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diff --git a/21735.txt b/21735.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6fff8e4 --- /dev/null +++ b/21735.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10285 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands, by +R.M. Ballantyne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands + +Author: R.M. Ballantyne + +Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21735] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FLOATING LIGHT *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +THE FLOATING LIGHT OF THE GOODWIN SANDS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE. + + + +PREFACE. + +This tale, reader--if you read it through--will give you some insight +into the condition, value, and vicissitudes of the light-vessels, or +floating lighthouses, which guard the shores of this kingdom, and mark +the dangerous shoals lying off some of our harbours and roadsteads. It +will also convey to you--if you don't skip--a general idea of the life +and adventures of some of the men who have manned these interesting and +curious craft in time past, as well as give you some account of the +sayings and doings of several other personages more or less connected +with our coasts. May you read it with pleasure and profit, and--"may +your shadow never be less." + +I gratefully express my acknowledgment and tender my best thanks to the +Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, to whose kindness I am indebted for +having been permitted to spend a week on board the Gull-stream +light-vessel, one of the three floating-lights which mark the Goodwin +Sands; and to Robin Allen, Esquire, Secretary to the Trinity House, who +has kindly furnished me with valuable books, papers, and information. I +have also gratefully to tender my best thanks to Captain Valle, District +Superintendent under the Trinity House at Ramsgate, for the ready and +extremely kind manner in which he afforded me every facility for +visiting the various light-vessels and buoys of his district, and for +observing the nature and duties of the service. + +To the master of the Gull, whose "bunk" I occupied while he was on +shore--to Mr John Leggett, the mate, who was in command during the +period of my visit--and to the men of the "Floating-light" I have to +offer my heartfelt thanks for not only receiving me with generous +hospitality, but for treating me with hearty goodwill during my pleasant +sojourn with them in their interesting and peculiar home. + +My best thanks, for much useful and thrilling information, are due to +Mr Isaac Jarman, the coxswain, and Mr Fish, the bowman, of the +Ramsgate Lifeboat-men who may be said to carry their lives continually +in their hands, and whose profession it is to go out at the call of duty +and systematically grapple with Death and rob him of his prey. To the +Harbour Master, and Deputy Harbour Master at Ramsgate, I am also +indebted for information and assistance, and to Mr Reading, the master +of the Aid steam-tug, which attends upon, and shares the perils of, the +Lifeboat. + +R.M. BALLANTYNE. + +EDINBURGH, 1870. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +PARTICULAR INQUIRIES. + +A light--clear, ruddy and brilliant, like a huge carbuncle--uprose one +evening from the deep, and remained hovering about forty feet above the +surface, scattering its rays far and wide, over the Downs to Ramsgate +and Deal, along the coast towards Dover, away beyond the North Foreland, +across the Goodwin Sands, and far out upon the bosom of the great North +Sea. + +It was a chill November evening, when this light arose, in the year-- +well, it matters not what year. We have good reasons, reader, for +shrouding this point in mystery. It may have been recently; it may have +been "long, long ago." We don't intend to tell. It was not the first +time of that light's appearance, and it certainly was not the last. Let +it suffice that what we are about to relate did happen, sometime or +other within the present century. + +Besides being cold, the evening in question was somewhat +stormy--"gusty," as was said of it by a traveller with a stern visage +and remarkably keen grey eyes, who entered the coffee-room of an hotel +which stood on the margin of Ramsgate harbour facing the sea, and from +the upper windows of which the light just mentioned was visible. + +"It is, sir," said the waiter, in reply to the "gusty" observation, +stirring the fire while the traveller divested himself of his hat and +greatcoat. + +"Think it's going to blow hard?" inquired the traveller, planting +himself firmly on the hearth-rug, with his back to the fire, and his +thumbs hooked into the armholes of his waistcoat. + +"It may, sir, and it may not," answered the waiter, with the caution of +a man who has resolved, come what may, never to commit himself. +"Sometimes it comes on to blow, sir, w'en we don't look for it; at other +times it falls calm w'en we least expects it. I don't pretend to +understand much about the weather myself, sir, but I shouldn't wonder if +it _was_ to come on to blow 'ard. It ain't an uncommon thing at +Ramsgate, sir." + +The traveller, who was a man of few words, said "Humph!" to which the +waiter dutifully replied "Yessir," feeling, no doubt, that the +observation was too limited to warrant a lengthened rejoinder. + +The waiter of the Fortress Hotel had a pleasant, sociable, expressive +countenance, which beamed into a philanthropic smile as he added-- + +"Can I do anything for you, sir?" + +"Yes--tea," answered the traveller with the keen grey eyes, turning, and +poking the fire with the heel of his boot. + +"Anything _with_ it, sir?" asked the waiter with that charmingly +confident air peculiar to his class, which induces one almost to believe +that if a plate of elephant's foot or a slice of crocodile's tail were +ordered it would be produced, hot, in a few minutes. + +"D'you happen to know a man of the name of Jones in the town?" demanded +the traveller, facing round abruptly. + +The waiter replied that he had the pleasure of knowing at least seven +Joneses in the town. + +"Does one of the seven deal largely in cured fish and own a small +sloop?" asked the traveller. + +"Yessir, he do, but he don't live in Ramsgate; he belongs to Yarmouth, +sir, comes 'ere only now and then." + +"D'you know anything about him?" + +"No, sir, he don't