look at the kegs in the Forbidden Cave," +said Swankie, "see that they're a' richt, an' then have our game wi' +the land-sharks." + +Next moment the torch was dashed against the stones and extinguished, +and the two men, leaping into their boat, rowed away. As they passed +through the outer cavern, Ruby heard them arrange to go back to +Auchmithie. Their voices were too indistinct to enable him to +ascertain their object in doing so, but he knew enough of the +smugglers to enable him to guess that it was for the purpose of +warning some of their friends of the presence of the preventive boat, +which their words proved that they had seen. + +"Now, Minnie," said he, starting up as soon as the boat had +disappeared, "this is what I call good luck, for not only shall we be +able to return with something to the boat, but we shall be able to +intercept big Swankie and his comrade, and offer them a glass of +their own gin!" + +"Yes, and I shall be able to boast of having had quite a little +adventure," said Minnie, who, now that her anxiety was over, began to +feel elated. + +They did not waste time in conversation, however, for the digging up +of two kegs from a gravelly beach with fingers instead of a spade was +not a quick or easy thing to do; so Ruby found as he went down on his +knees in that dark place and began the work. + +"Can I help you?" asked his fair companion after a time. + +"Help me! What? Chafe and tear your little hands with work that all +but skins mine? Nay, truly. But here comes one, and the other will +soon follow. Yo, heave, HO!" + +With the well-known nautical shout Ruby put forth an herculean +effort, and tore the kegs out of the earth. After a short pause he +carried Minnie out of the cavern, and led her to the field above by +the same path by which they had descended. + +Then he returned for the kegs of gin. They were very heavy, but not +too heavy for the strength of the young giant, who was soon hastening +with rapid strides towards the bay, where they had left their +friends. He bore a keg under each arm, and Minnie tripped lightly by +his side,--and laughingly, too, for she enjoyed the thought of the +discomfiture that was in store for the smugglers. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE SMUGGLERS ARE "TREATED" TO GIN AND ASTONISHMENT + +They found the lieutenant and Captain Ogilvy stretched on the grass, +smoking their pipes together. The daylight had almost deepened into +night, and a few stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky. + +"Hey! what have we here--smugglers'!" cried the captain, springing up +rather quickly, as Ruby came unexpectedly on them. + +"Just so, uncle," said Minnie, with a laugh. "We have here some gin, +smuggled all the way from Holland, and have come to ask your opinion +of it." + +"Why, Ruby, how came you by this?" enquired Lindsay in amazement, as +he examined the kegs with critical care. + +"Suppose I should say that I have been taken into confidence by the +smugglers and then betrayed them." + +"I should reply that the one idea was improbable, and the other +impossible," returned the lieutenant. + +"Well, I have at all events found out their secrets, and now I reveal +them." + +In a few words Ruby acquainted his friends with all that has just +been narrated. + +The moment he had finished, the lieutenant ordered his men to launch +the boat. The kegs were put into the stern-sheets, the party +embarked, and, pushing off, they rowed gently out of the bay, and +crept slowly along the shore, under the deep shadow of the cliffs. + +"How dark it is getting!" said Minnie, after they had rowed for some +time in silence. + +"The moon will soon be up," said the lieutenant. "Meanwhile I'll cast +a little light on the subject by having a pipe. Will you join me, +captain?" + +This was a temptation which the captain never resisted; indeed, he +did not regard it as a temptation at all, and would have smiled at +the idea of resistance. + +"Minnie, lass," said he, as he complacently filled the blackened +bowl, and calmly stuffed down the glowing tobacco with the end of +that marvellously callous little finger, "it's a wonderful thing that +baccy. I don't know what man would do without it." + +"Quite as well as woman does, I should think," replied Minnie. + +"I'm not so sure of that, lass. It's more nat'ral for man to smoke +than for woman. Ye see, woman, lovely woman, should be 'all my fancy +painted her, both lovely and divine'. It would never do to have baccy +perfumes hangin' about her rosy lips." + +"But, uncle, why should man have the disagreeable perfumes you speak +of hanging about _his_ lips?" + +"I don't know, lass. It's all a matter o' feeling. 'Twere vain to +tell thee all I feel, how much my heart would wish to say;' but of +this I'm certain sure, that I'd never git along without my pipe. +It's like compass, helm, and ballast all in one. Is that the moon, +leftenant?" + +The captain pointed to a faint gleam of light on the horizon, which +he knew well enough to be the moon; but he wished to change the +subject. + +"Ay is it, and there comes a boat. Steady, men! lay on your oars a +bit." + +This was said earnestly. In one instant all were silent, and the boat +lay as motionless as the shadows of the cliffs among which it was +involved. + +Presently the sound of oars was heard. Almost at the same moment, the +upper edge of the moon rose above the horizon, and covered the sea +with rippling silver. Ere long a boat shot into this stream of +light, and rowed swiftly in the direction of Arbroath. + +"There are only two men in it," whispered the lieutenant. + +"Ay, these are my good friends Swankie and Spink, who know a deal +more about other improper callings besides smuggling, if I did not +greatly mistake their words," cried Ruby. + +"Give way, lads!" cried the lieutenant. + +The boat sprang at the word from her position under the cliffs, and +was soon out upon the sea in full chase of the smugglers, who bent to +their oars more lustily, evidently intending to trust to their speed. + +"Strange," said the lieutenant, as the distance between the two began +sensibly to decrease, "if these be smugglers, with an empty boat, as +you lead me to suppose they are, they would only be too glad to stop +and let us see that they had nothing aboard that we could touch. It +leads me to think that you are mistaken, Ruby Brand, and that these +are not your friends." + +"Nay, the same fact convinces me that they are the very men we seek; +for they said they meant to have some game with you, and what more +amusing than to give you a long, hard chase for nothing?" + +"True; you are right. Well, we will turn the tables on them. Take the +helm for a minute, while I tap one of the kegs." + +The tapping was soon accomplished, and a quantity of the spirit was +drawn off into the captain's pocket-flask. + +"Taste it, captain, and let's have your opinion." + +Captain Ogilvy complied. He put the flask to his lips, and, on +removing it, smacked them, and looked at the party with that +extremely grave, almost solemn expression, which is usually assumed +by a man when strong liquid is being put to the delicate test of his +palate. + +"Oh!" exclaimed the captain, opening his eyes very wide indeed. + +What "oh" meant, was rather doubtful at first; but when the captain +put the flask again to his lips, and took another pull, a good deal +longer than the first, much, if not all of the doubt was removed. + +"Prime! nectar!" he murmured, in a species of subdued ecstasy, at the +end of the second draught. + +"Evidently the right stuff," said Lindsay, laughing. + + "Liquid streams--celestial nectar, + Darted through the ambient sky," + +said the captain; "liquid, ay, liquid is the word." + +He was about to test the liquid again:-- + +"Stop! stop! fair play, captain; it's my turn now," cried the +lieutenant, snatching the flask from his friend's grasp, and applying +it to his own lips. + +Both the lieutenant and Ruby pronounced the gin perfect, and as +Minnie positively refused either to taste or to pronounce judgment, +the flask was returned to its owner's pocket. + +They were now close on the smugglers, whom they hailed, and commanded +to lay on their oars. + +The order was at once obeyed, and the boats were speedily rubbing +sides together. + +"I should like to examine your boat, friends," said the lieutenant as +he stepped across the gunwales. + +"Oh! sir, I'm thankfu' to find you're not smugglers," said Swankie, +with an assumed air of mingled respect and alarm. "If we'd only +know'd ye was preventives we'd ha' backed oars at once. There's +nothin' here; ye may seek as long's ye please. + +The hypocritical rascal winked slyly to his comrade as he said this. +Meanwhile Lindsay and one of the men examined the contents of the +boat, and, finding nothing contraband, the former said-- + +"So, you're honest men, I find. Fishermen, doubtless?" + +"Ay, some o' yer crew ken us brawly," said Davy Spink with a grin. + +"Well, I won't detain you," rejoined the lieutenant; "it's quite a +pleasure to chase honest men on the high seas in these times of war +and smuggling. But it's too bad to have given you such a fright, +lads, for nothing. What say you to a glass of gin?" + +Big Swankie and his comrade glanced at each other in surprise. They +evidently thought this an unaccountably polite Government officer, +and were puzzled. However, they could do no less than accept such a +generous offer. + +"Thank'ee, sir," said Big Swankie, spitting out his quid and +significantly wiping his mouth. "I hae nae objection. Doubtless it'll +be the best that the like o' you carries in yer bottle." + +"The best, certainly," said the lieutenant, as he poured out a +bumper, and handed it to the smuggler. "It was smuggled, of course, +and you see His Majesty is kind enough to give his servants a little +of what they rescue from the rascals, to drink his health." + +"Weel, I drink to the King," said Swankie, "an' confusion to all his +enemies, 'specially to smugglers." + +He tossed off the gin with infinite gusto, and handed back the cup +with a smack of the lips and a look that plainly said, "More, if you +please!" + +But the hint was not taken. Another bumper was filled and handed to +Davy Spink, who had been eyeing the crew of the boat with great +suspicion. He accepted the cup, nodded curtly, and said-- + +"Here's t' ye, gentlemen, no forgettin' the fair leddy in the +stern-sheets." + +While he was drinking the gin the lieutenant turned to his men-- + +"Get out the keg, lads, from which that came, and refill the flask. +Hold it well up in the moonlight, and see that ye don't spill a +single drop, as you value your lives. Hey! my man, what ails you? +Does the gin disagree with your stomach, or have you never seen a +smuggled keg of spirits before, that you stare at it as if it were +a keg of ghosts!" + +The latter part of this speech was addressed to Swankie, who no +sooner beheld the keg than his eyes opened up until they resembled +two great oysters. His mouth slowly followed suit. Davy Spink's +attention having been attracted, he became subject to similar +alterations of visage. + +"Hallo!" cried the captain, while the whole crew burst into a laugh, +"you must have given them poison. Have you a stomach-pump, doctor?" +he said, turning hastily to Ruby. + +"No, nothing but a penknife and a tobacco-stopper. If they're of any +use to you----" + +He was interrupted by a loud laugh from Big Swankie, who quickly +recovered his presence of mind, and declared that he had never tasted +such capital stuff in his life. + +"Have ye much o't, sir?" + +"O yes, a good deal. I have _two_ kegs of it," (the lieutenant +grinned very hard at this point), "and we expect to get a little more +to-night." + +"Ha!" exclaimed Davy Spink, "there's no doot plenty o't in the coves +hereaway, for they're an awfu' smugglin' set. Whan did ye find the +twa kegs, noo, if I may ask?" + +"Oh, certainly. I got them not more than an hour ago." + +The smugglers glanced at each other and were struck dumb; but they +were now too much on their guard to let any further evidence of +surprise escape them. + +"Weel, I wush ye success, sirs," said Swankie, sitting down to his +oar. "It's likely ye'll come across mair if ye try Dickmont's Den. +There's usually somethin' hidden there-aboots." + +"Thank you, friend, for the hint," said the lieutenant, as he took +his place at the tiller-ropes, "but I shall have a look at the Gaylet +Cove, I think, this evening." + +"What! the Gaylet Cove?" cried Spink. "Ye might as weel look for +kegs at the bottom o' the deep sea." + +"Perhaps so; nevertheless, I have taken a fancy to go there. If I +find nothing, I will take a look into the Forbidden Cave." + +"The Forbidden Cave!" almost howled Swankie. "Wha iver heard o' +smugglers hidin' onything there? The air in't wad pushen a rotten." + +"Perhaps it would, yet I mean to try." + +"Weel-a-weel, ye may try, but ye might as weel seek for kegs o' gin +on the Bell Rock." + +"Ha! it's not the first time that strange things have been found on +the Bell Bock," said Ruby suddenly. "I have heard of jewels, even, +being discovered there." + +"Give way, men; shove off," cried the lieutenant. "A pleasant pull to +you, lads. Good night." + +The two boats parted, and while the lieutenant and his friends made +for the shore, the smugglers rowed towards Arbroath in a state of +mingled amazement and despair at what they had heard and seen. + +"It was Ruby Brand that spoke last, Davy." + +"Ay; he was i' the shadow o' Captain Ogilvy and I couldna see his +face, but I thought it like his voice when he first spoke." + +"Hoo _can_ he hae come to ken aboot the jewels?" + +"That's mair than I can tell." + +"I'll bury them," said Swankie, "an' then it'll puzzle onybody to +tell whaur they are." + +"Ye'll please yoursell," said Spink. + +Swankie was too angry to make any reply, or to enter into further +conversation with his comrade about the kegs of gin, so they +continued their way in silence. + +Meanwhile, as Lieutenant Lindsay and his men had a night of work +before them, the captain suggested that Minnie, Ruby, and himself +should be landed within a mile of the town, and left to find their +way thither on foot. This was agreed to; and while the one party +walked home by the romantic pathway at the top of the cliffs, the +other rowed away to explore the dark recesses of the Forbidden Cave. + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE BELL ROCK AGAIN--A DREARY NIGHT IN A STRANGE HABITATION + +During that winter Ruby Brand wrought diligently in the workyard at +the lighthouse materials, and, by living economically, began to save +a small sum of money, which he laid carefully by with a view to his +marriage with Minnie Gray. + +Being an impulsive man, Ruby would have married Minnie, then and +there, without looking too earnestly to the future. But his mother +had advised him to wait till he should have laid by a little for a +"rainy day". The captain had recommended patience, tobacco, and +philosophy, and had enforced his recommendations with sundry apt +quotations from dead and living novelists, dramatists, and poets. +Minnie herself, poor girl, felt that she ought not to run counter to +the wishes of her best and dearest friends, so she too advised delay +for a "little time"; and Ruby was fain to content himself with +bewailing his hard lot internally, and knocking Jamie Dove's bellows, +anvils, and sledge-hammers about in a way that induced that son of +Vulcan to believe his assistant had gone mad! + +As for big Swankie, he hid his ill-gotten gains under the floor of +his tumble-down cottage, and went about his evil courses as usual in +company with his comrade Davy Spink, who continued to fight and make +it up with him as of yore. + +It must not be supposed that Ruby forgot the conversation he had +overheard in the Gaylet Cove. He and Minnie and his uncle had +frequent discussions in regard to it, but to little purpose; for +although Swankie and Spink had discovered old Mr. Brand's body on the +Bell Rock, it did not follow that any jewels or money they had found +there were necessarily his. Still Ruby could not divest his mind of +the feeling that there was some connexion between the two, and he was +convinced, from what had fallen from Davy Spink about "silver teapots +and things", that Swankie was the man of whose bad deeds he himself +had been suspected. + +As there seemed no possibility of bringing the matter home to him, +however, he resolved to dismiss the whole affair from his mind in the +meantime. + +Things were very much in this state when, in the spring, the +operations at the Bell Bock were resumed. + +Jamie Dove, Ruby, Robert Selkirk, and several of the principal +workmen, accompanied the engineers on their first visit to the rock, +and they sailed towards the scene of their former labours with deep +and peculiar interest, such as one might feel on renewing +acquaintance with an old friend who had passed through many hard and +trying struggles since the last time of meeting. + +The storms of winter had raged round the Bell Rock as usual--as they +had done, in fact, since the world began; but that winter the +handiwork of man had also been exposed to the fury of the elements +there. It was known that the beacon had survived the storms, for it +could be seen by telescope from the shore in clear weather--like a +little speck on the seaward horizon. Now they were about to revisit +the old haunt, and have a close inspection of the damage that it was +supposed must certainly have been done. + +To the credit of the able engineer who planned and carried out the +whole works, the beacon was found to have resisted winds and waves +successfully. + +It was on a bitterly cold morning about the end of March that the +first visit of the season was paid to the Bell Rock. Mr. Stevenson +and his party of engineers and artificers sailed in the lighthouse +yacht; and, on coming within a proper distance of the rock, two boats +were lowered and pushed off. The sea ran with such force upon the +rock that it seemed doubtful whether a landing could be effected. +About half-past eight, when the rock was fairly above water, several +attempts were made to land, but the breach of the sea was still so +great that they were driven back. + +On the eastern side the sea separated into two distinct waves, which +came with a sweep round the western side, where they met, and rose +in a burst of spray to a considerable height. Watching, however, for +what the sailors termed a smooth, and catching a favourable +opportunity, they rowed between the two seas dexterously, and made a +successful landing at the western creek. + +The sturdy beacon was then closely examined. It had been painted +white at the end of the previous season, but the lower parts of the +posts were found to have become green--the sea having clothed them +with a soft garment of weed. The sea-birds had evidently imagined +that it was put up expressly for their benefit; for a number of +cormorants and large herring-gulls had taken up their quarters on +it--finding it, no doubt, conveniently near to their fishing-grounds. + +A critical inspection of all its parts showed that everything about +it was in a most satisfactory state. There was not the slightest +indication of working or shifting in the great iron stanchions with +which the beams were fixed, nor of any of the joints or places of +connexion; and, excepting some of the bracing-chains which had been +loosened, everything was found in the same entire state in which it +had been left the previous season. + +Only those who know what that beacon had been subjected to can form a +correct estimate of the importance of this discovery, and the amount +of satisfaction it afforded to those most interested in the works at +the Bell Rock. To say that the party congratulated themselves would +be far short of the reality. They hailed the event with cheers, and +their looks seemed to indicate that some piece of immense and +unexpected good fortune had befallen each individual. + +From that moment Mr. Stevenson saw the practicability and propriety +of fitting up the beacon, not only as a place of refuge in case of +accidents to the boats in landing, but as a residence for the men +during the working months. + +From that moment, too, poor Jamie Dove began to see the dawn of +happier days; for when the beacon should be fitted up as a residence +he would bid farewell to the hated floating light, and take up his +abode, as ho expressed it, "on land". + +"On land!" It is probable that this Jamie Dove was the first man, +since the world began, who had entertained the till then absurdly +preposterous notion that the fatal Bell Rock was "land", or that it +could be made a place of even temporary residence. + +A hundred years ago men would have laughed at the bare idea. Fifty +years ago that idea was realized; for more than half a century that +sunken reef has been, and still is, the safe and comfortable home of +man! + +Forgive, reader, our tendency to anticipate. Let us proceed with our +inspection. + +Having ascertained that the foundations of the beacon were all right, +the engineers next ascended to the upper parts, where they found the +cross-beams and their fixtures in an equally satisfactory condition. + +On the top a strong chest had been fixed the preceding season, in +which had been placed a quantity of sea-biscuits and several bottles +of water, in case of accident to the boats, or in the event of +shipwreck occurring on the rock. The biscuit, having been carefully +placed in tin canisters, was found in good condition, but several of +the water-bottles had burst, in consequence, it was supposed, of +frost during the winter. Twelve of the bottles, however, remained +entire, so that the Bell Rock may be said to have been transformed, +even at that date, from a point of destruction into a place of +comparative safety. + +While the party were thus employed, the landing-master reminded them +that the sea was running high, and that it would be necessary to set +off while the rock afforded anything like shelter to the boats, which +by that time had been made fast to the beacon and rode with much +agitation, each requiring two men with boat-hooks to keep them from +striking each other, or ranging up against the beacon. But under +these circumstances the greatest confidence was felt by everyone, +from the security afforded by that temporary erection; for, supposing +that the wind had suddenly increased to a gale, and that it had been +found inadvisable to go into the boats; or supposing they had drifted +or sprung a leak from striking upon the rocks, in any of these +possible, and not at all improbable, cases, they had now something to +lay hold of, and, though occupying the dreary habitation of the gull +and the cormorant, affording only bread and water, yet _life_ would +be preserved, and, under the circumstances, they would have been +supported by the hope of being ultimately relieved. + +Soon after this the works at the Bell Rock were resumed, with, if +possible, greater vigour than before, and ere long the "house" was +fixed to the top of the beacon, and the engineer and his men took up +their abode there. + +Think of this, reader. Six great wooden beams were fastened to a +rock, over which the waves roared twice everyday, and on the top of +these a pleasant little marine residence was nailed, as one might +nail a dove-cot on the top of a pole! + +This residence was ultimately fitted up in such a way as to become a +comparatively comfortable and commodious abode. It contained four +storeys. The first was the mortar-gallery, where the mortar for the +lighthouse was mixed as required; it also supported the forge. The +second was the cook-room. The third the apartment of the engineer and +his assistants; and the fourth was the artificer's barrack-room. This +house was of course built of wood, but it was firmly put together, +for it had to pass through many a terrific ordeal. + +In order to give some idea of the interior, we shall describe the +cabin of Mr. Stevenson. It measured four feet three inches in breadth +on the floor, and though, from the oblique direction of the beams of +the beacon, it widened towards the top, yet it did not admit of the +full extension of the occupant's arms when he stood on the floor. Its +length was little more than sufficient to admit of a cot-bed being +suspended during the night. This cot was arranged so as to be triced +up to the roof during the day, thus leaving free room for occasional +visitors, and for comparatively free motion, A folding table was +attached with hinges immediately under the small window of the +apartment. The remainder of the space was fitted up with books, +barometer, thermometer, portmanteau, and two or three camp-stools. + +The walls were covered with green cloth, formed into panels with red +tape, a substance which, by the way, might have had an _accidental_ +connexion with the Bell Rock Lighthouse, but which could not, by any +possibility, have influenced it as a _principle_, otherwise that +building would probably never have been built, or, if built, would +certainly not have stood until the present day! The bed was festooned +with yellow cotton stuff, and the diet being plain, the paraphernalia +of the table was proportionally simple. + +It would have been interesting to know the individual books required +and used by the celebrated engineer in his singular abode, but his +record leaves no detailed account of these. It does, however, contain +a sentence in regard to one volume which we deem it just to his +character to quote. He writes thus:-- + +"If, in speculating upon the abstract wants of man in such a state of +exclusion, one were reduced to a single book, the Sacred Volume, +whether considered for the striking diversity of its story, the +morality of its doctrine, or the important truths of its gospel, +would have proved by far the greatest treasure." + +It may be easily imagined that in a place where the accommodation of +the principal engineer was so limited, that of the men was not +extensive. Accordingly, we find that the barrack-room contained beds +for twenty-one men. + +But the completion of the beacon house, as we have described it, was +not accomplished in one season. At first it was only used as a +smith's workshop, and then as a temporary residence in fine weather. + +One of the first men who remained all night upon it was our friend +Bremner. He became so tired of the floating light that he earnestly +solicited, and obtained, permission to remain on the beacon. + +At the time it was only in a partially sheltered state. The joiners +had just completed the covering of the roof with a quantity of +tarpaulin, which the seamen had laid over with successive coats of +hot tar, and the sides of the erection had been painted with three +coats of white lead. Between the timber framing of the habitable +part, the interstices were stuffed with moss, but the green baize +cloth with which it was afterwards lined had not been put on when +Bremner took possession. + +It was a splendid summer evening when the bold man made his request, +and obtained permission to remain. None of the others would join him. +When the boats pushed off and left him the solitary occupant of the +rock, he felt a sensation of uneasiness, but, having formed his +resolution, he stuck by it, and bade his comrades good night +cheerfully. + +"Good night, and _goodbye_," cried Forsyth, as he took his seat at +the oar. + +"Farewell, dear," cried O'Connor, wiping his eyes with a _very_ +ragged pocket handkerchief. + +"You won't forget me?" retorted Bremner. + +"Never," replied Dumsby, with fervour. + +"Av the beacon should be carried away, darlin'," cried O'Connor, +"howld tight to the provision-chest, p'raps ye'll be washed