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diff --git a/21354.txt b/21354.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5667ffe --- /dev/null +++ b/21354.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13566 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Menhardoc, by George Manville Fenn + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Menhardoc + +Author: George Manville Fenn + +Illustrator: C.J. Staniland + +Release Date: May 8, 2007 [EBook #21354] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MENHARDOC *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Menhardoc, a Story of Cornish Nets and Mines, by George Manville Fenn. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +In passing, the title of the book, Menhardoc, never once appears in the +body-text of the book. But it has a sort of mysterious Cornish sound to +it, and that does the trick. + +Mr Temple and his two 15 or 16 year old twin sons have come to stay for +the summer holidays in a Cornish fishing village. The two boys are very +different. Arthur, or Taff, is very foppish and afraid of getting wet, +hurt, or in any way inconvenienced. The other boy, Richard, or Dick, is +the exact opposite, always running hither and thither, always wanting to +get involved in anything that is going, ready to make friends with all +and sundry, while Arthur believes himself to be very grand and much +above the fisher men and boys that they meet on this holiday. + +Will Marion is one such boy. But he is a very clever studious boy, as +well as one who gets on with the day-to-day fishing business. He has +had a good grammar-school education, and Arthur is quite put out to +discover that Will is better than he at his Latin and Greek, in those +days forming a large part of a good education. + +Josh, Uncle Abram, and several others complete the principal cast. The +boys get out on various boating expeditions, in which they, and we, +learn a great deal about the life of a fishing village of perhaps 1850. +We learn about the various fishes, and how they are caught, and they +have various narrow shaves down mines, in caves, and after various +unfortunate accidents. + +This book is beautifully written, very informative and interesting, and +as full of thrills as any book by G Manville Fenn, the master of +suspense. + +Of course there is a surprise waiting for us at the finish. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +MENHARDOC, A STORY OF CORNISH NETS AND MINES, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +INTRODUCES WILL AND HIS HENCHMAN, JOSH. + +"You don't know it, Master Will, lad, but Natur' couldn't ha' done no +better for you if she'd tried." + +"Why, Josh?" + +"Why, lad? There's a queshton to ask! Why? Warn't you born in +Co'rn'all, the finest country in all England, and ain't you going to +grow into a Cornishman, as all old books says is giants, when you've +left off being a poor smooth, soft-roed, gallish-looking creatur', same +as you are now?" + +The utterer of these words certainly spoke them, but in a musical, +sing-song intonation peculiar to the fishermen of the district. He was +a fair, short man, somewhat deformed, one arm being excessively short, +seeming little more than a hand projecting from one side of his breast; +but this in no wise interfered with his activity as he stood there +glittering in the bright morning sunshine on the deck of a Cornish +lugger, shaking pilchards out of the dark-brown net into the well or +hold. + +Josh Helston glittered in the morning sunshine like a harlequin in a +limelight, for he was spangled from head to foot with the loose silvery +scales of the pilchards caught during the night, and on many another +night during the past few weeks. There were scales on his yellow +south-wester, in his fair closely-curling hair, a couple on his +ruddy-brown nose, hundreds upon his indigo-blue home-knit jersey, and +his high boots, that were almost trousers and boots in one, were +literally burnished with the adherent disks of silvery iridescent horn. + +The "poor smooth, gallish-looking creatur'" he addressed was a +well-built young fellow of seventeen, with no more effeminacy in his +appearance than is visible in a lad balanced by nature just on that edge +of life where we rest for a short space uneasily, bidding good-bye to +boyhood so eagerly, before stepping boldly forward, and with flushed +face and flashing eyes feeling our muscles and the rough hair upon our +cheeks and chins, and saying, in all the excitement of the discovery of +that El Dorado time of life, "At last I am a man!" + +Josh Helston's words did not seem fair, but his way was explained once +to Michael Polree as they stood together on the pier; and the latter had +expostulated after his fashion, for he never spoke much, by saying: + +"Easy, mate, easy." + +"Easy it is, Mike," sang rather than said Josh. "I know what I'm about. +The old un said I wasn't to spoil him, and I won't. He's one o' them +soft sort o' boys as is good stuff, like a new-bred net; but what do you +do wi' it, eh?" + +"Bile it," growled old Mike, "Cutch or Gambier." + +"Toe be sure," said Josh; "and I'm biling young Will in the hot water o' +adversitee along with the cutch o' worldly knowledge, and the gambier o' +fisherman's gumption, till he be tanned of a good moral, manly, sensible +brown. I know." + +Then old Mike winked at Josh Helston, and Josh Helston winked solemnly +at old Mike Polree, who threw a couple of hake slung on a bit of spun +yarn over one shoulder, his strapped-together boots stuffed with coarse +worsted stockings, one on each side, over the other shoulder, squirted a +little tobacco juice into the harbour, and went off barefoot over the +steep stones to the cottage high up the cliff, muttering to himself +something about Pilchar' Will being a fine young chap all the same. + +"That's all nonsense about the Cornishmen being giants, Josh," said +Will, as he rapidly passed the long lengths of net through his hands, so +that they should lie smooth in the hold, ready for shooting again that +night without twist or tangle. "Old writers were very fond of +stretching men." + +"Dessay they was," said Josh; "but they never stretched me. I often +wish I was ten inches longer." + +"It wouldn't have made a better fellow of you, Josh," said Will, with a +merry twinkle in his eye. + +"I dunno 'bout that," said Josh disparagingly; "I ain't much account," +and he rubbed his nose viciously with the back of his hand, the result +being that he spread a few more scales upon his face. + +"Why, you're the strongest man I know, Josh. You can throw anyone in +Peter Churchtown, and I feel like a baby when you grip hold of me." + +Josh felt flattered, but he would not show it in the face of such a +chance for giving a lesson. + +"Babby! And that's just what you are--a big soft, overgrown babby, with +no more muscle in you than a squid. I'd be ashamed o' myself, that I +would, if I was you." + +"Can't help it, Josh," said the young fellow, wrinkling his sun-browned +forehead, and still turning the soft nets into filmy ropes by passing +them through his hands. + +"Can't help it! Why, you ain't got no more spirit in you than a +pilchar'--no more'n one o' these as run its head through the net last +night, hung on by its gills and let itself die, whar it might ha' +wriggled itself out if it had had plenty o' pluck. If you don't take +care, my lad, you'll get a name for being a regular soft. I believe if +one of the lads o' your own size hit you, you'd cry." + +"Perhaps I should, Josh, so I hope no one will hit me." + +The lad thrust back his scarlet woollen cap, and bent down over the +brown nets so that his companion should not see his face; and as he +shook down the soft meshes, with the heap growing bigger and bigger, so +did the pile of silvery pilchards grow taller, as Josh growled to +himself and shook out the fish easily enough, for though the gills of +the herring-like fish acted as barbs to complete their arrowy form as +they darted through the sea, and kept them from swimming back, the hold +on the net was very frail, and they kept falling pat, pat, upon the deck +or in the well. + +"After all I've done for you I don't want you to turn out a cur," +growled Josh at last. + +"Well, was I a cur last night?" cried Will eagerly. "Mike said there +was a storm coming on, and that we'd better run in. Didn't I say, +`let's stop and shake out the fish,' as we hauled the nets?" + +"Ay, but that's not very plucky," cried Josh, giving his face another +rub and placing some spangles under his right eye; "that's being +foolhardy and running risks with your craft, as no man ought to do as +has charge of a lugger and all her gear. Ah, you're a poor gallish sort +o' lad, and it's only a silly job to try and make a man of you." + +It was quite early in the morning, and the sun was just showing over the +bold headland to play through the soft silvery mist that hung in patches +over the sea, which heaved and fell, ruddy orange where the sun glanced +upon the swell, and dark misty purple in the hollows. The surface was +perfectly smooth, not a breath of air coming from the land to dimple the +long gentle heaving of the ebbing tide. Here and there the dark +luggers, with their duck-shaped hulls and cinnamon-brown sails, stood +out clear in the morning sunshine; while others that had not reached the +harbour were fast to the small tub buoys; and again others that had not +heeded the warnings of the threatened storm were only now creeping in, +looking strange and mysterious, half-hidden as they were by the veil of +mist that now opened, now closed and completely blotted them from the +sight of those in the harbour. + +It was a wild-looking place, the little fishing town nestling on the +cliff, with the grey granite rocks piled-up behind and spreading to east +and west like cyclopean walls, built in regular layers by the giants of +whom Josh Helston had told. The wonder was that in some north-east gale +the little fleet of fishing vessels was not dashed to pieces by the huge +breakers that came tearing in, to leap against the rocks and fall back +with a sullen roar amidst the great boulders. And one storm would have +been enough, but for the harbour, into which, like so many sea-birds, +the luggers huddled together; while the great granite wall curved round +them like a stout protective arm thrust out by the land, and against +which the waves beat themselves to spray. + +It was a wild but singularly attractive view from Peter Churchtown, for +the simple Cornish folk did not trouble themselves to say "Saint," but +invariably added to every village that boasted a church the name of +churchtown. High above it, perched upon the steepest spots, were the +tall engine-houses of the tin and copper mines, one of which could be +seen, too, half-way down the cliff, a few hundred yards from the +harbour; and here the galleries from whence the ore was blasted and +picked ran far below the sea. In fact it was said that in the pursuit +of the lode of valuable ore the company would mine their way till they +met the work-people of the Great Ruddock Mine over on the other side of +the bay, beyond the lighthouse through the curve of the shore. + +As the mist lifted from where it had half-hidden the tall lighthouse, +with its base of black rocks, against which the sea never ceased +breaking in creamy foam, a boat could be seen on its way to a large +black, mastless vessel, moored head and stern with heavy chains, and +looking quite deserted in the morning light. + +"There they go off to work, Josh," exclaimed Will suddenly. + +"Well, and you're off to work too," said Josh gruffly, as he picked from +the net the half, of a pilchard, the tail portion having been bitten off +by some predatory fish, as it hung helplessly by its gills. "Them hake +have been having a nice game wi' the fish to-night." + +As he spoke he picked out another and another half pilchard, and threw +them as far as he could, when, almost as each piece touched the water, a +soft-looking grey gull swept down and caught it from the surface with +its strong beak, uttering a low peevish-sounding wail as it swept up +again, hardly seeming to move its long white-lined wings. + +"I should dearly like to go aboard the lighter and see what they are +doing," said Will eagerly. + +"Paying attention to their work," said Josh sharply, "and that's what +you're not doing." + +"I'm only a few fathoms behind you, Josh, and I shall be waiting +directly. I say, when we're done let's row aboard." + +"I don't want to row aboard," said Josh sourly, but watching the +progress of the boat the while. + +"They've got regular diving things there, Josh, and an air-engine; and +the men go down. I should like to have a look." + +"What are they going down for?" said Josh; "looking for oyster-beds?" + +"No, no. Trelynn Mine is like to be flooded by the water that comes in +from one of the galleries under the sea, and the divers go down to try +and find the place where it gets in, and stop it with clay and cement." + +"Humph! are they going to find it, d'yer think?" + +"Yes, I believe so. They measure so exactly that they can put a boat +right over the place. I say, Josh, shouldn't you like to go down?" + +"What! dive down?" + +"Yes." + +"I should just think not, indeed. A man's place is in a boat floating +atop of the water, and not going underneath. If man was meant to go +underneath he'd have gills and fins and scales, same as these here +pilchar's." + +"Oh, yes, I know all that; but only think of trying on a diver's suit, +and being supplied with air from above, through a tube into your +helmet." + +"This here dress is good enough for me, and my sou'-wester's a sight +better than any helmet I know, and the only air as I care about having +through a tube's 'bacco smoke." + +"But shouldn't you like to go and see the diving?" + +"Not I," said Josh, staring hard at the great lighter. "'Sides, when +we've done here, and the fish is all salted down, I want to row across +to the lighthouse." + +"That will be going close by, Josh. I'll take an oar with you, and +let's stop on the way." + +"Just couldn't think o' such a thing. Come, work away, lad," cried +Josh; and both he and Will did work away, the latter saying nothing +more, for he knew his man, and that there was eager curiosity and also +intense longing in the looks directed by the fisherman across the water +from time to time. + +The result was, that, armed with a couple of good-sized pollack as a +present to the skipper in charge of the lighter, Josh Helston and his +young companion rowed alongside the well-moored vessel before the +morning was much older, and were soon on deck watching the proceedings +with the greatest interest. + +One of the divers was just preparing to go down as they set foot aboard; +and they were in time to see the heavy leaden weights attached to his +back and breast, and the great helmet, with its tail-like tube, lifted +over his head and screwed on to the gorget. Then with the life-line +attached he moved towards the gangway, the air-pump clanking as the crew +turned the wheel; and step by step the man went down the ladder lashed +to the lighter's side. Josh involuntarily gripped Will's hand as the +diver descended lower and lower, to chest, neck, and then the great +goggle-eyed helmet was covered, while from the clear depths the air that +kept rapidly bubbling up rendered the water confused, so that the +descending figure looked distorted and strange. + +"Three fathom o' water here, my lad," whispered Josh, as with his +companion he leaned over the side and gazed down at the rocks below. + +"Three and a half, isn't it, Josh?" said Will in a low tone. "Mike +always says there's three and a half here at this time of the tide." + +"And I says it's three fathom," growled Josh dogmatically. "My, but +it's a gashly sight for a man to go down like that!" + +"Why, I wouldn't mind diving down, Josh," said Will excitedly. + +"Diving down! Ay, I wouldn't mind diving down. It's being put in +prison, and boxed up in them gashly things as makes it so horrid. Here, +let's be off. I can't stand it. That there poor chap'll never come up +again alive." + +"Nonsense, Josh! He's all right. There, you can see him moving about. +That pump sends him down plenty of air." + +"Lor', what a great soft sort of a chap you are, William Marion!" said +Josh. "You'll never larn nothing. The idee of a pump pumping air! +They're a-pumping the water from all round him, so as to give the poor +chap room to breathe. Can't you see the long soft pipe? Here, I don't +like it. I want to go." + +"No, no: not yet," cried Will excitedly. "I want to watch the diver." + +"An' I don't," said Josh, turning his face away. "I never could abear +to see things killed, and I never would go and see it. I can stand +fish, but that's enough for me. Here's a human bein' goin' to be as +good as murdered, and I won't be one o' them as stands by and sees it +done." + +"What nonsense, Josh!" cried Will. "This is regular diving apparatus. +That's an air-pump; and the man has air pumped down into his helmet +through that india-rubber pipe." + +"Garlong; don't tell me, boy," cried Josh indignantly. "Into his helmet +indeed! Why, you can see all the water bubbling up round him. That's +what it is--pumped away. I tell 'ee I'm off. I won't stop and see the +gashly work going on." + +Just then there was a cry from one of the men by the gangway, for the +life-line was jerked. + +"More air!" he shouted; and the men spun the wheel round faster; but the +line jerked again. + +"There's something wrong!" shouted one of the others. "Here, lay hold +there--quick! Keep on there with that handle, stupids! Do you want the +man to choke? Pump, I tell you. Now, then, haul!" + +"There, I told you so, Will," cried Josh, whose ruddy-brown face was +looking mottled with white. "I know'd the gashly old job was wrong. +Come away, boy, come away." + +For answer, in his excitement Will thrust his arm aside and ran to the +line to help haul. + +"No, no, my lad; stand aside," cried the man who seemed to be captain of +the diving-crew, and who was dressed for the work all but his helmet. +"Haul away, do you hear?" + +The men were hauling hard, but the rope had come taut; and instead of +their bringing up the diver it was plain to all that the poor fellow had +got the line hitched round a piece of rock, or else one of his legs +wedged in some crevice of the rocks he was exploring. + +"Shake the rope loose for a moment and haul again," cried the leader. + +The men obeyed and then hauled again, but the line came taut once more; +and if they had hauled much harder it would have parted. + +"Lend a hand here quick with that other helmet. Make fast there! I'll +go down and cast him loose. Here, quick, some of you!" + +"He'll be a dead un afore you get to him," growled the skipper of the +lighter, "if you arn't sharp." + +"I knowed it, I knowed it," whispered Josh hoarsely. "I see it all +along." + +"Screw that on," panted the leader; "and you, Winter, stand by the +engine. Be cool. Now, the helmet. Hah!" + +There was a loud crash just then as the trembling and excited man who +was handing the second helmet let it fall upon an iron bar lying upon +the deck, so injuring the delicate piece of mechanism that the men +stared at each other aghast, and Will's hands grew wet with horror. + +"Is there a man here who can dive?" shouted the skipper coming forward +with a thin coil of line. And, amidst a breathless silence Will stepped +forward. + +"No, no, he can't," shouted Josh excitedly; and then he stood +open-mouthed and with one hand clasping the other as he saw Will make a +rapid hitch in the line, throw it round his waist, tighten it, and then, +after a quick glance round, seize one of the diver's leaden weights +lying on an upturned cask. Then stepping to the side he said quickly, +"Josh, look to the line!" and with the heavy weight held out at +arm's-length he leaped from the gangway, right where the air-bubbles +were still rising, and plunged headforemost into the sea. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note: Net-making in Cornwall is called net-breeding. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +JOSH DOES NOT APPROVE OF HIS PUPIL'S DIVE. + +As Will made his daring plunge Josh Heist on rushed to the side, and +stood with starting eyes gazing at the disturbed water. Then turning +fiercely upon the skipper, he caught him by the shoulder, gave him a +twist, and dragged him within reach of his deformed arm, the hand of +which fastened upon his waist-belt, and held him perfectly helpless, +although he seemed to be a much stronger man. + +"This was your doing!" cried Josh angrily, but with quite a wail in his +intoned words. "You drove him to do that gashly thing!" + +"Don't be a fool, Josh! Here, let go! Do you hear, let go!" + +"If he don't come I'll send you after him!" cried Josh, with his face +flushed with anger. + +"Do you want the lad to drown for want of help?" cried the skipper; and +his words acted like magic. Josh loosed his hold, and once more ran to +the side. + +Meanwhile the pumping had been kept up, and a constant stream of +air-bubbles could be seen ascending; but the men who had hauled upon the +life-line had kept it taut, and were still hauling as those who were +gazing down into the clear water, vainly trying to make out the +movements of the two divers, suddenly uttered a shout. + +"Here he comes!" cried the skipper; and Josh, who had been holding his +breath in the agony of suspense, gave a loud expiration as the lad +suddenly appeared above the surface, panting for breath, and swam to the +ladder, shaking the water from his eyes and hair. + +"Slack the line!" he cried; "it's round a rock. Give me one of those +leads." + +Josh, who had been the first to oppose the descent, was now the first to +help, by seizing the back lead left upon the barrel head, and, with +cat-like agility, leaping to the ladder and going down to the swimmer. + +A dozen voices were shouting words of advice to Will, but the lad paid +no heed; he merely drew himself up on the ladder, saw that the life-line +was slack, and, clasping the leaden back-piece with both hands, with the +life-line running loosely between his arms to act as a guide, he once +more plunged into the sea, the weight seeming to take him down with +tremendous force. + +One instant the ponderous lead struck the water, the next there was a +confused foam on the surface, and Will was gone. + +The moments that followed seemed prolonged to hours. There was an +indistinct movement visible in the disturbed water; the bubbles of air +seemed to be lashing up more fiercely as the life-line was drawn rapidly +through the hands that held it, and then, once more, Will's head +appeared, and he swam towards the ladder. + +He could not speak, but made a sign with one hand. + +"Haul!" cried Josh; "haul away!" as he reached out, caught Will's arm, +and drew him to the ladder; holding him up, for he was utterly +exhausted, and could hardly get his breath. + +And there they stayed while the line was hauled up, and the diver once +more appeared above the surface; the poor fellow being hoisted on deck +and his helmet rapidly unfastened and removed. + +The men looked helplessly from one to the other as they lifted their +eyes from the blackened countenance that one of the lighter's men was +supporting on his arm. No one seemed to know what would be best to do, +and a couple were ordered into the boat to row ashore for the doctor. + +"Why don't you take off them gashly things?" cried Josh, who had now +helped Will to the deck, where he stood holding on by a stay, trembling +in every limb. + +Two men immediately began to take off the heavy india-rubber diving +suit, with its copper collar and heavy leaden-soled boots, with the +result that when the poor fellow was freed from these encumbrances and +once more laid upon the dock, the lifting and moving he had received +proved so far beneficial that he uttered a low sigh, and the purple +tinge began to die out from his face. + +"He's a coming to!" said the skipper eagerly; and his words proved to be +right, for at the end of half an hour the poor fellow had recovered +consciousness, and was able to say that his life-line had become hitched +round a mass of rock, to which was attached some very long grown strands +of sea-weed, and these had been swept by the water right over the line. +Then when he had tried to free it his hands only came in contact with +the loose slimy wrack, and after a trial or two he had become confused +and excited. + +"And you know I've allus told you as a diver should be as cool as a +cucumber," said his chief. + +"Yes, I know all about that," said the diver huskily, "and so I meant to +be; but when you're shut-up in one o' them soots and are down in three +or four fathom o' water, and thinking your life-line's fast, you don't +seem as if you could be cool, mate." + +"But you ought to be," said the chief severely; "and now, all along o' +your getting in a flurry, here's the newest helmet with a great dent in +the neck, so as it won't screw down on the collar, and I shall have to +pay damages out o' my wage." + +"Better than having to pay to keep my wife and weans," said the diver +huskily; "and now I want to have a look at that young chap as dived and +set free the line." + +"Here he be!" cried Josh eagerly, hauling at Will's arm; "here he be, +lad. Ain't much of a chap to have done it, be he?" + +Josh laughed, and gave Will a thrust forward, much to the lad's +discomfort, for there was a low murmur of admiration from the little +group around. + +"Oh, it's nothing to make such a fuss about!" said Will, whose cheeks +were burning now, as he stood there with the sea-water slowly soaking +from his clothes, and making a little puddle on the deck. + +"No!" said the diver huskily; "it's nothing to make a fuss about; only +one man saving another man's life, when nobody else knew what to do!" + +"Oh, it was an accident!" said Will kindly; "and they hadn't time to +think." + +"Yes," said the diver, looking softly up at Will; "an accident, my lad, +and nothing to make a fuss about; but there's some one at home as would +have made a fuss about it, and you've done more than save me, my lad; +you've saved a poor woman from a broken heart, and six bairns from +wanting charity; that's all. Let's shake hands!" + +He held out his hand to Will in the midst of a strange silence, and held +that of the young man with a very strong grip, before sinking back with +his head upon a ship's fender, and closing his eyes. + +"He arn't a bad sort of chap," said Josh softly, as Will drew back; "but +I don't hold with a fellow, even if he have just been drowned, coming to +life again and calling a boy like you a man. You're wain enough as it +is, and you've no call to be. So come along ashore, and get home and +change them wet clothes." + +Will said a word to the chief of the divers about where the lead weights +lay, and then stepped over the side to Josh, who was already in the +lugger's boat, without letting any one know that he was going. + +Josh thrust off the boat, let his oar fall with a splash, and Will +followed his example; but they were not a dozen yards from the lighter +before they were missed, and divers and crew rushed to the side and gave +a tremendous cheer. + +"Here, come back!" cried the skipper; "come back!" + +"Arn't got time," roared Josh, frowning; and then, as the men cheered +again: "Well, of all the gashly fuss as was ever made this is about the +worst! Pull hard, my lad, and let's get out of it. I want to go home." + +"And I want to get warm, Josh," said Will laughing. "I'm glad that poor +fellow came round before we left." + +"Well, I dunno," said Josh, sourly. "Of course you liked it because he +called you a man. He ought to have knowed better, at his time o' life. +Lor', Will, what a gashly peacock of a chap you would grow if it warn't +for me." + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +PILCHAR' WILL AND THE OLD FOLKS AT HOME. + +"Been overboard again? Well, I never did see such a boy in my life; +never!" + +"What's the matter, Ruth?" + +"Matter enough!" came in the same strident voice, in answer to the +hoarse gruff inquiry. "There, who spoke to you? Just you get back to +your work; and if that pie's burnt again to-day you'll have to leave!" + +This last was to a heavy-faced simple-looking girl, who, on hearing her +mistress's angry voice, had hurried into the passage of Nor'-nor'-west +Cottage, Cliftside, and stood in front of the kitchen door, with one end +of her apron in her mouth. + +Amanda Trevor, commonly called Betsey, stepped back into the kitchen, +just catching the word "dripping" as she closed the door--a word that +excited her curiosity again, but she dared not try to gratify it; and if +she had tried she would only have been disappointed on finding that it +related to a few drops of water from Will Marion's clothes. + +"I said--heave ho, there! what's the matter?" was heard again; and this +time a very red-faced grey-haired man, with the lower part of his +features framed in white bristles, and clad in a blue pea-jacket and +buff waistcoat, ornamented with gilt anchor buttons, stood suddenly in +the doorway on the right, smoking solemnly a long churchwarden clay +pipe, rilling his mouth very full of smoke, and then aggravating the +looker-on by puzzling him as to where the smoke would come from next-- +for sometimes he sent a puff out of one corner of his mouth, sometimes +out of the other. Then it would come from a little hole right in the +middle, out of which he had taken the waxed pipe stem, but only for him +perhaps to press one side of his nose with the pipe, and send the rest +out of the left nostril, saving perhaps a little to drive from the +right. The result of practice, for the old man had smoked a great deal. + +"Collision?" said Abram Marion, ex-purser and pensioner of the British +navy. + +"No," said Mrs Ruth Marion, his little thin acid wife. "Overboard +again, and he's dripping all over the place. It isn't long since he had +those clothes." + +"Six months," said the old purser, sending a couple of jets of tobacco +smoke from his nostrils at once. + +"Yes; and what with his growing so horribly, and the common stuff they +sell for cloth now, shrinking so shamefully, he's always wanting +clothes." + +"Oh, these will last a long time yet, aunt!" said Will. + +"No, they will not last a long time yet, Will!" cried the little lady, +with her face all trouble wrinkles. + +"Will," said the old man, stopping to say _pup, pup, pup, pup, pup, +pup_, as he emitted half a dozen tiny puffs of smoke, waving his pipe +stem the while; "mind what your aunt says and you'll never repent." + +"But he don't mind a word I say," cried the little woman, wringing her +hands. "Wringing wet! just look at him!" + +"Been fishing, my lass; and they brought home a fair haul," said the +purser, throwing back his head, and shooting smoke at a fly on the +ceiling. + +"What's the use of his bringing home fair hauls if he destroys his +clothes as he does; and the holes he makes in his stockings are +shameful." + +"Can't help getting wet at sea," said the ex-purser, solemnly spreading +a good mouthful of smoke in a semicircle. "Water's wet, specially +salt-water. Here, you, sir! how dare you make holes in your stockings +for your aunt to mend? I don't believe your father ever dared to do +such a thing in his life." + +"It don't matter, Abram," said the old lady in a lachrymose whine; "it's +my fate to toil, and I'm not long for this world, so it don't matter. +It was my fate to be a toiler; and those clothes of his will be too +small for him to wear when they're dry. I don't know what I'm to do." + +"Stretch 'em," said the old gentleman, sending a cloud into his +waistcoat. + +"But they won't stretch," cried the old lady peevishly. + +"Put 'em away and save 'em," said the old man. "I may adopt another +nevvy--smaller size,"--and here there was a veil spread over his face by +his projecting his lower lip and sending the smoke up into his eyes. + +"If you ever did such a thing again, I'd have a divorce," cried the old +lady sharply. "You go and change your things, sir, and then get a book +till dinner's ready." + +The old lady stepped into the parlour, and the old purser was in the act +of winking solemnly at his nephew when Mrs Marion reappeared. + +"Ah, I saw!" she cried. "You are encouraging this boy, Abram. Here; +Betsey, bring your flannel and wipe up this mess. And you, go in +directly and change your things." + +The old lady disappeared again, and the wrinkles stood all over the old +purser's face as he growled softly between fancy puffs of smoke. + +"Woman's words in house, Will, is like cap'en's orders 'board ship, with +the articles over at the back. Must be minded, or it's rank mutiny, and +a disrate. _Puff_. Go and get a dry rig." + +"Yes, uncle," said Will quietly. + +"And--_puff_--you--_puff_--must be more careful of your clothes--_puff_, +boy. _Puff, puff, puff_. We all sail through life--_puff_--under +orders. _Puff_.--Few of us is cap'ens--_puff_. Very few of us is +admirals--_puff_; and what with admiralty and the gov'ment--_puff, +puff_, and the people's opinion--_puff_, and the queen--_puff_; they +can't do so much as they like, as a regular tar. _Puff, puff_." + +The way in which the ex-purser distributed his tobacco smoke during this +oracular lecture to his brother's orphan son was something astounding; +and he had smoked so heavily that it seemed at last as if he were trying +to veil himself from the lad's gaze lest he should see the weakness +exhibited with regard to Mrs Marion's rule; while he kept glancing +uneasily at the lad, as if feeling that he was read by heart. + +"All right, uncle, I understand," said Will, turning to go. + +"That's right--_puff_, Will. Good lad. Your aunt means well, and if +she pitches into us both--rams us, as you may say, Will, why, we know, +eh?" + +"Oh yes, uncle, we know." + +"It don't hurt us, lad. She says lots about what you cost for food, and +what an expense you've been to her, and she calls you lazy." + +"Yes, uncle," said Will, sadly. + +"But what do it amount to, eh? Only tongue, and tongue's only tongue +after all." + +"No, uncle." + +The last puff of smoke had been sucked out of the pipe, and the old +gentleman kept on gesticulating with it as he spoke. + +"Only tongue, lad. Your aunt's one o' the finest and best and truest +women under the sun. See how clean she's always kept you ever since you +first come to us." + +"No, uncle, since you came and fetched me from that miserable school, +and said, `don't cry, my man; you're my own brother's boy, and as long +as I live I'll be a father to you.'" + +"Did I say them words, Will? Was they the very words?" + +"Yes, uncle," cried the lad, flushing; "the very words;" and he laid his +hand affectionately on the old man's shoulder. + +"Ah! well, and very proper words too, I suppose," said the old man; "and +I did mean to be, lad; but you see I never had no experience of being a +father, and I'm afraid I've made a mess of it." + +"You've always been like the kindest of fathers to me, uncle," said Will +warmly. + +"And she's always been the kindest of mothers, like, my lad. Lor' bless +you, Will, my boy, it's only tongue. Splendid craft your aunt is, only +she's overweighted with engine, and her bilers is a bit too big. +Tongue's safety-valve, Will, and I never sit on it, my lad. Make things +worse. Burst." + +"Yes, uncle, I see," said Will, with a sad smile. + +"You're all right, my lad. I didn't care to send you in the Ryle Navee, +so I did the next best thing, made a sailor of you in a lugger. She's +mine now with all her craft of nets--leastwise she's aunt's, for she +keeps the accounts; but some day when I'm sewn up and dropped overboard +out of the world, the lugger'll all be yours; only if I go first, Will," +he whispered, drawing the lad closer to him, "never mind the bit of a +safety-valve as fizzles and whistles and snorts; be kind, lad, to your +aunt." + +"I don't want the lugger," cried Will, laying his hands on the old man's +shoulders. "I want my dear old uncle to stop, and see him enjoy his +pipe, and I won't take a hit of notice--" + +"Of the safety-valve, Will?" + +"No, uncle; but I want to get on," cried the lad excitedly. "I'm tired +of being a burden to you, uncle, and--" + +"Hasn't that boy changed his things yet?" + +"Right, Ruth, my dear," cried the old purser loudly, assuming his old +sea lingo. "Here, you, sir, how much longer are you going to stand +jawing there. Heave ahead and get into a fresh rig with you." + +Here he winked and frowned tremendously at Will, giving one of his hands +a tremendous squeeze, and the lad ran upstairs. + +The lugger was not to put out again till evening, when the soft breeze +would be blowing, and the last rays of the sun be ready to glorify sea, +sky, and the sails and cordage of the fishing-boats as they stole softly +out to the fishing-ground for the night, so that as Mrs Marion had gone +up to lie down after dinner, according to custom, and the old purser was +in the little summer-house having his after-dinner pipe, as he called +it, one which he invariably enjoyed without lighting the tobacco and +with a handkerchief over his head, Will was at liberty to go out +unquestioned. Accordingly he hurried down to the harbour, where the +tide was out, the gulls were squealing and wailing, and apparently +playing a miniature game of King of the Castle upon a little bit of +black rock which appeared above the sea a couple of hundred yards out. + +In the harbour the water was so low that the _Pretty Ruth_, Abram +Marion's lugger--named, for some reason that no one could see, after the +old man's wife--was lying over nearly on her beam-ends, so that, as Josh +Helston, who was on board, went to and fro along the deck with a swab in +his hands it was impossible to help thinking that if nature had made his +legs like his arms, one very much shorter than the other, he would have +found locomotion far easier. + +As it was, he had to walk with one knee very much, bent, so greatly was +the deck inclined; but it did not trouble him, his feet being bare and +his toes spreading out widely and sticking to the clean narrow planks as +if they were, like the cuttle-fish, provided with suckers. + +Josh was swabbing away at the clinging fish-scales and singing in a +sweet musical voice an old west-country ditty in which a lady was +upbraiding someone for trying "to persuade a maiden to forsake the +jacket blue," of course the blue jacket containing some smart young +sailor. + +"Hi, Josh!" + +"Oh, it's you, is it?" said Josh, rubbing his nose with the mop handle. +"No, I'm busy. I sha'n't come." + +"Yes, do come, Josh," said Will, crossing three or four luggers and +sitting on the rail of the _Pretty Ruth_. + +"What's the good, lad?" + +"Good, Josh? Why, I've told you before. I can't bear this life." + +"Fisherman's a good honest life," said Josh sententiously. + +"Not when a lad feels that he's a dependant and a burden on his +friends," cried Will excitedly. "I want to get on, Josh. I want to +succeed, and--there, I knew you'd come." + +For Josh had thrown away the mop with an angry movement, and then +dragging on a pair of great blue stockings he put on shoes and followed +Will without a word. + +Out along the beach and away from the village, and in and out among the +rocks for quite two miles, till they were where the cliff went sheer up +like a vast wall of rugged granite, at a part of which, where a mass of +broken stone had either fallen or been thrown down, Will stopped and +looked round to see if they were observed. As they were alone with no +other watchers than a swarthy-looking cormorant sitting on a sunny lodge +drying his wings, and a shag or two perched with outstretched neck, +narrowly observing them, Will climbed up, followed by Josh, till they +were upon a broad shelf a hundred and fifty feet above the sea--a wild +solitary place, where the heap of debris, lichened and wave-beaten, was +explained, for mining operations had once gone on hero, and a great +square hole yawned black and awful at their feet. + +They had evidently been there before, for Will stepped close to a spot +where the rock overhung, and reaching in, drew out some pieces of +granite, and then from where it was hidden a large coil of stout rope, +and threw it on the broken fragments around. + +"It's your doing, mind, you know," said Josh. "I don't like the gashly +job at all." + +"Yes, it's my doing," said Will. + +"And you mean to go down?" + +"I do, Josh, for certain." + +"It be a gashly unked hole, and you'd best give it up. Look here." + +As he spoke he stooped and picked up a piece of rock weighing quite a +hundredweight, poised it in his hands for a moment or two, and then, +with a wonderful display of strength, tossed it from him right over the +middle of the disused mine-shaft. The mica flashed in the sun for a +moment, and then the great piece plunged down into the darkness, Josh +and Will involuntarily darting to the side and craning over the awesome +place to try and follow it with their eyes and catch the reverberations +when it struck the sides and finally plunged into the black collected +waters far enough below. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +A FOOLHARDY VENTURE FOR A GOODLY END. + +It seemed as if that stone would never reach the bottom, and a curious +expression was upon the eager faces that peered down, a strained look +almost of pain, till all at once there was a start as of relief, as a +hollow heavy plash was heard that came hissing, and echoing, and +reverberating up the rocky sides of the shaft past them and into the +sunny air. + +"Ugh!" growled Josh, "who knows what gashly creatures lives down there. +P'r'aps its harnted with them as tumbled down and was killed." + +"Don't talk nonsense, Josh," said Will, in a voice full of contempt; "I +never heard of anybody falling down here." + +"Looks as if lots had. Ugh! I wouldn't go down for the price of a new +boat and all her gear." + +"If everybody felt like you do, Josh, what should we have done for tin +and copper?" + +"I d'now," growled Josh. "Why can't you leave it alone and 'tend to the +fishing. Arn't catching pilchar' and mack'rel good 'nough for you? +Yah! I shall never make nothing of you." + +"No, Josh; catching pilchard and mackerel is not good enough for me." + +"Then why not get aboard the smack and larn to trawl for sole and +turbot? There arn't no better paying fishing than that, so long as you +don't get among the rocks." + +"No, Josh; nor trawling won't do," said Will, who ashore seemed to take +the lead that he yielded to his companion and old Michael Polree on +board the lugger. "I want to make my way in the world, and do you hear, +I will." + +He said the last word so emphatically that the fisherman stared, and +then said in an ill-used tone: + +"Then why don't you try in a reasonable way, and get to be master of a +lugger? and if that arn't enough for you, have your share o' nets in +another; not come poking about these gashly holes. What's the good?" + +"Good!" cried Will, with his eyes flashing. "Hasn't a fortune been got +out of Gwavas mine year after year till the water began to pour in?" + +"Oh, yes! out o' that." + +"And I'm sure one might be got out of this," cried Will, pointing down +into the black void. + +"What, out o' this gashly pit? Yah! Why didn't the captain and +'venturers get it, then, when they dug it fifty year 'fore I was born?" + +"Because they missed the vein." + +"And how are you going to find it, lad?" + +"By looking," said Will. "There's Retack Mine over yonder, and Carn +Rean over there, and they're both rich; and I think the old people who +dug down here went too far, and missed what they ought to have found." + +"And so you're going to find it, are you, my lad?" + +"I don't know," said Will quietly; "but I'm going to try." + +As he said those last words he set his teeth and knit his brow, looking +so calmly determined that Josh picked up a little bit of granite, turned +it over in his fingers a few times as if finding a suitable part, and +then began to rub his nose with it softly. + +"Well, you do cap me, lad, you do," he said at last. "Look ye here, +now," he cried, as if about to deliver a poser, and he seated himself on +the rock and crossed his legs, "you don't expect to find coal, do you?" + +"No," said Will, "there is no coal in Cornwall." + +"Nor yet gold and silver?" + +"No: not much." + +"Then it's tin you're after, and it won't pay for getting." + +"You are wrong, Josh," said the lad smiling. + +"Not copper?" + +"Yes: copper." + +"Yah! Now is it likely?" + +"Yes," said Will. "Come here." + +Josh rose reluctantly, and the lad began to descend again, climbing +quickly down the old mine debris till they reached the shore, and then +walking a dozen yards or so he climbed in and out among the great masses +of rock to where there was a deep crevice or chink just large enough for +a full-grown man to force himself through to where the light came down +from above. + +"What's the good o' coming into a gashly place like this?" growled Josh, +whose breast-bone and elbows had been a little rubbed. + +"I wanted to show you that," said Will, pointing to a little crack +through which a thread of water made its way running over a few inches +of rock, and then disappearing amongst the shingly stones. + +"Well, I can see it, can't I?" + +"Yes; but don't you see that the rock where that, water runs is all +covered with a fine green powder?" + +"Yes, it's sea-weed," said Josh contemptuously. + +"No; it's copper," cried Will excitedly; "that's a salt of copper +dissolved in the water that comes out there, and some of it is deposited +on the stones." + +"Yah! nonsense, lad! That arn't copper. Think I don't know copper when +I see it? That arn't copper." + +"I tell you it is," said Will; "and it proves that there's copper in the +rock about that old mine if anybody could find it; and the man who +discovers it will make his way in the world." + +"You do cap me, you do indeed, lad. I shall never make anything of you. +Well, and do you mean to go down that gashly hole." + +"I do; and you are going to manage the rope!" + +"And s'pose you falls in and gets drowned, what am I to say to your +uncle?" + +"I'm not going to fall in, and I'm not going to be drowned," said Will +quietly. "I'm going to try and find that copper; so now come along." + +There was not a nice suitable piece of stone for Josh to use in +polishing his nose, so he contented himself with a rub of the back of +his hand before squeezing himself through the narrow passage between the +masses of rock, and following his companion to the ledge where the old +adventurers had spent their capital in sinking the shaft, and had given +up at last, perhaps on the very eve of success. + +"It's all gashly nonsense," cried Josh as they reached the mouth of the +shaft once more; "if there'd been copper worth finding, don't you think +those did chaps would have found it?" + +"They might or they might not," said Will quietly; "we're going to see." + +He went to another crevice in the face of the cliff and drew out a +good-sized iron bar shaped like a marlinspike but about double the size, +and throwing it down with a clang upon the rock he startled a cormorant +from the ledge above their heads, and the great swarthy bird flew out to +sea. + +"Lay out that line, Josh," said Will, who, after a little selection of a +spot, took up the bar and began to make a hole between two huge blocks +of granite, working it to and fro so as to bury it firmly half its +length. + +The crevice between the stones helped him in this; and he soon had it in +and wedged tightly with a few sharp fragments that had been dug from the +shaft. + +"Going to fasten one end o' the line to that?" sang Josh. + +"Yes." + +"What's the good? I could hold it right enough with a couple such as +you on the end." + +"But I want the rope to be round that, Josh, and for you to lower me +down or haul me up as I give signals." + +"Oh yes!" growled Josh; "only we might as well have had a block and +fall." + +"If we had brought a block and fall up, Josh, it would have been like +telling all Peter Churchtown what we were going to do; and you're the +only man I want to know anything about it till I've found the copper +lode." + +"Ho!" ejaculated Josh, rubbing his nose meditatively with the line. +"How much is there here--five-and-thirty fathom?" + +"Thirty," said Will, smiling, as his companion passed the cord through +his hands with the skilful ease of a seaman. "Will it bear me?" + +"Two of you," said Josh gruffly. + +"Well, I'm going to trust you to take care of me, Josh," said Will, +taking a box of matches from his pocket, and lighting a piece of candle, +which he stuck upon one of those little points known as a save-all, and +then, bending down, he thrust it into a square niche about a foot below +the surface of the mine-shaft--one of several carefully chiselled-out +holes evidently intended for the woodwork of a platform. + +"Oh! I'll take care of you." + +"Lower me down quite slowly, and stop whenever I shout. You're sure you +can haul me up?" + +"Ha, ha! haw, haw!" laughed Josh. "Can I haul you? What do you take me +for--a babby?" + +As he spoke he caught the lad by the waistband with one hand, lifted him +from the ground, and stiffening his muscles held him out at arm's-length +for a few seconds before setting him down. + +"That will do, Josh," said Will quietly; and taking the end of the line +he made a good-sized loop, round part of which he twisted a piece of +sailcloth to make it thicker; then stepping through the loop as though +it had been one prepared for an ordinary swing, he turned to Josh: + +"Ready?" + +"Ay, ay!" was the laconic answer as the fisherman passed the line over +the round iron bar, which seemed perfectly safe, took a good grip of the +rope, and then stood looking at his young companion. + +"I tried to stop you when you wanted to dive down," he said, "and I +s'pose I ought to try and stop you now. It looks a gashly sort of a +hole. S'pose I was to let go?" + +"But you would not, Josh," said Will confidently, as he lowered himself +slowly over the edge as calmly as if only about to descend a few feet, +with perfect safety in the shape of solid earth beneath him, though, as +he moved, he set free a little avalanche of fragments of granite, that +seemed to go down into the shaft with a hiss, which was succeeded by the +strange echoing splashes--weird whispers of splashes--as they reached, +the water below. + +It would have daunted many a strong man; but so intent was the lad upon +his task that he paid no heed to the sounds, and directly after, taking +the candle from its niche, he began to scan the walls of the shaft. + +"Lower away, Josh, steadily and slowly," he said, as his head +disappeared from the fisherman's sight. "I'll shout to you when I want +to stop." + +The face of the fisherman seemed to undergo a change as his companion +passed out of his sight--from looking stolid and soured it suddenly +became animated and full of excitement; the perspiration stood out upon +it in a heavy dew, and muttering to himself, "I sha'n't let him go down +far," he slowly lowered away. + +For the first few yards of his descent Will could easily scrutinise the +walls of the carefully-cut square hole by the light of clay, the flame +of his candle looking pale and feeble; but as he sank lower, swinging to +and fro with a pendulum-like motion, which now took him to one side of +the shaft, now to the other, so that it needed little effort on his part +to be able to carefully examine fully half of the cutting, the light +from the candle grew more clear and bright, and he thrust it here and +there wherever there was a glitter in the time-darkened stone. + +Lower and lower, with now his elbow chafing against the rough wall, now +his boots, but nothing to reward his search. There was a bright glitter +here, but it was only the large flakes of mica in the stone. Lower down +there was a sign of ore--of little black granules bedded in deep-red +stone, and before this he paused for a minute, for he knew that there +was here a vein of tin; but as far as he could tell it looked poor, and +not so good as some that miners had told him hardly paid for crushing. + +"All right, Josh; lower away!" he cried; and his words went echoing up +to where the fisherman slowly allowed the strong line to glide through +his hands. + +Some twenty feet lower Will shouted to his companion to halt, for there +was a broad band of glittering-yellow metallic stone crossing the +shaft-wall diagonally. + +The lad's heart beat wildly for a few moments, but he calmed down as he +felt that had this been of any value the old adventurers would not have +passed it by. + +"Only mundic," he said, as he inspected it more closely. "Lower away, +Josh!" and the band of sulphuret of iron was left behind. + +Lower and lower, with the top of the shaft looking a comparatively small +square hole, and as the lad glanced up at it for a moment the first +symptom of fear that he had felt attacked him. For as he saw how frail +was the cord by which he hung, and realised that he was depending +entirely upon his companion's strength of arm, his brain swam, his eyes +closed, and he clung tightly with both hands to the rope. + +The attack passed off directly. + +"Josh thinks I'm a coward," he muttered, "and I suppose I am; but I +won't show it;" and shouting a cheery order to the fisherman to lower +away, the lad descended farther and farther, with the right of his +candle flashing now from the walls, which were wet and shining with the +oozings of the surrounding rock. This moisture had gone on coating the +walls in patches for many a long year, so that in these places it was +impossible without scraping for the keenest of eyes to detect even the +composition of the stones, and with a sigh of dissatisfaction the +searcher shouted to Josh to lower away. + +"Here, you've gone down far enough," cried Josh. "I'm going to haul you +up now." + +"No, no!" shouted Will, the excitement of being in antagonism with his +helpmate driving away the last particle of nervousness. "Lower away!" + +Josh hesitated for a moment, and made a movement as if to rub his nose, +but his hands were engaged, and he got over the difficulty by bending +down his head and applying the itching organ to the rope, after which he +shook his head fiercely, but went on lowering. + +"He's getting too much for me a gashly sight, this boy," he growled. + +There was ample line to lower Will right down to the surface of the +water, though he was unaware of the fact, as he swung gently to and fro, +eagerly scanning every clear space of the rock through which the shaft +had been cut; and where the wall was dry, in spite of the time that had +elapsed since the work was done the marks of the miners' picks and +hammers were as clear as if the blows had fallen only a few months +before. As the lad looked, too, he could, in his own disappointment, +realise how great must have been that of the adventurers whose capital +was being expended day after day cutting on and finding nothing but +grey, hard granite, with here and there bands of ruddy stone suggestive +of the presence of tin, but in such minute quantities that it would not +pay for the labour of lifting out and crushing the stone. + +Granite, granite, nothing but granite; and now the rope seemed to cut +harshly into his legs, and a curious aching sensation set in, half +numbing the arm that clung to the rope, for the lad had been so deeply +interested in his search that he had not once altered his position. + +"Look out, Josh!" he said, "I'm going to change hands." + +"Here, I'm a-going to haul you up now," replied Josh, the great shaft +acting like a speaking-tube, so that conversation was easy enough. + +"Not yet," shouted back Will; and as the rope seemed to glide down he +changed his position a little, taking the candle in the numbed hand, a +fresh grip with his right, and altering his seat so that the line did +not cut so harshly. + +As he did so another slight touch of nervousness came over him; and in +spite of himself he began to glance at the knot he had made in the rope, +and then at the candle to see how much longer it would last, to find +that it was half burned down and that the length of time it would keep +burning must guide his descent. He was a little disheartened too, for +it had not entered much into his calculations that clever men must have +well examined that shaft when it was being cut, and that they would have +made the discovery if it was to be made. + +In fact, the idea had come to him when climbing up the cliff in search +of sea-birds' eggs. He had reached this shelf and found the forgotten +mine, and to him it had seemed like the entrance to a matter-of-fact, +everyday-life Aladdin's cave, where, after a little search, he was going +to hit upon a vein of copper and become an independent man. And now +that he was making his first bold venture into the region where the +precious metal was to be found, all was darkness, nothing but stone +walls, now wet and slimy, now cold, and hard, and grey. + +"Here, now you are coming up," shouted Josh; and the descent was once +more checked. + +"No, no. Just a few more fathoms, Josh," shouted back Will. "The +candle's nearly done." + +There was a grumbling response, and the descent continued once more, +till, as he swung to and fro, the lad gave his feet a thrust against the +wall, turned right round, and then uttered an eager ejaculation: + +"Stop, Josh!" he said, and then, "Hold fast!" + +"Right!" came from above; and as Will found himself opposite to an +opening in the wall he swung himself backwards and forwards two or three +times, till, gaining sufficient impetus, he could have landed right in a +low arch, evidently the mouth of a gallery following a lode. + +"Half a fathom lower, Josh," shouted Will; and the rope ran down a +trifle here, and then, swinging himself to and fro again, he finally +gave himself a good urge through the air and his feet rested on the +rough floor. + +He turned cold, and the wet dew of horror stood upon his face as he +grasped at the rough wall, sending the candle flying forwards to lie +burning sidewise upon the stones, for the rebound of the rope as it +struck the crown of the arch nearly dragged him back just as he had +released his hold. + +It was a narrow escape, but forgotten directly in the excitement of his +discovery; and freeing himself from the rope he picked up the candle +carefully, to find that he had only about an inch left, and perhaps a +mile of galleries to explore. + +"There must be abundance of metal here," he said aloud, as he held the +candle above his head and gazed before him. "I shall be the discoverer +and--" + +"Here, hoy! Will Marion! ahoy!" shouted Josh, who was kneeling down at +the edge of the shaft, his face drawn with horror and strangely mottled, +as he stared down into the pit. For, without warning, Will had freed +himself from the rope, the tension upon which was gone; and as Josh drew +a few feet up, and let the line run down again, his eyes seemed starting +from his head, and he listened for the awful splash he expected to hear. + +He listened for quite a minute, and then rousing himself from his half +cataleptic state, he uttered a stentorian hail. + +"Right, Josh, right!" shouted Will. "I've found it at last." + +"He's found it at last!" growled Josh, wiping his wet brow. "Why, he +must have got to the bottom then. Are you all right?" + +"All right!" came back faintly; and Josh gave his hands a rub, his arms +a stretch, and then leaving the rope, he seated himself on the stones, +thrust his hands into his pockets, and out of one he drew forth a heavy +clasp-knife, from the other a steel tobacco-box, which he opened, took +out some roll tobacco, and proceeded to cut himself off a piece to chew. + +As he was thus occupied a strange, sharp, rustling noise fell upon his +ear, and then stopped. + +He listened, and looked round, but saw nothing. + +"Can't be snakes up here!" he muttered, and then he became all alert +once more, for there was a noise from below, as of a small stone having +fallen. + +"What's he doing of now?" growled Josh. "Here, I wish I hadn't come. +Eh! What!" + +Just at the same time, after carefully groping his way for a very short +distance along the gallery, Will was warned by his expiring candle to +return to the mouth, which he reached just in time to hear a curious +whistling sound and then a long-drawn splash. + +"What's that?" he exclaimed, and then his blood ran cold as, in a hoarse +voice that he hardly knew as his own, he shouted up the shaft: + +"Josh, Josh! The rope!" + +It was in a frantic hope that his idea was wrong, and that it was not +the rope which he had heard _whish_ through the air, and then fall +below. + +Just then the candle wick toppled over on one side in a little pool of +molten composition, sputtered for an instant, sent up a blue flash or +two, and went out. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +WILL FINDS HIMSELF IN A PAINFUL POSITION. + +It was a position perilous enough to alarm the stoutest-hearted man, and +awkward enough without the danger to puzzle any schemer, and for a few +minutes the lad stood with one hand resting on the rock, and the cold +perspiration gathering on his forehead, trying to think what he had +better do. + +As he stood, there was a low whispering noise that came up the shaft--a +noise that puzzled him as to what it could be, for he did not realise +that the water down below had, when set in motion by the fall of the +rope, kept on lapping at the side, and that this lapping sound echoed +and repeated itself strangely from the shaft-walls. + +"Say, my lad--below there!" came now from above. + +"Ahoy!" answered Will, the call acting like an electric shock and +bringing him to himself. + +"Where are you?" shouted Josh. + +"Here, in a gallery of the old mine," replied Will. + +"That's right!" came back. "I thought perhaps you had fallen." + +"No, I'm all right," cried Will through the great granite speaking-tube; +and then he listened for some words of comfort from his companion. + +"Below!" shouted Josh again. + +"Hullo!" + +"Say, my lad, the rope's gone down." + +"Yes, I know." + +"Well, what's to be done?" cried Josh. + +Will turned cold. He had expected to get a few words of comfort from +his companion, and to hear that he was about to propose some plan for +his rescue, and all he seemed ready to do was to ask for advice. + +"How came you to let the rope go?" cried Will, forcing himself into an +angry fit so as to keep from feeling alarmed at his position. + +"Dunno! It kind o' went all of itself like," Josh shouted back. +"What's to be done? Can't jump down into the water and swim out by the +adit, can you?" + +"No," cried Will angrily. "Here, go back and get a rope." + +"Where?" shouted back Josh. "I say, I knowed you'd be getting into some +mess or another going down there." + +Will was equable enough in temper, but a remark like this from the man +he had trusted with his life made him grind his teeth in a fit of anger, +and wish he were beside Josh for a moment, to give him a bit of his +mind. + +"Go up to any of the fishermen, never mind where, and borrow a line." + +"All right!" + +"And, Josh." + +"Hullo!" + +"Don't make any fuss; don't alarm anybody. I don't want them to know at +home." + +"But suppose we never get you out again?" shouted Josh, in a tone of +voice that startled a shag which was about to settle on a shelf of rock +hard by, and sent it hurrying away to sea. + +Will stamped his foot at this, and mentally vowed that he would never +trust Josh again. + +"Go and borrow a line," he cried, "and look sharp. I don't want any one +to know." + +"All right!" cried Josh; and directly after Will knew that he was alone. + +The place was not absolutely dark, for he could plainly make out the +edge of the gallery, seen as it were against a faint twilight that came +from above; and this was sufficient to guide him as to how far he dare +go towards the shaft if he wished to move. + +For the first few minutes, though, he felt no disposition that way, and +seating himself on the stony floor, with hundreds of loose fragments of +granite beneath him, he tried to be calm and cool, and to come to a +conclusion as to how he should escape. + +If Josh came back soon with a rope it would be easy enough; and possibly +they might be able to rig up a grappling-iron or "creeper," as the +fishermen called it, for the line that was lost; but a little +consideration told him that in all probability the line had sunk before +now and was right at the bottom of the shaft. + +Then he wondered how long Josh would be, and whether he would have much +difficulty in borrowing a rope. + +If Josh said at once what was the matter, there would be a crowd up at +the head of the shaft directly with a score of lines; but he did not +wish for that. Even in his awkward, if not perilous, position he did +not want the village to be aware of his investigations. He had been +carrying them on in secret for some time, and he hoped when they were +made known to have something worth talking about. + +How long Josh seemed, and how dark it was! Perhaps he was being asked +for at home, and he would be in disgrace. + +That was not likely, though. He had chosen his time too well. + +"I wonder how far it is down to the water?" he said at last; and feeling +about, his hand came in contact with a large thin piece of stone, as big +as an ordinary tile. + +He hesitated for a moment or two, and then threw it from him with such +force that it struck the far side of the shaft and sent up a series of +echoes before, from far below, there came a dull sullen plash, with a +succession of whishing, lapping sounds, such as might have been given +out if some monster had come to the top and were swimming round, +disappointed by what had fallen not being food. + +"It's all nonsense!" said Will. "I don't believe any fish or eel would +be living in an old shaft." + +Some of the mining people were in the habit of saying that each +water-filled pit, deep, mysterious, and dark, held strange creatures, of +what kind no one knew, for individually they had never seen anything; +but "some one" had told them that there were such creatures, and "some +one else" had been "some one's" authority: for the lower orders of +Cornish folk, with all their honest simplicity and religious feeling, +are exceedingly superstitious, and much given to a belief in old women's +tales. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +A CASE OF LOST NERVE, AND THE HELP THAT CAME. + +It must have been quite an hour of painful waiting before Josh's voice +was heard from above. + +Will had been sitting there in the dark passage listening to every +noise, though scarcely anything met his ear but the incessant drip and +trickle of the water that oozed from the shaft sides, when all at once +there was a faint sound from above, and his heart leapt with excitement. + +Was it Josh at last? + +"Bellow--er!" came down the shaft. + +"Ahoy!" shouted back Will. "Got a rope?" + +"Ay, lad; I've got un, a strong noo un as'll hold us both, a good thirty +fathom!" + +"Make it fast to the iron bar, Josh!" cried Will, whose hands now felt +hot with excitement. + +"Ay, I won't lose this gashly thing!" cried Josh, whose words came down +the shaft-hole wonderfully distinctly, as if a giant were whispering +near the lad's ear. + +Will listened, and fancied he could hear his companion knotting the end +of the rope and fastening it round the iron bar; but he could not be +sure, and he waited as patiently as he could, but with a curious +sensation of dread coming over him. He had felt courageous enough when +he came down, indifferent, or thoughtless perhaps, as to the danger; but +this accident with the rope had, though he did not realise it, shaken +his confidence in Josh; and in addition, the long waiting in that +horrible hole had unnerved him more than he knew, full proof of which he +had ere long. + +"There, she's fast enough now," came down the great granite +speaking-tube. "I'm going to send the line down, lad. She's a gashly +stiff un, but she was the best I could get. Make a good knot and hitch +in her, and sit in it; I'll soon have you up." + +"All right!" shouted Will; but his voice sounded a little hoarse, and +his hands grew moister than before. + +"Below there! down she comes!" said Josh; and, taking the ring of new +hempen rope, freshly stained with cutch to tan it and make it +water-resisting, he planted one foot upon the loop he had secured over +the iron bar, and threw the coil down into the pit, so that the weight +might tighten out the stiff hemp, uncoil the rings, and make it hang +straight. + +The rope fell with a curious whistling crackling noise, tightening +against the fisherman's foot; and the knot would have jumped off but for +his precaution. Then it stopped with a jerk, and Josh shouted again: + +"There you are, lad! See her?" + +"Ye-es," came up faintly. + +"Well; lay hold and make her fast round you. Hold hard a minute till +I've hauled up a fathom or two." + +He stooped down, keeping his foot on the bar the while, took hold of the +rope, and hauled it up a little way. + +"There you are, my lad; and now look sharp. I want you out of this +unked place." + +There was no answer, and Josh waited listening. + +"Haven't you got her?" he shouted. + +"No; I can't reach. I'm on the other side," came up. + +"Oh, I see!" said Josh; and stooping down so as to keep the rope tight +to the iron bar, he crept round to the opposite side of the shaft-hole, +and held the rope close to the edge. + +"There you are, lad," he said. "Got her?" + +No answer. + +"Have you got her?" + +"N-no! I can't reach." + +Josh Helston uttered a low whistle, and the skin of his forehead was +full of wrinkles and puckers. + +"Look out, then!" he shouted; "I'll make her sway. Look out and catch +her as she comes to you." + +He altered his position and began swinging the rope to and fro, so that +as he looked down the void he could see that it struck first one side +and then the other of the rocky hole; but there was no sudden tug from +below, and he snouted down again: + +"Haven't you got her, lad?" + +"N-no," came up hoarsely; "I can't reach." + +Josh Helston wiped the perspiration from his forehead, and uttered the +low whistle once again. + +Then an idea struck him. + +"Wait a bit, lad," he cried; "I'll make her come." + +He began to haul the rope up again rapidly, fathom after fathom, till it +began to come up wet; and soon after there was the end, which he took, +and after looking round for a suitable piece he pounced upon a squarish +piece of granite, which he secured to the rope by an ingenious hitch or +two, such as are used by fishermen to make fast a killick--the name they +give to the stone they use for anchoring a lobster-pot, or the end of a +fishing-line in the sea. + +This done he began to lower it rapidly down. + +"Here's a stone!" he shouted; "say when she's level with where you are." + +There was no answer, but there was the harsh grating noise made by the +descending stone as it kept chipping up against the granite wall; and +Will sat about two yards from the mouth of the gallery, dripping with +cold perspiration, clinging almost convulsively to the rough wall +against which he leaned, and waiting for the stone to be swung so low +that Josh could give it a regular pendulum motion, and pretty well land +it in the gallery. + +It seemed darker than ever, and to Will it was as if some horrible +sensation of dread was creeping up his limbs to his brain, unnerving him +more and more. For he had been already somewhat unnerved, and, in a +manner quite different to his usual habit, he had stepped quite close to +the mouth of his prison, felt about with his left hand till he found a +niche, into which he could partly insert his fingers. Then, leaning +forward, he was able to get his head clear, turn it, and glance upwards +towards the light. + +It was so risky a thing to do that he shrank back directly with a +shudder, and closed his eyes for a moment or two, seeming to realise for +the first time the terrible danger of his venture. + +He collected himself a little, though, and waited, seeing the rope at +last very faintly, after hearing its descent and splash in the water at +the bottom. + +But though he could see it, as he said it was beyond his reach. + +Then it seemed to disappear, and come into sight again like a dark +thread or the shadow of a cord. Now it seemed near, now afar off, and +after waiting a few moments he made a snatch at it. As he did so he +felt the fingers of his left hand gliding from the wet slippery niche +into which he had driven them, and but for a violent spasmodic jerk of +his body he would have been plunged headlong down to the bottom of the +shaft. + +Shivering like one in an ague he half threw himself upon the rock, and +crept back from the entrance to the gallery, hardly able to answer the +demands of his companion at the mouth above. + +He forced himself, though, to answer, fighting all the time with the +nervous dread that was growing upon him; and at last he knew, though he +could hardly see it, that the great stone was being swung to and fro. + +"Now, lad, can't you get it?" cried Josh; and once more the hoarse reply +"_No_," came up to him. + +"Try now!" cried Josh; and the stone was agitated more and more, +striking the sides of the shaft, sometimes swinging into the gallery a +foot as it seemed, but Will was as if in a nightmare--he could not stir. + +"Are you trying?" came down the shaft now in quite a sharp tone, to echo +strangely from the sides. + +"No," said Will faintly; and just then the stone struck against the +opposite wall, the rope hung loose, and at the end of a moment or two +there was once more the hollow sullen splash in the water at the bottom. + +"Here! hullo there!" cried Josh; "what's up with you, lad?" + +"I--I don't know!" cried Will hoarsely. "I shall be better soon." + +"Better!" shouted Josh. "What! aren't you all right?" + +Will did not answer, but sat there chained, as it were, to his place. + +Josh let fall the rope and stood upright, giving vent to a loud +expiration of the breath, and then wiping the perspiration from his +face. + +He was thinking, and when Josh thought he closed his eyes tightly, as if +he could think better in the dark. He was not quick of imagination, but +when he had caught at an idea he was ready to act upon it. + +The idea came pretty quickly now, and opening his eyes he looked sharply +round, picked up a great stone, and drove the iron bar a little more +tightly into the crevice of the rock. + +Then he threw down the stone, stooped and tried the bar to find it +perfectly fast, and once more stopped to think. + +An idea came again, and he pulled off his black silk neckerchief, a very +old weather-beaten affair, but tolerably strong, and kneeling down he +bound it firmly round the bar above the rope, passing it through the +loop at last, and knotting it securely below, so that the rope should +not be likely to slip off the smooth iron. + +This done, Josh stood upright once more, gazing down into the black +shaft. + +"Phew!" he said, with a fresh expiration of the breath; "it's a gashly +unked place, and the more you look the unkeder it gets, so here goes." + +He went down on his hands and knees, took hold of the iron bar with one +hand, then with the other, and shuffled his legs over the shaft, an act +of daring ten times greater than that of Will, for he had no friend to +leave who had strength of arm to drag him up. + +He held on by both hands for a few moments, then by one, as he took fast +hold of the rope with, his short deformed hand, and twisted one leg in +the rope, pressing his foot against it to have an additional hold; and +then, without the slightest hesitation he loosed his grasp of the iron +bar, placed the free hand above the other, and began to slide slowly +down. + +If Josh Helston felt nervous he did not show it, but slid gently down, +his hands being too horny from constant handling of ropes to be injured +by the friction; neither did the task on hand seem difficult, as he went +down and down, swaying more and more as the length of rope between him +and the iron bar increased, and gradually beginning to turn as the hard +rope showed a disposition to unwind. + +"He said she were strong enough to bear anything," he muttered; "and I +hope she be, for p'r'aps she'll have to carry two." + +How this was to happen did not seem very clear; but the idea was in Josh +Helston's not over clear head that it might be so, and the fact was that +it took all his powers of brain to originate the idea of going down to +help his companion--he had not got so far as the question of how they +were to get out. Even if he had thought of it, there was the rope, and +he would have said, "If you can climb down you can climb up." + +Down lower and lower, with the water dripping upon him here, spurting +out from between two blocks of granite there; but Josh's mind was fixed +upon one thing only, and that was to reach the spot where Will was +waiting to be helped. + +For some distance he descended in silence. Then he began to shout: + +"Coming down," he said. "Look out!" + +Will started and stared towards the mouth of the gallery, but he did not +answer. He could not utter a word. + +"Coming down!" shouted Josh again at the end of a few seconds. "Where +are you, lad?" + +There was no response for a few moments, and then, hoarse and strange +from many feet below, came up the word: + +"Here!" + +"Right!" shouted back Josh quietly enough; "and that's where I'll be +soon. I wish I had one o' the boat's lanterns here all the same." + +The rope slipped slowly through his hands, checked as it was by the +twist round his right leg, and he dropped lower and lower, turning +gently round the while. + +"Now, then! Where?" he shouted again. + +"Here!" was the answer from close below now; and Josh took one look +upwards, to see that the square mouth of the shaft seemed very small. + +"I'm 'bout with you now, my lad," he said as he still glided down. +"Now, where are you?" + +"Here!" came from below him: and he tightened his grasp, while the rope +slowly turned till his face was opposite to the mouth of the shaft. + +"Right, lad!" he cried, striking his feet against the side of the shaft. +"I can't see very well," he added as he swung to and fro more and more, +"but I'm 'bout doing it, ain't I?" + +"Yes--I think so," faltered Will. "Take care." + +"Sha'n't let go o' the rope, lad," said Josh, striking his feet again on +the shaft-wall, and giving himself such impetus that they rested, as he +swung across, on the floor of the gallery, into which he was projected a +foot; but the rope, of course, caught on the roof of the place, and he +was jerked back and swept over to the opposite wall. + +The next time he approached the gallery backwards, and his feet barely +touched; but he swung round again, gave himself a fresh impetus, shot +himself forward, and as he entered the opening he let the rope slide +through his hands for a few feet, the result being that when he +tightened his grasp he was landed safely, and he drew a long breath. + +"Where are you?" he said sharply as he drew up more of the rope; and, +making a running loop, passed it over his head and round his waist, so +as there should be no danger of its getting free. + +"Here!" cried Will, whose nerve seemed to return now that he had a +companion in his perilous position; and, starting up, he caught the +rough fisherman tightly by the arm. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +"I SAY, MY LAD, WHAT'S GOING TO BE DONE?" + +"Why, what's the matter with you?" cried Josh angrily. + +"I don't know. Nothing," replied Will. "I could not reach the rope." + +"Ah! well, you've got it now," said Josh gruffly; "and the sooner we get +out of this the better." + +"Get out of it?" said Will hoarsely. + +"Get out of it! To be sure. You didn't mean to come here to live, did +you?" + +"No," said Will, "but--" + +He paused, for his nervous feeling was returning, and shame kept him +from saying that he was afraid. + +He might have spoken out frankly, though, for Josh Helston, blunt of +perception as he was over many things, saw through him now, and in a +gruff voice he said: + +"Well, if anybody had told me that you could have got yourself skeered +like this, Master Will, I should have told him he was a fool. But +there, you couldn't help it, I s'pose. It was that diving as upset you, +lad." + +"Yes, yes; perhaps it was," cried Will, eagerly grasping at the excuse. +"I'm not myself, Josh, just now." + +Josh began to whistle a dreary old minor tune as they stood there in the +dark, to the accompaniment of the dripping water, and for some few +minutes no word was spoken. + +"Hadn't we better get back?" said Josh at last. + +"But how?" said Will despairingly. + +"Rope," replied Josh laconically. "Swarm up!" + +Will laid his hand upon the slight cord his companion had knotted round +his waist. + +"I could not climb up that," he said, "at any time. It's impossible +now." + +Josh whistled again and remained silent. + +"Well, it is gashly thin to swarm up," he said. "I never thought of +that till now." + +"You did not think of getting back?" cried Will. + +Josh rubbed the side of his nose with a bit of the rope. + +"Well, no," he said slowly; "can't say as I did, lad. Seemed to me as +you was in trouble, and I'd better come to you, and so I come." + +"Josh!" cried the lad. + +"Yes, my son. Well, what's going to be done? We can't stop down here. +We shall be wanted aboard, and there ain't a bit o' anything to eat." + +"Do you think when we are missed that they will come and look for us?" + +"Well," said Josh slowly, "they might or they mightn't; but if they did +they wouldn't find us." + +"I don't know," said Will thoughtfully. + +"Well, I think I do, lad," said Josh, after another scrub at his nose. +"I don't s'pose anybody in Peter Churchtown knows that this gashly old +hole is here, and it ain't likely they'd come up here to look for us." + +"But they would hunt for us surely, Josh." + +"Dunno. When they missed us they'd say we'd took a boat and gone out +somewheres to fish, and happened on something--upset or took out to sea +by the current." + +"Yes," said Will thoughtfully. + +"Seems to me, lad, as it's something like a lobster-pot--easy enough to +get in, and no way out." + +"Shall we shout for help?" + +"You can if you like," said Josh quietly. "I sha'n't. It makes your +throat sore, and don't do no good." + +"Don't be cross with me, Josh," cried Will excitedly. + +"Oh! I arn't cross with you, lad; I'm cross with myself. It's allus my +way: I never did have no head. Think o' me walking straight into a +corner like this, and no way hardly out. Well, anyhow, it's being +mate-like to you, my lad, and it won't be so dull." + +"But, Josh, you could climb out and go for help." + +"Why, of course I could," he replied. "I never thought of that." + +"Then go at once. Bring a couple of men; and then if you left me the +rope you could haul me up." + +"Why I could haul you up myself, couldn't I? and then nobody need know +anything about it. Here goes." + +Will could not help a shudder as his companion proceeded to haul up the +portion of the rope that hung down in the shaft, coiling it in rings in +the gallery till it was all there. + +"Now, then, you mind as that don't fall while I go up again," said Josh. +"I wish it warn't so gashly dark." + +As he spoke he untied the loop from about his waist and drew the rope +tight from above. + +"Just like me," he grumbled. "If I'd had any head I should have made +knots all down the rope, and then it would have been easy to climb; but +here goes; and mind when I'm up you make a good hitch and sit in it, +I'll soon have you up." + +"Yes, I see," said Will, who was fighting hard against the nervous dread +that began once more to assail him; "pray take care." + +"Take care! why, of course I shall. Don't catch me letting go of the +rope in a place like this. Here goes!" + +He reached up as high as he could, holding the rope firmly, and then +swung himself out of the gallery over the black void, becoming visible +to Will as the faint light from above fell upon his upturned face. Then +with legs twined round the rope, Josh began to draw himself up a little +bit at a time, the work being evidently very laborious, while Will held +the rope and saw him disappear as he ascended beyond the gallery; but +the rope the lad held was like an electric communication, the efforts of +the climber being felt through the strong fibres as he went up and up. + +Then there was a pause, and as Josh rested it was evident that he could +not keep himself quite stationary, but slipped a few inches at a time. + +Then he started once more, and as the cord jerked and swung, the loud +expirations of the climber's breath kept coming down to where, with +moist palms and dewy forehead, Will listened. + +How high was he now? How much farther had he got by this? Josh's arms +were like iron, and the strength in that deformed wrist and hand was +tremendous. + +Up he went; Will could feel it; and he longed to gaze up and see how he +progressed; but somehow that horrible shrinking sensation came over him, +and he could only wait. + +How long it seemed, and how the rope jerked! Was it quite strong +enough? Suppose Josh were to fall headlong into the black water below! + +Will shuddered, and tried to keep all these coward fancies out of his +mind; but they would come as he stood listening and holding the rope +just tight enough to feel the action of his friend. + +What a tremendous effort it seemed; and how long he was! Surely he must +be at the top by now. + +"Nearly up, Josh?" he shouted. + +"Up! No: not half-ways," replied the fisherman. "She's too thin, and +as wet as wet. I can't get a hold." + +Will's heart sank, for he felt that there was failure in his companion's +words; and with parched lips and dry throat he listened to the climber's +pantings and gaspings as he toiled on, paused, climbed again, and then +there was a strange hissing noise that made Will hold his breath. The +rope, too, was curiously agitated, not in a series of jerks, but in a +continuous vibrating manner, and before Will could realise what it all +meant Josh was level with the gallery once more, swinging to and fro in +the faint light. + +"Haul away, young un, and let's come in," he panted; and somehow he +managed to scramble in as Will held the rope taut. + +"It ain't to be done," said Josh, sitting down and panting like a dog. +"If it were a cable I could go up it like a fly, but that there rope +runs through your legs and you can't get no stay." + +"How far did you get, Josh?" whispered Will. + +"Not above half-ways," grumbled Josh, "and I might have gone on trying; +but it was no good, I couldn't have reached. I say, my lad, what's +going to be done?" + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +HOW WILL WOULD NOT PROMISE NOT TO DO THE "GASHLY" THING AGAIN. + +It seemed that all they could do was to sit and think of there being any +likelihood of their being found, and Will asked at last whether anyone +knew where Josh was about to take the new rope. + +"Nobody," he said gruffly. "I knowed you didn't want it known, so I +held my tongue." + +"But who lent you the rope, Josh?" + +"Nobody." + +"Nobody?" + +"Nobody. Folk won't lend noo ropes to a fellow without knowing what +they're going to do with 'em. I bought it." + +"You bought it, Josh--with your own money?" + +"Ain't got anybody else's money, have I?" growled Josh. "Here, I know. +What stoopids we are!" + +"You know what?" cried Will. + +"Why, how to get out o' this here squabble." + +"Can you--find a way along this gallery, Josh?" said Will eagerly. + +"Not likely; but we can get down to the water and go along the adit." + +"Adit!" said Will; "is there one?" + +"Sure to be, else the water would be up here ever so high. They didn't +bring all the earth and stones and water up past here, I know, when they +could get rid of 'em by cutting an adit to the shore." + +Will caught the fisherman's arm in his hands. "I--I never saw it," he +cried. + +"Well, what o' that? Pr'aps it's half hid among the stones. I dunno: +but there allus is one where they make a shaft along on the cliff." + +"But what will you do?" + +"Do, lad? Why, go down and see--or I s'pose I must feel; it'll be so +dark." + +As Josh spoke he rose and got hold of the rope once more. + +"No, no!" panted Will. "It is too dangerous, Josh, I can't let you go." + +"I say, don't be stoopid, lad. We can't stop here; you know. Nobody +won't bring us cake and loaves o' bread and pilchard and tea, will +they?" + +"But, Josh!" + +"Look here, lad, it's easy enough going down, ain't it?" + +"Yes, yes," cried Will; "but suppose there is no adit; suppose there is +no way out to the shore: how will you get back?" + +"There I am again," growled Josh in an ill-used tone. "I never thought +of that. I've got a good big head, but it never seems to hold enough to +make me think like other men." + +"You could not climb up to the mouth, so how could you climb up again +here?" + +Josh remained silent for a few minutes, and then he gave a stamp with +his foot. + +"Why," he cried, "you're never so much more clever than me. Why didn't +you think o' this here?" + +"What? What are you going to do, Josh?" + +"Do, lad!" he cried, suiting the action to the word by running the rope +through his hands sailor-fashion till he got hold of the end; "why, I'm +going to make a knot every half fathom as nigh as I can guess it, and +then it'll be easy enough to climb up or down." + +Will breathed more freely, and stood listening to his companion's work, +for it was a task for only one. + +"There you are," cried Josh at the end of a few minutes' knotting. +"Now, then, who'll go down first--you or me?" + +"I will," said Will. "I'm better now." + +"Glad to hear it, lad; but you ain't going first into that gashly hole +while I'm here. Stand aside." + +Catching hold of the rope again he gradually tightened it to feel +whether it was all right and had not left its place over the iron bar; +and then, swinging himself off, he descended quickly about fifty feet +till Will could hear his feet splash into the water, and then he +shouted: + +"Hooray, lad!" + +"Is there an adit, Josh?" + +"Dunno yet, but there's a big stick o' wood floating here as someone's +pitched down, and our old rope's lying across it. I shall make it fast +to the end here before I go any farther." + +A good deal of splashing ensued, and then as Will listened it seemed to +him that his companion must have lowered himself partly into the adit, +for the rope swung to and fro. Then his heart leaped, for Josh sang out +cheerily: + +"All right, lad! here's the adit just at the bottom here, and the water +dribbling out over it, I think. Come on down." + +"Come on down!" echoed Will. + +"To be sure, lad. Here I'm in the hole all right. Lay hold o' the +rope. It's all slack now." + +He set it swinging as he spoke, and at the end of a few moments Will +caught it, drew in a long breath, and let himself hang over the black +gulf, which seemed far less awful now that there was a friendly voice +below. + +"Steady it is, lad, steady. There, they knots make her easy, don't +they?" Josh kept on saying as his young companion lowered himself +rapidly down into the darkness, till he could see the water with the +light from above reflected upon it; and the next moment he was seized +and drawn aside, his feet resting on solid stone. "Stoop your head, +lad, mind." + +He bent down, and Josh drew him into a gallery similar to that which +they had just left, only there was a little stream of water trickling +about their feet. + +"Come along, lad. I'll go first," said Josh. "Never mind the ropes: +we'll go up and haul them to the top when we get out." + +Then creeping cautiously forward in the total darkness, and with Will +following, Josh went slowly, feeling his way step by step for about +fifty yards, when a faint ray of light sent joy into their breasts; and +on pushing forward they found their way stopped by what seemed to be a +heap of fallen rock and earth, at whose feet the little stream that ran +from the mine trickled gently forth. + +The light came through several interstices, which seemed to be overgrown +with ferns and rough seagrass and hanging brambles; but it needed no +great effort to force some of them aside, sufficient for Josh to creep +out, and the next minute they were standing in the broad sunshine, the +reason of the mouth of the adit being closed evident before them, the +earth and stones from the cliff above having gone on falling for perhaps +a century, and plants of various kinds common to the cliff covering the +debris, till all trace of the opening but that, where a spring seemed to +be trickling forth was gone. + +Will drew a long breath and gazed with delight at the sail-dotted sea. +Then, without a word he led the way up the cliff, till, after an arduous +climb, they stood once more by the open shaft. + +"I--say!" cried Josh, staring; and Will looked down with horror to see +that the iron bar had so given way that the rope had gradually been +dragged to the top, passed over, and probably both Josh and Will had +made their last descent depending upon the strength of the former's old +silk neck-tie. + +"What an escape, Josh!" cried Will. + +"Well," said Josh smiling, "I didn't think the old bit had it in her. +Well, she is a good un, any way." + +Stooping down he undid the knots, handed the rope to Will to haul, while +he smilingly replaced his kerchief about his neck with a loose sailor's +knot, tucking the ends afterwards inside his blue jersey, and then +helped with the rope, taking hold of the old one, as it came up at last +dripping wet, and soon forming it also into a coil. + +The next thing was to drag out the iron bar, which came out easily +enough, making Will shake his head at it reproachfully, as if he thought +what an untrustworthy servant it was. + +This and the ropes were hidden at last; and they turned to descend, when +Josh exclaimed:-- + +"Well, lad, I s'pose you won't try any o' them games again?" + +"Not try?" said Will. "I mean to try till I succeed." + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +THE YOUNG "GENT" IN THE ETON JACKET AND HIM IN THE FLANNEL SUIT. + +"Here!" + +This was said in a loud, imperious tone by a well-dressed boy--at least +if it is being well-dressed at the sea-side to be wearing a very tight +Eton jacket and vest, an uncomfortably stiff lie-down collar, and a tall +glossy black hat, of the kind called by some people chimney-pot, by the +Americans stove-pipe. + +He was a good-looking lad of fifteen or sixteen, with rather aquiline +features and dark eyes, closely-cut hair, that sat well on a shapely +head; but there was a sickly whiteness of complexion and thinness of +cheek that gave him the look of a plant that had been forced in a place +where there was not enough light. + +He was standing on the pier at Peter Churchtown intently watching what +was going on beneath him on the deck of the _Pretty Ruth_, where our +friend Will was busy at work over a brown fishing-line contained in two +baskets, in one of which, coiled round and round, was the line with a +hook at every six feet distance, and each hook stuck in the edge of the +basket; in the other the line was being carefully coiled; but as Will +took a hook from the edge of one basket, he deftly baited it with a bit +of curiously tough gelatinous-looking half transparent gristle, and laid +it in the other basket, so that all the baits were in regular sequence, +and there was no chance of the hooks being caught. + +Close by Will sat Josh, busy at work upon an instrument or weapon which +consisted of a large hook about as big as that used for meat; and this +he had inserted in a strong staff of wood some four feet long, while, to +secure it more tightly, he was binding the staff just below the hook +most neatly with fine copper wire. + +Sailors and fishermen generally do things neatly, from the fact that +they pay great attention to their work, and do it in a very slow, +deliberate fashion, the fashion in which Josh on that sunny afternoon +was working, with one end of the copper wire made fast to a bolt, to +keep it straight while he slowly turned the staff round and round. + +No one paid any heed to the imperious "Here!" so the lad shouted again: + +"Hi! Here! You, sir!" + +Josh looked up very deliberately, saw that the eyes of the stranger were +fixed upon Will, and looked down again. + +"He's hailing o' you, my lad," he said in a gruff voice, just as the +stranger shouted again: + +"Hi! Do you hear?" + +Will looked up, took in the new-comer's appearance at a glance, and +said: + +"Well, what is it?" + +The new-comer frowned at this cool reply from a lad in canvas trousers +and blue jersey, which glittered with scales. The fisher-boy ought to +have said "Yes, sir," and touched his straw hat. Consequently his voice +was a little more imperious of tone as he said sharply: + +"What are you doing?" + +Will looked amused, and there was a slight depression at each corner of +his mouth as he said quietly: + +"Baiting the line." + +No "sir" this time, but the new-comer's curiosity was aroused, and he +said eagerly: + +"Where's your rod?" + +"Rod!" said Will, looking up once more, half puzzled. "Rod! Oh, you +mean fishing-rod, do you?" + +"Of course--" _stupid_ the stranger was about to say, but he refrained. +"You don't suppose I mean birch rod, do you?" + +"No," said Will, and he went on baiting his hooks. "We don't use +fishing-rods." + +"Why don't you?" + +"Why don't we!" said Will, with the dimples getting a little deeper on +either side of his mouth. "Why, because this line's about quarter of a +mile long, and it would want a rod as long, and we couldn't use it." + +"Hor--hor--hor!" laughed Josh, letting his head go down between his +knees, and so disgusting the stranger that he turned sharply upon his +heel and strutted off, swinging a black cane with a silver top and silk +tassels to and fro, and then stopping in a very nonchalant manner to +take out a silver hunting watch and look at the time, at the same moment +taking care that Will should have a good view of the watch, and feel +envious if enviously inclined. + +He walked along the pier to the very end, and Josh went on slowly +turning the staff, while Will kept baiting his hooks. + +The next minute the boy was back, looking on in an extremely +supercilious way, but all the while his eyes were bright with interest; +and at last he spoke again in a consequential manner: + +"What's that nasty stuff?" + +"What nasty stuff?" replied Will, looking up again. + +"That!" cried the stranger, pointing with his cane at the small box +containing Will's bait. + +Before the latter could answer there was a shout at the end of the pier. + +"Ahoy! Ar--thur! Taff!" and a boy of the age and height of the first +stranger came tearing along the stones panting loudly, and pulling up +short to give Will's questioner a hearty slap on the back. + +"Here, I've had a job to find you, Taff. I've been looking everywhere." + +"I wish you would not be so rough, Richard," said the one addressed, +divine his shoulders a hitch, and frowning angrily as he saw that Will +was watching them intently. "There's no need to be so boisterous." + +"No, my lord. Beg pardon, my lord," said the other boy with mock +humility; and then, with his eyes twinkling mirthfully, he thrust his +stiff straw hat on to the back of his head, and plumped himself down in +a sitting position on the edge of the pier, with his legs dangling down +towards the bulwark of the lugger, and his heels softly drubbing the +stone wall. + +For though to a certainty twin brother of the first stranger, he was +very differently dressed, having on a suit of white boating flannels and +a loose blue handkerchief knotted about his neck. + +"Why, Taff," he cried, "this chap's going fishing." + +"I wish you wouldn't call me out of my name before this sort of people," +said his brother, flushing and speaking in a low voice. + +"All right, old chap, I won't, if you'll go back to the inn and take off +those old brush-me-ups. You look as if you'd come out of a glass case." + +The other was about to retort angrily and walk away, but his curiosity +got the better of him, for just then the boy in the flannels exclaimed +in a brisk way: + +"I say: going fishing?" + +"Yes," said Will, looking up, with the smile at the corner of his lips +deepening; and as the eyes of the two lads met they seemed to approve of +each other at once. + +"May I come aboard?" + +"Yes, if you like," said Will; and the boy leaped down in an instant, +greatly to his brother's disgust, for he wanted to go on board as well, +but held aloof, and whisked his cane about viciously, listening to all +that was going on. + +"How are you?" said the second lad, nodding in a friendly way to Josh. + +"Hearty, thanky," said the latter in his sing-song way; "and how may you +be?" + +"Hearty," said the boy, laughing. "I'm always all right. He isn't," he +added, with a backward nod of his head, which nearly made him lose his +straw hat; but he caught it as it fell, clapped it on the back of his +head again, and laughingly gave his trousers a hitch up in front and +another behind, about the waist, kicking out one leg as he did so. +"That's salt-water sort, isn't it? I say," he added quickly, "are you +the skipper?" + +"Me!" cried Josh, showing two rows of beautifully white teeth. "Nay, my +lad, I'm the crew. Who may you be?" + +"What? my name? Dick--Richard Temple. This is my brother Arthur. +We've come down to stay." + +"Have you, though?" said Josh, looking from one to the other as if it +was an announcement full of interest, while the lad on the pier frowned +a little at his brother's free-and-easy way. + +"Yes, we've come down," said Dick dreamily, for he was watching Will's +busy fingers as he baited hook after hook. "I say," he cried, "what's +that stuff--those bits?" + +"These?" said Will. "Squid." + +"Squid? What's squid?" + +Josh ceased winding the wire round his staff. + +"Here's a lad as don't know what squid is," he said in a tone of +wondering pity. + +"Well, how should I know? Just you be always shut-up in London and +school and see if you would." + +"What? Don't they teach you at school what squid is?" said Josh +sharply. + +"No," cried the boy. + +"A mussy me!" said Josh in tones of disgust. "Then they ought to be +ashamed of themselves." + +"But they don't know," said the boy impatiently. "I say, what is it?" + +"Cuttle-fish," said Will. + +"Cut-tle-fish!" cried Dick. "Oh! I know what that is--all long legs +and suckers, and got an ink-bag and a pen in its body." + +"Yes, that's it," said Will, laughing. "We call it squid. It makes a +good tough bait, that don't come off, and the fish like it." + +"Well, it is rum stuff," cried Dick, picking up a piece and turning it +over in his fingers. "Here, Taff, look!" + +His brother screwed up his face with an aspect of disgust, and declined +to touch the fishes' _bonne-bouche_; but he looked at it eagerly all the +same. + +"I say, what do you catch?" said Dick, seating himself tailor-fashion on +the deck opposite Will. + +"What? on this line? Nothing sometimes." + +"Oh! of course. I often go fishing up the river when we're at home, and +catch nothing. But what do you catch when you have any luck?" + +"Lots o' things," said Josh; "skates, rays, plaice, brill, soles, +john-dories, gurnets--lots of 'em--small conger, and when we're very +lucky p'r'aps a turbot." + +"Oh! I say," cried the boy, with his eyes sparkling, "shouldn't I like +to see conger too! They're whopping great chaps, arn't they, like +cod-fish pulled out long?" + +"Well, no," said Will, "they're more like long ling; but we can't catch +big ones on a line like this--only small." + +"But there are big ones here, arn't there?" + +"Oh, yes!" said Will; "off there among the rocks sometimes, six and +seven foot long." + +"But why don't you catch big ones on a line like that?" + +"Line like that!" broke in Josh; "why, a conger would put his teeth +through it in a moment. You're obliged to have a single line for a +conger, with a wire-snooded hook and swivels, big hooks bound with wire, +something like this here." + +As he spoke he held out the hook, just finished as to its binding on. + +"And what's that for?" cried the boy, taking the hook. + +"Gaffing of 'em," said Josh; but he pronounced it "_gahfin'_ of 'em." + +"Oh, I do want to go fishing!" cried the boy eagerly. "What are you +going to do with that long-line?" + +"Lay it out in the bay," said Will, "with a creeper at each end." + +"A what?" + +"A creeper." + +"What's a creeper?" + +"I say, young gentleman, where do you go to school?" said Josh in +indignant tones. + +"London University," said the boy quickly. "Why?" + +"And you don't know what a creeper is?" + +"No," said the boy, laughing. "What is it?" + +"Oh! we call a small kind of grapnel, or four-armed anchor, a creeper," +said Will. + +"Oh!" + +"Then when we've let down the line with one creeper we pay out the +rest." + +"Pay out the rest?" + +"A mussy me!" said Josh to himself. + +"Well, run it out over the side of the boat we're in, and row away till +we've got all the line with the baited hooks in." + +"Yes," said the boy eagerly; "and then you put down the other anchor. I +see." + +"That's her," said Josh approvingly. + +"Well," said the boy excitedly, "and how do you know when you've got a +bite?" + +"Oh! we don't know." + +"Then how do you catch your fish?" + +"They catch themselves," said Will. "We row then to the other end of +the line and draw it up." + +"How do you know where it is?" + +"Why, by the buoy, of course," said Josh. "We always have a buoy, and +you think that's a boy like you, I know." + +"Oh no! I don't," said Dick, shaking his head and laughing. "Come, I'm +not such a Cockney as not to know what a b-u-o-y is. But, I say, what +do you do then?" + +"Why, we get up the end of the line, and put fresh baits on when they're +taken off, and take the fish into the boat when there are any." + +"Oh, I say, what fun! Here, when are you going to put in that line?" + +"Sundown," said Josh. + +"Here, I want to go," said our friend on the pier. "I'll give you a +shilling if you'll take me." + +"No; we can't take you," said Josh grimly. "We should make you in such +a mess you'd have to be washed." + +"There, Taff, I told you so," cried Dick. "Why don't you put on your +flannels. I hate being dressed up at the sea-side!" he added to himself +as his brother stalked impatiently away. + +"There, now, he's chuffy," said Dick, half to himself. "Oh! I do wish +he wasn't so soon upset! Hi, Taff, old man, don't go, I'm coming soon. +He had a bad illness once, you know," he said confidentially to Will; +but his brother did not stop, walking slowly away along the pier, to be +met by a tall, dark, keen-looking man of about forty who was coming from +the inn. + +"I say," said Dick, who did not see the encounter at the shore end of +the pier, "I _should_ like to come with you to-night." + +"Why, you'd be sea-sick," said Josh, laughing. + +"Oh, no! I shouldn't. I've been across the Channel eight times and not +ill. I say, you'll let me come?" + +Will looked at Josh, who was turning the new wire binding of the +gaff-hook into a file for the gentle rubbing of his nose. + +"Shall we take him, Josh?" said Will. + +"I don't mind," replied that worthy, "only he'll get in a gashly mess." + +"I don't mind," said Dick. "Flannels will wash. I'll put on my old +ones, and--" + +"Why, Dick, what are you doing there?" cried the keen-looking man, who +had come down the pier. + +"Talking to the fishermen, father," cried the boy, starting up. "I say, +they're going out to lay this line. May I go with them?" + +His father hesitated a moment and glanced quickly to seaward before +turning to Josh. + +"Weather going to be fine?" he said in a quick way that indicated +business more than command, though there was enough of the latter in his +speech to make Josh answer readily: + +"Going to be fine for a week;" and then confidentially, "We'll take care +on him." + +The stranger smiled. + +"Yes, you can go, Dick; but take care of yourself. It does not take you +long to make friends, young man. Come, Arthur, I'm going for a walk +along the beach." + +"Can't I go with Dick, papa?" said the boy addressed, in an ill-used +tone. + +"No; I should think three will be enough in a small boat; and besides--" + +He said no more, but glanced in a half-amused way at his son's costume, +being himself in a loose suit of tweeds. + +Arthur coloured and tightened his lips, walking off with his father, too +much hurt to say more to his brother, whom he left talking to Will. + +"There," said the latter, impaling the last bit of squid on a hook and +then laying it in its place, "that's ready. Now you'd better do as I +do: go home and get some tea and then come back." + +"But it's too soon," replied Dick, "I can't get tea yet--" + +"Come home and have some with me then," said Will. + +"All right!" said Dick. "I say, does he live with you? Is he your +brother?" + +"Hor--hor--hor--hor!" laughed Josh. "That is a good one. Me his +brother! Hor--hor--hor!" + +"Well, I didn't know," said Dick colouring. "I only thought he might +be, you know." + +"Oh, no, youngster! I ain't no brother o' him," said Josh, shaking his +head. "There, don't you mind," he continued, clapping his strong hand +on the boy's shoulder, and then catching hold of him with his short +deformed limb, an act that looked so startling and strange that the boy +leaped back and stared at him. + +Josh's deformity was his weakest as well as his strongest point, and he +looked reproachfully, half angrily, at the boy and then turned away. + +With the quick instinct of a frank, generous nature, Dick saw the wound +he had inflicted upon the rough fisherman, and glanced first at Will, +who was also touched on his companion's account. Then stepping quickly +up to Josh he touched him on the arm and held out his hand. + +"I--I beg your pardon," he said. "I didn't know. I was surprised. I'm +very sorry--" + +Josh's weather-tanned face lit up directly with a pleasant smile, and +grasping the boy's hand he wrung it so hard that Dick had hard work to +keep from wincing. + +"It's all right, my lad," he said. "Of course you didn't know! It be +gashly ugly, bean't it? Fell off the cliff when I was quite a babby, +you know, and soft. Fifty foot. Yonder, you know;" and he pointed to +the steep cliff and its thin iron railing at the end of the village. + +"How shocking!" said Dick. + +"Oh! I dunno," said Josh cheerily. "I was such a little un, soft as +one of our bladder buoys, you see, and I never knowed anything about it. +Bent it like, and stopped it from growing; but thank the Lord, it grew +strong, and I never mind. There, you be off along o' Will there and get +your tea, and we'll have such a night's fishing, see if we don't!" + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +UNCLE ABRAM ALWAYS HAS A BIT OF SALT PROVISION IN CUT. + +The two lads went off towards the village, Dick in the highest of glee, +and chattering and questioning about everything he saw, Will getting +more and more quiet and lower of spirit as he thought of the ordeal that +he had to face. + +For he had asked this young stranger, whom he had never seen before, to +come home and share his meal, and all in the frankness of his young +hospitable feelings. In fact, he would have given him his own meal with +the greatest of pleasure; but it had all been done without a thought of +Aunt Ruth and Uncle Abram. + +"Where do you live?" said Dick suddenly. + +"Up at the end there; the white cottage." + +"What! with the pretty garden and the flowers?" cried the boy. "I know +Nor'-nor'-west Cottage. Father said he wished we could have it when we +looked round." + +"Yes, that's my home," said Will. "Uncle is very fond of his garden, +and takes great pains with it." + +"Uncle?" said Dick. "Do you live with your uncle?" + +"And aunt," replied Will quietly; and there was so much meaning in his +tone that his companion did not ask the question upon his lips about +father and mother. + +"I like gardens," said Dick; "but we can't grow anything in our back +garden in town. I did try some vegetable-marrows, but the cats +scratched up some, and the smoke and blacks killed the others. Anything +will grow down here, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes, if you don't plant it just where the west wind cuts. It is so +fierce sometimes. Let's go round by the back, and I can take you +through our garden." + +"All right!" cried Dick eagerly, and he did not notice the deepening of +the colour in his new friend's face, for Will felt guilty of a +subterfuge. He was really alarmed as to the result of his invitation, +and its effect upon his aunt, so he hoped by going round by the back to +find his old uncle in the garden, according to his custom, planting, +weeding, and fumigating his plants, whether they needed it or no. + +Fortune favoured Will, for after a climb round by the narrow alley he +let his companion in by the little top gate into the rough terrace +garden on the steep slope of the cliff--a quaint little place full of +rocks and patches of rich earth, and narrowed stony paths, but one blaze +of bright colour, and full of promise of fruit. + +"Why, how comical!" said Dick. "We're higher than the roof of your +house!" + +"Yes; it's all so steep here," replied Will. "Oh! here's uncle." + +He turned down a narrow path, where, pipe in mouth, and emitting puffs +of smoke, the old gentleman was busy with some strips of matting tying +up the heavy blossoms of carnations to some neatly cut sticks. So +intent was he upon his occupation that the two lads stood gazing at him +for a few minutes before he rose up, emitting a long puff of smoke, and +turned round to nod shortly at Will, and stare severely at the new-comer +in a stolid manner peculiarly his own. + +"What cheer?" he said slowly. + +"Uncle, this is a young gentleman just come down from town." + +"To Peter Churchtown, eh?" said the old gentleman, pulling down his buff +waistcoat with the brass crown-and-anchor buttons, and passing one hand +over his chin to make sure whether his grey beard did not look stubbly. + +"Yes, sir; my father has come down on mining business," said the lad +eagerly, "and we're going to stay." + +"Glad to see you, sir, glad to see you," said the old gentleman, holding +out an enormous gnarled hand, whose back was covered with great veins, +and faintly showed through its ruddy-brown a blue tattooed figure of a +mermaid. + +"He's going fishing with Josh and me this evening; we're going to lay +the bolter from the boat." + +"Quite right!" said the old gentleman, nodding. "Nice evening for +fishing. You'll get some flat-fish, I daresay." + +"And," said Will, making an effort, and speaking hoarsely in his +eagerness to make a clean breast, "I asked him if he'd come home and +have tea with me before we go." + +The old gentleman winced for a moment, as he might have winced in the +old days when, as purser, he inspected his stores on a long voyage, and +feared that they were running short. It was but for a moment, and then +he recovered himself. + +"Asked him to tea? that's well, that's right, my lad. I'm glad to see +you, sir. Do you like flowers?" + +"I love them," cried the boy, who was gazing half wonderingly at the old +man's florid face, and its frame of stiff grey hairs. + +"Then you shall have one of my best clove-pinks," he went on, taking his +great pruning-knife from his pocket. "Let me see," he continued, +opening the blade slowly, "which is the best? Ah! that's a good one-- +that's a beauty--there!" + +He stooped down, and after a good deal of selection cut a splendid +aromatic clove-pink, and handed it smiling to the boy, who smelt it and +placed it in the button-hole of his loose flannel jacket. + +"It's a beauty," he cried. + +"Yes, isn't it?" said the old man proudly. "Don't get such flowers as +that in London, eh?" + +"Only in Covent Garden," replied the visitor. + +"What garden?--oh! ah! yes, I recollect, Covent Garden Market. Marrows +growing well, sir, arn't they?" he continued, pointing to the great +succulent plants trailing over the rocks. "My bees;" he pointed to five +straw hives. "You shall taste our honey. Wild thyme honey off the +cliff and moor. Very glad you've come, sir. But, I say," he added, +stopping short in the middle of the path, taking his pipe from his lips, +and sending a puff down first one nostril and then the other, "never +mind him, I'm master. You shall be my visitor to-day, eh?" + +He chuckled and clapped Dick on the shoulder, pushing him half before +him down the stony, steppy path, and as he did so he turned his great +grey head and gave a most prodigious wink, accompanied by a screw up of +the face at Will, a look full of secrecy and scheming, all of which, +however, Will fully understood and felt relieved. + +"It's very kind of you to a stranger," said the visitor. + +"Not at all, my lad, not at all. You've come to live among us, and +we're very glad to see you. Here we are, here's my good lady--Mrs +Marion. I've got a visitor, my dear: Mr--Mr--what's your name?" he +whispered hastily. + +"Richard Temple," said the lad, in the same tone. + +"Ah, to be sure! my memory's getting bad. Mr Richard Temple, my dear. +Young gentleman from London. Come to have a cup of tea with us +to-night." + +Aunt Ruth's first feeling was that it was a liberty to ask anyone to tea +without first obtaining her consent; her second, one of annoyance that +she had not put on her black silk that afternoon; her next, one of +pleasure, for the lad went up to her in a pleasant, frank, gentlemanly +way, and held out his hand, behaving towards the old lady with that +natural chivalry and courtesy that you always see in a boy who has been +much with a good mother and grown-up sisters. + +"It's very kind of you to welcome me like this," he said; and, to Will's +great relief, Aunt Ruth smiled and felt ready to purr, and as if she +really had been welcoming the visitor very warmly. "Don't think me +rude," continued the lad, whose eager eyes kept wandering about, "but +I've just come from London, where everything seems so dark and grim; and +your cottage does look so beautiful, and clean, and snug." + +"Well said, youngster!" cried Uncle Abram; "so it does. Our skipper +won't have a spot on anything or a bit of dust anywhere; eh, Will?" + +"Oh no! aunt likes the place to look nice," echoed Will. + +"Don't you listen to them, my dear," said Aunt Ruth; "but I'm very glad +to see you, and you must excuse me now." + +She slipped out of the room, and Uncle Abram gave his nephew another +look full of intelligence before proceeding to show his young guest his +collection in the best room while the tea was being prepared. + +For the best room was quite a museum of trophies brought by Uncle +Abram's own hands from what he called "furren lands;" and Dick was +excitement itself over the inspection. + +"This here's the grains," said the old gentleman, pointing to a +five-pronged spear, on a long slight pole, with a cord attached to the +shaft. "We uses this to take bonito and dolphin out in the hot seas. +Strikes 'em as they play under the bobstay, you know." + +"And what's this?" said Dick eagerly. + +"Backbone of a shark, twelve foot long, as we hooked and drew aboard o' +the _Princess_ off Barbadoes, Jennywury sixteen, eighteen hundred +forty-nine." + +"You caught it with a hook?" cried Dick. + +"Baited with a bit o' very bad salt pork," said the old man. Then, +pointing with the stem of his pipe: "His jaws." + +Then from the lancet-toothed jaws to a sea-snake in a large bottle of +spirits--an unpleasant looking little serpent, said to be poisonous. In +a glass case was the complete shell of a lobster, out of which the +crustacean had crawled; and beside this were some South Sea bows and +arrows, pieces of coral from all parts of the world, a New Zealand +paddle on the wall, opposite to a couple of Australian spears. Hanks of +sea-weed hung from nails. There was a caulking hammer that had been +fished up from the bottom of some dock, all covered with acorn +barnacles, and an old bottle incrusted with oyster-shells, the glass +having begun to imitate the iridescent lining of the oyster. Under the +side-table was a giant oyster from off the coast of Java. Over the +chimney-glass the snout of a sword-fish. A cannon-ball--a thirty-two +pounder--rested in a wooden cup, a ball that had no history; and close +by it, in a glass case, was a very ill-shaped cannon-ball, about +one-fourth its size, which had a history, having been picked out of the +wall of Saint Anthony's Church on the cliff, into which it had been +fired by the Spaniards in the days of "good Queen Bess." + +There were curiosities enough to have taken the young visitor hours more +to see, only while they were in the midst of them Aunt Ruth came in +smiling, and in a state of compromise--that is to say, there had been no +time to change her dress, but she had mounted her best cap and put on +her black watered-silk apron, two pieces of confectionery that it would +take half a chapter to properly describe, so they may go with the simple +announcement that they were wonders. + +"Tea is ready," said the old lady; and she smiled more graciously still +when Dick stepped forward and offered his arm to walk the four steps +across to the second best room, where meals were always spread. + +Everything was very homely and simple, but to the boy fresh from London +the table was a delight. Right in the centre there was a blue jug full +of the old purser's choicest flowers scenting the room. The best +tea-tray covered one end, with its paraphernalia of best china, the +battered old silver pot and very much worn silver tea-spoons; while at +the other end was a ham in cut, a piece of ornamental preservation, all +pinky fat and crimson lean, marbled throughout. A noble-looking +home-baked loaf, a pat of yellow butter--real cow's butter--ornamented +with a bas-relief of the swing-tailed horned lady who presumably was its +author, and on either side a dish of raspberry jam, and another +containing a piece of virgin honey-comb, from which trickled forth the +pale golden sweetness. + +"Allus make it a rule here, sir," said the old purser, "o' having a good +bit o' salt provision in cut. Let me give you a bit o' 'am." + +Dick raised no objection, and then, as soon as he was helped, and saw +the cup of tea with a veined pattern of rich lumpy cream running over +it, he sighed involuntarily. + +"There, I am sorry," cried Aunt Ruth, "it isn't to your liking. I knew +that ham would be too salt." + +Dick Temple flushed like a girl. + +"Oh no!" he cried; "it wasn't that." + +"Then it's the butter!" cried the old lady, in mortified tones. + +"Butter!" cried Dick, who had already eaten two semicircles out of a +slice; "why, it's glorious! We never get such butter in London." + +"But you sighed," said the old lady, bridling, while Uncle Abram +wrinkled his forehead and shook his head at Will. + +"Did I?" said Dick, colouring a little more deeply. "Well, it was +because I wished Taff was here." + +"What, is that your dog?" said the old lady, smiling again. + +"No!" cried Dick, laughing; "it's my brother Arthur. I always call him +Taff, because--because--I don't know why, but I generally call him +Taff." + +"I'm sure we should be very pleased to see the young gentleman," said +Aunt Ruth in the most stately manner; and then poor Taff was forgotten, +from the fact that, after well assisting the guest, Uncle Abram and Will +set such an example in the way of eating that it proved contagious, and +Dick was soon proving himself no mean trencherman, while he fully +realised the wisdom of the old sailor in always having "a good bit o' +salt provision in cut." + +When they rose from the table Aunt Ruth was quite sure that her visitor +had not had half a tea, which words were comforting to Dick, whose +conscience, now that he had eaten, was beginning to smite him for +behaving so voraciously at these strangers' table--unnecessary qualms, +for his performance had been very mild compared to that of the purser, +who shook hands warmly when his guest took leave, Mrs Marion +supplementing her good-bye with a warm invitation to come again. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +DICK TEMPLE TAKES A LESSON IN FINDING HIS BEARINGS BEFORE THE BOLTER IS +LAID. + +"So your father has to do with mines, has he?" said Will rather eagerly, +as the two lads walked down towards the little harbour. + +"Yes, and I'm going to be a mining engineer," said Dick. "I say, I wish +I was a fisherman--boy, I mean!" + +"And I wish I was going to be a mining engineer," said Will, smiling +sadly. + +"Why, it isn't half such fun!" cried Dick. "You have to learn all sorts +of stuff about rocks and strata, and chemistry, and mechanics, and +hydro-all-sorts-of-things. I say, do you ever see sharks down here?" + +"Not very often," said Will. "I never did see one. Josh hooked one +once with his gaff, after it had taken a conger bait." + +"Oh, did he? Tell me all about it." + +"There isn't much all to tell," replied Will. "Josh was out in the +boat, fishing off the rocks with a mate--out yonder, where you can see +the cliff with the white patch on the top--Poldee." + +"Yes, I see." + +"Well, they couldn't catch a single conger, and they were going to give +it up, when Josh's mate had a bite; and when he began to pull up, he +thought it was a conger, but only a very small one; and then, when they +got it to the top of the water they stared, for it was--how much do you +think?" + +"Forty feet!" cried Will eagerly. + +"No, no!" said Will smiling; "they thought it was about six." + +"Oh, that isn't big!" said Dick in disappointed tones. + +"Not big! What, a fish the size of a tall man, and ten times as strong +in the water! Not big! We think it very big down here." + +"Well, go on," said Dick. + +"Oh, there's no more to tell; only that Josh took up the gaff and got +hold of the shark, which gave one flash with his tail and went down +again, taking with it Josh's gaff-hook and the conger-line, and that was +all." + +"Oh!" said Dick in a disappointed tone. "They ought to have caught it." + +"Yes," said Will dryly; "they ought to have caught it, but they did not. +There's Josh already in the boat. I wonder whether he thought of a +line to whiff." + +"To whiff? what's that--to make cigars?" + +"No, no!" said Will as they went along the pier. "I'll show you when we +get on board.--Think of a line to whiff, Josh?" + +"Ay, lad; I thought young master there might like to try as we went +out." + +"This way," said Will, pausing in front of the lugger, which was now +very little below the edge of the pier, as the tide was flowing fast. +"Shall I help you?" + +"Oh no!" cried Dick, leaping aboard; and then actively lowering himself +into the lugger's boat, a short, broad, heavy affair, wherein sat Josh, +with the long-line and box of bait. + +"You sit down there--aft," said Josh, "and we'll soon row you out." + +"Is it far?" cried Dick. + +"'Bout three mile," replied Josh, taking up an oar and pushing the boat +away from the side of the lugger, Will following his example, and +getting an oar over the side. + +"Stop! Look, look, look!" cried Dick, pointing out in front of them, +where, through the water, there about eighteen inches deep, he could see +what seemed to be a long white worm or serpent dashing here and there in +a curious way. "There's another and another!" + +"That's only the cleanings of the fish," said Will; "intestines, don't +you call 'em? That's a shoal of small fish come into the harbour, only +they're so clear you can't make 'em out; and first one lays hold of one +end and runs off with it, and then another. Looks just like little +snakes darting about, don't it?" + +"Why, so it is," said Dick. "I can see the little rascals swimming +about, and drawing the long white strings after them. Oh, I say, I wish +Taff were here!" + +"Look there!" said Will, eager to show the stranger all the +peculiarities of the place; "do you see that?" + +He was pointing to a shallow part, close inshore, just after they had +left the harbour, where a drain ran down, and the smooth black +water-polished rock was veined with white spar. + +"I can see something shadowy-like in the water. Why, there was a fish +went over that white place--two--three--there's a whole shoal of them!" + +"Grey mullet, nearly as long as your arm!" said Will. + +"Got a line? Oh, I wish I had my fishing-rod! Let's try for them." + +"No use," said Will; "they very seldom take a bait. I don't like them; +they're nasty fish. They come up to feed off the mouth of that dirty +drain." + +"We'll ketch something better than them as soon as we get outside," said +Josh, bending to his oar, Will following suit, and the water began to +rattle under the blunt bow of the heavy boat as they sent it speedily +along. + +"What are all those little tubs for?" said Dick as they threaded their +way amongst a number lying a short distance outside the harbour. +"Buoys?" + +"Yes," said Will; "anchor buoys, to make fast the luggers to when they +have been out fishing, and are coming into the harbour in fine weather." + +They were now leaving the village behind, and it looked like a panoramic +picture lit up by the sinking sun, with the tall cliff to left and +right, and the hills rising in a steep slope behind. Eight away over +the bay the rippling water was stained with the reflection of the +western sky, and the sides of the waves glistened with orange, and blue, +and gold. + +"Oh, you are lucky to live down here!" cried Dick, who was in ecstasies +with the beauty of the scene. "I say, though, I wish we'd brought poor +old Taff!" + +"We'll bring him another time," said Will smiling. + +"Will you?" cried Dick joyfully. "Oh, then, I don't mind." + +"I thought London was a very beautiful place!" said Will as he tugged at +his oar. + +"Beautiful!" cried Dick; "why, it's horrid. You can't play a game of +cricket without going out by rail; and as for seeing a bird, why, there +isn't anything but the old chiswicks--the sparrows, you know. Why, this +is worth a hundred Londons. I say, what a big buoy!" + +"Yes; that's a dangerous rock there." + +"Can you see?" + +"Oh, yes!" said Josh; "she's only about five foot under water now," and, +giving an extra tug at his oar, he turned the boat's head to a huge tub +that was anchored close by the rock, and which looked like the +cork-float likely to be used by the giant who bobbed for whales. + +"Give's your oar, Will, lad, and I'll take her over the rock while you +get ready a whiffing-line." + +He rowed close up to the great buoy, and then bade the visitor look down +through the clear water. + +"See her?" he said. + +"Yes, quite plain," cried Dick; "why, it's all covered with long waving +sea-weed, and--oh! quick! give me a fishing-line! I can see lots of +fish!" + +"Oh, they're only wraaghs," said Josh contemptuously. "Here, you wait +till he's got the whiff ready, and you shall ketch something better than +that." + +"Shall I?" said Dick, and he turned to Will, who was unwinding a stout +cord from a square wood frame. "Why, you're not going to fish with that +piece of rope, are you?" he added, laughing. + +"Yes; but I shall put on a fine snood. We're obliged to have strong +tackle out here." + +"Why, we fish with fine silk lines, and hooks tied on single horse-hairs +in the Thames." + +"Do you?" said Will quietly. + +"Yes, and little tiny hooks. Why, you'll never catch anything with that +great coarse thing; it would be too big for a jack." + +"We do catch fish with them, though, sometimes," said Will coolly, as he +deftly tied the hook on to a fine piece of cord by making a couple of +peculiar hitches round the shank, the end of which was flattened out. +This thinner cord, or snooding, he tied to the stout line, and on this +latter he fastened a good-sized piece of lead formed like a sugar-loaf +cut down the middle so as to leave one half. + +"Why, you'll frighten all the fish away with that!" cried Dick. "See +how clear the water is!" + +"Wait a bit," said Will good-humouredly. "This is salt-water fishing, +not fresh. We don't fish like the gentlemen who go up on the moor for +trout. But you'll see." + +"Well, but," cried Dick, in tones of remonstrance, "if you're going to +use that great hook you must hide it in the bait. Don't put your bait +on like that." + +"I showed him how, and that's the right way," said Josh with authority; +and then to himself, speaking right into his blue jersey as he bent his +head, "Mussy me, how gashly ignorant the boy be!" + +"Yes, this is the best way to fish out here," said Will. "We try all +sorts of ways, and this is one of the best, only I'm obliged to use this +bait till I get a better. It's the end of a squid's arm, and the fish +will take it for a worm." + +"But do bury the hook in it!" said Dick earnestly. + +"No; let's try my way first," said Will, "but let's see yours." + +He handed the hook and piece of grey gristly squid to Dick, who, after a +fashion, buried the hook in it right over the shank, making a clumsy +knob, which he held up with a triumphant--"There!" + +"Won't do," said Will smiling, as he let it fall over into the water. +"That don't look like anything that lives in the water, does it?" + +"I d'know," said Dick, who was disappointed. + +"I do!" growled Josh to himself. + +"Look here, sir," said Will, tearing the hook out of the piece of squid +and throwing it away before picking a similar piece about five inches +long from his basket. "I shall just hook it through like that on the +end. Now, look here! watch it as we go through the water." + +He threw a yard or two of line in the water, the bait going in with a +little splash; and as it was drawn along close to the surface by the +progress of the boat it had a curious wavy motion, while, when Will +snatched the line a little now and then, the bait seemed to be making +darts. + +"Why, it looks like a little eel!" cried Dick. + +"Yes, like a sand-eel! See that!" + +"Oh!" said Dick excitedly, as there was a splash astern, and something +flashed like silver through the water. + +"Little tiny mackerel," said Will calmly. "There you are. Let it go; +pitch the lead over, and that will keep the bait down, and you can let +out twenty or thirty yards of line, and then hold on." + +"But won't that lead sink it to the bottom?" said Dick, as he obeyed his +companion. + +"It would if we kept still; but rowing like this, it will only keep it +down a few feet. If you had no weight, you'd only have the long noses +after it, for the bait would be skipping along the top of the water." + +"Long noses!" cried Dick eagerly; "what are they?" + +"A-mussy me!" sighed Josh to himself, as he looked pityingly at the +young visitor. + +"We call the gar-fish long noses," said Will. "They are long silvery +fish with bodies like eels." + +"I've seen them at the fishmongers'," cried Dick. "They've regular +beaks something like a bird's." + +"But full of sharp teeth," said Will. "Those are the fellows, and +they're very hard to catch." + +"Why?" + +"Because there is so little for the hook to hold on by." + +"Oh! I say! look here!" + +During the above conversation the line had been allowed to run out forty +or fifty yards, the lad holding it in his left hand, with his arm +hanging over the stern. Then all at once there was a sharp snatch, and +Dick turned over on to his knees, holding the line with both hands. + +"I've got him!" he cried. "Such a big one! Oh, don't he pull!" + +"Well, why don't you pull?" cried Will laughing at his new friend's +excitement. + +"I'm going to play him first." + +"Pull him in sharp, hand over hand, or you'll lose him!" cried Josh. + +The boy obeyed, and drew away at the cord till he could see what looked +like a great silver shuttle darting about in the quivering water, and +then, panting still, he drew out a fine mackerel, with its rippled +sides, glorious with pearly tints, and its body bending and springing +like so much animated steel. + +"Oh, you beauty!" cried Dick in a state of excitement. "But I thought +it must have been four times as big; it pulled so." + +Will had been rowing, but he now handed the oar to Josh, unhooked the +mackerel, killed it by a blow or two on the head, and then, to Dick's +astonishment and horror, took out his sharp jack-knife and sliced off a +long narrow piece of the silvery-skinned fish close to the tail. + +"Oh, what a pity!" cried Dick. "I say!" + +"You must have a good bait," said Will quietly, "and a lask from a +mackerel's tail--" + +"A what?" + +"A long thin piece like this--we call it a lask--is one of the best +baits you can have." + +"But it seemed such a pity to cut that beautiful fish." + +"Catch another," said Will laughing; and he threw the newly-baited hook +over the side, where, as the lead dragged it down into the clear water, +Dick could see it dart out of sight, looking like a small silvery fish. + +"Why, how quick a mackerel must be to catch that as it goes through the +water!" he said. + +"Quick as lightning," said Josh. "There, you've got him again." + +"So I have," cried Dick, hauling in rapidly now, as the result of his +teaching, and bringing in another mackerel larger than the first. + +"I'll take it off for you," said Will. + +"No, no, I will. Get me another bait." + +"All right!" cried Will. + +"Ugh! you nasty cannibal, eating bits of your own brother!" cried Dick, +apostrophising the lovely fish as it lay beating the bottom of the boat +with its tail. + +"Hor! hor! hor! hor!" laughed Josh heartily, the idea of the fish being +a cannibal tickling him immensely. "They'll eat their own fathers and +mothers and children too, when they get a chance." + +"Mind, or he'll tangle the line," said Will; and he pounced upon the +fish just as it was going to play shuttle in the boat, and weave the +line into a task that it would take long to undo. + +Then another bait was hooked on, the line thrown over, and Will resumed +his oar. + +"Put her along, Josh," he said. + +"Ay, ay, lad," cried the sturdy fellow; and the water began to patter +beneath the bows of the boat, when all at once there was a sharp crack, +and Josh went backwards with his heels in the air. + +"Look at that," he said sourly. "That comes o' having bad thole-pins;" +and he began to knock out the remains of the pin that formed the rowlock +and which had broken short off. + +This brought the boat nearly to a standstill, and consequently down went +the lead to the bottom; but only to be dragged up again, Dick hauling +away excitedly as he felt a good tug, tug at his bait. + +"I've got him again!" he cried. + +"Then you can catch fish with such tackle as ours!" said Will, who +looked on highly amused at his friend's excitement. + +"Oh, yes!" said Dick. "You see I didn't know. Why, what's this? Look +at him how he's going. Here, I've seen these chaps in the fishmongers' +in London too. I know: it's a gurnard." + +"Gunnet," said Josh correctively. + +"Why, you might catch these with a great meat hook," cried Dick. "Oho! +what a mouth!" + +"Look sharp and put in again, and you may get a red one: this is a +grey," said Will. "Some of the red ones are beauties, and you'll hear +them grunt when you take them out of the water." + +"Go along," cried Dick laughing. "None of your nonsense!" + +"A mussy me!" muttered Josh to himself as he knocked in a fresh +thole-pin; "what a gashly little these Londoners do know!" + +"They do make a grunting noise really," said Will; "just when you pull +them out of the water. You'll see." + +The hook was already speeding towards the bottom, but no grunting red +gurnard took the bait, the boat being once more going easily along; and +for the next quarter of an hour Dick did not get a bite; but at last, as +they were rowing along by a rugged part of the coast where the waves +foamed and roared among the rocks, tossing the olive-brown sea-weed up +and dragging it back, Will bade him look out. + +"You'll get a pollack along here perhaps." + +For another five minutes, though, there was no sign, and Dick suggested +that the bait must be gone. + +"Pull it in and see," said Josh. + +The lad began to haul, but at the second pull there was a tremendous +snatch, the line was dragged from his fingers, and began to run rapidly +over the stern. + +"Look out!" cried Will. + +"I've got him!" cried Dick, snatching at the line again, and holding on +though it threatened to cut into his soft white hands. "My! don't he +pull! Oh! this is a monster." + +"Pull! haul at him! get his nose this way!" roared Josh; and Dick +pulled, with the fish darting to right and left, sixty yards away from +the boat's stern; but the stress soon began to tell, and it came easier +after a time, nearer and nearer, till it was drawn close up, and then +Dick, who was boiling over with excitement as he gazed at the great +prize he had hooked, became aware that the boat was motionless and that +Will was leaning over him ready to deftly insert the new gaff-hook in +the fish's gills, and lift it over the side. + +"What a beauty!" cried Dick. "Is it the setting sun makes it look like +that?" + +"No, it's the natural colours," replied Will, taking out the hook and +then laying the magnificent fish down upon its side to be admired. + +"What is it?" cried Dick. + +"A rock pollack," replied Will. + +"And she weighs ten pound if she weighs an ounce," cried Josh. + +"No, not more than nine, Josh," said Will. + +"Ah! well, you've handled her, my lad. Glad you've got such a good un, +squire. You see we want strong lines and snooding out here." + +"I didn't know you got such beauties as this close to the shore. Oh! I +wish father and Taff were here to see it!" + +"You must take it home and show them," said Will. + +"May I?" + +"Why not? You caught it." + +"Oh!" cried Dick, who could say no more, and he even failed to think of +having a fresh bait put on, as he knelt in the bottom of the boat gazing +at his prize, whose sides were gorgeous with golden orange and bronze, +darkening off on the back to a deep olive-brown, like sea-weed, while +the lower parts of the fish seemed to have been rubbed with burnished +brass. + +"Is it good to eat?" he cried at last. + +"Almost as good as any fish that swims," said Will. + +"But it's as beautiful as a gold-fish almost," cried Dick; "quite as +beautiful as a carp--more, I think--like those golden tench I once saw. +Why, where are you going now?" + +"Right out," said Will; "you don't mind, do you? It won't be rough." + +"No, I don't mind," said Dick stoutly. "I should not mind if it was +rough. At least I wouldn't say I did." + +"Hor! hor! hor!" laughed Josh again. "That's right. But it won't be +rough. We're going out about two miles straight away now. We ought to +have been there by now on the ground." + +"But how can you tell where the ground is?" said Dick innocently. "Does +it come above water?" + +"Do what come above water?" said Josh. + +"The ground." + +"What ground?" + +"Didn't you say you ought to be on the ground?" said Dick. "Of course +you mean the bottom of the boat." + +"Get out!" said Josh. "The fishing-ground's five fathom under water." + +"Then how can you tell when you get there?" + +"Bearin's," growled Josh. + +Dick looked helplessly at Will, while Josh muttered to himself about +"gashly ignorance." + +"What are bearings?" said Dick at last. + +"I'll show you," said Will, "when we get out there by and by. We have +to guide ourselves, you know, out at sea by--" + +"Compass. I know," cried Dick. + +"Ah! that's out of sight of land," said Will quietly. "Along shore we +sail by bearings that we take--hills and points and trees, so as to lay +the boat where we like." + +"But I don't see how you can," cried Dick. + +"Don't you?" said Will good-humouredly, while Josh went on growling to +himself and looking disgusted down between his knees. "Well, I'll try +and show you. Now, you look right behind you and you can see that we're +opening out that old chimney on the top of Toll Pen." + +"Opening out!" said Dick. "I don't know what you mean." + +"Well, beginning to see it come into sight." + +"Oh! now I know," cried Dick. "I say, is there anything the matter with +him?" he added, for Josh was rumbling with indignation at their +visitor's "gashly ignorance." + +"No, there arn't," growled Josh roughly. "Only they did ought to teach +you something at school." + +"They do," said Dick, laughing merrily; "but they don't know anything +about bearings and openings out, and such things. It's all Latin, and +Greek, and algebra, and Euclid." + +"And none o' them won't teach you how to lay a boat to her bearin's on a +bit o' good fishing-ground," said Josh; "and it's a good job for you, my +lad, as you've run acrost us. We will teach you something afore we've +done." + +"Why, you have already," cried Dick. "I say, are you tired? Shall I +help you now?" + +"Tired? No, lad, not us. No. There, you keep your eye on that old +chimney. Tell him, Will, how to find the ground." + +"All right!" said Will. "Well, you see that pile of stones on the top +of the hill behind the chimney to the right?" + +"What, a rough bit like a lump of sugar on a loaf of bread?" + +"That's it!" said Will. "Now, you see those, as we row out, seem to +grow closer together?" + +"Yes, I see, because you're getting them more in a straight line." + +"To be sure!" said Will. "Well, then, when we get them exactly one in +front of the other, they give us our bearings one way." + +"Oh!" said Dick. + +"Now, look yonder at that church tower at Gullick," said Will. + +"Yes, I see it." + +"There's a big tree on the hill to the left of it." + +"Six," said Dick. + +"No, no, not that clump; but that one standing by itself." + +"Yes, I see." + +"Well, when the church is right before that tree it gives us the +bearings the other way." + +"I think I see," said Dick dubiously; "but I'm not sure." + +"It's easy enough," said Will. "You'll soon see. Now look out--the +mine chimney over the cairn, and Gullick church in front of the big +tree, and there we are right on our fishing-ground." + +They rowed on for another quarter of an hour, watching the chimney and +church, which seemed to glide more and more over the distant points +till, full of excitement as he began to comprehend more fully the little +simple problem learned by fishermen without instruments or books, he +waited till he thought that the various points must be exactly +coinciding, and called out to those who were rowing behind him as he +looked over the stern: + +"It's now, isn't it--now?" + +"Now it is," said Josh, as there was a splash in the water and the +rattling of a rope over the gunwale. + +Dick had well learned his first lesson in taking bearings, and called +out at the exact moment, just as Josh was in the act of throwing over +the little anchor and buoy, to which the long-line, or "bolter," was to +be made fast. + +Here is the problem in mathematical lines: + +Which being explained is that A represents the old mine chimney, B the +cairn, C Gullick Church, and D the tree. The boat was rowed till A and +B were in a straight line, and C and D were also in a straight line. +This would place the boat at E, the fishing-ground, which they could +always find by these simple means. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE CATCHING OF MANY FISH, AND THE GETTING CAUGHT THEMSELVES. + +It was a glorious evening, the aspect of the bay being grand, lit up as +it was by the golden light of the setting sun. Distant windows glowed +like fire; the rugged Cornish hills were like amber; and sea and sky +were gorgeous with brilliant hues. + +"Oh! I do like this!" cried Dick. "I wish poor old--but you will bring +him next time. Now, then, what shall I do?" + +"Sit still," said Josh gruffly, "and see him pay out the line." + +Dick felt snubbed; but on glancing at Will he was met by a friendly nod +as the lad busied himself in making fast one end of the line, coiled up +in the basket, to the buoy-rope, and then, as Josh took both oars, fixed +his eyes upon a point on land, and began to row slowly due south, Will +let the line run over the side. + +It was no easy task, and it required co-operation on the part of him at +the oars, for every now and then, in spite of the care with which the +line had been coiled, and the hooks regularly baited and laid in place, +there would be a disposition to kink, and for hooks to catch and go down +tangled with each other. But Josh always had an eye for this, and was +ready to ease the boat's progress, or in a bad case to back water, while +Will's quick clever fingers pounced upon every hitch, shook out the +line, and sent it down fathom after fathom with its hooks and baits +clear to lie upon the bottom. + +"Shall I--shall I hinder you if I talk?" said Dick at last, when about +half the line was out. + +"Hinder! No," cried Will; "talk away." + +"Why didn't you put the line down there where we caught that beautiful-- +what was it--pollack?" + +"Because the bottom was all rocks, and we should have lost the line. +Besides, it isn't a good place for long-line fish." + +"Oh!" said Dick; and he was silent, watching the line go over, and the +baits seem to dart down through the dark clear water and disappear, +while Josh rowed on and on, with his eyes now on the line-basket, now on +the land, his forehead wrinkled, and his countenance as solemn as if +this were the most serious venture of his life. + +And what a wonderful sight it was! The waters of that great bay turning +to topaz, and then to ruby, as if the oars were plashing up wine, which +bubbled and foamed as the boat went slowly on, while close down in the +shadow, where Will lowered the line, all was of a dark transparent +slate. + +Down went bait after bait, coil after coil of the line, till the uneven +rings in the basket grew fewer--fewer still--then there were only three +or four--two--one. + +"Avast!" shouted Josh, throwing in his oars and dropping another little +grapnel anchor overboard, which ran out so much rope. Then a little tub +buoy was passed after it, and Josh held on by the ring, while Will +fastened the line to the rope, dropped it, and as the last bait rested +on the bottom, turned with satisfied face to the visitor. + +"There!" he said; "that's done." + +"But you did not tell me why you came here to lay the line," said Dick. + +"'Cause it's a good place," growled Josh. + +"Yes; it's a long even bank of sand, all about the same depth, five or +six fathoms; and the flat-fish lie here a good deal." + +"And the trawler can't touch 'em, 'cause there's a rock here and there +as would stop their net." + +"I see," said Dick dubiously. Then, determined to know all--"No, I +don't quite see," he said. "I don't know what you mean by the crawler." + +"Trawler, lad--trawler. I didn't say crawler," cried Josh. "A mussy +me!" he added softly. + +"Well, trawler, then. What's a trawler?" + +"Fore-an'-aft rig boat." + +"Oh, I say!" cried Dick merrily, "it's all like Dutch to me. How am I +to know what a fore-an'-aft rig boat is?" + +"A mussy me!" groaned Josh, to Will's great delight; "how your +eddication have been neglected! Don't you know what rig means?" + +"Yes; the rigging of a ship." + +"Or a boat," said Josh. "Well, don't you know what fore-and-aft means?" + +"Not unless it's before and after, or behind." + +"It ain't no before and no after; it's fore-and-aft," growled Josh. + +"He's quite right, Josh," said Will, taking his new friend's side; "fore +means before, or forward, and aft means after, or behind." + +"Oh! very well; have it your own way," said Josh, putting a pellet of +tobacco in his mouth. "I call it fore-and-aft." + +"That's right too, Josh. Look here, sir, we call the rig of a boat or +ship fore-and-aft when the sails are flat, like they are in a cutter or +sloop or schooner. When I say flat I mean stretching from the front of +the vessel to the stern; and we call it square-rigged when the sails are +put across." + +"Then there's lug-sails like them," said Josh, pointing to some +fishing-boats, whose brown sails stood out against the amber sky; "and +there's lots of other rigs as well." + +"Yes; but what's a trawler?" cried Dick. + +"It's a fore-and-aft rigged boat that trawls," said Will. "She has a +great net like a big night-cap stretched over on a spar, which we call a +trawl-beam, and this is lowered down, and as the boat sails it is +dragged along the bottom, and catches soles, and turbot, and plaice and +sometimes john-dory, and gurnet, and brill. They like sandy banks, such +as this is; and if there were no rocks the trawler would soon sweep this +clean." + +"On'y, they can't run their trawl along here a-cause o' the rocks," said +Josh. + +"Which would catch the net, and they'd p'r'aps lose it." + +"But they might fish it up again." + +"Oh, yes! I daresay they would," replied Will with a smile. + +"I say," cried Dick, "I wish you wouldn't call things by such names. +What's a creeper?" + +"These are creepers that we've just put down; grapnels." + +"Ah, we call them drags in London," said Dick. "I say, I should like to +go in a trawler." + +"Well, you easily can," replied Will, "if you are going to stay here." + +"Think you've got a bite yet?" + +"What, at the baits? Let's try." + +Josh was already putting the boat about, and was beginning to row back +over the same ground towards the first buoy. + +"Oh, you're going to try there first!" said Dick. + +"Of course, where the line has been down longest," said Will. "See how +the tide flows." + +"Does it?" responded Dick, staring. + +"Yes; can you see that Josh has to pull harder with one oar than with +the other, or else we should be carried right away from the buoy? The +line's set right across the tide." + +"Is it? Why?" + +"So as to be ready for the fish that come up with the tide to feed. +Look at that." + +"Why, it rains," cried Dick. "No, it don't. Why, the water's all of a +patter. It's fish rising." + +"Little school o' mack'rel," said Josh. "They'll be seeing o' them from +up the cliff bime-by." + +"And does a _school_ of mackerel always play about on the top like +that?" said Dick, watching the dappled water where the fish were +swimming close to the surface. + +"Not it, lad. They're oftener down below. Look at the mews coming +after 'em." + +He nodded in the direction of half a dozen grey gulls which came +flapping towards them, and as the school passed off to the left and the +boat bore to the right Dick could see the flap-winged birds keep dipping +down with a querulous cry, splash the water, and ascend again. + +"They're after the brill," said Will. + +"Brill!" + +"Yes; the small fish that the mackerel are feeding on. They keep +snatching them up from the top of the water. Little fish about half as +big as sprats. Look at them, you can almost see the little fish they +catch. There, that fellow has got a good one." + +And so they watched the evolutions of the gulls for a few minutes, till +Josh called out "_Avast_!" and Dick turned, to find that they were back +at the first buoy. + +"Now, then, are you ready?" said Will. + +"Yes," cried Dick. + +"Take Josh's gaff then, and you shall hook in the first big one." + +Will's sleeves were rolled up above the elbow, and the line was drawn up +over the boat, which was so placed that the line was across it, Josh +helping with one oar, while Will hauled at the line, drawing it up one +side and letting it go down again on the other. + +First bait untouched, and passed on to descend on the other side. +Second bait gone, and replaced by a fresh piece of squid from the +basket. Third bait gone, and replaced, to descend on the other side. +Then four baits untouched, six more gone, taken off. + +"Why, if you'd been ready to strike, you might have had all these fish +when they began to bite," cried Dick. + +"P'r'aps so," said Will. "Maybe it was only the crabs that bit the +baits off." + +And all the time he kept on hauling in the line and examining the hook +till they were a long way on towards the farther buoy. + +"Oh, I say," cried Dick at last, "this isn't half such good sport as-- +what do you call it?--whiffing." + +"Think not?" said Will. + +"Yes, that I do. I should have thought you would have caught lots of +fish with a line like this." + +"So we do," cried Josh, "sometimes." + +"I wish you'd catch something now," said Dick in a disappointed tone. + +"Here you are then," cried Will, laughing as he hauled on at the line; +"a big one." + +"Where, where?" cried Dick, ready with the hook. + +"Down below here; I can feel him." + +"Let me haul him in." + +"No, no," said Will. "You'd better let me. You'll get too wet. Be +ready with the hook." + +"Yes, yes, I am," cried Dick, more excitedly than ever. + +But he began to look disappointed as he saw three bare hooks drawn out, +all of which Will baited and passed on, to fall into the sea on the +other side. + +"Why, there can't be," began Dick. "Yes, there he is; I can see him." + +"Yes, here he comes," said Will, hauling strongly now as a great +quivering grey object changing to white could be seen below. "Ready +with the hook! slip it into him anywhere, and haul him aboard. Never +mind a bit of splashing." + +But Dick did flinch for a few moments as something came to the surface, +beating, flapping, and sending the water flying; while before the lad +had recovered from his surprise, Josh had bent forward, taken the hook, +and lifted the great fish on board just as it freed itself from the +hook, and lay floundering at the bottom of the boat. + +"Skate," cried Dick. "What a monster!" + +"No," cried Will, coolly rebaiting the hook; "it's his first cousin. +That's a thornback. Mind his prickles." + +The great ugly sharky fish was hooked forward by Josh and placed in a +great basket, where it lay writhing its eely tail, and flapping its +wing-like fins as the boat slowly progressed, and bait after bait was +replaced, many being untouched, the thornback, skate, or ray being the +only fish taken. + +"But he's a very big one," said Dick, seeking to make up for the +disappointment. + +"Yes, she's big enough," said Josh; "but they don't pay for taking." + +"Better luck next run down," said Will, as they rowed back to the first +buoy, he helping this time with an oar. "The fish feed better when it +begins to be dusk; they can't see the line." + +"But they would not be able to see the bait." + +"Then they would smell it," said Will. "Fish generally feed best in the +dark." + +The buoy was reached, and the line once more hauled aboard, this time +with a grey gurnard on the first hook. The second was bare. The third +and fourth both had gurnards upon them. Then there was an untouched +bait, and then a very large plaice, dotted with orange spots, whose +appearance made Josh grunt with satisfaction. Next came a large sole, +then a small one, and again a large sole, after which there was a long +array of empty hooks, and Dick began to feel dissatisfied, for there was +no work for the gaff-hook. + +"Here's a conger, I think," said Will suddenly. + +"A conger!" cried Dick excitedly, as he began to think of gigantic +creatures like sea-serpents. + +"Yes, a small one. Get your knife, Josh." + +The latter opened his big knife, and as a great eel about three feet +long was drawn over the side they did not trouble to extract the hook +which was swallowed right down; but Josh cut the string of the snooding +close to the living creature's jaws, and let it drop in the boat, about +which it began to travel serpent-fashion to Dick's great discomfort. + +"She won't hurt you," said Josh, "unless you put your finger in her +mouth. She can bite, but not like the big ones." + +"But is this a conger?" said Dick, watching the slimy creature as it +sought for a hiding-place, and strove to get under the grating in the +bottom of the boat. + +"Conger! To be sure it is," said Will. + +"But I thought congers were very big." + +"They grow big, of course," said Will smiling. + +"But this may be only a large eel. They do go in the sea, you know." + +"Oh, yes! I know they do; but river eels don't have eyes like this. +Look at them," he said, pointing to the creature's huge eyes. "Sea fish +nearly all have very large eyes, so as to see deep down at the bottom. +Here's something better. Now try and gaff this." + +"Why, it's another skate," cried Dick, determined this time not to give +up the hook; and as the large round white fish came up fighting hard +against capture he made a dash at it and hooked it firmly, drawing it +over the side, to lie flapping in the bottom of the boat. + +"That's better," cried Will. + +"Cheerily ho, my lad; well done," cried Josh. "That's the way to gawf +'em." + +"But it's a turbot," said Dick excitedly. "Why, you don't catch turbots +here, and like this?" + +"Seems as if we did," said Will laughing, "when we can. We don't often +have a bit of luck like this. He's worth seven or eight shillings." + +"My father will buy it," cried Dick. "I say, let him have it." + +"Oh, he shall have it if he likes," cried Will, as the turbot was thrown +into the basket to set the skate flapping, and the gurnards curling +their heads round towards their tails like cleaned whiting, and a +regular scuffle took place. + +Meanwhile the boat was forced on beneath the line and a whiting and a +couple of small plaice were taken off. Then more bait had disappeared, +and then the last hook was being hauled up when Will snatched at the +hook, made a sharp stroke with it, twisted it round, and held it under +water for a minute before dragging out a nasty grey-looking bag, all +tentacles, and with a couple of ugly eyes, which dropped from the hook +as Will gave it a twist. + +"Cuttle-fish," he said. "Did you see him squirt out his ink?" + +"And make that cloud in the water?" said Dick. "Yes, I saw." + +This curious object with its suckers took his attention as they rowed +back once more to the first buoy, where once more the line was overrun, +the first fish caught being a dog-fish--a long, thin, sharky-looking +creature, with its mouth right underneath and back from its snout, and +its tail not like that of an ordinary fish, but unequal in the fork, +that is to say, with a little lobe and a very large one. + +"Game's over," said Josh. "Let's go back and get in the buoy and +creeper." + +"Yes," assented Will; "it's of no more use to-night." + +"Why?" asked Dick. + +"Drove of dogs on the bank, my lad," said Josh. "They'll eat every bait +we put down. No use to fish any more to-night." + +Dick did not believe it, but he said nothing as the first buoy was taken +on board, and the little creeper anchor hauled in. Then the oars were +laid in, and Josh set to work hauling in the line, leaving the boat to +drift, the line being strong enough for them to work it up towards the +second buoy, while both took off the baits and the fish--twelve of them, +and all dog-fish, to be killed and thrown overboard. + +At last the boat was drawn right up to the last buoy, the hooks being +all cleaned and laid in place, and the line coiled in its basket, the +evening growing dark the while, and the lights twinkling on the shore, +when, all at once, as Josh was hauling in the little anchor, Will +happened to look up. + +"Quick, Josh! oars! pull!" + +Dick started and looked up, and as he did so it seemed as if a great +black cloud were coming to crush them down. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +HOW TO BALE OUT A BOAT WHEN SHE'S MUCH TOO FULL. + +Accidents generally happen instantaneously; people are in safety one +moment, the next there is a sudden awakening to the fact that something +dreadful has happened. It was so here in the coming darkness of night. +Almost before the two lads had realised more than the fact that +something black was approaching there was a loud rushing noise, a crash, +and shock, as the boat was struck a tremendous blow on the side, whirled +round, sucked under water, and then all was blackness, choking, +strangling sensations, and a horrible sense of dread. + +Dick, fresh from London, did not understand what was the matter. For +one moment he had an idea that the boat had been attacked by a monstrous +whale; the next moment that and every other idea was washed out of him +by the dark waters, which ran up his nose and thundered in his ears, as +they made him gasp for breath. + +How long this lasted he could not tell, before he found himself on the +surface, confused and helpless, amidst a sheet of foaming, swirling +waters. + +"Can you swim?" some one shouted in his ear. + +"Ye-es--a--lit-tle," panted Dick. + +"Steady then, steady, lad. Slow--slow--take in a reef. You'll drown +yourself like a pup if you beat the water that how." + +Influenced by the stronger will and the stern order, Dick, who had been +striking out with all his might, calmed down and began to swim steadily, +but with a great dread seeming to paralyse his limbs, while Josh, who +was by him, shouted, "_Ahoy_!" + +"Ahoy!" came faintly from a distance, in the direction where the black +cloud had resolved itself into the form of a great screw steamer with +star-like lights visible here and there. + +"Here away, lad," shouted back Josh. "They haven't seen us," he added +to Dick. + +"What--what was it?" panted Dick, who was swimming more steadily now. + +"Big steamer--run us down--ain't seen us--no good to shout," cried Josh. +"Steady, lad, steady. We've got to swim ashore." + +"Josh, ahoy! Where's young master?" came out of the darkness. And now +as Dick grew a little calmer, he fancied he saw pale lambent flashes of +light on the water a little distance away. + +"Here he be," shouted back Josh. "Steady, boy, steady! Don't tire +yourself like that," he added again to Dick. + +The latter tried hard to obey, as he now became aware that at every +stroke he made the water flashed into pale golden light; tiny dots of +cold fire ran hither and thither beneath the surface, and ripples of +lambent phosphorescent glow fell off to right and left. + +At the same moment almost, he saw, beyond the star-like lanthorns of the +steamer, the twinkling lights of the village, apparently at a tremendous +distance away, while one strong bright star shed a long ray of light +across the water, being the big lamp in the wooden cage at the end of +the harbour pier. + +"Avast there, Will!" shouted Josh again; "let's overhaul you, and keep +together. Seen either o' the buoys?" + +"No." + +"Why don't they swim ashore?" thought Dick. "Never mind the buoys. Oh! +I shall never do it." + +A cold chilly feeling of despair came over him, and he began to beat the +water more rapidly as his eyes fixed themselves wildly on the far-off +lights, and he thought of his father and brother, perhaps waiting for +him on the pier. + +"Swim slowly," cried another voice close by; and Dick's heart gave a +leap. "It's a long way, but we can do it." + +"Can you?" panted poor Dick, who was nearly exhausted. "How far is it?" + +"About two miles, but the tide's with us." + +"I can't do it," panted Dick, "not a hundred yards." + +"Yes, you can," said Will firmly. "Only just move your arms steady, and +let the tide carry you along. Josh," he said more loudly, "keep close +here." + +"Ay, lad, I will," replied the fisherman; and the calm, confident tones +of his companions, who spoke as if it were a matter of course to swim a +couple of miles, encouraged the lad a little; but his powers and his +confidence were fast ebbing away, and it was not a matter of many +minutes before he would have been helpless. + +For even if the sea had been perfectly smooth, he was no experienced +swimmer, his efforts in this direction having been confined to a dip in +the river when out on fishing excursions, or a bit of a practice in some +swimming-bath at home. But the sea was not perfectly smooth, for the +swift tide was steadily raising the water into long, gently heaving +waves, which carried the swimmers, as it were, up one minute to the top +of a little ridge, and then sank them the next down, down, out of sight, +into what seemed to be profound darkness whenever the pier light was +blotted out. + +"I--I--can't keep on," panted Dick at last, with a piteous cry. "Tell +father--" + +He could say no more, for, striking out feebly, he had allowed his mouth +to sink beneath the surface, and breathing in a quantity of strangling +water he began to beat the surface, and then felt himself seized. + +Involuntarily, and with that natural instinct that prompts the drowning +to cling to anything they touch, Dick's hands clutched despairing at the +stout arm that came to his help, but only to feel himself shaken off and +snatched back, so that his face was turned towards the stars. + +"Float! Hold still! Hands under water!" a voice yelled in his ear; and +half stunned, half insensible, he obeyed, getting his breath better at +times, at others feeling the strangling water sweep over his face. + +It was a time of great peril, but there was aid such as neither Josh nor +Will had counted upon close at hand. + +"I'll keep him afloat till I'm tired," Josh had said hoarsely, "and then +you must have a turn. You can manage to make the shore, can't you?" + +"Yes," said Will; "but we--we mustn't leave him, Josh." + +"Who's going to?" growled Josh fiercely. "You keep aside me." + +They swam on, every stroke making the water flash, and the +phosphorescence, like pale golden oil, sweep aside and ripple and flow +upon the surface. The sky was now almost black but quite ablaze with +stars, and the big lamp at the pierhead sent its cheery rays out, as if +to show them the way to go, but in the transparent darkness it seemed to +be miles upon miles away, while the sturdy swimmers felt as if they got +no nearer, toil as they might. + +"I'm going to give him over to you, lad," said Josh in his sing-song +voice, for he had calmed down now. "I'll soon take him again, lad, +but--" + +"Hooray, Josh!" cried back Will; and he struck off to the left. + +"What is it, lad?" + +"Boat! the boat!" + +Josh wrenched himself up in the water, and looked over Dick, to see, +dimly illumined by the golden ripples of the water, the outline of the +boat, flush with the surface, its shape just seen by the +phosphorescence, and he bore towards it. + +"T'other side, Will, lad," cried Josh as he swam vigorously over the few +intervening yards, half drowning Dick by forcing his head under water +again and again; but as he reached the boat's side, which was now an +inch or two above, now the same distance below, he drew the lad flat on +the surface, passed his hands beneath him, got hold of the gunwale, and +half rolled Dick in, half drew the boat beneath him. + +"Mind he don't come out that side, lad," shouted Josh. + +"Ay, ay!" And then Will held on by one side of the sunken boat, while +Josh held on the other. + +So slight was the buoyancy of the filled boat that the slightest touch +in the way of pressure sent it down, and Dick could have drowned as +easily there as in the open sea, but that, feeling something hard +beneath him, a spark of hope shot to his brain, and he began to struggle +once more. + +"Keep still," shouted Will. "Lie back with your head on the gunwale;" +and Dick obeyed, content to keep his face just above water so that he +might breathe. + +"It arn't much help, but it are a bit of help, eh, lad?" panted Josh. +"Way oh! Steady!" + +"Yes, it is a rest, Josh," panted back Will, whose spirits rose from +somewhere about despair-point to three degrees above hope; but in his +effort to get a little too much support from that which was not prepared +to give any, he pressed on the gunwale at his side, and sent it far +below the surface, drawing from Josh the warning shout, "Way oh! +Steady!" + +The slightest thing sent the gunwale under--in fact, the pressure of a +baby's hand would have been sufficient to keep it below the surface; but +the experienced swimmers on either side knew what they were about, and +after seeing that Dick's face was above water, and without any +consultation, both being moved by the same impulse, they threw +themselves on their backs beside the sunken boat, one with, his head +towards her stem, the other head to stern, and after a moment's pause +each took hold of the gunwale lightly with his left hand, his right +being free, and then they waited till they began to float upward. + +"Ready, lad?" said Josh. + +"Ready," cried Will. + +"Both together, then." + +Then there was a tremendous splashing as each turned his right-hand into +a scoop and began to throw out the water with a skilful rapid motion +somewhat similar to the waving of the fin of a fish; and this they kept +up for quite five minutes, when Josh shouted again: + +"Easy!" + +There was not much result. They had dashed out a tremendous quantity of +water, but nearly as much had flowed in again over the sides, as in +their efforts they had sometimes dragged down the gunwale a little. +Besides which a little wave had now and then broken against one or the +other and sent gallons of water into the boat. + +Still they had done something, and after a rest Josh cried again: + +"Ready? Go ahead." + +Once more the splashing began, the water flying out of the boat like +showers of liquid gold; and just when the hand-paddles were in full play +the boat began to move slightly, then a little more. Neither Josh nor +Will knew why, for they could not see that it sank a little lower for a +few minutes and then began to rise. + +"Hooray!" cried Josh hoarsely. "Well done, young un; out with it. +Hooray! Oh, look at that!" + +He had just awakened to the fact that Dick had come to himself +sufficiently to alter his position, and was lending his aid by scooping +out the water with both hands till a wave came with a slight wash and +half demolished all their work. + +"Keep on," shouted Will; and once more the splashing went forward at a +tremendous rate. + +A handful of water, or as much as it will throw, out of a full boat is +not much; but when three hands are busy ladling with all their might a +tremendous amount of water can be baled out, and so it was, that when +the balers rested again there were three inches of freeboard, as sailors +call it, and the next wave did not lessen it a quarter of an inch. + +"Ready again?" cried Josh. "Go ahead, youngster." + +The splashing went on once more; and now both Will and Josh could +support themselves easily by holding on to the gunwale, the boat +increasing in buoyancy every moment, while three hands scooped out the +water with long and vigorous well-laden throws. + +It became easier for Dick too now, for he found that he could sit +astride one of the thwarts, holding on in position by twisting his legs +beneath; and this gave him power to use both hands, which he joined +together and scooped out the water in pints that became quarts, gallons, +and bucketsfull. + +"Hooray!" cried Josh with a cheer, and there was a few minutes' rest. +"A mussy me! it's child's play now. Look here; s'pose you roll out now +and take my place. No: go out on Will's side and hold on by him while I +get in." + +Dick shivered at the idea. It seemed so horrible to give up his safe +position and trust to the sea once more. But he did not hesitate long. + +Taking tight hold of the bulwark, he literally rolled over the side and +let himself down into the sea, with the phosphorescence making his body, +limbs, and feet even, visible like those of his companion. But there +was no time to study the wonders of Nature then, or even look at the way +in which the keel of the boat was illumined by myriads of golden points. + +"Hold on! Steady! Keep her down!" cried Josh; and then, as the two +lads clung to the gunwale they were raised right up, as there was a +wallow and a splash; the opposite side went down so low that it began to +ship water, but only for a moment; Josh had given a spring, and rolled +in over the side. + +"Now, then, leave him there, Will, lad, and work round, by her starn. +I'll soon have some of the water out now." + +He began feeling about as he spoke with his hands beneath the thwarts +forward, and directly after he uttered a cry of joy. + +"Here she be," he said, tearing out the half of a tin bucket that had +held the bait. "Now we'll do some work." + +As he spoke he began dipping and emptying, pouring nearly a gallon of +water over the side at every turn; and in ten minutes, during which he +had laboured incessantly, he had made such a change that he bade Will +come in. + +"Now you can bale a bit," he said. "My arms are about dead." + +Will climbed in and took the bucket, scooping out the water with all his +might, while Josh bent over Dick. + +"You're 'bout perished, my lad. Come along." + +He placed his hands under Dick's arm-pits, and though he said that his +own arms were about dead he hoisted the boy in almost without an effort, +and then left him to help himself, while he resumed baling with his +hands, scooping out the water pretty fast, and each moment lightening +the little craft. + +"Good job we'd no stone killicks aboard, Will," he said, "or down she'd +have gone." + +"There's the buoys too wedged forward," said Will; "they have helped to +keep her up." + +"'Bout balanced the creepers," said Josh. "It's a question of a pound +weight at a time like this. There, take it steadily, my lads. We're +safe now, and can see that the tide's carrying of us in. Lights look +bigger, eh?" + +"Yes," said Will, who was working hard with his baler. "Where shall we +drive ashore?" + +"Oh! pretty close to the point," cried Josh. "I say, youngster, this is +coming fishing, eh?" + +"Oh! it is horrible," said Dick, piteously. + +"Not it, lad," cried Josh. "It's grand. Why, we might ha' been +drownded, and, what's wuss, never washed ashore." + +Dick shivered as much from cold as misery, and gazed in the direction of +the lights. + +"Wonder what steamer that was as run us down!" said Josh, as the vessel +he used to bale began now to scrape the wood at the bottom of the boat. + +"French screw," replied Will. "An English boat would have kept a better +look-out. Why, you are cold!" he added, as he laid his hand on Dick. + +"Ye-es," said the latter with a shudder. "It is horribly cold. Shall +we ever get ashore?" + +"Ashore! yes," cried Josh. "Why, they'd be able, 'most to hear us now. +Let's try." + +Taking a long breath, he placed both hands to his cheeks, and then gave +vent to a dismal hail--a hail in a minor key--the cry of the sailor in +dire peril, when he appeals to those on shore to come to his help, and +save him from the devouring storm-beaten sea. + +"Ahoy--ah!" the last syllable in a sinking inflexion of the voice a few +seconds after the first. + +Then again: + +"Ahoy--ah!" + +He went on baling till no more water could be thrown out, and the boat +drifted slowly on with the tide. + +Away to their left there rose the lamp-lit windows and the pier light. +Lower down, too, were a couple of dim red lamps, one above the other, +telling of the little dock; but no answer came from the shore. + +"There's sure to be some one on the cliff, Josh; hail again," said Will. + +"Ay, if we had a flare now, we should bring out the life-boat to fetch +us in," cried Josh. "Why, Will lad, we shall be taken a mile away from +the town, and perhaps out to sea again. I wish I had an oar." + +"Ahoy--ah!" + +Then again and again; and still there was no response, while they +drifted slowly on over the sea, which looked to Dick, as he gazed down +into its depths, alive with tiny stars, and these not the reflections of +those above. + +"Ahoy--ah!" shouted Josh again, with all the power of his stentorian +lungs. + +"They're all asleep," he growled; "we shall have to drift ashore and +walk home. If I only had one oar I'd scull her back in no time. Ahoy-- +ah!" + +Still no response, and the boat floated on beneath the wondrous starry +sky, while every time those in the boat made the slightest movement a +golden rippling film seemed to run from her sides, and die away upon the +surface of the sea. + +"She brimes a deal," said Josh, in allusion to the golden water; and +then, leaping up, he began to beat his breast with his arms; "I'm +a-cold!" he exclaimed. "Now, then; let's have a try;" and, placing his +hands to his face once more, he uttered a tremendous hail. + +"Ahoy--ah!" + +Long drawn out and dismal; and then Dick's heart gave a quick hopeful +leap, for, from far away, and sounding faint and strange, came an +answering hail, but not like Josh's dismal appeal. It was a sharp, +short, cheery "_Ahoy_!" full of promise of action. + +"They've heard us at last!" cried Will eagerly. "That's the coastguard, +and they'll come off in their gig, as it's so smooth." + +"I say," said Josh, in his low sing-song way; "haven't I put it too +strong? They'll think somethin' 'orrid's wrong--that it's a wreck, or +somethin' worse." + +"Let them!" cried Will. "It's horrible enough to be afloat in an open +boat in the dark without oar or sail. Hail again, Josh." + +"Ahoy--ah!" cried the fisherman once more, and an answer came back at +once. Then another and another. + +"They'll soon get a boat," cried Will. "You listen." + +"But they'll never find us in the dark!" cried Dick dismally. + +"Oh, won't they!" cried Josh; "they'd find us if we was only out in a +pork tub. Lor' a mussy me, youngster, you don't know our Cornish lads!" + +"We shall keep on hailing now and then," said Will, whose teeth were +chattering in spite of his cheery tones. + +"Ahoy--oy--oy!" + +Very distinct but very distant the shouting of a numerous crowd of +people; and now, like the tiniest and faintest of specks, lights could +be seen dancing about on the shore, while all at once, one star, a vivid +blue star, burst out, burning clear and bright for a few minutes, making +Dick gaze wonderingly ashore. + +"Blue light," said Will. + +"To hearten us up a bit, and say the boat's coming!" cried Josh. +"Ahoy--ah! Let 'em know which way to row." + +Josh shouted from time to time, and then Will gave a shout or two; and +there were answering shouts that seemed to come nearer, and at last +plain enough there was the light of a lanthorn rising and falling +slowly, telling of its being in a boat that was being propelled by stout +rowers. + +"Why, my father's sure to be in that boat!" cried Dick suddenly. "He'll +have been frightened about me, and have come off to see." + +"Shouldn't wonder," said Josh. "I should if I had a boy." + +"You shall hail when they get nearer," said Will. "They couldn't hear +you yet." + +"I wish he could!" cried Dick. "He'll have been in such trouble. Oh, I +know!" + +He had suddenly remembered a little silver whistle that was attached to +his chain, and placing it to his lips he blew upon it a shrill +ear-piercing scream. + +"There, I knew he would be!" cried Dick joyously; and he gave Will a +hearty clap upon the shoulder in the eagerness of his delight. For from +far away, where the dim light rose and fell upon the waters, there came +an answering shrill chirruping whistle. + +Then Dick gave two short whistles. + +Two exactly similar came in response. + +"I knew he would be," cried Dick; "but he'll be very angry, I suppose." + +"Uncle Abram will be there too, I should say," said Will quietly. + +"Why, your father won't be angry, my lad," said Josh after a few +minutes' thought. "If he be it'll be with Josh, which is me, for not +keeping a bright lookout. He can't row you for being run down, for you +wasn't neither captain nor the crew. Hillo! ahoy--ah!" he answered in +return to a hail. + +"I say!" said Dick suddenly; "the lights are going the other way." + +"Right, my lad; and so they have been this quarter hour past." + +"Why's that?" said Dick. + +"Because the tide's ebbing fast." + +"And what does that mean?" cried Dick. + +"As if they didn't overhaul us we should be carried out to sea." + +"But will they find us, Will?" + +"No fear of that. See how plain the light's getting. Ahoy--ah! ahoy-- +ah! They're not above a quarter of a mile away." + +Soon after the dipping of the oars could be seen as they threw up the +lambent light in flashes, while an ever-widening track of sparkling +water was plain to the eyes. Then the voices came asking questions. + +"Ahoy! Who's aboard there?" + +"Young gent Dick!" yelled Josh back. + +"Who else?" + +"Will Marion!" + +"Who else? Is that Josh?" + +"Ahoy, lad!" + +"Hurrah!" came from the boat three times, and the oars made the water +flash again as they were more vigorously plied. + +"That's your sort, Master Dick!" cried Josh. "That's Cornish, that is! +They chaps is as glad at finding us as--as--as--" + +"We should be at finding them," said Will. + +"Ay; that's it!" + +And so it seemed, for a few minutes more and the boat was alongside, and +the wet and shivering fishers were seated in the stern-sheets, wrapped +in oilskins and great-coats, their boat made fast behind, and Dick's +hand tight in that of his father, who said no word of reproach; while, +after a long pull against tide, with the boat towing behind, they were +landed at the head of the little harbour, where a crowd of the +simple-hearted folk, many having lanthorns, saluted them with a hearty +cheer, and any amount of hospitality bright have been theirs. + +For these dwellers by the sea, who follow their daily toil upon the +treacherous waters, are always ready with their help, to give or take in +the brotherly way that has long been known in the fishing villages upon +the Cornish shores. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +DICK TEMPLE FINDS IT UNPLEASANT FOR ANOTHER TO LEARN TO SMOKE. + +There was too much to do in seeing that Dick was not likely to suffer +from his long exposure for his father to say much to him that night. +But there was a little conversation between Dick and Arthur, who slept +in the same room. + +It was after the candle was out, Arthur having received strict +injunctions to go quietly to bed and not disturb his brother, who was +said to be in a nice sleep and perspiring well. + +This is what the doctor said, for he had been fetched and had felt +Dick's pulse. He had looked very grave and shaken his head, saying that +fever might supervene, and ended by prescribing a stimulus under another +name, and a hot bath. + +"Just as if I hadn't sucked up water enough to last me for a month!" +Dick had said. + +The people at the little hotel thought it unnecessary to send for a +doctor, and when he came the doctor thought so too; but he omitted to +make any remarks to that effect, contenting himself with looking very +grave, and treating Dick as if his was a very serious case indeed. + +And now the patient was lying snugly tucked up in bed, with only his +nose and one eye visible, with the exception of a tuft of his hair, and +Arthur was undressing in the dark, and very carefully folding up his +clothes. + +He had been deliberately undressing himself, brushing his hair, and +going generally through a very niggling performance for nearly half an +hour before Dick spoke, for the latter was enjoying the fun, as he +called it, "of listening to old Taff muddling about in the dark, instead +of jumping into bed at once." + +At last, however, he spoke: + +"I'm not asleep, Taff." + +"Not asleep!" cried his brother. "What! haven't you been asleep?" + +"No." + +"What! not all the time I've been undressing?" + +"No." + +"Then it was very deceitful of you to lie there shamming." + +"Didn't sham," said Dick. + +"Yes, you did, and pretended that you were very ill." + +"No, I didn't. I didn't want the doctor fetched." + +"But why did you pretend to be asleep?" + +"I didn't, I tell you. I only lay still and watched you fumbling about +and taking so long to undress." + +"Oh, did you?" said Arthur haughtily. "Well, now lie still, sir, and go +to sleep. You are ill." + +"No, I'm not," cried Dick cheerily; "only precious hot." + +"Then if you are not ill you ought to be ashamed of yourself," said +Arthur pettishly; "causing papa so much anxiety." + +"Why, I think I behaved well," said Dick, chuckling to himself. "If I +had taken you with me I should have given father twice as much trouble +and worry." + +"Taken me! Why, I should not have gone," said Arthur haughtily; "and if +you had not been so fond of getting into low company all this would not +have happened." + +"Get out with your low company! There was nothing low about those two +fishermen." + +"I only call one of them a boy," said Arthur, yawning. + +"Oh, very well: boy then. But I say, Taff, I wish you had been there." + +"Thank you. I was much better at home." + +"I mean while we were fishing. I caught such lovely mackerel, and a +magnificent Polly something--I forget its name--all orange and gold and +bronze, nine or ten pound weight." + +"Stuff!" said Arthur contemptuously. + +"But I did, I tell you." + +"Then where is it?" + +"Where is it? Oh, I don't know. When the steamer ran us down the fish +and the tackle and all went overboard, I suppose. I never saw it +again." + +"Then you lost all the sprats," said Arthur sneeringly. + +"Sprats! Get out, you sneering old Taff! You are disappointed because +you didn't go with us. Why, there was a big turbot, and a sole or two, +and a great skate with a prickly back, and gurnards and dog-fish." + +"And cats?" sneered Arthur. + +"No, there were no cats, Taff. I say, though, I wish you had been +there, only not when we got into trouble. I'll get Josh and Will to +take you next time we go." + +"Next time you go!" echoed Arthur. "Why, you don't suppose that papa +will let you go again?" + +"Oh, yes, I do," said Dick, yawning and speaking drowsily. "Because a +chap falls off a horse once, nobody says he isn't to ride any more. +You'll see: father will let me go. I don't suppose--we should--should-- +what say?" + +"I didn't speak," said Arthur haughtily. "There, go to sleep." + +"Go to sleep!" said Dick. "No--not bit sleepy. I--I'm--very +comfortable, though, and--and--Ah!" + +That last was a heavy sigh, and Arthur Temple lay listening to his +brother's deep regular breathing for some minutes, feeling bitter and +hurt at all that had taken place that day, and as if he had been thrust +into a very secondary place. Then he, too, dropped asleep, and he was +still sleeping soundly when Dick awoke, to jump out of bed and pull up +the blind, so that he could look out on the calm sea, which looked +pearly and grey and rosy in the morning sunshine. Great patches of mist +were floating here and there, hiding the luggers and shutting out +headlands, and everywhere the shores looked so beautiful that the lad +dressed hurriedly, donning an old suit of tweed, the flannels he had +worn the day before being somewhere in the kitchen, where they were hung +up to dry. + +"I'd forgotten all about that," said Dick to himself. "I wonder where +Will Marion is, and whether he'd go for a bathe." + +Dick looked out on the calm sea, and wondered how anything could have +been so awful looking as it seemed the night before. + +"It must have been out there," he thought, as he looked at the sun-lit +bay, then at the engine-houses far up on the hills and near the cliff, +and these set him thinking about his father's mission in Cornwall. + +"I wonder whether father will begin looking at the mines to-day!" he +said to himself. "I should like to know what time it is! I wonder +whether Will Marion is up yet, and--Hallo! what's this?" + +Dick had caught sight of something lying on the table beside his +brother's neat little dressing-case--a small leather affair containing +brush, comb, pomatum, and scent-bottles, tooth-brushes, nail-brushes, +and the usual paraphernalia used by gentlemen who shave, though Arthur +Temple's face was as smooth as that of a little girl of nine. + +Dick took up the something, which was of leather, and in the shape of a +porte-monnaie with gilt metal edges, and on one side a gilt shield upon +which was engraved, in flourishing letters, "AT." + +"Old Taffs started a cigar-case," said Dick, bursting into a guffaw. "I +wonder whether--yes--five!" he added, as he opened the case and saw five +cigars tucked in side by side and kept in their places by a leather +band. "What a game! I'll smug it and keep it for ever so long. He +ought not to smoke." + +Just then the handle of the door rattled faintly, the door was thrust +open, and as Dick scuffled the cigar-case into his breast-pocket Mr +Temple appeared, coming in very cautiously so as not to disturb his sick +son. + +Dick did not know it, but his father had been in four times during the +night to lay a hand upon his forehead and listen to his breathing, and +he started now in astonishment. + +"What, up, Dick?" he said in a low voice, after a glance at the bed, +where Arthur was sleeping soundly. + +"Yes, father; I was going to have a bathe." + +"But--do you feel well?" + +"Yes, quite well, father. I'm all right." + +Mr Temple looked puzzled for a few minutes, and then rubbed his ear, +half-amused, half vexed. + +"Don't wake Arthur," he said. "Come along down and we'll have a walk +before breakfast." + +"All right, father!" cried Dick smiling, and he followed his father out +of the room and down-stairs, where they met the landlord. + +"All right again then, sir?" said the latter cheerily. "Ah! I thought +our salt-water wouldn't hurt him. Rather a rough ride for him, though, +first time. When would you like breakfast, sir?" + +"At eight," said Mr Temple; and after a few more words he and Dick +strolled out upon the cliff. + +"Now are you sure, Dick, that you are quite well?" said his father. +"Have you any feverish sensations?" + +"No, father." + +"You don't feel anything at all?" + +"No, father. Yes, I do," cried Dick sharply. + +"Indeed! what?" cried Mr Temple. + +"So precious hungry." + +"Oh!" said his father, smiling. "Well, here is one who will find us +some refreshment." + +He pointed to a man with a large can, and they were willingly supplied +each with a draught of milk, after which they bent their steps towards +the pier. + +"I have my glass, Dick," said Mr Temple, "and I can have a good look at +the shore from out there." + +"Lend it to me, father," cried Dick eagerly; and quickly focussing it, +he directed it at a group of fishermen on their way down to the harbour. + +"Yes, there they are," cried Dick eagerly. "There's Josh, and there's +Will. I say, father, I don't believe they had the doctor to them last +night," he added laughingly. "You were too frightened about me, you +know." + +"The danger is behind you now, and so you laugh at it, my boy," replied +Mr Temple quietly; "but you did not feel disposed to laugh last night +when you were drifting in the boat. And, Dick, my boy, some day you may +understand better the meaning of the word anxiety." + +"Were you very anxious about me last night, father?" said Dick eagerly. + +"I was in agony, my boy," said Mr Temple quietly. + +Dick's lips parted, and he was about to say something, but the words +would not come. His lip quivered, and the tears rose to his eyes, but +he turned away his head, thrust his hands down into his pockets, and +began to whistle, while his father's brow wrinkled, and, not seeing his +boy's face, nor reading the emotion the lad was trying to hide, his face +grew more and more stern, while a sensation of mingled bitterness and +pain made him silent for some little time. + +They walked on in silence, till suddenly Mr Temple's eyes lit upon the +top of the gilt-edged cigar-case sticking out of Dick's pocket. + +"What have you there, Dick?" he said rather sternly. + +"Where, father?" + +"In your pocket." + +"Nothing, father. My knife and things are in the other clothes. Oh, +this!" he said, suddenly remembering the case, and turning scarlet. + +"Yes," said Mr Temple severely, "that! Open it." + +Dick took the case from his pocket slowly and opened it. + +"I thought so," said Mr Temple sternly. "Cigars for a boy not sixteen! +Are you aware, sir, that what may be perfectly correct in a man is +often in a boy nothing better than a vice." + +"Yes, father," said Dick humbly. + +"So you have taken to smoking?" + +"No, father." + +"Don't tell me a falsehood, sir!" cried Mr Temple hotly. "How dare you +deny it when you have that case in your hand. Now, look here, sir: I +want to treat my boys as lads who are growing into men. I am not going +to talk to you about punishment--I don't believe in coarse punishments. +I want there to be a manly feeling of confidence between me and my +boys." + +Dick winced at that word confidence, and he wanted to say frankly that +the case belonged to Arthur; but it seemed to him so mean to get out of +a scrape by laying the blame upon another; and, besides, he knew how +particular his father was about Arthur, and how he would be hurt and +annoyed if he knew that his brother smoked. + +"I am more angry than I could say," continued Mr Temple; "and I suppose +I ought to take away that case, in which you have been foolish enough to +spend your pocket-money; but I will not treat my boys as if I were a +schoolmaster confiscating their playthings. Don't let me see that +again." + +"No, father," said Dick, with a sigh of relief, though he felt very +miserable, and in momentary dread lest his father should ask him some +pointed question to which he would be bound to reply. + +They walked on in silence for some minutes, and the beautiful morning +and grand Cornish scenery were losing half their charms, when Mr Temple +finished his remarks about the cigar-case with: + +"Did you smoke yesterday, Dick?" + +"No, father?" + +"Were you going to smoke to-day?" + +"No, father." + +"Honour, Dick?" + +"Honour, father, and I won't smoke till you tell me I may." + +Mr Temple looked at him for a moment, and then nodded his satisfaction. + +By this time they were close to the harbour, where, being recognised by +several of the fishermen, there was a friendly nod or two, and a smile +from first one and then another, and a hearty sing-song "Good-morning!" +before they reached the middle of the pier, close up to which the lugger +was moored. Josh and Will were upon deck discussing what was to be done +to the boat, partly stove in by the steamer on the previous evening; +whether to try and patch her up themselves or to let her go to the boat +hospital just beyond the harbour head, where old Isaac Pentreath, the +boat-builder, put in new linings and put out new skins, and supplied +schooners and brigs with knees or sheathing or tree-nail or copper bolt. +He could furnish a stranger with boat or yacht to purchase or on hire. + +"Mornin', sir!" sang out Josh. "Mornin', Master Richard, sir! None the +worse for last night's work, eh?" + +"No, I'm all right, Josh," said Dick. "Good-morning, Will! I say, you +lost all the fish and the tackle last night, didn't you?" + +"We lost all the fish, sir; but the tackle was all right; a bit tangled +up, that's all." + +"Oars is the worst of it," said Josh, "only they was old uns. Will and +me's got a good pair, though, from up at Pentreath's. Game out of a +French lugger as was wrecked." + +"I want to have a look round at some of the old mine-shafts, my man," +said Mr Temple. "Who can you tell me of as a good guide?" + +"Josh, sir," said Will. + +"Will, sir," said Josh. + +"Josh knows all of them for three or four miles round." + +"Not half so well as Will, sir. He's always 'vestigatin' of 'em," cried +Josh. + +"You, my lad?" said Mr Temple, turning sharply on Will, whose brown +face grew red. + +"Yes, sir; I have a look at them sometimes." + +"Prospecting, eh?" said Mr Temple, smiling. + +"We could both go if you like, sir," said Josh. "We could row you to +Blee Vor, and to Oldman's Wheal and Blackbay Consols and Dynan Reor, and +take you over the cliff to Revack and Rendullow and Saint Grant's." + +"Why, Dick," said Mr Temple, "we have hit upon the right guides. When +will you be at liberty, my lad?" + +"Any time, sir, you like. We ain't going out with, our boots for the +next few days." + +"Not going out with your boots?" said Dick. + +"Boots, not boots," said Josh, grinning. "I don't mean boots as you put +on your foots, but boots that you sail in--luggers, like this." + +"Oh! I see," said Dick. + +"A mussy me!" muttered Josh. "The ignoramusness of these here London +folk, to _be_ sure." + +"Could you row me and--say, my two sons--to one of the old mining shafts +after breakfast this morning?" + +"Think your uncle would mind, Will?" said Josh. + +"No," replied Will. + +"Of course you will charge me for the hire of the boat," said Mr +Temple; "and here, my son ought to pay his share of the damage you met +with last night;" and he slipped half a sovereign in Dick's hand--a coin +he was about to transfer to Josh, but this worthy waved him off. + +"No, no!" he said; "give it to young Will here. It ain't my boot, and +they warn't my oars; and very bad ones they were." + +"Here, Will, take it," said Dick. + +"What for? No, I sha'n't take it," said Will. "The old oars were good +for nothing, and we should have cut them up to burn next week. Give +Josh a shilling to make himself a new gaff, and buy a shilling's worth +of snooding and hooks for yourself. Uncle Abram wouldn't like me to +take anything, I'm sure." + +Mr Temple did not press the matter, but making a final appointment for +the boat to be ready, he returned with Dick to the inn, where they had +hardly entered the sitting-room with its table invitingly spread for +breakfast, when Arthur came down, red-eyed, ill-used looking, and +yawning. + +"Oh, you're down first," he said. "Is breakfast ready? I've got such a +bad headache." + +"Then you had better go and lie down again, my boy," said his father; +"nothing like bed for a headache." + +"Oh, but it will be better when I have had some breakfast. It often +aches like this when I come down first." + +"Try getting up a little earlier, Arthur," said Mr Temple. "There, sit +down." + +The coffee and some hot fried fish were brought in just then, and Arthur +forgot his headache, while Dick seemed almost ravenous, his father +laughing at the state of his healthy young appetite, which treated +slices of bread and butter in a wonderfully mechanical manner. + +"Your walk seems to have sharpened you, Dick," he said. + +"Oh, yes, I was so hungry." + +"Have you been for a walk?" said Arthur, with his mouth full, and one +finger on an awkward starchy point of his carefully spread collar. + +"Walk? Yes. We've been down to the harbour." + +"Making arrangements for a boat to take us to two or three of the old +mines." + +"You won't go in a boat again--after that accident?" said Arthur, +staring. + +"Oh, yes! Such accidents are common at the sea-side, and people do not +heed them," said Mr Temple. "I'm sorry you will not be well enough to +come, Arthur." + +Dick looked across the table at him and laughed, emphasising the laugh +by giving his brother a kick on the leg; while Arthur frowned and went +on with his breakfast, clinging a little to a fancied or very slight +headache, feeling that it would be a capital excuse for not going in the +boat, and yet disposed to throw over the idea at once, for he was, in +spite of a few shrinking sensations, exceedingly anxious to go. + +"Oh, by the way, Dick," continued Mr Temple, "I am just going to say a +few words more to you before letting the matter drop; and I say them for +your brother to hear as well." + +Dick felt what was coming, and after a quick glance at Arthur, he hung +his head. + +"I am taking your word about that cigar-case and its contents, and I +sincerely hope that you will always keep your promise in mind. A boy at +your age should not even dream of using tobacco. You hear what I am +saying, Arthur?" + +"Yes, papa," said the latter, who was scarlet. + +"Bear it in mind, then, too. I found Dick with a cigar-case in his +pocket this morning. I don't ask whether you were aware of it, for I do +not want to say more about the matter than to express my entire +disapproval of my boys indulging in such a habit." + +"Now if Taff's half a fellow he'll speak up and say it was his +cigar-case," thought Dick. + +But Arthur remained silently intent upon his coffee, while Mr Temple +dismissed the subject, and looked smilingly at his boys as the meal +progressed. + +"Ten minutes, and I shall be ready to start, Dick," said Mr Temple, +rising from the table. + +"I--I think I'm well enough to go, papa," said Arthur. + +"Well enough! But your head?" + +"Oh! it's better, much better now." + +"But won't you be alarmed as soon as you get on the water? It may be a +little rough." + +"Oh, I'm not afraid of the water!" said Arthur boldly; and then he +winced, for Dick gave him a kick under the table. + +"Very well, then," said Mr Temple, "you shall go. But you can't go +like that, Arthur. I did not see to your clothes. Haven't you a suit +of flannels or tweeds?" + +"No, papa." + +"How absurd of you to come down dressed like that!" + +Arthur coloured. + +"You can't go in boats and climbing up and down rocks in an Eton jacket +and white collar. Here, Dick, lend him a suit of yours." + +"Yes, father," said Dick, who was enjoying what he called the fun. + +"Let me see; you have a cap, have you not?" + +"No, papa; only my hat." + +"What! no straw hat?" + +"No, papa." + +"My good boy, how can you be so absurd? Now, ask your own common +sense--is a tall silk-napped hat a suitable thing to wear boating and +inspecting mines?" + +"It--it's a very good one, papa," replied Arthur, for want of something +better to say. + +"Good one! Absurd! Velvet is good, but who would go clambering up +cliffs in velvet!" + +"Taff would if he might," said Dick to himself, as he recalled his +brother's intense longing for a brown silk-velvet jacket, such as he had +seen worn by one of his father's friends. + +"Dick, go with your brother to the little shop there round the corner. +I saw straw hats hanging up. Buy him one. I'm going to write a letter. +There, I'll give you a quarter of an hour." + +Mr Temple left the room, and as Arthur jumped up, scarlet with +indignation, to pace up and down, Dick laid his face upon his arm in a +clear place and began to laugh. + +"It's absurd," said Arthur in indignant tones. "Your clothes will not +fit me properly, and I hate straw hats." + +"I wouldn't go," said Dick, lifting his merry face. + +"Yes," cried Arthur furiously, "that's just what you want, but I shall +go." + +"All right! I should like you to come. Go and slip on my flannels; +they're sure to be dry by now." + +"Slip on your rubbishy old flannels!" cried Arthur contemptuously; "and +a pretty guy I shall look. I shall be ashamed to walk along the cliff." + +"Nobody will notice you, Taff," said Dick. "Come, I say, look sharp, +here's nearly five minutes gone." + +"And what's that about the cigars?" said Arthur furiously. "You stole +my case." + +"I only took it for a bit of fun," said Dick humbly. "I did not think +father would have noticed it. You see he thinks it is me who smokes." + +"And a good job too! Serve you right for stealing my case." + +"But you might have spoken up and said it was yours," said Dick. + +"I daresay I should," said Arthur, loftily, "if you had behaved fairly; +but now--" + +"I say, boys," cried Mr Temple, "I shall not wait." + +"Here, you go and slip on my flannels," said Dick. "I'll go and buy you +a hat. If it fits me it will fit you." + +"Get a black-and-white straw," said Arthur. "I won't wear a white. +Such absurd nonsense of papa!" + +"Not to let you go boating in a chimney-pot!" said Dick, half to +himself, as he hurried off. "What a rum fellow Taff is!" + +Unfortunately for the particular young gentleman there were no +black-and-white hats, so Dick bought a coarse white straw with black +ribbon round it, and then seized the opportunity--as they sold +everything at the little shop, from treacle to thread, and from bacon +and big boots to hardware and hats--to buy some fishing-hooks and +string, finding fault with the hooks as being soft and coarse, but the +man assured him that they were the very best for the sea, so he was +content. + +"See what a disgusting fit these things are!" cried Arthur, as his +brother entered. + +"Yes; you do look an old guy, Taff," cried Dick maliciously. "Ha! ha! +ha! why, they've shrunk with being dried. Here, let's pull the legs +down. You've put your legs through too far." + +"There! Now what did I tell you?" cried Arthur, angrily. "Look at that +now. I distinctly told you to bring a black-and-white straw; I can't +wear a thing like that." + +"But they had no black and whites," said Dick. + +"Stuff and nonsense!" cried Arthur; "they've plenty, and you didn't +remember." + +"Now, are you ready?" said Mr Temple. + +"Yes, papa; but look here," began Arthur in a depressing voice. + +"I was looking," said Mr Temple; "I congratulate you upon looking so +comfortable and at your ease. Now you can fish, or climb, or do +anything. Mind you write home to-night for some things to be sent down. +Come away." + +Mr Temple went out of the room, and Dick executed a sort of triumphant +war-dance round his brother, who frowned pityingly and stalked to the +corner of the room, with his nose in the air, to take up his tasselled, +silver-mounted cane. + +"No, you don't," said Dick, snatching the cane away and putting it back +in the corner. "No canes to-day, Dandy Taff, and no gloves. Come +along." + +He caught his brother's arm, thrust his own through, and half dragged, +half thrust him out of the place to where his father was waiting. + +"Never mind your gloves, Arthur," said the latter dryly, "or if you +particularly wish to keep your hands white, perhaps you had better take +care of your face as well, and borrow a parasol." + +Arthur reddened and thrust his gloves back into his pockets, as he +followed his father down to the little pier; but he was obliged to raise +his straw hat from time to time, and smooth his well pomatumed hair, +ignorant of the fact that his every act was watched by his brother, who +could not refrain from laughing at the little bits of foppishness he +displayed. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +AN EXPLORING TRIP ALONG BENEATH THE CLIFFS OF THE ROCKY SHORE. + +Josh and Will were in waiting with the boat, not the one that had been +used on the previous night, for it had been determined to send that in +to hospital, but a rather larger and lighter boat, belonging to Uncle +Abram; and this had been carefully mopped out, with the result that +there were not quite so many fish-scales visible, though even now they +were sticking tenaciously as acorn barnacles to every level spot. + +"All ready, sir," said Will, coming forward; "and my uncle says you're +welcome to a boat whenever there's one in, and that as to payment, +you're to please give our man Josh a trifle, and that's all." + +Mr Temple was about to make an objection, but he determined to see +Uncle Abram, as he was called, himself, and he at once went down the +steps and into the boat. + +"Dick," said Arthur, plucking at his brother's sleeve, "what's that +fisher-fellow grinning at? Is there anything particular about my +clothes?" + +"No. He was only smiling because he was glad to see you. There, go +along down." + +Josh, who had been spoken of as "that fisher-fellow," endorsed Dick's +words by singing just as if it was a Gregorian chant: + +"Glad to see you, sir. Nice morning for a row. Give's your hand, sir. +Mine looks mucky, but it don't come off. It's only tar." + +"I can get down, thank you," said Arthur haughtily, and he began to +descend the perpendicular steps to where the boat slowly rose and fell, +some six feet below. + +But though Arthur descended backwards like a bear, it was without that +animal's deliberate caution. He wanted experience too, and the +knowledge that the steps, that were washed by every tide, were covered +with a peculiar green weedy growth that was very slippery. He was in a +hurry lest he should be helped--aid being exceedingly offensive to his +dignity, and the consequence was, that when he was half-way down there +was a slip and a bang, caused by Arthur finishing his descent most +rapidly, and going down in a sitting position upon the bottom of the +boat. + +"I say," said Josh, "if that had been your foots you'd ha' gone +through." + +Arthur leaped up red as a turkey-cock, and in answer to his father's +inquiry whether he was hurt, shook his head violently. + +"Don't laugh, Will, don't look at him," said Dick, stifling his own +mirth and turning his back, pretending to draw Will's attention to the +fishing cord and hooks he had bought. + +"All right, Master Dick!" said Will cordially; and he began to examine +the hooks; but Arthur could see through the device and, kindly as it was +meant, he chafed all the more. In fact, he had hurt himself a good +deal, but his dignity was injured more. + +"Yes, they're the best," said Will; "but I've got a whiffing-line ready, +and some bait, and laid it for you in the stern. I thought you'd like +to fish." + +"So I should," cried Dick, looking his thanks, and thinking what a +frank, manly-looking fellow his new companion was; "but we must let my +brother fish to-day. He'll pretend that he don't care for it, but he +wants to try horribly, and you must coax him a bit. Then he will." + +"What's the use of begging him?" said Will, who was rather taken aback. + +"Oh! because I want him to have a turn, and I hope he'll get some luck. +If he don't he'll be so disappointed." + +"All ready?" cried Mr Temple just then, and Dick proceeded to scuffle +down the steps, Arthur watching him eagerly to see him slip on the worst +step. But Dick was not going to slip, and he stepped lightly on to one +of the thwarts, closely followed by Will with the painter, and the next +minute they were on their way to the mouth of the harbour, where there +was a gentle swell. + +Mr Temple and Dick were smiling as they looked back at the fishing +village so picturesquely nestling in the slope of the steep cliff, and +they paid no heed to Arthur, who suddenly snatched at his father on one +side, at the boat on the other. + +"What's the matter, my boy?" cried Mr Temple. + +"Is--is anything wrong?" gasped Arthur. "The boat seemed sinking!" + +"Hor--hor!" began Josh; but Arthur turned upon him so angrily, that the +fisherman changed his hoarse laugh into a grotesque cough, screwing his +face up till it resembled the countenance of a wooden South Sea image, +such as the Polynesians place in the prow of their canoes. + +"Gettin' so wet lars night, I think," he said in a good-tempered, +apologetic growl, as he addressed himself to Will. "Sea-water don't +hurt you though." + +"There we are sinking again, Arthur," said Mr Temple, for the boat +mounted the swell, as the wave came lapping the stone wall, raising them +up a couple of feet, and letting them glide down four. "Let go!" he +whispered. "Don't be a coward." + +Arthur snatched his hands away, and from being very white he turned red. + +"I suppose the sea comes in pretty rough sometimes," said Mr Temple to +Josh. + +"Tidyish, sir, but not bad. She gives a pretty good swish at the face +o' the harbour when the weather's rough from the south-east, and flies +over on to the boats; but Bar Lea Point yonder takes all the rough of it +and shelters us like. If the young gent looks down now, he can see Tom +Dodder's Rock." + +Mr Temple looked over the side. + +"Yes, here it is, Arthur," he exclaimed, "about six feet beneath us." + +"Five an' half at this time o' the tide," said Josh correctively. + +"Oh! five and a half, is it?" said Mr Temple, smiling. "Can you see, +Arthur?" + +"Yes, papa," said the boy, looking quickly over the side and sitting up +again as if he did not approve of it. "Do you mean that great rough +thing?" + +"That's her," said Josh. "Tom Dodder, as used to live long ago, +wouldn't keep a good look-out, and he used to say as his boat would ride +over any rock as there was on the coast. He went right over that rock +to get into the harbour lots of times out of sheer impudence, and to +show his mates as he wouldn't take advice from nobody; but one morning +as he was running in, heavy loaded with pilchar's, after being out all +night, and getting the biggest haul ever known, such a haul as they +never get nowadays, he was coming right in, and a chap on the pier there +shouts to him, `luff, Tom, luff! She won't do it this tide.' `Then she +shall jump it,' says Tom, who wouldn't luff a bit, but rams his tiller +so as to drive right at the rock. You see there was lots o' room at the +sides, but he wouldn't go one way nor yet the other, out o' cheek like. +He was one o' these sort of chaps as wouldn't be helped, you see; and as +soon as the lads on the pier heared him say as his boat should jump over +the rock--lep it, you know--they began to stare, as if they expected +something was coming." + +"And was something coming?" said Dick, who was deeply interested, though +he could not help thinking about his brother's refusal of help. + +"Coming! I should think there was, for just as the boat comes up to the +rock, she acts just like a Chrishtun dog, or a horse might when her +master wanted her to--what does she do but rises at the rock to lep +right over her, but the water seemed to fail just then, and down she +come sodge!" + +"How?" said Arthur, who had become interested, and had not understood +the comparison. + +"Sodge, sir, sodge; breaks her back, melts all to pieces like a tub with +the hoops shook off; and the sea was covered with pilchar's right and +left, and they all went scoopin' 'em off the bay." + +"And was any one drowned?" said Arthur. + +"Well, sir, you see the story don't say," said Josh, moistening first +one hand and then the other as he rowed; "but that's why she were called +Tom Dodder's Rock; and there's the rock, as you see, so it must be +true." + +As soon as they were clear of the bar at the mouth of the harbour the +sea had become smoother, and in the interest he had taken in Josh's +narrative about Tom Dodder's Rock, Arthur had forgotten a little of his +discomfort and dread; but now that the boat was getting farther from +land and the story was at an end, he began to show his nervousness in +various ways, the more that nobody but Josh seemed to be noticing him, +for his father was busy with a small glass, inspecting the various +headlands and points, and looking long and earnestly at the old mines, +whose position was indicated by the crumbling stone engine-houses. + +"Is the sea very deep here?" said Arthur to his brother, who did not +answer; he was too intent upon the preparation of a fishing-line with +Will. + +"Deep? No," said Josh, "not here." + +"But it looks deep," said Arthur, gazing over the side. + +"Ah! but it ar'n't. 'Bout three fathom, p'r'aps." + +"Three fathoms!" cried Arthur. "Why, that's eighteen feet, and over my +head!" + +"Well, yes, you ar'n't quite so tall as that!" cried Josh, with a bit of +a chuckle. + +"But suppose the boat was overset?" said Arthur. + +"Oh, she won't overset, my lad. You couldn't overset her; and if she +did--can you swim?" + +"A little--not much. I'm not very fond of the water." + +"Ah! that's a pity," said Josh; "everybody ought to be able to swim. +You'd better come down to me every morning, and I'll take you out in the +boat here and you can jump in and have a good swim round, and then come +in again and dress." + +Arthur looked at him in horror. The idea seemed frightful. To come out +away from land, and plunge into water eighteen feet deep, where he might +go to the bottom and perhaps never come up again, was enough to stun him +mentally for the moment, and he turned away from Josh with a shudder. + +"Here you are, Taff!" said Dick just then. "Now have a try for a fish. +Come and sit here; change places." + +Dick jumped up and stepped over the thwarts, vacating his seat right in +the stern. In fact he looked as if he could have run all round the boat +easily enough on the narrow gunwale had there been any need, while, in +spite of his call and the sight of the fishing-line, Arthur sat fast. + +"Well, why don't you get up?" + +"I--I prefer staying here," said Arthur, who looked rather white. + +"But you said you would like to fish!" cried Dick in a disappointed +tone. + +"Did I? Oh yes, I remember. But I don't wish to fish to-day. You can +go on." + +"Oh, all right!" said Dick lightly. "I daresay I can soon get +something;" and he set the line dragging behind. + +"Like to be rowed over to yon mine, sir, on the cliff?" said Josh, +nodding in the direction of the old shaft, the scene of his adventures +with Will. + +"Where, my man? I can see no remains. Oh yes, I can," he continued, as +he brought his glass to bear on the regular bank-slope formed by the +material that had been dug and blasted out. "I see; that's a very old +place. Yes; I should like to inspect that first." + +"Me and him went down it lass week," said Josh, as he tugged at the oar, +Will having now joined him in forcing the boat along. + +"It's not a deep one, then," said Mr Temple carelessly. + +"Dunno how deep she be," said Josh, "because she's full o' water up to +the adit." + +"Oh, there is an adit then?" + +"Yes, as was most covered over. She begins up on that level nigh the +cliff top, where you can see the bit o' brown rock with the blackberry +bushes in it, and she comes out down in that creek place there where the +bank's green." + +"I see!" said Mr Temple eagerly. "Ah! that must be an old place. When +was it given up?" + +"Oh, long before we was born, or our grandfathers, I expect!" said Josh. + +"The more reason why I should examine it," said Mr Temple. "I +suppose," he added aloud, "we can land here?" + +"Oh yes, while the sea's like this! You couldn't if she was rough. The +rocks would come through her bottom before you knowed where you were." + +"Is it going to be rough, did you say?" said Arthur eagerly. + +"Yes, some day," said Josh. "Not while the wind's off the shore." + +"Taff, Taff! Here! I've got him!" cried Dick excitedly; and his words +had such an effect upon Arthur that he started up and was nearly pitched +overboard; only saving himself by making a snatch at his father, one +hand knocking off Mr Temple's hat, the other seizing his collar. + +"You had better practise getting your sea-legs, Master Arthur," said his +father. "There, give me your hand." + +Arthur longed to refuse the proffered help, for he knew that both Josh +and Will were smiling; but he felt as if the boat kept running away from +beneath him, and then, out of a sheer teasing spirit, rose up again to +give the soles of his feet a good push, and when it did this there was a +curious giddy feeling in his head. + +So he held tightly by his father's hand while he stepped over the seat, +and then hurriedly went down upon his knees by where Dick was holding +the line, at the end of which some fish was tugging and straining +furiously. + +"Here you are!" cried Dick, handing the line to his brother. "He's a +beauty! A pollack, I know; and when you get him he's all orange, and +green, and gold!" + +"But it's dragging the line out of my hands!" said Arthur. + +"Don't let it! Hold tight!" cried Dick, whose cheeks were flushed with +excitement. + +"But it cuts my hands," said Arthur pettishly. + +"Never mind that! All the better! It's a big one! Let a little more +line out." + +Arthur obeyed, and the fish darted off so vigorously that it would have +carried off all there was had not Dick checked it. + +"Now, hold tight!" cried Dick. "Play him. Now begin to haul in." + +"But the line's all messy," said Arthur, in tones full of disgust. + +"Oh, what a fellow you are! Now, then, never mind the line being messy; +haul away!" + +"What, pull?" said Arthur feebly. + +"To be sure! Pull away hand over hand. I know he's a monster." + +Mr Temple and the little crew of two were so intent upon the old mine +that they paid no heed to the boys. Hence it was that Dick took the +lead and gave his directions to his brother how to catch fish, in a +manner that would have been heartily condemned by both Josh and Will, +whose ideas of playing a fish consisted in hauling it aboard as soon as +they could. + +"Oh, you're not half hauling it in!" cried Dick, as he grew out of +patience with his brother's fumbling ways. "You'll lose it." + +"You be quiet and let me alone," said Arthur quickly. "I daresay I know +as much about sea-fishing as you do." + +"Then why don't you haul in the line?" + +"Because the fish won't come, stupid! There, you see, he will now!" +continued Arthur, hauling pretty fast, as the captive began to give way. +"Oh, how nasty! I'm getting my knees quite wet." + +Quite! For he had remained kneeling in the bottom of the boat, too much +excited to notice that he was drawing the dripping line over his legs, +and making a little pool about his knees. + +"Never mind the wet--haul!" cried Dick; and he hardly keep his fingers +off the line. + +Urged in this way by his brother, Arthur went on pulling the line in +feebly enough, till the fish made a fresh dash for liberty. + +"Oh!" cried Arthur; "it's cutting my hands horribly. There--he's gone!" + +Not quite, for Dick made a dash at the flying line, which was rushing +over the gunwale, caught it in time, and began a steady pull at it till +the fish was more exhausted, and he could turn its head, when he pulled +the line in rapidly, and the boys could soon after see the bright +silvery fish darting here and there. + +"Got a gaff, Will?" shouted Dick. + +"There's the old one stuck in the side, sir," replied the lad; and, +holding on with one hand, Dick reached the gaff-hook with the other; but +though he got his fish close up to the stern two or three times, he +found that he was not experienced fisherman enough to hold the line with +his left hand and gaff it with the other. + +"Here!" he cried at last, for Arthur was looking on helplessly. "You +catch hold of the line while I gaff him!" + +Arthur obeyed with a grimace indicative of disgust as he felt the wet +and slippery line; and, in obedience to his brother's orders, he dragged +the fish close in; but just as Dick made a lunge at it with the big hook +it darted off again, cutting Arthur's hands horribly. The next time it +was dragged in Dick was successful, getting his hook in its gills, and +hoisting it on board, flapping and bounding about as if filled with so +much steel spring. + +"Hallo! you've got one then, Dick!" cried his father, turning round; +Josh and Will having been quietly observant the while. + +"Yes, father!" cried Dick in the most disinterested way; "Arthur held +him and I gaffed him. Isn't it a beauty? What is it, Josh--a silver +pollack?" + +"A-mussy me, no!" cried Josh, who had ceased rowing. "That be no +pollack; that be a bass. Dessay there be a shoal out there." + +"Mind his back tin, Master Dick!" cried Will excitedly, as he saw Dick +take hold of his prize. + +"Yes, I'll mind," said Dick. "Here, never mind, it being wet," he went +on; "catch hold of him with both hands, Arthur, I'll get out the hook." + +"Oh--oh--oh!" shouted Arthur, snatching back his hands. "It pricks!" + +"What pricks?" cried Dick, seizing the fish and throwing it down again +sharply. "Oh, I say, it's like a knife." + +"Shall I take it off, sir?" said Will. + +"No, I'm not going to be beaten!" cried Dick, whose hand was bleeding. +"I didn't know what you meant. Why, it's a big stickleback!" + +He took hold of the prize more cautiously, disengaged the hook, and then +laid the fish before his father--a fine salmon bass of eight or nine +pounds. + +"Bravo, my boy!" said Mr Temple; "but is your hand much cut?" + +"Oh, no! it's nothing," said Dick, hastily twisting his handkerchief +round his hurt. "I say, isn't it a beauty? But what is the use of that +fin?" + +"Means of defence, I suppose," said his father, raising the keen +perch-like back fin of the fish.--"But there, we are close inshore now. +Run her in, my men." + +The next minute the boat was grating upon the rocks. Will leaped out +and held it steady, for the waves rocked it about a good deal; and the +party landed close to the adit, the boat being moored with a grapnel; +and then they all walked up to the hole in the foot of the rock, through +which Josh and Will had made their escape after their adventure in the +mine-shaft a short time before. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +ARTHUR TEMPLE CATCHES HIS LARGEST FISH--AN ODD ONE--AND EVEN THEN IS NOT +AT REST. + +Mr Temple took a small flat lantern from his pocket, struck a match +inside, and lit the lamp, which burned with a clear, bright flame. + +"Is the shaft belonging to this open at the top?" he said to Will. + +"Yes, sir--quite." + +"Ah! then there's no foul air. Now, Arthur, come along and you shall +see what a mine adit is like." + +"I--er--I'd rather not come this time, papa," said Arthur in a rather +off-hand way; "the knees of my trousers are so wet." + +"Oh! are they?" said Mr Temple quietly. "You will come, I suppose, +Dick?" + +"Yes, father. May I carry the lamp?" + +"Yes; and go first. Slowly, now. Rather hard to get through;" and +after a little squeezing the whole party, save Arthur, crept into the +low gallery, the light showing the roof and sides to be covered with wet +moss of a glittering metallic green. + +There was not much to reward the seekers,--nothing but this narrow +passage leading to a black square pool of water, upon which the light of +the lamp played, and seemed to be battling with a patch of reflected +daylight, the image of the square opening, a hundred and fifty feet +above. + +"Hah!" said Mr Temple after a few minutes' inspection of the adit and +the shaft, whose walls, as far as he could reach, he chipped with a +sharp-pointed little hammer formed almost like a wedge of steel. "A +good hundred years since this was worked, if ever it got beyond the +search. Copper decidedly." + +"And you think it is very rich?" said Will excitedly, for he had been +watching Mr Temple with the greatest eagerness. + +"Rich! No, my lad. What, have you got the Cornish complaint?" + +"Cornish complaint, sir?" said Will wonderingly. + +"The longing to search for mineral treasures?" + +"Yes, sir," said Will bluntly after a few moments' pause. + +"Then you need not waste time here, my lad." + +"But there's copper here. I proved it; and now you say there is." + +"Yes; tons of it," said Mr Temple. + +"There, Josh!" cried Will triumphantly. + +"But," continued Mr Temple as they all stood there half-crouching in +the narrow adit, "it is in quantities and in a bed that would be hard to +work, and every hundredweight you got out and smelted would have cost +more in wages than you could obtain when you sold your copper." + +"There, lad, what did I gashly say?" cried Josh eagerly. "Didn't I say +as the true mining was for silver in the sea--ketching fish with boats +and nets." + +"No, you did not," cried Will hotly; "and you meant nothing of the kind +in what you did say." + +"Ah! there's nought like the sea for making a living," said Josh in an +ill-used tone. "I wouldn't work in one of these gashly places on no +account; not for two pound a week, I wouldn't." + +"Well, let's get out in the open air at all events, now," said Mr +Temple. "I should like to see the mouth of the shaft." + +"I'll show you, sir," said Will eagerly; and Mr Temple watched him +closely as they stood once more out in the bright sunshine, and, lithe +and strong, he began to climb up the rocks, Dick following him almost as +quickly, but without his cleverness in making his way from block to +block. + +Mr Temple followed, then Josh, lastly Arthur, who got on very badly, +but indignantly refused Josh's rough tarry hand when he good-naturedly +offered to help him up the rough cliff. + +"Here's where Josh and I went down," said Will, as they all stood at the +shaft mouth. + +"And did you go down there, my lad?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Swinging on a rope?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then you've a good nerve, my lad. It wants a cool head to do that." + +Will winced and glanced at Josh, who wrinkled up his forehead in a +curious way. + +"A tremendous nerve," continued Mr Temple. "You wouldn't care to go +down, Dick?" + +"No, father; but I'd go if you told me, and the rope was safe." + +"That's right," said Mr Temple, smiling; "but, as I said before, it +would require tremendous nerve--like that of our friend here." + +Will looked from one to the other uneasily, and turned his cap first to +right, and then to left. Suddenly he drew a long breath. + +"I felt when I got out of the shaft, sir, as if I never dared try to do +it again," he said hastily. + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes, sir; I wasn't at all brave over it." + +"Steady, my lad--steady!" said Josh in a reproving tone. "I think you +did well. P'raps the gentleman would like to go now to Blee Vor." + +"Yes, I should," said Mr Temple, "so let's go at once. There is +nothing to be done here." + +Josh led the way down the cliff--rather a dangerous road, but one which +seemed easy enough to him, while Arthur shuddered and stopped two or +three times on the way down, as if the descent made him giddy. He was +always well enough, though, to resent any offer of assistance, even into +the boat when it was hauled close up to the rock. Josh would have +lifted him in; Will was ready to lay a back for him and porter him in +like a sack; but the sensitive London boy looked upon these offers of +aid as insulting; and the consequence was that he got on board with one +of his shoes full of water, and a very small piece of skin taken off his +shin. + +"Shall we row you on to Blee Vor," said Josh. + +Mr Temple nodded in a short business-like way, and taking out his +glass, he began to examine the rock as they went along. + +All of a sudden, though, he turned to Dick. + +"Go and take that oar," he said sharply; and then to Will--"Come here, +my lad." + +Will coloured a little as he gave up his oar to Dick, who began rowing +with a great deal of vigour and a great deal of splash, but with little +effect upon the progress of the boat. + +"And so you are spending your spare time hunting for metals, are you, my +lad?" said Mr Temple, gazing sharply at Will. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Why?" + +Will hesitated for a moment and then said frankly: + +"I want to get on, sir, and make myself independent." + +"Capital idea!" said Mr Temple; "but what knowledge have you on the +subject? Have you studied mineralogy?" + +"Not from books, sir. Only what the miners about here could teach me." + +"But you know a little about these things?" + +"Very little, sir; but I'm trying to learn more." + +"Ah! that's what we are all trying to do," said Mr Temple quickly. +"That will do. Perhaps we shall see a little more of each other." + +He took up his glass once more; and feeling himself to be dismissed, +Will went back to his seat, and would have taken the oar, but Dick +wanted to learn how to row, and would not give it up. + +"Go and help my brother catch another bass," he said; so rather +unwillingly the lad went to where Arthur was diligently dragging the +whiffing-line through the water. + +"Don't you get any bites, sir?" said Will. + +"No. I don't think there are many fish hero now," said Arthur +haughtily. + +"But there are a few," said Will smiling. "Did you put on a good bait?" + +"Good bait!" said Arthur, looking at his questioner in a half-offended +tone. + +"Yes, you must have a good lask on your hook, or the fish will not rise +at it." + +"Why, I've got the same hook on that my brother used when he caught that +fish." + +"Let me look," said Will quietly. + +Arthur frowned, and would have declined, but Will did not wait for +permission, and drew in the line till he came to the lead, lifted it +carefully inboard, and then hauled up the hook. + +"You might have kept on trying all day," said Will. "There's no bait." + +"Oh, indeed! then some fish must have bitten it off," said Arthur in the +most nonchalant way. "I thought I felt a tug." + +Will had his back turned to the fisherman, so that he could smile +unobserved, for he knew that there had been no bait left on the hook, +and that Arthur would not have soiled his fingers to put one on. + +"There," he said as he hooked on a good bright lask; "now try." + +He threw the bait over and then dropped in the lead, when the bait +seemed to dart away astern, drawing out the line; but to Arthur's +surprise Will checked it instantly, caught the line from the gunwale and +handed it to him, Will's quick eyes having detected the dash of a fish +at the flying bait. + +"Why, there's one on!" cried Arthur excitedly. + +"Small pollack," said Will smiling. "Haul him in." + +Arthur forgot all about the wetness of the line this time, and soon drew +one of the brightly coloured fish inboard and called to his brother. + +"Here, look!" he cried, "you never saw anything so beautiful as this." + +"Just like mine," cried Dick, "only it was ten times as big." + +"Oh!" said Arthur in a disappointed tone. Then, in a whisper to Will, +"I say, boy, put on a big bait this time. I want to catch a large one." + +Will felt amused at the other's dictatorial importance, but he said +nothing: placing a bait on the hook, and the line was once more trailed +behind, but this time without success, and at the end of a few minutes +the boat was guided into a narrow passage amongst the rocks, below a +high forbidding headland where the long slimy sea-weed that clung to the +granite was washing to and fro, as the waves rushed foaming in and out +among the huge blocks of stone, some of which were every now and then +invisible, and then seemed to rise out of the sea like the backs of huge +shaggy sea-monsters playing in the nook. + +Josh had taken the oar from Dick, and had now assumed the sole guidance +of the boat, rowing slowly with his head turned towards the shore, and +once or twice there was a scraping, bumping noise and a jerk or two, +which made Arthur seize hold of the side. + +"Is it safe to go in here?" said Mr Temple. + +"Oh! you may trust Josh, sir," exclaimed Will. "It wouldn't be safe at +high water, but there's no danger now." + +"Not of getting a hole through the boat?" + +"Boomp--craunch!" + +Arthur turned quite white, while Dick laughed. + +"That's only her iron keel, sir," said Will, for Josh was too intent +upon his work to turn his head for answer. "The wave dropped us on that +rock, and we slid off, you see, on the keel. Now we're in deep water +again." + +The action of the waves close inshore on that rugged coast, even in that +calm weather, was sufficient to raise them up three or four feet and +then let them down, while the water was so clear that they could see the +weeds waving and streaming here and there over the tinted rock, patches +of which, where they were washed bare, were of the most brilliant +crimsons, purples, and greens. + +Josh was guiding the boat in and out along a most intricate channel, now +almost doubling back, but always the next minute getting nearer to a +beautiful white patch of strand, beyond which was a dark forbidding +clump of rocks piled-up in picturesque confusion, and above which the +gaunt cliff ran up perpendicularly in places till it was at least three +hundred feet above their heads, and everywhere seeming to be built up in +great blocks like rugged ashlar work, the joints fitting closely, but +all plainly marked and worn by the weather. + +"Sit fast all!" said Josh; "here's a wave coming!" + +He gave one oar a sharp tug to set the boat's head a little farther +round, and Arthur sprang up and with a sort of bound leaped to his +father's side, clinging to him tightly, as a loud rushing, hissing sound +rose from behind, and a good-sized wave came foaming in and out among +the great blocks of stone, as if bent on leaping into and swamping the +boat; but instead of this, as it reached them it lifted the boat, bore +it forward, bumping and scraping two or three rocks below the keel, and +then letting it glide over the surface of a good-sized rock-pool, +swirling and dancing with the newly coming water. + +Josh then rowed steadily on for a few strokes, pausing by some +glistening rocks that, after lying dry for a few hours, were being +covered again by the title. + +"Your young gents like to look at the dollygobs, master?" said Josh. + +"Look at the what!" exclaimed Mr Temple. + +"Them there gashly things," said Josh, pointing to a number of round +patches of what seemed to be deep-red jelly, with here and there one of +an olive green. + +"Sea-anemones, boys," said Mr Temple. Then to Josh, "No, they must +hunt them out another time; I want to land. I suppose we can climb up +to that shelf?" + +He pointed to a flat place about a hundred feet above them. + +"Dessay we can, if it arn't too gashly orkard," growled Josh. "If she +be, we'll bring the rope another time and let you down. Sit fast +again!" + +For another wave came rushing in, seeming to gather force as it ran, +while Josh so cleverly managed the boat that he made it ride on the +surface of the wave right over a low ridge of rocks, and then rowed +close in and ran her head upon what looked to be coarse sand. Then in +went the oars, Josh and Will leaped out, waited a few moments, and then, +another smaller wave helping them, they drew the boat higher, so that +she was left half dry, and her passengers were able to step out on the +dry patch beneath the rocks. + +"Why, it isn't sand, but little broken shells," cried Dick excitedly, as +Mr Temple casually picked up a handful to examine. + +"Yes, Dick, broken shells, and not siliceous," said Mr Temple. + +"What are those red and green rocks, father?" asked Dick. + +"Serpentine; and that white vein running through is soapstone. Ah! now +we shall get to know a little about what is inside." + +"But why have we come here?" asked Arthur. + +"Because there has been a working here. Some one must have dug down and +thrown out all that mass of broken rock. Part has been washed away; but +all this, you see, though worn and rounded by the waves washing it +about, has been dug out of the rock." + +He had walked to a long slope of wave-worn fragments of rock as he +spoke, forming a steep ascent that ran up into a rift in the great +cliff; and he drew Dick's attention to the fact that what seemed like a +level place a hundred feet above was so situated that anything thrown +down would have fallen in the niche or combe of the cliff just beyond +them. + +"Now, my fine fellow," said Mr Temple, as he picked up a piece of +wave-polished stone, "what's that?" + +"Serpentine," said Will quietly. + +"And this?" said Mr Temple. + +"Granite, sir." + +"Eight; and this?" + +"Gneiss," replied Will. + +"Quite correct. Now this," he continued, breaking a piece of stone in +two with his hammer. + +"Cop--no, only mundic," cried Will, who had nearly been caught tripping. + +"Right again. Now this?" + +He picked up a reddish piece of stone which, when broken, showed bright +clear crystals, and close to the ruddy stone a number of little black +grains. + +"Tin," cried Will eagerly; "and a rich piece." + +"Let me look at the tin," cried Arthur eagerly; and the piece being +handed to him, "where?" he cried; "there's no tin here." + +"Tin ore, my boy," said Mr Temple quietly. "Those black grains are +rich tin." + +"Well, I shouldn't have thought that," said Arthur; "and I should have +thought that was gold or brass." + +"Then you would have thought wrong," said Mr Temple sharply. "All is +not gold that glitters, my boy; and you can't find brass in the earth. +What can you find, my lad?" he continued, turning sharply to Will. + +"Copper, sir, and tin and zinc." + +"Then what is brass?" said Mr Temple. + +"Copper and zinc mixed." + +"Not copper and tin?" + +"Copper and tin, sir, make fine bronze, same as the ancient people used +to hammer for swords and spears; but I can't understand, sir, why two +soft metals like copper and tin should make a hard one when they are +mixed." + +"And I cannot explain it to you," said Mr Temple smiling. + +"Are we going to stop here long?" said Arthur impatiently. + +"Oh? don't go yet," cried Dick, laughing; "I want to hear Will say his +miner's catechism." + +"Oh! very well," said Mr Temple, smiling. "What is mundic, then, my +lad?" + +"A mussy me! as if every lad here didn't know what mundic was!" cried +Josh to himself; but he spoke loud enough for the others to hear. + +"Well, what is mundic, then?" said Mr Temple quickly to Josh. + +"What's mundic?" growled Josh, picking up a yellow metallic-looking +piece of rock; "why, that is, and that is, and that is. There's tons of +it everywhere." + +"To be sure there is, my man; but what is it?" said Mr Temple. + +"Well, ain't I showing of you!" growled Josh. "This here's mundic." + +"The gentleman means what is it made of?" whispered Will, and then he +added two or three words. + +"Why, how should I know? Made of! 'Tain't made of anything, nor more +ar'n't tin. I suppose it grows." + +"Do you know?" said Mr Temple. + +"I think so, sir," said Will modestly; "sulphur and iron." + +"Let's go on now," said Arthur; "I want to fish." + +"Stop and learn something, my boy," said Mr Temple sternly. + +"Oh! go on, please," cried Dick, who was delighted to find so much +knowledge in his new friend. + +"What is this, then?" said Mr Temple, picking up a whitish +metallic-looking piece of mineral. + +"I don't know exactly, sir," said Will eagerly; "but I think it is +partly antimony and partly silver." + +"Quite right again, my lad," cried Mr Temple, clapping Will upon the +shoulder of his fish-scaly blue jersey; "a great deal of antimony, and +there is sulphur and iron too, I think, in this piece." + +"This must have come out of the working above there," cried Will +eagerly. + +"Undoubtedly, my lad." + +"I didn't know that there had been a mine here," said Will. + +"Or you would have had a look at it before now, eh?" + +"Yes, sir," said Will, colouring. + +"We'll go and have a look at it now," said Mr Temple; "but I don't +think we shall find anything of much good." + +"Here, papa, what's this?" cried Arthur eagerly. "This must be gold." + +"Copper," cried Will. "Then there is copper here too!" + +"Yes, that is copper," said Mr Temple, examining and re-fracturing a +glistening piece of stone full of purple and gold reflections, with +touches of blue and crimson. "Peacock ore some people call it. Now, +let's have a climb. Or stop, let's have a look at that cave. I should +not wonder if the adit is there." + +"Beggin' yer pardon, sir," said Josh respectfully, "I don't think as I'd +go in there, if I was you." + +"Why not?" said Mr Temple, as he stood just inside the rugged cavern, +whose mouth was fringed with sea-ferns. + +"Well, you see, sir, they say gashly things about these here old zorns." + +"What sort of things, Josh?" cried Dick. "Wild beasts in 'em?" + +"Well, no, Master Ditchard, sir," said Josh, who was confused as to the +proper way of using the names Dick and Richard; "not wild beasts here." + +"You must go two miles farther," said Will, "and we can show you the +seal-caves." + +"With seals in them?" cried Richard. + +"Oh, yes, plenty," said Will. "Josh thinks there is something +unpleasant lives in these zorns." + +"No, not exactly lives," said Josh, hesitating; "and don't you get +making game of 'em, young fellow," he added, turning to Will. "Them as +is a deal older than us wouldn't go in 'em to save their lives." + +"Why, what is there in the cave, my man?" said Mr Temple. + +"Oh! I shouldn't like to say, sir," said Josh, gazing furtively into +the darksome hole in the rock. + +"But you are not afraid?" + +"Afraid, sir! Oh, no, I'm not afraid; but I don't think it's right to +go in and disturb what's there." + +"Ah, well, Dick, we'll go," said Mr Temple; "and we must apologise if +the occupants object." + +"I wouldn't go, really, sir," protested Josh. + +"You can stay behind, my man," said Mr Temple. + +"Then don't take Master Dick, sir. You see he's so young." + +"My son can stay outside if he likes," said Mr Temple in a tone of +voice that made Dick tighten himself up and fasten the lower, button of +his jacket. + +"There," said Mr Temple as he closed his lanthorn and held it up; "now +we shall see." + +He stepped in over the shelly sand which filled up the vacancies between +the rocks that strewed the floor, and Dick stepped in after him. + +Will turned and looked half-mockingly at Josh as he stepped in next. + +"Oh! well, I can't stand that," growled Josh. "Here goes." + +He moistened both of his hands as if he were going to get a grip of some +rope or spar, and then hurried in, leaving Arthur alone at the mouth of +the zorn, peering in at the dancing light and the strange shadows cast +upon the glistening stone of roof and wall. + +"Shall I go in?" he said to himself. "I know Dick will laugh at me if I +don't." + +Then he hesitated: the place looked so dark and cold and forbidding, +while without it was so light and bright and sunshiny. + +"I sha'n't go," he muttered. "Let him laugh if he likes, and that +Cornish fisher-boy as well. I don't see why I should go into the nasty +old cellar." + +Then he peered in, and thought that he would like to go in just a little +way; and stretching out one leg he was about to set his foot down when +there was a black shadow cast at his feet, a rushing noise, and +something came quite close, uttered a harsh cry, and dashed off. + +Arthur Temple bounded back into the broad sunshine with his heart +beating painfully; and even when he saw that it was one of the great +black fishing-birds that had dipped down and dashed off again he was not +much better. + +"I wish I were not so nervous!" he muttered; and he looked about +hastily. + +"I'm glad no one was here, though," he added. "How Dick would have +laughed! Now I'll follow them in. No, I won't. I'll say I wanted to +fish;" and snatching at this idea he ran down to the boat, got in, and +arranging the line, gave the lead a swing and threw it seaward, so that +it should fall in the deep channel among the rocks, where there was not +the slightest likelihood of his getting a fish. + +But it requires some skill to throw out lead attached to a fishing-line, +especially when there are ten or twelve feet of line between the lead +and the hook. + +Hence it was then that when Arthur Temple swung the lead to and fro, and +finally let it go seaward, there was a sharp tug and a splash, the lead +falling into the water about a couple of yards from the stern, and the +hook sticking tightly in the gunwale of the boat. + +"Bother!" exclaimed Arthur angrily as he proceeded to haul the lead in, +and then to extricate the hook, whose bait wanted rearranging, while the +hook itself was a good deal opened out in drawing it from the wood. + +He got all right at last, screwing up his face a good deal at having to +replace the bait, and then stopping to wash his hands very carefully and +wipe them upon his pocket-handkerchief. This done, he smelt his +fingers. + +"Pah!" he ejaculated; and he proceeded to wash and wipe them again +before rearranging the line; and then after swinging the lead to and fro +four or five times, he let it go, giving it a tremendous jerk, which +recoiled so upon his frame, and caused the boat to swerve so much, that +he nearly fell overboard, and only saved himself by throwing himself +down and catching at the thwarts. + +"Bother the beastly, abominable old boat!" he cried angrily as he +scrambled up, and with all the pettishness of a spoiled child, kicked +the side with all his might, a satisfactory proceeding which resulted in +the wood giving forth a hollow sound, and a painful sensation arising +from an injured toe. + +He felt a little better, though, after getting rid of this touch of +spite, and he smiled with satisfaction, too, for the lead had descended +some distance off in the water, and with a self-complacent smile Arthur +Temple sat down on the edge of the boat and waited for a bite. + +"This is better than getting wet and dirty in that cavern," he said. +"It's warm and sunshiny, and old Dick will be as savage as savage if he +finds that I've caught three or four good fish before he comes. Was +that a touch?" + +It did not seem to be, so Arthur sat patiently on waiting for the bite, +and sometimes looking over the side, where, in the clear water, +half-hidden by a shelf of rock, he could see what at first made him +start, for it looked like an enormous flat spider lying about three feet +down, watching him with a couple of eyes like small peas, mounted, +mushroom-fashion, on a stalk. + +"Why, it's an old crab," he said; "only a small one, though. Ugh! what +a disgusting-looking beast!" + +He remained watching the crab for some few minutes, and then looked +straight along the line, which washed up and down on a piece of rock as +the waves came softly in, bearing that peculiar sea-weedy scent from the +shore. Then he had another look at the crab, and could distinctly see +its peculiar water-breathing apparatus at work, playing like some piece +of mechanism about its mouth, while sometimes one claw would be raised a +little way, then another, as if the mollusc were sparring at Arthur, and +asking him to come on. + +"Ugh! the ridiculous-looking little monster!" he muttered. "I wonder +how long they'll be! What a while it is before I get a bite!" + +But he did not get a bite all the same. For, in the first place, there +were none but very small fish in and about the rocks--little wrasse, and +blennies wherever the bottom was sandy, and tiny crabs scuffling in and +out among the stones, where jelly-fish were opening and shutting and +expanding their tentacles in search of minute food. + +In the second place, Arthur sat on fishing, happily unconscious of the +fact that he was in a similar position to the short-sighted old man in +the caricature. This individual is by a river side comfortably seated +beneath a tree, his rod horizontally held above the water, but his line +and float, where he has jerked them, four or five feet above his head in +an overhanging bough. + +There were no overhanging boughs near Arthur, and no trees; but when he +threw in his line the lead had gone into a rock-pool, the hook had +stopped in a patch of sea-weed on a rock high and dry, and the bait of +squid was being nicely cooked and frizzled in the sun. + +"I think it wants a new bait," said our fisherman at last very +importantly; and, drawing in the line, the lead came with a bump up +against the side of the boat, while the bait was dragged through the +water, and came in thoroughly wet once more. + +"I thought so," said Arthur complacently as he examined the shrunken +bait. "Something has been at it and sucked all the goodness away. I +wish that fisher-boy was here to put on a fresh one." + +But that fisher-boy was right in the cavern, so Arthur had to put on a +fresh bait himself. This done, and very badly too, he took the line in +hand once more, stood up on the thwart, spreading his legs wide apart to +steady himself, because the boat rocked; and then, after giving the +heavy lead a good swing, sent it off with a thrill of triumph, which +rapidly changed to a look of horror, accompanied by a yell of pain. + +"Oh! oh! oh! oh!" cried Arthur. "My leg! my leg! my leg! Oh! help! +help! help!" and sitting down in the boat he began to drag in the line +rapidly, as he thoroughly realised the fact that he had caught a very +large and a very odd fish this time. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note: Zorn, the Cornish name for a sea-cave. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +PILCHAR' WILL PERFORMS A SURGICAL OPERATION; WHICH IS FOLLOWED BY A WET +WALK HOME. + +While Arthur had been amusing himself by fishing, with the result just +told, his father had penetrated into the cave, closely followed by Dick, +Will, and lastly by Josh. + +"I'll see fair for 'em anyhow," Josh said; and wetting his hands once +more, he followed the dancing light, closing up directly after Will. + +"Shall we find anything here, father?" said Dick as his eyes wandered +over the dimly-seen masses of rugged rock above his head. + +"Perhaps," said his father--"perhaps not. I want to find traces of some +good vein of ore; I don't care what, so long as it is well worth +working. Of course this place has been thoroughly explored before,--at +least I should expect so,--but changes are always taking place. Rock +shells off in time; great pieces fall and lay bare treasures that have +never before been seen." + +"Treasures, father?" cried Dick eagerly. + +"Yes, treasures. Not buried treasures--Spanish doubloons or ingots, my +boy, but nature's own treasures. We may as well hunt in all sorts of +places, for I mean to find something worth working before I have done." + +"I say, father, isn't it all stuff and nonsense about anything living in +a cave like this?" + +"What--of the hobgoblin kind, Dick?" + +"Yes, father." + +Mr Temple did not answer for a few moments, and then he replied in the +same low tone as that in which his son had asked the question. + +"For shame, Dick!" he said softly. + +That was all. + +Dick felt it as a severe rebuke, and did not speak for a minute or two +as they went on winding in and out among the rocks, with the roof +rapidly curving down, and the floor, which was sandy no longer, seeming +to rise as the sides of the cave contracted and the travelling had +become an awkward climb. + +"I don't believe any of that stuff, father," said Dick softly. + +"That's right," replied Mr Temple. "Hah: yes!" he said holding the +lantern so that the light shone on the roof--"tin!" + +"Tin, father?" cried Dick joyfully. "Have you found tin?" + +"Yes, but too poor to be worth working;" and Mr Temple went on a +little, and stopped to chip the side with his hammer. "Traces of copper +here," he said. "Look: peacock ore; very pretty to look at, but ruinous +to work, Dick. Ah! we seem to be coming to the end now." + +"Would seals be likely to live in a cave like this?" said Dick. + +"I should think not," replied Mr Temple. "The entrance is not near +enough to the water. I think they like a place where they can swim +right in and out at all times of the tide." + +"That's so," said Josh, who had overheard the remark. + +"The cave we know, Master Dick," said Will, "is one where you can row +right in." + +"Can't we go now?" cried Dick excitedly. + +"Wait, wait," said Mr Temple, "don't be impatient, my lad. All in good +time. Ah! here is the end; and look here, my man, here are some of your +strange creatures' drinking vessels." + +As he spoke he stepped forward and let the light play upon some pieces +of wood, beyond which were five or six very old empty tubs that were a +little less than ordinary wooden pails, but narrow at each end like a +barrel. + +Josh came forward with Will to stare at the half-rotten fragments, which +were black and slimy with the drippings from the roof, and the iron +hoops were so eaten away that upon Mr Temple touching one of the tubs +with his foot it crumbled down into a heap of black-looking earth. + +"Fishermen's buoys," said Will, looking at the heap wonderingly. + +"No, my lad; smugglers' brandy-tubs," said Mr Temple. "And you, Josh, +here's the explanation of your cock-and-bull story. Some fishermen once +saw the smugglers stealing in here by night, and at once set them down +as being supernatural. There, let's get out and climb up the rock to +the old working. No. Stop; just as I thought; here is the adit." + +For they had suddenly come upon the narrow passage that led into the +shaft--a low square tunnel, not so carefully-cut as the one they had +previously explored. + +"Is this likely to be an adit, father?" said Dick, who had caught the +term. "Isn't it the natural cave hole?" + +"Yes--enlarged," said Mr Temple, letting the light play on the wet +sides. "Here are the marks of the pick and hammer, looking pretty fresh +still. But we shall gain nothing by going in there except wet jackets. +How the water drips!" + +For, as they listened, they could hear it musically trickling down, and +in another part falling with a regular _pat, pat, pat_ on the rocky +floor. + +"But where does the water go?" asked Dick. "It ran out of the other in +a little stream." + +"Far behind us somewhere, I daresay," replied his father. "Don't you +see how this floor upon which we stand has been covered with great +pieces of rock that have fallen from above? All, Dick, since men worked +here. Perhaps this place was worked as a mine a hundred years before +the smugglers used the cave, and they have not been here, I should say, +for two or three generations. Now let's get out into daylight once +more. You would not be scared again about entering a dark cave, eh, +Dick?" + +"No, father--Oh! the light!" + +"I'm glad of that," replied Mr Temple, "for the lamp has gone out. The +wick was too small," he added, "and it has slipped through into the +oil." + +"A mussy me!" groaned Josh. "And in this gashly place!" + +"Now, then, who'll lead the way out?" said Mr Temple sharply. + +"Let me," cried Dick. + +"Go on then, my boy. There's nothing to be afraid of but broken shins. +No. Let Will guide, or--pooh! what nonsense! there's the light. We +shall almost be able to see as soon as our eyes grow accustomed to the +place." + +Will went to the front, slowly feeling his way along with outstretched +hands towards a faint reflection before them; and, the others following +slowly, they were about half-way back, with the task growing easier each +moment, when all at once they heard Arthur's cry for help. Forgetting +his caution, Will began to run, and Dick after him, stumbling and nearly +falling two or three times, Mr Temple and Josh hastening after him as +eagerly, but with more care, till they rounded a huge mass of stone +which shut out the sight of the sea, when they also ran, and joined Dick +and Will. + +"There isn't much the matter, father," said Dick, as Mr Temple came +running to the boat, "he has only got the hook in his leg." + +"Why, I thought he was 'bout killed," grumbled Josh. + +"Let me look," said Mr Temple; and Arthur, as his leg was lifted, +uttered a piteous moan, and looked round for sympathy. + +Mr Temple drew out his knife, and as he opened the sharp blade Arthur +shrieked. + +"Oh, don't, don't!" he cried, "I couldn't bear it." + +"Why, they're not your trousers, Taff, they're mine," cried Dick; and +Mr Temple laughed heartily. + +"Don't be a coward, Arthur," he said sternly. "I was only going to slit +the flannel." + +"Oh!" sighed Arthur, "I thought you were going to cut my leg to get out +the hook." + +"Well, perhaps I shall have to," said Mr Temple quietly; "but you are +too much of a man to mind that." + +"Oh!" moaned Arthur again. + +"Be quiet, sir," said Mr Temple more sternly. "Take away your hands. +You are acting like a child." + +"But it hurts so!" moaned Arthur. "Oh! don't touch it. I can't bear it +touched. Oh! oh! oh!" + +"Tut! tut! tut!" ejaculated Mr Temple, as Dick caught his brother's +hand. + +"I say, do have some pluck, Taff," he whispered. "Of course it hurts, +but it will soon be over." + +"Yes; it will soon be over," assented Mr Temple, as with his sharp +penknife he cut away the thin cord to which the hook was attached, and +with it the remains of the bait. + +"No, no! let it stop in till it comes out." + +"But it will not come out, you stupid fellow," cried Dick. + +"Of course not, my boy. It will only fester in your leg, and make it +bad," said Mr Temple. + +"Oh! oh! oh!" moaned Arthur. "Don't touch it. How it hurts! Couldn't +I take some medicine to make it come out?" + +"Yes," said Mr Temple quietly. "Three grains of courage and +determination and it will be out. There, hold still, and I won't hurt +you much. Catch hold of your brother's hands." + +"A mussy me!" grumbled Josh as he looked on, scrubbing and scratching at +his head with his great fingers all the time. + +"Why, you are always talking about going in the army, Arthur," said Mr +Temple, hesitating about extracting the hook, which was buried in the +boy's leg, for he felt that he would have to make a deep cut to get it +out--it being impossible to draw it back on account of the barb. "How +would it be with you if the surgeon had to take off an arm or leg?" + +"I don't want to be a soldier if it's to hurt like this," moaned Arthur +piteously. "Oh, how unlucky I am!" + +Mr Temple hesitated for a moment or two longer, thinking of going back +and letting a doctor extract the hook; but the next moment his +countenance assumed a determined look, and he said firmly: + +"I will not hurt you more than I can help, my boy; but I must get out +that hook." + +"No, no, no!" cried Arthur. "We'll put on a poultice when we get back." + +"Poultice won't suck that out," growled Josh. "We often gets hooks in +ourselves, sir. Let me do it. I'll have it out in a minute." + +"How?" said Mr Temple as he saw Josh pull out his great jack-knife, at +the sight of which Arthur shrieked. + +"Oh! I'll show you, sir," said Josh, "if he'll give over shouting." + +"No," said Mr Temple. "I have a small keen knife here. I can cut it +out better than you." + +"Cut it out!" roared Josh, completely drowning Arthur's cry of horror. +"You mustn't cut it out. Here, let Will do it. His fingers is handier +than mine." + +"Yes, sir, I can get it out very quickly," said Will eagerly. + +"Do it, then," said Mr Temple. "I'll hold him." + +"No, no, no!" shrieked Arthur. + +"Be silent, sir," said his father sternly; and Arthur was cowed by the +angry look and words. + +"Poor old Taff!" said Dick to him softly as he held his hand. "I wish +it was in my leg instead;" and the tears stood in his eyes, bespeaking +his sincerity as he spoke. + +"Give me that old marlinspike, Josh, and your knife," said Will quickly; +and he took the iron bar and great jack-knife that were handed to him. + +"My good lad, what are you going to do?" said Mr Temple. "You must not +dig it out with that." + +"Oh, no, sir!" said Will, smiling confidently. "I'm going to cut the +shank in two so as to get rid of the flattened end. Here, you hold his +leg on the gunwale. That's it. Pinch the hook with your fingers. I +won't cut 'em, sir." + +"I see!" exclaimed Mr Temple quietly; and as Arthur moaned piteously, +afraid now more of his father's anger than of the pain, Mr Temple held +the injured leg against the side of the boat, pinching the shank of the +hook with his fingers. + +Will did not hesitate a moment, but placed the edge of the great +jack-knife on the soft tinned-iron hook, gave the back of the blade a +sharp tap with the iron bar, and cut clean through the shank. + +Arthur winced as he watched the descent of the marlinspike, but he was +held too tightly by his father for him to move away, had he wished; and +this he did not attempt, for fear of greater pain. + +What followed was almost like a conjuring trick, it was so quickly done. +For, thrusting Mr Temple's hands on one side, Will seized Arthur's leg +with his strong young hands, there was a squeak--at least Dick said +afterwards that it was a squeak, though it sounded like a shrill "Oh!" +and then Will stood up smiling. + +"Don't let him, papa--don't let him!" cried Arthur. "I could not bear +it. He hurt me then horribly! I will not have it out! I'll bear the +pain. He shall not do it! He sha'n't touch--" + +Arthur stopped, stared, and dragged up the leg of his flannel trousers +to examine his leg, where there were two red spots, one of which had a +tiny bead of blood oozing from it, but the hook was gone. + +"Why--where--where's the hook?" he cried in a querulous tone. + +"Here it is!" said Will, holding it out, for with a quick turn he had +forced it on, sending the barb right through where the point nearly +touched the surface, and drawn it out--the shank, of course, easily +following the barb now that the flattened part had gone. + +"Hor! hor! hor! hor!" croaked Josh, indulging in a hoarse laugh. "I +taught him how to do that, sir. It'll only prick a bit now, and heal up +in a day or two." + +"But--but is it all out?" said Arthur, feeling his leg. + +"Yes, it's all out, my boy," said Mr Temple. "Now what do you say? +Shall we bandage your leg and make you a bed at the bottom of the boat?" + +Arthur looked up at him inquiringly, and then, seeing the amused glances +of all around, he said sharply: + +"I don't like to be laughed at." + +"Then you must learn to be more of a man," said his father in a low +tone, so that no one else could hear. "Arthur, my boy, I felt quite +ashamed of your want of courage." + +"But it hurt so, papa." + +"I daresay it did, and I have no doubt that it hurts a little now; but +for goodness' sake recollect what you are--an English boy, growing to be +an English man, and afraid of a little pain! There, jump ashore and +forget all about it." + +Arthur stood up and obeyed, and then the little party proceeded to climb +the cliff, Will leading and selecting the easiest path, till once more +they stood beside an open mine-shaft, situated in a nook between two +masses of cliff which nearly joined, as it seemed from below, but were +quite twenty feet apart when the opening was reached. + +"No," said Mr Temple after turning over a little of the _debris_ that +had been once dug out of the mine; "there would be nothing here worthy +of capital and labour." + +He busied himself examining the different pieces of stone with his lens, +breaking first one fragment and then another, while Dick tried the depth +of the shaft by throwing down a stone, then a larger one, the noise of +its fall in the water below coming up with a dull echoing plash. The +noise made Arthur shrink away and sit down on a piece of rock that was +half covered with pink stonecrop, feeling that it would be dangerous to +go too near, and conjuring up in his mind thoughts of how horrible it +would be to fall into such a place as this. + +Mr Temple seemed to grow more interested in the place as he went on +examining the stones which Will kept picking out from the heap beneath +their feet. + +Then he looked down at the steep slope to the shore, and he could now +see why the bank of broken stone was so small, for the waves must have +been beating upon it perhaps for a couple of hundred years, sweeping the +fragments away, to drive them on along the coast, rolling them over and +over till they were ground together or against the rocks and made into +the rounded pebbles that strewed the shore. + +"That will do," said Mr Temple at last; and as the others descended, he +signed to Will to stop, and as soon as they were alone he held out half +a crown to him. + +"You did that very well, my lad," he said. "You have often taken out +hooks before?" + +"Dozens of times, sir," said Will quietly, and without offering to take +the half-crown. "I don't want paying for doing such a thing as that, +sir." + +"Just as you like, my lad," said Mr Temple, looking at him curiously. +"Go on down." + +Will began descending the path, and as soon as his head had disappeared +Mr Temple picked up a scrap or two more of the stone, examined them +carefully, and then, selecting one special piece, he placed it in his +pocket and followed Will. + +There was plenty to interest them as they embarked once more, to find +that the tide had risen so much that the boat was rowed over rocks that +had previously been out of water. + +Then on they went, along by the rugged cliffs, Josh keeping them at a +sufficient distance from the rocks for them to be in smooth water, while +only some twenty or thirty yards away the tide was beating and foaming +amongst the great masses of stone, making whirlpools and eddies, +swishing up the tangled bladder-wrack and long-fronded sea-weed, and +then pouncing upon it and tearing it back, to once more throw it up +again. + +"Bad place for a ship to go ashore, eh?" said Mr Temple to Josh. + +"Bad place, sir? Ay! There was a big three-master did go on the rocks +just about here three years ago, and the next morning there was nothing +but matchwood and timber torn into rags. Sea's wonderful strong when +she's in a rage." + +"Yes; it must be an awful coast in a storm." + +"Ay, it be!" said Josh. "See yon island, sir?" he continued, pointing +to a long black reef standing up out of the sea about half a mile from +shore. "Why, I've known that covered by the waves. They'll wash right +over it, and send their tops clean over them highest rocks." + +"And how high are they?" said Mr Temple, examining the ragged pile, +upon which were perched half a dozen beautiful grey gulls, apparently +watching their fellows, who were slowly wheeling about over the surface +in search of food. + +"Good fifty feet, sir; and I've seen the waves come rolling in like +great walls, and when they reached the rocks they've seemed to run right +up 'em and go clean over." + +"That's what you call the sea running mountains high, eh, my man?" said +Mr Temple, rather dryly. + +"No, sir, I don't," said Josh quietly; "'cause the sea don't run +mountains high. Out in the middle of the bay there, where the water's +deep, I dunno as ever I see a wave that would be more than say fifteen +foot high. It's when it comes on the rocks and strikes that the water's +thrown up so far. Look at that, sir," he said, pointing towards a wave +that came along apparently higher than the boat, as if it would swamp +them, but over which they rode easily. "See where she breaks!" + +They watched the wave seem to gather force till it rose up, curled over +like a glistening arc of water, striking the rocks, and then rushing up, +to come back in a dazzling cascade of foam. + +"How high did she go?" said Josh quietly. + +"Why, it must have dashed up nine or ten feet, my man," replied Mr +Temple. + +"Things look small out here, sir," said Josh. "If you was to measure +that you'd find it all two fathom, and this is a fine day. Sea leaps +pretty high in a storm, as maybe you'll see if you're going to stop down +here." + +"I hope I shall," said Mr Temple. "Now, then, where are you going to +land next?" + +"Will and me thought p'r'aps you'd like to see the white rock as he +found one day?" + +"White rock? what is it--quartz?" said Mr Temple. + +"No, sir, I don't think it is," said Will; "it's too soft for that." + +"You know what quartz is, then," said Mr Temple quickly. + +"Oh, yes, sir! all the mining lads down here know what that is. Pull +steady, Josh. Somewhere about here, wasn't it?" + +"Nay, nay, my lad. I should have thought you'd knowed. Second cove +beyond the seal-cave." + +"Seal-cave!" cried Dick. "Are we going by the seal-cave?" + +"Yes," said Will; "but the sea is too high to go in to-day. There's the +seal-cave," he continued, pointing to a small hole into which the waves +kept dashing and foaming out again. From where they were it did not +seem to be above half a yard across, and not more above the sea to the +jagged arch, while at times a wave raced in and it was out of sight-- +completely covered by the foaming water. + +"I don't think much of that," said Arthur; "it looks more like a rough +dog kennel." + +"Yes, sir; sea-dog's kennel," said Will, who always addressed Arthur as +"sir," while he dropped that title of respect with Dick. + +"Ah! well, you must examine the seal-cave another day," said Mr Temple. +"Let's see this vein of white stone that you say you found, my lad." + +Five minutes' rowing brought them abreast of a split in the cliff, which +was divided from top to bottom; and here, after a little manoeuvring, +Josh took the boat in, but the sea was so rough that every now and then, +to Dick's delight, they were splashed, and Arthur held on tightly by the +thwart. + +"I shall have to stop aboard, sir," said Josh, "and keep the boat off +the rocks, or we shall have a hole in her. I'll back in astarn, and +then perhaps you wouldn't mind jumping off when I take you close to that +flat rock." + +Mr Temple nodded, and as the boat was turned and backed in, he stood up +and followed Will, who lightly leaped on to the rock, while before they +knew it, Dick was beside them, and the boat a dozen feet away. + +"Be careful," was all he said, and then he smiled as his eyes rested +upon Arthur, who was holding on to the thwart with both hands looking +the image of dismay. For the boat was in troubled water, rising and +falling pretty quickly, and requiring all Josh's attention to keep it +from bumping on the rocks. + +Will started forward at once, clambering into the narrow rift, which was +not very easy of access on account of the number of brambles that ran in +all directions, but by carefully pressing them down, the trio got on +till they were some fifty feet up the rift. Then, stooping down, Will +bent some rough growth aside so as to lay bare the rock and show that, +nearly hidden by grey lichen and stonecrop which was growing very +abundantly, the rock seemed to be of a pinky cream instead of the +prevailing grey and black. + +Mr Temple examined it closely without a word. Then taking out his +hammer he was about to strike off a fragment, but he refrained and rose +up once more. + +"That will do for to-day," he said, to Will's disappointment; and for +the time it seemed as if the white vein of soft rock was not worthy of +notice; but Will noted one thing, and so did Dick. It was that Mr +Temple carefully replaced the brambles and overgrowth before climbing +higher to the very top of the rift, where he could look out on the open +country before he descended and joined the two boys again. + +"Now," he said shortly, "back to the boat." + +It needed no little skill to get aboard the boat, but Josh handled her +so well that he sent her stern close up to the rock upon which they had +landed; but just as Mr Temple was about to step on to the rock, in came +a wave, and it was flooded two feet deep. + +"Little quicker next time, sir," shouted Josh. + +"Will you go first, Dick?" said Mr Temple. "Or no; I will," he added; +and this time he managed so well that he stepped on to the rock as it +was left dry, and from it to the gunwale of the boat as it came towards +him, and thence on board. + +"Now, Dick, watch your time," said Mr Temple as he sat down. + +"All right, father!" shouted back Dick. "I can do it." + +"Don't hurry, master," said Josh, as the stone was once more flooded. +"Now!" he cried, as the wave sank again. + +"One, two, three warning!" shouted Dick, and he jumped on to the rock as +it was left bare again, and then found himself sliding on a piece of +slimy sea-weed rapidly towards the edge. He made a tremendous effort to +recover himself; but it had the contrary effect, and as the next wave +came in poor Dick went into it head over heels, and down into deep +water. + +Arthur uttered a cry, and Mr Temple started up in the boat. + +"Sit down!" roared Josh; "he'll come up, and I'll put you alongside +him." + +Almost as he spoke Dick's head popped up out of the water, and he shook +the hair out of his eyes and swam towards the boat, into which he half +climbed, was half dragged, and there stood dripping and looking +astonished. + +"I say, how was that?" he said, staring from one to the other. "I +couldn't stop myself. It was like being on ice." + +"Sea-weed," said Josh gruffly. "Steady, Will, lad. Don't _you_ come +aboard that way." + +Will did not, but stepped lightly from rock to rock and then into the +boat, hardly wetting his feet. + +"If I was you, Master Dick," said Josh, "I'd take an oar and row going +back--leastwise if we be going back. Then you won't hurt a bit." + +"I was going to propose walking home," said Mr Temple, "and I think +that will be best." + +So they were set ashore at the nearest point to the cliff pathway, where +a tramp over the hot rocks with the sunshine streaming down upon his +head, half dried Dick before he got back to their rooms, where the +dinner he ate after a change fully proved that he was none the worse for +this second dip. + +"I say, father," he said, "one ought to get used to the sea down here." + +"I think so too," said his father smiling; "but, Dick, you must not go +on like this." + +"No," said Dick; "it's Taff's turn now;" and he said it in so quietly +serious a manner that his brother half rose from his seat. + +"Oh! by the way, Arthur," said Mr Temple, "Dick's accident made me +forget yours. How is the wounded leg?" + +"Better, I think," said Arthur, for he had forgotten its existence all +through the walk home. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +MACK'REL IN THE BAY--AND THE SEINE FAIRPLAY--AND A HAUL FOR OUR WIVES +AND BAIRNS. + +If you want to go to a place where the air you breathe seems to till +your veins with joy, and you begin to tingle with a desire to be up and +doing something, go down into Cornwall, where the breeze seems to +sparkle and effervesce like the waves that beat upon the rocky shore, +and from whose crests it bears off the health-giving ozone to mix with +the fragrant scent of the wild thyme and heather of the hills and barren +moors. The sea never looks two days alike: now it is glistening like +frosted silver, now it is as liquid gold. At one time it is ruddy like +wine, at another time rich orange or amber, and a few hours after +intensely blue, as if the sky had fallen or joined it then and there. +Only in storm time is it thick and muddy, as it is in other parts of our +coast, and even then it is not long before it settles down once more to +its crystal purity. + +"Ahoy-ay! Ahoy-ay!" + +A musical chorus, softened by distance as it came off the sea, awakened +Dick Temple from dreams of boats and mines, and rocks, and caves full of +cuttle-fish, crabs, and seals, so big that they seemed monsters of the +deep. + +The window was open, for he had left it so when he had scrambled out of +his clothes and jumped into bed. + +Then Arthur, who was calmly folding his garments, or rather his +brother's, had quietly gone across the room and shut the window. + +"The night air is dangerous," he said. + +"No, it isn't," said Dick. "It's all fancy." + +"I wish the window to be shut," said Arthur with dignity. + +"Oh, very well!" said Dick drowsily; and his brother went on talking. + +"Papa has sent for a suit of flannels and a suit of tweeds for me, for I +suppose I must wear them while we are down amongst these savages." + +The bed creaked and squeaked a little, consequent upon Dick rolling +about and laughing; but Arthur was at work with two hair-brushes upon +his head, and did not hear. + +"I have sent word that the tailor is to make an outside breast-pocket +for my handkerchief, and that the flannels are to be edged and bound +with black." + +Dick's head had been half under the clothes, but he popped it out now to +raise himself up a little and say: + +"Oh, won't you look lovely!" + +Then the bed creaked again as Dick dropped down, his brother not +condescending to notice his frivolous remark. + +A few minutes later and Arthur had deliberately climbed into bed, +yawned, dropped asleep, and Dick had rolled out on his side. + +"I don't mean to be smothered when there's such lots of beautiful air +outside," he muttered; and he softly opened the window once more, jumped +into bed, fell asleep directly, and was awakened by the musical chorus +off the sea. + +"Oh, I say, what a morning!" he cried as he drew up the blind and saw +that about a dozen luggers were coming in from the fishing-ground, where +they had been all night, while the sun was turning the bay into one +sparkling sheet of glory. "Here! Ahoy! Hi! Rouse up, Arthur. Come +and have a bathe." + +He made a bound at his brother, and punched and shook him, with the +result that Arthur shut his eyes more tightly and hit out at him +savagely. + +"Get up, or you sha'n't have any clothes," cried Dick, trying to drag +them off; but--_Whuff, huff, bang_! down came one of the pillows upon +his head, and Arthur rolled himself in the clothes and settled himself +for another sleep. + +"Oh, sleep away, then!" cried Dick. "Here, hi! Will! Where are you +going?" + +"To bathe," said Will. "Come!" + +"Down in a minute," cried Dick; and deferring all washing till he could +get plenty of water out in the bay, he thrust a comb in his pocket, a +towel under his arm, and ran down-stairs. + +"A nasty old nuisance!" grumbled Arthur, getting out of bed like a badly +made parcel, with sheet, blanket, and patchwork quilt rolled round him; +and as he shut the window with a bang he could see his brother and Will +trudging towards the harbour. + +"I'll just have another five minutes, and then I'll get up and dress, +and go and meet them," yawned Arthur; then he rolled on to the bed and +went off fast asleep. + +"Goin' to have a bathe?" said Josh, who was mopping out the boat. + +"Yes. Good-morning! How are you?" cried Dick. + +"Just nicely, lad," sang Josh. "Here, I don't mind rowing you out if +you'll promise to bring me half ounce o' the best 'bacco next time you +come." + +"I'll bring it," said Dick eagerly; and jumping into the boat, Josh +rowed the boys out half a mile or so, and then in they went with a +plunge off the boat's side, and down into the invigorating clear cool +water, to come up again and swim steadily off side by side, Dick being a +pretty fair swimmer, though in his modesty he had disclaimed the +accomplishment. And as the boys swam, Josh had steadily rowed after +them, so that when they had had enough the boat was at hand for them to +climb in, have a good towel, scrub, and dress. + +"Why don't you have a bathe, Josh?" cried Dick, panting with his +exertions. "It's lovely." + +"Yes, a good bathe be lovely," said Josh; "but I don't bathe much. I be +delicate." + +He said it so seriously that Dick never thought of laughing, though Josh +seemed solid and hard as wood, which in truth he was. + +"Look yonder, lad!" he cried; "see him on the cliff;" and putting the +handle of one oar under his leg, he pointed towards the shore west of +the village. + +"Yes, I can see him: what's he doing?" + +"Signalling," cried Josh excitedly; "it's mack'rel." + +"What--up there?" cried Dick. + +"No, no, lad; in the bay. He can see fish, and he's signalling." + +"But he can't see fish in the bay up there." + +"Oh, yes! he can. Colour of the water, my lad. He can see a school, +and--All right! The lads have seen. There goes the seine-boat." + +He pointed to a large boat that seemed laden with something brown. +There were several men in her, and they had pushed off, and were rowing +steadily out towards the middle of the bay, the water that they lifted +with their oars flashing like silver in the sunshine. + +"I can see the school, Josh," said Will. "There, just beyond Dallow +buoy;" and he stood up pointing with his hand, while the man on the +cliff seemed to have a bunch of something in each hand, and to be +turning himself into a human semaphore. + +"Right, lad! There's the school," said Josh, who had also risen in the +boat, and was shading his eyes with his hand. "See, Master Dick?" + +"No, I can't see anything." + +"What--not out yonder, to left of that buoy?" + +"I can see the water looks dark and rippled," said Dick. + +"That's them, lad. That's the school o' mack'rel, and I shouldn't +wonder if they come right on the flat rock sand." + +"What--out of the water?" + +"Out of the water? No. Not unless they are catched, and then they'll +come out of the water fast enough." + +"Look at that chap on the cliff!" cried Dick, as the man began waving +what really were boughs of heather up and down. + +"Yes, he's signalling away to them in the boat. He can see the school. +P'r'aps they can't; and he's telling 'em which way to row." + +"But what are they going to do?" cried Dick. + +"Do? Why, try and catch that school of mack'rel. Can't you see the +seine?" + +"What--the net?" said Dick. + +"Yes; that's it--hundreds of yards of it. Can you see which way the +school's going?" + +"Right up to the head of the bay," replied Will. + +"Then they are going over the sands, and the lads'll get them. Can't +shoot a seine if there's rocks anywhere near," added Josh for the +visitor's information. "Get the net torn, and the mack'rel would get +out of the hole or under the bottom, where it rests on the rocks. You'd +like to stop and see them shoot?" + +"What--the mackerel?" said Dick. + +"Yah! No; the net." + +"Shoot it?" said Dick. + +"Yes; shoot it over into the sea." + +"Oh! I understand," said Dick; "but they shoot rubbish." + +"Oh, they shoot rubbish, do they?" said Josh. + +"Yes, about London," replied Dick. "Look how he's waving his arms +about." + +"Yes. School's going off another way. P'r'aps they mayn't get a chance +to shoot, for the school may go out to sea." + +"Let's row close up. I want to see," cried Dick. + +"Nay, nay; we might be frightening the fish. Let's wait and see first, +and if they surround 'em then we'll go close up. You sit still and +watch." + +The scene was worth watching on that bright morning, with the blue sky +above, the glittering sea below, the village nestling in the cliffs, +with its chimneys sending up their columns of smoke into the clear air; +and at the foot of the cliff, as if seeking its protection, lay the +little fishing fleet, with its brown sails giving warmth and colour to +as bonny an English landscape as could well be seen. There up aloft, +where the hill cliff was purple and gold and grey with heath and furze +and crag, was the man with the bushes, signalling to his comrades in the +boat, which seemed to be crawling slowly along, the piled-up filmy brown +net, lying in a clumsy heap, so it seemed, but really in carefully +laid-out folds, with every rope in place ready for the work to be done. + +Uncle Abram's boat was allowed to drift with the current as its three +occupants watched the proceedings, Will with the more interest that his +uncle had a share in the seine, that is to say, he found so many score +yards of which its length was composed, and consequently would take his +proportion of the profits if the mackerel were caught. + +"She's going right for the sands," cried Josh excitedly. "They'll have +a fine haul. See 'em, lad--see 'em?" + +"Yes, I can see the dark ripple of the water gradually going along," +said Dick eagerly. "Oh, I do wish we were nearer!" + +"You'll be near enough, lad, when the seine gets to work. Perhaps we +shall have to be farther away. Look at 'em; how pretty they come! And +you, Will, are always thinking about mines, and stones, and holes in the +earth, when you've got a sight like that before you, boy. Eh! but I'm +ashamed of you!" + +Will laughed and stood watching the school, and answering Dick's +questions. + +"What are they going to do? Wait and you'll see." + +"Oh, no! the fish don't run their heads through these nets and get +caught by the gills. Those are drift-nets. This is a seine, and made +with smaller meshes. It's stronger, too, and has a rope top and bottom. +Now, look, they're getting close enough in. They daren't go any nearer +for fear of frightening the fish. Now, see, they're beginning to shoot +the net." + +For the first time Dick saw that there was a little boat with the big +one, and that this little boat had two men in it, who seemed to be +stopping in one place, while the big boat was being rowed away from +them. Then over the stern a couple of men were passing what seemed to +be an enormous brown rope, which they kept shaking as it went over and +down into the sea, sinking at once all but what looked like a row of +dots on the water right away to the little boat, which now seemed to be +connected with the big one by the row of dots. + +"That's the seine-net they're shooting overboard," said Will. "It has +corks all along the top, and these keep the top edge level with the +water, while all the rest sinks right down to the bottom. It's shallow +enough over the sands here for the net to touch the bottom." + +"I see!" cried Dick excitedly. "And they are going to row right round +the shoal of fish and make a regular fence of net about them, so as they +can't get away." + +"A mussy me!" cried Josh smiling. "Why, I'm getting quite proud o' you, +Master Dick. You might ha' been born a fisherman." + +"But will the net be long enough to go right round?" said Dick. + +"No, perhaps not; but they'll manage that if they're lucky." + +The scene was exciting enough to chain the interest of those in the +boat, while quite a crowd gathered on the cliff to witness the capture-- +one which meant money and support to a good many families; for there +would be basketing and carting to the far-off station, to send the take +to the big towns, if a take it should prove to be. And so all watched +as the large boat was rowed steadily, its heap of net growing lower, and +the row of dot-like corks that trailed from behind getting longer and +longer, and gradually taking the shape of a half-moon. + +The little boat remained nearly stationary, only drawing a trifle +towards where Dick and his companions were; but the big boat continued +its course, and so did the shoal of mackerel, making a beautiful ripple +on the surface, that seemed as changeful as the ripple marks on their +own backs, and in happy unconsciousness of the fact that their way back +to sea was being steadily shut off, and that there were baskets getting +ready, and horses being fed to bear them to the train, so that the next +morning they would be glittering on stalls in busy towns both far and +near. + +It was a long but carefully-executed piece of work, the large boat +making a very wide circuit, so as not to alarm the fish, now about the +centre of a semicircle of net. + +"But suppose the net should be twisted," said Dick excitedly, "and not +reach the bottom--what then?" + +"Then when the mackerel were scared they'd swim about and find the hole, +and go through it like the tide between a couple of rocks," replied +Will. "But the men wouldn't let the net go down twisted; they're too +used to shooting it." + +"All out now," said Josh at last. "They'll lose the school if they +don't mind. Look yonder." + +Dick glanced in the direction indicated, and saw that the man on the +cliff was now telegraphing wildly with his boughs, and the men in the +seine-boat seemed to let out a long rope, for there was a good space +between them and the row of corks. + +The two men in the little boat seemed to do the same, and as the two +boats were some distance to right and left of Dick and his companions, +it seemed as if they meant to come up close with them. + +"Josh! Josh! the school's heading this way," cried Will; "they'll lose +'em." + +Josh jumped down into the seat, seized the oars, and began to row +steadily right across the head of the ripple, just as a hail came first +from the big boat and then from the small. + +Josh rowed about twenty or thirty yards, and then began to back water, +going over the ground again, while the big and little boats steadily +rowed on. + +"They're gone, Josh!" cried Will, as the ripple on the surface suddenly +ceased. + +"Maybe they'll come up again, my lad," said Josh. "I'll keep on," and +he went on rowing first towards the large boat, then towards the small, +as they slowly toiled on, trying to get nearer to each other and Uncle +Abram's boat, which was just about intermediate. + +If they could once join and form a circle, even if part of it were only +the net ropes, the fish would be inclosed, and instead of making for the +unfinished part of the circle where there was only rope, they would +avoid it and the boats, and make for the other side. + +"All right, Josh! they're showing again," cried Will, for the dreaded +catastrophe had not taken place--the fish had not gone down and swum +away beneath the boats. + +"Keep wi' us, lad!" came a musical hail to Josh, "and we shall do it +yet." + +"Ay, ay!" shouted back Josh; and like a sentry he kept going to and fro, +with the boats closing up, yard by yard, but slowly, for they had the +weight of the widely-spread net to check their progress. + +They were forty yards from Uncle Abram's boat on either side, and it +seemed a long time before they were twenty, and all the while this was +the most dangerous time, for the alarmed shoal was beginning to swim to +and fro. Then all at once they disappeared from the surface again, and +Dick thought they were gone. + +But the fishermen pulled steadily still, and their companions in the +stern of each boat kept the line tighter, and just as they were now +getting closer the mackerel showed again, making the water flicker as if +a violent storm of rain were falling. + +"Back out, lad, and go to port," said the captain of the seine-boat; and +Josh rowed steadily along close to the line, pausing half-way between +the seine-boat and the beginning of the corks, that is, of the net. + +The men in the little boat just at the same time passed their rope on +board to their friends, and then went off to the right, to pause +half-way, as Josh had done to the left. + +Meanwhile the men on the seine-boat began to haul steadily at the ropes +at each end, drawing the great circle narrower. + +"Why, how big is this net round?" said Dick in a whisper, as if he +feared alarming the fish. + +"Mile," said Josh laconically, "ropes and all." + +"But they are drawing the ropes in fast now," said Will, "and when they +get the spreaders together it will be seven hundred yards." + +"What are the spreaders?" + +"Long poles to keep the ends of the net stretched. They've got lead at +the bottom, like the net, to keep them on the sand." + +"Look out!" shouted the captain of the seine. "Here they come!" + +The men hauled the harder, and oars were splashed in all three boats, +the smaller rowing to and fro, with the result that the surface of the +water became calm once more, not the sign of a ripple to betoken the +presence of a fish; but no one ceased his efforts. + +"Are they gone, Will?" asked Dick. + +"No, they've only gone below; they're hunting all about the seine for a +hole to escape, and the thing is now whether they follow it on to one of +the ends: if they do, it's only follow my leader, not one will be left." + +It was a long job, but the men worked with all their might, keeping up +their steady strain at the ropes, and gradually reducing the circle, +till at last the two ends of the net were brought together and made to +overlap safely, but there was not a sign of the fish. + +"They've got away," said Dick. + +"I'm afraid so," said Will, for there was an ominous silence among the +fishermen, who had been at work all this while apparently for nothing. +Then all at once there was a loud cheer, for the shoal, a very large +one, suddenly appeared at the top again, fretting the water as the fish +swam here and there, shut-up as they were in an irregular circle about +two hundred yards across, and hopelessly entangled, for if there had +been a loophole of escape they would have found it now. + +"There won't be no storm to-day," said Josh, looking round, "so they've +got them safe, and now, my lads, what do you say to a bit o' brexfass?" + +"Breakfast!" cried Dick. "Oh! I had forgotten all about that. I must +go ashore; but I should have liked to see them get the mackerel out." + +"Oh! you'll have plenty of time for that," said Josh, beginning to row +for the harbour and going close by the seine-boat, whose captain hailed +them. + +"Thank ye, lads," he cried. "You, Will Marion, tell your uncle we've +got as pretty a school as has been took this year." + +"Ay, ay!" shouted Will. Then taking one oar he rowed hard, and in a few +minutes they were at the harbour, the pier being covered with the fisher +folk. + +"Best take this year," sang Josh in answer to a storm of inquiries; and +then Will sprang up the steps, to run home with a shield of good news to +ward off the angry points that Aunt Ruth was waiting to discharge at him +for not coming home to his meals in time. + +The first faces Dick saw on the pier were those of his father and +Arthur. + +"I am so sorry, father!" began Dick. + +"You've not kept me waiting, my boy," said Mr Temple kindly. "I've +been watching the fishing from the cliff." + +"You might have told me that you were going to see some seine-fishing," +said Arthur in an ill-used tone, as they entered the inn parlour, where +breakfast was waiting. + +"Didn't know myself," cried Dick. "Why, it's ten o'clock! Oh! I am so +hungry!" + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +"A GASHLY GREAT FISH IN THE NET." + +There was quite enough interesting business to see after breakfast to +make Mr Temple disposed to go out to the great seine, so that when, +about eleven, Will came to the inn to say that he was just going out to +the men, if Master Dick or Master Arthur would like to come, their +father readily accepted the invitation for all three. So they were +rowed out, to find the men very busy at work in boats beside the great +circle of corks, shooting a smaller seine inside the big one; and this +being at last completed, the small seine was drawn close, the lower rope +contracted, and the fish huddled together so closely that a small boat +was at work amongst them, the men literally dipping the struggling fish +out of the water with huge landing-nets and baskets, the water flying, +and the silvery, pearly fish sparkling in the sun. + +It was a most animated scene, for as a boat was loaded she went ashore, +and the fish were rapidly counted, thrust into small stout hampers, tied +down, and loaded on to carts waiting for their freight, and then off and +away to the railway-station almost before the fish were dead. + +Josh and Will stood high in the good graces of the seine men for their +help that morning, so that there was quite a welcome for the party in +the boat as the corked line was pressed down, and Josh took the boat +right into the charmed circle where the fish were darting to and fro in +wild efforts to escape through the frail yielding wall of net that held +them so securely. + +"I've got a net ready for you," said Will, drawing a strong landing-net +from under a piece of sail and handing it to Dick, who was soon after +busily at work dashing it in and capturing the lovely arrowy fish in +ones and twos and threes. Once he caught five at once, and drew them +inboard for his father to admire the brilliancy of the colours upon the +live fish, and the lovely purple ripple marks that died away on the +sides in a sheen of pink and silver and gold. + +Now and then other fish were netted, but fish that had been surrounded +with the mackerel. Several times over little stumpy red mullet were +seen--brilliant little fish, and then grey mullet--large-scaled silvery +fish with tiny mouths and something the aspect, on a large scale, of a +river dace. + +The fishermen found time to good-naturedly call Josh when any particular +prize of this kind was found, and the Temples had not been there long +before, flapping, gasping, and staring, a very monster of ugliness was +taken out in a landing-net, along with a score of mackerel. + +This flat-sided, great-eyed, big-headed creature, with a huge back fin, +and general ugliness painted in it everywhere, had a dark mark on either +side of the body; and though arrayed and burnished here and there with +metallic colours, the fish was so grotesque that its beauties were quite +ignored. + +"Ah! our friend John-Dory--Jean Dore, as the French call him--gilded +John," said Mr Temple. "A delicacy, but not a handsome fish. Look at +the thumb and finger marks upon his side." + +"Oh! but those are not finger marks," cried Dick. + +"No," said his father, "but they are quite near enough in appearance to +make people say that this is the fish Peter caught, and held between his +finger and thumb while he opened its mouth." + +"Here y'are, sir!" shouted a fisherman. "Young gents like to see this?" + +Josh rowed the boat alongside and Dick held his net, while the fisherman +laughingly turned into it from his own a great jelly-fish, as clear as +crystal and glistening in the sun with iridescent colours of the +loveliest hue. + +"Oh, what a beauty!" cried Dick. "Look, father, look!" + +"Yes; keep it in the water, you will see it to the best advantage +there." + +Dick doused the jelly-fish down into the sun-lit waters, and then they +could see its wonderful nature. + +In size it was as big as a skittle-ball or a flat Dutch cheese, though a +better idea of its shape may be obtained by comparing it to a +half-opened mushroom whose stalk had been removed, and where beautifully +cut leafy transparencies took the place of the mushroom gills. + +No sooner was it in the water than it began to swim, by expanding, and +contracting itself with such facility that, but for the meshes of the +net, it would soon have taken its wondrous hanging fringes and delicate +soap-bubble hues out of sight. + +"Better not touch it," said Will, as Dick was about to place his hand +beneath the curious object. + +"Why not?" asked Arthur sharply. + +"Because they sting," replied Will. "Some sting more than others. +Perhaps that does, sir." + +Arthur glanced at his father, who nodded his head. + +"Yes; I believe he is right," said Mr Temple. "It is a curious fact in +natural history. We need not test it to see if it is correct." + +"Look, look!" cried Dick; "here's a pollack like I caught. Oh! do look +at its bright colours, father; but what shall we do with the +jelly-fish?" + +"Let it go. We cannot save it. In an hour or two there would be +nothing left but some dirty film." + +The pollack was then examined, with all its glories of gold, bronze, and +orange. Then there was a skipping, twining, silvery, long-nose that +could hardly be kept in the net, a fish that looked remarkably like an +eel, save for its regularly shaped mackerel tail, and long beak-like +nose. Sea-bream were the next--ruddy looking, large-eyed fish, not much +like their fellows of the fresh water, even what were called the black +bream--dark, silvery fellows, similar in shape, bearing but a small +resemblance to the fish the brothers had often caught in some river or +stream in a far-off home county. + +Dick's eyes glistened with pleasure; and waking up more and more to the +fact that the finding of fresh kinds of fish gave the boy intense +delight, Will kept eagerly on the look-out. + +"Here, hi! Throw that over here, Michael Pollard," cried Will. + +"It be only a gashly scad," said the great, black-bearded fisherman; and +he turned the fish good-humouredly into Dick's landing-net. + +"Why, it's a kind of mackerel-looking fish," said Dick, as he examined +his fresh prize. + +"Ah! mind how you touch it!" cried Will, "it is very sharp and prickly." + +"All right!" said Dick. "Oh! I say, though, it is sharp." + +"Well, you were warned," said Mr Temple, as Dick applied a bleeding +finger to his mouth. + +"Yes, but I did not know it was so sharp as that," said Dick. "Don't +you touch it, Taff;" and this time he turned the fish over more +carefully, to see that it was much the same shape as an ordinary +mackerel, but broader of body and tail, and less graceful of outline, +while its markings and tints would not compare with those of the +ordinary mackerel, and it was provided, as Dick had found, with some +very keen spines. + +"What do you call this?" said Arthur, rather importantly. + +"Scad, sir--horse-mackerel," cried Will. + +"Are they good to eat?" said Arthur. + +Will shook his head. + +"They taste strong, and they say they're not wholesome, sir," replied +Will. "Look, they've just caught a bass." + +The beautiful silvery fish was passed on by one of the fishermen, and +the brilliant scales and sharp, perch-like fin of this favourite fish +were being examined, when a violent splashing and commotion told of the +presence of something larger in the net. + +Whatever it was it escaped for the time; but ten minutes later it was +caught in another net, a large, vigorous-looking fish, which made a bold +effort to escape, but instead of leaping back into the sea fell into the +bottom of one of the boats, where one of the fishermen gave it three or +four vigorous blows with a club before he passed it on to Josh, who +ladled it into his own boat with the net borrowed from Dick. + +"Hake, sir," he said to Mr Temple. "Right good fish, sir, cooked +anyhow; and I say as good as cod." + +"How came that to be in a mackerel shoal?" said Mr Temple. + +"Hungry, sir, _I_ should say," replied Josh. "They generally follows +the herring and pilchards, and snatch 'em as they're coming into the +nets. I s'pose this one wanted a bit o' mackerel for a treat." + +"About nine pounds, sir, I should say," said Will. "You'd like to keep +it for dinner?" + +"Is it good enough?" said Mr Temple smiling. + +"Good enough, sir!" cried Will. "Oh, yes! People don't know what a +good fish hake is, or they'd oftener want it in London. There's another +fish that isn't a mackerel, Master Dick. What should you say that is?" + +"Don't know," said Dick, looking at a curious pale-green mottled fish of +two or three pounds weight. It was something like a perch in shape, but +longer and more regular, and unprovided with the sharp back fin. + +"Do you know what it is, papa?" asked Arthur. + +"No, my boy, I am not learned in these west-country fishes. What is it, +my man?" + +"It's a rock-fish, sir, that must have lost its way, for they are not +often caught away from the rock," replied Will. "It's the wrasse, sir; +some of them are very brightly coloured." + +"'Tain't," said Josh gruffly. "What do you want to tell the gentleman +wrong for? It's a wraagh, sir--a curner." + +"They call them _wraaghs_ or _curners_, sir," explained Will, colouring +a little; "but the name in the natural history's wrasse." + +"Then nat'ral history's wrong," said Josh, in an ill-used way. "A mussy +me! as if I didn't know what a wraagh was." + +"Want any squid, Josh?" cried one of the fishermen. + +"Ay, hand 'em over," said Josh. "They'll do for bait." + +"Got three of 'em," said the man, dashing his great landing-net about in +the water for some reason that Dick did not understand, and directly +after three curious looking, long, slender creatures of the cuttle-fish +tribe were in Dick's net, and he was just drawing them in +when--_spatter_!--one of them discharged a shower of black inky fluid, a +good deal of which fell upon Arthur's trousers, and filled him with +disgust. + +"Bang 'em 'bout a bit in the water, Master Richard, sir," cried Josh. +"He didn't half give it 'em; p'r'aps neither of the others arn't made +their cloud." + +Instructed by Will, Dick splashed the net down in the water, with the +result that it became discoloured with a black cloud, another of these +curious looking creatures not having discharged its ink. + +"Penanink fish, we calls 'em," said Josh laughing, and turning away his +face, for he could not help enjoying the disgust shown by Arthur. + +"Make capital bait, Master Richard," said Will, carefully storing the +squid away in the locker of the boat. + +"Here's some cuttle for you too," shouted Pollard; and this time a +couple of cuttle-fish were passed on; but before they reached the boat, +taught by experience, Arthur carefully got behind his father, making him +a shield against the inky shower which did not come. + +As soon as it was safe he emerged, though, and eagerly stood looking on +as Dick and his father examined the curious creatures, which looked like +soft bags, with so many sucker-covered arms hanging out all ready to +seize upon the first hapless fish that came their way, and drag them to +their mouths. + +"What! is that its mouth?" cried Arthur. "It looks just like a parrot's +beak." + +It was a good comparison, for there is great similarity between them. + +The short tentacles and the two longer ones, with which the cuttle is +provided, were duly examined, and then they, murderers as they were of +all things that came to their net, were condemned to be eaten in turn. + +"Which is only fair, is it, father?" said Dick laughing. + +"Quite fair, Dick," he replied. "It seems to be the law of the sea; +every fish eats those less than itself and gets eaten in its turn. The +only thing with them is, that each one has some chance for its life, and +lives as long as it can." + +"I see once a very rum kind of a squid," said Josh, who, while the +mackerel catching went on and no more curiosities were turned out, +seemed disposed to be communicative. "Reg'lar great one he was, at low +water out Lizard way." + +"Octopus, perhaps," said Mr Temple. + +"No, sir--sort o' squid-like, only very different. He was just like a +dirty bag with eight arms hanging away from it, all covered like with +suckers, and there was two great ugly eyes." + +"It was an octopus from your description, my man," said Mr Temple. + +"Was it now?" said Josh. "Well, I shouldn't wonder, for it was a horrid +gashly thing, and when I saw it first it was sitting in a pool of clear +water, with a rock hanging over it, looking at me with its big eyes, and +filling itself full of water and blowing it out." + +"How large was it?" + +"'Bout as big as a bladder buoy, sir, with long arms all round +twissening and twining about like snakes; and when I made up my mind +that whether it come out and bit me or whether it didn't, I'd stir it +up, and I poked at it with a stick, if it didn't shut itself up like and +shoot through the water like an umbrella." + +"Undoubtedly an octopus," said Mr Temple; "that is its habit." + +"Is it now?" said Josh. "Well, I shouldn't have thought it. Seemed +queer like for a thing with eight long legs to go zizzling through the +water like a shut-up umbrella." + +"Did you catch it?" said Dick. + +"No, Master Ritchard, sir, I didn't ketch it, only poked at it like with +a stick, for it didn't seem good to eat, and it wasn't the sort of thing +you'd care to put in your pocket, even if you'd got one big enough, so I +left it alone." + +"I've heard that they grow very large in the neighbourhood of Jersey," +said Mr Temple. + +"Do they, though?" said Josh. "Well, they're gashly things, and I don't +want to know any more of 'em. Squid and cuttle do very well for us +'bout here." + +"Squid, as you call them, are found of immense size in the cold seas +towards and in the Arctic circle, large enough, they say, to upset a +boat." + +"Then I'm glad this is not the Arctic circle," cried Dick. "Only fancy +having one of those things picking you out of a boat! Ugh!" + +He glanced at his brother and then laughed, for Arthur was looking +rather white. + +"What say?" roared Josh as loud as he could to a man in a boat close by. + +"Gashly great fish in the net," shouted back the man. + +"Gashly great fish in the net?" roared Josh. + +"Ay; gashly great fish in the net. Mick Polynack see um while ago." + +After a few inquiries it was found that the men believed that the great +seine had been drawn round some large fish, possibly a shark, and the +excitement was great when, after emptying the tuck net, it was gathered +in and the great seine drawn closer. + +This took a long time, but it was effected at last, the space inclosed +being reduced to less than half the former size, and once more the busy +scene went on, the mackerel being caught by hundreds, counted into +baskets, tied down, and sent off; but though its appearance was eagerly +looked for, no sign was given of the presence of the big fish, whatever +it might be. More bass were found, and scad, and gurnard, and a long, +thin, cod-fish-looking fellow was drawn napping and splashing from the +sea, proving to be a ling. Then there was quite a sight of a little +shoal of gar-fish or long-nose, which played about the top of the water +for some time here and there in a state of excitement; and then there +was a splashing and flashing, and one after the other they threw +themselves over the cork-line and escaped to the open bay. + +"What a pity!" cried Arthur. + +"Oh! not much, sir. We don't care a very great deal for 'em down here." + +More squid, a cuttle or two, and several other fish of the varieties +previously taken; and still, as if the supply was inexhaustible, the +mackerel were ladled out as if from a huge basin with the great +landing-nets. + +"There don't seem to be any big fish here," said Dick at last in +disappointed tones, for he had lost all interest in smaller fry since he +had heard the announcement of there being something larger inclosed in +the net. + +"I should say it was a shark," said Josh quietly, "he lies so quiet at +the bottom." + +The word shark was electrical, and sent a thrill of excitement through +the little party. + +"But have you sharks off this coast, my man?" asked Mr Temple. + +"Not a great few, sir; but we sees one now and then, and times we hear +of one being ketched." + +"You mean dog-fish," said Mr Temple. + +"Oh no! I don't, sir," cried Josh. "Real sharks." + +"But only small ones." + +"Yes, sir, small ones, big as Will there, and big ones, great as me, and +three foot longer. Shouldn't wonder if there was a big one in the net." + +"But a large fish such as you speak of would go through the net as if it +were a cobweb." + +Will shook his head. + +"If the net was tight, sir, and the shark swam right at it, the meshes +would give way; but they don't seem to swim right at them, and the net +goes with the fish like--yields to it--and does not break. It does +sometimes, of course; but we've seen a big fish, a porpoise, regularly +rolled up in a net and tied in so that it couldn't move." + +"Like a conger in a trammel," assented Josh. "Fish is very stoopid, +sir, and never thinks of getting out the way they go in." + +All this while the seine was being contracted and drawn into the boat, +where it was laid up like some gigantic brown skein, the men who were +gathering it in shaking out the sea-weed and small fish that had +enmeshed themselves and had forced their unfortunate heads in beyond the +gills. + +"Here she be," shouted one of the men, as there was a tremendous swirl +in the water close by a boat. + +"All right!" said the captain of the seine, "we'll have her bime-by;" +and once more the collecting of the mackerel went on till the tremendous +shoal that had been inclosed had exchanged places, and was pretty well +all in the baskets that were still being rapidly despatched. And all +this time the net had been more and more contracted, the bottom worked +by the ropes, so that it was drawn closer and closer, and at last it was +decided that the next thing to be done was to capture the large fish, +whatever it was, and this they set about, as shall be told. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +UNPLEASANT TIMES FOR A BIG BLUE SHARK. + +Long usage had made the principal fishermen who lived by seine-fishing +and trawling as thoroughly acquainted with the bottom of the bay as if +they could see it like a piece of land. Every rock and its position was +in their mind's eye, every patch of sand and bed of stone, so that they +had no difficulty in getting the net in closer and closer towards one +side of the bay, where it formed a broad sandy slope, up which it was +determined to draw the net, gradually opening the ends, or rather one +end, the other being packed deeply down in the seine-boat. + +This was done, the small boats being rowed out of the circle of corks, +and one going to the free end of the net, while the others, with Uncle +Abram's and its load, going to the back of the net, about the middle, so +that the visitors might have a good view. + +All this took time; but at last the net was so managed that the two +seine-boats were ashore, their stems run right on the sands, and the net +between them formed a bow towards the coast, the ends being about eighty +or ninety yards apart. + +There was no mistake now about there being some large fish inclosed; and +the excitement of the boys grew intense when they saw Josh take hold of +the hitcher, and hold it, spear-fashion, ready to attack the great fish +should he see a chance. + +"Don't strike at her, Josh," shouted Pollard, "unless she be coming +over. I think we can manage her easy enough now." + +He was quite right, for long custom had made these men wonderfully +clever in the management of a net, which, fragile in its single threads, +becomes, in its combination of thousands of meshes, an engine of +tremendous power. + +The way the men managed was as follows:-- + +After getting, as it were, the two ends of the net to the shore, they +drew on the lower rope, bringing it in, and in, over the sand, till the +bow it made was less bent. Then they served the upper rope the same. +Then they drew both together, with the result that at last the +tremendously extensive net was folded longwise right over upon itself, +the top-line was drawn right down upon the foot-line, and at last the +fish left in the net were completely shut in what seemed like an +enormous old-fashioned purse. + +This done, the ends were taken by plenty of willing hands right into +shallow water, and as the men hauled, the great purse came closer and +closer, and every now and then there was a tremendous agitation towards +the middle. + +"Let's go ashore, now," said Arthur, as Josh urged the boat on, and the +water swirled up tremendously not four yards away. + +"Is there any danger--any risk?" said Mr Temple quietly to Josh. + +"A mussy me! no, sir; not a bit!" said Josh; and then laughing, he +added, "only for shark, sir, of having his liver boiled down for oil." + +"Oh! don't I wish I had a spear, or a harpoon!" cried Dick excitedly, as +once more the water was churned up and the net came to the surface. + +"We'll get her without any o' that tackle, Master Dick, sir," cried +Josh, keeping steadily advancing after the cork-line, but not so quickly +as to go over the net. + +"Are they going to draw the net right ashore, Will?" said Dick. + +"Right ashore, Master Dick, on to the sands, and it won't be long now." + +"Take care, Dick, or you'll be overboard!" said Mr Temple. + +"I should like to be, father; it isn't deep here?" + +"Fathom!" said Josh shortly; "soon be half." + +There was a regular sing-song kept up by the men who were hauling, and +the sands presented quite an exciting scene, for some sixty or seventy +of the men who had finished their task, with others who were ashore and +not busy, had collected to see the big fish taken in the seine. + +"Why, there must be lots of fish in it yet," said Dick. + +"Yes; plenty of mackerel left, and a many fish perhaps such as you never +saw before." + +"Is she heavy, lads?" shouted the captain of the seine-boat. + +"Ay, there be a sag o' fish in her yet aside the great un," was shouted +back. + +"Steady, then! steady! and don't break the seine. Take your time!" + +"Hadn't we better get ashore?" cried Dick; "we shall see better." + +"No!" said Mr Temple; "I think our friend Josh is right. We are out of +the way of the men here and dry. Look, boys, look! there is something +big in the net indeed!" + +For as he was speaking there was a tremendous commotion, the water was +splashed up, and for a moment it seemed as if whatever caused the +disturbance had escaped. + +But it was not so, though the limits of its prison were growing narrower +minute by minute as the ends of the net were gathered on to the sand, +and laid at the water's edge like a great soft ridge of brown sea-weed. + +The curve of the net was now reduced to fifty feet, and soon it was not +above forty; and at this stage of the proceedings what with the weight +being collected in such narrow limits, and the water being so shallow, +the captain became doubtful of its bearing so tremendous a strain as +would be caused by its being hauled bodily ashore, so about twenty men +waded in behind the great bag that it formed, and at the word of command +as two parties hauled at either end they stooped down, and gathering up +a fair quantity of the tightened net in their hands, they too helped, +and the thirty or forty feet of shallow water was soon covered, the +seine being dragged so that the lead or bottom-line was drawn right on +to dry land, and the cork-line raised so that there was a fence of net +some three feet above the top of the water, and in the long shallow +pool, whose bottom was net, there were the fish by the thousand, rushing +to and fro, leaping over each other, and showing flashes of silver, +gold, blue, and green, in the bright sun as it shone on the animated +scene. + +"Bring up some more pads!" cried the captain of the seine; "here be five +or six hundred more mackerel. Hand me that boat-hook, my lad, and stand +aside. Keep off the net there, you boys!" + +Dick realised now the advantage of his position as Josh thrust the boat +right up to the net, and he could look down at the crowded fish, some of +which began to turn up fast now, killed by the pressure, and the sandy +thickness of the water. + +But the sight of sights was a long bluish-grey fish that kept slowly +forcing itself here and there amongst the silvery crowd, keeping its +head well beneath the water, and now and then showing a long, thin, +unequally-lobed tail. + +"Shark she be, sure enough," said Josh. + +"Ay, shark!" said the captain, advancing, boat-hook in hand; "time her +mischief was stopped." + +"Do they do mischief?" whispered Dick to Will. "No; never mind now; I +can't listen to you!" + +The scene was too full of interest, for it was evident that the captain +meant to hook hold of the shark, and draw it on to the sands before +anything else was done. + +But this did not prove a very easy task, for the great fish kept diving +under the companions of its adversity, and keeping its head boring down +towards the bottom. + +If it had been a question of catching it by the tail there would have +been no difficulty in getting a chance. In fact, several times over a +thin line with a noose might have been thrown over the lobes and the +fish drawn out; but the captain had made up his mind to get the +boat-hook well in the creature's jaws or gills and drag it ashore that +fashion, while, when at last he did get a chance he missed, the hook +gliding over the shining skin without taking hold. + +Twice he missed like this, and it took some time before he could get +another chance; but at last it came, and as, full of excitement, the +occupants of the boat bent over the side, there was a quick lunge, and a +tremendous splashing as the captain ran nimbly up the sands, dragging +after him the long bluish fish, which was immediately attacked as it lay +on the sands lashing about with its tail, and throwing its head from +side to side till the knife-thrusts it received, and the violent blows +across the back of the head, disabled it, and its course was at an end. + +"I only wonder, sir, as she didn't bite her way out of the net," said +the captain of the seine, as Mr Temple and his sons landed to have a +look at the take: + +"It is a shark, then?" said Mr Temple. + +"Ay, sir, she be a blue shark, sure enough. Look at her teeth! +Mischievous brutes; they follow the drift-nets, and bite the herring and +pilchard out of 'em. I've known 'em swallow a conger when it's been +hooked, and I've seen small ones caught that way, but they generally +bite through the line and go off. Look, sir, there's teeth--sharp as +lancets." + +As he spoke he thrust the end of the boat-hook between the shark's jaws, +and wrenched them open for the party to see. + +"I say, though, Mr Pollard," said Dick. + +"Cap'n Pollard, if you wouldn't mind, young gentleman," said the great +bluff Cornishman, smiling at Dick. + +"Captain Pollard," said Dick, "do these sharks ever attack a man or a +boy when bathing?" + +"Never heerd o' such a thing," said the captain; "but the mischief they +do to a fisherman's craft, sir, is something terrible--lines, nets, +fish--they destroy everything. Like to take the shark home with you, +sir?" + +"No, thank you!" cried Mr Temple, shaking his head; "no sharks, thank +you!" + +"You're welcome, if you like, sir," said the captain; "but if you don't +care for her, I'll send her to London to my salesman, and he'll show her +as a cur'osity." + +"Eight feet long exactly," said Mr Temple, who had been measuring it. + +"Be she, though?" said the captain, "well, it be eight foot o' mischief +well put out of the way, and that's a good day's work." + +They stopped looking at the long thin shark for some minutes, Dick +thinking that it was not so very much unlike a dog-fish after all, and +then they turned back to the net, which was being rapidly emptied, the +mackerel that were left being quickly counted out into baskets and tied +down, those obtained now forming what Dick would have considered quite a +good take. + +But there were plenty of other fish, though none were very small, the +size of the meshes being sufficiently large to allow of their escape. +There was one more large hake, and quite a little shoal of red bream, +_chad_, as Will called them. Several dog-fish were there too, and some +more squid. The fish, however, that most took the attention of the boys +now were about a score of red mullet, and half as many more of the grey, +very different fish, though, the one being as gorgeous in its scarlet +tints as the other was plain, silvery, and grey. + +At last, after a most interesting examination of the different captures, +the net was declared and proved to be empty, the damaged fish it +contained being thrown out upon the sands, where the waves of the +flowing tide kept curling over them, and sweeping the refuse away, to be +snapped up by the shoals of hungry fish that came up the bay, the +thousands that had been captured that morning being as nothing in the +immensity of the ocean population. + +"Home?" said Dick suddenly, as Mr Temple said something about going. +"Of course. Why, we haven't had our dinner!" + +"What is for dinner, I wonder?" said Arthur. + +"For one thing, fish," said Mr Temple, "for your friend Will went to +the inn an hour ago with a basket of the best; so let's go and see if +they are done." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +MR. ARTHUR TEMPLE IS NOT IN THE LEAST ALARMED. + +"Father," cried Dick, bursting into the room where Mr Temple was busy +with weights, scales, test-tubes, a lamp, and blow-pipe, trying the +quality of some metals--"father, here's Will Marion and Mr Marion's man +Josh come to see if we'd like to go with them to-night conger-fishing." + +"To-night?" + +"Yes; they won't bite very well of a day. He knows a place where--" + +"Who is _he_?" said Mr Temple. + +"I mean Will, father; he knows of a place where the congers are +plentiful, and Josh says he'll take the greatest care of us." + +"Whom do you mean by us?" said Mr Temple. + +"Arthur and me, father. Taff wants to go very badly." + +"I hardly know what to say, Dick," said Mr Temple thoughtfully. "Last +time you came to grief, and had a narrow escape." + +"Oh, but that isn't likely to occur again, father!" said Dick. "It +would be such a treat, too." + +"Humph! what am I to do, my boy--coddle you up, and keep you always +under my eye; or give you a little latitude, and trust to your +discretion to take care of yourself and your brother?" + +"Give me a little latitude, father--and longitude too," added Dick with +a laugh in his eye. + +"Well, I will, Dick; but you must be very careful, my lad, especially of +Arthur." + +"Oh, but Taff is such a solemn old gentleman with his stick-up collar +and his cane that he ought to take care of me, father!" + +"Perhaps he ought," said Mr Temple; "but I tell you to take care of +him." + +"All right, father! I will." + +"By the way, Dick, that lad Marion seems a very decent fellow." + +"Decent, father! Why, he's a splendid chap. He has rough hands and +wears fisherman's clothes and does hard work, but he has been to a big +grammar-school in Devonshire somewhere, and he knows a deal more Greek +than I do, and quite as much Latin." + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes, that he does. It made Arthur stare, for he was coming the great +man over Will Marion, and being very condescending." + +"Yes, it is a way Master Arthur has," muttered Mr Temple frowning. + +"I said to Taff that he ought not to, but he would. I like Will Marion. +Josh says he'll be owner of a lot of fishing-boats and nets some day +when his uncle dies; but he says Will thinks he would like to make his +own way in the world, and that it is very foolish of him." + +"Oh, that's what Josh thinks, is it?" + +"Yes, father." + +"And what do you think?" + +"That a lad ought to be independent and try and fight his own way in the +world. I mean to." + +"That's right, my boy. Keep to that text and you will succeed. You may +have a good many downfalls first, but sooner or later you will get on. +There, go away now. I'm busy testing ere." + +"Can I help you, father?" + +"No, my lad, no. Not now. There, be off, and don't get into any +mischief." + +"No, father. And about the conger-fishing?" + +"If you will take great care you may go." + +"Hooray!" + +"But stop. Tell that man Josh that I hold him responsible for taking +care of you." + +"Yes, father," cried Dick. "Hooray!" he whispered as he darted out of +the room, and came so suddenly upon Arthur that he sent him backwards +into a sitting position. + +Arthur sat looking petrified with pain and astonishment, cane in one +hand, a book in the other. Then starting up as Dick offered him his +hand laughingly, saying, "I'm very sorry, Taff!" Arthur raised his cane +and struck his brother viciously across the shoulder a regular stinging +cut, while, smarting with the pain, Dick struck back at him, and gave +him so severe a blow in the cheek that Arthur this time measured his +length on the floor. + +"Quiet, you boys, quiet!" said Mr Temple angrily, as he opened his +door. "Go and play down on the shore." + +Dick's anger evaporated on the instant, and was succeeded by a feeling +of mingled shame and sorrow. + +"Oh, I am sorry, Taff!" he said, helping his brother to rise. "You +shouldn't have hit me, though. If anybody hurts me like that I'm sure +to hit out again." + +Arthur did not answer till they were outside, and then he turned +viciously upon his brother. + +"You're a regular coward," he cried, "to strike a blow like that." + +"I didn't say you were a coward for beginning it," said Dick sharply. +"You struck the first blow. Never mind, let's shake hands. It's all +over now." + +Arthur turned his back and went away, switching his cane as he walked +towards the upper part of the village, while, after stopping to gaze +after him for a few minutes, Dick sighed, and strolled down to his +favourite post, the pier, to tell Will Marion that he had obtained leave +for the fishing, and to ask what time they were to start. + +"I wish I hadn't hit Taff," he said to himself dolefully; "but he knows +how savage it makes me if I'm hurt. I wish I hadn't hit him, though, +all the same." + +The regret was vain: he could not take back the blow, and his forehead +wrinkled up and his spirit felt depressed as he went on. + +"Poor old Taff!" he said to himself. "I don't think he's so strong as I +am, and that makes him ill-tempered. And I'd been promising father that +I'd take care of him; and then I've got such a brutal temper that I go +and begin knocking him about.--Oh, I wish I wasn't so hot and peppery! +It's too bad, that it is. + +"I suppose we sha'n't go conger-fishing now," he said gloomily. "Taff +won't care to go. + +"Yes, he will," he said after a few minutes' pause. "I'll tell him at +dinner-time I'm very sorry; and then we shall make it up, and it will be +all right! Why, hallo! there he is going down to the boats. He must +have been round the other way. I'll bet a penny he heard what I said to +father about the fishing, or else he has seen Will." + +The latter was the more correct surmise, though Arthur had also heard +his father give his consent. + +"Hi! Taff!" shouted Dick; but his brother did not turn his head, +stalking straight down to the pier and getting to where Will and Josh +were at work preparing their tackle for the night's fishing. + +"I'm very sorry, Taff," said Dick humbly. "I hope I did not hurt you +much." + +Arthur made no reply, but began to speak to Will. + +"Papa has given me leave to go with you," he said; "but I don't think I +should care about being out so late." + +"Better come, sir," said Josh. "It will be rare sport. I know about +the best place along our bay, and it hasn't been fished for six months, +has it, Will?" + +"Nine months, quite," said Will. "Yes, you had better come, sir." + +"He's hoping I won't go," said Arthur to himself; "and Dick hopes I +won't go; but I will go just out of spite, to let them see that I'm not +going to let them have all their own way." + +"Oh, he'll come," said Dick, "and you'll give him some good sport, won't +you? He hasn't had any fishing since we've been down here. And I say, +Josh, my father says he shall hold you responsible. No getting us run +down this time." + +"Not I," said Josh. "I'll have a lantern hoisted as we row back, and no +boats will come where we are fishing; it's too rocky." + +"Let's see the lines," said Dick eagerly. "Oh, I say, what a hook! +It's too big." + +"Not it," said Will. "Congers have big mouths, and they're very +strong." + +"What time shall we get back?" + +"'Bout ten, sir," said Josh, "and start at half-past five. We'll have +everything ready." + +Arthur turned to go directly after; and though Dick was anxious to stay +he was more eager to make friends with his brother, and he followed him, +to have his apology accepted at last, but not in the most amiable of +ways. + +The fact is Arthur would have held out longer, but he could not do so +without jeopardising the evening trip, upon which he had set his mind. + +His was a singular state of mind, for although filled with an intense +longing, this was balanced by a curious sensation of dread, consequent +upon his somewhat nervous temperament, which is a roundabout way of +saying that he was afraid. + +The idea of going right away, as it seemed to him, at night over the +dark water to fish by the light of a lanthorn was startling, and sent a +curious shiver through him; but at the same time it attracted him with a +strange fascination that forced him to keep to his determination of +being one of the party, as often as his old timidity made him disposed +to say he would stay at home. + +"And if I did, Dick would laugh at me. But he shall not this time." + +So he kept up a distant manner towards his brother for the rest of the +day, playing grand and pardoning him, as he said to himself, by degrees, +so that after an early tea, when they had started together they were +pretty good friends. + +"I am glad you are going, Taff," said Dick in his buoyant way. "I shall +ask Josh to take special care of you." + +"I beg that you will do nothing of the sort," said Arthur haughtily. "I +daresay I can take care of myself." + +Arthur drew himself up as he said this, and stalked along rather +grandly; and of course he might dare to say that he could take care of +himself: but saying and doing are two very different things, and the +probabilities are that if he had known what conger-fishing meant, he +would not have gone. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +OVER THE BAY IN THE EVENTIDE, WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN IN THE WEST. + +It was close upon half-past five, and all Will's preparations had been +made. Lines of strong cord with hooks bound up the snooding with brass +wire were on their winders. There was a tub half full of tasty +pilchards--damaged ones fresh out of a late boat that had come in that +afternoon. There was another tub full of much more damaged pilchards-- +all pounded up for ground bait. + +In fact nothing had been forgotten; even three oilskins had been lashed, +in the stern ready for the visitors in case it should rain. + +"I say," said Josh, "how about the young gent? I mean him Master Dick +calls Taff?" + +"Well, what about him?" said Will. + +"Won't he be scared when we gets a conger over the side." + +"I never thought of that," said Will musingly. "Oh! I should think +not." + +"'Cause we shall be in a gashly pickle if we haul in a big one, and she +scares the youngster out of the boat." + +"We must kill them at once," said Will. + +"Yes; it's all very well to say kill 'em at once," grumbled Josh; "but +you know what a gashly thing a big conger is to kill." + +"Yes; he won't lie still and be killed sometimes," said Will laughing. +"Ah! well, perhaps we sha'n't catch any at all." + +"Oh, yes! we shall, and gashly big uns too. Hadn't we better leave +young Arthur behind--'tother won't be feared?" + +"No; it's too late now," said Will. "Here they are;" for just then the +brothers came along the pier, and after Arthur had stepped in rather a +dignified way down into the boat, Dick leaped in and insisted upon +taking an oar. + +The boat was pushed off at once, and while Will and Dick were rowing +Josh had to answer Arthur Temple's questions. + +"Are those the lines?" he said, gazing at them curiously. + +"Yes, sir; and we've got some oilskin aprons for you to put on, so as +you sha'n't get wet." + +"Aprons!" cried Arthur aghast. + +"Yes, sir; they be good uns too." + +"I shall not put on an apron," was upon Arthur's lips, but he did not +say it; and just then his attention was taken by a short thick +truncheon, with a curious notch or fork at the handle end. + +"What's that for?" + +"Little end's disgorger," said Josh; "t'other's to knock the congers +down with." + +"To knock the congers down!" cried Arthur aghast. + +"Yes, when we get hold of a big one. They're gashly strong, sir." + +"Why, how big are they?" cried Arthur. + +"Five foot, six foot, seven foot sometimes," said Josh coolly. + +Arthur's first thought was to say, "Here, take me back;" but he caught +his brother's eye, and suppressed the words. + +"I--I did not know they were so big as that," he faltered, though he +tried to say it with firmness and a show of resolve. + +"They run big, sir, off our coast, and we get some gashly fellows, +often," said Josh innocently; "but you see, big as they are, men's +stronger, and boys too. Why, our Will would tackle any conger as ever +swam about a rock. Takes hold of disgorger like this, you know, and +gives one on the head, and that quiets 'em while we get the hook out." + +"With--with the disgorger?" said Arthur. + +"That's it, Master Taff," said Josh. + +"My name is Arthur--Arthur Temple," said the boy haughtily. + +"'Course it is, sir; I ought to have known," said Josh. "It was along +of Master Dick, there, calling you by t'other name. As I was saying," +he continued hastily, "Will there gives them a tap with the disgorger, +and then holds them under his boot, runs this here down till it touches +the hook where they've swallowed it, takes a turn or two of the line +round the handle and twists the hook out." + +"Why don't you take the hook out properly--the same as I should from a +fish?" + +"What--with your fingers, sir?" + +"Of course." + +"A mussy me!" said Josh. "Why, don't you know how a conger can bite?" + +"Bite! No," said Arthur, turning pale. "Can they bite?" + +"Bite!" cried Josh. "Why, love your heart, young gentleman, look ye +here. See this?" + +He held up one of the hooks at the end of the conger-line and showed the +boy that not only was it very large, and tied on strong cord with a +swivel or two, but it was bound from the shank some distance up the line +with brass wire. + +"Yes, I can see it," said Arthur, "of course. Isn't it too big? A fish +would not take a great awkward thing like that in its mouth." + +"Won't it?" said Josh laughing. "But it will if you put a pilchar' on +it. That there wire as is run round the line is to keep the congers +from biting it in two." + +"Oh! but, Josh, a conger wouldn't bite through a line like that, would +he?" cried Dick as he tugged at his oar. + +"Just as easy, sir, as you would through a bit o' cotton after you'd +sewed a button on your shirt." + +"Why, they must be regular nippers!" cried Dick. + +"Nippers, sir? Why, they go at a big dead fish if it's lying in the +water, take a good mouthful, and then set their long bodies and tails to +work, and spin round and round like a gimlet or a ship augur, and bore +the piece right out." + +"Oh! I say, Josh, don't you know! He's making that story up, isn't he, +Will?" + +"No," said Will seriously; "it is quite true. Congers have a way of +spinning themselves round like that. Don't you see those swivels on the +line?" + +"Yes," said Dick, "I see 'em." + +"That's because the congers spin round so. If we did not use swivels +they'd twist the line all in a tangle before you could get them out." + +"Why, they're regular sea-serpents," said Dick. + +"Well, no," said Josh; "they ain't so big as sea-sarpents, because they +say they're hundreds o' yards long. I never see one, but I've heerd say +so; but congers will bite and no mistake. I had one ketch me by the +boot once, and he bit right through the leather." + +All this while they were rowing farther and farther from the shore, on +about as lovely an evening as it was possible to imagine, and the warm +glow of the sunshine prevented Arthur's face from looking ghastly white. + +He felt that he must beg of them to turn back directly--that he dared +not go farther; and yet there was a greater fear still to keep him +silent. If he begged of them to row back they would laugh at him for a +coward, and he could not bear this. + +"Fishing!" he thought; why, it was like going to attack some horrible +pack of sea-monsters in their rocky fastnesses; and instead of being +dressed in flannels, he felt that he ought to be clothed in complete +armour. Why, if a conger could bite through a line, what would he think +of flannel trousers? And if one got tight hold of his flesh, what would +be the consequences? + +Arthur sat there with his mouth dry and his eyes staring as, in +imagination, he saw one of the great slimy creatures twisting itself +round and round, and cutting a great piece out of one of his legs; and +it was all he could do to keep from shuddering with fear. + +And all the while there was Dick with a red face, and his hat stuck +right at the back of his head, tugging away at his oar, and smiling at +all Josh said. + +"I must try and be as brave as Dick is," Arthur said to himself; and +forcing his teeth firmly together, he began to plan in his own mind what +he would do if Dick caught a conger. He would have his penknife ready +in his hand, and pretend to help pull in the line; and while he was +doing this he would cut it and the monster would swim away. + +"Don't you be scared about the congers, Master Taffarthur, sir," said +Josh kindly. "They be gashly ugly things to tackle sometimes, but--" + +"I'm not afraid," said Arthur indignantly. + +"Not you, sir. Why should you be?" said Josh. "We can manage them. A +big one has a nasty way of his own of getting loose in the boat and +wriggling himself all about under the thwarts--" + +Arthur involuntarily began to draw up his legs, as he felt as if one +were already loose in the bottom of the boat. + +"But just you look ye here," continued Josh, opening the little locker +in the stern of the boat. "This is how I serves the big jockeys who'd +be likely to give any trouble. I just give them a cut behind the head +with this little fellow, and then they lie quiet enough." + +As he spoke he showed Arthur a little axe with a very small head, and an +edge as keen as a knife. + +"That's too much for congers," added Josh. + +"I say, how cruel to the poor things!" said Dick laughingly; but Josh +took it in the most serious way. + +"Well, I have thought that 'bout the gashly conger, Master Dick, sir," +said Josh; "but I don't know as it be. You see, they're caught, and it +puts 'em out of their misery, like, at once." + +"But it's cruel to catch them," said Dick. + +Josh scratched his head. + +"A mussy me, Master Dick, sir! that's a thing as has puzzled me lots o' +times when I've been hooking and killing fish; but then, you see, it's +for victuals, and everybody's got to live." + +"So have the fish," laughed Dick. + +"So they have, sir; but you see here, I catches and kills a conger, or a +pollack, or a gurnet, or a bass. Suppose I hadn't killed it--what +then?" + +"Why, it would be swimming about in the sea as happy as could be." + +"Yes, Master Dick, sir; but what else would it be doing?" + +"Basking in the sunshine, Josh." + +"P'r'aps so, sir; but, a mussy me! he'd be chasing and hunting and +eating hundreds of little fish every day; so you see if I catches one +big one, I saves hundreds of little ones' lives." + +"I never thought of that," said Dick. + +"Josh and I have often talked about it," said Will seriously. "It seems +cruel to catch and kill things; but they are always catching and killing +others, and every bird and fish you see here is as cruel as can be. +There goes a cormorant; he'll be swimming and diving all day long +catching fish, so will the shags; and all those beautiful grey-and-white +gulls you can see on the rock there, live upon the fish they catch on +the surface of the water." + +"Then if we keep the congers from catching and killing other fishes and +eating them, why, it's being very kind, and isn't cruel at all," said +Dick merrily; and then he sent a cold chill down his brother's spine by +saying, "Let's look sharp and catch all the big ones we can." + +"Now, you two take a rest," said Josh, "and I'll put her along a bit;" +and changing places with the rowers, Josh handled the oars with such +effect that in about half an hour they were approaching a tall mass of +rock that had seemed at a distance to be part of the cliff-line, but +which the visitors could now see to be quite a quarter of a mile from +where the waves were beating the shore. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +DICK CATCHES HIS FIRST CONGER. + +"Why, Will," cried Dick, "it is quite an island. Oh, Taff, look at the +birds!" + +"We don't call a rock like that an island," said Will quietly, as the +boys watched a cloud of gulls that had been disturbed by their approach, +and new screaming and uttering peevish querulous cries above their +heads. The top of the rock, which was sixty or seventy feet above the +water, was quite white with guano, and every ledge of the perpendicular +mass seemed to be the home of the sea-birds which had been perched there +in rows, looking almost like pigeons till the near approach of the boat +had sent them off. + +"How long would it take to row round?" said Arthur, who, in the novelty +of the scene, forgot all about the conger. + +"Two minutes if you could go close in," said Josh; "ten minutes, because +you have to dodge in and out among the rocks which lie out all round." + +"And from the Mew Rock to the shore yonder," added Will. + +"Yes," said Josh; "it's all rock about here, just a fathom or two under +water, and a bad place for boots." + +"Then why did you come in your boat?" cried Arthur excitedly. + +"I don't mean little boots in fine weather, sir, I mean big boots in +foul," replied Josh, rowing steadily away. "This here's the place where +we wanted to come, and I'm going to take you to a hole like with rocks +all round it, a hole as goes down seven or eight fathom, and the congers +swarm in the holes all about here, as you'll see." + +Arthur's hand tightened on the boat, and his dread made him feel almost +ill; but he struggled with the nervous feeling manfully, though he dared +not trust himself to speak. + +And all the while Josh rowed steadily on till he was skirting round the +edge of the perpendicular mass of rock about whose base the waves foamed +and fretted, as if weary with their efforts at trying to wash it down. +The birds squealed and hissed, and now and then one uttered a doleful +wail as it swept here and there, showing its pearly grey breast and the +delicate white feathers beneath its wings. + +"Do you ever shoot these birds, Will?" said Dick, lying back so as to +stare up at the gulls as they floated so easily by. + +"Shoot them! Oh, no! The fishermen here never harm them; they're such +good friends." + +"Why?" said Arthur. + +"They show us where the fish are," replied Will. "We can see them with +the glass miles away, flapping about over a shoal of little ones, and +darting down and feeding on them; and where they are feeding, big fish +are sure to be feeding on the shoal as well." + +"Then I shouldn't like to be a shoal of little fish," cried Dick. "Why, +as the clown said in the pantomime, `it would be dangerous to be safe.' +I wonder there are any small fish left." + +"There are so many of them," said Will laughing; "thousands and millions +of them; so many sometimes in a shoal that they could not be counted, +and--" + +"Stand by with the killick, m'lad," cried Josh, as he paddled slowly +now, with his eyes fixed first on one landmark, then on another. + +"Ready," said Will, clearing the line, and raising a great stone, to +which the rope was fast, on to the edge of the boat. + +"Drop her atop of the little rock as I say when," growled Josh. + +"Right," answered back Will. + +Josh backed the boat a few yards; and as Dick and his brother gazed over +the stem they were looking down into black water one moment and then +they glided over a pale-green rock flecked with brown waving weeds. + +"When!" cried Josh. + +_Plash_! + +The big stone went over the side on to the rock, which seemed pretty +level, and then as the line ran over the stern Josh began to row once +more, and the boat glided over the sharp edge of the rock and into black +water once more that seemed of tremendous depth. + +"Now, forrard, my lad," said Josh; and Will passed him and took his +place right in the bows. + +Here a similar process was gone through. + +After rowing slowly about thirty yards Josh stopped. + +"That ought to do it," he said. "She won't come no further. Over with +it." + +Will was standing up now in the bows swinging a grapnel to and fro, and +after letting it sway three or four times he launched it from him, and +it fell with a splash a score of yards away, taking with it another +line, upon which when Dick hauled he found that the grapnel was fast in +a rugged mass of rock like that which they had just left; and with +grapnel and killick at either end of the boat, they were anchored, as +Josh pointed out, right in the middle of the deep hole. + +"You can find rocks all round us," he said, "on which you could have +pitched the killick, and they all go straight down like the side of +house or like that there Mew Rock where the birds are." + +There was something awe-inspiring in the place, for the boat was in the +shadow of the Mew Rock, behind which lay the sun, hastening to his rest, +his ruddy beams streaming now on either side of what looked like a +rugged black tower standing against a blazing sky, and for the moment +even Dick felt oppressed by the solemnity and beauty of the scene. + +Away across the head of the bay lay the fishing village from which they +had come, with its lattice-windows glittering and flashing in the +sunshine, which gilded the luggers that were slowly stealing out to the +fishing-ground miles away. Some of them were urged forward by long oars +so as to get them beyond the shelter of the land, and into the range of +the soft breeze that was rippling the bay far out, though where the +fishing party lay the heaving sea, save where it broke upon the rocks, +was as smooth as glass. + +"Now, young gentlemen," said Josh quietly, "congers is queer customers; +sometimes they'll bite." + +Arthur shivered. + +"Sometimes they won't. I think to-night we shall ketch some." + +"Two lines out, eh, Josh?" said Will. + +"Ay, two's enough," replied the fisherman; "let the young gents ketch +'em, and we'll do the gawfing and unhooking. You 'tend Master Dickard +there; I'll 'tend Master Taffarthur, and let's see who'll get first +fish. Starboard's our side, port's yourn." + +As he spoke he nodded knowingly to Arthur and took out his knife, seized +a pilchard, cut off its head, and split the fish partly up towards the +tail and extracted the backbone, so that it was in two flaps. Then +taking the large hook, he passed it in at the tail, drew the pilchard +carefully up the shank, and then held up the hook for Arthur to see, +with the broad flaps hanging down on either side of the curve and barbed +point. + +"There," he said, "Mr Conger Eel, Esquire, won't notice that there's a +hook in that nice tasty bit of pilchar'. He'll take it for his supper, +and to-morrow he'll make conger pie. Now, are you ready?" + +"Yes," cried Arthur, making an effort to master his dread. + +"Right, then," cried Josh; "lift the lead there over the side, and I'll +drop in the bait, and we shall have no tangle." + +Arthur lifted a heavy piece of lead of the shape of a long egg cut down +through its long diameter and attached by wire rings to the line, and +lowered it over the side, Josh dropping in the silvery bait of pilchard +at the same moment, and as the lead sank the bait seemed to dart down as +if alive, disappearing in the dark clear water as the line ran rapidly +over the side. + +"Let your line run, lad; there's good seven fathom o' water just here. +That's the way," said Josh. "Now she's at the bottom." + +_Plash, plash_! came from the other side of the boat, and Dick shouted, +"Hooray, Taff! here goes for first fish." + +"Never you mind him," said Josh to Arthur. "Now, then, hold hard; haul +up a fathom o' line--that's the way: now your bait's just by the bottom, +and you'll know when you've got a bite." + +Arthur obeyed, and sat in the boat holding the line with both hands as +rigid as a wax image, and gazing hopelessly at the rough fisherman, +whose one short arm seemed horribly clever and deft, but he fancied it +would be awkward if he had to deal with a large eel. + +"Hadn't you better get the chopper ready?" said Arthur hoarsely. + +"Oh, that's all ready," said Josh laughing; "but you ain't had a touch +yet." + +"N-no--I'm not sure," said Arthur; "something seemed heavy at the end of +the line." + +"Four pound o' lead, my lad, is heavy," said Josh, smiling. "You'll +know when you get a conger." + +"Hadn't--hadn't we better fish for something else, as the congers don't +bite?" + +"How do you know as they don't bite?" said Josh good-humouredly. + +"They--they don't seem to," said Arthur. "Perhaps the bait's off. Had +we better see?" + +"Oh, no; that bait isn't off," said Josh quietly. "You bide a bit, my +lad. Congers don't care about light when they're feeding. You'll see +when the sun's well down." + +"But I'd rather fish for mackerel, I think," said Arthur as he gazed +down into the dark water, and seemed to see twining monsters coming up +to pluck him out of the boat. + +"Couldn't ketch mack'rel here, my lad. This is a conger hole. Reg'lar +home for 'em among these rocks. Will and me found 'em out: nobody else +comes and fishes here. We found this hole." + +"Ahoy! here's a game. Oh, don't he pull! Oh, my hands!" cried Dick. + +"Let me take him," said Will. + +"No, no, I'll catch him!" cried Dick excitedly. "I've got such a big +one, Taff; he's trying to pull my arms out of the sockets!" + +Tug--pull--jerk--drag--the line was running here and there; and if Dick +had not twisted it round his hands it would have been drawn through +them. As it was, it cut into them, but he held on like a hero. + +"Let the line go!" Will kept saying--"let the line go!" but Dick did +not seem to understand. If he did, he was not disposed to let it run, +and, as he thought, lose the fish; and so he dragged and hauled hand +over hand, with Arthur shivering and ready, but for sheer shame, to get +right away in the bows, as the struggle went on. + +"Here he is!" cried Dick at last. "Oh, what a monster! and how he +pulls!" + +Arthur did not turn his head, and so he saw nothing of what followed, +for he felt sick with dread; but there was a scuffling and a splashing, +then a beating and flapping in the boat. + +"Keep him clear of the line, Will, lad!" said Josh. + +"Right!" was the laconic reply; and then there were two or three heavy +dull blows, as if some one were striking something soft. And now Arthur +turned round to see that Will had the great head of an eel between his +knees, out of which he cleverly twisted the hook, and held the slowly +writhing creature up at arm's-length. + +"Oh, what a monster!" cried Dick. + +"Only a little one," said Will, laughing. "It is not above fifteen or +sixteen pounds." + +"Why, how big do they grow, then?" cried Dick, as the eel was thrown +into the locker and the lid shut down. + +"I've seen them ninety pounds!" said Will. "Josh, there, saw one a +hundred. Didn't you, Josh?" + +"Hundred and three pounds and an half!" said Josh. "We shall have some +sport to-night!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +ARTHUR CATCHES HIS FIRST CONGER, AND TAKES A LESSON IN SOMETHING ELSE. + +"Oh!" shouted Arthur; "oh! something's pulling me out of the--" + +Boat he would have said, for he had turned the line round his right-hand +to keep the lead from the bottom; and all at once it had seemed to him +that there was a slight quiver of the line; then it was drawn softly a +little way, and then there was a heavy sustained pull that took his arm +over the side, and he seemed as if he were about to follow it, only Josh +leaned towards him, and took hold of the line beyond his hand. + +"Untwist it, my lad; don't turn it round your fingers like that. That's +right. Now, take hold with both hands." + +"But I can't hold it!" cried Arthur, who was shivering with excitement. + +"Oh, yes! you can, my lad," said Josh coolly. "I'll show you. Now, +hold tight." + +Arthur clung to the line with both hands in desperation; and it seemed +to him that the great fish at the end of it was trying to draw his +shoulders out of their sockets. + +"It's too hard. It cuts my hands. It's horrible!" + +"Let him go, then," said Josh laughing; "there's plenty of line. Let it +run through your hands." + +"It burns them," cried Arthur desperately. "Ah!" he exclaimed with a +sigh of delight, "it's gone!" + +"Haul in the line, then!" said Josh grimly, while Will, who knew what it +meant, touched Dick on the shoulder so that he should watch. + +Arthur began to haul in the slack line for a few feet, and then he +shouted again: + +"Here's another one bigger than the last!" he cried. "I cannot hold +it." + +"Let it go, then," said Josh; and Arthur once more slackened the line, +which ran fast for a yard, and then fell loose. + +"He's gone now!" said Arthur, hauling in the line; and then in a tone of +voice so despairing that his brother burst into a hearty laugh: "Here's +another at it now!" + +"I say, what a place this is, Taff!" cried Dick. "Here, let me help +you!" + +"No, no," cried Josh; "you let him ketch the conger himself. Slacken, +my lad." + +As if moved by a spring, or disciplined to obey the slightest word of +command, Arthur slackened the line. + +"Now, then, haul again," cried Josh; and the boy pulled in the line +eagerly, as if moved by the idea that the sooner he got the hook out of +the water the less likelihood would there be of its being seized by one +or other of the monsters that inhabited the rocky hole. + +"He has got it again!" cried Arthur in tones of anguish; "he'll pull me +in!" + +"Oh, no, he won't; you're a-going to pull him out, if he don't mind his +eye," said Josh sturdily. "You've got some brains, young gentleman, and +he arn't." + +"But there must be a swarm there after my bait," pleaded Arthur. + +"Not there," cried Josh. "There's one got it." + +"But I've had three or four on, and they've gone again." + +"Oh, no! you haven't," said Josh; "conger eels often do like that. You +pull hard; he pulls hard and tries to get to the bottom. You slack the +line, and as there's nobody pulling up, he comes to see what's the +matter. Now, slacken!" + +Arthur let the line run. + +"Now haul again." + +The boy drew in the line, and gained nearly twice as much as he had let +out before there was a tremendous drag again, and as Arthur held on with +both hands his arms quivered. + +"Ease him a little--now pull--ease again--now pull!" cried Josh, over +and over, till, giving and taking like this, Arthur had drawn the heavy +lead nearly to the surface of the water, and for a moment he thought the +dark little object going here and there was the eel; but directly after +he saw a great wavy blue-black line some feet down, and that all at once +turned to one that was creamy white, then dark, then light again, as the +conger writhed over and over. + +"I've got one too!" cried Dick; and his attention, like that of Will, +was taken from what went on upon the starboard side of the boat, leaving +Arthur to the care of Josh. + +"Josh!--please," faltered Arthur, as he clung to the line in an agony of +dread, too much alarmed now even to let go. "Josh--pray--pray cut the +line!" + +"No, no, no! you don't mean that," whispered back Josh encouragingly. +"You mean get my little axe, and kill my gentleman as soon as he's +aboard." + +"Yes, yes. No, no," whispered Arthur. "Pray, pray, don't bring that +horrible thing into the boat!" + +"Not till he's dead, you mean," said Josh, in a low voice, so that Dick +and Will could not hear. "You're not scared of a gashly old conger like +that? You hang on to the line, my lad. You've got plenty of pluck, +only you arn't used to it. Now, you see, ease him a bit." + +Arthur involuntarily slackened the line, and the eel ceased its backward +drag and swam up. + +"Now, haul again--just a bit," said Josh, standing there with the gaff +in his perfect hand, keen axe in the deformed. + +Arthur obeyed and dragged the writhing serpentine creature close to the +surface. Then, quick as thought, Josh had the great snaky fish by the +head with his short sharp gaff-hook, drew it over the gunwale, and +before Arthur could realise what was done the axe had descended with a +dull thud, and Josh dragged the quivering half inert conger over the +side and forward, clear of the line and away from Arthur. + +"There!" cried Josh, as he cleverly extricated the hook with the +disgorger; "you come and look at him, Master Arthur. He can't bite now, +and I'm holding him down." + +There was so much quiet firmness in the fisherman's words that Arthur +felt himself constrained to go forward and look at the great snaky fish +as it heaved and curved its springy body in the bottom of the boat. + +"A reg'lar good fat one," said Josh. "She be a bit ugly, sure enough, +and I've seen many a boy in my time scared by the gashly things. It was +your first one, Master Arthur, and you caught him, and I say as you +warn't a bit scared." + +"I--I couldn't help being a little afraid," said Arthur slowly; "but +look! look! it's biting the rope." + +"Ay, but it has no strength to bite now," said Josh. "There, we'll put +um in the well, and let um lie there. You caught um--fine +eight-and-thirty pound if it be an ounce. Now you shall catch another." + +"What!" gasped Arthur. + +"I say, now you shall catch another," said Josh sturdily, as he leaned +over the side and washed disgorger, axe, and hook. "You won't mind half +so much next time, and then your brother won't be able to crow over +you." + +"I don't want to catch any more, thank you," said Arthur. + +"Oh, yes, you do," said Josh, in his quiet stubborn fashion. "Don't you +say you don't. It won't be half so startling ketching the next one, and +I've got a tender well-beaten bit of squid for the next bait--one as +will tempt the biggest conger that is in the hole." + +"No, no!" whispered Arthur. "I don't want to fish any more; I don't +indeed." + +"Hush!" whispered Josh; "you'll have them hear." + +Arthur was silent directly, and just then his fright was at its height +with the conger that Dick had hooked, and that Will gaffed and hauled +in. For as Will struck at it with the conger-bat or club, instead of +there coming a dull thud as the blow fell, there was the sharp tap of +wood upon wood. + +Will had missed this time, and the conger was apparently starting on a +voyage of discovery about the boat. + +Arthur shrank back, but before the fish could come his way and tangle +the lines Will caught Dick's about a yard above the hook, dragged the +fish towards the stern, and gave it four or five paralysing blows in +succession, disabling it, so that he soon had the hook out, and he and +Dick stood looking at each other and panting with excitement. + +"Hor--hor--hor!" laughed Josh quietly as he seated himself on the thwart +and leisurely began to pass the hook through the grey piece of tough +soft cuttle-fish. "Look at 'em, Master Rawthur, there be a fuss over a +conger not above half as big as ourn." + +"It was ever so much stronger," cried Dick indignantly. + +"Hear him, Mast Rorthur!" cried Josh. "Hor--hor--hor! There, go on, +you two. We're going to give you a startler this time. There you are, +sir," he whispered, holding up the bait for Arthur to see. "That's one +as'll tempt um, and you see we'll have another big one before they know +where they are. I say, you won't be scared of the next, will you, now?" + +"I'll--I'll try not to be," whispered Arthur, drawing a long breath. + +"Then you won't be," whispered Josh. "That's the way: in with the lead. +Of course they're awk'ard things for any boy to tackle at first. I was +downright frightened first one I hooked, when I was 'bout as old as you, +and it warn't above half the size of the one you ketched." + +"Were you really frightened of it?" said Arthur in the same low tone. + +"Frightened, Master Taffarthur! Why, my cap come off and fell in the +water, and I had to up with the killick and row after it." + +"But that didn't show you were frightened." + +"Didn't it though, sir? Why, it was my hair rose up in such a gashly +way it lifted it off. There, now, hold steady, and it won't be long +before you have a bite." + +It was getting so dark now that Arthur could not see whether Josh was +laughing at him or not, though for the matter of that, if it had been +noontide, he would not have been able to make out the rough fisherman's +thoughts by the expression of his countenance. + +A splash from behind them told them that Dick's bait had just gone in, +and then they sat--both couples--chatting away in a low tone, and +waiting for the next congers, and somehow waiting in vain. The last +glow faded out of the sky, and the stars twinkled in the sea, where they +were reflected from above. The great black bird rock stood up, looking +gigantic against the western sky, and every now and then there was a +querulous cry that set a party of the sea-birds scolding and squealing +for a few minutes before all was still again. + +In the distance across the bay the lights of the harbour shone out +faintly at first, then clearly, and the various lamps about the village +seemed like dull stars. + +Still there was no bite, and Arthur rejoiced in his heart, hoping that +they would catch no more, and thinking how horrible it would have been +to have one of the monsters on board in the dark. + +Josh had changed the position of Arthur's line several times, and at +last he took hold of it and began to haul it in. + +"Going to leave off?" said Arthur joyously. + +"No, my lad, not yet. You won't mind me throwing in for you?" + +"Oh no!" cried the boy. + +"Then," said Josh, "I'm just going to throw over yonder into the deepest +part, and if we don't get one out of there we may give up." + +Drawing in and laying the line carefully in rings, he took the weight +and threw it some distance from them, the lead falling with a heavy +plash. Then Dick and Will followed suit on their side, and Arthur was +compelled to take the line again from Josh, for the latter said: + +"Oh no! I'm not going to fish. I can have a turn any day, my lad. Go +on, and we'll show 'em this time what it is to fish again' us. A mussy +me! we'll give 'em a startler directly. We'll show 'em what conger be." + +Arthur's hands felt cold and damp as he sat there holding: the line and +thinking of what would be the consequences if he hooked a monster and +Josh failed to kill it before dragging it on board. It would run all +over the boat, and it would be sure to bite him first--he knew it would; +and the idea was horrible, making him so nervous that his hands shook as +he held the line. + +It was quite dark now, but a beautiful transparent darkness, with the +sky one glorious arch of glittering points, and the sea a mirror in +which those diamond sparks were reflected. The phosphorescence that had +been so beautiful on the night when his brother was out with Josh and +Will was absent, save a faint pale glow now and then, seen when a wave +curled over and broke upon the great bird rock. All was wonderfully +still, and they sat for some time listening to the distant singing of +some of the fishermen, whose voices sounded deliciously soft and +melodious as the tones of the old west-country part-song floated over +the heaving sea. + +Suddenly Arthur started, for Dick exclaimed: + +"This is just lovely. I wish father were here." + +"Ay! I wish he weer," said Josh. "I often pity you poor people who +come from big towns and don't know what it is to be in such a place as +this. Beautiful, arn't it, Master Rorthur, sir?" + +"Ye-es," said Arthur, "it's a beautiful night." + +"Ay, it be," assented Josh; "and in a snug harbour like this there's no +fear of a steamer or ship coming to run you down." + +Arthur shuddered. + +"Rather awkward for them among the rocks, eh, Josh?" said Will. + +"Awk'ard arn't the word," said Josh. "'Member the Cape packet being +wrecked here, my lad?" + +"Oh, yes! I recollect it well," said Will. "It was just here, wasn't +it?" + +"Just yonder," said Josh. "She went on the rocks about ten fathom +beyond where our grapnel lies." + +"Was anyone hurt?" said Arthur, who shivered at the idea of a wreck +having been anywhere near them. + +"Hurt, my lad? Why, it was in one of the worst storms I can 'member. +Tell him about the poor souls, Will." + +"The packet ran right on the rocks, Master Arthur," said Will solemnly. +"Where we are is one mass of tossing foam in a storm, and the froth and +spray fly over the Mew Rock here. Directly the packet had struck a +great wave came in and lifted her right up and then dropped her again +across the ridge yonder, and she broke right in two." + +"Like a radish," said Josh. + +"And one end went down in the deep water one side, the other end the +other side." + +"Ay," said Josh, "it's very deep water out there, and they used to be at +work regular for months and months getting out the cargo and engines +when the weather was calm." + +"But the people--the people?" cried Arthur. "What became of them?" + +"Hah!" ejaculated Josh. "What come o' them?" + +"Were they drowned?" said Dick. + +"Every poor creature on board," said Will. + +"And none of you fishermen went out in your boats to help them?" cried +Dick indignantly. + +"Just hark at him," cried Josh. "A mussy me! He's never seed the sea +in a storm when--Look out, Master Awthur," he whispered. + +It was pretty dark, but Josh's eyes were accustomed to that transparent +gloom, and he had noted a tremulous motion of the boy's line almost +before Arthur started, for there was a gentle, insidious touch at his +bait that telegraphed along the line to his fingers, and then drew it +softly through them as the fish, whatever it was, took the bait and +began to swim away. + +Arthur started as Josh whispered to him, and his fingers closed upon the +line. + +The moment before this latter was moving as if some tiny fish were +drawing it from him; but the moment his closing hands checked the line's +progress there was a tremendous jerk and a rush; and as, in spite of +himself, Arthur held on, it seemed as if a boy a good deal stronger than +himself were trying to pull it out of his hands, and after a few furious +struggles seated himself, to hang at the end with his whole weight. + +"I told you so," said Josh in satisfied tones. "I knowed as well as +could be that there would be a big one down yonder, and I think it is a +big one, eh, Master Rawthur." + +"It's--it's a monster," panted Arthur. "Hadn't we better let it go?" + +"Let it do what?" cried Josh. "A mussy me! what do he mean?" + +"Oh! I say, Taff, you are a lucky one," cried Dick in genuine +disappointed tones. "On! all right, we've got one too." + +"Lucky one!" At that moment Arthur was bitterly repenting his want of +foresight. Both hands were engaged now or he might have got out his +pocketknife and, unseen by Josh in the darkness, have cut the line, +which would have been supposed to be broken by the violent struggles of +the great eel. + +"I'll never come again," he thought to himself, "if ever I get safely +back. I would not have come if I had known. Oh! what shall I do?" + +These are a specimen or two of the thoughts that ran through Arthur +Temple's brains as he clung desperately to the line with the conger or +whatever it was at the end tugging and jerking at it hard enough to make +the boy's shoulders sore. + +"Steady! steady!" cried Josh, interfering. "That's not the way to ketch +conger. Give him line, as I showed you afore. There, you see," he +continued, as Arthur slackened the cord. "Eh, 'ullo! Why, what's up?" +he exclaimed. "Here, give me hold." + +Arthur passed the line to him with a sigh of intense relief, and Josh +gave way, hauled, and tried three or four different little plans before +passing the line back to Arthur. + +"Here, you ketch hold," he cried. "It's a big one and no mistake. He +has got his tail twisted round a bit of rock, or he's half in a hole, or +something. Don't let him shake you like that, my lad, but give him line +when he snatches you. He's half in a hole as sure as can be, and if we +hauled we should only break the line." + +"What are we to do?" said Arthur, his words coming in pants. "Shall we +leave the line and go?" + +"Leave the line, my lad!" cried Josh. "Well, that arn't very likely. +No, no: lines are too vallerble, and instead of giving the conger the +line, we'll get him aboard." + +"But how? It won't come," said Arthur peevishly. + +"You must coax him same as I showed you before. Fishers wants +patience--waiting for what they catches, undoing tangles in nets and +lines, and dealing with conger. Don't you see, my lad, if you haul so +does the conger: he's frightened, and he fights for his life; but as +soon as you leave off hauling, so does he, and begins to uncurve and +untwist himself. Then's your time to haul him out of the rocks, before +he has time to anchor himself again." + +It seemed to Arthur as if he had no power to disobey Josh. Shame, too, +supported the fisherman, for the boy had a horror of being supposed a +coward, so he acted precisely as Josh told him, giving and taking with +the line, but for some time without avail, and Arthur piteously asked if +it was of any use to go on. + +"Use! I should think so," cried Josh. "Why, he's a big one, and we've +got to ketch him. Now haul, my lad, steady." + +Arthur obeyed, and the violent jerking of the line began just as if the +great eel were making snatches at it. + +"Now, give way, quick and sharp," cried Josh. + +The boy did so, letting the line run over the side. + +"I told you so," cried Josh, as it ran faster and faster. "He's going +away now. He's left his hole. Now lay hold, and get him to the top +quick as you can. He'll come up now." + +Josh was right, for the eel had left the rocks, intending to swim away, +and when it felt the line once more it began to struggle, but on the +tension being eased it swam upwards. And so on again and again, till +the pale under parts of the great fish could be seen below the surface, +which was swirling and eddying with the strong motions of the muscular +tail. + +"He is a big one," cried Josh. "Got yours in, lads?" + +"Yes," cried Will. + +"Give us room then," cried Josh. "Hold on tight, youngster. No, no, +Will: we can do him ourselves." + +For Will had changed his position to take the line from Arthur, who felt +as if he should have liked to kick the fisherman for interfering at such +a time. + +Acting like a machine in Josh's hands, Arthur slackened and hauled, and +hauled and slackened, until the great eel was right at the surface, and +Josh leaning over the gunwale, waiting his opportunity to hook it with +the great gaff; but though he made two or three attempts Arthur was so +helpless that he rather hindered than aided the capture. At last, +though, by a clever stroke Josh hooked the monster, and stretched out +his hand for his little axe. + +As he did so there was a tremendous beating and splashing of the water, +and the eel literally twisted itself into a knot upon the gaff, forming +a great writhing bunch upon the shaft, and mingling line and self about +the hook in the most confusing manner. + +Arthur had behaved as well as he could, but this was too much for him. +Dropping the line, he let himself fall backwards over the seat, +scrambled forward on hands and knees, rose up, and was getting into the +narrow portion of the boat in the bows, when he stepped upon something +slippery and fell right upon a living eel, the one Dick had just +captured. + +"Oh, oh!" yelled Arthur, starting up and bounding back amidships, to +fall once more, with his hands upon the huge slimy knot that Josh had +just dragged on board. + +"A mussy me!" groaned Josh, as he vainly tried to get a stroke at the +great eel's head with the axe. "Here, look alive, Will, lad; give him +the bat." Dick followed his brother's example and got as far out of the +way as he could, while quite an exciting fight went on, if fight it can +be called where the offence comes entirely from one side, and the other +is winding in and out among legs and seats, fishing-lines and baskets, +trying to get away. It was so dark that it was next to impossible to +see where the monster was; and though Will struck at it fiercely with +the bat, he more often struck the boat than the fish. + +Josh, too, made some cuts at it with the axe, but he only missed, and he +was afraid to do more for fear he should drive the weapon through the +bottom of the boat. + +"She's free o' the line now," cried Josh, who was not aware that one +chop he had given had divided the stout cord. "Let her go now, Will, +lad. She won't get out of the boat." + +"All right!" said Will coolly; and Arthur uttered a groan; but just +then, to his great relief, Dick spoke out. + +"What! are you going to leave that thing crawling about in the boat +while we go home?" he said. + +"Ay, my lad; she won't hurt." + +"Thankye," said Dick. "I'm going overboard then to be towed." + +"Hor--hor--hor!" laughed Josh. "Well, all right, my lad, we'll light +the lanthorn, and then p'r'aps I can get a cut at her. Where's the +matches, Will? Hallo!" + +For just then there was a tremendous scuffling in the fore part of the +boat, as the great eel forced itself amongst the spare rope and odds and +ends of the fishing gear. Then there was a faint gleam seen for a +moment on the gunwale, and a splash, and then silence. + +"Why, she's gone," cried Josh. + +"What! Over the side?" cried Dick. + +"Ay, lad, sure enough; and the biggest one we took to-night, and my best +conger-hook in her mouth." + +Arthur uttered a sigh of relief that was almost a sob, and sitting down +very quietly he listened to the talking of his three companions, as the +anchor and killick were got up, and the boat was rowed across the starry +bay, to reach the landing-place about half an hour before the expected +time, Mr Temple being in waiting, and pacing to and fro upon the pier. + +"Caught any?" he said. + +"Yes, father, lots, but the big one got away," cried Dick. + +"How did you get on, Arthur?" said Mr Temple. "Were you very much +alarmed?" + +Arthur would have honestly said, "Yes;" but before he could speak, Josh +exclaimed: + +"'Haved hisself like a trump, sir. Him and me got all the big uns; and +it's no joke ketching your first conger, as p'r'aps you know." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +A CORNISH GALE; AND DICK TEMPLE TAKES HIS FIRST LESSON IN WIND. + +It can rain in Cornwall, and when it does rain it rains with all its +might. The same remark applies to the wind, which blows with all its +might sometimes from the west and south-west. + +A few days had elapsed since the conger-fishing trip, and it had been +arranged with Uncle Abram, who had expressed himself as being highly +honoured by a visit from Mr Temple that Josh and Will should be ready +with the boat for a long row to three or four of the old mine-shafts and +creeks of the bay, where Mr Temple intended making a few +investigations, and taking specimens of the different ores. + +But when Dick rose, as he thought at daybreak, he found that it was +half-past seven, that the rain was streaming down, and that the wind +kept striking the side of the house, as it came from over the great +Atlantic, with a noise like thunder. + +He opened the window, but was glad to shut it again, for the wind +snatched it, as it were, from his hand, to send it with a bang against +the wall of the house. So shutting it close once more, and giving one +of the panes a rub with the towel, he put his nose against it and looked +out at the bay. + +"Oh, how jolly miserable!" he exclaimed. "Here, Taff, hi! Wake up." + +Taff would not wake up, and a second summons had no effect. In fact the +nickname Taff had a bad effect upon Arthur Temple, causing a sort of +deafness that was only removed by calling him Arthur. + +"It rains and it blows, and the sea is one mass of foam. Oh, what +waves!" + +So impressive were these latter that for some time Dick forgot to dress, +but kept watching the huge, dark green banks of water come rolling in +and then break upon the shore. + +"Here, what a stupid I am!" he said to himself at last; and hastily +scrambling on his clothes, he went down-stairs and out on to the cliff, +to be almost startled by the heavy thunder of the great billows that +came tumbling in, every now and then one of them coming with a +tremendous smack upon the pier, when the whole harbour was deluged, the +foam and spray flying over the luggers, which were huddled together, as +if in alarm, beneath the shelter of the sea wall. + +Dick forgot that it was raining heavily, and ran down to the great bed +of boulders at the end of the village, where, as the huge waves came in, +they drove up the massive stones, which varied in size from that of a +man's head to that of a Cheshire cheese, sending them some +distance up towards the cliff, and then, as the wave retired, +_boomble_--_roomble_--_doomble, doomble_--_doom_, they rolled back again +one over the other, as if mockingly defying the retiring wave to come +and do that again. + +Here was the secret of how pebbles and shingle and boulders were made, +grinding one another smooth as were driven one over the other for +hundreds and hundreds of years till they were as smooth as the rock upon +which they beat. + +This was exciting enough for a time, but, regardless of rain and wind, +Dick ran along the cliff to a place he knew, a very shelf in the rock +which went down perpendicularly to a deep little cove, in which he felt +sure that the sea would be beating hard. + +"It's just a hundred feet," he said, "because Josh told me, and I shall +be able to see how high a wave can come." + +He said this, but only to himself, for as he hurried along the cliff +there were moments when he could hardly get his breath for the force of +the wind which beat full in his face. + +Once or twice he hesitated, wondering whether it was safe to proceed in +such a storm. + +He laughed at his fears, though, as he stood in shelter for a few +moments, and then went on again, to, reach the spot he sought, and find +to his great delight that the rock bulged out, so that without danger he +could look right down upon the sea; while another discovery he made was, +that though he seemed to be standing right facing the wind he was in +comparative calm. + +It paid for the journey, for as he advanced to the edge he could see low +down that the waves were churning up foam which the wind caught as it +was finished and sent right up in a cloud of flakes and balls light as +air in a regular whirl, to come straight up past him, higher and higher +above his head, till the very summit of the cliff was reached, when away +it went in a drift landward. + +Why was it quite calm where he stood, and yet the full force of the +Atlantic gale coming full in his face? + +It was a puzzle to Dick Temple. The wind was blowing so hard that it +was cutting the foamy tops from the waves, and sweeping all along like a +storm of tremendous rain. It seemed to him that he should be blown flat +against the rock, and held there spread-eagle fashion; but instead of +this it was perfectly calm, and the thought came upon him how grand it +would be to stand just where the wind was blowing its hardest, and to +see what it felt like to be in the full force of an Atlantic gale. + +"I'll climb right up to the very top of the cliff," he said. "I wonder +whether the wind ever does blow strong enough to knock anyone down." + +But there was too much to fascinate him below for him to drag himself +away at once. From where he stood he could see all along below the +cliffs where he had been rowed by Josh and Will, and that where, then +and afterwards, when his father accompanied them searching for some good +mineral vein, the sea had heaved gently, and the waves had curled over +and broken sparkling on the rocks, all was now one chaos of wildly +foaming and tossing waters. The huge green waves ran rolling in to +break with a noise like thunder, and when some huge hill of water came +in, rose, curled over, and broke, it was with a tremendous boom, and the +spray rushed thirty, forty, and fifty feet up the rock before it poured +back. + +"I wonder what would happen to a boat if it was down there?" said Dick +aloud. + +"Just the same as would happen to a walnut-shell if you were to throw it +down where five hundred hammers were beating about on a pile of stones +such as you use to mend the roads." + +"Why, I didn't hear you come, Will," cried Dick eagerly. + +"I was going to your place to tell you that we could not go out to-day, +of course, and I saw you come out, so I followed." + +"And so a boat would not get on very well down there, wouldn't it?" + +"Get on!" said Will smiling; "why, it would be smashed up." + +"And suppose a ship were to be close in there, Will?" + +"She would be beaten up into matchwood, all torn and ragged to pieces." + +"But is the sea so strong?" + +"Look at it," cried Will, pointing to the leaves, "It is awful +sometimes." + +"Worse than this?" + +"Yes: much," replied Will. "But look here, suppose a great ship came +driving round the head here and struck?" + +"What do you mean by struck?" + +"Driven on the rocks. Do you know what would happen then?" + +"Well, she would be wrecked, I suppose," said Dick. + +"Yes, the waves would come leaping and thundering over her the same as +they do over that piece of rock, and sweeping her decks. Then every +great wave that came in would lift her up, and then leave her to come +down crash upon the rocks, shaking out her masts and loosening her +timbers and planks, and keeping this on till she tumbled all to pieces +and the sea was strewed with the bits which kept tossing in and out +among the rocks." + +"Have you ever seen the sea do this?" said Dick eagerly. + +"Yes," replied Will solemnly, "often. It's very awful sometimes to live +at the sea-side on a rocky coast." + +The two lads stood for a few minutes silently gazing down into the wild +waste of tossing foam, and then Dick said slowly: + +"I think I should like to see a wreck. I shouldn't like for there to be +a wreck; but if there was a wreck I should like to see it." + +"I don't think you would again," said Will sadly. "I used to think so +when I was quite a little fellow; but when I did see one it all seemed +so pitiful to know that there were people on board the ship asking you +to come and save them." + +"Then why didn't you go and save them?" cried Dick excitedly. "You are +all good sailors about here, and have boats. You ought to do something +to save the poor things." + +"We do," said Will sadly. "I mean our men do when they can." + +"Haven't you got a life-boat?" + +"There is one at Corntown and another at Penillian Sands; but sometimes +before a life-boat can be fetched a ship has gone to pieces." + +"And all the people drowned?" + +"Yes. Come below here," said Will, leading the way down the cliff. + +"Is--is it safe?" said Dick. + +"I will not take you where there's any danger," said Will. + +Dick hesitated for a few moments, and then followed his companion down a +path cut in a rift of the rock where a tiny stream trickled down from +far inland. + +The mouth of the rift was protected by a pile of rocks, against which +the wind beat and the waves thundered, but the path was so sheltered +that the lads were able to get nearly down to the shore. + +"There are lots of paths like this down the cliff all about the coast," +said Will quietly. "They are useful for men to get down to their boats +in bad weather." + +He pointed to one that was drawn right up on rollers twenty feet above +the waves and snugly sheltered from the storm. + +"There," said Will the next minute, as he stood holding on behind a +rock, with Dick by his side. "We're safe enough here; the wind goes by +us, you see, and the waves don't bite here. Now, what do you think of +that?" + +Dick drew a long breath two or three times over before he could speak, +for the scene was awful in its grandeur, and, young as he was, he felt +what mere pigmies are men in face of the giants of the elements when +Nature is in anger and lets loose her storms upon our shores. + +Every minute, from amidst the boiling chaos of waves, one bigger than +the rest came slowly from seaward with a strange gliding motion, to +raise itself up like some crested serpent and curl over, and then, as it +was riven in ten thousand streams and sheets of jagged foam, there was a +dull roar as of thunder, the wind shrieked and yelled, and, +serpent-like, the broken wave hissed, and seethed, and choked, and +gurgled horribly amongst the rocks. + +"What do you think of that?" said Will again gravely as he placed his +lips close to Dick's ear. + +"How awful the sea is!" panted Dick as he seemed more than ever to +realise its force. + +"Yes," said Will quietly, and there was a sad smile on the boy's lip as +he spoke. "But you said a little while ago that our men ought to help +the shipwrecked men. Shall we get down that boat and have a row?" + +"Row!" cried Dick with a horrified look; "why, it couldn't be done." + +"Would you like to see your father and some more men get down that boat +and put off to sea?" + +"It would be impossible," cried Dick. "She would be tossed over by the +waves and everybody drowned." + +"Hah! Yes," said Will smiling. "You see now the danger. Many people +say that fishermen are cowardly for not doing more, when the case is +that they know the danger, and those who talk and write about it don't. +It isn't everybody who has seen the sea-coast in a storm. Shall we go +up?" + +"Yes," panted Dick; "it is too awful to stay here. If a wave were to +curl round the corner we should be swept away." + +"Yes," said Will, "but the waves will not curl round the corner. They +can't come here." + +He pointed to the rugged path, for it was hard work to speak and make +each other hear; and Dick began nervously to climb back, looking down +once or twice at the hungry waves, which seemed ready to leap up at him +and tear him from the rocks. + +"I say," he cried, "I'm glad Taff isn't here." + +Will smiled, for he felt that Arthur would never have ventured down the +cliff. + +"Now," said Dick, as they reached the shelf path once more, and he felt +less nervous, "I want to go up right to the top of the cliff and feel +the wind." + +"Feel the wind?" cried Will. + +"Yes; feel how strong it is. Which is the best way?" + +"I'll show you," said Will smiling; and leading the way he walked a +little back towards the town and then turned into a rift similar to that +by which they had descended to the shore. + +"This way," he shouted, for the wind caught them here with tremendous +force, and great balls of foam were whirled up over the face of the +cliff and then away on the wings of the wind inland. + +"What a difference!" cried Dick as soon as they had entered the rift: +for there was a perfect lull here, and all seemed comparatively at +peace. + +"Yes, it is sheltered here," replied Dick; "but wait a few minutes and +you will feel the wind again." + +"Yes. I want to feel it just as it comes off the sea. I'm going to +stand right at the edge. It won't blow me down, will it?" + +"No; not there," said Will smiling. "Here we are. Now come and try." + +As soon as they emerged from the shelter of the rift and stood upon the +storm-swept cliff, Dick had to clap his hand to his head to keep on his +hat, for the wind seized it and swept it to the extent of the lanyard by +which it was fortunately held, and there it tugged and strained like a +queerly-shaped kite. + +The wind now was terrific, coming in deafening gusts, and more than once +making Dick stagger. In fact if he had set off to run inland it would +have almost carried him off his legs. + +"Didn't--know--blow--so--hard," he panted, turning his back so that he +could breathe more freely, when the wind immediately began to part the +boy's hair behind in two or three different ways, but only to alter them +directly as if not satisfied with the result. + +"Come along," shouted Will. "Let's get to the edge." + +Dick turned round, caught at Will's extended hand, and leaning forward, +tramped with him step for step towards the edge of the cliff, which went +sheer down a couple of hundred feet to the shore. + +They had to force their way sturdily along for about a hundred yards +with the wind as it came right off the Atlantic shrieking by their ears, +and deafening and confusing them. The short wiry grass was all +quivering, and it was plain enough to understand why trees found it so +hard to grow where they were exposed to the fury of the sea breezes that +blew so many months in the year. + +Step--step--step by step, the wind seeming really to push them back. +Now and then, when it came with its most furious gusts, the lads +regularly leaned forward against it as if it were some strange elastic +solid; and then, as they nearly reached the edge, it lulled all at once, +and right at the verge all was calm. + +"Oh, what a pity!" cried Dick, as he stood there panting and regaining +his breath; "only to think of it turning so still now that we are here." + +"Turning so still!" said Will, laughing; "why, it's blowing harder than +ever. Look at the foam-balls." + +"Yes; it's blowing there," said Dick; "but it's quite calm here. Never +mind; I'll wait. There'll be a regular guster directly." + +"No," said Will quietly; "you may stand here all day and you'll hardly +feel the wind." + +"But why's that?" cried Dick. + +"Because we are right at the edge of a tall flat-faced cliff," said +Will. "It's generally so." + +"But I don't understand it," cried Dick. "It's blowing very hard, and +we are not in shelter. Why don't it blow here?" + +"Because we are right at the edge of the cliff." + +"Don't talk stuff and nonsense, Will," said Dick testily. "How can you +be so absurd? Why, that's where the wind would blow hardest." + +"No, it isn't," replied Will. + +"Now look here," said Dick. "I know that we London chaps are all behind +you country fellows over sea-side things--catching fish, and boating, +and about winds and tides; but I do know better than you here. The edge +of a cliff like this must be the place where the wind blows hardest." + +"But you feel for yourself that it doesn't," said Will laughing. + +"Not just now," cried Dick, "but it will directly." + +"No, it will not." + +"But look at the foam flying and the spray going like a storm of rain." + +"Yes," said Will, "but not at the edge of the cliff. Look at the grass +and wild flowers; they grow longer and better here too. The wind off +the sea never blows very hard here." + +"Oh, what stuff!" cried Dick; "you're as obstinate as old Taff. It will +blow here directly." + +"Come along," said Will quietly; and he walked a short distance inland, +taking his companion into the full force of the gale once more. + +"There!" cried Dick. "I told you so. It has come on to blow again. +Let's get back to the edge." + +Will made no objection, but walked back quickly with Dick; but before +they reached the cliff edge it was nearly calm once more. + +"Look at that, now," cried Dick pettishly. "Did you ever see such a +stupid, obstinate old wind in your life? It's blowing everywhere but +here." + +Will smiled so meaningly that Dick turned upon him. + +"Why, what do you mean?" he cried. + +"I'll try and show you," said Will. "Lie down here. It's quite dry." + +Dick threw himself on the short soft turf, and Will pulled out a +pocket-book, took the pencil from its loop, and, spreading the book +wide, began after a fashion to draw what learned people call a diagram, +but which we may more simply speak of as a sketch or figure of what he +wished to explain. + +It was very roughly done in straight lines, but sufficiently +explanatory, especially as Will carefully followed the example of the +sign-painter, who wrote underneath his artistic work, "This is a bear." + +Will began by drawing a horizontal line, and under it he wrote, "The +sea." Then he turned the horizontal line into a right angle by adding +to it a perpendicular line, by which he wrote: "The cliff." From the +top of that perpendicular he drew another horizontal line, and above +that he wrote, "Top of the cliff." + +"Now, then," he said, "these little arrows stand for the wind blowing +right across the sea till they come to the face of the cliff;" and he +drew some horizontal arrows. + +"Yes, I see," said Dick, helping with a finger to keep down the +fluttering leaves. + +"Well; now the wind has got as far as the cliff. It can't go through +it, can it?" + +"No," said Dick. + +"And it can't go down for the sea." + +"Of course not." + +"It can't go backwards, because the wind is forcing on the wind." + +"Yes," said Dick. "Hold still, stupid!" This last to the fluttering +leaf. + +"Where is the wind to go, then?" asked Will. + +"Why, upwards of course," cried Dick. + +"To be sure," said Will. "Well, it strikes against the face of the +cliff, and that seems to make it so angry like that it rushes straight +up to get over the top." + +"Of course it does," said Dick; "any stupid could understand that." + +"Well," said Will, "the top's like a corner, isn't it?" + +"No!" cried Dick; "how can it be?" + +"Yes, it is," said Will sturdily; "just like a corner, only lying down +instead of standing up." + +"Oh! very well; just as you like," cried Dick. + +"Now suppose," said Will, "you were running very fast along beside a row +of houses like they are at Corntown." + +"Very well: what then?" + +"And suppose you wanted to run sharp round the edge of the corner, and I +was hiding behind it, and you wanted to catch me." + +"Well, I should catch you," said Dick. + +"No, you would not. You couldn't turn short round, because you were +going so fast; and you'd go some distance before you did, and you'd be +right beyond me, and you'd make quite a big curve." + +"Should I? Well, suppose I should," said Dick, rubbing one ear. + +"Well," said Will, making some more arrows up the perpendicular line +which represented, the face of the cliff, "that's how the wind does. It +goes right up here, and gets some distance before it can stop, and then +it curves over and flies right over the land, getting lower as it goes, +till it touches the ground once more. There, that's it; and those two +dots are you and me." + +He drew some more arrows, with Dick looking solemnly on, and the result +was that Will's sketch of the wind's action against a cliff was +something like the following arrangement of lines and arrows, which +illustrate a curious phenomenon of nature, easily noticeable during a +gale of wind at the edge of some perpendicular cliff. + +Dick felt disposed to dispute his friend's scientific reasoning; but +Will showed him by throwing his handkerchief down from the edge of the +cliff, when it was caught by the gale before it had gone down a dozen +feet, and whisked up above their heads and then away over the land. + +A handful of grass was treated the same, and then Dick sent down his own +handkerchief, which went down twice as far as Will's before the wind +took it and blew it right into a crevice in the face of the cliff, where +it stuck fast. + +"There's a go," cried Dick. "Oh! I say, how can we get it?" + +Will went to the edge of the cliff and looked over before shaking his +head. + +"We can't get it now," he said. "I'll ask Josh to come with a rope when +the wind's gone down, and he'll lower me over." + +"What--down there--with a rope?" said Dick, changing colour. "No, +don't." + +"Why not?" said Will. "That's nothing to going down a mine-shaft." + +Dick shuddered. + +"Or going down the cliff after eggs as I do sometimes. We have +gentlemen here now and then who collect eggs, and I've been down after +them often in places where you can't climb." + +"But I shouldn't like you to go down for me." + +"Why not?" + +"You might fall," said Dick. + +"I shouldn't like to do that," said Will, smiling. Then in a +thoughtful, gloomy way--"It wouldn't matter much. I've no one to care +about me." + +"How can you say that?" cried Dick sharply. "Why, your uncle seemed to +think a deal of you." + +"He's very kind to me," said Will sadly; "but I've always been an +expense to him." + +"Then," cried Dick boldly, "you ought to be ashamed of yourself." + +"What--for being an expense to him?" said Will wistfully. + +"No; because you couldn't help that when you were a little fellow. Now +you have grown, and are getting a big one, you ought to think of letting +him be an expense to you, and you keep him. That's what I'm going to do +as soon as ever I get old enough." + +"That's right," said Will, looking at his companion thoughtfully. "I +say, is your father going to open a mine down here?" + +"I don't know quite for certain," said Dick; "but I think he's going to +try and find something fresh, and work that." + +"What--some new metal?" + +"I don't know," said Dick, "and I don't think he quite knows yet. It +all depends upon what he can find good enough." + +"I wish I could find something very valuable," said Will +thoughtfully--"something that I could show him; and then he might give +me work in it, so that I could be independent." + +"Well, let's try and find something good. I'll go with you," said Dick. + +"When?" + +"Not now. Oh! I say, I must get back; I am so precious hungry." + +It was quite time; but they had not far to go, though when Dick did +enter the room it was to find his father and Arthur half through their +meal. + +"Three quarters of an hour late, Dick," said his father. "I waited half +an hour for you before I sat down. Where have you been?" + +"To look at the sea, father; and up on the cliff to see how the wind +blew--how strong, I mean." + +"Sit down," said his father rather sternly. "I like punctuality, and +would rather know when you are going out." + +"Yes, father," said Dick, "I'll try and remember. I'm very sorry." + +Mr Temple did not answer, but raised the newspaper he was reading, and +this covered his face. + +Evidently Arthur thought it covered his ears as well, for he said rather +importantly:-- + +"I was here punctually to the moment." + +"Arthur," said his father quietly, "you had better go on with your +breakfast, and not talk so much." + +Arthur coloured, and the breakfast was eaten during the rest of the time +in silence--a state of affairs of which Dick took advantage, for the sea +air had a wonderful effect upon his food-assimilating powers, and his +performance on this particular morning made his brother leave off to +stare. + +"My, Dick!" he exclaimed at last as that gentleman made an attack upon a +second fried sole, one of several brought in by the trawl-boat on the +previous night, "I say, how you are eating!" + +"Yes," said Dick, grinning, "I'm a growing boy." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +UNCLE ABRAM COMES AS AN AMBASSADOR, AND GAINS HIS ENDS. + +"I wanted to make our expedition," said Mr Temple, "but it is +impossible, of course, to-day in the face of such a storm. What are you +boys going to do?" + +"Read, papa," said Arthur. "It is too rough to go out." + +"And you, Dick?" + +"Ask you to lend me your Mackintosh, father. It's too rough to stay in. +The sea's grand." + +Arthur had already taken up a book, but he now laid it down. + +"I don't think it rains, does it?" + +"No; only blows," replied Dick; "but when you get where the spray comes +off the sea, it's like a shower." + +"I think we'll all go," said Mr Temple. "I want to test a few minerals +first. Afterwards I should like to go down and have a look at the +waves." + +It was settled that the boys should wait, and Mr Temple at once lit a +spirit-lamp from a strong box of apparatus he had brought down; and, +taking out a blow-pipe, he spent some little time melting, or calcining, +different pieces of ore and stone that he had collected, one special +piece being of white-looking mineral that took Dick's notice a good +deal, for it seemed familiar. + +"Isn't that the stone you got in the place Will Marion showed to you, +father?" + +"Yes, my boy," said Mr Temple; "why?" + +"Only I thought it was," said Dick. "Is it valuable?" + +"I don't know yet. Perhaps." + +"If it is valuable, will it do Will any good?" + +"I don't know yet about that either, my inquisitive young friend," said +Mr Temple. + +"I think it ought if it's any good," said Dick after a pause, during +which he had been watching his father attentively. + +"Do you?" said Mr Temple coldly; and he went on calcining a piece of +the soft white stone, and then placing it in a mortar to grind it up +fine. + +This done, he took the powder out and spread it upon a small glass slab, +where he applied a few drops of water to it, and mixed and mixed till he +had formed the white powder into a paste that looked like white clay. + +"I say, father," said Dick. + +"Yes." + +"Will would like to see what you are doing with that stuff. May I tell +him?" + +"No," said Mr Temple, quietly kneading the white paste in his fingers +and then examining it with a powerful lens. "I desire that you say no +word about anything that you may see me doing. This is private work +that to-day unknown to anyone else may be very valuable. Known to all +the world, it might prove to be not very valuable, but absolutely +worthless. Wait, my boy, and see." + +Waiting was always an unpleasant task for Dick Temple. Time never ran +half fast enough for him, and to have to wait in what he called, after +some one whom he had heard make use of the term, a state of mental +anxiety, was something hard to be borne. + +Arthur calmly took a book, after glancing in the glass to see if his +collar was quite right and his hair properly brushed. He could sit and +read in the most placid manner; but Dick seemed to have quicksilver in +his toes and fingers. He could not keep still, but was always on the +fret to be doing something. + +In his eagerness to help he got into trouble three times with his +father, his aid being given invariably at the wrong time, and generally +resulting in his knocking over some bottle, disturbing a test, or +breaking some delicate piece of apparatus. + +"I'm very sorry, father, I am indeed," he would say. + +"Nobody doubts your sorrow, Dick," cried Mr Temple; "but what I want is +less sorrow and more care. You blunder on at everything instead of +making a bit of a calculation first so as to see what you are about to +do." + +"Well, I will, father, I will really. I'll always in future be as +careful as--careful as--careful as Taff." + +Dick had been looking round the room for an example of care, and this +suggested itself. + +Mr Temple smiled, and bent down over his minerals so that his boys +should not see his face, as he noticed Arthur's ears turn red and a +nervous twitch go through him preparatory to his looking up from his +book. + +"No," said Mr Temple, "I do not wish you to be as careful as Arthur, my +boy, or to take anyone else for a model. Be just your own natural self, +and do your best to run straight on your journey through life. Don't +try to run like others run; it may not always be in a good style." + +Arthur's eyes fell upon his book once more, and his ears became of a +very deep crimson as he felt injured and touched in his dignity. + +"Papa might have said _yes_, and told Dick to imitate me," thought +Arthur; and he went on with his reading, feeling very much ill used. + +"Mr Marion would like to speak to you, sir," said the landlord, coming +in just then. + +"What, Will?" cried Dick eagerly. + +"No, Master Richard. I shouldn't have called him Mr Marion," said the +landlord, smiling. "It's the old gentleman. May I show him in, sir?" + +"Yes, certainly;" and Uncle Abram came in, looking like a Finnan haddock +in a glazed hat, for on account of the weather the old man was clothed +from head to foot in yellow oilskins, and shone and twinkled with the +drops of spray. + +"Sarvant, sir," he said, making dabs with his shiny sailor's hat as if +to knock the drops off. "Sarvant, young gentleman,"--this was to +Arthur, who rose and bowed stiffly--"how do, Master Dick, how do?" + +Uncle Abram beamed and shook Dick's hand heartily, seeming loth to loose +it again, but he relented and turned to Mr Temple. + +"You'll excuse me, sir, for coming when you're busy; but it's to help a +neighbour out of a difficulty." + +"Subscription?" said Mr Temple. + +"Subscription?" said Uncle Abram, dragging a great silk handkerchief +from inside his oilskin and wiping the drops of spray from his face. +"It was about your lodgings here, sir." + +"My lodgings?" said Mr Temple. + +"Yes, sir. You see neighbour here didn't like to speak to you 'bout the +matter, and I said I would. Fact is, four fish-buyers from London come +down here to stay with him every year regular all through the season, +and you've got their rooms." + +"Oh! I have their rooms?" said Mr Temple. + +"That's it, sir, that's it," said Uncle Abram; "and when neighbour let +'em to you he thought you only wanted 'em for a few days." + +"And I've been here for a few weeks." + +"Toe be sure," said Uncle Abram. + +"And he wants me to turn out, eh?" said Mr Temple rather sternly, while +Dick's countenance fell. + +"Turn out arn't the word, sir," said Uncle Abram. "We don't do that +sort o' thing to gentlemen down here in the west countree. Man to man-- +give and take--do to one another as you'd like one another to do unto +you. That's our motter down here, sir. And neighbour he told me his +difficulty. `Nice gentleman, Mr Temple,' he says. `Master Arthur a +bit stiff, but Master Dick--there,' he says, says neighbour, `you know +what Master Dick be.' And I said I did, and I went home and had a chat +with my nevvy Will, and then I attacked the missus, and here I be." + +"So I see," said Mr Temple rather dryly; "but really, Mr Marion, you +haven't explained yourself very clearly." + +"I s'pose not," said Uncle Abram in a troubled way. "That's just like +me. I never do. Getting old, you see." + +"Am I to understand that you are an ambassador from the landlord, and +that he wants us to go?" + +"Well, something of that sort, sir," replied Uncle Abram, who was very +busy wiping drops from his forehead that were not spray. + +"When do these fish-buyers come?" + +"To-day, sir." + +"To-day! Then why did he not speak sooner?" + +"Waited like, sir, to see if there might be a change of wind. You might +want to go. They mightn't want to come. Things veers about, sir, +sometimes." + +"I consider it disgraceful," said Mr Temple angrily, rising to touch +the bell. "I'll speak to the landlord myself." + +"Steady, sir, steady," cried Uncle Abram. "Good neighbour o' mine, you +see. Spoke to me 'bout it, and I said yes, and here I be." + +"Yes, yes," cried Mr Temple; "but am I to be thrown out without notice +just at a time when I want particularly to stay?" + +"No, sir, of course not. That's what I keep explaining to you. +Neighbour puts the case before me, and I says if the missus is willing +nothing would please me better, and here I be." + +"But you do not explain matters," said Mr Temple. + +"What, not that Mrs Marion and your obedient sarvant to command, Abram +Marion, ex Her Majesty's sarvice, would be glad if you'd make shift in +our rooms--sittin', best, and two beds?" + +"No. You said nothing of the kind." + +"Think of that now," said Uncle Abram, smiling broadly. "That's just +like me, Master Dick. Gettin' old, you see. But if you could work it +round that way, sir, it would be making it pleasant for all parties, and +we'd do the best up at the cottage to make you comfortable; and there's +my boy Will and our Josh and the boat at your sarvice, and there you +are; and neighbour below don't upset his old friends." + +"I shall be delighted, Mr Marion, I'm sure," said Mr Temple, holding +out his hand, which the old fellow shook heartily, bestowing a solemn +wink on Dick at the same time. + +"That's a bargain then, sir?" said the old fellow, going to the door, +and shouting, "Lan'ord, ahoy!" in a voice of thunder, and then coming +back to open the window and yell, "Will, ahoy! Go and tell her as it's +settled." + +Then he banged to the window, and turned round as the landlord came in +smiling and looking greatly relieved. + +"Gentleman says it's all right, neighbour," said Uncle Abram. + +"Thank ye heartily, neighbour," said the landlord, "and you too, Mr +Temple, sir. It's kep' me awake for nights." + +The result was that the little party moved bodily to Uncle Abram's that +morning, their luggage being conveyed, as soon as possible by Josh and +Will; and directly they were in the pleasant sea-side rooms Uncle Abram +took Dick round the place to point out various objects about the walls. + +"Welcome to 'em as the flowers is to May, my lad," he said with a good +many nods and winks; "only wipe 'em dry and put 'em back when done-- +spy-glass, oilskins, big boots, fishing-lines, nets, and curiosities for +a wet day, box o' dominoes for the wet nights. Make yourself at home." + +Slap on the back. + +This last was a sort of seal to finish the welcome; and then the old man +went back to his garden to stand in the rockery, which served as a +look-out, and scan the horizon with his glass. + +Mr Temple was delighted with the change, for, in spite of the quiet +respectability of the Cornish fishermen and their bluff, pleasant ways, +a fishing port inn, even in a west-country village, is not always +perfect as a place for a sojourn; while Uncle Abram's home was a pattern +of neatness, and Aunt Ruth seemed very amiably disposed towards her +guests. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +A TERRIBLE TIME AT SEA. + +"Isn't it glorious, Taff?" cried Dick as he stood with his brother in +their little low-roofed bed-room, whose window overlooked the sea. + +"Can't say that I like it," said Arthur languidly. "The place smells +horribly of fish." + +"Pooh! That isn't fish. It's the sea-weed. It turns limp, and smells +because the weather's moist and stormy. There, come on. Father must be +ready now, and I want to go down and see the sea." + +Uncle Abram came in just as they were about to start, and insisted upon +lending a couple of suits of oilskins, which he brought out of a room in +the roof, where he kept his stores, as he called them. + +"Was Will's," he explained. "He growed out of 'em. Not much to look +at, sir," he added apologetically to Mr Temple, "but they'll keep out +the water. We like the sea, but we like to keep dry." + +Arthur looked horribly disgusted, for his father gladly accepted the +hospitable offer, and he had to submit to being buttoned up in the stiff +garb that Will had cast off years before, even to the high boots. + +Dick scuffled into his with delight, and tied the sou'-wester under his +chin, turning the next minute to see his brother, and stamp on the floor +with delight. + +"Oh! look at Taff, father; he does look such a Guy Fawkes." + +Arthur turned upon him fiercely, and it suddenly occurred to Dick that +he was in precisely the same costume; but he only laughed the more as, +well equipped to meet the storm, they started for the beach. + +"It's ridiculous," said Arthur, in tones of disgust, as they walked down +towards the harbour under the lee of the houses. "There was no need to +put on these wretched stiff things." + +Almost as the words left his lips they passed the last house, and-- + +_Bang_!--_boom_!--_swirl_! + +A large wave struck the shore on a boulder slope and sent a deluge of +water across the road, to strike the rock on the other side, and run +back like a stream. + +Arthur, was sent staggering, and would have fallen but for his father's +hand; and all three, but for their shiny garb, would have been soaked +from head to foot. + +"Oh, here's a game!" cried Dick. "I say, Taff--run--run--here comes +another." + +They escaped part of the wave, but Dick had his weather ear full, and +the sea-water and foam streamed down their backs as they stood in the +shelter of a bit of cliff. + +"Well, Arthur, what do you say to your oilskins now?" said Mr Temple. + +"They're dreadfully stiff, father, and the boots are too large," said +Arthur ungraciously. "Hadn't we better get back?" + +Poor Arthur repented his words most bitterly as soon as he had spoken +them, for there was a hard light going on in the boy's mind. Naturally +very conceited, he had had the misfortune to be made the head of a +little set at his school--a little set, for they were rather small boys, +who looked up to him,--and dressed at him as far as they could, the +effect being to make him more conceited still, and think his brother +rough and common in his ways. + +All this had been pointed out to Mr Temple, who, however, had seen it +for himself, and he only said, smiling: + +"It will all settle itself. These little spines will get knocked off by +contact with the world. Besides which I hope that he will find out for +himself the way to grow into a manly man." + +Mr Temple was quite right, and Arthur was beginning to discover that, +where his brother was met with a genial smile by all whom he +encountered, he, who was particular and precise and, as he considered +it, gentlemanly in his ways, was either not noticed, or met with merely +the coldest reception. + +He was learning too that a man--especially an Englishman, whether gentle +or simple--born in the lap of luxury, as people call it, or in the +humblest cot, must be one who will always keep up the credit of the +nation at large by being thoroughly English; and this brings one to the +question--while the storm is raging on the Cornish coast, and Arthur +Temple is in his glistening oilskins walking stiffly and awkwardly, and +wincing beneath his father's look, which said as plainly as look could +speak, "If you are afraid you can go back;"--this brings one to the task +of stating what one means by being thoroughly English, so let us set +down here, something approaching one's ideas of what an English lad +should be. + +Courageous of course, full of that sturdy determination not to be +beaten, and when beaten, so far from being disheartened that he is ready +to try again, whether in a fight, a battle with a difficulty, or in any +failure. + +Honest in his striving for what he knows to be right, and ready to +maintain it against all odds, especially of such enemies as banter or +ridicule, self-indulgence or selfishness. + +That is enough: for so many wonderful little veins will start from those +two trunks, that, given a boy who is courageous and honest, or who makes +himself so, it would be almost an impossibility for him to turn out a +bad, mean, and cowardly man. + +And pray don't imagine, you who read this, that by a cowardly man or boy +I mean one who is afraid to take off his jacket and roll up his sleeves +and fight with his fists. I mean quite a different kind of coward--the +one who is afraid of himself and lets self rule him, giving up to every +indulgence because it goes a little against the grain, and Arthur Temple +is walking uncomfortably in his oilskins because they don't look nice. +The storm is raging, and he is still smarting under the belief that his +father thinks him contemptible and cowardly, physically cowardly. And +all the time, though the tears are rising in his eyes, and the wind is +deafening him, and the spray beating in his face so that his tears are +not seen, he is proving that, under his varnish, he is made of the right +stuff. For even as he battled with self in the boat when +conger-fishing, he is fighting the good fight again, has set his teeth, +and has made a sort of vow that no one shall say he has not as much +pluck as his brother Dick. + +There is little work done at a fishing village when a storm comes down. +Going to sea is impossible, and men don't care to be mending or making +nets when at any moment they may have to be helping to haul up a boat +into a safer place, or to drag in a spar, or plank, or timber, that has +been washed ashore. + +Then, too, there is the look-out kept for ships or boats in distress-- +perhaps to lend a helping hand; if not, to look on with sympathetic eyes +and a thankful prayer at heart that they are in safety, as they think of +home, and wife, and child. + +Mr Temple was not a violent angry man. His punishments to his boys +were conveyed in looks, and one look sufficed. When that look had been +given there was an end to the matter; and on this occasion, after Arthur +had been made to wince, his petulant display of fear was put back in the +past. + +"Boys," he cried, "I would not like to have missed this scene. How +awful and how grand!" + +They were standing in the shelter of a pilchard house, one of the long +buildings where these silvery, oily relatives of the herring are salted +before being pressed in barrels and sent away to the Mediterranean ports +by hundreds of tons every year. The building took the brunt of the +roaring wind and spray torn from the huge billows that thundered in and +raced up the beach, and pounded the rocks, so that the spectators could +gaze at the wild chaos of tossing waves, and watch the heaped-up waters +as they dashed in like some savage army, whose aim was to tear down the +rocky barriers of our isle and sweep all away. + +In the harbour lay the luggers, and a good-sized brig, and a steam-tug +that had brought it in after missing Corn town; and as the great waves +came with a spang upon the stone pier, and leaped over the lanterns, and +poured down tons of spray upon their decks, they rocked and groaned as +they rubbed together, and in spite of mooring ropes a sharp crack now +and then told of damages to be repaired. + +The cliff glistened with oilskin-clad men, many of whom bore long, +clumsy telescopes, while others in great high boots, and with their +sou'-westers tied beneath their chins, walked amongst the foam, a coil +of strong rope upon their shoulders, and a boat-hook in hand, ready for +anything in the way of flotsam and jetsam that might come ashore. + +Already they had drawn up the mast of a lugger with its ropes and +blocks, telling tales of some misfortune at sea. + +A barrel or two had come ashore; and as Dick watched, he saw one man run +out after a wave, catch at something, miss it, and then get hold of a +rope, with which he ran ashore. + +Directly after they saw another figure leave a companion and run in +after a retiring wave, the foam knee-deep, and catch at something else +which came slowly. + +"Mind, mind!" cried Dick excitedly; "the wave! the wave!" + +Arthur gave a gasp and ran right out towards where the figure, fully a +hundred yards away, was clinging to something that looked brown against +the white foam, and apparently heedless of the fact that a tremendous +wave was racing in. + +His comrade saw it though and ran to his help, catching hold of the +great brown tangle, and then turning with the other to escape. + +They hardly did it, for the huge wave curled over just behind them with +a boom like thunder, and swept them up towards the shore amidst the +foam. + +They would have been carried back, but a dozen hands were outstretched +and they and their prize were run up out of danger, where, for the next +ten minutes, the little party were busy hauling in what proved to be an +immense length of pilchard drift-net, with its corks, and buoys, and +ropes, which formed a goodly heap when they had done. + +Out seaward there was nothing visible but the tossing waves, and it was +with a sense of relief that the boys saw that there was no prospect of +any wreck beyond that of the fishing-boat that had been dashed to pieces +upon some rock. + +"Here! hi!" cried Dick, excitedly. "Why, it's Will! Was it you who ran +in after that net?" he continued, as the lad came up. + +"Yes, Master Dick; Josh helped me," said Will, smiling. "There's two or +three hundred fathom." + +"But was it not very risky, my lad?" said Mr Temple, shouting like the +others, for the noise made by the sea was deafening. + +"Risky, sir? Oh! you mean the waves! There were plenty there to lend a +hand, and if we'd been caught they'd have thrown us a rope," said Will, +simply. + +"Some boat has been lost, hasn't there?" cried Dick, excitedly. + +"Saint Ives boat, we think," said Will; "and a timber ship has been +wrecked somewhere out Lizard way. There'll be a lot of balks and planks +come ashore, the men think." + +"I say, Will, is it often as bad as this?" said Arthur eagerly. + +"Yes, sir, very often," replied Will. "Old Pollard thinks it will be +worse to-night. I should go down to yonder house, sir, if I was you; +the young gentlemen would be more in shelter, and you could see the +wreck wood come in and the men draw it up, better there, for it's nearer +to the sea." + +"How do you know it will come there?" said Dick hastily. + +"The current. Tide washes it up. We always find wreck come about +there." + +Will hurried away, his mission being to fetch another boat-hook; and +taking the hint, Mr Temple and his boys made a dash across the rock and +sand to the pilchard-house further east, the wind blowing in a furious +squall now, and just as they were half-way, battling against the spray +that cut their faces till they tingled, their numbers were diminished +one third, though Mr Temple did not know it, and then two thirds. + +He had bidden his boys follow him closely, and then with bent head run +forward, Dick and Arthur following as fast as their stiff clumsy garb +would allow; but just as they were half-way and were caught by the full +force of the gale, Arthur, who was last, made a swerve, gave way a +little more and a little more, and then was literally carried shoreward +by the gale in a staggering run, for he had found it impossible to +resist its force. + +"Don't it blow!" panted Dick. "Lean your head over towards it, Taff, +and then it won't cut your face. Come along." + +He spoke loudly, but every word was swept away by the wind; and if +sounds do not melt away, his were taken straight over England and the +North Sea to Denmark, and then over the Baltic to the Russ's land. + +"Here, give me your hand, Taff," he cried directly after, and turning a +little more he held out his hand to lend his brother a little help. + +Confused and deafened as he was by the storm himself, he burst out into +a roar of laughter at the sight of his brother literally running before +the wind in the most comically absurd manner, till, finding a dry spot, +he flung himself down in the soft sand, sad clung there with all his +might while Dick scudded to him and plumped down at his side. + +"Here's a game!" he roared into Arthur's ear. + +"A game!" faltered the latter; "very--dread--ful--isn't it?" + +"No," shouted Dick. "It's all right. Come along. No, no. Turn your +back to it." + +"The rain cuts so," panted Arthur. + +"'Tain't rain; it's spray. Hook hold tight," cried Dick. "Ahoy! +Coming!" he shouted, wasting his breath, for it was impossible for Mr +Temple to hear. "Here comes father after us. Now then, stoop down and +let's do it. Whoo! Knees." + +They threw themselves on their knees to avoid being swept away, for just +then a sudden puff came with such violence that, as Dick afterwards +described the sensation, it was like being pushed with a big ball of +india-rubber. + +Mr Temple came with the rush of wind, and as he stopped beside his boys +he confessed that it was as much as he could do to keep his legs. + +It was only for a few moments that the storm had such tremendous force. +Then it lulled a little, and taking advantage of the comparative calm, +Mr Temple took hold of his boys' hands, and the three with bended heads +trotted towards the shelter on ahead. + +They had not been long under the lee of the pilchard-house before they +saw Will return and stand with Josh and some more of the fishermen just +beyond the reach of the waves. Then first one and then another made a +rush at what looked at a distance like a piece of wood, tossed here and +there by the great billows. Into this they struck the boat-hook, and +ran with it shoreward, the piece of wood which looked so small proving +to be a deal that was a pretty good weight for two men to carry. + +Quite a stack of these were dragged from the waves, some perfectly +uninjured, others snapped in two, others again twisted and torn asunder, +leaving long ragged threads of fibre, while others again were regularly +beaten by the waves and rocks, so that the ends were like bunches of +wood gnawed by some monster into shreds. + +They went back to dinner and returned towards evening, Uncle Abram +giving it as his opinion that the worst of the gale was not over yet, +and pointing to the glass that hung in the passage for corroboration. + +"Lower than she's been for months," said the old gentleman. "I hope no +ship won't get caught in the bay." + +_Boom, bom_! + +"What's that?" cried Mr Temple quickly. + +"It's what I hoped would not happen, sir," said the old man, taking off +his hat; "a ship in distress, and may--" + +He did not finish his sentence aloud, but closed his eyes, and they saw +his lips move for a few moments, before, clapping on his hat again, he +cried: + +"Let's go down to the beach, sir. 'Tisn't likely, but we might be able +to do some good. Ah! there she is speaking again." + +_Boom, bom_! + +The hoarse echoing report of a large gun heard plainly above the roar of +the storm, and hastily putting on his great yellow oilskin coat, old +Uncle Abram led the way towards the shore. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +A BRAVE ACT FOR A DARING MAN MAY BE HEROISM IN A GALLANT BOY. + +"There she is, Master Dickard, sir," shouted Josh, as the little party +reached the shore down by the pilchard-house, and he pointed out over +the foaming sea. + +"I can see nothing but mist," said Dick excitedly. + +"That's the foam," said Josh; "but I can see her plain--three-master-- +quite a big ship." + +"Will she get into the harbour, Josh?" said Dick, with his lips to the +fisherman's ear. + +Josh looked at him solemnly and then shook his head. + +"One of our luggers couldn't do it, Master Dick, with a wind like this, +let alone a big ship." + +"What will happen then?" cried Dick excitedly. + +"Rocks--go on the Six Pins, I should say. That's where the current'll +take her--eh, master?" + +Uncle Abram was holding his long telescope against the corner of the +pilchard-house, and gazing attentively through it at the distant ship. + +"No, Josh, my lad," he said; "there's too much water on the Six Pins +even for her. She'll come clear o' them and right on to Black Point." + +"And then?" said Mr Temple anxiously. + +"We shall do what we can with the rocket-line if the masts hold good for +a bit, sir." + +"But a boat--a life-boat!" + +Uncle Abram shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. + +"Soon as that first gun was heard, sir, there was a man got on a horse +and went over the hills to Corntown, where the life-boat lies, and +they'll come over as fast as horses can draw the carriage; but it will +take them a long time to get over along the rough road, and when they do +get her here, where she's to be launched I can't tell." + +Mr Temple and his sons looked about the bay at the tremendous breakers +that were forming, as it were, a frame of foam. Even the entrance to +the harbour was marked by the waves that leaped against the pier. + +"I can't see the ship, father," whispered Dick in an awe-stricken voice, +as he handed back the glass, whose bottom was dimmed with spray the +moment he put it to his eyes. + +"There--there," said Will hoarsely, as he pointed out to sea. + +"No, I can't see it," said Dick again. + +"Can you see the Bird Rock--the Mew Rock, where we caught the conger?" +said Will hastily, and with his lips close to Dick's face. + +"Yes." + +"Then fix your eyes there, and then look straight from there to the old +mine-shaft on the hill." + +"Yes--yes," cried Dick. "I can see a mast all amongst the spray; and +it's coming on this way." + +"To destruction," said Mr Temple to himself, as he too now caught sight +of the unfortunate vessel driving towards the rocks slowly and surely, +and once more the crew drew attention to their peril by firing a +signal-gun. + +It is one of the most terribly painful positions in which a man can be +placed, to see his fellow-creatures slowly drifting into what is almost +certain death without being able to stretch out a hand to save. + +There was no need to warn the crew of their danger; they knew that but +too well, for the great grey rocks were in front of them with the +breakers at their feet; and as the excitement increased Will caught +Dick's arm. + +"They're getting out the rocket-lines," he said, shouting into Dick's +ear. "Come and see." + +The wind and spray were forgotten, as the men, headed by a couple of +coastguard, drew a truck along the sands and through the pools of water +towards a spot to the left of where they stood, and just beyond the +place where the seine was drawn in and the shark captured. To Dick it +seemed as if the men were going away, from the place where they were +likely to be of any help to the crew of the ship; but the fishermen knew +what they were about, and old Mr Marion, who was as excited as any one +present, came up to shout out his opinions. + +"She'll come ashore on the Black Fin," he said. "The other side of the +buoy. You watch her, and you'll see." + +In spite of the driving foam and the salt rain formed by the spray cut +from the tops of the waves, the vessel could now be plainly seen +labouring and tossing among the great billows which grew heavier and +grander the nearer the unfortunate vessel came to the shore, and Dick +began to realise now how a ship could be safer a thousand miles from +land in the heaviest hurricane than among the breakers upon our rocky +coast. + +The beating rain and wind then were forgotten as the rocket-cart came +up, and Mr Temple and his sons staggered after it, Josh laying hold of +one of Dick's arms, Will of the other, while old Marion and Mr Temple +were on either side of Arthur, who wondered how the wind could thunder +so heavily in his ears. + +Dick had a misty sort of idea that a rope would be shot out to the +wreck, and that the men would come along it ashore, but how it was to be +done he could not tell. Had the storm been twice as heavy, though, he +would have gone to see, and he pressed eagerly forward till, with his +companions, he was close up to the cart, waiting for the ship to strike. + +On she came through the foam, closer and closer, every mast standing, +but the sails that had been set torn to rags, that streamed out like +tattered pennons, and whipped and beat about the yards. Men on the +shore ran here and there and shouted to each other to do +impossibilities. Some got under the lee of rocks to use their glasses, +but only to close them again and hurry to gain their excited companions, +who were standing with coils of rope over their shoulders, and one arm +through the ring, shouting again with their hands to their mouths, and +one who had a speaking-trumpet roared some unintelligible order through +it to the wind that cast it back into his face. + +"Will the life-boat come in time?" said Mr Temple to Josh; but the +fisherman did not speak nor turn to the questioner: he only shook his +head. + +All at once every one stood still. The excitement seemed to be at an +end. Heads were bent forward, eyes were shaded, and one impulse seemed +to have moved the scattered crowd upon the foaming beach, and those who +were standing knee-deep amongst the rushing sea-froth that ran up beyond +them to the sand. + +"Look!" shouted Josh, without turning his head; and he pointed with his +sound arm out to sea. + +Dick, Arthur, and Mr Temple strained their eyes to catch signs of what +the fisherman meant as they saw the vessel rising and falling, and +seeming to glide slowly on, till all at once, in the midst of the dense +rain of spray, the vessel rose, as it were, to make a leap, and then +charged down a hill of waters, stopped short, and seemed to shiver. +Then her tall main-mast fell forward, apparently snapped off close to +the deck, carrying with it the fore-mast; while the mizen, that had been +sloping slightly backward, now leaned over toward the shore. + +"Fast on the Black Fin," cried Josh, with his hands to his mouth, and a +shiver of horror ran through Dick and his brother as they realised what +all this meant. + +There was no time lost on the beach now, for in the midst of the crowd +the rocket-cart was run down as far as was possible, the tube laid +ready, the case with its line placed in position, and then away with a +rush, and a stream of dull, almost invisible sparks sped the rocket with +its line, whose destination was the far side of the ill-fated ship. + +There was a cry from the men who were watching the flight of the +line-bearer. + +"Short, short!" And as the boys watched with parted lips, and eyes +half-blinded with the spray, they saw the line rapidly hauled in and +laid ready for another flight. + +It took some time, during which those on shore could just make out the +crew of the ship clustering about the stern of the vessel and on the +mizen-mast. + +All was ready at last, and once more a rocket was sent flying with the +same result, its flight too short to reach the ship. + +"I knowed it--I knowed it!" roared Josh between his hands. "There's +only one way." + +A little crowd collected about Josh, and for a short space there was +hurried gesticulation, and old Marion seemed to be declaiming to the +men. + +All at once the boys saw Will back out of the crowd with Josh and wave +his hand to them, after which every one set off rapidly round the curve +of the bay to where the sands ceased and the shore was piled-up rocks, a +reef of which ran right out to the vessel, which was fast on an isolated +rock at the end. + +They were farther from the ship now than before--probably double the +distance; but the reef formed a breakwater, and in its lee, though it +seemed almost madness, it was just possible that a boat might live. + +"They're going to launch a boat and take out a line," shouted old Marion +in Mr Temple's ear. "It breaks my heart, Master Temple, but he's light +and strong, and a good rower, and Josh won't go alone." + +"Is Will going?" cried Dick excitedly. + +"Yes--yes," shouted the old man: "there's fellow-creatures' lives at +stake; and at such a time a seafaring man can't say no." + +What took place seemed to Dick afterwards like the events in some wild +dream; but in the midst of the excitement and confusion he saw a small +broad-beamed boat run down a pebbly slope, and that a line was coiled in +her. Five men, it seemed, jumped into her as she was thrust off, the +men wading out as far as they could to give impetus to the craft before +they sprang in. Then the cockle-shell of a boat seemed to be lifted +right up to the top of a wave, and then to plunge down out of sight; and +as Dick watched for her reappearance, and noted that the line was held +by the men ashore, as he had noted that there was some one in the stern +of the boat who kept paying out that line, he realised that the boy was +Will, and it seemed again more than ever to be a dream. + +All that followed in the midst of that horrible din of shrieking wind, +beating spray, and thundering seemed to be a confused dream, out of +which he kept thinking he should wake, as he sheltered his eyes with his +hands and tried to see the boat. + +But no. Once it had plunged down that hill of foamy wave it had +disappeared into a mist of spray and froth; and though two or three +times he fancied that he caught sight of the boat climbing some wave +between where they stood and the wreck, he could not be sure. + +There was confidence, though, on the part of the men who were holding +the line. + +"He's paying it out right enough, the lad," shouted one of them to Uncle +Abram; and as time went on signals were exchanged that told of the +safety of those in the boat. + +The distance was not great, and the reef of rocks not only formed a +shelter, but produced a kind of eddy, which made the passage of the boat +somewhat less perilous; but all the same it was a forlorn hope, and many +of the fishermen said to themselves that the next time that they saw +Will Marion and Josh it would be beaten and bruised by wave and rock, +and cast up upon the shore. + +But the signals, jerks of the rope, kept coming, and men perched +themselves high up among the rocks to watch the progress of the boat +with their glasses, but in vain. All they could see was an occasional +glimpse of the mizen of the ship, with a dark patch of clustering +humanity. + +The life-saving gear had meanwhile been carried to the spot whence the +boat was started; and there was hope yet that a connection might be made +between the vessel and the rocks. + +But time went on--time, confused by the roar of wind and wave, and there +was no sign. It had seemed utter madness for that boat to be sent forth +into such a chaos of waters; but there are things which some men call +mad often adventured by the brave fishers of our coast. + +All at once Dick started from his father's side to run to Uncle Abram, +who had seated himself slowly upon a block of stone about which the foam +floated to and fro on a few inches of water. The old man sank down in a +way whose action Dick read at once, for the old fellow let his head go +down upon his hands, and these rested upon his knees; and as he saw the +air of utter dejection, Dick felt that poor Will must have been lost. + +It seemed so horrible, so strange, that as Dick reached Abram Marion's +side he sank down on his knees beside the old man, caught at his hands, +and literally sobbed out: + +"Oh! don't say he's drowned; don't say he's drowned." + +There was quite a lull as he spoke; and as the old man felt the touch of +the boy's clinging hands he laid his own upon his head with a strange +far-off look in his eyes. + +"I don't say so; I won't say so!" he cried in a hoarse, passionate way. +"My brave, true lad! but I oughtn't to have let him go." + +"Hurrah!" + +A loud cheer from near the water's edge, and a quick, bustling movement +among the men; and then down came the storm again, as if it had been +taking breath, and the roar was deafening. + +But the boat had reached the ship, of course getting under her lee, and +her daring little crew had climbed on board. For there was the proof-- +the life-gear had been attached to the end of the line, and it was being +rapidly dragged from the shore out towards the wreck. + +A long, anxious time ensued, during which, while the sea end was being +secured to the wreck, the shore end of the life-cable, was carried high +up to the top of a cluster of rocks that formed the end of the reef, a +flat place thirty feet above the level of the sea. + +There were drags at that line, which the men at once knew were given by +the waves, but they were mostly sharp twitches, which meant that the +daring boatmen, headed by Josh, were making it fast high up somewhere in +the vessel's mizen; and at last there was an unmistakable signal which +meant, "Make fast," and the shore end was hauled tight round a mass of +rock. + +Then as Dick and his brother stood in the crowd, which had climbed up to +the top of the rock, they saw the block that ran upon the cable set in +motion by a thin line that was alongside the thick rope, and there was a +burst of cheers as the cradle--that basket-like contrivance of the +rocket apparatus--started off, dragged by those upon the rock, to cross +the seething waves, which kept leaping up at it as if to snatch it down. + +Then came a signal--a twitch of the line, and with a cheer the men on +the rock hauled the cradle back--cradle indeed, for it seem to contain a +new-born life, saved from inevitable death. + +It was the pale, wild face of a woman, speechless with dread and +exposure, that greeted the men on the rocks as they hauled in the +cradle; and in a minute she was lifted out, and almost before the +willing hands had lifted the poor woman down from the rock, the cradle +was speeding back. + +It returned quickly with a man half dead, and he, amidst rousing cheers, +was lifted out, and borne to a place where he would find warmth, +welcome, and shelter. + +Then four more were dragged ashore over the thundering, roaring waves, +as the cradle was merrily hauled to and fro. + +Then came another man, but not a storm-beaten exhausted seaman. It was +the well-known countenance of one of the crew that went out in the boat, +and he was full of activity. + +"Back with the cradle!" he shouted, "haul away. The ship won't hold +together long." + +The cradle began to run back over the swinging rope, while the man who +had returned said in reply to questions: + +"Those were all. The rest of the poor souls had been beaten off, and +these couldn't have lasted many minutes longer. You must look alive." + +The men waited anxiously for the signal, and then another mate was +hauled over the waves, and the cradle sent back, while Dick stood +trembling and wanting to ask why Will, who was a boy, had not been sent +first. + +Then came another, and still it was not Will. + +"This time it must be he," thought Dick; but when the cradle arrived +once more, it was the face of Josh that saluted them. + +"Haul back quick," the latter said. "She was shivering under my feet +when I come away." + +"And you left that boy to drown!" roared Uncle Abram, catching Josh by +the throat. + +Josh did not resent it, but said quietly, in a lull of the storm: + +"He wouldn't come first. It was like drowning both him and me to stand +gashly arguing at a time like that." + +And now every eye was staring wildly, and with an intensity that showed +how eagerly all watched for the next freight of the cradle. + +"It's hard work for the lad," said Josh hoarsely; "and I'd give anything +to be at his side. But he'll do it if the ship hangs together long +enough. Oh, pull, pull! Haul away, lads, haul!" + +"He made me come--he made me come," he cried frantically. "It was +keeping the lad back to say I wouldn't go first. I didn't want to, +lads, I didn't want to." + +"No, no," came in a sympathetic growl, as once more the wind lulled a +little and there were symptoms of the gale being nearly over. + +Then there was a groan, for Will made no signal. + +"Hooray!" came from the men, as there was a sudden snatch, and the rope +they were giving out was drawn rapidly. "He's got it, he's--got--" + +The man who was joyfully shouting that stopped short as the rope ceased +moving, and one, who was trying to use a telescope, shouted: + +"The mizen's over!" + +"Then she's gone to pieces, lads," cried another. + +"No," cried the man with the glass; "part's standing yet." + +"Hooray!" came again, as Dick stood clinging to Uncle Abram's arm, the +old man having left the stone, and standing close beside the men who +hauled the cradle gear. + +Short as the distance was, not a glimpse of the ship could be seen, for +every wave that broke upon the rock rose in a fountain of spray, to +mingle with the blinding drift and mist of foam. But all the time their +eyes were strained towards the rock upon which the ship had struck, and +along the reef that the venturesome boat's crew had made the shelter +which resulted in the saving of some of the poor creatures upon the +wreck. + +All at once, when a horrible feeling of despair had settled upon all +present, there was a sharp twitch given to the line, the signal for it +to be hauled, just at a time too when Josh had turned away, giving Dick +a piteous look, and then gone to lean his head upon his arm against the +rock. + +That cheer which came as the rope was twitched seemed to send life and +activity back to Josh, who dashed in among the knot of men at the rope. + +"Here, let me come," he shouted; "let me have a hand in bringing him +ashore. Hurray! Master Dick, hurray! he's saved, he's saved!" + +Was he? + +The men hauled as rapidly as was consistent with safety, till the cradle +with its occupant was dragged right up on to the rock, where a dozen +hands were ready to lift the drooping, insensible figure out, and pour +brandy between its lips. + +Will opened his eyes at this and stared wildly for a few moments; then a +knowledge of his position seemed to come to him, and he smiled and +raised one hand. + +At that moment there was a shout and the cable of the cradle gear seemed +to hang loose, and the sea end to be moving shoreward, while the man +with the glass shouted: + +"She's gone to pieces, lads; that last wave lifted her, and then she +melted right away." + +There was no doubt about it, for the cradle gear was floating free, and +the men were able to haul it in. The rest of the crew of that +unfortunate ship, with twelve passengers beside, were washed ashore with +the battered boat that took the line, and fragments of wreck here and +there all round the coast for the next ten days or so, long after Will +had well recovered from the shock of his adventure. For he had been for +long enough beaten about and half drowned by the waves while striving to +get the cradle rope clear of a tangle of rigging that had fallen upon +it, and threatened to put an end to its further working, till he had run +a most perilous risk, climbed over it, hauled the rope from the other +side, and had just strength enough left to get into the cradle and give +the signal, as a wave came over the doomed ship, and buried him deep +beneath tons of water. + +He could recollect no more than that he had tried to give the signal to +be hauled ashore, and some one had held him up to pour brandy between +his teeth. + +Yes: there was something else he remembered very well, and that was the +way in which Dick held on to him, and how Arthur had shaken hands. He +recalled that, and with it especially Mr Temple's manner, for there was +a kind, fatherly way in his words and looks as he said to him gently: + +"Will Marion, I should have felt very proud if one of my boys had done +all this." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +MR. TEMPLE LEARNS MORE OF WILL MARION'S CHARACTER WRITTEN IN STONES. + +"Don't say anything about it, my lad, to Will; he don't like it known," +said Uncle Abram one day; "and I wouldn't let out about it to his aunt." + +"I won't tell anybody but Taff and my father," said Dick. + +Uncle Abram took his pipe out of his mouth and scratched the side of his +nose with it very softly, as he looked out through the window, and its +climbing-roses, to sea. + +Mrs Marion had gone into Corntown marketing; Arthur was up the cliff +reading in a snug corner he affected; Mr Temple had gone out alone +along the cliff "on an exploring trip," he had said with a smile; and +Will was down with Josh at the lugger "overhauling," as Josh called it, +which meant running over the nets previous to a visit to the pilchard +ground. + +Dick was just going to join them when Uncle Abram, who was fumigating +his rose-trees and enjoying his pipe at the same time, made him a +signal, as he called it, and asked him if he would like to see Will's +room. + +"Well," said the old man, after a good deal of scratching with the red +waxed end of his tobacco pipe. + +"I s'pose you're right, Master Richard, sir. I say don't tell Will, +because he's so modest like, and don't want people to know; and, I say, +don't tell his aunt, because she's so particular like with him, and if +she know'd all, she'd think he was neglecting his regular work, and that +if he could find time, you see, for doing this sort of thing, he could +be doing more to the boats. But I don't see why your brother should not +know, and I don't hold with a lad keeping anything from his father." + +"And who wants to keep anything from his father?" said Mr Temple, who +was just passing the window on his return. "What is it?" he continued, +entering the room. + +"Oh, nothing, sir; only I was going to show Master Richard here our +Will's room, and I was asking him to be a bit secret like for the lad's +sake. Mrs Marion, you see, is a--" + +"Oh, yes, I understand," said Mr Temple. "May I come too?" + +"If you please, sir," said the old man smiling. "It's in your way +rather, you see, both of you being a bit fond of chip-chopping stones; +not that there's many up there now, for you see his aunt makes the lad +clear 'em away now and then. Won't have the litter, she says. But I've +got 'em all in a box down in my toolshed, where the boy can have 'em +when he likes." + +"Let's go and see his room, then," said Mr Temple, smiling. + +"'Tarn't much of a place, sir, being a garret," said Uncle Abram +apologetically; "but lads as goes to sea has snugger quarters sometimes +than our Will's." + +He put his pipe back in his mouth--it was out now--and held it steady as +he led the way to a door in a corner at the end of the passage, and up a +very steep flight of stairs to a little room with sloping ceiling, over +the kitchen. + +"I had this knocked up for the lad o' purpose," said Uncle Abram +proudly. "Made it as like a cabin as I could, meaning him to be +sea-going, you understand, sir, only he's drifting away from it like. +Why, bless your heart, though, Mr Temple, sir, I never find no fault +with him, for there's stuff enough in him, I think, to make a real +lord-mayor. There: there's our Will's room." + +He stood smiling as the visitors had a good look round the scrupulously +clean little cabin-like bed-room with lockers and a swinging shelf of +books, and everything arranged with a neatness that was most notable. + +"Those are his books, sir. Spends a deal of time over 'em." + +"Novels and romances, eh?" said Mr Temple, going to the shelf. "Why, +hullo! Fowne's _Chemistry_, Smyth's _Mineralogy_, Murchison's +_Geology_. Rather serious reading for him, isn't it?" + +"Not it, sir," cried Uncle Abram. "He loves it, sir; and look here," he +continued, opening one of the lockers; "as full of specimens as can be. +All sorts of stones and bits of ore that he gets from the mines. Ah! +that's a new net he's making; small meshed seine to catch sand-eels, +sir, for bait. That's a new shrimp-net he made for me. Mixes it up +like--reads and makes nets together. Once you've got your fingers to +know how to make a net, they'll go on while you read." + +"What are these?" said Mr Temple, pointing at a series of rough glass +bottles and oil flasks. + +"Oh, that's his apparatus he made, sir. Does chemistry with them, and +there's a little crucible in my tool-house, where he melts down tin and +things sometimes, to see what they're made of. I always encourage him, +I do, just. Can't do the boy any harm." + +"Harm! no," said Mr Temple quietly, as he glanced through Will's +treasures with a good deal of curiosity, spending most of the time over +a small glass case which was full of glittering pieces of ore. + +"He seems to like the pretty bits best," said Mr Temple; but Uncle +Abram shook his head. + +"Oh no, sir. Those are what his aunt likes best. She won't have the +bits of tin and rough copper ore; says they're rubbish, bless her. She +don't know what one bit's worth more than another, only goes by the eye, +you see. I've got the rough bits hid away for him when he wants 'em." + +Mr Temple seemed unusually thoughtful, so it seemed to Dick, who was +delighted with the quaintness of the little attic, and declaring to +himself that it was just the place he should like for himself; but he +wondered a little bit at his father looking so stern. + +"Here, quick!" cried Uncle Abram excitedly; "that's my boy's step coming +in back way. I don't want him to see us. Looks like spying on him, +poor lad, and I want him to enjoy himself when he isn't at work." + +"And quite right too," said Mr Temple quietly, as he followed the old +man down the steep stairs, and they had just reached the parlour when +there was a knock at the door. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said Will, who was flushed with hurrying; "but you +said you would like the young gentlemen to have a sail in the trawler." + +"Sail in the trawler!" cried Dick, bounding across the room excitedly. + +"Yes! Well?" said Mr Temple, smiling. + +"She's lying off the harbour, sir. I've seen the master, and he says +the young gentlemen are welcome, and there's a fine breeze, sir, and +it's a lovely day." + +Dick turned a look upon his father, such as a prisoner might turn upon a +judge as he waited for him to speak. + +"I suppose you would not like to go, Dick?" said Mr Temple dryly. "You +would miss your dinner." + +"Why, father," cried Dick in a tone of reproach, "I can have a dinner +every day." + +"And a sail in a trawler only once perhaps in your life. Then be off." + +Dick bounded to the door and then stopped. + +"May Taff come, father?" he cried. + +"If he likes; but perhaps he wouldn't care to go. Make him sea-sick +perhaps." + +"But he may go, father?" + +"Yes. But stop. Take something to eat with you in a basket." + +"The master of the smack said if the young gentlemen would come in they +could have a bit of dinner on board. We could cook some fish, sir." + +"Oh!" cried Dick excitedly. + +"Come, this is tempting," said Mr Temple. "I'm half disposed to come +too." + +"Do, father," cried Dick, catching his hand. "Oh, do come." + +"No, my boy, I have some important business on hand. There, go and +enjoy yourselves. You're going, Will?" he said quietly. + +"Yes, sir, if uncle can spare me, and Josh too." + +"That's right; take care of my boys--that is, if your uncle can spare +you." + +"Oh yes, oh yes! They can go. They don't sail for the pilchard ground +till sundown." + +Arthur was hunted out of his nest, and as soon as he knew of the object +in view he displayed plenty of eagerness. The sight of the +cutter-rigged smack lying with her bowsprit pointing to the wind, and +her white mainsail flapping and quivering in the breeze, which seemed to +send mimic waves chasing each other along it from mast to edge, while +the jib lay all of a heap waiting to be hoisted, being one that would +have roused the most phlegmatic to a desire to have a cruise, and see +some of the wonders of the deep dredged up. + +The master of the trawler gave the boys a hearty reception, his bronzed +face expanding into a smile as he held Dick's hand in his great hard +brown heavy paw. + +"So you've come a-trawling, have you, my lad? Well, I'm glad to see +you, and you too, sir," he added, shaking hands with Arthur in turn. +"Going to stop aboard, lads?" he said in a kind of chant to Will and +Josh. + +"Ay, we're going to stop," said the latter; so the master of the trawler +sent one of his own crew ashore with Uncle Abram's boat, telling the man +he could stay. + +The next minute the master gave the word, and went to the tiller, a +couple of men began to haul up the jib, and then Arthur was clinging +frantically to Will. + +"Quick! The boat!" he cried. "The ship's going over." + +Then he turned from deadly pale to scarlet as he saw Will's smile and +look of amusement. + +"It's all right, Master Arthur," said the latter; "it's the wind taking +hold of the mains'l. She only careens a bit." + +"But won't it go over?" + +"Over! Oh, no!" said Will; "there's too much ballast. There, you see, +now we're beginning to move." + +"But ought the boat to go side wise like this?" whispered Arthur. "The +deck's all of a slope." + +"Oh, yes, that's right enough. When we're on the other tack she'll +careen over the other side. The stiffer the breeze and the more sail +there is, the more she careens. I've been in a smack when we've been +nearly lying down in the water, and it's washed right over the deck." + +"There, young gents, she's moving now," said the master, as the gaff was +hoisted, and the beautifully-shaped cutter began to rush through the +water at a rapid rate, leaving two long lines of foam in an +ever-widening wake, while, like some gigantic sword-fish, she ploughed +her way through the glittering sea. The sails bellied out tense and +stiff, and the wind whistled as it seemed to sweep off the three sails. + +There was no doubt about it; either the cutter was moving or the pier +and shore. To Arthur it seemed as if the latter had suddenly begun to +run away from them, and was dancing up and down with joy because it had +found the chance. + +"Dick," whispered Arthur, after beckoning his brother to his side, where +he was holding on by the weather shrouds. + +"Hullo!" cried Dick, laughing. "Oh, I say, Taff, isn't it fun? I can't +walk." + +"I'm sure it isn't safe," whispered Arthur. + +"Eh? What? Not safe?" + +"No, I'm sure it isn't. We shall be blown over." + +"Oh, never mind," said Dick. "They'll turn her round and blow her up +again. I say, Taff; don't be afraid. We sha'n't hurt." + +"But if we were to be drowned, Dick, what would papa say?" + +"Don't know. He wouldn't like it, though. But we sha'n't be drowned. +Look at Will. He'd know if there was any danger, and he's as cool as +can be. Come, pluck up. Let go of that rope. You'll soon get used to +it." + +Arthur turned a ghastly face to him. + +"I'm trying to master being frightened, Dick," he said humbly; "but I +must go home again; I'm going to be sick." + +"Nonsense!" cried Dick, laughing. "There, think about something else. +There, look, they're going to use the net." + +To Arthur's great delight the speed of the smack was checked, and the +busy preparations took up his attention, so that the qualm passed off, +and he crept to his brother's side and listened as Josh was explaining +the use of the trawl-net, which the men were about to lower over the +side. + +"There you are, you see," said Josh; "here's your net, just like a +night-cap with a wide end and a little end, as we calls the bunt. +There's pockets to it as well, only you can't very well see 'em now. +When she's hauled up with fish in you'll see 'em better then." + +"And what's this big piece of wood?" + +"Trawl-beam," said Josh; "thirty-footer, to keep the meshes of the net +stretched wide open at the top. Bottom's free so as to drag over the +bottom. And them's the trawl-irons, to fit on the end of the beam and +skate along the sand and keep all down." + +"And the rope's tied to them?" said Dick. + +"Rope?" said Josh. "You mean the bridle. That's right, my lad, and +down she goes." + +Over went the huge, cumbersome apparatus of beam, irons, and net, the +weighty irons being so arranged as to take the trawl to the bottom in +the right position so that the net with its stout edge rope should +scrape over the sand as the cutter sailed. + +"There you are," said the master, coming up; "now, then, away we go. +There's a fine wind this morning, and we shall get some fish." + +"Does the wind make you get the fish?" said Dick. + +"To be sure, my lad. If we weren't sailing fast, as soon as the +flat-fish felt the net being dragged over 'em they'd give a flip and a +flap and be out of the way in no time; but the trawl's drawn over 'em so +quickly in a brisk breeze like this that they haven't time to escape. +They're in the net before they know where they are, and then they get +into the pockets, and it's a case of market for them." + +"It's all sand under here, isn't it?" asked Dick. + +"You may be sure of that, my lad," said the master laughing. "When you +see a smack trawling, it's all sand there, says you. 'Cause why? If it +was rocks the trawl would catch and be broken before you knowed where +you were. Yes; it's all smooth bottom here." + +It was wonderfully interesting to see the great strong beam and the +thick net, so different in the make to the filmy cobwebs that were used +for seine and drift. This was of stout cord, and its edge of a strong +over-bound rope. Of course all was out of sight now, the only thing +visible being the bridle-rope, by means of which the trawl was being +swiftly dragged astern. + +"I hope we shall get a good haul or two," said Will, joining the boys as +they stood holding on by the bulwarks, with the great mainsail boom over +their heads, everything that looked so small and toy-like from the shore +being here big and strong. + +"What shall we catch?" said Arthur, making an effort to hide the remains +of his discomposure. + +"Get, sir?" cried Will smiling. "Oh! all sorts of things. If we're +lucky, a turbot or two; soles we are sure to have, and some plaice; +perhaps a brill; then there'll be a few dabs and whiting, and maybe a +red mullet, and along with them the trawl will bring up a lot of all +sorts." + +"All sorts?" said Dick. + +"Yes, sir. Weevers and blennies, and crabs, with oysters and scallops, +and sea-weeds of all kinds--a regular mixture if we go over a part that +hasn't been much swept lately." + +"Here, I say, when are they going to pull up the net?" said Dick +eagerly. "I want to see." + +"Oh! not yet awhile," said Will smiling. + +"But the fish will get out again." + +"Oh no! We're going too fast for that," said Will; "and if there are +any fish they'll be in the pockets." + +"But has a trawl-net got pockets?" said Arthur curiously. + +"Oh yes!" said Dick grinning; "two in its trousers, two in its +waistcoat, and one in its jacket." + +"Don't you mind what he says, Master Arthur," said Will smiling. "The +pockets are on each side of the net, where it is sewed up a little, so +that if the fish, when once in, try to swim towards the mouth they go +instead into some of those sewed-up corners and get no farther. There, +you see now, we're going on the other tack so as to sweep back over +nearly the same ground again. There are rocks if we go any farther this +way." + +As he spoke the course of the smack was altered, and the side that had +been so low down that at times it was almost possible to touch the water +was high up and the other lower down, and the smack rushed through the +water, as it seemed, faster than ever. + +"She can sail, can't she, young gentlemen?" said the master. "We call +her the _Foam_, and she can make foam too. Well, are you ready for the +haul?" + +"Yes. Are you going to begin?" cried Dick excitedly. + +"Soon, my lad, soon," said the master. "Have you got a basket?" + +Dick shook his head. + +"Oh! you'll want a basket, and you must have a bucket of water. +There'll be lots of things you'll like to look at that we should pitch +overboard again." + +"You lend me a basket and a bucket then," said Dick; "you shall have +them back." + +"Right, my lad. You tell young Will there to get you what you want. We +shall have the trawl aboard soon." + +It seemed to Dick almost an age, but at last the master turned his +brown, good-humoured face to him and gave him a nod. At the same moment +he shouted a few short orders, and Dick rushed to take a pull at the +rope as he saw Josh and Will stand by. + +"No, no, my lad; you and your brother look on," cried the master +good-temperedly. + +Dick drew back and glanced at Arthur, whose face was as eager as his +own. In fact, a great deal of his London indifference had disappeared +of late, and the boy had been growing as natural as his brother. + +It was a time of intense excitement though for them, and as they watched +they saw a windlass turn, and up came the great trawl-irons and the +beam, then, dripping and sparkling in the sun, the foot-rope of the +trawl-net, and foot after foot emerged with nothing but dripping water. + +"Why, they haven't caught a fish," cried Dick in a disappointed tone of +voice. + +"You wait till the bunt's aboard," growled Josh just then; and the bunt, +as the tassel end of the great net night-cap was called, was hauled on +board dripping, and containing something splashing, flapping, and full +of life. + +"There's something for you to look at, my lads," cried the bluff master +smiling. "Let out that draw string, Josh." + +The whole of the net was now on the deck, the water streaming from it +out at the side; and after Josh had unfastened the string which laced up +the small end or bunt, the little crew took hold of the net above the +pockets, and by giving it a series of shakes sent the whole of its +contents out upon the deck. The net was then drawn away, the bunt +fastened up, the end thrown over, and the trawl-beam took all down to +scrape once more over the sands and scoop-out the soles and other +flat-fish that are so fond of scuffling themselves down in the soft oozy +sand, flapping their side-fins about till they are half covered, and +very often letting the trawl-rope pass right over their backs. + +A good many had, however, failed to be successful this time, for there +was a great patch of the deck covered with the contents of the net. + +"I never saw such a sight in my life," cried Dick; and then he burst +into a roar of laughter as his brother tried to pick up a large sole, +which seemed to give a spring and a flap, and darted out of his hands. + +It was a sight, certainly; and the master good-humouredly let the men +stand aside for a while so that the boys might have a good inspection of +the haul before clearance was made. + +"Overboard with the rubbish, my lads," he said, "then you can see +better." + +But the rubbish, a great deal of it, was what Dick and his brother would +have liked to keep, as much of it consisted of pieces of heavy black +wood pierced by teredo and covered with barnacles. There were curious +stones, too, and pieces of weed, all of which had to go overboard +though, and then, as Dick called it, the fun began. + +It was a good haul. And first and foremost there was a magnificent +turbot--a huge round fellow, with his white waistcoat, and mouth awry, +apparently, though it was normally placed, and the creature's eyes, like +those of the rest of the flat-fish, were screwed round to one side of +its head. + +Then there was a brill, like the turbot's small first cousin, and a +young turbot that might have been its son. There were a dozen or so of +plaice, large and small, and, flipping and flapping and gasping, some +five-and-twenty soles, from fine fat fellows fifteen inches long to +little tiny slips that were thrown overboard. + +"Some sends that sort to market," said the master smiling. "I throw 'em +in again to get fat." + +Arthur's adventures with the conger came back to him as he saw one long +lithe fish of some four feet eagerly seized and thrust into one of the +many stout boxes on the deck; and he said something to his brother. + +"No," said Will, who overheard him. "That's a hake." + +There were several whitings, many being of very large size, four times +that of the familiar tail-biting gentlemen who are curled up among the +parsley upon our tables. No less than a dozen ruddy mullet were there +too; and the above-named being the good fish of the haul, the residue +was left on deck for the boys to examine and save what they pleased. + +Will picked out a small brill and a whiting or two, with a good-sized +sole that had been left. These were placed in the basket, and then the +basket was dipped full of clean water, and the treasures, as Dick called +them, were fished out and dropped in. + +Among these were a lovely jelly-fish and a couple of beroes, looking +like little oblong balls of the purest crystal; some pieces of stone, +with curious barnacles adhering; and a quaint-looking, large-headed fish +with prickly weapons about its head and back. + +Then Arthur added a baby sole, and Dick an infant turbot, which were +entangled amongst the sea-weed that had been dredged up; while +everywhere the patch of dredgings upon the deck seemed to be alive with +creeping and crawling things, examples of the teeming life of the great +ocean. + +Then came the master to intimate that the deck must be cleared, for they +were going to haul the dredge on board again. + +"What--so soon?" cried Dick. + +"So soon--eh?" said the master. "Why, you've been stirring that up +'bout half an hour." + +"Ah! well, we shall have something more to see," said Dick in a +reconciled manner; and he carried his basket astern, while the men swept +the remains of the haul--such remains as would have given a naturalist a +week's amusement--overboard. + +Then once more the ponderous trawl was hauled on board, with its +flapping and splashing prisoners, which were nearly as abundant as +before; but there was no turbot this time. + +"Don't matter," said Dick; "here's the sauce." + +As he spoke he pointed laughingly to a great lobster which had been out +on its travels away from its home amongst the rocks, and had been swept +up, to be turned out upon the smack's deck, to crawl about flapping its +tail and opening and closing its pincers, held aloft in the most +aggressive way. + +"Ah!" said the master thoughtfully, "that won't do. We must have gone a +little too near the tail of the rocks when we tacked." + +"I thought you was going pretty close," said Josh, "but I said as you +know'd best." + +The boxes were dragged forward again, and soles and plaice were thrust +in, flapping and springing in their captors' hands. Then the whiting +were sorted into their home, the sundry fish that were worth saving +placed in another box, and once more the visitors were allowed to have +their turn in the heap, till, amidst such an embarrassment of riches, as +the French call it, Dick stopped short with a laughing, puzzled face, to +rub his ear. + +"There's such a lot," he cried. "There's so much to see, I don't know +what to take first, and what to leave." + +It resulted in nearly everything going overboard,--tiny fish entangled +in sea-weed, curious stones, dog-fish, and skates' eggs, barnacles, +pieces of hard English sponge, bones of cuttle-fish, and scallop and +oyster-shells; but one basket was set aside for Mr Temple by Will, who +stored in it a fair number of delicious oysters and scallops, whose +beautiful shells were bearded with lovely weeds like ferns or plumes of +asparagus, while one that gaped open showed his flesh to be of the most +brilliant orange scarlet hue. + +And so it went on hour after hour, the fresh breeze making the trawling +most successful, and at every haul there were so many treasures that at +last Dick gave up collecting in despair, confiding his opinion to his +brother that the happiest life anybody could lead must be that of the +master of a trawler. + +Towards four o'clock they were sent ashore with Josh and Will, loaded +with bucket and basket of the treasures they had found, including a +handsome lot of fish for Mr Temple, with the master's compliments. + +"Why, Taff," said Dick suddenly, "you were going to be sea-sick, weren't +you, when we started off?" + +"Yes," said Arthur uneasily, and then smiling, he added, "I forgot all +about it." + +"Forgot all about it!" said Dick. "I should think so. Why, it wouldn't +matter how bad a fellow were: a day's trawling would make him well." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +TAFF OBJECTS TO EARLY RISING AND BEING TREATED AS A SEAL. + +It wanted a perfectly calm day for the visit to the seal-cave, and this +was long in coming. There were plenty of fine days when the sun shone +brightly and the sea was as clear as crystal; but there was generally a +pleasant breeze, and the pleasant breeze that only seemed to ripple the +water was sufficient twice over to raise good-sized waves amongst the +rocks, and to send a rush of broken water enough to upset a boat, +foaming and dashing in at the mouth of the cave. + +Failing the success of this enterprise, Mr Temple, who was with them, +made Will and Josh row on to the rift in the cliff where the vein of +white spar had been found by Will; and leaving all in the boat, Dick's +father went up by himself and stayed for long enough, while his sons +were rowed to and fro fishing with more or less success. + +One morning, though, as Dick was dreaming of being in the green-house at +home when the hail was pattering down, there seemed to come three or +four such sharp cracks that he awoke and jumped out of bed. The next +moment he was at the window pulling up the blind and looking out, to see +Will on the rugged pathway waiting for him to open the window. + +"Seal-cave to-day," he said. "Look out to sea." + +Dick looked out to sea, where there was a dense mist that seemed to wrap +everything in its folds. The luggers appeared dim--those that were near +shore--while others were completely hidden. Overhead the sky was clear, +and the sun was shining brightly, while where its light fell upon the +mist it became rosily transparent, and the masts of some of the luggers +looked double their usual size. + +"Seals, Taff, seals!" cried Dick, shaking his brother's shoulder, with +the effect of making him hurriedly scramble out of bed, yawning +terribly, and gazing in an ill-used way at his brother, as he sat down +and began to rub his feet one over the other. + +"Don't sit down, Taff; dress yourself. I'm going to call father." + +"Shut that window first," cried Arthur; "it's so horribly cold." + +"Cold! Ha! ha! Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Dick. "What a chap you are, Taff! +Here, Will, he says it's cold. Go to the pump for a pail of cold water +to warm him." + +"He had better not," cried Arthur, hurriedly scuffling into his +trousers. "If he did I would never forgive him." + +"I'm not going to get any water, Master Arthur," cried Will; "but make +haste down, it's such a glorious morning!" + +"'Tisn't," said Arthur, whose eyes were swelled up with sleepiness. +"It's all misty and thick, and the window-sill's wet, and the roses +outside look drenched. Heigh, ho, ha, hum!" he yawned. "I shall go to +bed for half an hour longer--till the sun comes out." + +"No, you sha'n't," cried Dick, seizing the pillow for a weapon of +offence. "If you do, I'll bang you out of bed again." + +"If you dare to touch me," cried Arthur furiously, "I shall complain to +papa." + +"And he'll laugh at you," said Dick; "and serve you right." + +Arthur snatched off his lower garment with the obstinacy of a +half-asleep individual, and scrambled into bed again, dragging the +clothes up over his chest, and scowling defiantly at his brother, as if +saying, "Touch me if you dare." + +"There's a stupid, obstinate, lazy old pig," cried Dick, throwing the +pillow at him and standing rubbing one ear. "Here--hi, Will!" he said, +going to the window, "come round and upstairs. Here's a seal in his +cave asleep. Come and let's tug him out." + +"He had better not dare to come into my bed-room," cried Arthur, +punching the pillow thrown at him viciously, and settling down in his +place; not that he wanted more rest, but out of dislike to being +disturbed, and from a fit of morning ill-temperedness getting the upper +hand. + +Just then Dick was leaning out of the window half-dressed, and with his +braces hanging down as if they were straps to haul him back in case he +leaned too far. + +Arthur glanced at his brother for a moment and then shouted: + +"Here, Dick, shut that window!" + +Dick evidently did not hear him, and a low giggling laugh reached his +ears. + +"They had better not try to play any tricks with me," said Arthur to +himself, as he lay frowning and feeling very much dissatisfied, as he +thought, with Dick, but really with himself. + +Then he heard more laughing, the sound of steps in the garden, and +something thump against the wall of the house. + +There was no mistake now about Arthur's wakefulness, as he lay with the +clothes drawn right above his nose; one eye glanced at the window, and +he breathed quickly with indignation as Dick drew a little on one side +to make room for Will, who had obtained the short ladder used by his +uncle to nail up his creepers, and placed it against the wall, and he +was now on the top with his jersey-covered arms resting on the +window-sill, and his sun-browned face above them looking in. + +"Good-morning, sir!" he said merrily. "Want anybody to help you dress?" + +"How dare you!" cried Arthur indignantly. "Go away, and shut that +window directly. It's disgraceful. We had no business to come to such +a place as this," he continued, forgetting all his good resolves, and +giving rein to his anger. + +"Why, hullo! what's all this?" said Mr Temple, entering the room, +dressed for going out. + +"I'm glad you've come, papa," cried Arthur, whose face was scarlet with +anger. "These boys have--" + +"Oh, I say, Taff, don't be disagreeable," cried Dick. "It was all my +doing, father. Taff wouldn't get up, and Will here had come to call us, +and I told him to get up the ladder and look in, pretending that there +_was_ a seal in a cave, and Taff turned cross about it." + +"Get up directly, Arthur," said Mr Temple quietly, "and make haste +down. How would to-day do to visit the seal-cave?" continued Mr +Temple, turning to Will. + +"I came to tell the young gentlemen it was just the morning, sir," said +Will, who was feeling very uncomfortable. "It is as still as can be, +and the tide will suit. I should go, sir, directly after breakfast." + +"And so we will," said Mr Temple. "There, finish dressing, Dick," he +said, as Will slid down the ladder and took it away. "I thought there +was to be no more of this petty anger, Arthur. You are old enough to +know better, and yet you behave like a fractious child. Don't tease +him, Dick; he can't bear it, I suppose." + +Mr Temple left the room, and Dick went on hurriedly dressing, while +Arthur, flushed and uncomfortable, sat in his trousers on the edge of +the bed, his hair touzled and the pillow creases marked like a map on +his right cheek. + +"Here, I say, get dressed, Taff," cried Dick, "and let's go down and +collect some sea-anemones before breakfast." + +"I don't want to dress," said Arthur. "I'm always wrong. I'm a +miserable wretch, and nobody understands me. I sha'n't go to the +seal-cave to-day." + +"Yes, you will," cried Dick, who was very sympathetic but very busy, for +he had suddenly awakened to the fact that he had put too much pomatum on +his hair. The result was that it looked shiny and greasy, and there was +nothing for it but to give it a good rub over with the sponge and then +towel it, which he was doing by holding the cloth over his head, and +sawing it vigorously to and fro. + +"No, I shall not go," said Arthur despondently. "I shall stop at home." + +"So shall I then," said Dick panting, and out of breath from his +exertions. "It's all right, Taff, I tell you. Get dressed. You'll +feel as different as can be when you've had your breakfast. That's +what's the matter with you. It makes you feel cross sometimes when you +are so precious hungry." + +Arthur sat unmoved, making no effort to dress, and Dick, who was nearly +complete, wanting only his jacket, turned to him once more. + +"Come on, Taff," he cried. "Get dressed, and let's find some anemones, +and put in a tub of salt-water. We can feed 'em on shrimps." + +"I wish we were back in london," said Arthur bitterly. + +"What! to have the fellows shouting `sweep!' and the girls beating the +mats and knocking their brooms against the area railings as you're +dressing. No, thank you. I like being here. Oh, I say, how lovely old +Mr Marion's flowers smell! Here's a lugger! Hi, Will, what boat's +that?" + +"The _Grey Gull_, Thomson's boat," came up from the garden. "Been out +all night for pilchards. I'll go down and get some for bait." + +"I never saw a pilchard," said Arthur, suddenly beginning to dress. + +"Look sharp, then, and we'll go down and have a look. Here, I shall go +now. You can come on." + +"That's always the way," said Arthur bitterly. "You never will wait for +me." + +"I will now, then," cried Dick. "Look sharp;" and he went and leaned +his elbows on the window, to gaze out at the lovely opalescent mist +through which, looking huge in proportion, a brown-sailed lugger came +creeping over the steely sea, which shone and glanced wherever the sun +passed through the heavy mist. The men on the lugger looked huge, and +it was evident from the shouts from the pier and the responses that +there was some little excitement going on about the new arrival, but +what it was Dick was too distant to hear. + +"Oh, do make haste, Taff!" he cried, glancing back to see with +satisfaction that his brother was now making good speed; "there's no end +of fun going on. I've never seen a pilchard yet. There's Will Marion +down there, and--oh, I say, what a shame to go down without us! There +goes father!" + +Arthur's toilet proceeded by big strides now, and it was not long +before, looking a good deal more amiable, he declared himself ready, and +was in fact so ready that he raced with his brother down to the cliff-- +rather a breakneck proceeding, considering the steepness of the way; but +they got down to the harbour in safety, and to Dick's delight he found +that the lugger was not yet in, the progress by means of her sweeps +having been very slow, and now for the first time he noticed that she +was extremely deep in the water. + +"A be glad you've come, Master Diehard," said a voice behind them; and +there stood Josh. "_Grey Gull's_ coming in with 'bout the gashliest +take o' pilchards as never was. Say they could have filled the lugger +twice over." + +The little pier was pretty well crowded, and the men were in an unwonted +state of excitement, but place was made for the boys, and they were soon +after standing gazing down into the hold of the lugger, which seemed to +be filled with silver whose dust had been scattered all over deck, +bulwarks, combings, buoys, ropes, nets, for everything was specked and +spangled with silvery scales. + +"Here, boys," said Mr Temple, "this is a fresh sight for you. What do +you think of these?" + +Mr Temple was standing beside Will, who had been on board the lugger +and returned with a little basket containing a dozen or two of the +little oily fish, which looked like small large-scaled herrings, but +richer and fatter and of tenderer skin. + +"Wonderful bait," said Will. "We can catch no end to-night with these." + +They waited to see the business begin--the said business being the rapid +unloading of the pilchards, which were borne along the pier to one of +the long low pilchard-houses to be regularly stacked somewhat after the +fashion of drying bricks, and salted ready for packing in barrels and +sending to the Mediterranean ports. + +But after the first inspection the sight of baskets full of silvery +pilchard began to grow monotonous, and Dick exclaimed: + +"I say, father, it must be breakfast time now." + +Breakfast time it was, and after arranging to be back at the pier in an +hour, they sought the old purser's cottage, from whose open window the +extremely fragrant odour of broiled ham was floating out, ready to act +like a magnet upon the sensations of a couple of hungry lads. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +A TRIP TO THE SEAL'S ZORN, AND A CHIP AT METALS. + +The boat was ready when they returned to the little pier, and the +unloading in full swing. Every now and then scraps of damaged fish were +thrown overboard to wash about the harbour, but which Josh intimated +would have some effect by and by. + +"Just you wait till the tide comes and washes them bits o' pilchar' all +away about the place. You'll have the fish coming up from sea after +'em, and the whole place 'most alive--eh, Will?" + +"Yes," said the latter, who was rowing steadily away. "Some good +fishing might be had to-night if the young gentlemen liked to try." + +It was decided that if they were not too tired they would try for a few +fish after tea. + +"Wouldn't the young gents like to go drifting--means all night?" said +Josh; "but while the nets is out there's some haking to be done." + +"I don't know about that, boys," said Mr Temple; "but I think a good +daylight sail with the trawler would be enjoyable. I should like it +myself." + +"Then jus' you go an' speak to Tom Purnowen, Will, lad," said Josh; +"he'll be glad enough to take the gentlemen and pick you out a good +day." + +They were bound for the seal-cave, but all the same, in spite of the +coming excitement, Dick had not forgotten a fishing-line, while Will had +ready for him, in a finely-woven basket, a couple of score of silvery +sand-eels, which were kept alive by the basket being dragged astern in +the sea. + +These bright little fellows proved to be a most attractive bait, +mackerel, pollack, and bass being taken, only one of the latter, +however, which fell to Arthur's share, it being his turn to hold the +line; but he did not care to let Will unhook it, and with the usual luck +that followed his obstinacy he managed to get a sharp prick from one of +the spikes. + +Eight or nine fair-sized fish had been placed in the basket before Josh +suggested that it would be better to leave off fishing, as the boat was +now about to be taken close inshore, and the hooks would be fouled in +the floating and anchored weed. + +Mr Temple had indicated that he would like to examine the rocks here +and there, and hence it was that the boat was taken so far in, where the +rowing was more arduous, and the risks greater of being overturned upon +some rock that was one minute submerged, the next level with the water. + +Josh was too clever a boatman, though, for any such accident to occur, +and he ran the little craft here and there most cleverly among the +rocks; and, clearing the broken water, backing in for Mr Temple and +Dick to land, and rowing out again till they were ready to leap on board +once more. + +For though, to use Josh's expression, the sea was "like ile" fifty yards +out, it was fretting and working incessantly amongst the rocks, and +running up rifts and chasms to come back in foam. + +One landing of this kind seemed to excite a desire for more, and, hammer +in hand, Mr Temple was as busy as could be breaking "the gashly rocks," +as Josh expressed it in rather a pitying tone of voice to Will. So +search after search was made, Dick scrambling up the most difficult +places he could see, and seeming to find the most intense enjoyment in +perching upon some narrow ledge, with his feet dangling over the side, +though what the pleasure was he would have found it hard to say. + +"There," said Mr Temple at last, as he and Dick leaped on board once +more, "go on, or we shall see no seals to-day. It is not fair to you +boys." + +"Oh! I like scrambling about the rocks, father," cried Dick; "it's poor +Taff who misses the fun." + +"I can enjoy seeing you climb," said Arthur sedately. + +"Yes," said his father shortly, "I have no doubt it is pleasant to look +on; but is it not rather too ladylike a pursuit for a boy like you?" + +Arthur coloured highly, and glanced forward to see if the rowers had +heard; but he was relieved, for it was evident that they were too much +occupied in circumventing the submerged rocks to pay any heed to the +conversation, and the lad heaved a sigh full of content. + +A couple of hours' hard rowing brought them to the mouth of the +seal-cave, which, as they approached, looked far larger than it had +seemed before when the sea was higher, for it generally nearly covered +it, and at certain times completely closed it in. + +"So now we are to see some seals?" said Dick excitedly. + +"I don't know," said Will quietly. "This is the cave they are in +sometimes; but one don't know whether there are any here." + +"I think I see a little one drop off the rock as we come in sight," said +Josh quietly. "Might have been a shag; but there was something on +yonder rock; we shall see." + +"It looks a rum place," said Dick. "Why, the water goes right in. We +shall have to wait till it's dry." + +"Then we shall never go in, sir," said Will smiling. "It is never dry, +and the water is deep." + +"What are we going to do, then?" said Dick. + +"Row in--I mean push the boat in. The entrance is wide enough for +that." + +"What! Are we going to pass right in there?" said Arthur rather +excitedly. + +"I suppose so," said his father quietly. "Are you afraid?" + +"No, I'm not afraid," said Arthur quickly, but colouring a little the +while; "only--only it seems so queer--such an awkward place to go in." + +"Yes, it will be awkward," said Mr Temple dryly. + +"There's lots of room, sir," said Josh. "No fear o' knocking your head. +You see, there wouldn't be anything to be afraid of round our coast if +there were no rocks." + +"I say, Josh, where shall we find the seals?" said Dick as they slowly +approached the low arch in the face of the cliff, the boat being backed +in so that its rowers could pull strongly away should a dangerous wave +come in and threaten to dash them against the rocks--a mishap that +occurred sometimes on the calmest days. + +"Oh! if there be any, Master Dick, sir, they'll keep going farther and +farther away, right into the end of the cave, where it be so small you +can't follow unless you wade." + +"Will seals bite, Josh?" cried Dick. + +"Well, sir, they say they will, and fine and sharp, and fight too; but I +never see 'em do it. Only thing I ever see a seal do was try to get +away as fast as she could; that's all I ever see." + +"But have you ever seen seals in here?" said Arthur, who, in spite of +himself, looked rather white. + +"Six or seven times, sir," replied Josh. "I've been with gentlemen as +come shooting seals, and with a couple of gentlemen who went right in +with clubs to kill 'em." + +"And did they shoot and kill any?" said Dick eagerly. + +"No, sir; not as I see," replied Josh. "One of 'em shot at a seal out +on a rock, but I don't think he hit her, for she only looked up at us +like a human being and then dived into the water and--but, look!" + +Josh, who was about thirty yards from the entrance, ceased rowing; and +as Dick and his father followed the direction of his eyes, and Will's +pointing hand, they saw a curious, grey-looking creature rise up out of +the water and begin to scramble up on to one of the rocks by the cave +entrance, but on seeing the boat it gave a wallow, something like a +fish, and turning, dived off the rock with a dull plash into the deep +water. + +"She's gone in," said Josh, propelling the boat towards the rugged arch. +"We've seen one. P'r'aps we shall see more seals to-day." + +"But won't it be dark?" + +"Will's brought the big lantern, sir," said Josh. + +"And I," said Mr Temple, "have brought some magnesium wire." + +A good-sized wave came in just then, carrying the boat forward upon its +swell right up to the archway; and then, as the wave retired, Josh +managed to give a touch here and a touch there with his oars, and the +next minute the sunshine seemed to have gone, and they glided in beneath +a fringe of ferns and into a dark grotto, where the trickling drip of +falling water came musically upon the ears. + +It was a wonderful change--from the brilliant light outside, to the +soft, greenish obscurity of the cave, whose floor was of pellucid water, +that looked black beneath the boat, and softly green where some rock +came near the surface. + +It was of no great size as to width, resembling more a rugged passage or +subterranean canal made by nature, regardless of direction or size, than +a cavern; but to the boys it was a weird, strange place, full of awe and +mystery. Every time oar or boat-hook touched the rocky side, there was +a strange, echoing noise. Now and then the keel of the boat grated on +some unseen rock, or was lifted by the water and dropped softly, as it +were, upon some portion of the stony bottom as the water rose and fell. + +The opening was left behind, and it seemed horrible to Arthur that calm +coolness with which his father sat still and allowed Josh to thrust the +boat along farther and farther till it became too dark for them to see, +and Josh laid his boat-hook down. As he did so there was a silence for +a few moments, in the midst of which, heard beneath the dripping musical +tones of the falling water, came a curious hissing, whispering sound +from beyond them farther in the cave. + +"What's that?" said Arthur in a low voice as he spasmodically caught at +his brother's arm. + +Truth to tell, the mystery of the place had impressed Dick, who suffered +from a half self-confessed desire to get out into the daylight once +more; but now came this evident display of dread on his brother's part, +and its effect was to string him up at once. + +Laughing at Arthur meant laughing at himself, and he snatched at the +opportunity as Arthur whispered once more, "Dick--Dick--what's that?" + +"That?" said Dick in the same low tone. "That's the bogle-booby +breathing. He's asleep now, but when he wakes he'll roll about so that +he'll fill the place with foam." + +"Don't you take any notice of him, Master Arthur," said Will gently. +"He's making fun of you. That whispering noise is made by the water as +it runs gurgling up the cracks of the rock and comes back again." + +"Cr-r-r-ack!" + +Arthur uttered a shrill cry, and Dick burst out laughing. + +"Why, it was only a noisy match, Taff," he exclaimed, as, after a loud +cracking scratch, there was a flash of light, and then a clear glow was +shed around by the lantern, whose lamp Josh had just lit, its rays +showing dimly the rugged walls of granite, all wet with trickling water, +while the shadows of the boat and its occupants were cast here and +there. + +"Now, Master Dick, if you'll take the lantern and hold it up I'll send +the boat farther in, so as if there be any seals you'll have a chance of +seeing 'em." + +"You think there are some then?" said Mr Temple. + +"Ay, I do, sir. They won't have got out either. The only way, you see, +would be under the boat, and they won't try that way yet so long as +there's plenty of room forward." + +Dick took the lantern, and as the light spread about the boat and +glimmered on the surface of wet rock and water Arthur made a brave +effort to master his dread; but all the same he gazed doubtfully forward +as the boat was thrust more and more along the waterway among the rocks. + +"I don't hear any seals yet," said Mr Temple. + +"Oh, you won't hear 'em p'r'aps, sir," said Josh, "till we are close on +to them, and then there'll be a splash and a rush. If there be any of +'em they're huddled up together, wondering what this here lantern +means." + +"Then there is no other way out?" + +"Not for them, sir. There's a bit of a hole up towards the end, where a +bird might fly out, but there's no way for the fish." + +All this time Josh and Will were propelling the boat along with an oar +or a boat-hook, and when the way was very narrow and the rocks within +reach thrusting it forward with their hands. + +"There, there, there's one," cried Dick, as there was a heavy rushing +noise which came whispering and echoing past where they were. + +"Ay, that be one, Master Richard," cried Josh, mastering the boy's name +for once. "She'll go right to the end and come up again." + +"How far is it to the end?" said Mr Temple. + +"Six or eight fathom," said Josh; "not more, sir. If the light was +stronger you could see it." + +"Then we'll have a stronger light," said Mr Temple. "Open that +lantern, Dick." + +The boy obeyed, and his father ignited the end of a piece of magnesium +wire, which burst out into a brilliant white light, showing them the +roof and sides of the narrow cave, flashing off the water, and, what was +of greater interest still, displaying the heads of a couple of seals +raised above the surface at the end of the channel, and the dark-grey +shiny body of another that had crawled right into a rift but could get +no farther, and was now staring timidly at them. + +The light sputtered and glowed, and dense white fumes floated in a cloud +above their heads, while the boat was urged softly closer and closer +towards the seals, the effect being that as the animals saw the light +and the curious objects beneath advancing towards them the two in the +water swam to the end and began to crawl out upon the rock, forcing +themselves towards their companion in the rift. + +"Go right on, sir?" said Will in a low voice. + +"Yes. Close on, my lad," said Mr Temple. "Have a good look at them, +boys, before they go." + +"You're not going to catch one, are you, father?" + +"Oh no! We'll have a good look at them. Wild creatures are getting far +too scarce about the coast as it is." + +He kept manipulating the wire as he spoke, sparks and incandescent +pieces falling the while with a loud hiss in the water, making Arthur +start till he was prepared for what was to come. And as Mr Temple +managed the light and stood up in the boat its pale dazzling rays made +the cave as light as day; and at last they were within three or four +yards of the seals, which suddenly, after gliding and shuffling one over +the other in utter astonishment, made Arthur and Dick start back, +falling over into the bottom of the boat. + +For, evidently frantic with dread, and helpless as far as relief was +concerned, the three seals, as if moved by one idea, gave a wallowing +movement, and dashed from the rocks together, seeming for the moment as +if they were bent on leaping into the boat, but of course falling short +and plunging into the water with a tremendous splash, which sent the +spray all over those who were nearest; and at the same moment there was +a hiss, and they were in total darkness. + +"I won't be afraid," said Arthur to himself; and he clenched his teeth +as his father said loudly: + +"Rather startling. I did not expect that. Dropped my magnesium ribbon. +Why, where's the lantern?" + +"It's underneath me, father," said Dick in a half-ashamed grumbling +tone. "I tumbled back over it and knocked it out." + +"Never mind, Master Dick, I've got some matches," said Will; and after a +good deal of scratching, which only resulted in long lines of pale +light, for every part of the boat seemed to be wet, there was a glow of +light once more, and the lantern was lit; but its rays seemed pitiful in +the extreme after the brilliant glare of the magnesium. + +"And now where are the seals?" said Mr Temple, holding the lantern +above his head. + +"Out to sea long enough ago, sir," said Josh. "They went under the +boat, and I felt one of 'em touch the oar as they went off. You won't +see no more seals, sir, to-day." + +"Ah well!" said Mr Temple, "we've seen some, boys, at all events. Now +let's have a look round here." + +He held up the lantern, and as the boat was thrust onward he examined +the rock here and there, taking out his little steel-headed hammer and +chipping about. + +"Granite--quartz--gneiss--quartz," he said in a low voice, as he +carefully examined each fresh fracture in the stone. "Why, boys, here's +tin here," he said sharply. "This place can never have been worked." + +As he was speaking these latter words he held out a fragment of the +stone he had broken off to Josh. + +"That's good tin, my man," he said. + +Josh growled. He had more faith in a net or a bit of rope. + +"What do you say to it, Will?" said Mr Temple. + +Will took the piece of quartz that was sparkling with tiny black +crystals and turned it over several times close to the light. "Good tin +ore, and well worth working," he exclaimed readily. + +"Yes," said Mr Temple, "you are right, my lad. It is well worth +working. Let's look a little farther. Here, you come and stand up and +hold the lantern. We can land here." + +Will obeyed, and as the boys watched, and Josh solaced himself with +cutting a bit of cake tobacco to shreds, Mr Temple and Will climbed +from place to place, the boys seeing the dark wet pieces of rock come +out clear and sparkling as the blows fell from the hammer. + +Now they were here, now there, and the more Mr Temple hammered and +chipped the more interested he seemed to grow. + +_Click, click, click, click_ rang the hammer, and _splish, splash_ went +the fragments of rock that fell in the water or were thrown into it; and +thus for quite two hours Mr Temple hammered away, and after giving up a +fragmentary conversation Dick and Josh grew silent or only spoke at +intervals. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +HOW SEALS SOMETIMES MAKE THOSE WHO WAX EAGER STICK. + +"I say, Dick," said Arthur after a long silence, "I wish we could go out +now." + +"Not frightened, are you?" + +"Not now," said Arthur with simple truthfulness. "I was at first, but I +don't mind now." + +"It was _unked_, as the people here call it," said Dick, "and gashly. I +wondered at first whether there were any sea-serpents or ugly things +living in a place like this." + +"Sea-monsters," said Arthur. "So did I, but I seem to have got used to +it at last." + +"Oh, I say," said Dick, "I'm getting so hungry! What a long time father +is!" + +"He's finding good ore," said Arthur, "he seems to be so interested. +Dick--Dick--oh! what's that?" + +_Snork_! + +It was not the snarl of a wild beast, but a sound that seemed to be +represented by that word. + +"Old Josh's fast asleep," said Dick merrily. "It's he snoring. Let's +splash him. No; I'll rock the boat." + +Suiting the action to the word, Dick gave the boat a rock whose result +was to bump it hardly against a rock, and then there was a loud start +out of the darkness a few feet away, and then the boat bumped again. + +"Why, halloa! what cheer--eh? What?" + +"Why, you've been to sleep, Josh." + +"No; on'y just closed my eyes," cried Josh; "on'y just shut 'em a +moment;" though the fact was Josh had been asleep a long way over an +hour. "Master 'most done?" + +"I don't know," said Dick; "I know I'm precious tired of waiting." + +"Tell 'ee what," said Josh suddenly, as he began to feel about with an +oar as the boat swayed more up and down, and was carried a little +towards where Mr Temple was standing, and then drawn back; "tide's +coming in fast." + +"Why, Will," said Mr Temple just at the same moment, "how's this? That +ledge was bare--" + +"Now it's six inches under water, sir," replied Will. "I think we ought +to get out at once." + +"Stop a few minutes longer," said Mr Temple; "there is evidently the +outcrop of a vein here. Hold the light." + +Will obeyed at once, and Mr Temple began chipping at a fresh block of +quartz rock which projected from the cave wall at an angle. + +"Yes; copper this time," said Mr Temple. + +"Father," cried Dick, "Josh thinks we had better get out again now. The +tide's rising." + +"I'll be done directly," said Mr Temple. "The tide will not run so +high that we cannot pull against it." + +"Tide's coming in gashly fast," said Josh to himself; "but if he don't +mind, I don't." + +Twice more Dick spoke to his father about coming, for Josh was muttering +very sourly, and seemed disposed to resent this hanging back when he +suggested that it would be better to go; but Mr Temple was so deeply +interested in his discovery of what seemed to be a promising and, as far +as he could for the moment tell, absolutely a new vein, that he forgot +everything else in his intense desire to break off as good a specimen of +the rock as he could. + +"There," he said at last in a tone of triumph, "I think that will do. +Steady, Dick, take these pieces. Now, you, my lad, go forward to your +place. We'll hold the lanthorn, and--why, how's this? the ceiling seems +to be lower." + +"But it aren't," growled Josh sourly; "it's the gashly tide come in. +There," he said, as he thrust the boat round an angle which had hidden +the entrance of the cavern, "the boat won't go through there." + +"Through there?" cried Mr Temple, as Dick felt his heart sink at the +sight of the little archway in the rock not a foot above the surface of +the water and sometimes with that surface going closer still towards the +rugged crown of the natural arch. + +"Well, there aren't no other way," said Josh, whose long sleep had been +the cause of the mishap, for had he been awake he would have known that +they were staying longer than was safe. + +"But," cried Mr Temple, who felt alarmed now on account of his boys and +their companions, "what are we to do? We must leave the boat and wade +out." + +"Wade!" growled Josh. "Why, there's three fathom o' water under where +we sit." + +"Then we must swim through," cried Mr Temple excitedly. "There is no +time to spare. Man, man, why did you not warn us of the danger?" + +"Why--why?" growled Josh. "I didn't know. I never see the tide come up +that gashly way afore." + +"It was while you were asleep, Josh," said Dick in a whisper; and Josh +turned upon him as if he had been stung. + +"Now," cried Mr Temple, as he pointed to the low opening through which +was the sunshiny sea and safety, while on their side was apparently +darkness and death; "now, Dick, you can swim through there; but first +try whether by lying down we can force the boat under." + +"Oh, I'll try!" said Josh; "but it's of no use, not a bit of use. Be +it, Will?" + +"No," said the latter decidedly, as he and Josh urged the boat right up +to the entrance, and Mr Temple saw at once that it would be an +impossibility. + +"Then we must swim," said Mr Temple. "You can swim that, Dick?" + +"Yes, father," said Dick. "Clothes and all." + +"Yes, of course, the distance is so short." + +"And you, Arthur, you can swim through there?" + +The boy could not speak, for he was battling down the horrible feeling +of dread that came over him. + +"I say, you can swim that, Arthur?" said Mr Temple sternly. + +"Yes, father. I'll try," said the boy quickly. + +"That's well. Of course you two can swim?" + +"Tidy, sir, tidy," said Josh; "and Will here, he could 'most beat a +seal. But there ain't no call to get wetting of ourselves. I'll shove +the boat back to where it's highest and where the water never reaches. +We can wait there till she goes down again." + +"Do you know what you are talking about, man?" cried Mr Temple sternly. +"We should be suffocated." + +"Josh means put the boat, sir, under the opening in the rock that he +spoke about," said Will. "There'll be plenty of air. You can stand up +on the rocks, sir, and hear it rush out with a regular roar when the +water drives in, and when it goes out again the air sucks in so fast +that it will take a piece of paper with it, and sometimes blows it out +again." + +"There is no time to be lost then if you are sure of this," said Mr +Temple anxiously; "but are you sure?" + +"Yes, sir, quite sure," cried Will. + +"Oh! you may trust Will, sir, that's right enough all as he says. Tide +never comes up anything like so high as we shall be." + +Mr Temple hesitated, and as he paused, wondering which would be the +wisest plan to pursue, there was a wave ready to rise up and completely +blot out the faint daylight which streamed through the narrow opening. + +This was only for a few moments, and then the daylight streamed in +again, but only to be eclipsed by what seemed to be a soft green mass of +crystal, that gradually darkened more and more. + +Then came sunshine and blue sky again, but a smaller arch than ever, and +had the little party not been filled with alarm, nothing could have been +more beautiful than the succession of effects. + +But in a state of intense excitement Mr Temple was urging Josh and Will +to force the boat back to where they would be in safety, if safety it +could be called. + +Dick was quite as excited as his father, and eagerly seized an oar to +help force the boat back, while Arthur, perhaps the most alarmed of the +three, sat perfectly still, for, poor boy, he had been fighting for +weeks now to master his cowardice, and, as he called it, to make himself +more like his brother. + +As the boat floated back more and more along the irregular channel they +could see the archway entrance open and close--open and close. Now it +seemed as if it would not close again, for the water went suddenly +lower, and Mr Temple exclaimed: + +"Look! the tide is at its height." + +"Not it," said Josh. "She's got another two hours to run, I know. But +don't you mind, sir, we shall be all right." + +Perhaps Josh felt quite confident, but no one else did, as the water +rose and fell, giving lovely little views of sea and sky, and then +turned into veils of crystal, green and blue, sparkling sometimes like +emerald, then changing to amethystine or sapphire hue. + +It was surprising what an amount of light seemed to come in when the +water sank, and then by contrast the darkness was horrible, and the +lanthorn seemed to emit a dismal yellow glow. + +They might have stayed for another quarter of an hour watching the light +come and go, but there was the danger of their being inclosed in some +portion of the cavern where the roof was low, and the boat would be made +a prisoner within a prison. So Josh urged the boat forward towards +where Mr Temple had been so busy with his researches, and after a +little examination he bade Will cover the lanthorn with his jacket. + +"It's a long time since I were in here," he said; "but I think as the +air-hole ought to be somewhere about here. One moment, Will, lad; hold +the light up and lets see the roof." + +The rocky summit was in the highest part, some twelve feet above their +heads, and satisfied as to this, Josh had the light darkened, and then +began to look upward. + +"No," he said. "Must be the next. Show the light." + +He thrust the boat along once more, grinding and bumping over fragments +of rock, till they had passed under another low part of the roof, when +this rose once more, and the lanthorn being hidden Josh pointed upward +to a narrow crack, through which came a faint light. + +"There y'are," he said. "Don't matter how high the water gets, we can +get plenty of fresh air. Tide won't get up there." + +The position seemed more hopeful now, for the tide would have to rise +fourteen or fifteen feet to carry them to the roof; and though in +certain places from low water to high water might be perhaps forty feet, +they were now so near the height of the tide that it was not likely to +rise much farther. + +"Don't be frightened, Taff, old chap," said Dick in a whisper; "father's +with us, and he'll mind that we don't get hurt." + +"I'm not going to be frightened," said Arthur coolly; and then Mr +Temple began to talk cheerily as he stood up in the boat and held the +lanthorn here and there; but first of all Will noticed that he took his +geological hammer and chipped the rock on a level with the water, and +soon after he made a clear bright sparkling chip about a foot higher, +the granite rock glittering in the feeble rays of the lanthorn. + +"I should not be a bit surprised if a good lode of metal were discovered +here," said Mr Temple; and he went on chatting lightly about mines and +minerals and Cornwall generally, but somehow he could not draw the +attention of his companions from that bright mark on the rock, towards +which the water was constantly creeping, and then seemed to glide away, +as if exhausted with the effort. + +And certainly it was a horrible position to sit there with no light but +that shed by the yellow lanthorn, the boat heaving up and sinking +beneath them, and the sounds of the water dripping and splashing, and +now and then making curious sucking and gasping noises, as it ran in and +out of cracks and crevices in the rocks. + +All at once there was a loud, ringing, echoing blow upon the rock, as +the boat approached close to the side, and Mr Temple struck it sharply +with his hammer, for one mark had gone and the water was lipping and +lapping fast towards the other. + +The scraps of granite flew pattering into the water, as blow succeeded +blow, Mr Temple making a deep mark on the rock to relieve his pent-up +feelings, and to take the attention of his boys, who kept looking at him +nervously, as if asking for help in this time of peril. + +This done, he made Josh move the boat from side to side of their narrow +prison, inviting Dick and Will to help as he chipped here and chipped +there, and talked about the different kinds of granite and quartz that +he cleared from the dark mossy growth and the film of ages. + +But there was the water lapping and lapping and rising, and it was plain +now that there would hardly be room to turn beneath the arch-like +opening that separated them from the portion where Josh had expected to +see the daylight. + +It seemed to have grown intensely hot too, for the faint current of cool +air that they had felt since entering the place had stopped for some +time past, and still the water kept rising, and at last seemed to come +through the narrowing opening with so horrible a gurgling rush that it +affected even stolid Josh, who took his cap off and said that it was "a +gashly ugly noise." + +No one spoke, for the attention of all was taken by the increasing +sounds made by the water, which seemed forced in now in a way that +affected the boat, making it rock and adding so to the horror of the +situation that Will leaned towards Josh and whispered for a few moments. + +"It's only because there isn't so much room, Master Dick, that's all," +he said. + +"Yes, that be all," growled Josh; "it don't rise no faster than it did +afore. P'r'aps you wouldn't mind making another water-mark, sir. +T'other's 'most covered." + +But Mr Temple's hammer was already raised as he spoke, and the cave +echoed with his blows. + +"It sounds different, doesn't it, Will?" said Arthur softly. "It don't +echo so much, and seem to run along." + +"No," said Will, in the same tone of voice, "there is not so much room. +We seem more shut-up like. But it will soon begin to go down now." + +"Will it?" whispered Arthur; "or shall we all be shut-up here and +drowned?" + +"Oh, no, no!" whispered back Will; "don't you get thinking that. The +water must begin to go down again soon." + +"What time is it high water?" said Mr Temple suddenly. + +"Two o'clock, sir," said Josh. + +"Why, it must be near that time now," said Mr Temple, laying down his +hammer to take out his watch. "Hold the light here, Dick." + +Dick caught up the lanthorn, but in doing so caught his foot against one +of the bottom boards, stumbled, and there was a splash, and then utter +darkness. + +The lanthorn had gone overboard, and as the water, disturbed by the fall +of the lanthorn and the rocking motion given to the boat, washed and +lapped and whispered against the sides, with gasps and suckings and +strange sounds, that seemed to be ten times louder in the darkness, Josh +growled out: + +"Well, you have gone and done it now!" + +Then there was utter silence. The water came in with a rush and gurgle +that was fearful. The boat heaved and bumped against the side, and it +seemed to the prisoners as if the next moment they must be swamped. + +But as with breathlessness they listened, the sounds and disturbance +died away to whispers, and there was nothing but a feeble lapping. + +"It's only noise," said Will, suddenly breaking the silence. "The boat +can't hurt." + +"Will's right," growled Josh; "but it's a gashly place to be in without +a light." + +"_Crick, crack_!" + +There was a flash, and a little flame for a few moments as Josh, who had +taken out his match-box, struck a light, and held it till it was ready +to burn his fingers, when he let it fall in the smooth surface of the +water, where it was extinguished with a hiss. + +"Don't burn any more, my man," said Mr Temple; "we may want them--" + +He was about to say, "in a greater emergency," but he checked himself. + +"Right, sir," replied Josh. + +"Do you think it is high water now?" + +"No, sir. 'Nother two hours to flow," replied Josh. "I remember a case +once where some chaps was shut-up in a zorn like this, and--" + +"Hush!--hold your tongue!" whispered Will excitedly; "don't tell about +that." + +"Why not?" growled Josh. "We aren't going to be drowned and washed out +to sea." + +"Are you mad, Josh?" whispered Will. "You'll frighten them." + +"Oh! all right, then," growled Josh; "I didn't know." + +Mr Temple was silent, and, bending forward, he took hold of Arthur's +hand and pressed it. + +"Don't be alarmed, my boy," he said. "There is no more danger now than +when it was light." + +"I'm trying to be brave, papa," said Arthur softly. + +"That's as good as being brave," whispered back Mr Temple. "What?" he +said, as the boy clung to his hand and leaned forward till his lips +nearly touched his father's ear. + +"I want to tell you something," whispered Arthur. "I was too great a +coward to tell you before. That cigar-case was not Dick's, but mine." + +Mr Temple was silent for a few minutes, and then he said: + +"Better late than never, my boy. If you had come frankly to me, and not +let your brother take that bit of blame, I should have felt that you +could not be a coward. Arthur, my boy, you have a good deal to master +yet. Well, Dick," he said aloud in a cheery tone, "how are you?" + +"Capital, father," said Dick, "but so dreadfully hungry." + +"Well, we can't be prisoners much longer." + +"Hours yet," growled Josh--"eh, Will?" + +"I don't think so, Josh. You must have been asleep a long time, and +don't count that." + +"G'long," cried Josh. "Don't talk gashly nonsense." + +"Strike another light," said Mr Temple after they had listened once +more to the horrible gurgling and washing of the incoming water, and the +hardly less startling sounds it made as it escaped. "Hand the light to +me directly." + +Josh struck a match and passed it to Mr Temple, who had just time to +see that his last mark was covered, and the boat far higher up the sides +of the cave before he had to drop it in the water. + +"Still rising," he said quietly. "This will be a curious adventure to +talk of, boys, in the future." + +Neither Dick nor Arthur spoke, for Dick was wondering whether they would +ever get out alive, and Arthur dared not trust himself to utter a word, +for he was finding it terribly hard work to be brave at a time like +this. + +All at once Josh began to whistle an air--a doleful minor melody, that +sounded so strange and weird there in the darkness that Will stopped +him. + +"Don't do that, Josh," he said softly. + +"Why not? One must do something." + +"It annoys them," whispered Will. + +"Ho!" said Josh. Then he was silent, and for quite half an hour all sat +listening to the gurgling, hissing, and rushing noises made by the +water. + +Then, when it seemed to Dick, who had tight hold of his brother's hand, +that he could bear it no longer, his father asked for another match. + +Josh struck it, and it snapped in two and fell in the bottom of the +boat, but burned long enough for him to light another, which was +successfully handed to Mr Temple, while Will took the hitcher and +forced the boat back to where the marks had been made on the wall by Mr +Temple's hammer. + +"Strike another, my man, and hand it to me quick," cried Mr Temple +excitedly; and as it was done, and the tiny flame burned brightly in the +black darkness, he stood holding it close to the wall of rock; and then +as he let the little flame fall and extinguish itself, he exclaimed +joyfully: + +"At last, boys! There's no danger. The tide is falling fast." + +"Falling fast a'ready?" cried Josh. + +"Yes; it is down a foot." + +"Then--well, of all the gashly things! I must ha' been asleep." + +It was but a question of waiting now; and though the time seemed long +there was plenty to interest the little party, as Mr Temple had the +boat kept close up to the rock, and felt his marks, announcing from time +to time how much the water had gone down. Then Dick got Will to thrust +down the boat-hook to try how deep it was, but to try in vain, though +they were more successful with the lead on a fishing-line, Josh +measuring the line after the lead had touched bottom, and announcing it +as "'bout five fathom." + +All at once they noticed that the horrible rushing and gurgling of the +water had ceased; and soon after it became plain that it was harder work +to keep the boat close to the rock, for, in spite of the returns of the +water as the waves beat outside, there was a steady, constant set of the +current towards the mouth. So at last the measurement by the rocks had +to be given up, for Josh gave it as his opinion that they might as well +let the boat drift towards the cave mouth. + +This was done; and though they were unable to calculate their progress, +as time went on they felt that they must be nearer the entrance. + +Josh poked about with a boat-hook, now at the sides, now at the roof; +and then, as they were sitting down waiting patiently, there was a +peculiar shuffling and splashing noise heard. + +"What's that?" exclaimed Dick. + +"Seal!" cried Will; and as he spoke there was a splash as if the +creature had dived off a rock into the water. + +But they had something more interesting than the seal to take their +attention, for all at once there was a faint greeny transparency right +before them. Then it darkened, lightened again, darkened and lightened +more or less till, all at once, there was a flash, so short, quick, and +brilliant that it dazzled their darkness-becurtained eyes like +lightning. + +"Hoo-ray!" shouted Dick, stamping his feet on the bottom of the boat. +"Now, all together--hip-hip-hip hooray!" + +Arthur, Will, and Josh joined in making the cave echo as there was +another and another flash of light, and soon after the arch at the mouth +of the cave began to open more and more; and at last the boat floated +out into the dazzling afternoon sunshine, and was rowed steadily back. + +"Been shut-up in a zorn!" cried Mrs Marion, who declared that the +dinner was spoiled; "then it was all the fault of that great idle Josh +and that stupid, good-for-nothing boy." + +"No, Mrs Marion," said Mr Temple gently, "the fault was entirely +mine." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. + +MR. TEMPLE TAKES WILL INTO HIS CONFIDENCE AND ASTONISHES UNCLE ABRAM. + +"Dick," said Mr Temple one morning, as he looked up from the table +covered with specimens of ore and papers. + +"Yes, father." + +"Is Will Marion at home?" + +"Yes, father. Hark!" He held up his hand to command silence, and from +the back garden came the sound of a shrill voice scolding, and the deep +rumble of Uncle Abram, apparently responding. + +"You idle, good-for-nothing, useless creature. I wish we were well rid +of you, I do." + +"Softly. Steady, old lady, steady," growled Uncle Abram. + +"Oh! it's no use for you to take his part. I say he's a lazy, idle, +stupid, worthless fellow, and he sha'n't stop here any longer. There: +get out of my sight, sir--get out of my sight, and don't come back here +till you're asked." + +"Easy, old lady, easy," growled Uncle Abram. "What's the lad been doing +now?" + +"Nothing," cried Aunt Ruth, who was suffering from the effect of what +people call getting out of bed the wrong way--"nothing, and that's what +he's always doing--nothing. I'm sick of the sight of him--eat, eat, +eat, and sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, and grow, grow, grow, all the year +round. I'm sure I don't know what we do having him here. I hate the +sight of him." + +"Will," said Uncle Abram, "go down and see that the boat's cleaned out; +perhaps Mr Temple will want her to-day." + +"Eat, eat, eat, and grow, grow, grow," cried Aunt Ruth. + +"Which it is the boy's natur' to," said the old man good-humouredly. +"There, be off, Will." + +"Run out now and you'll catch him before he goes," said Mr Temple. + +Dick hurried out by the front to waylay Will, but encountered Uncle +Abram. + +"Where's Will, my lad? Oh! he's coming. Old lady's been blowing off +steam a bit. Busy day with her, you see. Cleaning. Didn't hear, did +you?" + +"Oh, yes! we could hear every word," said Dick with a comical look. + +The old gentleman glanced over his shoulder and then patted Dick on the +chest with the back of his hand. "It's all right," he said in a deep +bass. "She don't mean nothing by it. Fond o' Will as ever she can be. +Feels often, you know, as she must scold something, and sometimes she +scolds Will, sometimes it's Amanda the lass, sometimes me. Why," he +said cheerfully, "I have known her set to and let the tables and chairs +have it for not shining when they were being rubbed. It's all right, my +lad, all right. She's awfully fond of our Will, and if you hear her say +she aren't don't you believe her. Here he comes." + +Will came round from the back just then, with his head hanging, and a +look of dejection in his whole aspect; but as he caught sight of Uncle +Abram and Dick he made an effort to hide his trouble. + +"Here he is," said the old gentleman, clapping Will on the shoulder, +"here he is, Master Dick, my nevvy, and as stout and strong a lad of his +years as there is in these parts. Your par wants him, does he?" + +"My father wants him," said Dick sturdily. "I never call him pa." + +"That's right, my lad. I never called my father pa. Wants our Will, do +he? Well, I was going to send him down to get the boat ready. Go and +see what Master Temple wants, my lad. 'Member what I said, Master Dick, +sir." + +"All right!" replied Dick; and Will followed him to the door. + +"What has my uncle been saying?" he said quickly. + +"Oh! only that I wasn't to notice what your aunt said, and that she +don't mean all that scolding." + +Will drew a long breath, and leaning his arm against the door-post he +placed his forehead against it. + +"I can't bear it," he groaned; "I can't bear it. I seem to be so poor +and dependent, and she is always telling me that I am a beggar and an +expense to them. Master Dick, I'd have gone years ago, only it would +half break poor old uncle's heart. He is fond of me, I know." + +"Oh! I say, Will, don't--please don't!" cried Dick. + +"It hurts me, it does indeed. Oh, how I wish I could do something to +help you! I tell you what I'll do, and Taff shall help me. I'll save +up to help you buy a boat of your own." + +"Thank you," said Will gently; "but you must not think of that. No, +Master Dick." + +"There; don't call me Master Dick; say Dick. I want you to be friends +with me, Will. It's all nonsense about you only being a fisher lad. My +father said only yesterday to Taff that he should have been very proud +to have called you his son." + +"Oh!" cried Will, with a deprecatory movement of his hand. + +"He did; and that you had the spirit of a true gentleman in your breast. +I say, Will Marion," cried Dick, giving him a playful kick, "what a +fellow you are! I'm as jealous of you as Taff is." + +"Nonsense!" cried Will; "and don't you be so hard on him. Do you know +what he did yesterday?" + +"Made some disagreeable remark," said Dick bitterly. + +"He came up to me when I was alone and shook hands with me, and said he +was very sorry that he had been so stuck-up and rude to me as he had +been sometimes, and said it was all his ignorance, but he hoped he knew +better now." + +"Taff did? Taff came and said that to you?" cried Dick excitedly. + +"Yes; and we parted the best of friends." + +"There's a chap for you!" cried Dick warmly. "There's a brick! I say +Taff is a fine fellow after all, only he got made so stuck-up and +tall-hat and Eton jacketty at one school he went to. But, I say, my +father wants you. Come along." + +Dick led the way into the parlour, where the object of their +conversation was sitting by the window reading, and Mr Temple busy over +some papers. + +"Here's Will, father," said Dick. + +"I'll attend to him in a moment," said Mr Temple. "Let me finish this +letter." + +Will stood in the middle of the room in his shabby, well-worn canvas +trousers and coarse jersey, his straw hat hanging at full arm's-length +by his side, and his clear grey eyes, after a glance at Arthur, fixed +almost hungrily upon the specimens of ore and minerals that encumbered +the table and window-sill wherever there was a place where a block could +be laid. + +The sight of these brought up many a hunt that he had had amongst the +old mines and rifts and chasms of the rocks round about the shore, and +made him long once more to steal away for a few hours in search of some +vein that would give him a chance of making himself independent and +working his own way in the world. + +Dick broke his train of thought by coming behind him and placing a chair +for him, but he declined. + +"I wish I had thought to do that!" said Arthur to himself. "I never +think of those little things." + +"That's done," said Mr Temple sharply as he fastened down a large blue +envelope and swung round to face Will. "Sit down, my lad," he said +quickly. + +Will hesitated, and then sat down, wondering what was coming; and so +accustomed was he to being taken to task that he began to run over in +his mind what he had done lately likely to have displeased Mr Temple. +He came to the conclusion at last that he had been encouraging the two +lads too much to go out fishing, and that their father was annoyed with +them for making a companion of so common a lad. + +Mr Temple gazed straight at him in silence for a few moments, and Will +met his gaze frankly and well. + +"Let me see, my lad," said Mr Temple at last. "You are quite dependent +on Mr and Mrs Marion?" + +"Yes, sir," said Will with an ill-suppressed sigh. + +"And your parents are both dead?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You have no other relatives?" + +"No, sir;" and Will looked wonderingly at the speaker, who now ceased, +and sat nursing one leg over the other. + +"Should you like to be master of a boat of your own?" + +"Ye-es, sir," said Will slowly. + +"You are very fond of the sea?" + +"I like the sea, sir." + +"And would like to grow up and be a fisherman?" + +Will shook his head. + +"I don't want to despise the fishermen, sir," said Will; "but I should +choose to be a miner and have to do with mines if I could do as I +liked." + +"And go down into a deep hole and use a pick all your life, eh?" + +"No," replied Will; "I should try to rise above doing that. Most of our +miners here work with their arms, and they seem to do that always; but +here and there one of them works with his head as well, and he gets to +be captain of a mine, or an adventurer." + +"Ah!" said Mr Temple sternly. "Why, what an idle, discontented dog you +must be, sir! I don't wonder at your aunt scolding you so that all the +people in the village can hear. Why don't you attend to your work as a +fisher lad, and be content with your position?" + +"I do attend to my work, sir," said Will firmly; "but I can't feel +content with my station." + +"Why not, sir? Why, you are well fed and clothed; and if you wait long +enough you will perhaps succeed to your uncle's property when he dies, +and have a boat or two and a set of nets of your own." + +Will flushed up and rose from his chair. + +"You have no business to speak to me, sir, like that," he said warmly; +"and I am not so mean and contemptible as to be looking forward to +getting my poor old uncle's property when he dies." + +"Well done, Will!" cried Dick enthusiastically. + +"Silence, sir!" cried Mr Temple sternly. "How dare you speak like +that! And so, sir, you are so unselfish as to wish to be quite +independent, and to wish to get your living yourself free of everybody?" + +"Yes, sir," said Will coldly; and he felt that Mr Temple was the most +unpleasant, sneering man he had ever seen, and not a bit like Dick. + +"Like to discover a copper mine with an abundance of easily got ore?" + +"Yes, sir," said Will quickly. "I should, very much." + +"I suppose you would," said Mr Temple. "Are you going to do it?" + +"I'm afraid not, sir," said Will respectfully; but he was longing for +the interview to come to an end. "The place has been too well searched +over, sir." + +"Try tin, then," said Mr Temple. + +"The tin has been all well searched for, sir, I'm afraid," said Will +quietly, though he felt that he was being bantered, and that there was a +sneer in the voice that galled him almost more than he could bear. + +"Why not look then for something else?" continued Mr Temple. "That is +what I'd do." + +"Because," said Will, "I am not learned enough, sir, to understand such +things properly. If I had books I should read and try to learn; but I +have very little time, and no learning." + +"And yet," said Mr Temple, speaking warmly now and quite changing his +tone, "you without your learning have done more than I have with all my +years of study and experience." + +"I don't understand you, sir." + +"I'll tell you then. I have been far and wide about Cornwall for these +last three years and done no good this year I thought I would have +another search for something fresh, and give my boys a change. I am +glad I have come." + +Will did not reply, but looked at him more wonderingly than ever. + +"Suppose, my lad," said Mr Temple, speaking now kindly, "I were to tell +you that I have watched you very narrowly for some time past." + +"I hope I have done nothing wrong, sir?" said Will. + +"Nothing, my lad. I was beginning to form a very pleasant impression of +you, and then came the day of the storm." + +"If--if you would not mind, sir," said Will uneasily, "I would rather +you did not talk about that." + +"I will only say, my lad, that it confirmed my agreeable impressions +about you. And now, look here, I have paid at least a hundred visits to +the vein you showed me--the decomposing felspar vein." + +"The vein of white spar, sir?" cried Will. + +"Yes, my lad; and I have concluded that it is very valuable." + +"Valuable, sir?" + +"Yes, far more so than many of the best of the copper and tin mines +here." + +"I am glad," cried Will. + +"Why?" said Mr Temple sharply. "Can you buy the land that contains +it?" + +Will shook his head. + +"Can you get up a company to buy and work it?" + +"No, sir," said Will sadly. "I should not understand how to do that, +and--" + +"Some one else would get hold of it, and you would not benefit in the +least." + +"No, sir, not in the least," said Will sadly. "I am a fisher lad. That +is my business." + +"But you discovered the vein," said Mr Temple. + +"Yes, sir, I found it when I was hunting about as I have done these two +years." + +"Then don't you think you have a right to some of the profit from such a +vein?" + +"I don't know, sir. Of course I should like to have some of it, sir, +but I don't see how I could expect it." + +"Then I do," said Mr Temple. "Look here, my lad, I will tell you +something. I have purchased the whole of the land that contains that +vein." + +"You've bought it, father?" cried Dick. "Oh, I am glad!" + +"Why?" said his father sharply. + +"Because we shall come here to live." + +"Oh!" said Mr Temple. "Now look here, Marion. You showed me what I +hope will prove very valuable to me, and I don't want to be ungrateful +in return. Now what should you say if I spent a hundred pounds in a +boat expressly for you, and after we had called it _The White Spar_, I +presented it to you?" + +"I should say it was very generous of you, sir." + +"And it would make you very happy, my lad?" + +"No, sir," said Will sadly, "I don't think it would." + +"Then suppose I spent two hundred and fifty pounds in a boat and nets. +Come, that ought to set you up for life." Will was silent. + +"You like that idea?" The lad shook his head. + +"Then look here, Marion," said Mr Temple. "Suppose I say to you, I am +going to open out and work that vein at once, will you come and help me, +and I'll give you five shillings a week?" + +"Yes, sir, I'll come," cried Will, with his eyes sparkling; "I'll work +so hard for you, I will indeed." + +"I know you will, my lad," said Mr Temple, shaking hands with him +warmly. + +"And you will take me, sir?" said Will excitedly. + +"Certainly I will, but not on such terms as that. My good lad, there is +honesty in the world, though sometimes it is rather hard to find. Look +here. You helped me to the discovery, but it was useless without +capital. I found the capital, and so I consider that I and mine have a +right to the lion's share. I have worked out my plans, and they are +these. We will divide the adventure into four parts, which shall be +divided as follows, one part to you, and one each to me and my sons. +The only difference will be that you will get your part, and I shall +keep Arthur's and Dick's along with mine. Do you think that fair?" + +"No!" cried Dick, giving the table a thump with his fist. + +"Till my boys come of age and are men," said Mr Temple smiling. "Then +they can draw their shares. I think it is a fair arrangement. Come, +Marion, what do you say?" + +"I don't know what to say, sir," cried the lad, whose lip was working +with emotion. "You are not playing with me?" + +"Playing, my lad! I never was in more sober earnest in my life," said +Mr Temple. "There, I see you agree, and I congratulate you on your +success, for it will be a most successful venture--of that I am sure." + +"So do I, Will," cried Dick, with his eyes sparkling. "I am glad. +Hooray!" + +Arthur hesitated. For the last few minutes a feeling of resentment and +jealousy had been rising in his breast at the idea of this fisher lad +winning to such a successful position and being placed on a level with +him and his brother; but he crushed the feeling down, triumphed over it, +came forward holding out his hand, and offered his congratulations too. +"I am glad, Will Marion," he said, and his words were true and earnest; +but in spite of himself the thought would come, "I hope he won't always +dress like that." + +"Then that matter's settled," said Mr Temple. "Everything necessary +has been done. The land is mine, and my solicitor has all the papers. +Mr Will Marion, I too congratulate you on being a mine owner and on the +road to fortune." + +"But look here, father," cried Dick suddenly, "what's the good of your +white stone? You can't make tin pots and copper kettles of it." + +"No," said Mr Temple smiling; "but don't you know what that stone and +the clay beneath it will make?" + +"Yes," cried Dick, "of course. Houses of brick made of the clay with +white stone facings." + +"What do you say, Arthur?" said Mr Temple; but Arthur shook his head. + +"Can you tell, Marion?" said Mr Temple. + +"No, sir," said Will sadly; "I don't--Yes, I do. It's china-clay." + +"Right, my lad. A valuable deposit of china-clay, which we can send off +after preparation to the potteries--perhaps start a pottery ourselves, +who knows? Yes, it was about the last thing I thought of when I came +down. My idea was to get hold of a vein of some little-worked metal, +antimony, or nickel, or plumbago perhaps; but I have never found +anything to equal this, and I thank you, Will Marion, from my very +heart." + +Will Marion looked from one to the other as if stunned by the tremendous +nature--to him--of the intelligence; then, unable to contain himself, he +rushed out of the room to see old Uncle Abram. + +"Well, Dick, what do you think of it?" said Mr Temple as soon as they +were alone. + +"Think, father? Why, I was never so pleased before in my life--at least +I don't think I was. Poor old Will! how pleased he is!" + +There was not time to say much more, for there was a sharp tap at the +door, and Uncle Abram came in to have the matter explained. + +"For you see, sir, I can't make neither head nor tail of Will here. +Seems to me as if he's been dreaming." + +Then after it had all been explained the old man took three or four +pulls at an imaginary pipe. + +"It's like being took all aback," he said, rubbing his grey head. "I +can't understand it like quite. I knew he was always off hunting +something, butterflies, or fishing up on the moor, but I didn't think it +would turn out like that, sir. And I was always making a fender of +myself 'twixt his aunt and him because she was wanting to know where he +was, and me pretending he was painting the bottom of the boat and +mending nets or something. Well, I've been terrible sorry sometimes at +his being away so much; but I feel right down pleased, sir, and--and if +you wouldn't mind shaking hands, sir, it would do me a power of good." + +Uncle Abram shook hands then with Mr Temple, and then with Dick and +Arthur, and next with Will, after which he stared at all in turn, and +ended by saying as he went out: + +"It's 'most more than I can understand after all." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. + +WINDING UP WITH A DAB OF CLAY. + +To enter into the occurrences of the next few years would be to give the +business career of young men, when the object of this book was to tell +of some of the pleasant adventurous days passed by three boys and their +friends in that beautiful rugged county in the far west of England which +the sea wraps so warmly that winter is shorn of half his force. + +It is only right to tell, though, that Mrs Marion, upon being taught by +Mr Temple's treatment of her nephew that the boy was what some would +call a lad of parts, suddenly began to display a deep interest in him-- +in his clothes--in his linen; and Uncle Abram found her one day scolding +poor Amanda the maid till she put her apron over her head and sat down +on the floor and cried. + +Uncle Abram stood smoking his pipe and sending puffs here and there as +Aunt Marion's tirade of bitterness went on. + +"What's matter?" he said at last. + +"Matter!" cried the old lady fiercely. "Matter enough. Here's this +thoughtless, careless hussy actually been throwing away some specimens +of ore that Will brought in. I declare it's monstrous--that it is." + +Uncle Abram nodded solemnly, sent a puff of smoke to east, another to +west, and another due south, and then went out into his garden to tie up +an Ayrshire rose that had been blown down by a late gale. + +"Wind's changed," he said to himself, "dead astarn; and our boy's v'y'ge +through life will be an easy one now." + +Uncle Abram was right, for Mr Temple began to make quite a confidant of +Will Marion at once, and depended greatly upon him for help in his +business transactions over the kaolin and felspar upon his land. + +Dick said it was a jolly shame, and Arthur considered it to be a +nuisance; but Mr Temple told them it was for their benefit, and to make +them more useful to him in time to come, so they had to go to a great +school for the next two years, at the end of which time the kaolin works +were in full swing, and Mr Temple, as he never forgot to say, thanks to +Will Marion, on the high road to fortune. + +For while this tin mine proved a failure, and that copper mine had paid +no dividend for years, while the fisheries were sometimes successful, +sometimes, through storms and loss of gear, carried on at a loss, Mr +Temple's kaolin works became yearly more profitable, the vein growing +thicker and finer in quality the more it was opened out. + +Kaolin--of course you all know what that Chinese word means. Eh? What? +A little boy at the back says he doesn't know? Then we must enlighten +him, and be a little learned for a minute or two. + +Earthenware is of course ware made of earth that was ground into a +paste, and after working into shape, baked or burned hard in a kiln. +The roughest earthenware is a brick, the red brick of simple clay, the +yellow and white bricks of simple clay mixed with more or less chalk. +Then we get the flower-pot, again of clay; the common pan, which is +glazed by covering the interior with properly prepared minerals, which +melt in the baking, and turn into a glaze or glass. Then we have finer +clay worked up into crockery; and lastly, the beautiful white clay +which, when baked, becomes transparent,--a Chinese discovery, and to +this day it bears its name, "china." + +This fine white clay the Chinese call _kaolin_, and it is to the +discovery of veins of the soft white plastic material in England that +the wonderful strides in our china manufactures are due. + +And what is this kaolin of which Will had discovered so grand a store? +Well, it is easily explained. The rocks of Cornwall are largely of +granite, a stone that must be familiar to every one. It is formed of +grains of quartz, mica the shiny, and felspar, that soft white creamy +stone like our old alley marbles. This vein of granite will be close +and hard, and contain a vast preponderance of quartz, the flinty; and +that vein of granite will be very soft from containing so much felspar; +and this granite, a familiar example of which can be seen in the +material of Waterloo Bridge, the learned, who give names, call porphyry. + +Such granite as this abounds in Cornwall, and some, too, which is nearly +all felspar, and such rock as this in the course of ages forms such a +bed of kaolin as Will Marion disclosed to the father of his friends. + +For the felspar is soft, and imbibes water; and in the course of time +the water causes it to break up, decay, and change from stone to a soft +white clay, while where it is hard, burning and pounding will do the +work that nature has not quite finished yet. + +Mr Temple did not go so far as to commence a pottery, for there was no +need, the manufacturers being ready to purchase all the clay that the +works could produce; and when Dick and Arthur Temple finally settled +down to business, it was to find Will Marion their father's right-hand +man. + +Later on some further investigations were made of the mineral deposits +in the seals' cave; but, good as they were, Will Marion shook his head +at them, and Mr Temple took his view. The tin looked promising; but +tin and copper mining was so speculative a venture that it was +determined to keep only to the china-clay, which brought prosperity to +all. + +The lads often visited the haunts of their old adventures in company +with Josh, who was still venerable Uncle Abram's head man; and it was +only necessary to hint at the desire for an evening's fishing to make +Josh declare, that as long as there was a gashly boat in the bay, they +should never want for a bit of fishing. + +But Josh never forgave Will in his heart for deserting the fishing +business. + +"Oh, yes! I know all about the gashly old clay, Master Rickard, sir," +he would say; "and it's made him a sort of gentleman like; but I can't +seem to see it, you know. He was getting to be as fine a sailor as ever +stepped, and look at him now; why, he wouldn't be satisfied to sail +anything commoner than a yacht." + +Dick remained the same frank merry fellow as ever; and even when there +was a thick crop growing on his cheeks and chin, which he called brown +mustard and cress, he was as full of boyish fun as ever. + +It was Arthur in whom the greatest changes had taken place. Contact +with the world had rubbed off the stiff varnish with which he had coated +himself. He had learned, too, that a lad can command more respect from +his fellows by treating them with frankness than by a hectoring haw-haw +display of consequence, and a metaphorical "going about with a placard +on the breast saying what a superior young being I am ism." In fact +Arthur Temple's folly had all gone, and he had developed into a true +English gentleman, who could be refined to a degree, but in time of need +lend a hand in any of the many struggles of life. + +Will, too, refined greatly, and one of the Sunday sights down at Peter +Churchtown was to see Aunt Ruth Marion waiting at her door, while the +bells were going, for Will to come and take her to church, while Uncle +Abram in his best blue coat, with crown-and-anchor buttons, smoked his +pipe to the last minute and then trotted after them along the cliff path +to the pew close under the reading-desk. + +"Yes, Abram," she used to say, "our Will has grown to be as fine a +gentleman as ever stepped; but you always spoiled him, you did; and I +don't know what he would have done if it had not been for me." + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Menhardoc, by George Manville Fenn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MENHARDOC *** + +***** This file should be named 21354.txt or 21354.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/3/5/21354/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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