frequent this 'otel." + +The waiter said this in a tone which showed that he deemed that fact +sufficient to render Jones altogether unworthy of human interest; "but I +believe," he added slowly, "that he is said to 'ave plenty of money, +bears a bad character, and is rather fond of his bottle, sir." + +"You know nothing more?" + +"Nothing, sir." + +"Ham and eggs, dry toast and shrimps," said the keen-eyed traveller in +reply to the reiterated question. + +Before these viands were placed on the table the brief twilight had +passed away and darkness en-shrouded land and sea. After they had been +consumed the traveller called for the latest local paper, to which he +devoted himself for an hour with unflagging zeal--reading it straight +through, apparently, advertisements and all, with as much diligence as +if it were a part of his professional business to do so. Then he tossed +it away, rang the bell, and ordered a candle. + +"I suppose," he said, pointing towards the sea, as he was about to quit +the room, "that that is the floating light?" + +"It is one of 'em, sir," replied the waiter. "There are three lights on +the sands, sir; the Northsan 'ead, the Gull-stream, and the Southsan +'ead. That one, sir, is the Gull." + +"How far off may it be?" + +"About four miles, sir." + +"What is the mate's name?" + +"Welton, sir, John Welton." + +"Is he aboard just now?" + +"Yessir, it's the master's month ashore. The master and mate 'ave it +month an' month about, sir--one month afloat, next month ashore; but it +seems to me, sir, that they have 'arder work w'en ashore than they 'ave +w'en afloat--lookin' after the Trinity stores, sir, an' goin' off in the +tender to shift and paint the buoys an' such like; but then you see, +sir, w'en it's their turn ashore they always gits home to spend the +nights with their families, sir, w'ich is a sort of compensation, as it +were,--that's where it is, sir." + +"Humph! d'you know what time it is slack water out there in the +afternoon just now?" + +"About three o'clock, sir." + +"Call me at nine to-morrow; breakfast at half-past; beefsteaks, coffee, +dry toast. Good-night." + +"Yessir--good-night, sir--Number 27, sir, first floor, left-hand side." + +Number 27 slammed his door with that degree of violence which indicates +a stout arm and an easy conscience. In less than quarter of an hour the +keen grey eyes were veiled in slumber, as was proved unmistakably to the +household by the sounds that proceeded from the nose to which these eyes +belonged. + +It is not unfrequently found that strength of mind, vigour of body, high +colour, and a tremendous appetite are associated with great capacity for +snoring. The man with the keen grey eyes possessed all these qualities, +as well as a large chin and a firm mouth, full of very strong white +teeth. He also possessed the convenient power of ability to go to sleep +at a moment's notice and to remain in that felicitous condition until he +chose to awake. His order to be "called" in the morning had reference +merely to hot water; for at the time of which we write men were still +addicted to the ridiculous practice of shaving--a practice which, as +every one knows, is now confined chiefly to very old men--who naturally +find it difficult to give up the bad habit of a lifetime--and to little +boys, who _erroneously_ suppose that the use of a sharp penknife will +hasten Nature's operations. + +Exactly at nine o'clock, a knock at the door and "'Ot water, sir," +sounded in the ears of Nunber 27. At half-past nine precisely Number 27 +entered the coffee-room, and was so closely followed by the waiter with +breakfast that it seemed as if that self-sacrificing functionary had sat +up all night keeping the meal hot in order to testify, by excessive +punctuality, the devotion of his soul to duty. + +The keen-eyed man had a keen appetite, if one might judge from +appearances in such a matter. A thick underdone steak that overwhelmed +his plate appeared to melt away rapidly from before him. Potatoes he +disposed of in two bites each; small ones were immolated whole. Of +mustard he used as much as might have made a small-sized plaster; pepper +he sowed broadcast; he made no account whatever of salt, and sugar was +as nothing before him. There was a peculiar crash in the sound produced +by the biting of his toast, which was suggestive at once of irresistible +power and thorough disintegration. Coffee went down in half-cup gulps; +shrimps disappeared in shoals, shells and all; and--in short, his +proceedings might have explained to an intelligent observer how it is +that so many men grow to be exceedingly fat, and why it is that hotel +proprietors cannot afford to lower their apparently exorbitant charges. +The waiter, standing modestly by, and looking on with solemn interest, +mentally attributed the traveller's extraordinary powers and high health +to the fact that he neither smoked nor drank. It would be presumptuous +in us to hazard a speculation on this subject in the face of an opinion +held by one who was so thoroughly competent to judge. + +Breakfast over, the keen-eyed man put on his hat and overcoat and +sallied forth to the harbour, where he spent the greater part of the +forenoon in loitering about, inspecting the boats--particularly the +lifeboat--and the shipping with much interest, and entering into +conversation with the boatmen who lounged upon the pier. He was very +gracious to the coxswain of the lifeboat--a bluff, deep-chested, hearty, +neck-or-nothing sort of man, with an intelligent eye, almost as keen as +his own, and a manner quite as prompt. With this coxswain he conversed +long about the nature of his stirring and dangerous duties. He then +made inquiry about his crew: how many men he had, and their +circumstances; and, by the way, whether any of them happened to be named +Jones. One of them was so named, the coxswain said--Tom Jones. This +led the traveller to ask if Tom Jones owned a small sloop. No, he +didn't own a sloop, not even a boat. Was there any other Jones in the +town who owned a small sloop and dealt largely in cured fish? Yes there +was, and he was a regular gallow's-bird, if all reports were true, the +coxswain told him. + +The traveller did not press the subject long. Having brought it up as +it were incidentally, he dismissed it carelessly, and again concentrated +his attention and interest on the lifeboat. + +To all the