ashore." + +"I'll drink your health in water, Paddy," replied Bremner. + +"Faix, I hope it won't be salt wather," retorted Ned. + +They continued to shout good wishes, warnings, and advice to their +comrade until out of hearing, and then waved adieu to him until he +was lost to view. + +We have said that Bremner was alone, yet he was not entirely so; he +had a comrade with him, in the shape of his little black dog, to +which reference has already been made. This creature was of that very +thin and tight-skinned description of dog, that trembles at all times +as if afflicted with chronic cold, summer and winter. Its thin tail +was always between its extremely thin legs, as though it lived in a +perpetual condition of wrong-doing, and were in constant dread of +deserved punishment. Yet no dog ever belied its looks more than did +this one, for it was a good dog, and a warmhearted dog, and never did +a wicked thing, and never was punished, so that its excessive +humility and apparent fear and trembling were quite unaccountable. +Like all dogs of its class it was passionately affectionate, and +intensely grateful for the smallest favour. In fact, it seemed to be +rather thankful than otherwise for a kick when it chanced to receive +one, and a pat on the head, or a kind word made it all but jump out +of its black skin for very joy. + +Bremner called it "Pup". It had no other name, and didn't seem to +wish for one. On the present occasion it was evidently much +perplexed, and very unhappy, for it looked at the boat, and then +wistfully into its master's face, as if to say, "This is awful; have +you resolved that we shall perish together?" + +"Now, Pup," said Bremner, when the boat disappeared in the shades of +evening, "you and I are left alone on the Bell Rock!" + +There was a touch of sad uncertainty in the wag of the tail with +which Pup received this remark. + +"But cheer up, Pup," cried Bremner with a sudden burst of animation +that induced the creature to wriggle and dance on its hind legs for +at least a minute, "you and I shall have a jolly night together on +the beacon; so come along." + +Like many a night that begins well, that particular night ended ill. +Even while the man spoke, a swell began to rise, and, as the tide had +by that time risen a few feet, an occasional billow swept over the +rocks and almost washed the feet of Bremner as he made his way over +the ledges. In five minutes the sea was rolling all round the foot of +the beacon, and Bremner and his friend were safely ensconced on the +mortar-gallery. + +There was no storm that night, nevertheless there was one of those +heavy ground swells that are of common occurrence in the German +Ocean. + +It is supposed that this swell is caused by distant westerly gales in +the Atlantic, which force an undue quantity of water into the North +Sea, and thus produce the apparent paradox of great rolling breakers +in calm weather. + +On this night there was no wind at all, but there was a higher swell +than usual, so that each great billow passed over the rock with a +roar that was rendered more than usually terrible, in consequence of +the utter absence of all other sounds. + +At first Bremner watched the rising tide, and as he sat up there in +the dark he felt himself dreadfully forsaken and desolate, and began +to comment on things in general to his dog, by way of inducing a more +sociable and cheery state of mind. + +"Pup, this is a lugubrious state o' things. Wot d'ye think o't?" + +Pup did not say, but he expressed such violent joy at being noticed, +that he nearly fell off the platform of the mortar-gallery in one of +his extravagant gyrations. + +"That won't do, Pup," said Bremner, shaking his head at the creature, +whose countenance expressed deep contrition. "Don't go on like that, +else you'll fall into the sea and be drownded, and then I shall be +left alone. What a dark night it is, to be sure! I doubt if it was +wise of me to stop here. Suppose the beacon were to be washed away?" + +Bremner paused, and Pup wagged his tail interrogatively, as though to +say, "What then?" + +"Ah! it's of no use supposin'," continued the man slowly. "The beacon +has stood it out all winter, and it ain't likely it's goin' to be +washed away to-night. But suppose I was to be took bad?" + +Again the dog seemed to demand, "What then?" + +"Well, that's not very likely either, for I never was took bad in my +life since I took the measles, and that's more than twenty years ago. +Come, Pup, don't let us look at the black side o' things, let us try +to be cheerful, my dog. Hallo!" + +The exclamation was caused by the appearance of a green billow, which +in the uncertain light seemed to advance in a threatening attitude +towards the beacon as if to overwhelm it, but it fell at some +distance, and only rolled in a churning sea of milky foam among the +posts, and sprang up and licked the beams, as a serpent might do +before swallowing them. + +"Come, it was the light deceived me. If I go for to start at every +wave like that I'll have a poor night of it, for the tide has a long +way to rise yet. Let's go and have a bit supper, lad." + +Bremner rose from the anvil, on which he had seated himself, and went +up the ladder into the cook-house above. Here all was pitch dark, +owing to the place being enclosed all round, which the mortar-gallery +was not, but a light was soon struck, a lamp trimmed, and the fire in +the stove kindled. + +Bremner now busied himself in silently preparing a cup of tea, which, +with a quantity of sea-biscuit, a little cold salt pork, and a hunch +of stale bread, constituted his supper. Pup watched his every +movement with an expression of earnest solicitude, combined with +goodwill, in his sharp intelligent eyes. + +When supper was ready Pup had his share, then, feeling that the +duties of the day were now satisfactorily accomplished, he coiled +himself up at his master's feet, and went to sleep. His master rolled +himself up in a rug, and lying down before the fire, also tried to +sleep, but without success for a long time. + +As he lay there counting the number of seconds of awful silence that +elapsed between the fall of each successive billow, and listening to +the crash and the roar as wave after wave rushed underneath him, and +caused his habitation to tremble, he could not avoid feeling alarmed +in some degree. Do what he would, the thought of the wrecks that had +taken place there, the shrieks that must have often rung above these +rocks, and the dead and mangled bodies that must have lain among +them, _would_ obtrude upon him and banish sleep from his eyes. + +At last he became somewhat accustomed to the rush of waters and the +tremulous motion of the beacon. His frame, too, exhausted by a day of +hard toil, refused to support itself, and he sank into slumber. But +it was not unbroken. A falling cinder from the sinking fire would +awaken him with a start; a larger wave than usual would cause him to +spring up and look round in alarm; or a shrieking sea-bird, as it +swooped past, would induce a dream, in which the cries of drowning +men arose, causing him to awake with a cry that set Pup barking +furiously. + +Frequently during that night, after some such dream, Bremner would +get up and descend to the mortar-gallery to see that all was right +there. He found the waves always hissing below, but the starry sky +was calm and peaceful above, so he returned to his couch comforted a +little, and fell again into a troubled sleep, to be again awakened by +frightful dreams of dreadful sights, and scenes of death and danger +on the sea. + +Thus the hours wore slowly away. As the tide fell the noise of waves +retired a little from the beacon, and the wearied man and dog sank +gradually at last into deep, untroubled slumber. + +So deep was it, that they did not hear the increasing noise of the +gulls as they wheeled round the beacon after having breakfasted near +it; so deep, that they did not feel the sun as it streamed through an +opening in the woodwork and glared on their respective faces; so +deep, that they were ignorant of the arrival of the boats with the +workmen, and were dead to the shouts of their companions, until one +of them, Jamie Dove, put his head up the hatchway and uttered one of +his loudest roars, close to their ears. + +Then indeed Bremner rose up and looked bewildered, and Pup, starting +up, barked as furiously as if its own little black body had +miraculously become the concentrated essence of all the other noisy +dogs in the wide world rolled into one! + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +LIFE IN THE BEACON--STORY OF THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE + +Some time after this a number of the men took up their permanent +abode in the beacon house, and the work was carried on by night as +well as by day, when the state of the tide and the weather permitted. + +Immense numbers of fish called poddlies were discovered to be +swimming about at high water. So numerous were they, that the rock +was sometimes hidden by the shoals of them. Fishing for these +thenceforth became a pastime among the men, who not only supplied +their own table with fresh fish, but at times sent presents of them +to their friends in the vessels. + +All the men who dwelt on the beacon were volunteers, for Mr. +Stevenson felt that it would be cruel to compel men to live at such +a post of danger. Those who chose, therefore, remained in the +lightship or the tender, and those who preferred it went to the +beacon. It is scarcely necessary to add, that among the latter were +found all the "sea-sick men!" + +These bold artificers were not long of having their courage tested. +Soon after their removal to the beacon they experienced some very +rough weather, which shook the posts violently, and caused them to +twist in a most unpleasant way. + +But it was not until some time after that a storm arose, which caused +the stoutest-hearted of them all to quail more than once. + +It began on the night of as fine a day as they had had the whole +season. + +In order that the reader may form a just conception of what we are +about to describe, it may not be amiss to note the state of things at +the rock, and the employment of the men at the time. + +A second forge had been put up on the higher platform of the beacon, +but the night before that of which we write, the lower platform had +been burst up by a wave, and the mortar and forge thereon, with all +the implements, were cast down. The damaged forge was therefore set +up for the time on its old site, near the foundation-pit of the +lighthouse, while the carpenters were busy repairing the +mortar-gallery. + +The smiths were as usual busy sharpening picks and irons, and making +bats and stanchions, and other iron work connected with the building +operations. The landing-master's crew were occupied in assisting the +millwrights to lay the railways to hand, and joiners were kept almost +constantly employed in fitting picks to their handles, which latter +were very frequently broken. + +Nearly all the miscellaneous work was done by seamen. There was no +such character on the Bell Rock as the common labourer. The sailors +cheerfully undertook the work usually performed by such men, and they +did it admirably. + +In consequence of the men being able to remain on the beacon, the +work went on literally "by double tides"; and at night the rock was +often ablaze with torches, while the artificers wrought until the +waves drove them away. + +On the night in question there was a low spring-tide, so that a +night-tide's work of five hours was secured. This was one of the +longest spells they had had since the beginning of the operations. + +The stars shone brightly in a very dark sky. Not a breath of air was +felt. Even the smoke of the forge fire rose perpendicularly a short +way, until an imperceptible zephyr wafted it gently to the west. Yet +there was a heavy swell rolling in from the eastward, which caused +enormous waves to thunder on Ralph the Rover's Ledge, as if they +would drive down the solid rock. + +Mingled with this solemn, intermittent roar of the sea was the +continuous clink of picks, chisels, and hammers, and the loud clang +of the two forges; that on the beacon being distinctly different from +the other, owing to the wooden erection on which it stood rendering +it deep and thunderous. Torches and forge fires cast a glare over +all, rendering the foam pale green and the rocks deep red. Some of +the active figures at work stood out black and sharp against the +light, while others shone in its blaze like red-hot fiends. Above all +sounded an occasional cry from the sea-gulls, as they swooped down +into the magic circle of light, and then soared away shrieking into +darkness. + +"Hard work's not easy," observed James Dove, pausing in the midst of +his labours to wipe his brow. + +"True for ye; but as we've got to arn our brid be the sweat of our +brows, we're in the fair way to fortin," said Ned O'Connor, blowing +away energetically with the big bellows. + +Ned had been reappointed to this duty since the erection of the +second forge, which was in Ruby's charge. It was our hero's hammer +that created such a din up in the beacon, while Dove wrought down on +the rock. + +"We'll have a gale to-night," said the smith; "I know that by the +feelin' of the air." + +"Well, I can't boast o' much knowledge o' feelin'," said O'Connor; +"but I believe you're right, for the fish towld me the news this +mornin'." + +This remark of Ned had reference to a well-ascertained fact, that, +when a storm was coming, the fish invariably left the neighbourhood +of the rock; doubtless in order to seek the security of depths which +are not affected by winds or waves. + +While Dove and his comrade commented on this subject, two of the +other men had retired to the south-eastern end of the rock to take a +look at the weather. These were Peter Logan, the foreman, whose +position required him to have a care for the safety of the men as +well as for the progress of the work, and our friend Bremner, who +had just descended from the cooking-room, where he had been +superintending the preparation of supper. + +"It will be a stiff breeze, I fear, to-night," said Logan. + +"D'ye think so?" said Bremner; "it seems to me so calm that I would +think a storm a'most impossible. But the fish never tell lies." + +"True. You got no fish to-day, I believe?" said Logan. + +"Not a nibble," replied the other. + +As he spoke, he was obliged to rise from a rock on which he had +seated himself, because of a large wave, which, breaking on the outer +reefs, sent the foam a little closer to his toes than was agreeable. + +"That was a big one, but yonder is a bigger," cried Logan. + +The wave to which he referred was indeed a majestic wall of water. It +came on with such an awful appearance of power, that some of the men +who perceived it could not repress a cry of astonishment. + +In another moment it fell, and, bursting over the rocks with a +terrific roar, extinguished the forge fire, and compelled the men to +take refuge in the beacon. + +Jamie Dove saved his bellows with difficulty. The other men, catching +up their things as they best might, crowded up the ladder in a more +or less draggled condition. + +The beacon house was gained by means of one of the main beams, which +had been converted into a stair, by the simple process of nailing +small battens thereon, about a foot apart from each other. The men +could only go up one at a time, but as they were active and +accustomed to the work, they were all speedily within their place of +refuge. Soon afterwards the sea covered the rock, and the place where +they had been at work was a mass of seething foam. + +Still there was no wind; but dark clouds had begun to rise on the +seaward horizon. + +The sudden change in the appearance of the rock after the last +torches were extinguished was very striking. For a few seconds there +seemed to be no light at all. The darkness of a coal mine appeared to +have settled down on the scene. But this soon passed away, as the +men's eyes became accustomed to the change, and then the dark loom of +the advancing billows, the pale light of the flashing foam, and +occasional gleams of phosphorescence, and glimpses of black rocks in +the midst of all, took the place of the warm, busy scene which the +spot had presented a few minutes before. + +"Supper, boys!" shouted Bremner. + +Peter Bremner, we may remark in passing, was a particularly useful +member of society. Besides being small and corpulent, he was a +capital cook. He had acted during his busy life both as a groom and a +house-servant; he had been a soldier, a sutler, a writer's clerk, and +an apothecary--in which latter profession he had acquired the art of +writing and suggesting recipes, and a taste for making collections in +natural history. He was very partial to the use of the lancet, and +quite a terrible adept at tooth-drawing. In short, Peter was the +factotum of the beacon house, where, in addition to his other +offices, he filled those of barber and steward to the admiration of +all. + +But Bremner came out in quite a new and valuable light after he went +to reside in the beacon--namely, as a storyteller. During the long +periods of inaction that ensued, when the men were imprisoned there +by storms, he lightened many an hour that would have otherwise hung +heavily on their hands, and he cheered the more timid among them by +speaking lightly of the danger of their position. + +On the signal for supper being given, there was a general rush down +the ladders into the kitchen, where as comfortable a meal as one +could wish for was smoking in pot and pan and platter. + +As there were twenty-three to partake, it was impossible, of course, +for all to sit down to table. They were obliged to stow themselves +away on such articles of furniture as came most readily to hand, and +eat as they best could. Hungry men find no difficulty in doing this. +For some time the conversation was restricted to a word or two. Soon, +however, as appetite began to be appeased, tongues began to loosen. +The silence was first broken by a groan. + +"Ochone!" exclaimed O'Connor, as well as a mouthful of pork and +potatoes would allow him; "was it _you_ that groaned like a dyin' +pig?" + +The question was put to Forsyth, who was holding his head between his +hands, and swaying his body to and fro in agony. + +"Hae ye the oolic, freen'?" enquired John Watt, in a tone of +sympathy. + +"No--n--o," groaned Forsyth, "it's a--a--to--tooth!" + +"Och! is that all?" + +"Have it out, man, at once." + +"Bam a red-hot skewer into it." + +"No, no; let it alone, and it'll go away." + +Such was the advice tendered, and much more of a similar nature, to +the suffering man. + +"There's nothink like 'ot water an' cold," said Joe Dumsby in the +tones of an oracle. "Just fill your mouth with bilin' 'ot water, an' +dip your face in a basin o' cold, and it's sartain to cure." + +"Or kill," suggested Jamie Dove. + +"It's better now," said Forsyth, with a sigh of relief. "I scrunched +a bit o' bone into it; that was all." + +"There's nothing like the string and the red-hot poker," suggested +Ruby Brand. "Tie the one end o' the string to a post and t'other end +to the tooth, an' stick a red-hot poker to your nose. Away it comes +at once." + +"Hoot! nonsense," said Watt. "Ye might as weel tie a string to his +lug an' dip him into the sea. Tak' my word for't, there's naethin' +like pooin'." + +"D'you mean pooh pooin'?" enquired Dumsby. Watt's reply was +interrupted by a loud gust of wind, which burst upon the beacon house +at that moment and shook it violently. + +Everyone started up, and all clustered round the door and windows to +observe the appearance of things without. Every object was shrouded +in thick darkness, but a flash of lightning revealed the approach of +the storm which had been predicted, and which had already commenced +to blow. + +All tendency to jest instantly vanished, and for a time some of the +men stood watching the scene outside, while others sat smoking their +pipes by the fire in silence. + +"What think ye of things?" enquired one of the men, as Ruby came up +from the mortar-gallery, to which he had descended at the first gust +of the storm. + +"I don't know what to think," said he gravely. "It's clear enough +that we shall have a stiffish gale. I think little of that with a +tight craft below me and plenty of sea-room; but I don't know what to +think of a _beacon_ in a gale." + +As he spoke another furious burst of wind shook the place, and a +flash of vivid lightning was speedily followed by a crash of +thunder, that caused some hearts there to beat faster and harder +than usual. + +"Pooh!" cried Bremner, as he proceeded coolly to wash up his dishes, +"that's nothing, boys. Has not this old timber house weathered all +the gales o' last winter, and d'ye think it's goin' to come down +before a summer breeze? Why, there's a lighthouse in France, called +the Tour de Cordouan, which rises right out o' the sea, an' I'm told +it had some fearful gales to try its metal when it was buildin'. So +don't go an' git narvous." + +"Who's gittin' narvous?" exclaimed George Forsyth, at whom Bremner +had looked when he made the last remark. + +"Sure ye misjudge him," cried O'Connor. "It's only another twist o' +the toothick. But it's all very well in you to spake lightly o' gales +in that fashion. Wasn't the Eddy-stone Lighthouse cleared away wan +stormy night, with the engineer and all the men, an' was niver more +heard on?" + +"That's true," said Ruby. "Come, Bremner, I have heard you say that +you had read all about that business. Let's hear the story; it will +help to while away the time, for there's no chance of anyone gettin' +to sleep with such a row outside." + +"I wish it may be no worse than a row outside," said Forsyth in a +doleful tone, as he shook his head and looked round on the party +anxiously. + +"Wot! another fit o' the toothick?" enquired O'Connor ironically. + +"Don't try to put us in the dismals," said Jamie Dove, knocking the +ashes out of his pipe, and refilling that solace of his leisure +hours. "Let us hear about the Eddystone, Bremner; it'll cheer up our +spirits a bit." + +"Will it though?" said Bremner, with a look that John Watt described +as "awesome". "Well, we shall see." + +"You must know, boys----" + +'"Ere, light your pipe, my 'earty," said Dumsby. + +"Hold yer tongue, an' don't interrupt him," cried one of the men, +flattening Dumsby's cap over his eyes. + +"And don't drop yer Aaitches," observed another, "'cause if ye do +they'll fall into the sea an' be drownded, an' then yell have none +left to put into their wrong places when ye wants 'em." + +"Come, Bremner, go on." + +"Well, then, boys," began Bremner, "you must know that it is more +than a hundred years since the Eddystone Lighthouse was begun--in the +year 1696, if I remember rightly--that would be just a hundred and +thirteen years to this date. Up to that time these rocks were as +great a terror to sailors as the Bell Rock is now, or, rather, as it +was last year, for now that this here comfortable beacon has been put +up, it's no longer a terror to nobody----" + +"Except Geordie Forsyth," interposed O'Connor. + +"Silence," cried the men. + +"Well," resumed Bremner, "as you all know, the Eddystone Rocks lie in +the British Channel, fourteen miles from Plymouth and ten from the +Ram Head, an' open to a most tremendious sea from the Bay o' Biscay +and the Atlantic, as I knows well, for I've passed the place in a +gale, close enough a'most to throw a biscuit on the rocks. + +"They are named the Eddystone Rocks because of the whirls and eddies +that the tides make among them; but for the matter of that, the Bell +Rock might be so named on the same ground. Howsever, it's six o' one +an' half a dozen o' t'other. Only there's this difference, that the +highest point o' the Eddystone is barely covered at high water, while +here the rock is twelve or fifteen feet below water at high tide. + +"Well, it was settled by the Trinity Board in 1696, that a lighthouse +should be put up, and a Mr. Winstanley was engaged to do it. He was +an uncommon clever an' ingenious man. He used to exhibit wonderful +waterworks in London; and in his house, down in Essex, he used to +astonish his friends, and frighten them sometimes, with his queer +contrivances. He had invented an easy chair which laid hold of anyone +that sat down in it, and held him prisoner until Mr. Winstanley set +him free. He made a slipper also, and laid it on his bedroom floor, +and when anyone put his foot into it he touched a spring that caused +a ghost to rise from the hearth. He made a summer house, too, at the +foot of his garden, on the edge of a canal, and if anyone entered +into it and sat down, he very soon found himself adrift on the canal. + +"Such a man was thought to be the best for such a difficult work as +the building of a lighthouse on the Eddystone, so he was asked to +undertake it, and agreed, and began it well. He finished it, too, in +four years, his chief difficulty being the distance of the rock from +land, and the danger of goin' backwards and forwards. The light was +first shown on the 14th November, 1698. Before this the engineer had +resolved to pass a night in the building, which he did with a party +of men; but he was compelled to pass more than a night, for it came +on to blow furiously, and they were kept prisoners for eleven days, +drenched with spray all the time, and hard up for provisions. + +"It was said the sprays rose a hundred feet above the lantern of this +first Eddystone Lighthouse. Well, it stood till the year 1703, when +repairs became necessary, and Mr. Winstanley went down to Plymouth to +superintend. It had been prophesied that this lighthouse would +certainly be carried away. But dismal prophecies are always made +about unusual things. If men were to mind prophecies there would be +precious little done in this world. Howsever, the prophecies +unfortunately came true. Winstanley's friends advised him not to go +to stay in it, but he was so confident of the strength of his work +that he said he only wished to have the chance o' bein' there in the +greatest storm that ever blew, that he might see what effect it would +have on the buildin'. Poor man! he had his wish. On the night of the +26th November a terrible storm arose, the worst that had been for +many years, and swept the lighthouse entirely away. Not a vestige of +it or the people on it was ever seen afterwards. Only a few bits of +the iron fastenings were left fixed in the rocks." + +"That was terrible," said Forsyth, whose uneasiness was evidently +increasing with the rising storm. + +"Ay, but the worst of it was," continued Bremner, "that, owing to the +absence of the light, a large East Indiaman went on the rocks +immediately after, and became a total wreck. This, however, set the +Trinity House on putting up another which was begun in 1706, and the +light shown in 1708. This tower was ninety-two feet high, built +partly of wood and partly of stone. It was a strong building, and +stood for forty-nine years. Mayhap it would have been standin' to +this day but for an accident, which you shall hear of before I have +done. While this lighthouse was building, a French privateer carried +off all the workmen prisoners to France, but they were set at liberty +by the King, because their work was of such great use to all nations. + +"The lighthouse, when finished, was put in charge of two keepers, +with instructions to hoist a flag when anything was wanted from the +shore. One of these men became suddenly ill, and died. Of course his +comrade hoisted the signal, but the weather was so bad that it was +found impossible to send a boat off for four weeks. The poor keeper +was so afraid that people might suppose he had murdered his companion +that he kept the corpse beside him all that time. What his feelin's +could have been I don't know, but they must have been awful; for, +besides the horror of such a position in such a lonesome place, the +body decayed to an extent----" + +"That'll do, lad; don't be too partickler," said Jamie Dove. + +The others gave a sigh of relief at the interruption, and Bremner +continued-- + +"There were always _three_ keepers in the Eddystone after that. Well, +it was in the year 1755, on the 2nd December, that one o' the +keepers went to snuff the candles, for they only burned candles in +the lighthouses at that time, and before that time great open grates +with coal fires were the most common; but there were not many lights +either of one kind or another in those days. On gettin' up to the +lantern he found it was on fire. All the efforts they made failed to +put it out,' and it was soon burned down. Boats put off to them, but +they only succeeded in saving the keepers; and of them, one went mad +on reaching the shore, and ran off, and never was heard of again; and +another, an old man, died from the effects of melted lead which had +run down his throat from the roof of the burning lighthouse. They did +not believe him when he said he had swallowed lead, but after he died +it was found to be a fact. + +"The tower became red-hot, and burned for five days before it was +utterly destroyed. This was the end o' the second Eddystone. Its +builder was a Mr. John Rudyerd, a silk mercer of London. + +"The third Eddystone, which has now stood for half a century as firm +as the rock itself, and which bids fair to stand till the end of +time, was begun in 1756 and completed in 1759. It was lighted by +means of twenty-four candles. Of Mr. Smeaton, the engineer who built +it, those who knew him best said that 'he had never undertaken +anything without completing it to the satisfaction of his +employers'. + +"D'ye know, lads," continued Bremner in a half-musing tone, "I've +sometimes been led to couple this character of Smeaton with the text +that he put round the top of the first room of the +lighthouse--'Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain +that build it'; and also the words, 'Praise God', which he cut in +Latin on the last stone, the lintel of the lantern door. I think +these words had somethin' to do with the success of the last +Eddystone Lighthouse." + +"I agree with you," said Robert Selkirk, with a nod of hearty +approval; "and, moreover, I think the Bell Rock Lighthouse stands a +good chance of equal success, for whether he means to carve texts on +the stones or not I don't know, but I feel assured that _our_ +engineer is animated by the same spirit." + +When Bremner's account of the Eddystone came to a close, most of the +men had finished their third or fourth pipes, yet no one proposed +going to rest. + +The storm without raged so furiously that they felt a strong +disinclination to separate. At last, however, Peter Logan rose, and +said he would turn in for a little. Two or three of the others also +rose, and were about to ascend to their barrack, when a heavy sea +struck the building, causing it to quiver to its foundation. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE STORM + +"'Tis a fearful night," said Logan, pausing with his foot on the +first step of the ladder. "Perhaps we had better sit up." + +"What's the use?" said O'Connor, who was by nature reckless. "Av the +beacon howlds on, we may as well slape as not; an' if it don't howld +on, why, we'll be none the worse o' slapin' anyhow." + +"_I_ mean to sit up," said Forsyth, whose alarm was aggravated by +another fit of violent toothache. + +"So do I," exclaimed several of the men, as another wave dashed +against the beacon, and a quantity of spray came pouring down from +the rooms above. + +This latter incident put an end to further conversation. While some +sprang up the ladder to see where the leak had occurred, Ruby opened +the door, which was on the lee side of the building, and descended to +the mortar-gallery to look after his tools, which lay there. + +Here he was exposed to the full violence of the gale, for, as we have +said, this first floor of the beacon was not protected by sides. +There was sufficient light to enable him to see all round for a +considerable distance. The sight was not calculated to comfort him. + +The wind was whistling with what may be termed a vicious sound among +the beams, to one of which Ruby was obliged to cling to prevent his +being carried away. The sea was bursting, leaping, and curling wildly +over the rocks, which were now quite covered, and as he looked down +through the chinks in the boards of the floor, he could see the foam +whirling round the beams of his trembling abode, and leaping up as if +to seize him. As the tide rose higher and higher, the waves roared +straight through below the floor, their curling backs rising terribly +near to where he stood, and the sprays drenching him and the whole +edifice completely. + +As he gazed into the dark distance, where the turmoil of waters +seemed to glimmer with ghostly light against a sky of the deepest +black, he missed the light of the _Smeaton_, which, up to that time, +had been moored as near to the lee of the rock as was consistent with +safety. He fancied she must have gone down, and it was not till next +day that the people on the beacon knew that she had parted her +cables, and had been obliged to make for the Firth of Forth for +shelter from the storm. + +While he stood looking anxiously in the direction of the tender, a +wave came so near to the platform that he almost involuntarily leaped +up the ladder for safety. It broke before reaching the beacon, and +the spray dashed right over it, carrying away several of the smith's +tools. + +"Ho, boys! lend a hand here, some of you," shouted Ruby, as he leaped +down on the mortar-gallery again. + +Jamie Dove, Bremner, O'Connor, and several others were at his side in +a moment, and, in the midst of tremendous sprays, they toiled to +secure the movable articles that lay there. These were passed up to +the sheltered parts of the house; but not without great danger to all +who stood on the exposed gallery below. + +Presently two of the planks were torn up by a sea, and several bags +of coal, a barrel of small beer, and a few casks containing lime and +sand, were all swept away. The men would certainly have shared the +fate of these, had they not clung to the beams until the sea had +passed. + +As nothing remained after that which could be removed to the room +above, they left the mortar-gallery to its fate, and returned to the +kitchen, where they were met by the anxious glances and questions of +their comrades. + +The fire, meanwhile, could scarcely be got to burn, and the whole +place was full of smoke, besides being wet with the sprays that burst +over the roof, and found out all the crevices that had not been +sufficiently stopped up. Attending to these leaks occupied most of +the men at intervals during the night. Ruby and his friend the smith +spent much of the time in the doorway, contemplating the gradual +destruction of their workshop. + +For some time the gale remained steady, and the anxiety of the men +began to subside a little, as they became accustomed to the ugly +twisting of the great beams, and found that no evil consequences +followed. + +In the midst of this confusion, poor Forsyth's anxiety of mind became +as nothing compared with the agony of his toothache! + +Bremner had already made several attempts to persuade the miserable +man to have it drawn, but without success. + +"I could do it quite easy," said he, "only let me get a hold of it, +an' before you could wink I'd have it out." + +"Well, you may try," cried Forsyth in desperation, with a face of +ashy paleness. + +It was an awful situation truly. In danger of his life; suffering the +agonies of toothache, and with the prospect of torments unbearable +from an inexpert hand; for Forsyth did not believe in Bremner's +boasted powers. + +"What'll you do it with?" he enquired meekly. "Jamie Dove's small +pincers. Here they are," said Bremner, moving about actively in his +preparations, as if he enjoyed such work uncommonly. + +By this time the men had assembled round the pair, and almost forgot +the storm in the interest of the moment. + +"Hold him, two of you," said Bremner, when his victim was seated +submissively on a cask. + +"You don't need to hold me," said Forsyth, in a gentle tone. + +"Don't we!" said Bremner. "Here, Dove, Ned, grip his arms, and some +of you stand by to catch his legs; but you needn't touch them unless +he kicks. Ruby, you're a strong fellow; hold his head." + +The men obeyed. At that moment Forsyth would have parted with his +dearest hopes in life to have escaped, and the toothache, strange to +say, left him entirely; but he was a plucky fellow at bottom; having +agreed to have it done, he would not draw back. + +Bremner introduced the pincers slowly, being anxious to get a good +hold of the tooth. Forsyth uttered a groan in anticipation! Alarmed +lest he should struggle too soon, Bremner made a sudden grasp and +caught the tooth. A wrench followed; a yell was the result, and the +pincers slipped! This was fortunate, for he had caught the wrong +tooth. + +"Now be aisy, boy," said Ned O'Connor, whose sympathies were easily +roused. + +"Once more," said Bremner, as the unhappy man opened his mouth. "Be +still, and it will be all the sooner over." + +Again Bremner inserted the instrument, and fortunately caught the +right tooth. He gave a terrible tug, that produced its corresponding +howl; but the tooth held on. Again! again! again! and the beacon +house resounded with the deadly yells of the unhappy man, who +struggled violently, despite the strength of those who held him. + +"Och! poor sowl!" ejaculated O'Connor. + +Bremner threw all his strength into a final wrench, which tore away +the pincers and left the tooth as firm as ever! + +Forsyth leaped up and dashed his comrades right and left. + +"That'll do," he roared, and darted up the ladder into the apartment +above, through which he ascended to the barrack-room, and flung +himself on his bed. At the same time a wave burst on the beacon with +such force that every man there, except Forsyth, thought it would be +carried away. The wave not only sprang up against the house, but the +spray, scarcely less solid than the wave, went quite over it, and +sent down showers of water on the men below. + +Little cared Forsyth for that. He lay almost stunned on his couch, +quite regardless of the storm. To his surprise, however, the +toothache did not return. Nay, to make a long story short, it never +again returned to that tooth till the end of his days! + +The storm now blew its fiercest, and the men sat in silence in the +kitchen listening to the turmoil, and to the thundering blows given +by the sea to their wooden house. Suddenly the beacon received a +shock so awful, and so thoroughly different from any that it had +previously received, that the men sprang to their feet in +consternation. + +Ruby and the smith were looking out at the doorway at the time, and +both instinctively grasped the woodwork near them, expecting every +instant that the whole structure would be carried away; but it stood +fast. They speculated a good deal on the force of the blow they had +received, but no one hit on the true cause; and it was not until some +days later that they discovered that a huge rock of fully a ton +weight had been washed against the beams that night. + +While they were gazing at the wild storm, a wave broke up the +mortar-gallery altogether, and sent its remaining contents into the +sea. All disappeared in a moment; nothing was left save the powerful +beams to which the platform had been nailed. + +There was a small boat attached to the beacon. It hung from two +davits, on a level with the kitchen, about thirty feet above the +rock. This had got filled by the sprays, and the weight of water +proving too much for the tackling, it gave way at the bow shortly +after the destruction of the mortar-gallery, and the boat hung +suspended by the stern-tackle. Here it swung for a few minutes, and +then was carried away by a sea. The same sea sent an eddy of foam +round towards the door and drenched the kitchen, so that the door had +to be shut, and as the fire had gone out, the men had to sit and +await their fate by the light of a little oil-lamp. + +They sat in silence, for the noise was now so great that it was +difficult to hear voices, unless when they were raised to a high +pitch. + +Thus passed that terrible night; and the looks of the men, the solemn +glances, the closed eyes, the silently moving lips, showed that their +thoughts were busy reviewing bygone days and deeds; perchance in +making good resolutions for the future--"if spared!" + +Morning brought a change. The rush of the sea was indeed still +tremendous, but the force of the gale was broken and the danger was +past. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS + +Time rolled on, and the lighthouse at length began to grow. + +It did not rise slowly, as does an ordinary building. The courses of +masonry having been formed and fitted on shore during the winter, had +only to be removed from the work-yard at Arbroath to the rock, where +they were laid, mortared, wedged, and trenailed, as fast as they +could be landed. + +Thus, foot by foot it grew, and soon began to tower above its +foundation. + +From the foundation upwards for thirty feet it was built solid. From +this point rose the spiral staircase leading to the rooms above. We +cannot afford space to trace its erection step by step, neither is it +desirable that we should do so. But it is proper to mention, that +there were, as might be supposed, leading points in the +process--eras, as it were, in the building operations. + +The first of these, of course, was the laying of the foundation +stone, which was done ceremoniously, with all the honours. The next +point was the occasion when the tower showed itself for the first +time above water at full tide. This was a great event. It was proof +positive that the sea had been conquered; for many a time before that +event happened had the sea done its best to level the whole erection +with the rock. + +Three cheers announced and celebrated the fact, and a "glass" all +round stamped it on the memories of the men. + +Another noteworthy point was the connexion--the marriage, if the +simile may be allowed--of the tower and the beacon. This occurred +when the former rose to a few feet above high-water mark, and was +effected by means of a rope-bridge, which was dignified by the +sailors with the name of "Jacob's ladder". + +Heretofore the beacon and lighthouse had stood in close relation to +each other. They were thenceforward united by a stronger tie; and it +is worthy of record that their attachment lasted until the +destruction of the beacon after the work was done. Jacob's ladder was +fastened a little below the doorway of the beacon. Its other end +rested on, and rose with, the wall of the tower. At first it sloped +downward from beacon to tower; gradually it became horizontal; then +it sloped upward. When this happened it was removed, and replaced by +a regular wooden bridge, which extended from the doorway of the one +structure to that of the other. + +Along this way the men could pass to and fro at all tides, and during +any time of the day or night. + +This was a matter of great importance, as the men were no longer so +dependent on tides as they had been, and could often work as long as +their strength held out. + +Although the work was regular, and, as some might imagine, rather +monotonous, there were not wanting accidents and incidents to enliven +the routine of daily duty. The landing of the boats in rough weather +with stones, &c., was a never-failing source of anxiety, alarm, and +occasionally amusement. Strangers sometimes visited the rock, too, +but these visits were few and far between. + +Accidents were much less frequent, however, than might have been +expected in a work of the kind. It was quite an event, something to +talk about for days afterwards, when poor John Bonnyman, one of the +masons, lost a finger. The balance crane was the cause of this +accident. We may remark, in passing, that this balance crane was a +very peculiar and clever contrivance, which deserves a little notice. + +It may not have occurred to readers who are unacquainted with +mechanics that the raising of ponderous stones to a great height is +not an easy matter. As long as the lighthouse was low, cranes were +easily raised on the rock, but when it became too high for the cranes +to reach their heads up to the top of the tower, what was to be done? +Block-tackles could not be fastened to the skies! Scaffolding in such +a situation would not have survived a moderate gale. + +In these circumstances Mr. Stevenson constructed a _balance_ crane, +which was fixed in the centre of the tower, and so arranged that it +could be raised along with the rising works. This crane resembled a +cross in form. At one arm was hung a movable weight, which could be +run out to its extremity, or fixed at any part of it. The other arm +was the one by means of which the stones were hoisted. When a stone +had to be raised; its weight was ascertained, and the movable weight +was so fixed as _exactly_ to counterbalance it. By this simple +contrivance all the cumbrous and troublesome machinery of long guys +and bracing-chains extending from the crane to the rock below were +avoided. + +Well, Bonnyman was attending to the working of the crane, and +directing the lowering of a stone into its place, when he +inadvertently laid his left hand on a part of the machinery where it +was brought into contact with the chain, which passed over his +forefinger, and cut it so nearly off that it was left hanging by a +mere shred of skin. The poor man was at once sent off in a fast +rowing boat to Arbroath, where the finger was removed and properly +dressed.[1] + +[Footnote 1: It is right to state that this man afterwards obtained a +lightkeeper's situation from the Board of Commissioners of Northern +Lights, who seem to hare taken a kindly interest in all their +servants, especially those of them who had suffered in the service.] + +A much more serious accident occurred at another time, however, which +resulted in the death of one of the seamen belonging to the +_Smeaton_. + +It happened thus. The _Smeaton_ had been sent from Arbroath with a +cargo of stones one morning, and reached the rock about half-past six +o'clock A.M. The mate and one of the men, James Scott, a youth of +eighteen years of age, got into the sloop's boat to make fast the +hawser to the floating buoy of her moorings. + +The tides at the time were very strong, and the mooring-chain when +sweeping the ground had caught hold of a rock or piece of wreck, by +which the chain was so shortened, that when the tide flowed the buoy +got almost under water, and little more than the ring appeared at the +surface. When the mate and Scott were in the act of making the hawser +fast to the ring, the chain got suddenly disentangled at the bottom, +and the large buoy, measuring about seven feet in length by three in +diameter in the middle, vaulted upwards with such force that it upset +the boat, which instantly filled with water. The mate with great +difficulty succeeded in getting hold of the gunwale, but Scott seemed +to have been stunned by the buoy, for he lay motionless for a few +minutes on the water, apparently unable to make any exertion to save +himself, for he did not attempt to lay hold of the oars or thwarts +which floated near him. + +A boat was at once sent to the rescue, and the mate was picked up, +but Scott sank before it reached the spot. + +This poor lad was a great favourite in the service, and for a time +his melancholy end cast a gloom over the little community at the +Bell Rock. The circumstances of the case were also peculiarly +distressing in reference to the boy's mother, for her husband had +been for three years past confined in a French prison, and her son +had been the chief support of the family. In order in some measure to +make up to the poor woman for the loss of the monthly aliment +regularly allowed her by her lost son, it was suggested that a +younger brother of the deceased might be taken into the service. This +appeared to be a rather delicate proposition, but it was left to the +landing-master to arrange according to circumstances. Such was the +resignation, and at the same time the spirit of the poor woman, that +she readily accepted the proposal, and in a few days the younger +Scott was actually afloat in the place of his brother. On this +distressing case being represented to the Board, the Commissioners +granted an annuity of L5 to the lad's mother. + +The painter who represents only the sunny side of nature portrays a +one-sided, and therefore a false view of things, for, as everyone +knows, nature is not all sunshine. So, if an author makes his +pen-and-ink pictures represent only the amusing and picturesque view +of things, he does injustice to his subject. + +We have no pleasure, good reader, in saddening you by accounts of +"fatal accidents", but we have sought to convey to you a correct +impression of things, and scenes, and incidents at the building of +the Bell Rock Lighthouse, as they actually were, and looked, and +occurred. Although there was much, _very_ much, of risk, exposure, +danger, and trial connected with the erection of that building, there +was, in the good providence of God, very little of severe accident or +death. Yet that little must be told,--at least touched upon,--else +will our picture remain incomplete as well as untrue. + +Now, do not imagine, with a shudder, that these remarks are the +prelude to something that will harrow up your feelings. Not so. They +are merely the apology, if apology be needed, for the introduction of +another "accident". + +Well, then. One morning the artificers landed on the rock at a +quarter-past six, and as all hands were required for a piece of +special work that day, they breakfasted on the beacon, instead of +returning to the tender, and spent the day on the rock. + +The special work referred to was the raising of the crane from the +eighth to the ninth course--an operation which required all the +strength that could be mustered for working the guy-tackles. This, be +it remarked, was before the balance crane, already described, had +been set up; and as the top of the crane stood at the time about +thirty-five feet above the rock, it became much more unmanageable +than heretofore. + +At the proper hour all hands were called, and detailed to their +several posts on the tower, and about the rock. In order to give +additional purchase or power in tightening the tackle, one of the +blocks of stone was suspended at the end of the movable beam of the +crane, which, by adding greatly to the weight, tended to slacken the +guys or supporting-ropes in the direction to which the beam with the +stone was pointed, and thereby enabled the men more easily to brace +them one after another. + +While the beam was thus loaded, and in the act of swinging round from +one guy to another, a great strain was suddenly brought upon the +opposite tackle, with the end of which the men had very improperly +neglected to take a turn round some stationary object, which would +have given them the complete command of the tackle. + +Owing to this simple omission, the crane, with the large stone at the +end of the beam, got a preponderancy to one side, and, the tackle +alluded to having rent, it fell upon the building with a terrible +crash. + +The men fled right and left to get out of its way; but one of them, +Michael Wishart, a mason, stumbled over an uncut trenail and rolled +on his back, and the ponderous crane fell upon him. Fortunately it +fell so that his body lay between the great shaft and the movable +beam, and thus he escaped with his life, but his feet were entangled +with the wheel-work, and severely injured. + +Wishart was a robust and spirited young fellow, and bore his +sufferings with wonderful firmness while he was being removed. He +was laid upon one of the narrow frame-beds of the beacon, and +despatched in a boat to the tender. On seeing the boat approach with +the poor man stretched on a bed covered with blankets, and his face +overspread with that deadly pallor which is the usual consequence of +excessive bleeding, the seamen's looks betrayed the presence of those +well-known but indescribable sensations which one experiences when +brought suddenly into contact with something horrible. Relief was at +once experienced, however, when Wishart's voice was heard feebly +accosting those who first stepped into the boat. + +He was immediately sent on shore, where the best surgical advice was +obtained, and he began to recover steadily, though slowly. Meanwhile, +having been one of the principal masons, Robert Selkirk was appointed +to his vacant post. + +And now let us wind up this chapter of accidents with an account of +the manner in which a party of strangers, to use a slang but +expressive phrase, came to grief during a visit to the Bell Rock. + +One morning, a trim little vessel was seen by the workmen making for +the rock at low tide. From its build and size, Ruby at once judged it +to be a pleasure yacht. Perchance some delicate shades in the +seamanship, displayed in managing the little vessel, had influenced +the sailor in forming his opinion. Be this as it may, the vessel +brought up under the lee of the rock and cast anchor. + +It turned out to be a party of gentlemen from Leith, who had run down +the firth to see the works. The weather was fine, and the sea calm, +but these yachters had yet to learn that fine weather and a calm sea +do not necessarily imply easy or safe landing at the Bell Rock! They +did not know that the swell which had succeeded a recent gale was +heavier than it appeared to be at a distance; and, worst of all, they +did not know, or they did not care to remember, that "there is a time +for all things", and that the time for landing at the Bell Rock is +limited. + +Seeing that the place was covered with workmen, the strangers lowered +their little boat and rowed towards them. + +"They're mad," said Logan, who, with a group of the men, watched the +motions of their would-be visitors. + +"No," observed Joe Dumsby; "they are brave, but hignorant." + +"Faix, they won't be ignorant long!" cried Ned O'Connor, as the +little boat approached the rock, propelled by two active young rowers +in Guernsey shirts, white trousers, and straw hats. "You're stout, +lads, both of ye, an' purty good hands at the oar, _for gintlemen_; +but av ye wos as strong as Samson it would puzzle ye to stem these +breakers, so ye better go back." + +The yachters did not hear the advice, and they would not have taken +it if they had heard it. They rowed straight up towards the +landing-place, and, so far, showed themselves expert selectors of the +right channel; but they soon came within the influence of the seas, +which burst on the rock and sent up jets of spray to leeward. + +These jets had seemed very pretty and harmless when viewed from the +deck of the yacht, but they were found on a nearer approach to be +quite able, and, we might almost add, not unwilling, to toss up the +boat like a ball, and throw it and its occupants head over heels into +the air. + +But the rowers, like most men of their class, were not easily cowed. +They watched their opportunity--allowed the waves to meet and rush +on, and then pulled into the midst of the foam, in the hope of +crossing to the shelter of the rock before the approach of the next +wave. + +Heedless of a warning cry from Ned O'Connor, whose anxiety began to +make him very uneasy, the amateur sailors strained every nerve to +pull through, while their companion who sat at the helm in the stern +of the boat seemed to urge them on to redoubled exertions. Of course +their efforts were in vain. The next billow caught the boat on its +foaming crest, and raised it high in the air. For one moment the wave +rose between the boat and the men on the rock, and hid her from view, +causing Ned to exclaim, with a genuine groan, "'Arrah! they's gone!" + +But they were not; the boat's head had been carefully kept to the +sea, and, although she had been swept back a considerable way, and +nearly half-filled with water, she was still afloat. + +The chief engineer now hailed the gentlemen, and advised them to +return and remain on board their vessel until the state of the tide +would permit him to send a proper boat for them. + +In the meantime, however, a large boat from the floating light, +pretty deeply laden with lime, cement, and sand, approached, when the +strangers, with a view to avoid giving trouble, took their passage in +her to the rock. The accession of three passengers to a boat, already +in a lumbered state, put her completely out of trim, and, as it +unluckily happened, the man who steered her on this occasion was not +in the habit of attending the rock, and was not sufficiently aware of +the run of the sea at the entrance of the eastern creek. + +Instead, therefore, of keeping close to the small rock called Johnny +Gray, he gave it, as Ruby expressed it, "a wide berth". A heavy sea +struck the boat, drove her to leeward, and, the oars getting +entangled among the rocks and seaweed, she became unmanageable. The +next sea threw her on a ledge, and, instantly leaving her, she canted +seaward upon her gunwale, throwing her crew and part of her cargo +into the water. + +All this was the work of a few seconds. The men had scarce time to +realize their danger ere they found themselves down under the water; +and when they rose gasping to the surface, it was to behold the next +wave towering over them, ready to fall on their heads. When it fell +it scattered crew, cargo, and boat in all directions. + +Some clung to the gunwale of the boat, others to the seaweed, and +some to the thwarts and oars which floated about, and which quickly +carried them out of the creek to a considerable distance from the +spot where the accident happened. + +The instant the boat was overturned, Ruby darted towards one of the +rock boats which lay near to the spot where the party of workmen who +manned it had landed that morning. Wilson, the landing-master, was at +his side in a moment. + +"Shove off, lad, and jump in!" cried Wilson. + +There was no need to shout for the crew of the boat. The men were +already springing into her as she floated off. In a few minutes all +the men in the water were rescued, with the exception of one of the +strangers, named Strachan. + +This gentleman had been swept out to a small insulated rock, where he +clung to the seaweed with great resolution, although each returning +sea laid him completely under water, and hid him for a second or two +from the spectators on the rock. In this situation he remained for +ten or twelve minutes; and those who know anything of the force of +large waves will understand how severely his strength and courage +must have been tried during that time. + +When the boat reached the rock the most difficult part was still to +perform, as it required the greatest nicety of management to guide +her in a rolling sea, so as to prevent her from being carried +forcibly against the man whom they sought to save. + +"Take the steering-oar, Ruby; you are the best hand at this," said +Wilson. + +Ruby seized the oar, and, notwithstanding the breach of the seas and +the narrowness of the passage, steered the boat close to the rock at +the proper moment. + +"Starboard, noo, stiddy!" shouted John Watt, who leant suddenly over +the bow of the boat and seized poor Strachan by the hair. In another +moment he was pulled inboard with the aid of Selkirk's stout arms, +and the boat was backed out of danger. + +"Now, a cheer, boys!" cried Ruby. + +The men did not require urging to this. It burst from them with +tremendous energy, and was echoed back by their comrades on the rock, +in the midst of whose wild hurrah, Ned O'Connor's voice was +distinctly heard to swell from a cheer into a yell of triumph! + +The little rock on which this incident occurred was called +_Strachan's Ledge_, and it is known by that name at the present day. + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE BELL ROCK IN A FOG--NARROW ESCAPE OF THE _SMEATON_ + +Change of scene is necessary to the healthful working of the human +mind; at least, so it is said. Acting upon the assumption that the +saying is true, we will do our best in this chapter for the human +minds that condescend to peruse these pages, by leaping over a space +of time, and by changing at least the character of the scene, if not +the locality. + +We present the Bell Rock under a new aspect, that of a dense fog and +a dead calm. + +This is by no means an unusual aspect of things at the Bell Rock, but +as we have hitherto dwelt chiefly on storms, it may be regarded as +new to the reader. + +It was a June morning. There had been few breezes and no storms for +some weeks past, so that the usual swell of the ocean had gone down, +and there were actually no breakers on the rock at low water, and no +ruffling of the surface at all at high tide. The tide had about two +hours before overflowed the rock, and driven the men into the beacon +house, where, having breakfasted, they were at the time enjoying +themselves with pipes and small talk. + +The lighthouse had grown considerably by this time. Its unfinished +top was more than eighty feet above the foundation; but the fog was +so dense that only the lower part of the column could be seen from +the beacon, the summit being lost, as it were, in the clouds. + +Nevertheless that summit, high though it was, did not yet project +beyond the reach of the sea. A proof of this had been given in a very +striking manner, some weeks before the period about which we now +write, to our friend George Forsyth. + +George was a studious man, and fond of reading the Bible critically. +He was proof against laughter and ridicule, and was wont sometimes to +urge the men into discussions. One of his favourite arguments was +somewhat as follows-- + +"Boys," he was wont to say, "you laugh at me for readin' the Bible +carefully. You would not laugh at a schoolboy for reading his books +carefully, would you? Yet the learnin' of the way of salvation is of +far more consequence to me than book learnin' is to a schoolboy. An +astronomer is never laughed at for readin' his books o' geometry an' +suchlike day an' night--even to the injury of his health--but what is +an astronomer's business to him compared with the concerns of my soul +to _me_? Ministers tell me there are certain things I must know and +believe if I would be saved--such as the death and resurrection of +our Saviour Jesus Christ; and they also point out that the Bible +speaks of certain Christians, who did well in refusin' to receive the +Gospel at the hands of the apostles, without first enquirin' into +these things, to see if they were true. Now, lads, _if_ these things +that so many millions believe in, and that you all profess to believe +in, are lies, then you may well laugh at me for enquirin' into them; +but if they be true, why, I think the devils themselves must be +laughing at _you_ for _not_ enquirin' into them!" + +Of course, Forsyth found among such a number of intelligent men, some +who could argue with him, as well as some who could laugh at him. He +also found one or two who sympathized openly, while there were a few +who agreed in their hearts, although they did not speak. + +Well, it was this tendency to study on the part of Forsyth, that led +him to cross the wooden bridge between the beacon and the lighthouse +during his leisure hours, and sit reading at the top of the spiral +stair, near one of the windows of the lowest room. + +Forsyth was sitting at his usual window one afternoon at the end of a +storm. It was a comfortless place, for neither sashes nor glass had +at that time been put in, and the wind howled up and down the shaft +dreadfully. The man was robust, however, and did not mind that. + +The height of the building was at that time fully eighty feet. While +he was reading there a tremendous breaker struck the lighthouse with +such force that it trembled distinctly. Forsyth started up, for he +had never felt this before, and fancied the structure was about to +fall. For a moment or two he remained paralysed, for he heard the +most terrible and inexplicable sounds going on overhead. In fact, the +wave that shook the building had sent a huge volume of spray right +over the top, part of which fell into the lighthouse, and what poor +Forsyth heard was about a ton of water coming down through story +after story, carrying lime, mortar, buckets, trowels, and a host of +other things, violently along with it. + +To plunge down the spiral stair, almost headforemost, was the work of +a few seconds. Forsyth accompanied the descent with a yell of terror, +which reached the ears of his comrades in the beacon, and brought +them to the door, just in time to see their comrade's long legs carry +him across the bridge in two bounds. Almost at the same instant the +water and rubbish burst out of the doorway of the lighthouse, and +flooded the bridge. + +But let us return from this digression, or rather, this series of +digressions, to the point where we branched off: the aspect of the +beacon in the fog, and the calm of that still morning in June. + +Some of the men inside were playing draughts, others were finishing +their breakfast; one was playing "Auld Lang Syne", with many +extempore flourishes and trills, on a flute, which was very much out +of tune. A few were smoking, of course (where exists the band of +Britons who can get on without that?), and several were sitting +astride on the cross-beams below, bobbing--not exactly for whales, +but for any monster of the deep that chose to turn up. + +The men fishing, and the beacon itself, loomed large and mysterious +in the half-luminous fog. Perhaps this was the reason that the +sea-gulls flew so near them, and gave forth an occasional and very +melancholy cry, as if of complaint at the changed appearance of +things. + +"There's naethin' to be got the day," said John Watt, rather +peevishly, as he pulled up his line and found the bait gone. + +Baits are _always_ found gone when lines are pulled up! This would +seem to be an angling law of nature. At all events, it would seem to +have been a very aggravating law of nature on the present occasion, +for John Watt frowned and growled to himself as he put on another +bait. + +"There's a bite!" exclaimed Joe Dumsby, with a look of doubt, at the +same time feeling his line. + +"Poo'd in then," said Watt ironically. + +"No, 'e's hoff," observed Joe. + +"Hm! he never was on," muttered Watt. + +"What are you two growling at?" said Ruby, who sat on one of the +beams at the other side. + +"At our luck, Ruby," said Joe. "Ha! was that a nibble?" ("Naethin' o' +the kind," from Watt.) "It was! as I live it's large; an 'addock, I +think." + +"A naddock!" sneered Watt; "mair like a bit o' tangle than----eh! +losh me! it _is_ a fish----" + +"Well done, Joe!" cried Bremner, from the doorway above, as a large +rock-cod was drawn to the surface of the water. + +"Stay, it's too large to pull up with the line. I'll run down and +gaff it," cried Ruby, fastening his own line to the beam, and +descending to the water by the usual ladder, on one of the main +beams. "Now, draw him this way--gently, not too roughly--take time. +Ah! that was a miss--he's off; no! Again; now then----" + +Another moment, and a goodly cod of about ten pounds weight was +wriggling on the iron hook which Ruby handed up to Dumsby, who +mounted with his prize in triumph to the kitchen. + +From that moment the fish began to "take". + +While the men were thus busily engaged, a boat was rowing about in +the fog, vainly endeavouring to find the rock. + +It was the boat of two fast friends, Jock Swankie and Davy Spink. + +These worthies were in a rather exhausted condition, having been +rowing almost incessantly from daybreak. + +"I tell 'ee what it is," said Swankie; "I'll be hanged if I poo +another stroke." + +He threw his oar into the boat, and looked sulky. + +"It's my belief," said his companion, "that we ought to be near aboot +Denmark be this time." + +"Denmark or Rooshia, it's a' ane to me," rejoined Swankie; "I'll hae +a smoke." + +So saying, he pulled out his pipe and tobacco box, and began to cut +the tobacco. Davy did the same. + +Suddenly both men paused, for they heard a sound. Each looked +enquiringly at the other, and then both gazed into the thick fog. + +"Is that a ship?" said Davy Spink. + +They seized their oars hastily. + +"The beacon, as I'm a leevin' sinner!" exclaimed Swankie. + +If Spink had not backed his oar at that moment, there is some +probability that Swankie would have been a dead, instead of a living, +sinner in a few minutes, for they had almost run upon the north-east +end of the Bell Rock, and distinctly heard the sound of voices on +the beacon. A shout settled the question at once, for it was replied +to by a loud holloa from Ruby. + +In a short time the boat was close to the beacon, and the water was +so very calm that day, that they were able to venture to hand the +packet of letters with which they had come off into the beacon, even +although the tide was full. + +"Letters," said Swankie, as he reached out his hand with the packet. + +"Hurrah!" cried the men, who were all assembled on the +mortar-gallery, looking down at the fishermen, excepting Ruby, Watt, +and Dumsby, who were still on the cross-beams below. + +"Mind the boat; keep her aff," said Swankie, stretching out his hand +with the packet to the utmost, while Dumsby descended the ladder and +held out his hand to receive it. + +"Take care," cried the men in chorus, for news from shore was always +a very exciting episode in their career, and the idea of the packet +being lost filled them with sudden alarm. + +The shout and the anxiety together caused the very result that was +dreaded. The packet fell into the sea and sank, amid a volley of +yells. + +It went down slowly. Before it had descended a fathom, Ruby's head +cleft the water, and in a moment he returned to the surface with the +packet in his hand amid a wild cheer of joy; but this was turned into +a cry of alarm, as Ruby was carried away by the tide, despite his +utmost efforts to regain the beacon. + +The boat was at once pushed off, but so strong was the current there, +that Ruby was carried past the rock, and a hundred yards away to sea, +before the boat overtook him. + +The moment he was pulled into her he shook himself, and then tore off +the outer covering of the packet in order to save the letters from +being wetted. He had the great satisfaction of finding them almost +uninjured. He had the greater satisfaction, thereafter, of feeling +that he had done a deed which induced every man in the beacon that +night to thank him half a dozen times over; and he had the greatest +possible satisfaction in finding that among the rest he had saved two +letters addressed to himself, one from Minnie Gray, and the other +from his uncle. + +The scene in the beacon when the contents of the packet were +delivered was interesting. Those who had letters devoured them, and +in many cases read them (unwittingly) half-aloud. Those who had none +read the newspapers, and those who had neither papers nor letters +listened. + +Ruby's letter ran as follows (we say his letter, because the other +letter was regarded, comparatively, as nothing):-- + + "ARBROATH, &c. + +"DARLING RUBY,--I have just time to tell you that we have made a +discovery which will surprise you. Let me detail it to you +circumstantially. Uncle Ogilvy and I were walking on the pier a few +days ago, when we overheard a conversation between two sailors, who +did not see that we were approaching. We would not have stopped to +listen, but the words we heard arrested our attention, so----O what +a pity! there, Big Swankie has come for our letters. Is it not +strange that _he_ should be the man to take them off? I meant to have +given you such an account of it, especially a description of the +case. They won't wait. Come ashore as soon as you can, dearest Ruby." + +The letter broke off here abruptly. It was evident that the writer +had been obliged to close it abruptly, for she had forgotten to sign +her name. + +"'A description of the case'; _what_ case?" muttered Ruby in +vexation. "O Minnie, Minnie, in your anxiety to go into details you +have omitted to give me the barest outline. Well, well, darling, I'll +just take the will for the deed, but I _wish_ you had----" + +Here Ruby ceased to mutter, for Captain Ogilvy's letter suddenly +occurred to his mind. Opening it hastily, he read as follows:-- + +"DEAR NEFFY,--I never was much of a hand at spellin', an' I'm not +rightly sure o' that word, howsever, it reads all square, so ittle +do. If I had been the inventer o' writin' I'd have had signs for a +lot o' words. Just think how much better it would ha' bin to have +put a regular [Square] like that instead o' writin' s-q-u-a-r-e. Then +_round_ would have bin far better O, like that. An' crooked thus +~~~~~; see how significant an' suggestive, if I may say so; no +humbug--all fair an' above-board, as the pirate said, when he ran up +the black flag to the peak. + +"But avast speckillatin' (shiver my timbers! but that last was a +pen-splitter), that's not what I sat down to write about. My object +in takin' up the pen, neffy, is two-fold, + + 'Double, double, toil an' trouble', + +as Macbeath said,--if it wasn't Hamlet. + +"We want you to come home for a day or two, if you can git leave, +lad, about this strange affair. Minnie said she was goin' to give you +a full, true, and partikler account of it, so it's of no use my goin' +over the same course. There's that blackguard Swankie come for the +letters. Ha! it makes me chuckle. No time for more------" + +This letter also concluded abruptly, and without a signature. + +"There's a pretty kettle o' fish!" exclaimed Ruby aloud. + +"So 'tis, lad; so 'tis," said Bremner, who at that moment had placed +a superb pot of codlings on the fire; "though why ye should say it so +positively when nobody's denyin' it, is more nor I can tell." + +Ruby laughed, and retired to the mortar-gallery to work at the forge +and ponder. He always found that he pondered best while employed in +hammering, especially if his feelings were ruffled. + +Seizing a mass of metal, he laid it on the anvil, and gave it five or +six heavy blows to straighten it a little, before thrusting it into +the fire. + +Strange to say, these few blows of the hammer were the means, in all +probability, of saving the sloop _Smeaton_ from being wrecked on the +Bell Rock! + +That vessel had been away with Mr. Stevenson at Leith, and was +returning, when she was overtaken by the calm and the fog. At the +moment that Ruby began to hammer, the _Smeaton_ was within a stone's +cast of the beacon, running gently before a light air which had +sprung up. + +No one on board had the least idea that the tide had swept them so +near the rock, and the ringing of the anvil was the first warning +they got of their danger. + +The lookout on board instantly sang out, "Starboard har-r-r-d! beacon +ahead!" and Ruby looked up in surprise, just as the _Smeaton_ emerged +like a phantom-ship out of the fog. Her sails fluttered as she came +up to the wind, and the crew were seen hurrying to and fro in much +alarm. + +Mr. Stevenson himself stood on the quarter-deck of the little vessel, +and waved his hand to assure those on the beacon that they had +sheered off in time, and were safe. + +This incident tended to strengthen the engineer in his opinion that +the two large bells which were being cast for the lighthouse, to be +rung by the machinery of the revolving light, would be of great +utility in foggy weather. + +While the _Smeaton_ was turning away, as if with a graceful bow to +the men on the rock, Ruby shouted: + +"There are letters here for you, sir." + +The mate of the vessel called out at once, "Send them off in the +shore-boat; we'll lay-to." + +No time was to be lost, for if the _Smeaton_ should get involved in +the fog it might be very difficult to find her; so Ruby at once ran +for the letters, and, hailing the shore-boat which lay quite close at +hand, jumped into it and pushed off. + +They boarded the _Smeaton_ without difficulty and delivered the +letters. + +Instead of returning to the beacon, however, Ruby was ordered to hold +himself in readiness to go to Arbroath in the shore-boat with a +letter from Mr. Stevenson to the superintendent of the workyard. + +"You can go up and see your friends in the town, if you choose," said +the engineer, "but be sure to return by tomorrow's forenoon tide. We +cannot dispense with your services longer than a few hours, my lad, +so I shall expect you to make no unnecessary delay." + +"You may depend upon me, sir," said Ruby, touching his cap, as he +turned away and leaped into the boat. + +A light breeze was now blowing, so that the sails could be used. In +less than a quarter of an hour sloop and beacon were lost in the fog, +and Ruby steered for the harbour of Arbroath, overjoyed at this +unexpected and happy turn of events, which gave him an opportunity of +solving the mystery of the letters, and of once more seeing the sweet +face of Minnie Gray. + +But an incident occurred which delayed these desirable ends, and +utterly changed the current of Ruby's fortunes for a time. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A SUDDEN AND TREMENDOUS CHANGE IN RUBY'S FORTUNES + +What a variety of appropriate aphorisms there are to express the +great truths of human experience! "There is many a slip 'twixt the +cup and the lip" is one of them. Undoubtedly there is. So is there +"many a miss of a sweet little kiss". "The course of true love", +also, "never did run smooth". Certainly not. Why should it? If it did +we should doubt whether the love were true. Our own private belief is +that the course of true love is always uncommonly rough, but +collective human wisdom has seen fit to put the idea in the negative +form. So let it stand. + +Ruby had occasion to reflect on these things that day, but the +reflection afforded him no comfort whatever. + +The cause of his inconsolable state of mind is easily explained. + +The boat had proceeded about halfway to Arbroath when they heard the +sound of oars, and in a few seconds a ship's gig rowed out of the fog +towards them. Instead of passing them the gig was steered straight +for the boat, and Ruby saw that it was full of men-of-war's men. + +He sprang up at once and seized an oar. + +"Out oars!" he cried. "Boys, if ever you pulled hard in your lives, +do so now. It's the press-gang!" + +Before those few words were uttered the two men had seized the oars, +for they knew well what the press-gang meant, and all three pulled +with such vigour that the boat shot over the smooth sea with double +speed. But they had no chance in a heavy fishing boat against the +picked crew of the light gig. If the wind had been a little stronger +they might have escaped, but the wind had decreased, and the small +boat overhauled them yard by yard. + +Seeing that they had no chance, Ruby said, between his set teeth: + +"Will ye fight, boys?" + +"_I_ will," cried Davy Spink sternly, for Davy had a wife and little +daughter on shore, who depended entirely on his exertions for their +livelihood, so he had a strong objection to go and fight in the wars +of his country. + +"What's the use?" muttered Big Swankie, with a savage scowl. He, too, +had a strong disinclination to serve in the Royal Navy, being a lazy +man, and not overburdened with courage. "They've got eight men of a +crew, wi' pistols an' cutlashes." + +"Well, it's all up with us," cried Ruby, in a tone of sulky anger, as +he tossed his oar overboard, and, folding his arms on his breast, sat +sternly eyeing the gig as it approached. + +Suddenly a beam of hope shot into his heart. A few words will explain +the cause thereof. + +About the time the works at the Bell Rock were in progress, the war +with France and the Northern Powers was at its height, and the demand +for men was so great that orders were issued for the establishment of +an impress service at Dundee, Arbroath, and Aberdeen. It became +therefore necessary to have some protection for the men engaged in +the works. As the impress officers were extremely rigid in the +execution of their duty, it was resolved to have the seamen carefully +identified, and, therefore, besides being described in the usual +manner in the protection-bills granted by the Admiralty, each man had +a ticket given to him descriptive of his person, to which was attached +a silver medal emblematical of the lighthouse service. + +That very week Ruby had received one of the protection-medals and +tickets of the Bell Rock, a circumstance which he had forgotten at +the moment. It was now in his pocket, and might perhaps save him. + +When the boat ranged up alongside, Ruby recognized in the officer at +the helm the youth who had already given him so much annoyance. The +officer also recognized Ruby, and, with a glance of surprise and +pleasure, exclaimed: + +"What! have I bagged you at last, my slippery young lion?" + +Ruby smiled as he replied, "Not _quite_ yet, my persevering young +jackall." (He was sorely tempted to transpose the word into jackass, +but he wisely restrained himself.) "I'm not so easily caught as you +think." + +"Eh! how? what mean you?" exclaimed the officer, with an expression +of surprise, for he knew that Ruby was now in his power. "I have you +safe, my lad, unless you have provided yourself with a pair of wings. +Of course, I shall leave one of you to take your boat into harbour, +but you may be sure that I'll not devolve that pleasant duty upon +you." + +"_I_ have not provided myself with wings exactly," returned Ruby, +pulling out his medal and ticket; "but here is something that will do +quite as well" + +The officer's countenance fell, for he knew at once what it was. He +inspected it, however, closely. + +"Let me see," said he, reading the description on the ticket, which +ran thus-- + + BELL BOOK WORKYARD, ARBBOATH, + _"20th June,_ 1810. + +_"Ruby Brand, seaman and blacksmith, in the service of the Honourable +the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses, aged 25 years, 5 feet +10 inches high, very powerfully made, fair complexion, straight nose, +dark-blue eyes, and curling auburn hair," + +This description was signed by the engineer of the works; and on the +obverse was written, _"The bearer, Ruby Brand, is serving as a +blacksmith in the erection of the Bell Rock Lighthouse."