men with whom he conversed this bluff man with the keen grey +eyes put the same question, and he so contrived to put it that it seemed +to be a matter of comparatively little interest to him whether there was +or was not a man of the name of Jones in the town. Nevertheless, he +gained all the information about Jones that he desired, and then, hiring +a boat, set out for the floating light. + +The weather, that had appeared threatening during the night, suddenly +became calm and fine, as if to corroborate the statement of the waiter +of the Fortress Hotel in regard to its uncertainty; but knowing men in +oilcloth sou'westers and long boots gave it as their opinion that the +weather was not to be trusted. Fortunately for the traveller, it +remained trustworthy long enough to serve his purpose. The calm +permitted his boat to go safely alongside of the light-ship, and to +climb up the side without difficulty. + +The vessel in which he found himself was not by any means what we should +style clipper-built--quite the reverse. It was short for its length, +bluff in the bows, round in the stern, and painted all over, excepting +the mast and deck, of a bright red colour, like a great scarlet dragon, +or a gigantic boiled lobster. It might have been mistaken for the first +attempt in the ship-building way of an infatuated boy, whose +acquaintance with ships was founded on hearsay, and whose taste in +colour was violently eccentric. This remarkable thing had one immense +mast in the middle of it, supported by six stays, like the Norse galleys +of old, but it had no yards; for, although the sea was indeed its home, +and it incessantly braved the fury of the storm, diurnally cleft the +waters of flood and ebb-tide, and gallantly breasted the billows of +ocean all the year round, it had no need of sails. It never advanced an +inch on its course, for it had no course. It never made for any port. +It was never either homeward or outward bound. No streaming eyes ever +watched its departure; no beating hearts ever hailed its return. Its +bowsprit never pointed either to "Greenland's icy mountains, or India's +coral strand," for it had no bowsprit at all. Its helm was never swayed +to port or starboard, although it _had_ a helm, because the vessel +turned submissive with the tides, and its rudder, being lashed hard and +fast amidships--like most weather-cocks--couldn't move. Its doom was to +tug perpetually, day and night, from year to year, at a gigantic anchor +which would not let go, and to strain at a monster chain-cable which +would not snap--in short, to strive for ever, like Sisyphus, after +something which can never be attained. + +A sad destiny, some may be tempted to exclaim. No, reader, not so sad +as it appears. We have presented but one side of the picture. That +curious, almost ridiculous-looking craft, was among the aristocracy of +shipping. Its important office stamped it with nobility. It lay there, +conspicuous in its royal colour, from day to day and year to year, to +mark the fair-way between the white cliffs of Old England and the +outlying shoals--distinguished in daylight by a huge ball at its +mast-head, and at night by a magnificent lantern with argand lamps and +concave reflectors, which shot its rays like lightning far and wide over +the watery waste, while, in thick weather, when neither ball nor light +could be discerned, a sonorous gong gave its deep-toned warning to the +approaching mariner, and let him know his position amid the surrounding +dangers. Without such warnings by night and by day, the world would +suffer the loss of thousands of lives and untold millions of gold. +Indeed the mere absence of such warnings for one stormy night would +certainly result in loss irreparable to life and property. As well +might Great Britain dispense with her armies as with her floating +lights! That boiled-lobster-like craft was also, if we may be allowed +to say so, stamped with magnanimity, because its services were +disinterested and universal. While other ships were sailing grandly to +their ports in all their canvas panoply, and swelling with the pride of +costly merchandise within, each unmindful of the other, _this_ ship +remained floating there, destitute of cargo, either rich or poor, never +in port, always on service, serene in all the majesty of her one settled +self-sacrificing purpose--to guide the converging navies of the world +safely past the dangerous shoals that meet them on their passage to the +world's greatest port, the Thames, or to speed them safely thence when +outward-bound. That unclipperly craft, moreover, was a gallant vessel, +because its post was one of danger. When other ships fled on the wings +of terror--or of storm trysails--to seek refuge in harbour and +roadstead, this one merely lengthened her cable--as a knight might shake +loose the reins of his war-horse on the eve of conflict--and calmly +awaited the issue, prepared to let the storm do its worst, and to meet +it with a bold front. It lay right in the Channel, too, "i' the +imminent deadly breach," as it were, prepared to risk encounter with the +thousands of ships, great and small, which passed to and fro +continually;--to be grazed and fouled by clumsy steersmen, and to be run +into at night by unmanageable wrecks or derelicts; ready for anything in +fact--come weal come woe, blow high blow low--in the way of duty, for +this vessel was the Floating Light that marked the Gull-stream off the +celebrated and fatal Goodwin Sands. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +THE FLOATING LIGHT BECOMES THE SCENE OF FLOATING SURMISES AND VAGUE +SUSPICIONS. + +It must not be supposed, from what has been said, that the Gull +Lightship was the only vessel of the kind that existed at that time. +But she was a good type of the class of vessels (numbering at present +about sixty) to which she belonged, and, both as regarded her situation +and duties, was, and still is, one of the most interesting among the +floating lights of the kingdom. + +When the keen-eyed traveller stepped upon her well-scrubbed deck, he was +courteously received by the mate, Mr John Welton, a strongly-built man +above six feet in height, with a profusion of red hair, huge whiskers, +and a very peculiar expression of countenance, in which were united calm +self-possession, coolness, and firmness, with great good-humour and +affability. + +"You are Mr Welton, I presume?" said the traveller abruptly, touching +his hat with his forefinger in acknowledgment of a similar salute from +the mate. + +"That is my name, sir." + +"Will you do me the favour to read this letter?" said the traveller, +selecting a document from a portly pocket-book, and presenting it. + +Without reply the mate unfolded the letter and quietly read it through, +after which he folded and returned it to his visitor, remarking that he +should be happy to furnish him with all the information he desired, if +he would do him the favour to step down into the cabin. + +"I may set your mind at rest on one point at once," observed the +stranger, as he moved towards the companion-hatch, "my investigations +have no reference whatever to yourself." + +Mr Welton made no reply, but a slight look of perplexity that had +rested on his brow while he read the letter cleared away. + +"Follow me, Mr Larks," he said, turning and descending the ladder +sailor-fashion--which means crab-wise. + +"Do you happen to know anything," asked Mr Larks, as he prepared to +follow, "about a man of the name of Jones? I have come to inquire +particularly about him, and about your son, who, I am told--" + +The remainder of the sentence was lost in the cabin of the floating +light. Here, with the door and skylight shut, the mate remained +closeted for a long time in close conference with the keen-eyed man, +much to the surprise of the two men who constituted the watch on deck, +because visitors of any kind to a floating light were about as rare as +snowflakes in July, and the sudden advent of a visitor, who looked and +acted mysteriously, was in itself a profound mystery. Their curiosity, +however, was only gratified to this extent, that they observed the +stranger and the mate through the skylight bending earnestly over +several newspapers spread out before them on the cabin table. + +In less than an hour the keen-eyed man re-appeared on deck, bade the +mate an abrupt good-bye, nodded to the men who held the ropes for him, +descended into the boat, and took his departure for the shore whence he +had come. + +By this time the sun was beginning to approach the horizon. The mate of +the floating light took one or two turns on the deck, at which he gazed +earnestly, as if his future destiny were written there. He then glanced +at the compass and at the vessel's bow, after which he leant over the +side of the red-dragon, and looked down inquiringly at the flow of the +tide. Presently his attention was fixed on the shore, behind which the +sun was about to set, and, after a time, he directed a stern look +towards the sky, as if he were about to pick a quarrel with that part of +the universe, but thinking better of it, apparently, he unbent his +brows, let his eyes fall again on the deck, and muttered to himself, +"H'm! I expected as much." + +What it was that he expected, Mr John Welton never told from that day +to this, so it cannot be recorded here, but, after stating the fact, he +crossed his arms on his broad chest, and, leaning against the stern of +his vessel, gazed placidly along the deck, as if he were taking a +complacent survey of the vast domain over which he ruled. + +It was an interesting kingdom in detail. Leaving out of view all that +which was behind him, and which, of course, he could not see, we may +remark that, just before him stood the binnacle and compass, and the +cabin skylight. On his right and left the territory of the quarter-deck +was seriously circumscribed, and the promenade much interfered with, by +the ship's boats, which, like their parent, were painted red, and which +did not hang at the davits, but, like young lobsters of the kangaroo +type, found shelter within their mother, when not at sea on their own +account. Near to them were two signal-carronades. Beyond the skylight +rose the bright brass funnel of the cabin chimney, and the winch, by +means of which the lantern was hoisted. Then came another skylight, and +the companion-hatch about the centre of the deck. Just beyond this +stood the most important part of the vessel--the lantern-house. This +was a circular wooden structure, above six feet in diameter, with a door +and small windows. Inside was the lantern--the beautiful piece of +costly mechanism for which the light-ship, its crew, and its +appurtenances were maintained. Right through the centre of this house +rose the thick unyielding mast of the vessel. The lantern, which was +just a little less than its house, surrounded this mast and travelled +upon it. Beyond this the capital of the kingdom, the eye of the monarch +was arrested by another bright brass funnel, which was the chimney of +the galley-fire, and indicated the exact position of the abode of the +crew, or--to continue our metaphor--the populace, who, however, required +no such indicator to tell of their existence or locality, for the chorus +of a "nigger" melody burst from them, ever and anon, through every +opening in the decks, with jovial violence, as they sat, busily engaged +on various pieces of work below. The more remote parts of this +landscape--or light-scape, if we may be allowed the expression--were +filled up with the galley-skylight, the bitts, and the windlass, above +which towered the gong, and around which twined the two enormous chain +cables. Only one of these, however, was in use--that, with a single +mushroom-anchor, being sufficient to hold the ship securely against tide +and tempest. + +In reference to this we may remark in passing that the cable of a +floating light is frequently renewed, and that the chafing of the links +at the hawse-hole is distributed by the occasional paying out or hauling +in of a few yards of chain--a process which is styled "easing the nip." + +"Horroo! me hearty, ye're as clain as a lady's watch," exclaimed a man +of rugged form but pleasant countenance, as he issued from the small +doorway of the lantern-house with a bundle of waste in one hand and an +oil-can in the other. + +This was one of the lamplighters of the light-ship--Jerry MacGowl--a man +whose whole soul was, so to speak, in that lantern. It was his duty to +clip and trim the wicks, and fill the lamps, and polish the reflectors +and brasses, and oil the joints and wheels (for this was a revolving--in +other words a flashing light), and clean the glasses and windows. As +there were nine lights to attend to, and get ready for nightly service, +it may be easily understood that the lamplighter's duty was no sinecure. + +The shout of Jerry recalled the king from his contemplation of things in +general to the lantern in particular. + +"All ready to hoist, Jerry?" inquired Mr Welton, going forward. + +"All ready, sir," exclaimed the man, looking at his handiwork with +admiration, and carefully removing a speck of dust that had escaped his +notice from one of the plate-glass windows; "An't she a purty thing +now?