_ + +"This is all very well, my fine fellow," said the officer, "but I +have been deceived more than once with these medals and tickets. How +am I to know that you have not stolen it from someone?" + +"By seeing whether the description agrees," replied Ruby. + +"Of course, I know that as well as you, and I don't find the +description quite perfect. I would say that your hair is light-brown, +now, not auburn, and your nose is a little Roman, if anything; and +there's no mention of whiskers, or that delicate moustache. Why, look +here," he added, turning abruptly to Big Swankie, "this might be the +description of your comrade as well as, if not better than, yours. +What's your name?" + +"Swankie, sir," said that individual ruefully, yet with a gleam of +hope that the advantages of the Bell Rock medal might possibly, in +some unaccountable way, accrue to himself, for he was sharp enough to +see that the officer would be only too glad to find any excuse for +securing Ruby. + +"Well, Swankie, stand up, and let's have a look at you," said the +officer, glancing from the paper to the person of the fisherman, and +commenting thereon. "Here we have 'very powerfully made'--no mistake +about that--strong as Samson; 'fair complexion'--that's it exactly; +'auburn hair'--so it is. Auburn is a very undecided colour; there's a +great deal of red in it, and no one can deny that Swankie has a good +deal of red in _his_ hair." + +There was indeed no denying this, for it was altogether red, of an +intense carroty hue. + +"You see, friend," continued the officer, turning to Ruby, "that the +description suits Swankie very well." + +"True, as far as you have gone," said Ruby, with a quiet smile; "but +Swankie is six feet two in his stockings, and his nose is turned up, +and his hair don't curl, and his eyes are light-green, and his +complexion is sallow, if I may not say yellow----" + +"Fair, lad; fair," said the officer, laughing in spite of himself. +"Ah! Ruby Brand, you are jealous of him! Well, I see that I'm fated +not to capture you, so I'll bid you good day. Meanwhile your +companions will be so good as to step into my gig." + +The two men rose to obey. Big Swankie stepped over the gunwale, with +the fling of a sulky, reckless man, who curses his fate and submits +to it. Davy Spink had a very crestfallen, subdued look. He was about +to follow, when a thought seemed to strike him. He turned hastily +round, and Ruby was surprised to see that his eyes were suffused with +tears, and that his features worked with the convulsive twitching of +one who struggles powerfully to restrain his feelings. + +"Ruby Brand," said he, in a deep husky voice, which trembled at +first, but became strong as he went on; "Ruby Brand, I deserve nae +good at your hands, yet I'll ask a favour o' ye. Ye've seen the wife +and the bairn, the wee ane wi' the fair curly pow. Ye ken the auld +hoose. It'll be mony a lang day afore I see them again, if iver I +come back ava. There's naebody left to care for them. They'll be +starvin' soon, lad. Wull ye--wull ye look--doon?" + +Poor Davy Spink stopped here, and covered his face with his big +sunburnt hands. + +A sudden gush of sympathy filled Ruby's heart. He started forward, +and drawing from his pocket the letter with which he was charged, +thrust it into Spink's hand, and said hurriedly-- + +"Don't fail to deliver it the first thing you do on landing. And +hark'ee, Spink, go to Mrs. Brand's cottage, and tell them there _why_ +I went away. Be sure you see them _all_, and explain _why_ it was. +Tell Minnie Gray that I will be _certain_ to return, if God spares +me." + +Without waiting for a reply he sprang into the gig, and gave the +other boat a shove, that sent it several yards off. + +"Give way, lads," cried the officer, who was delighted at this +unexpected change in affairs, though he had only heard enough of the +conversation to confuse him as to the cause of it. + +"Stop! stop!" shouted Spink, tossing up his arms. + +"I'd rather not," returned the officer. + +Davy seized the oars, and, turning his boat in the direction of the +gig, endeavoured to overtake it, As well might the, turkey-buzzard +attempt to catch the swallow. He was left far behind, and when last +seen faintly through the fog, he was standing up in the stern of the +boat wringing his hands. + +Ruby had seated himself in the bow of the gig, with his face turned +steadily towards the sea, so that no one could see it. This position +he maintained in silence until the boat ranged up to what appeared +like the side of a great mountain, looming through the mist. + +Then he turned round, and, whatever might have been the struggle +within his breast, all traces of it had left his countenance, which +presented its wonted appearance of good-humoured frankness. + +We need scarcely say that the mountain turned out to be a British +man-of-war. Ruby was quickly introduced to his future messmates, and +warmly received by them. Then he was left to his own free will during +the remainder of that day, for the commander of the vessel was a kind +man, and did not like to add to the grief of the impressed men by +setting them to work at once. + +Thus did our hero enter the Royal Navy; and many a long and weary day +and month passed by before he again set foot in his native town. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +OTHER THINGS BESIDES MURDER "WILL OUT" + +Meanwhile Davy Spink, with his heart full, returned slowly to the +shore. + +He was long of reaching it, the boat being very heavy for one man to +pull. On landing he hurried up to his poor little cottage, which was +in a very low part of the town, and in a rather out-of-the-way corner +of that part. + +"Janet," said he, flinging himself into a rickety old armchair that +stood by the fireplace, "the press-gang has catched us at last, and +they've took Big Swankie away, and, worse than that----" + +"Oh!" cried Janet, unable to wait far more, "that's the best news +I've heard for mony a day. Ye're sure they have him safe?" + +"Ay, sure enough," said Spink dryly; "but ye needna be sae glad aboot +it, for Swankie was aye good to _you_." + +"Ay, Davy," cried Janet, putting her arm round her husband's neck, +and kissing him, "but he wasna good to _you_. He led ye into evil +ways mony a time when ye would rather hae keepit oot o' them. Na, na, +Davy, ye needna shake yer heed; I ken'd fine." + +"Weel, weel, hae'd yer ain way, lass, but Swankie's awa" to the +wars, and so's Ruby Brand, for they've gotten him as weel." + +"Ruby Brand!" exclaimed the woman. + +"Ay, Ruby Brand; and this is the way they did it." + +Here Spink detailed to his helpmate, who sat with folded hands and +staring eyes opposite to her husband, all that had happened. When he +had concluded, they discussed the subject together. Presently the +little girl came bouncing into the room, with rosy cheeks, sparkling +eyes, a dirty face, and fair ringlets very much dishevelled, and with +a pitcher of hot soup in her hands. + +Davy caught her up, and kissing her, said abruptly, "Maggie, Big +Swankie's awa' to the wars." + +The child looked enquiringly in her father's face, and he had to +repeat his words twice before she quite realized the import of them. + +"Are ye jokin', daddy?" + +"No, Maggie; it's true. The press-gang got him and took him awa', an' +I doot we'll never see him again." + +The little girl's expression changed while he spoke, then her lip +trembled, and she burst into tears. + +"See there, Janet," said Spink, pointing to Maggie, and looking +earnestly at his wife. + +"Weel-a-weel," replied Janet, somewhat softened, yet with much +firmness, "I'll no deny that the man was fond o' the bairn, and it +liked him weel enough; but, my certes! he wad hae made a bad man o' +you if he could. But I'm real sorry for Ruby Brand; and what'll the +puir lassie Gray dot Ye'll hae to gang up an' gie them the message." + +"So I will; but that's like somethin' to eat, I think?" + +Spink pointed to the soup. + +"Ay, it's a' we've got, so let's fa' to; and haste ye, lad. It's a +sair heart she'll hae this night--wae's me!" + +While Spink and his wife were thus employed, Widow Brand, Minnie +Gray, and Captain Ogilvy were seated at tea, round the little table +in the snug kitchen of the widow's cottage. + +It might have been observed that there were two teapots on the table, +a large one and a small, and that the captain helped himself out of +the small one, and did not take either milk or sugar. But the +captain's teapot did not necessarily imply tea. In fact, since the +death of the captain's mother, that small teapot had been accustomed +to strong drink only. It never tasted tea. + +"I wonder if Ruby will get leave of absence," said the captain, +throwing himself back in his armchair, in order to be able to admire, +with greater ease, the smoke, as it curled towards the ceiling from +his mouth and pipe. + +"I do hope so," said Mrs. Brand, looking up from her knitting, with a +little sigh. Mrs. Brand usually followed up all her remarks with a +little sigh. Sometimes the sigh was very little. It depended a good +deal on the nature of her remark whether the sigh was of the little, +less, or least description; but it never failed, in one or other +degree, to close her every observation. + +"I _think_ he will," said Minnie, as she poured a second cup of tea +for the widow. + +"Ay, that's right, lass," observed the captain; "there's nothin' +like hope-- + + 'The pleasures of hope told a flatterin' tale + Regardin' the fleet when Lord Nelson get sail.' + +Fill me out another cup of tea, Hebe." + +It was a pleasant little fiction with the captain to call his +beverage "tea". Minnie filled out a small cupful of the contents of +the little teapot, which did, indeed, resemble tea, but which smelt +marvellously like hot rum and water. + +"Enough, enough. Come on, Macduff! Ah! Minnie, this is prime Jamaica; +it's got such a--but I forgot; you don't understand nothin' about +nectar of this sort." + +The captain smoked in silence for a few minutes, and then said, with +a sudden chuckle-- + +"Wasn't it odd, sister, that we should have found it all out in such +an easy sort o' way? If criminals would always tell on themselves as +plainly as Big Swankie did, there would be no use for lawyers." + +"Swankie would not have spoken so freely," said Minnie, with a laugh, +"if he had known that we were listening." + +"That's true, girl," said the captain, with sudden gravity; "and I +don't feel quite easy in my mind about that same eavesdropping. It's +a dirty thing to do--especially for an old sailor, who likes +everything to be fair and above-board; but then, you see, the natur' +o' the words we couldn't help hearin' justified us in waitin' to hear +more. Yes, it was quite right, as it turned out A little more tea, +Minnie. Thank'ee, lass. Now go, get the case, and let us look over it +again." + +The girl rose, and, going to a drawer, quickly returned with a small +red leather case in her hand. It was the identical jewel case that +Swankie had found on the dead body at the Bell Rock! + +"Ah! that's it; now, let us see; let us see." He laid aside his pipe, +and for some time felt all his pockets, and looked round the room, as +if in search of something. + +"What are you looking for, uncle?" + +"The specs, lass; these specs'll be the death o' me." + +Minnie laughed. "They're on your brow, uncle!" + +"So they are! Well, well----" + +The captain smiled deprecatingly, and, drawing his chair close to the +table, began to examine the box. + +Its contents were a strange mixture, and it was evident that the case +had not been made to hold them. + +There was a lady's gold watch, of very small size, and beautifully +formed; a set of ornaments, consisting of necklace, bracelets, ring, +and ear-rings of turquoise and pearls set in gold, of the most +delicate and exquisite chasing; also, an antique diamond cross of +great beauty, besides a number of rings and bracelets of considerable +value. + +As the captain took these out one by one, and commented on them, he +made use of Minnie's pretty hand and arm to try the effect of each, +and truly the ornaments could not have found a more appropriate +resting-place among the fairest ladies of the land. + +Minnie submitted to be made use of in this, way with a pleased and +amused expression; for, while she greatly admired the costly gems, +she could not help smiling at the awkwardness of the captain in +putting them on. + +"Read the paper again," said Minnie, after the contents of the box +had been examined. + +The captain took up a small parcel covered with oiled cloth, which +contained a letter. Opening it, he began to read, but was interrupted +by Mrs. Brand, who had paid little attention to the jewels. + +"Read it out loud, brother," said she, "I don't hear you well. Read +it out; I love to hear of my darling's gallant deeds." + +The captain cleared his throat, raised his voice, and read slowly:-- + + "'LISBON, _10th March_, 1808. + +"'DEAR CAPTAIN BRAND,--I am about to quit this place for the East in +a few days, and shall probably never see you again. Pray accept the +accompanying case of jewels as a small token of the love and esteem +in which you are held by a heart-broken father. I feel assured that +if it had been in the power of man to have saved my drowning child +your gallant efforts would have been successful. It was ordained +otherwise; and I now pray that I may be enabled to say "God's will be +done". But I cannot bear the sight of these ornaments. I have no +relatives--none at least who deserve them half so well as yourself. +Do not pain me by refusing them. They may be of use to you if you are +ever in want of money, being worth, I believe, between three and four +hundred pounds. Of course, you cannot misunderstand my motive in +mentioning this. No amount of money could in any measure represent +the gratitude I owe to the man who risked his life to save my child. +May God bless you, sir." + + +The letter ended thus, without signature; and the captain ceased to +read aloud. But there was an addition to the letter written in pencil, +in the hand of the late Captain Brand, which neither he nor Minnie had +yet found courage to read to the poor widow. It ran thus:-- + + +"Our doom is sealed. My schooner is on the Bell Rock. It is blowing a +gale from N.E., and she is going to pieces fast. We are all standing +under the lee of a ledge of rock--six of us. In half an hour the tide +will be roaring over the spot. God in Christ help us! It is an awful +end. If this letter and box is ever found, I ask the finder to send +it, with my blessing, to Mrs. Brand, my beloved wife, in Arbroath." + + +The writing was tremulous, and the paper bore the marks of having +been soiled with seaweed. It was unsigned. The writer had evidently +been obliged to close it hastily. + +After reading this in silence the captain refolded the letter. + +"No wonder, Minnie, that Swankie did not dare to offer such things +for sale. He would certainly have been found out. Wasn't it lucky +that we heard him tell Spink the spot under his floor where he had +hidden them?" + +At that moment there came a low knock to the door. Minnie opened it, +and admitted Davy Spink, who stood in the middle of the room +twitching his cap nervously, and glancing uneasily from one to +another of the party. + +"Hallo, Spink!" cried the captain, pushing his spectacles up on his +forehead, and gazing at the fisherman in surprise, "you don't seem to +be quite easy in your mind. Hope your fortunes have not sprung a +leak!" + +"Weel, Captain Ogilvy, they just have; gone to the bottom, I might +a'most say. I've come to tell ye--that--the fact is, that the +press-gang have catched us at last, and ta'en awa' my mate, Jock +Swankie, better kenn'd as Big Swankie." + +"Hem--well, my lad, in so far as that does damage to you, I'm sorry +for it; but as regards society at large, I rather think that Swankie +havin' tripped his anchor is a decided advantage. If you lose by this +in one way, you gain much in another; for your mate's companionship +did ye no good. Birds of a feather should flock together. You're +better apart, for I believe you to be an honest man, Spink." + +Davy looked at the captain in unfeigned astonishment. + +"Weel, ye're the first man that iver said that, an' I thank 'ee, sir, +but you're wrang, though I wush ye was right. But that's no' what I +cam' to tell ye." + +Here the fisherman's indecision of manner returned. "Come, make a +clean breast of it, lad. There are none here but friends." + +"Weel, sir, Ruby Brand----" + +He paused, and Minnie turned deadly pale, for she jumped at once to +the right conclusion. The widow, on the other hand, listened for more +with deep anxiety, but did not guess the truth. + +"The fact is, Ruby's catched too, an' he's awa' to the wars, and he +sent me to--ech, sirs! the auld wuman's fentit." + +Poor Widow Brand had indeed fallen back in her chair in a state +bordering on insensibility. Minnie was able to restrain her feelings +so as to attend to her. She and the captain raised her gently, and +led her into her own room, from whence the captain returned, and shut +the door behind him. + +"Now, Spink," said he, "tell me all about it, an' be partic'lar." + +Davy at once complied, and related all that the reader already knows, +in a deep, serious tone of voice, for he felt that in the captain he +had a sympathetic listener. + +When he had concluded, Captain Ogilvy heaved a sigh so deep that it +might have been almost considered a groan, then he sat down on his +armchair, and, pointing to the chair from which the widow had +recently risen, said, "Sit down, lad." + +As he advanced to comply, Spink's eyes for the first time fell on the +case of jewels. He started, paused, and looked with a troubled air at +the captain. + +"Ha!" exclaimed the latter with a grin; "you seem to know these +things; old acquaintances, eh!" + +"It wasna' me that stole them," said Spink hastily. + +"I did not say that anyone stole them." + +"Weel, I mean that--that----" + +He stopped abruptly, for he felt that in whatever way he might +attempt to clear himself, he would unavoidably criminate, by +implication, his absent mate. + +"I know what you mean, my lad; sit down." + +Spink sat down on the edge of the chair, and looked at the other +uneasily. + +"Have a cup of tea?" said the captain abruptly, seizing the small pot +and pouring out a cupful. + +"Thank 'ee--I--I niver tak' tea." + +"Take it to-night, then. It will do you good." + +Spink put the cup to his lips, and a look of deep surprise overspread +his rugged countenance as he sipped the contents. The captain nodded. +Spink's look of surprise changed into a confidential smile; he also +nodded, winked, and drained the cup to the bottom. + +"Yes," resumed the captain; "you mean that you did not take the case +of jewels from old Brand's pocket on that day when you found his body +on the Bell Rock, though you were present, and saw your comrade +pocket the booty. You see I know all about it, Davy, an' your only +fault lay in concealing the matter, and in keepin' company with that +scoundrel." + +The gaze of surprise with which Spink listened to the first part of +this speech changed to a look of sadness towards the end of it. + +"Captain Ogilvy," said he, in a tone of solemnity that was a strong +contrast to his usual easy, careless manner of speaking, "you ca'd me +an honest man, an' ye think I'm clear o' guilt in this matter, but +ye're mista'en. Hoo ye cam' to find oot a' this I canna divine, but I +can tell ye somethin' mair than ye ken. D'ye see that bag?" + +He pulled a small leather purse out of his coat pocket, and laid it +with a little bang on the table. + +The captain nodded. + +"Weel, sir, that was _my_ share o' the plunder, thretty goolden +sovereigns. We tossed which o' us was to hae them, an' the siller +fell to me. But I've niver spent a boddle o't. Mony a time have I +been tempit, an' mony a time wad I hae gi'en in to the temptation, +but for a certain lass ca'd Janet, that's been an angel, it's my +belief, sent doon frae heeven to keep me frae gawin to the deevil +a'thegither. But be that as it may, I've brought the siller to them +that owns it by right, an' so my conscience is clear o't at lang +last." + +The sigh of relief with which Davy Spink pushed the bag of gold +towards his companion, showed that the poor man's mind was in truth +released from a heavy load that had crushed it for years. + +The captain, who had lit his pipe, stared at the fisherman through +the smoke for some time in silence; then he began to untie the purse, +and said slowly, "Spink, I said you were an honest man, an' I see no +cause to alter my opinion." + +He counted out the thirty gold pieces, put them back into the bag, +and the bag into his pocket. Then he continued, "Spink, if this gold +was mine I would--but no matter, it's not mine, it belongs to Widow +Brand, to whom I shall deliver it up. Meantime, I'll bid you good +night. All these things require reflection. Call back here to-morrow, +my fine fellow, and I'll have something to say to you. Another cup of +tea?" + +"Weel, I'll no objec'." + +Davy Spink rose, swallowed the beverage, and left the cottage. The +captain returned, and stood for some time irresolute with his hand on +the handle of the door of his sister's room. As he listened, he heard +a sob, and the tones of Minnie's voice as if in prayer. Changing his +mind, he walked softly across the kitchen into his own room, where, +having trimmed the candle, refilled and lit his pipe, he sat down at +the table, and, resting his arms thereon, began to meditate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE LIGHTHOUSE COMPLETED--RUBY'S ESCAPE FROM TROUBLE BY A DESPERATE +VENTURE + +There came a time at last when the great work of building the Bell +Rock Lighthouse drew to a close. Four years after its commencement it +was completed, and on the night of the 1st of February, 1811, its +bright beams were shed for the first time far and wide over the sea. + +It must not be supposed, however, that this lighthouse required four +years to build it. On the contrary, the seasons in which work could +be done were very short. During the whole of the first season of +1807, the aggregate time of low-water work, caught by snatches of an +hour or two at a tide, did not amount to fourteen days of ten hours! +while in 1808 it fell short of four weeks. + +A great event is worthy of very special notice. We should fail in our +duty to our readers if we were to make only passing reference to this +important event in the history of our country. + +That 1st of February, 1811, was the birthday of a new era, for the +influence of the Bell Rock Light on the shipping interests of the +kingdom (not merely of Scotland, by any means), was far greater than +people generally suppose. + +Here is a _fact_ that may well be weighed with attention; that might +be not inappropriately inscribed in diamond letters over the lintel +of the lighthouse door. Up to the period of the building of the +lighthouse, the known history of the Bell Rock was a black record of +wreck, ruin, and death. Its unknown history, in remote ages, who +shall conceive, much less tell? _Up_ to that period, seamen dreaded +the rock and shunned it--ay, so earnestly as to meet destruction too +often in their anxious efforts to avoid it. _From_ that period the +Bell Rock has been a friendly point, a guiding star--hailed as such +by storm-tossed mariners--marked as such on the charts of all +nations. From that date not a single night for more than half a +century has passed, without its wakeful eye beaming on the waters, or +its fog-bells sounding on the air; and, best of all, _not a single +wreck has occurred on that rock from that period down to the present +day!_ + +Say not, good reader, that much the same may be said of all +lighthouses. In the first place, the history of many lighthouses is +by no means so happy as that of this one. In the second place, all +lighthouses are not of equal importance. Few stand on an equal +footing with the Bell Rock, either in regard to its national +importance or its actual pedestal. In the last place, it is our +subject of consideration at present, and we object to odious +comparisons while we sing its praises! + +Whatever may be said of the other lights that guard our shores, +special gratitude is due to the Bell Rock--to those who projected +it--to the engineer who planned and built it--to God, who inspired +the will to dare, and bestowed the skill to accomplish, a work so +difficult, so noble, so prolific of good to man! + + * * * * * + +The nature of our story requires that we should occasionally +annihilate time and space. + +Let us then leap over both, and return to our hero, Ruby Brand. + +His period of service in the Navy was comparatively brief, much more +so than either he or his friends anticipated. Nevertheless, he spent +a considerable time in his new profession, and, having been sent to +foreign stations, he saw a good deal of what is called "service", in +which he distinguished himself, as might have been expected, for +coolness and courage. + +But we must omit all mention of his warlike deeds, and resume the +record of his history at that point which bears more immediately on +the subject of our tale. + +It was a wild, stormy night in November. Ruby's ship had captured a +French privateer in the German Ocean, and, a prize crew having been +put aboard, she was sent away to the nearest port, which happened to +be the harbour of Leith, in the Firth of Forth. Ruby had not been +appointed one of the prize crew; but he resolved not to miss the +chance of again seeing his native town, if it should only be a +distant view through a telescope. Being a favourite with his +commander, his plea was received favourably, and he was sent on +board the Frenchman. + +Those who know what it is to meet with an unexpected piece of great +good fortune, can imagine the delight with which Ruby stood at the +helm on the night in question, and steered for _home_! He was known +by all on board to be the man who understood best the navigation of +the Forth, so that implicit trust was placed in him by the young +officer who had charge of the prize. + +The man-of-war happened to be short-handed at the time the privateer +was captured, owing to her boats having been sent in chase of a +suspicious craft during a calm. Some of the French crew were +therefore left on board to assist in navigating the vessel. + +This was unfortunate, for the officer sent in charge turned out to be +a careless man, and treated the Frenchmen with contempt. He did not +keep strict watch over them, and the result was, that, shortly after +the storm began, they took the English crew by surprise, and +overpowered them. + +Ruby was the first to fall. As he stood at the wheel, indulging in +pleasant dreams, a Frenchman stole up behind him, and felled him with +a handspike. When he recovered he found that he was firmly bound, +along with his comrades, and that the vessel was lying-to. One of the +Frenchmen came forward at that moment, and addressed the prisoners in +broken English. + +"Now, me boys," said he, "you was see we have konker you again. You +behold the sea?" pointing over the side; "well, that bees your bed +to-night if you no behave. Now, I wants to know, who is best man of +you as onderstand dis cost? Speak de trut', else you die." + +The English lieutenant at once turned to Ruby. + +"Well, cast him loose; de rest of you go b'low--good day, ver' moch +indeed." + +Here the Frenchman made a low bow to the English, who were led below, +with the exception of Ruby. + +"Now, my goot mans, you onderstand dis cost?" + +"Yes. I know it well." + +"It is dangereoux?" + +"It is--very; but not so much so as it used to be before the Bell +Rock Light was shown." + +"Have you see dat light?" + +"No; never. It was first lighted when I was at sea; but I have seen a +description of it in the newspapers, and should know it well." + +"Ver goot; you will try to come to dat light an' den you will steer +out from dis place to de open sea. Afterwards we will show you to +France. If you try mischief--_voila!