--baits the best Ginaiva watch as iver was made. Ye might ait yer +supper off her floor and shave in the reflictors." + +"That's a fact, Jerry, with no end of oil to your salad too," said Mr +Welton, surveying the work of the lamplighter with a critical eye. + +"True for ye," replied Jerry, "an' as much cotton waste as ye like +without sinful extravagance." + +"The sun will be down in a few minutes," said the mate, turning round +and once more surveying the western horizon. + +Jerry admitted that, judging from past experience, there was reason to +believe in the probability of that event; and then, being of a poetical +temperament, he proceeded to expatiate upon the beauty of the evening, +which was calm and serene. + +"D'ye know, sir," he said, gazing towards the shore, between which and +the floating light a magnificent fleet of merchantmen lay at anchor +waiting for a breeze--each vessel reflected clearly in the water along +with the dazzling clouds of gold that towered above the setting +sun--"D'ye know, sir, I niver sees a sky like that but it minds me o' +the blissid green hills an' purty lakes of owld Ireland, an' fills me +buzzum wid a sort of inspiration till it feels fit a'most to bust." + +"You should have been a poet, Jerry," observed the mate, in a +contemplative tone, as he surveyed the shipping through his telescope. + +"Just what I've often thought mesilf, sir," replied Jerry, wiping his +forehead with the bunch of waste--"many a time I've said to mesilf, in a +thoughtful mood-- + + "Wan little knows what dirty clo'es + May kiver up a poet; + What fires may burn an' flout an' skurn, + An' no wan iver know it." + +"That's splendid, Jerry; but what's the meanin' of `skurn?'" + +"Sorrow wan of me knows, sir, but it conveys the idee somehow; don't it, +now?" + +"I'm not quite sure that it does," said the mate, walking aft and +consulting his chronometer for the last time, after which he put his +head down the hatchway and shouted, "Up lights!" in a deep sonorous +voice. + +"Ay, ay, sir," came the ready response from below, followed by the +prompt appearance of the other lamplighter and the four seamen who +composed the crew of the vessel Jerry turned on his heel, murmuring, in +a tone of pity, that the mate, poor man, "had no soul for poethry." + +Five of the crew manned the winch; the mate and Jerry went to a +block-tackle which was also connected with the lifting apparatus. Then +the order to hoist was given, and immediately after, just as the sun +went down, the floating light went up,--a modest yet all-important +luminary of the night. Slowly it rose, for the lantern containing it +weighed full half a ton, and caused the hoisting chain and pulleys to +groan complainingly. At last it reached its destination at the head of +the thick part of the mast, but about ten or fifteen feet beneath the +ball. As it neared the top, Jerry sprang up the chain-ladder to connect +the lantern with the rod and pinion by means of which, with clockwork +beneath, it was made to revolve and "flash" once every third of a +minute. + +Simultaneously with the ascent of the Gull light there arose out of the +sea three bright stars on the nor'-eastern horizon, and another star in +the south-west. The first were the three fixed lights of the lightship +that marked the North sandhead; the latter was the fixed light that +guarded the South sandhead. The Goodwin sentinels were now placed for +the night, and the commerce of the world might come and go, and pass +those dreaded shoals, in absolute security. + +Ere long the lights of the shipping in the Downs were hung out, and one +by one the lamps on shore shone forth--those which marked the entrance +of Ramsgate harbour being conspicuous for colour and brilliancy--until +the water, which was so calm as to reflect them all, seemed alive with +perpendicular streams of liquid fire; land and sea appearing to be the +subjects of one grand illumination. A much less poetical soul than that +of the enthusiastic lamp-lighter might have felt a touch of unwonted +inspiration on such a night, and in such a scene. The effect on the +mind was irresistibly tranquillising. While contemplating the +multitudes of vessels that lay idle and almost motionless on the glassy +water, the thought naturally arose that each black hull en-shrouded +human beings who were gradually sinking into rest--relaxing after the +energies of the past day--while the sable cloak of night descended, +slowly and soothingly, as if God were spreading His hand gently over all +to allay the fever of man's busy day-life and calm him into needful +rest. + +The watch of the floating light having been set, namely, two men to +perambulate the deck--a strict watch being kept on board night and day-- +the rest of the crew went below to resume work, amuse themselves, or +turn in as they felt inclined. + +While they were thus engaged, and darkness was deepening on the scene, +Welton stood on the quarterdeck observing a small sloop that floated +slowly towards the lightship. Her sails were indeed set, but no breath +of wind bulged them out; her onward progress was caused by the tide, +which had by that time begun to set with a strong current to the +northward. When within about a cable's length, the rattle of her chain +told that the anchor had been let go. A few minutes later, a boat was +seen to push off from the sloop and make for the lightship. Two men +rowed it and a third steered. Owing to the force of the current they +made the vessel with some difficulty. + +"Heave us a rope," cried one of the men, as they brushed past. + +"No visitors allowed aboard," replied Mr Welton sternly; catching up, +nevertheless, a coil of rope. + +"Hallo! father, surely you've become very unhospitable," exclaimed +another voice from the boat. + +"Why, Jim, is that you, my son?" cried the mate, as he flung the coil +over the side. + +The boatmen caught it, and next moment Jim stood on the deck--a tall +strapping young seaman of twenty or thereabouts--a second edition of his +father, but more active and lithe in his motions. + +"Why you creep up to us, Jim, like a thief in the night. What brings +you here, lad, at such an hour?" asked Mr Welton, senior, as he shook +hands with his son. + +"I've come to have a talk with 'ee, father. As to creeping like a +thief, a man must creep with the tide when there's no wind, d'ye see, if +he don't come to an anchor. 'Tis said that time and tide wait for no +man; that bein' so, I have come to see you now that I've got the chance. +That's where it is. But I can't stay long, for old Jones will--" + +"What!" interrupted the mate with a frown, as he led his son to the +forepart of the vessel, in order to be out of earshot of the watch, +"have 'ee really gone an' shipped with that scoundrel again, after all +I've said to 'ee?" + +"I have, father," answered the young man with a perplexed expression; +"it is about that same that I've come to talk to 'ee, and to explain--" + +"You have need to explain, Jim," said the mate sternly, "for it seems to +me that you are deliberately taking up with bad company; and I see in +you already one o' the usual consequences; you don't care much for your +father's warnings." + +"Don't say that, father," exclaimed the youth earnestly, "I am sure that +if you knew--stay; I'll send back the boat, with orders to return for me +in an hour or so." + +Saying this he hurried to the gangway, dismissed the boat, and returned +to the forepart of the vessel, where he found his father pacing the deck +with an anxious and somewhat impatient air. + +"Father," said Jim, as he walked up and down beside his sire, "I have +made up my mind that it is my duty to remain, at least a little longer +with Jones, because--" + +"Your duty!" interrupted the mate in surprise. "James!" he added, +earnestly, "you told me not long ago that you had taken to attending the +prayer-meetings at the sailors' chapel when you could manage it, and I +was glad to hear you say so, because I think that the man who feels his +need of the help of the Almighty, and acts upon his feeling, is safe to +escape the rocks and shoals of life--always supposin' that he sails by +the right chart--the Bible; but tell me, does the missionary, or the +Bible, teach that it is any one's duty to take up with a swearing, +drinking scoundrel, who is going from bad to worse, and has got the name +of being worthy of a berth in Newgate?" + +"We cannot tell, father, whether all that's said of Morley Jones be +true. We may have our suspicions, but we can't prove t'em; and there's +no occasion to judge a man too soon." + +"That may be so, Jim, but that is no reason why you should consort with +a man who can do you no goods and, will certainly do 'ee much harm, when +you've no call for to do so. Why do 'ee stick by him--that's what I +want to know--when everybody says he'll be the ruin of you? And why do +'ee always put me off with vague answers when I git upon that subject? +You did not use to act like that, Jim. You were always fair an' +above-board in your young days. But what's the use of askin'? It's +plain that bad company has done it, an' my only wonder is, how _you_ +ever come to play the hypocrite to that extent, as to go to the +prayer-meeting and make believe you've turned religious." + +There was a little bitterness mingled with the tone of remonstrance in +which this was said, which appeared to affect the young man powerfully, +for his face crimsoned as he stopped and laid his hand on his father's +shoulder. + +"Whatever follies or sins I may have committed," he said, solemnly, "I +have not acted a hypocrite's part in this matter. Did you ever yet find +me out, father, tellin' you a lie?" + +"Well, I can't say I ever did," answered the mate with a relenting +smile, "'xcept that time when you skimmed all the cream off the milk and +capsized the dish and said the cat done it, although you was slobbered +with it from your nose to your toes--but you was a _very_ small fellow +at that time, you was, and hadn't got much ballast aboard nor begun to +stow your conscience." + +"Well, father," resumed Jim with a half-sad smile, "you may depend upon +it I am not going to begin to deceive you now. My dear mother's last +words to me on that dreary night when she died,--`Always stick to the +_truth_, Jim, whatever it may cost you,'--have never been forgotten, and +I pray God they never may be. Believe me when I tell you that I never +join Morley in any of his sinful doings, especially his drinking bouts. +You know that I am a total abstainer--" + +"No, you're not," cried Mr Welton, senior; "you don't abstain totally +from bad company, Jim, and it's that I complain of." + +"I never join him in his drinking bouts," repeated Jim, without noticing +the interruption; "and as he never confides to me any of his business +transactions, I have no reason to say that I believe them to be unfair. +As I said before, I may suspect, but suspicion is not knowledge; we have +no right to condemn him on mere suspicion." + +"True, my son; but you have a perfect right to steer clear of him on +mere suspicion." + +"No doubt," replied Jim, with some hesitation in his tone, "but there +are circumstances--" + +"There you go again with your `circumstances,'" exclaimed Welton senior +with some asperity; "why don't you heave circumstances overboard, rig +the pumps and make a clean breast of it? Surely it's better to do that +than let the ship go to the bottom!" + +"Because, father, the circumstances don't all belong to myself. Other +people's affairs keep my tongue tied. I do assure you that if it +concerned only myself, I would tell you everything; and, indeed, when +the right time comes, I promise to tell you all--but in the meantime I-- +I--" + +"Jim," said Mr Welton, senior, stopping suddenly and confronting his +stalwart son, "tell me honestly, now, isn't there a pretty girl mixed up +in this business?" + +Jim stood speechless, but a mantling flush, which the rays of the +revolving light deepened on his sunburnt countenance, rendered speech +unnecessary. + +"I knew it," exclaimed the mate, resuming his walk and thrusting his +hands deeper into the pockets of his coat, "it never was otherwise since +Adam got married to Eve. Whatever mischief is going you're sure to find +a woman underneath the _very_ bottom of it, no