_" + +The Frenchman pointed to two of his comrades who stood, one on each +side of the wheel, with pistols in their hands, ready to keep Ruby +in order. + +"Now, cut him free. Go, sare; do your dooty." Ruby stepped to the +wheel at once, and, glancing at the compass, directed the vessel's +head in the direction of the Bell Rock. + +The gale was rapidly increasing, and the management of the helm +required his undivided attention; nevertheless his mind was busy +with anxious thoughts and plans of escape. He thought with horror of +a French prison, for there were old shipmates of his who had been +captured years before, and who were pining in exile still. The bare +idea of being separated indefinitely, perhaps for ever, from Minnie, +was so terrible, that for a moment he meditated an attack, +single-handed, on the crew; but the muzzle of a pistol on each side +of him induced him to pause and reflect! Reflection, however, only +brought him again to the verge of despair. Then he thought of +running up to Leith, and so take the Frenchmen prisoners; but this +idea was at once discarded, for it was impossible to pass up to +Leith Roads without seeing the Bell Rock light, and the Frenchmen +kept a sharp lookout. Then he resolved to run the vessel ashore and +wreck her, but the thought of his comrades down below induced him to +give that plan up. + +Under the influence of these thoughts he became inattentive, and +steered rather wildly once or twice. + +"Stiddy. Ha! you tink of how you escape?" + +"Yes, I do," said Ruby, doggedly. + +"Good, and have you see how?" + +"No," replied Ruby, "I tell you candidly that I can see no way of +escape." + +"Ver good, sare; mind your helm." + +At that moment a bright star of the first magnitude rose on the +horizon, right ahead of them. + +"Ha! dat is a star," said the Frenchman, after a few moments' +observation of it. + +"Stars don't go out," replied Ruby, as the light in question +disappeared. + +"It is de light'ouse den?" + +"I don't know," said Ruby, "but we shall soon see." + +Just then a thought flashed into Ruby's mind. His heart beat quick, +his eye dilated, and his lip was tightly compressed as it came and +went. Almost at the same moment another star rose right ahead of +them. It was of a deep red colour; and Ruby's heart beat high again, +for he was now certain that it was the revolving light of the Bell +Rock, which shows a white and red light alternately every two +minutes. + +"_Voila!_ that must be him now," exclaimed the Frenchman, pointing +to the light, and looking enquiringly at Ruby. + +"I have told you," said the latter, "that I never saw the light +before. I believe it to be the Bell Rock Light; but it would be as +well to run close and see. I think I could tell the very stones of +the tower, even in a dark night. Anyhow, I know the rock itself too +well to mistake it." + +"Be there plenty watter?" + +"Ay; on the east side, close to the rock, there is enough water to +float the biggest ship in your navy." + +"Good; we shall go close." + +There was a slight lull in the gale at this time, and the clouds +broke a little, allowing occasional glimpses of moonlight to break +through and tinge the foaming crests of the waves. At last the light, +that had at first looked like a bright star, soon increased, and +appeared like a glorious sun in the stormy sky. For a few seconds it +shone intensely white and strong, then it slowly died away and +disappeared; but almost before one could have time to wonder what had +become of it, it returned in the form of a brilliant red sun, which +also shone for a few seconds, steadily, and then, like the former, +slowly died out. Thus, alternating, the red and white suns went round. + +In a few minutes the tall and graceful column itself became visible, +looking pale and spectral against the black sky. At the same time the +roar of the surf broke familiarly on Ruby's ears. He steered close +past the north end of the rock, so close that he could see the rocks, +and knew that it was low water. A gleam of moonlight broke out at the +time, as if to encourage him. + +"Now," said Ruby, "you had better go about, for if we carry on at +this rate, in the course we are going, in about an hour you will +either be a dead man on the rocks of Forfar, or enjoying yourself in +a Scotch prison!" + +"Ha! ha!" laughed the Frenchman, who immediately gave the order to +put the vessel about; "good, ver good; bot I was not wish to see the +Scottish prison, though I am told the mountains be ver superb." + +While he was speaking, the little vessel lay over on her new course, +and Ruby steered again past the north side of the rock. He shaved it +so close that the Frenchman shouted, "_Prenez garde_", and put a +pistol to Ruby's ear. + +"Do you think I wish to die?" asked Ruby, with a quiet smile. "Now, +captain, I want to point out the course, so as to make you sure of +it. Bid one of your men take the wheel, and step up on the bulwarks +with me, and I will show you." + +This was such a natural remark in the circumstances, and moreover so +naturally expressed, that the Frenchman at once agreed. He ordered a +seaman to take the wheel, and then stepped with Ruby upon the +bulwarks at the stern of the vessel. + +"Now, you see the position of the lighthouse," said Ruby, "well, you +must keep your course due east after passing it. If you steer to the +nor-ard o' that, you'll run on the Scotch coast; if you bear away to +the south'ard of it, you'll run a chance, in this state o' the tide, +of getting wrecked among the Farne Islands; so keep her head _due +east_." + +Ruby said this very impressively; so much so, that the Frenchman +looked at him in surprise. + +"Why you so particulare?" he enquired, with a look of suspicion. + +"Because I am going to leave you," said Ruby, pointing to the Bell +Rock, which at that moment was not much more than a hundred yards to +leeward. Indeed, it was scarcely so much, for the outlying rock at +the northern end named _Johnny Gray_, lay close under their lee as +the vessel passed. Just then a great wave burst upon it, and, roaring +in wild foam over the ledges, poured into the channels and pools on +the other side. For one instant Ruby's courage wavered, as he gazed +at the flood of boiling foam. + +"What you say?" exclaimed the Frenchman, laying his hand on the +collar of Ruby's jacket. + +The young sailor started, struck the Frenchman a backhanded blow on +the chest, which hurled him violently against the man at the wheel, +and, bending down, sprang with a wild shout into the sea. + +So close had he steered to the rock, in order to lessen the danger of +his reckless venture, that the privateer just weathered it. There was +not, of course, the smallest chance of recapturing Ruby. No ordinary +boat could have lived in the sea that was running at the time, even +in open water, much less among the breakers of the Bell Rock. Indeed, +the crew felt certain that the English sailor had allowed despair to +overcome his judgment, and that he must infallibly be dashed to +pieces on the rocks, so they did not check their onward course, being +too glad to escape from the immediate neighbourhood of such a +dangerous spot. + +Meanwhile Ruby buffeted the billows manfully. He was fully alive to +the extreme danger of the attempt, but he knew exactly what he meant +to do. He trusted to his intimate knowledge of every ledge and +channel and current, and had calculated his motions to a nicety. + +He knew that at the particular state of the tide at the time, and +with the wind blowing as it then did, there was a slight eddy at the +point of _Cunningham's Ledge_. His life, he felt, depended on his +gaining that eddy. If he should miss it, he would be dashed against +_Johnny Gray's_ rock, or be carried beyond it and cast upon +_Strachan's Ledge_ or _Scoreby's Point_, and no man, however powerful +he might be, could have survived the shock of being launched on any +of these rocks. On the other hand, if, in order to avoid these +dangers, he should swim too much to windward, there was danger of his +being carried on the crest of a billow and hurled upon the weather +side of _Cunningham's Ledge_, instead of getting into the eddy under +its lee. + +All this Ruby had seen and calculated when he passed the north end of +the rock the first time, and he had fixed the exact spot where he +should take the plunge on repassing it. He acted so promptly that a +few minutes sufficed to carry him towards the eddy, the tide being in +his favour. But when he was about to swim into it, a wave burst +completely over the ledge, and, pouring down on his head, thrust him +back. He was almost stunned by the shock, but retained sufficient +presence of mind to struggle on. For a few seconds he managed to bear +up against wind and tide, for he put forth his giant strength with +the energy of a desperate man, but gradually he was carried away from +the rock, and for the first time his heart sank within him. + +Just then one of those rushes or swirls of water, which are common +among rocks in such a position, swept him again forward, right into +the eddy which he had struggled in vain to reach, and thrust him +violently against the rock. This back current was the precursor of a +tremendous billow, which came towering on like a black moving wall. +Ruby saw it, and, twining his arm amongst the seaweed, held his +breath. + +The billow fell! Only those who have seen the Bell Rock in a storm +can properly estimate the roar that followed. None but Ruby himself +could tell what it was to feel that world of water rushing overhead. +Had it fallen directly upon him, it would have torn him from his +grasp and killed him, but its full force had been previously spent on +_Cunningham's Ledge_. In another moment it passed, and Ruby, quitting +his hold, struck out wildly through the foam. A few strokes carried +him through _Sinclair's_ and _Wilson's_ tracks into the little pool +formerly mentioned as _Port Stevenson_.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The author has himself bathed in Fort Stevenson, so that +the reader may rely on the fidelity of this description of it and the +surrounding ledges.] + +Here he was in comparative safety. True, the sprays burst over the +ledge called _The Last Hope_ in heavy masses, but these could do him +no serious harm, and it would take a quarter of an hour at least for +the tide to sweep into the pool. Ruby therefore swam quietly to +_Trinity Ledge_, where he landed, and, stepping over it, sat down to +rest, with a thankful heart, on _Smith's Ledge_, the old familiar +spot where he and Jamie Dove had wrought so often and so hard at the +forge in former days. + +He was now under the shadow of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, which +towered high above his head; and the impression of immovable solidity +which its cold, grey, stately column conveyed to his mind, contrasted +powerfully with the howling wind and the raging sea around. It seemed +to him, as he sat there within three yards of its granite base, like +the impersonation of repose in the midst of turmoil; of peace +surrounded by war; of calm and solid self-possession in the midst of +fretful and raging instability. + +No one was there to welcome Ruby. The lightkeepers, high up in the +apartments in their wild home, knew nothing and heard nothing of all +that had passed so near them. The darkness of the night and the +roaring of the storm was all they saw or heard of the world without, +as they sat in their watch tower reading or trimming their lamps. + +But Ruby was not sorry for this; he felt glad to be alone with God, +to thank Him for his recent deliverance. + +Exhausting though the struggle had been, its duration was short, so +that he soon recovered his wonted strength. Then, rising, he got upon +the iron railway, or "rails", as the men used to call it, and a few +steps brought him to the foot of the metal ladder conducting to the +entrance door. + +Climbing up, he stood at last in a place of safety, and disappeared +within the doorway of the lighthouse. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE WRECK + +Meantime the French privateer sped onward to her doom. + +The force with which the French commander fell when Ruby cast him +off, had stunned him so severely that it was a considerable time +before he recovered. The rest of the crew were therefore in absolute +ignorance of how to steer. + +In this dilemma they lay-to for a short time, after getting away to a +sufficient distance from the dangerous rock, and consulted what was +to be done. Some advised one course, and some another, but it was +finally suggested that one of the English prisoners should be brought +up and commanded to steer out to sea. + +This advice was acted on, and the sailor who was brought up chanced +to be one who had a partial knowledge of the surrounding coasts. One +of the Frenchmen who could speak a few words of English, did his best +to convey his wishes to the sailor, and wound up by producing a +pistol, which he cocked significantly. + +"All right," said the sailor, "I knows the coast, and can run ye +straight out to sea. That's the Bell Rock Light on the weather-bow, I +s'pose." + +"Oui, dat is de Bell Roke." + +"Wery good; our course is due nor'west." + +So saying, the man took the wheel and laid the ship's course +accordingly. + +Now, he knew quite well that this course would carry the vessel +towards the harbour of Arbroath, into which he resolved to run at all +hazards, trusting to the harbour-lights to guide him when he should +draw near. He knew that he ran the strongest possible risk of getting +himself shot when the Frenchmen should find out his faithlessness, +but he hoped to prevail on them to believe the harbour-lights were +only another lighthouse, which they should have to pass on their way +out to sea, and then it would be too late to put the vessel about and +attempt to escape. + +But all his calculations were useless, as it turned out, for in half +an hour the men at the bow shouted that there were breakers ahead, +and before the helm could be put down, they struck with such force +that the topmasts went overboard at once, and the sails, bursting +their sheets and tackling, were blown to ribbons. + +Just then a gleam of moonlight struggled through the wrack of clouds, +and revealed the dark cliffs of the Forfar coast, towering high above +them. The vessel had struck on the rocks at the entrance to one of +those rugged bays with which that coast is everywhere indented. + +t the first glance, the steersman knew that the doom of all on board +was fixed, for the bay was one of those which are surrounded by +almost perpendicular cliffs; and although, during calm weather, there +was a small space between the cliffs and the sea, which might be +termed a beach, yet during a storm the waves lashed with terrific +fury against the rocks, so that no human being might land there. + +It chanced at the time that Captain Ogilvy, who took great delight in +visiting the cliffs in stormy weather, had gone out there for a +midnight walk with a young friend, and when the privateer struck, he +was standing on the top of the cliffs. + +He knew at once that the fate of the unfortunate people on board was +almost certain, but, with his wonted energy, he did his best to +prevent the catastrophe. + +"Run, lad, and fetch men, and ropes, and ladders. Alarm the whole +town, and use your legs well. Lives depend on your speed," said the +captain, in great excitement. + +The lad required no second bidding. He turned and fled like a +greyhound. + +The lieges of Arbroath were not slow to answer the summons. There +were neither lifeboats nor mortar-apparatus in those days, but there +were the same willing hearts and stout arms then as now, and in a +marvellously short space of time, hundreds of the able-bodied men of +the town, gentle and semple, were assembled on these wild cliffs, +with torches, rope, &c.; in short, with all the appliances for saving +life that the philanthropy of the times had invented or discovered. + +But, alas! these appliances were of no avail. The vessel went to +pieces on the outer point of rocks, and part of the wreck, with the +crew clinging to it, drifted into the bay. + +The horrified people on the cliffs looked down into that dreadful +abyss of churning water and foam, into which no one could descend. +Ropes were thrown again and again, but without avail. Either it was +too dark to see, or the wrecked men were paralysed. An occasional +shriek was heard above the roar of the tempest, as, one after +another, the exhausted men fell into the water, or were wrenched +from their hold of the piece of wreck. + +At last one man succeeded in catching hold of a rope, and was +carefully hauled up to the top of the cliff. + +It was found that this was one of the English sailors. He had taken +the precaution to tie the rope under his arms, poor fellow, having +no strength left to hold on to it; but he was so badly bruised as to +be in a dying state when laid on the grass. + +"Keep back and give him air," said Captain Ogilvy, who had taken a +prominent part in the futile efforts to save the crew, and who now +kneeled at the sailor's side, and moistened his lips with a little +brandy. + +The poor man gave a confused and rambling account of the +circumstances of the wreck, but it was sufficiently intelligible to +make the captain acquainted with the leading particulars. + +"Were there many of your comrades aboard?" he enquired. + +The dying man looked up with a vacant expression. It was evident that +he did not quite understand the question, but he began again to +mutter in a partly incoherent manner. + +"They're all gone," said he, "every man of 'em but me! All tied +together in the hold. They cast us loose, though, after she struck. +All gone! all gone!" + +After a moment he seemed to try to recollect something. "No," said +he, "we weren't all together. They took Ruby on deck, and I never saw +_him_ again. I wonder what they did----" + +Here he paused. + +"Who, did you say?" enquired the captain with deep anxiety. + +"Ruby--Ruby Brand," replied the man. + +"What became of him, said you?" + +"Don't know." + +"Was _he_ drowned?" + +"Don't know," repeated the man. + +The captain could get no other answer from him, so he was compelled +to rest content, for the poor man appeared to be sinking. + +A sort of couch had been prepared for him, on which he was carried +into the town, but before he reached it he was dead. Nothing more +could be done that night, but next day, when the tide was out, men +were lowered down the precipitous sides of the fatal bay, and the +bodies of the unfortunate seamen were sent up to the top of the +cliffs by means of ropes. These ropes cut deep grooves in the turf, +as the bodies were hauled up one by one and laid upon the grass, +after which they were conveyed to the town, and decently interred. + +The spot where this melancholy wreck occurred is now pointed out to +the visitor as "The Seamen's Grave", and the young folk of the town +have, from the time of the wreck, annually recut the grooves in the +turf, above referred to, in commemoration of the event, so that these +grooves may be seen there at the present day. + +It may easily be imagined that poor Captain Ogilvy returned to +Arbroath that night with dark forebodings in his breast. + +He could not, however, imagine how Ruby came to be among the men on +board of the French prize; and tried to comfort himself with the +thought that the dying sailor had perhaps been a comrade of Ruby's at +some time or other, and was, in his wandering state of mind, mixing +him up with the recent wreck. + +As, however, he could come to no certain conclusion on this point, he +resolved not to tell what he had heard either to his sister or +Minnie, but to confine his anxieties, at least for the present, to +his own breast. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +OLD FRIENDS IN NEW CIRCUMSTANCES + +Let us now return to Ruby Brand; and in order that the reader may +perfectly understand the proceedings of that bold youth, let us take +a glance at the Bell Bock Lighthouse in its completed condition. + +We have already said that the lower part, from the foundation to the +height of thirty feet, was built of solid masonry, and that at the +top of this solid part stood the entrance-door of the +building--facing towards the south. + +The position of the door was fixed after the solid part had been +exposed to a winter's storms. The effect on the building was such +that the most sheltered or lee side was clearly indicated; the +weather-side being thickly covered with limpets, barnacles, and short +green seaweed, while the lee-side was comparatively free from such +incrustations. + +The walls at the entrance-door are nearly seven feet thick, and the +short passage that pierces them leads to the foot of a spiral +staircase, which conducts to the lowest apartment in the tower, where +the walls decrease in thickness to three feet. This room is the +provision store. Here are kept water-tanks and provisions of all +kinds, including fresh vegetables which, with fresh water, are +supplied once a fortnight to the rock all the year round. The +provision store is the smallest apartment, for, as the walls of the +tower decrease in thickness as they rise, the several apartments +necessarily increase as they ascend. + +The second floor is reached by a wooden staircase or ladder, leading +up through a "manhole" in the ceiling. Here is the lightroom store, +which contains large tanks of polished metal for the oil consumed by +the lights. A whole year's stock of oil, or about 1100 gallons, is +stored in these tanks. Here also is a small carpenter's bench and +tool-box, besides an endless variety of odds and ends,--such as +paint-pots, brushes, flags, waste for cleaning the reflectors, +&c. &c. + +Another stair, similar to the first, leads to the third floor, which +is the kitchen of the building. It stands about sixty-six feet above +the foundation. We shall have occasion to describe it and the rooms +above presently. Meanwhile, let it suffice to say, that the fourth +floor contains the men's sleeping berths, of which there are six, +although three men is the usual complement on the rock. The fifth +floor is the library, and above that is the lantern; the whole +building, from base to summit, being 115 feet high. + +At the time when Ruby entered the door of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, +as already described, there were three keepers in the building, one +of whom was on his watch in the lantern, while the other two were in +the kitchen. + +These men were all old friends. The man in the lantern was George +Forsyth, who had been appointed one of the light-keepers in +consideration of his good services and steadiness. He was seated +reading at a small desk. Close above him was the blazing series of +lights, which revolved slowly and steadily by means of machinery, +moved by a heavy weight. A small bell was struck slowly but regularly +by the same machinery, in token that all was going on well. If that +bell had ceased to sound, Forsyth would at once have leaped up to +ascertain what was wrong with the lights. So long as it continued to +ring he knew that all was well, and that he might continue his +studies peacefully--not quietly, however, for, besides the rush of +wind against the thick plate glass of the lantern, there was the +never-ceasing roar of the ventilator, in which the heated air from +within and the cold air from without met and kept up a terrific war. +Keepers get used to that sound, however, and do not mind it. + +Each keeper's duty was to watch for three successive hours in the +lantern. + +Not less familiar were the faces of the occupants of the kitchen. To +this apartment Ruby ascended without anyone hearing him approach, for +one of the windows was open, and the roar of the storm effectually +drowned his light footfall. On reaching the floor immediately below +the kitchen he heard the tones of a violin, and when his head emerged +through the manhole of the kitchen floor, he paused and listened with +deep interest, for the air was familiar. + +Peeping round the corner of the oaken partition that separated the +manhole from the apartment, he beheld a sight which filled his heart +with gladness, for there, seated on a camp stool, with his back +leaning against the dresser, his face lighted up by the blaze of a +splendid fire, which burned in a most comfortable-looking kitchen +range, and his hands drawing forth most pathetic music from a violin, +sat his old friend Joe Dumsby, while opposite to him on a similar +camp stool, with his arm resting on a small table, and a familiar +black pipe in his mouth, sat that worthy son of Vulcan, Jamie Dove. + +The little apartment glowed with ruddy light, and to Ruby, who had +just escaped from a scene of such drear and dismal aspect, it +appeared, what it really was, a place of the most luxurious comfort. + +Dove was keeping time to the music with little puffs of smoke, and +Joe was in the middle of a prolonged shake, when Ruby passed through +the doorway and stood before them. + +Dove's eyes opened to their widest, and his jaw dropt, so did his +pipe, and the music ceased abruptly, while the faces of both men grew +pale. + +"I'm not a ghost, boys," said Ruby, with a laugh, which afforded +immense relief to his old comrades. "Come, have ye not a welcome for +an old messmate who swims off to visit you on such a night as this?" + +Dove was the first to recover. He gasped, and, holding out both +arms, exclaimed, "Ruby Brand!" + +"And no mistake!" cried Ruby, advancing and grasping his friend +warmly by the hands. + +For at least half a minute the two men shook each other's hands +lustily and in silence. Then they burst into a loud laugh, while Joe, +suddenly recovering, went crashing into a Scotch reel with energy so +great that time and tune were both sacrificed. As if by mutual +impulse, Ruby and Dove began to dance! But this was merely a spurt of +feeling, more than half-involuntary. In the middle of a bar Joe flung +down the fiddle, and, springing up, seized Ruby round the neck and +hugged him, an act which made him aware of the fact that he was +dripping wet. + +"Did ye _swim_ hoff to the rock?" he enquired, stepping back, and +gazing at his friend with a look of surprise, mingled with awe. + +"Indeed I did." + +"But how? why? what mystery are ye rolled up in?" exclaimed the +smith. + +"Sit down, sit down, and quiet yourselves," said Ruby, drawing a +stool near to the fire, and seating himself. "I'll explain, if +you'll only hold your tongues, and not look so scared like." + +"No, Ruby; no, lad, you must change yer clothes first," said the +smith, in a tone of authority; "why, the fire makes you steam like a +washin' biler. Come along with me, an' I'll rig you out." + +"Ay, go hup with 'im, Ruby. Bless me, this is the most amazin' +hincident as ever 'appened to me. Never saw nothink like it." + +As Dove and Ruby ascended to the room above, Joe went about the +kitchen talking to himself, poking the fire violently, overturning +the camp stools, knocking about the crockery on the dresser, and +otherwise conducting himself like a lunatic. + +Of course Ruby told Dove parts of his story by fits and starts as he +was changing his garments; of course he had to be taken up to the +lightroom and go through the same scene there with Forsyth that had +occurred in the kitchen; and, of course, it was not until all the +men, himself included, had quite exhausted themselves, that he was +able to sit down at the kitchen fire and give a full and connected +account of himself, and of his recent doings. + +After he had concluded his narrative, which was interrupted by +frequent question and comment, and after he had refreshed himself +with a cup of tea, he rose and said-- + +"Now, boys, it's not fair to be spending all the night with you here, +while my old comrade Forsyth sits up yonder all alone. I'll go up and +see him for a little." + +"We'll go hup with 'ee, lad," said Dumsby. + +"No ye won't," replied