matter how deep you go! +If it wasn't that the girls are at the bottom of everything good as well +as everything bad, I'd be glad to see the whole bilin of 'em made fast +to all the sinkers of all the buoys along the British coast and sent to +the bottom of the North Sea." + +"I suspect that if that were done," said Jim, with a laugh, "you'd soon +have all the boys on the British coast making earnest inquiries after +their sinkers! But after all, father, although the girls are hard upon +us sometimes, you must admit that we couldn't get on without 'em." + +"True for ye, boy," observed Jerry MacGowl, who, coming up at that +moment, overheard the conclusion of the sentence. "It's mesilf as +superscribes to that same. Haven't the swate creeturs led me the life +of a dog; turned me inside out like an owld stockin', trod me in the +dust as if I was benaith contimpt an' riven me heart to mortial tatters, +but I couldn't get on widout 'em nohow for all that. As the pote might +say, av he only knowd how to putt it in proper verse:-- + + "`Och, woman dear, ye darlin', + It's I would iver be + Yer praises caterwaulin' + In swaitest melodee!'" + +"Mind your own business, Jerry," said the mate, interrupting the flow of +the poet's inspiration. + +"Sure it's that same I'm doin', sir," replied the man, respectfully +touching his cap as he advanced towards the gong that surrounded the +windlass and uncovered it. "Don't ye see the fog a-comin' down like the +wolf on the fold, an' ain't it my dooty to play a little tshune for the +benefit o' the public?" + +Jerry hit the instrument as he spoke and drowned his own voice in its +sonorous roar. He was driven from his post, however, by Dick Moy, one +of the watch, who, having observed the approaching fog had gone forward +to sound the gong, and displayed his dislike to interference by +snatching the drumstick out of Jerry's hand and hitting him a smart blow +therewith on the top of his head. + +As further conversation was under the circumstances impossible, John +Welton and his son retired to the cabin, where the former detailed to +the latter the visit of the strange gentleman with the keen grey eyes, +and the conversation that had passed between them regarding Morley +Jones. Still the youth remained unmoved, maintaining that suspicion was +not proof, although he admitted that things now looked rather worse than +they had done before. + +While the father and son were thus engaged, a low moaning wail and an +unusual heave of the vessel caused them to hasten on deck, just as one +of the watch put his head down the hatch and shouted, "A squall, sir, +brewing up from the nor'-east." + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +A DISTURBED NIGHT; A WRECK AND AN UNEXPECTED RESCUE. + +The aspect of the night had completely changed. The fog had cleared +away; heavy clouds rolled athwart the sky; a deeper darkness descended +on the shipping at anchor in the Downs, and a gradually increasing swell +caused the Gull to roll a little and tug uneasily at her cable. +Nevertheless the warning light at her mast-head retained its +perpendicular position in consequence of a clever adaptation of +mechanism on the principle of the universal joint. + +With the rise of the swell came the first rush of the squall. + +"If they don't send the boat at once, you'll have to spend the night +with us, Jim," said the mate, looking anxiously in the direction of the +sloop belonging to Morley Jones, the dark outlines of which could just +be seen looming of a deeper black against the black sky. + +"It's too late even now," returned Jim in an anxious tone; "the boat, +like everything else about the sloop, is a rotten old thing, and would +be stove against the side in this swell, slight though it be as yet. +But my chief trouble is, that the cables are not fit to hold her if it +comes on to blow hard." + +For some time the wind increased until it blew half a gale. At that +point it continued steady, and as it gave no indication of increasing, +John Welton and his son returned to the cabin, where the latter amused +himself in glancing over some of the books in the small library with +which the ship was furnished, while the sire busied himself in posting +up the ship's log for the day. + +For a considerable time they were silent, the one busily engaged +writing, the other engrossed with a book. At last Mr Welton senior +heaved a deep sigh, and said, while he carefully dotted an _i_ and +stroked a _t_-- + +"It has always been my opinion, Jim, that when boys are bein' trained +for the sea, they should be taught writing in a swing or an omnibus, in +order to get 'em used to do it in difficult circumstances. There she +goes again," he added, referring to a lurch of the vessel which caused +the tail of a _y_ to travel at least two inches out of its proper +course. "Now, that job's done. I'll turn in for a spell, and advise +you to do the same, lad." + +"No, I'll go on deck and have a talk with Dick Moy. If the gale don't +increase I'll perhaps turn in, but I couldn't sleep just now for +thinkin' o' the sloop." + +"Please yourself, my son, an' you'll please me," replied the mate with a +smile which ended in a yawn as he opened the door of a small sleeping +berth, and disappeared into its recesses. + +James Welton stood for a few minutes with his back to the small +fireplace, and stared meditatively at the cabin lamp. + +The cabin of the floating light was marvellously neat and immaculately +clean. There was evidence of a well-ordered household in the tidiness +with which everything was put away in its proper place, even although +the fair hand of woman had nothing to do with it, and clumsy man reigned +paramount and alone! The cabin itself was very small--about ten feet or +so in length, and perhaps eight in width. The roof was so low that Jim +could not stand quite erect because of the beams. The grate resembled a +toy, and was of brass polished so bright that you might have used it for +a looking-glass; the fire in it was proportionately small, but large +enough for the place it had to warm. A crumb or speck of dust could +scarce have been found on the floor with a microscope,--and no wonder, +for whenever John Welton beheld the smallest symptom of such a blemish +he seized a brush and shovel and swept it away. The books in the little +library at the stern were neatly arranged, and so were the