Ruby; "I want him all to myself for a while; +fair play and no favour, you know, used to be our watchword on the +rock in old times. Besides, his watch will be out in a little, so ye +can come up and fetch him down." + +"Well, go along with you," said the smith. "Hallo! that must have +been a big 'un." + +This last remark had reference to a distinct tremor in the building, +caused by the falling of a great wave upon it. + +"Does it often get raps like that?" enquired Ruby, with a look of +surprise. + +"Not often," said Dove, "once or twice durin' a gale, mayhap, when a +bigger one than usual chances to fall on us at the right angle. But +the lighthouse shakes worst just the gales begin to take off and when +the swell rolls in heavy from the east'ard." + +"Ay, that's the time," quoth Joe. "W'y, I've 'eard all the cups and +saucers on the dresser rattle with the blows o' them heavy seas, but +the gale is gittin' to be too strong to-night to shake us much." + +"Too strong!" exclaimed Ruby. + +"Ay. You see w'en it blows very hard, the breakers have not time to +come down on us with a 'eavy tellin' blow, they goes tumblin' and +swashin' round us and over us, hammerin' away wildly every how, or +nohow, or anyhow, just like a hexcited man fightin' in a hurry. The +after-swell, _that's_ wot does it. _That's_ wot comes on slow, and +big, and easy, but powerful, like a great prize-fighter as knows what +he can do, and means to do it." + +"A most uncomfortable sort of residence," said Ruby, as he turned to +quit the room. + +"Not a bit, when ye git used to it," said the smith. "At first we was +rather skeered, but we don't mind now. Come, Joe, give us 'Rule, +Britannia'--'pity she don't rule the waves straighter', as somebody +writes somewhere." + +So saying, Dove resumed his pipe, and Dumsby his fiddle, while Ruby +proceeded to the staircase that led to the rooms above. + +Just as he was about to ascend, a furious gust of wind swept past, +accompanied by a wild roar of the sea; at the same moment a mass of +spray dashed against the small window at his side. He knew that this +window was at least sixty feet above the rock, and he was suddenly +filled with a strong desire to have a nearer view of the waves that +had force to mount so high. Instead, therefore, of ascending to the +lantern, he descended to the doorway, which was open, for, as the +storm blew from the eastward, the door was on the lee-side. + +There were two doors--one of metal, with thick plate-glass panels at +the inner end of the passage; the other, at the outer end of it, was +made of thick solid wood bound with metal, and hung so as to open +outwards. When the two leaves of this heavy door were shut they were +flush with the tower, so that nothing was presented for the waves to +act upon. But this door was never closed except in cases of storm +from the southward. + +The scene which presented itself to our hero when he stood in the +entrance passage was such as neither pen nor pencil can adequately +depict. The tide was full, or nearly so, and had the night been calm +the water would have stood about twelve or fourteen feet on the sides +of the tower, leaving a space of about the same height between its +surface and the spot at the top of the copper ladder where Ruby +stood; but such was the wild commotion of the sea that this space was +at one moment reduced to a few feet, as the waves sprang up towards +the doorway, or nearly doubled, as they sank hissing down to the very +rock. + +Acres of white, leaping, seething foam covered the spot where the +terrible Bell Rock lay. Never for a moment did that boiling cauldron +get time to show one spot of dark-coloured water. Billow after billow +came careering on from the open sea in quick succession, breaking +with indescribable force and fury just a few yards to windward of the +foundations of the lighthouse, where the outer ledges of the rock, +although at the time deep down in the water, were sufficiently near +the surface to break their first full force, and save the tower from +destruction, though not from many a tremendous blow and overwhelming +deluge of water. + +When the waves hit the rock they were so near that the lighthouse +appeared to receive the shock. Rushing round it on either side, the +cleft billows met again to leeward, just opposite the door, where +they burst upwards in a magnificent cloud of spray to a height of +full thirty feet. At one time, while Ruby held on by the man-ropes +at the door and looked over the edge, he could see a dark abyss +with the foam shimmering pale far below; another instant, and the +solid building perceptibly trembled, as a green sea hit it fair on +the weather-side. A continuous roar and hiss followed as the billow +swept round, filled up the dark abyss, and sent the white water +gleaming up almost into the doorway. At the same moment the sprays +flew by on either side of the column, so high that a few drops were +thrown on the lantern. To Ruby's eye these sprays appeared to be +clouds driving across the sky, so high were they above his head. A +feeling of awe crept over him as his mind gradually began to realize +the world of water which, as it were, overwhelmed him--water and foam +roaring and flying everywhere--the heavy seas thundering on the +column at his back--the sprays from behind arching almost over the +lighthouse, and meeting those that burst up in front, while an eddy +of wind sent a cloud swirling in at the doorway, and drenched him to +the skin! It was an exhibition of the might of God in the storm such +as he had never seen before, and a brief sudden exclamation of +thanksgiving burst from the youth's lips, as he thought of how +hopeless his case would have been had the French vessel passed the +lighthouse an hour later than it did. + +The contrast between the scene outside and that inside the Bell Rock +Lighthouse at that time was indeed striking. Outside there was madly +raging conflict; inside there were peace, comfort, security: Ruby, +with his arms folded, standing calmly in the doorway; Jamie Dove and +Joe Dumsby smoking and fiddling in the snug kitchen; George Forsyth +reading (the _Pilgrim's Progress_ mayhap, or _Robinson Crusoe_, for +both works were in the Bell Rock library) by the bright blaze of the +crimson and white lamps, high up in the crystal lantern. + +If a magician had divided the tower in two from top to bottom while +some ship was staggering past before the gale, he would have +presented to the amazed mariners the most astonishing picture of "war +without and peace within" that the world ever saw! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +MIDNIGHT CHAT IN A LANTERN + +"I'll have to borrow another shirt and pair of trousers from you, +Dove," said Ruby with a laugh, as he returned to the kitchen. + +"What! been having another swim?" exclaimed the smith. "Not exactly, +but you see I'm fond o' water. Come along, lad." + +In a few minutes the clothes were changed, and Ruby was seated beside +Forsyth, asking him earnestly about his friends on shore. + +"Ah! Ruby," said Forsyth, "I thought it would have killed your old +mother when she was told of your bein' caught by them sea-sharks, and +taken off to the wars. You must know I came to see a good deal of +your friends, through--through--hoot! what's the name? the +fair-haired lass that lives with----" + +"Minnie?" suggested Ruby, who could not but wonder that any man +living should forget her name for a moment. + +"Ay, Minnie it is. She used to come to see my wife about some work +they wanted her to do, and I was now and again sent up with a message +to the cottage, and Captain Ogilvy always invited me in to take a +glass out of his old teapot. Your mother used to ask me ever so many +questions about you, an' what you used to say and do on the rock when +this lighthouse was buildin'. She looked so sad and pale, poor thing; +I really thought it would be all up with her, an' I believe it would, +but for Minnie. It was quite wonderful the way that girl cheered your +mother up, by readin' bits o' the Bible to her, an' tellin' her that +God would certainly send you back again. She looked and spoke always +so brightly too." + +"Did she do that?" exclaimed Ruby, with emotion. + +Forsyth looked for a moment earnestly at his friend. + +"I mean," continued Ruby, in some confusion, "did she look bright +when she spoke of my bein' away?" + +"No lad, it was when she spoke of you comin' back; but I could see +that her good spirits was partly put on to keep up the old woman." + +For a moment or two the friends remained silent. + +Suddenly Forsyth kid his hand on the other's shoulder, and said +impressively: "Ruby Brand, it's my belief that that girl is rather +fond of you." + +Ruby looked up with a bright smile, and said, "D'you think so? Well, +d'ye know, I believe she is." + +"Upon my word, youngster," exclaimed the other, with a look of +evident disgust, "your conceit is considerable. I had thought to be +somewhat confidential with you in regard to this idea of mine, but +you seem to swallow it so easy, and to look upon it as so natural a +thing, that--that--Do you suppose you've nothin' to do but ask the +girl to marry you and she'll say 'Yes' at once?" + +"I do," said Ruby quietly; "nay, I am sure of it." + +Forsyth's eyes opened very wide indeed at this. "Young man," said he, +"the sea must have washed all the modesty you once had out of +you----" + +"I hope not," interrupted the other, "but the fact is that I put the +question you have supposed to Minnie long ago, and she _did_ say +'Yes' to it then, so it's not likely she's goin' to draw back now." + +"Whew! that alters the case," cried Forsyth, seizing his friend's +hand, and wringing it heartily. + +"Hallo! you two seem to be on good terms, anyhow," observed Jamie +Dove, whose head appeared at that moment through the hole in the +floor by which the lantern communicated with the room below. "I came +to see if anything had gone wrong, for your time of watch is up." + +"So it is," exclaimed Forsyth, rising and crossing to the other side +of the apartment, where he applied his lips to a small tube in the +wall. + +"What are you doing?" enquired Ruby. +"Whistling up Joe," said Forsyth. "This pipe runs down to the +sleepin' berths, where there's a whistle close to Joe's ear. He must +be asleep. I'll try again." + +He blew down the tube a second time and listened for a reply, which +came up a moment or two after in a sharp whistle through a similar +tube reversed; that is, with the mouthpiece below and the whistle +above. + +Soon after, Joe Dumsby made his appearance at the trapdoor, looking +very sleepy. + +"I feels as 'eavy as a lump o' lead," said he. "Wot an 'orrible +thing it is to be woke out o' a comf'r'able sleep." + +Just as he spoke the lighthouse received a blow so tremendous that +all the men started and looked at each other for a moment in +surprise. + +"I say, is it warranted to stand _anything?_" enquired Ruby +seriously. + +"I hope it is," replied the smith, "else it'll be a blue lookout for +_us_. But we don't often get such a rap as that. D'ye mind the first +we ever felt o' that sort, Forsyth? It happened last month. I was on +watch at the time, Forsyth was smokin' his pipe in the kitchen, and +Dumsby was in bed, when a sea struck us with such force that I +thought we was done for. In a moment Forsyth and Joe came tumblin' up +the ladder--Joe in his shirt. 'It must have been a ship sailed right +against us,' says Forsyth, and with that we all jumped on the rail +that runs round the lantern there and looked out, but no ship could +be seen, though it was a moonlight night. You see there's plenty o' +water at high tide to let a ship of two hundred tons, drawin' twelve +feet, run slap into us, and we've sometimes feared this in foggy +weather; but it was just a blow of the sea. We've had two or three +like it since, and are gettin' used to it now." + +"Well, we can't get used to do without sleep," said Forsyth, stepping +down through the trapdoor, "so I'll bid ye all good night." + +"'Old on! Tell Ruby about Junk before ye go," cried Dumsby. "Ah! +well, I'll tell 'im myself. You must know, Ruby, that we've got what +they calls an hoccasional light-keeper ashore, who larns the work out +'ere in case any of us reg'lar keepers are took ill, so as 'e can +supply our place on short notice. Well, 'e was out 'ere larnin' the +dooties one tremendous stormy night, an' the poor fellow was in a +mortial fright for fear the lantern would be blowed right hoff the +top o' the stone column, and 'imself along with it. You see, the door +that covers the manhole there is usually shut when we're on watch, +but Junk (we called 'im Junk 'cause 'e wos so like a lump o' fat +pork), 'e kep the door open all the time an' sat close beside it, so +as to be ready for a dive. Well, it was my turn to watch, so I went +up, an' just as I puts my fut on the first step o' the lantern-ladder +there comes a sea like wot we had a minit ago; the wind at the same +time roared in the wentilators like a thousand fiends, and the spray +dashed agin the glass. Junk gave a yell, and dived. He thought it wos +all over with 'im, and wos in sich a funk that he came down 'ead +foremost, and would sartinly 'ave broke 'is neck if 'e 'adn't come +slap into my buzzum! I tell 'e it was no joke, for 'e wos fourteen +stone if 'e wos an ounce, an'----" + +"Come along, Ruby," said Dove, interrupting; "the sooner we dive too +the better, for there's no end to that story when Dumsby get off in +full swing. Good night!" + +"Good night, lads, an' better manners t'ye!" said Joe, as he sat down +beside the little desk where the lightkeepers were wont during the +lonely watch-hours of the night to read, or write, or meditate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +EVERYDAY LIFE ON THE BELL ROCK, AND OLD MEMORIES RECALLED + +The sun shone brightly over the sea next morning; so brightly and +powerfully that it seemed to break up and disperse by force the great +storm-clouds which hung about the sky, like the fragments of an army +of black bullies who had done their worst and been baffled. + +The storm was over; at least, the wind had moderated down to a fresh, +invigorating breeze. The white crests of the billows were few and far +between, and the wild turmoil of waters had given place to a grand +procession of giant waves, that thundered on the Bell Rock +Lighthouse, at once with more dignity and more force than the raging +seas of the previous night. + +It was the sun that awoke Ruby, by shining in at one of the small +windows of the library, in which he slept. Of course it did not shine +in his face, because of the relative positions of the library and the +sun, the first being just below the lantern, and the second just +above the horizon, so that the rays struck upwards, and shone with +dazzling brilliancy on the dome-shaped ceiling. This was the second +time of wakening for Ruby that night, since he lay down to rest. The +first wakening was occasioned by the winding up of the machinery +which kept the lights in motion, and the chain of which, with a +ponderous weight attached to it, passed through a wooden pilaster +close to his ear, causing such a sudden and hideous din that the +sleeper, not having been warned of it, sprang like a Jack-in-the-box +out of bed into the middle of the room, where he first stared +vacantly around him like an unusually surprised owl, and then, +guessing the cause of the noise, smiled pitifully, as though to say, +"Poor fellow, you're easily frightened," and tumbled back into bed, +where he fell asleep again instantly. + +On the second time of wakening Ruby rose to a sitting posture, +yawned, looked about him, yawned again, wondered what o'clock it was, +and then listened. + +No sound could be heard save the intermittent roar of the magnificent +breakers that beat on the Bell Rock. His couch was too low to permit +of his seeing anything but sky out of his windows, three of which, +about two feet square, lighted the room. He therefore jumped up, and, +while pulling on his garments, looked towards the east, where the sun +greeted and almost blinded him. Turning to the north window, a bright +smile lit up his countenance, and "A blessing rest on you" escaped +audibly from his lips, as he kissed his hand towards the cliffs of +Forfarshire, which were seen like a faint blue line on the far-off +horizon, with the town of Arbroath just rising above the morning +mists. + +He gazed out at this north window, and thought over all the scenes +that had passed between him and Minnie from the time they first met, +down to the day when they last parted. One of the sweetest of the +mental pictures that he painted that morning with unwonted facility, +was that of Minnie sitting at his mother's feet, comforting her with +the words of the Bible. + +At length he turned with a sigh to resume his toilette. Looking out +at the southern window, he observed that the rocks were beginning to +be uncovered, and that the "rails", or iron pathway that led to the +foot of the entrance-door ladder, were high enough out of the water +to be walked upon. He therefore hastened to descend. + +We know not what appearance the library presented at the time when +Ruby Brand slept in it; but we can tell, from personal experience, +that, at the present day, it is a most comfortable and elegant +apartment. The other rooms of the lighthouse, although thoroughly +substantial in their furniture and fittings, are quite plain and +devoid of ornament, but the library, or "stranger's room", as it is +sometimes called, being the guest-chamber, is fitted up in a style +worthy of a lady's boudoir, with a Turkey carpet, handsome chairs, +and an elaborately carved oak table, supported appropriately by a +centre stem of three twining dolphins. The dome of the ceiling is +painted to represent stucco panelling, and the partition which cuts +off the small segment of this circular room that is devoted to +passage and staircase, is of panelled oak. The thickness of this +partition is just sufficient to contain the bookcase; also a cleverly +contrived bedstead, which can be folded up during the day out of +sight. There is also a small cupboard of oak, which serves the double +purpose of affording shelf accommodation and concealing the iron +smoke-pipe which rises from the kitchen, and, passing through the +several storeys, projects a few feet above the lantern. The centre +window is ornamented with marble sides and top, and above it stands +a marble bust of Robert Stevenson, the engineer of the building, with +a marble slab below bearing testimony to the skill and energy with +which he had planned and executed the work. + +If not precisely what we have described it to be at the present time, +the library must have been somewhat similar on that morning when our +hero issued from it and descended to the rock. + +The first stair landed him at the entrance to the sleeping-berths. He +looked into one, and observed Forsyth's head and arms lying in the +bed, in that peculiarly negligent style that betokens deep and sweet +repose. Dumsby's rest was equally sound in the next berth. This fact +did not require proof by ocular demonstration; his nose announced it +sonorously over the whole building. + +Passing to the kitchen, immediately below, Ruby found his old +messmate, Jamie Dove, busy in the preparation of breakfast. + +"Ha! Ruby, good mornin'; you keep up your early habits, I see. Can't +shake yer paw, lad, 'cause I'm up to the elbows in grease, not to +speak o' sutt an' ashes." + +"When did you learn to cook, Jamie?" said Ruby, laughing. + +"When I came here. You see we've all got to take it turn and turn +about, and it's wonderful how soon a feller gets used to it. I'm +rather fond of it, d'ye know? We haven't overmuch to work on in the +way o' variety, to be sure, but what we have there's lots of it, +an' it gives us occasion to exercise our wits to invent somethin' +new. It's wonderful what can be done with fresh beef, cabbage, +carrots, potatoes, flour, tea, bread, mustard, sugar, pepper, an' +the like, if ye've got a talent that way." + +"You've got it all off by heart, I see," said Ruby. + +"True, boy, but it's not so easy to get it all off yer stomach +sometimes. What with confinement and want of exercise we was troubled +with indigestion at first, but we're used to it now, and I have +acquired quite a fancy for cooking. No doubt you'll hear Forsyth and +Joe say that I've half-pisoned them four or five times, but that's +all envy; besides, a feller can't learn a trade without doin' a +little damage to somebody or something at first. Did you ever taste +blackbird pie?" + +"No," replied Ruby, "never." + +"Then you shall taste one to-day, for we caught fifty birds last +week." + +"Caught fifty birds?" + +"Ay, but I'll tell ye about it some other time. Be off just now, and +get as much exercise out o' the rock as ye can before breakfast." + +The smith resumed his work as he said this, and Ruby descended. + +He found the sea still roaring over the rock, but the rails were so +far uncovered that he could venture on them, yet he had to keep a +sharp lookout, for, whenever a larger breaker than usual struck the +rock, the gush of foaming water that flew over it was so great that a +spurt or two would sometimes break up between the iron bars, and any +one of these spurts would have sufficed to give him a thorough +wetting. + +In a short time, however, the sea went back and left the rails free. +Soon after that Ruby was joined by Forsyth and Dumsby, who had come +down for their morning promenade. + +They had to walk in single file while taking exercise, as the tramway +was not wide enough for two, and the rock, even when fully uncovered, +did not afford sufficient level space for comfortable walking, +although at low water (as the reader already knows) it afforded fully +a hundred yards of scrambling ground, if not more. + +They had not walked more than a few minutes when they were joined by +Jamie Dove, who announced breakfast, and proceeded to take two or +three turns by way of cooling himself. Thereafter the party returned +to the kitchen, where they sat down to as good a meal as any +reasonable man could desire. + +There was cold boiled beef--the remains of yesterday's dinner--and a +bit of broiled cod, a native of the Bell Rock, caught from the +doorway at high water the day before. There was tea also, and +toast--buttered toast, hot out of the oven. + +Dove was peculiarly good at what may be styled toast-cooking. Indeed, +all the lightkeepers were equally good. The bread was cut an inch +thick, and butter was laid on as plasterers spread plaster with a +trowel. There was no scraping off a bit here to put it on there; no +digging out pieces from little caverns in the bread with the point of +the knife; no repetition of the work to spread it thinner, and, above +all, no omitting of corners or edges;--no, the smallest conceivable +fly could not have found the minutest atom of dry footing on a Bell +Rock slice of toast, from its centre to its circumference. Dove had a +liberal heart, and he laid on the butter with a liberal hand. Fair +play and no favour was his motto, quarter-inch thick was his gauge, +railway speed his practice. The consequence was that the toast +floated, as it were, down the throats of the men, and compensated to +some extent for the want of milk in the tea. + +"Now, boys, sit in," cried Dove, seizing the teapot. "We have not +much variety," observed Dumsby to Ruby, in an apologetic tone. + +"Variety!" exclaimed Forsyth, "what d'ye call that?" pointing to the +fish. + +"Well, that _is_ a hextra morsel, I admit," returned Joe; "but we +don't get that every day; 'owsever, wot there is is good, an' there's +plenty of it, so let's fall to." + +Forsyth said grace, and then they all "fell to", with appetites +peculiar to that isolated and breezy spot, where the wind blows so +fresh from the open sea that the nostrils inhale culinary odours, and +the palates seize culinary products, with unusual relish. + +There was something singularly unfeminine in the manner in which the +duties of the table were performed by these stalwart guardians of the +Rock. We are accustomed to see such duties performed by the tender +hands of woman, or, it may be, by the expert fingers of trained +landsmen; but in places where woman may not or can not act with +propriety,--as on shipboard, or in sea-girt towers,--men go through +such feminine work in a way that does credit to their +versatility,--also to the strength of culinary materials and +implements. + +The way in which Jamie Dove and his comrades knocked about the pans, +teapots, cups and saucers, &c., without smashing them, would have +astonished, as well as gratified, the hearts of the fraternity of +tinsmiths and earthenware manufacturers. + +We have said that everything in the lighthouse was substantial and +very strong. All the woodwork was oak, the floors and walls of solid +stone,--hence, when Dove, who had no nerves or physical feelings, +proceeded with his cooking, the noise he caused was tremendous. A man +used to woman's gentle ways would, on seeing him poke the fire, have +expected that the poker would certainly penetrate not only the coals, +but the back of the grate also, and perchance make its appearance at +the outside of the building itself, through stones, joggles, +dovetails, trenails, pozzolano mortar, and all the strong materials +that have withstood the fury of winds and waves for the last +half-century! + +Dove treated the other furniture in like manner; not that he treated +it ill,--we would not have the reader imagine this for a moment. He +was not reckless of the household goods. He was merely indifferent as +to the row he made in using them. + +But it was when the cooking was over, and the table had to be spread, +that the thing culminated. Under the impulse of lightheartedness, +caused by the feeling that his labours for the time were nearly +ended, and that his reward was about to be reaped, he went about with +irresistible energy, like the proverbial bull in a china shop, +without reaching that creature's destructive point. It was then that +a beaming smile overspread his countenance, and he raged about the +kitchen with Vulcan-like joviality. He pulled out the table from the +wall to the centre of the apartment, with a swing that produced a +prolonged crash. Up went its two leaves with two minor crashes. Down +went the four plates and the cups and saucers, with such violence and +rapidity that they all seemed to be dancing on the board together. +The beef all but went over the side of its dish by reason of the +shock of its sudden stoppage on touching the table, and the pile of +toast was only saved from scatteration by the strength of the +material, so to speak, with which its successive layers were +cemented. + +When the knives, forks, and spoons came to be laid down, the storm +seemed to lull, because these were comparatively light implements, +so that this period--which in shore-going life is usually found to +be the exasperating one--was actually a season of relief. But it was +always followed by a terrible squall of scraping wooden legs and +clanking human feet when the camp stools were set, and the men came +in and sat down to the meal. + +The pouring out of the tea, however, was the point that would have +called forth the admiration of the world--had the world seen it. What +a contrast between the miserable, sickly, slow-dribbling silver and +other teapots of the land, and this great teapot of the sea! The Bell +Rock teapot had no sham, no humbug about it. It was a big, +bold-looking one, of true Britannia metal, with vast internal +capacity and a gaping mouth. + +Dove seized it in his strong hand as he would have grasped his +biggest fore-hammer. Before you could wink, a sluice seemed to burst +open; a torrent of rich brown tea spouted at your cup, and it was +full--the saucer too, perhaps--in a moment. + +But why dwell on these luxurious scenes? Reader, you can never know +them from experience unless you go to visit the Bell Bock; we will +therefore cease to tantalize you. + +During breakfast it was discussed whether or not the signal-ball +should be hoisted. + +The signal-ball was fixed to a short staff on the summit of the +lighthouse, and the rule was that it should be hoisted at a fixed +hour every morning _when all was well_, and kept up until an +answering signal should be made from a signal-tower in Arbroath +where the keepers' families dwelt, and where each keeper in +succession spent a fortnight with his family, after a spell of six +weeks on the rock. It was the duty of the keeper on shore to watch +for the hoisting of the ball (the "All's well" signal) each morning +on the lighthouse, and to reply to it with a similar ball on the +signal-tower. + +If, on any occasion, the hour for signalling should pass without the +ball on the lighthouse being shown, then it was understood that +something was wrong, and the attending boat of the establishment was +sent off at once to ascertain the cause, and afford relief if +necessary. The keeping down of the ball was, however, an event of +rare occurrence, so that when it did take place the poor wives of the +men on the rock were usually thrown into a state of much perturbation +and anxiety, each naturally supposing that her husband must be +seriously ill, or have met with a bad accident. + +It was therefore natural that there should be some hesitation about +keeping down the ball merely for the purpose of getting a boat off to +send Ruby ashore. + +"You see," said Forsyth, "the day after to-morrow the 'relief boat' +is due, and it may be as well just to wait for that, Ruby, and then +you can go ashore with your friend Jamie Dove, for it's his turn this +time." + +"Ay, lad, just make up your mind to stay another day," said the +smith; "as they don't know you're here they can't be wearyin' for +you, and I'll take ye an' introduce you to my little wife, that I +fell in with on the cliffs of Arbroath not long after ye was +kidnapped. Besides, Ruby, it'll do ye good to feed like a fighting +cock out here another day. Have another cup o' tea?" + +"An' a junk o' beef?" said Forsyth. + +"An' a slice o' toast?" said Dumsby. + +Ruby accepted all these offers, and soon afterwards the four +friends descended to the rock, to take as much exercise as they +could on its limited surface, during the brief period of low water +that still remained to them. + +It may easily be imagined that this ramble was an interesting one, +and was prolonged until the tide drove them into their tower of +refuge. Every rock, every hollow, called up endless reminiscences of +the busy building seasons. Ruby went over it all step by step with +somewhat of the feelings that influence a man when he revisits the +scene of his childhood. There was the spot where the forge had stood. + +"D'ye mind it, lad?" said Dove. "There are the holes where the hearth +was fixed, and there's the rock where you vaulted over the bellows +when ye took that splendid dive after the fair-haired lassie into the +pool yonder." + +"Mind it? Ay, I should think so!" + +Then there were the holes where the great beams of the beacon had +been fixed, and the iron bats, most of which latter were still left +in the rock, and some of which may be seen there at the present day. +There was also the pool into which poor Selkirk had tumbled with the +vegetables on the day of the first dinner on the rock, and that other +pool into which Forsyth had plunged after the mermaids; and, not +least interesting among the spots of note, there was the ledge, now +named the "Last Hope", on which Mr. Stevenson and his men had stood +on the day when the boat had been carried away, and they had +expected, but were mercifully preserved from, a terrible tragedy. + +After they had talked much on all these things, and long before they +were tired of it, the sea drove them to the rails; gradually, as it +rose higher, it drove them into the lighthouse, and then each man +went to his work--Jamie Dove to his kitchen, in order to clean up and +prepare dinner, and the other two to the lantern, to scour and polish +the reflectors, refill and trim the lamps, and, generally, to put +everything in order for the coming night. + +Ruby divided his time between the kitchen and lantern, lending a hand +in each, but, we fear, interrupting the work more than he advanced +it. + +That day it fell calm, and the sun shone brightly. "We'll have fog +to-night," observed Dumsby to Brand, pausing in the operation of +polishing a reflector, in which his fat face was mirrored with the +most indescribable and dreadful distortions. + +"D'ye think so?" + +"I'm sure of it." + +"You're right," remarked Forsyth, looking from his elevated position +to the seaward horizon. "I can see it coming now." + +"I say, what smell is that?" exclaimed Ruby, sniffing. + +"Somethink burnin'," said Dumsby, also sniffing. + +"Why, what can it be?" murmured Forsyth, looking round and likewise +sniffing. "Hallo! Joe, look out; you're on fire!" + +Joe started, clapped his hand behind him, and grasped his +inexpressibles, which were smouldering warmly. Ruby assisted, and the +fire was soon put out, amidst much laughter. + +"'Ang them reflectors!" said Joe, seating himself, and breathing hard +after his alarm and exertions; "it's the third time they've set me +ablaze." + +"The reflectors, Joe?" said Ruby. + +"Ay, don't ye see? They've nat'rally got a focus, an' w'en I 'appen +to be standin' on a sunny day in front of 'em, contemplatin' the face +o' natur', as it wor, through the lantern panes, if I gits into the +focus by haccident, d'ye see, it just acts like a burnin'-glass." + +Ruby could scarcely believe this, but after testing the truth of the +statement by actual experiment he could no longer doubt it. + +Presently a light breeze sprang up, rolling the fog before it, and +then dying away, leaving the lighthouse enshrouded. + +During fog there is more danger to shipping than at any other time. +In the daytime, in ordinary weather, rocks and lighthouses can be +seen. At nights lights can be seen, but during fog nothing can be +seen until danger may be too near to be avoided. The two great +fog-bells of the lighthouse were therefore set agoing, and they rang +out their slow deep-toned peal all that day and all that night, as +the bell of the Abbot of Aberbrothoc is said to have done in days of +yore. + +That night Ruby was astonished, and then he was stunned! + +First, as to his astonishment. While he was seated by the kitchen +fire chatting with his friend the smith, sometime between nine +o'clock and midnight, Dumsby summoned him to the lantern to "help in +catching to-morrow's dinner!" + +Dove laughed at the summons, and they all went up. + +The first thing that caught Ruby's eye at one of the window panes +was the round visage of an owl, staring in with its two large eyes as +if it had gone mad with amazement, and holding on to the iron frame +with its claws. Presently its claws lost hold, and it fell off into +outer darkness. + +"What think ye o' that for a beauty?" said Forsyth. Ruby's eyes, +being set free from the fascination of the owl's stare, now made him +aware of the fact that hundreds of birds of all kinds--crows, +magpies, sparrows, tomtits, owls, larks, mavises, blackbirds, &c. +&c.--were fluttering round the lantern outside, apparently bent on +ascertaining the nature of the wonderful light within. + +"Ah! poor things," said Forsyth, in answer to Ruby's look of wonder, +"they often visit us in foggy weather. I suppose they get out to sea +in the fog and can't find their way back to land, and then some of +them chance to cross our light and take refuge on it." + +"Now I'll go out and get to-morrow's dinner," said Dumsby. He went +out accordingly, and, walking round the balcony that encircled the +base of the lantern, was seen to put his hand up and quietly take +down and wring the necks of such birds as he deemed suitable for his +purpose. It seemed a cruel act to Ruby, but when he came to think of +it he felt that, as they were to be stewed at any rate, the more +quickly they were killed the better! + +He observed that the birds kept fluttering about, alighting for a few +moments and flying off again, all the time that Dumsby was at work, +yet Dumsby never failed to seize his prey. + +Presently the man came in with a small basket full of game. + +"Now, Ruby," said he, "I'll bet a sixpence that you don't catch a +bird within five minutes." + +"I don't bet such large sums usually, but I'll try," said Ruby, going +out. + +He tried and failed. Just as the five minutes were expiring, however, +the owl happened to alight before his nose, so he "nabbed" it, and +carried it in triumphantly. + +"_That_ ain't a bird," said Dumsby. + +"It's not a fish," retorted Ruby; "but how is it that you caught them +so easily, and I found it so difficult?" + +"Because, lad, you must do it at the right time. You watch w'en the +focus of a revolvin' light is comin' full in a bird's face. The +moment it does so 'e's dazzled, and you grab 'im. If you grab too +soon or too late, 'e's away. That's 'ow it is, and they're capital +heatin', as you'll find." + +Thus much for Ruby's astonishment. Now for his being stunned. + +Late that night the fog cleared away, and the bells were stopped. +After a long chat with his friends, Ruby mounted to the library and +went to bed. Later still the fog returned, and the bells were again +set agoing. Both of them being within a few feet of Ruby's head, they +awakened him with a bang that caused him to feel as if the room in +which he lay were a bell and his own head the tongue thereof. + +At first the sound was solemnizing, then it was saddening. After a +time it became exasperating, and then maddening. He tried to sleep, +but he only tossed. He tried to meditate, but he only wandered--not +"in dreams", however. He tried to laugh, but the laugh degenerated +into a growl. Then he sighed, and the sigh ended in a groan. Finally, +he got up and walked up and down the floor till his legs were cold, +when he turned into bed again, very tired, and fell asleep, but not +to rest--to dream. + +He dreamt that he was at the forge again, and that he and Dove were +trying to smash their anvils with the sledge-hammers--bang and bang +about But the anvil would not break. At last he grew desperate, hit +the horn off, and then, with another terrific blow, smashed the whole +affair to atoms! + +This startled him a little, and he awoke sufficiently to become aware +of the fog-bells. + +Again he dreamed. Minnie was his theme now, but, strange to say, he +felt little or no tenderness towards her. She was beset by a hundred +ruffians in pea-jackets and sou'westers. Something stirred him to +madness. He rushed at the foe, and began to hit out at them right and +left. The hitting was slow, but sure--regular as clockwork. First the +right, then the left, and at each blow a seaman's nose was driven +into his head, and a seaman's body lay flat on the ground. At length +they were all floored but one--the last and the biggest. Ruby threw +all his remaining strength into one crashing blow, drove his fist +right through his antagonist's body, and awoke with a start to find +his knuckles bleeding. + +"Hang these bells!" he exclaimed, starting up and gazing round him in +despair. Then he fell back on his pillow in despair, and went to +sleep in despair. + +Once more he dreamed. He was going to church now, dressed in a suit +of the finest broadcloth, with Minnie on his arm, clothed in pure +white, emblematic, it struck him, of her pure gentle spirit. Friends +were with him, all gaily attired, and very happy, but unaccountably +silent. Perhaps it was the noise of the wedding-bells that rendered +their voices inaudible. He was struck by the solemnity as well as the +pertinacity of these wedding-bells as he entered the church. He was +puzzled too, being a Presbyterian, why he was to be married in +church, but being a man of liberal mind, he made no objection to it. + +They all assembled in front of the pulpit, into which the clergyman, +a very reverend but determined man, mounted with a prayer book in +his hand. Ruby was puzzled again. He had not supposed that the pulpit +was the proper place, but modestly attributed this to his ignorance. + +"Stop those bells!" said the clergyman, with stern solemnity; but +they went on. + +"Stop them, I say!" he roared in a voice of thunder. The sexton, +pulling the ropes in the middle of the church, paid no attention. + +Exasperated beyond endurance, the clergyman hurled the prayer book at +the sexton's head, and felled him! Still the bells went on of their +own accord. + +"Stop! sto-o-o-o-p! I say," he yelled fiercely, and, hitting the +pulpit with his fist, he split it from top to bottom. + +Minnie cried "Shame!" at this, and from that moment the bells ceased. + +Whether it was that the fog-bells ceased at that time, or that +Minnie's voice charmed Ruby's thoughts away, we cannot tell, but +certain it is that the severely tried youth became entirely oblivious +of everything. The marriage-party vanished with the bells; Minnie, +alas! faded away also; finally, the roar of the sea round the Bell +Rock, the rock itself, its lighthouse and its inmates, and all +connected with it, faded from the sleeper's mind, and + + "like the baseless fabric of a vision, + Left not a wrack behind." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +CONCLUSION + +Facts are facts; there is no denying that. They cannot be +controverted; nothing can overturn them, or modify them, or set them +aside. There they stand in naked simplicity: mildly contemptuous +alike of sophists and theorists. + +Immortal facts! Bacon founded on you; Newton found you out; Dugald +Stewart and all his fraternity reasoned on you, and followed in your +wake. What _would_ this world be without facts? Rest assured, reader, +that those who ignore facts and prefer fancies are fools. We say it +respectfully. We have no intention of being personal, whoever you +may be. + +On the morning after Ruby was cast on the Bell Rock, our old friend +Ned O'Connor (having been appointed one of the lighthouse-keepers, +and having gone for his fortnight ashore in the order of his course) +sat on the top of the signal-tower at Arbroath with a telescope at +his eye directed towards the lighthouse, and became aware of a +fact,--a fact which seemed to be contradicted by those who ought to +have known better. + +Ned soliloquized that morning. His soliloquy will explain the +circumstances to which we refer; we therefore record it here. "What's +that? Sure there's something wrong wid me eye intirely this mornin'. +Howld on" (he wiped it here, and applying it again to the telescope, +proceeded); "wan, tshoo, three, _four_! No mistake about it. Try +agin. Wan, tshoo, three, FOUR! An' yet the ball's up there as cool as +a cookumber, tellin' a big lie; ye know ye are," continued Ned, +apostrophizing the ball, and readjusting the glass. + +"There ye are, as bold as brass--av ye're not copper--tellin' me that +everything goin' on as usual, whin I can see with me two eyes (wan +after the other) that there's _four_ men on the rock, whin there +should be only _three!_ Well, well," continued Ned, after a pause, +and a careful examination of the Bell Rock, which being twelve miles +out at sea could not be seen very distinctly in its lower parts, even +through a good glass, "the day afther to-morrow 'll settle the +question, Misther Ball, for then the Relief goes off, and faix, if I +don't guv' ye the lie direct I'm not an Irishman." + +With this consolatory remark, Ned O'Connor descended to the rooms +below, and told his wife, who immediately told all the other wives +and the neighbours, so that ere long the whole town of Arbroath +became aware that there was a mysterious stranger, a _fourth_ party, +on the Bell Rock! + +Thus it came to pass that, when the relieving boat went off, numbers +of fishermen and sailors and others watched it depart in the morning, +and increased numbers of people of all sorts, among whom were many of +the old hands who had wrought at the building of the lighthouse, +crowded the pier to watch its return in the afternoon. + +As soon as the boat left the rock, those who had "glasses" announced +that there was an "extra man in her". + +Speculation remained on tiptoe for nearly three hours, at the end of +which time the boat drew near. + +"It's a man, anyhow," observed Captain Ogilvie, who was one of those +near the outer end of the pier. + +"I say," observed his friend the "leftenant", who was looking through +a telescope, "if--that's--not--Ruby--Brand--I'll eat my hat without +sauce!" + +"You don't mean--let me see," cried the captain, snatching the glass +out of his friend's hand, and applying it to his eye. "I do +believe!--yes! it is Ruby, or his ghost!" + +By this time the boat was near enough for many of his old friends to +recognize him, and Ruby, seeing that some of the faces were familiar +to him, rose in the stern of the boat, took off his hat and waved it. + +This was the signal for a tremendous cheer from those who knew our +hero; and those who did not know him, but knew that there was +something peculiar and romantic in his case, and in the manner of his +arrival, began to cheer from sheer sympathy; while the little boys, +who were numerous, and who love to cheer for cheering's sake alone, +yelled at the full pitch of their lungs, and waved their ragged caps +as joyfully as if the King of England were about to land upon their +shores! + +The boat soon swept into the harbour, and Ruby's friends, headed by +Captain Ogilvy, pressed forward to receive and greet him. The captain +embraced him, the friends surrounded him, and almost pulled him to +pieces; finally, they lifted him on their shoulders, and bore him in +triumphal procession to his mother's cottage. + +And where was Minnie all this time? She had indeed heard the rumour +that something had occurred at the Bell Rock; but, satisfied from +what she heard that it could be nothing very serious, she was content +to remain at home and wait for the news. To say truth, she was too +much taken up with her own sorrows and anxieties to care as much for +public matters as she had been wont to do. + +When the uproarious procession drew near, she was sitting at Widow +Brand's feet, "comforting her" in her usual way. + +Before the procession turned the corner of the street leading to his +mother's cottage, Ruby made a desperate effort to address the crowd, +and succeeded in arresting their attention. + +"Friends, friends!" he cried, "it's very good of you, very kind; but +my mother is old and feeble; she might be hurt if we were to come on +her in this fashion. We must go in quietly." + +"True, true," said those who bore him, letting him down, "so, good +day, lad; good day. A shake o' your flipper; give us your hand; glad +you're back, Ruby; good luck to 'ee, boy!" + +Such were the words, followed by three cheers, with which his friends +parted from him, and left him alone with the captain. + +"We must break it to her, nephy," said the captain, as they moved +towards the cottage. + + "'Still so gently o'er me stealin", + Memory will bring back the feelin'.' + +It won't do to go slap into her, as a British frigate does into a +French line-o'-battle ship. I'll go in an' do the breakin' business, +and send out Minnie to you." + +Ruby was quite satisfied with the captain's arrangement, so, when the +latter went in to perform his part of this delicate business, the +former remained at the doorpost, expectant. + +"Minnie, lass, I want to speak to my sister," said the captain, +"leave us a bit--and there's somebody wants to see _you_ outside." + +"Me, uncle!" + +"Ay, _you_; look alive now." + +Minnie went out in some surprise, and had barely crossed the +threshold when she found herself pinioned in a strong man's arms! A +cry escaped her as she struggled, for one instant, to free herself; +but a glance was sufficient to tell who it was that held her. +Dropping her head on Ruby's breast, the load of sorrow fell from her +heart. Ruby pressed his lips upon her forehead, and they both rested +there. + +It was one of those pre-eminently sweet resting-places which are +vouchsafed to some, though not to all, of the pilgrims of earth, in +their toilsome journey through the wilderness towards that eternal +rest, in the blessedness of which all minor resting-places shall be +forgotten, whether missed or enjoyed by the way. + +Their rest, however, was not of long duration, for in a few minutes +the captain rushed out, and exclaiming "She's swounded, lad," grasped +Ruby by the coat and dragged him into the cottage, where he found his +mother lying in a state of insensibility on the floor. + +Seating himself by her side on the floor, he raised her gently, and +placing her in a half-sitting, half-reclining position in his lap, +laid her head tenderly on his breast. While in this position Minnie +administered restoratives, and the widow ere long opened her eyes and +looked up. She did not speak at first, but, twining her arms round +Ruby's neck, gazed steadfastly into his face; then, drawing him +closer to her heart, she fervently exclaimed "Thank God!!" and laid +her head down again with a deep sigh. + +She too had found a resting-place by the way on that day of her +pilgrimage. + +* * * * * + +Now, reader, we feel bound to tell you in confidence that there are +few things more difficult than drawing a story to a close! Our tale +is done, for Ruby is married to Minnie, and the Bell Rock Lighthouse +is finished, and most of those who built it are scattered beyond the +possibility of reunion. Yet we are loath to shake hands with them and +to bid you farewell. + +Nevertheless, so it must be, for if we were to continue the narrative +of the after-careers of our friends of the Bell Rock, the books that +should be written would certainly suffice to build a new lighthouse. + +But we cannot make our bow without a parting word or two. + +Ruby and Minnie, as we have said, were married. They lived in the +cottage with their mother, and managed to make it sufficiently large +to hold them all by banishing the captain into the scullery. + +Do not suppose that this was done heartlessly, and without the +captain's consent. By no means. That worthy son of Neptune assisted +at his own banishment. In fact, he was himself the chief cause of it, +for when a consultation was held after the honeymoon, as to "what was +to be done now", he waved his hand, commanded silence, and delivered +himself as follows:-- + +"Now, shipmates all, give ear to me, an' don't ventur' to interrupt. +It's nat'ral an' proper, Ruby, that you an' Minnie and your mother +should wish to live together; as the old song says, 'Birds of a +feather flock together', an' the old song's right; and as the thing +ought to be, an' you all want it to be, so it _shall_ be. There's +only one little difficulty in the way, which is, that the ship's too +small to hold us, by reason of the after-cabin bein' occupied by an +old seaman of the name of Ogilvy. Now, then, not bein' pigs, the +question is, what's to be done? I will answer that question: the +seaman of the name of Ogilvy shall change his quarters." + +Observing at this point that both Ruby and his bride opened their +mouths to speak, the captain held up a threatening finger, and +sternly said, "Silence!" Then he proceeded-- + +"I speak authoritatively on this point, havin' conversed with the +seaman Ogilvy, and diskivered his sentiments. That seaman intends to +resign the cabin to the young couple, and to hoist his flag for the +futur' in the fogs'l." + +He pointed, in explanation, to the scullery; a small, dirty-looking +apartment off the kitchen, which was full of pots and pans and +miscellaneous articles of household, chiefly kitchen, furniture. + +Ruby and Minnie laughed at this, and the widow looked perplexed, but +perfectly happy and at her ease, for she knew that whatever +arrangement the captain should make, it would be agreeable in the end +to all parties. + +"The seaman Ogilvy and I," continued the captain, "have gone over the +fogs'l" (meaning the forecastle) "together, and we find that, by the +use of mops, buckets, water, and swabs, the place can be made clean. +By the use of paper, paint, and whitewash, it can be made +respectable; and, by the use of furniture, pictures, books, and +baccy, it can be made comfortable. Now, the question that I've got to +propound this day to the judge and jury is--Why not?" + +Upon mature consideration, the judge and jury could not answer "why +not?" therefore the thing was fixed and carried out and the captain +thereafter dwelt for years in the scullery, and the inmates of the +cottage spent so much of their time in the scullery that it became, +as it were, the parlour, or boudoir, or drawing-room of the place. +When, in course of time, a number of small Brands came to howl and +tumble about the cottage, they naturally gravitated towards the +scullery, which then virtually became the nursery, with a stout old +seaman, of the name of Ogilvy, usually acting the part of head nurse. +His duties were onerous, by reason of the strength of constitution, +lungs, and muscles of the young Brands, whose ungovernable desire to +play with that dangerous element from which heat is evolved, +undoubtedly qualified them for the honorary title of Fire-Brands. + +With the proceeds of the jewel case Ruby bought a little coasting +vessel, with which he made frequent and successful voyages. "Absence +makes the heart grow fonder," no doubt, for Minnie grew fonder of +Ruby every time he went away, and every time he came back. Things +prospered with our hero, and you may be sure that he did not forget +his old friends of the lighthouse. On the contrary, he and his wife +became frequent visitors at the signal-tower, and the families of the +lighthouse-keepers felt almost as much at home in "the cottage" as +they did in their own houses. And each keeper, on returning from his +six weeks' spell on the rock to take his two weeks' spell at the +signal-tower, invariably made it his first business, _after_ kissing +his wife and children, to go up to the Brands and smoke a pipe in the +scullery with that eccentric old seafaring nursery-maid of the name +of Ogilvy. + +In time Ruby found it convenient to build a top flat on the cottage, +and above this a small turret, which overlooked the opposite houses, +and commanded a view of the sea. This tower the captain converted +into a point of lookout, and a summer smoking-room,--and many a time +and oft, in the years that followed, did he and Ruby climb up there +about nightfall, to smoke the pipe of peace, with Minnie beside them, +and to watch the bright flashing of the red and white light on the +Bell Rock, as it shone over the waters far and wide, like a star of +the first magnitude, a star of hope and safety, guiding sailors to +their desired haven; perchance reminding them of that star of +Bethlehem which guided the shepherds to Him who is the Light of the +World and the Rock of Ages. + + +PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN +_At the Villafield Press, Glasgow, Scotland_ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lighthouse, by Robert Ballantyne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIGHTHOUSE *** + +***** This file should be named 15124.txt or 15124.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/1/2/15124/ + +Produced by Roy Brown, Wiltshire, 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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