cups, plates, +glasses, salt-cellars, spoons, and saucers, in the little recess that +did duty as a cupboard. In short, order and cleanliness reigned +everywhere. + +And not only was this the case in the cabin, but in every department of +the ship. The bread-lockers, the oil-room next to the cabin, the galley +where the men lived--all were scrupulously clean and everything therein +was arranged with the method and precision that one is accustomed to +expect only on board a man-of-war. And, after all, what is a floating +light but a man-of-war? Its duty is, like that of any three-decker, to +guard the merchant service from a dangerous foe. It is under command of +the Trinity Corporation--which is tantamount to saying that it is well +found and handled--and it does battle continually with the storm. What +more could be said of a man-of-war? The only difference is that it does +its work with less fuss and no noise! + +After warming himself for a short time, for the night had become +bitterly cold, Jim Welton put on one of his sire's overcoats and went on +deck, where he had a long walk and talk with Dick Moy, who gave it as +his opinion that "it was a wery cold night," and said that he "wouldn't +be surprised if it wor to come on to blow 'arder before mornin'." + +Dick was a huge man with a large expanse of good-natured visage, and a +tendency to make all his statements with the solemnity of an oracle. +Big and little men, like large and small dogs, have usually a +sympathetic liking for each other. Dick Moy's chief friend on board was +little Jack Shales, who was the life of the ship, and was particularly +expert, as were also most of his mates, in making, during hours of +leisure, beautiful workboxes and writing-desks with inlaid woods of +varied colours, which were sold at a moderate price on shore, in order +to eke out the monthly wage and add to the comforts of wives and little +ones at Ramsgate. It may be added that Jack Shales was unquestionably +the noisiest man on board. He had a good voice; could sing, and _did_ +sing, from morning till night, and had the power of uttering a yell that +would have put to shame the wildest warrior among the Cherokee savages! + +Jack Shales kept watch with Moy that night, and assisted in the +conversation until a sudden snow storm induced young Welton to bid them +good-night and retire below. + +"Good-night," said Shales, as Jim's head was disappearing down the +hatchway, "stir up the fire and keep yourself warm." + +"That's just what I mean to do," replied Jim; "sorry I can't communicate +some of the warmth to you." + +"But you can think of us," cried Jack, looking down the hatchway, "you +can at least pity us poor babes out here in the wind and snow!" + +"Shut up, Jack!" said Moy with a solemn growl, "wot a tremendous jaw +you've got w'en you let loose! Why, wot are 'ee starin' at now? 'Ave +'ee seed a ghost?" + +"No, Dick," said Shales, in a tone of voice from which every vestige of +jocularity had disappeared; "look steady in the direction of the South +sandhead light and--see! ain't that the flash of a gun?" + +"It looks like it. A wreck on the sand, I fear," muttered Dick Moy, +putting up both hands to guard his eyes from the snow-flakes that were +driven wildly about by the wind, which had by that time increased to a +furious gale. + +For a few minutes the two men stood gazing intently towards the +south-west horizon. Presently a faint flash was seen, so faint that +they could not be certain it was that of a signal-gun. In a few +minutes, however, a thin thread of red light was seen to curve upwards +into the black sky. + +"No mistake now," cried Jack, leaping towards the cabin skylight, which +he threw up, and bending down, shouted--"South sandhead light is firing, +sir, and sending up rockets!" + +The mate, who was at the moment in the land of dreams, sprang out of +them and out of his bunk, and stood on the cabin floor almost before the +sentence was finished. His son, who had just drawn the blanket over his +shoulders, and given vent to the first sigh of contentment with which a +man usually lays his head on his pillow for the night, also jumped up, +drew on coat, nether garments, and shoes, as if his life depended on his +speed, and dashed on deck. There was unusual need for clothing that +night, for it had become bitterly cold, a coat of ice having formed even +on the salt-water spray which had blown into the boats. They found Dick +Moy and Jack Shales already actively engaged--the one loading the lee +gun, the other adjusting a rocket to its stick. A few hurried questions +from the mate elicited all that it was needful to know. The flash of +the gun from the South sandhead lightship, about six miles off, had been +distinctly seen a third time, and a third rocket went up just as Welton +and his son gained the deck, indicating that a vessel had struck upon +the fatal Goodwin Sands. The report of the gun could not be heard, +owing to the gale carrying the sound to leeward, but the bright line of +the rocket was distinctly visible. At the same moment the flaring light +of a burning tar-barrel was observed. It was the signal of the vessel +in distress just on the southern tail of the sands. + +By this time the gun was charged and the rocket in position. + +"Look alive, Jack, fetch the poker!" cried the mate as he primed the +gun. + +Jack Shales dived down the companion-hatch, and in another moment +returned with a red-hot poker, which the mate had thrust into the cabin +fire at the first alarm. He applied it in quick succession to the gun +and rocket. A blinding flash and deafening crash were followed by the +whiz of the rocket as it sprang with a magnificent curve far away into +the surrounding darkness. + +This was their answer to the South sandhead light, which, having fired +three guns and sent up three rockets to attract the attention of the +Gull, then ceased firing. It was also their first note of warning to +the look-out on the pier of Ramsgate harbour. Of the three light-ships +that guarded the sands, the Gull lay nearest to Ramsgate; hence, +whichever of the other two happened to send up signals, the Gull had to +reply and thenceforward to continue repeating them until the attention +of the Ramsgate look-out should be gained, and a reply given. + +"That's a beauty," cried the mate, referring to the rocket; "fetch +another, Jack; sponge her well out, Dick Moy, we'll give 'em another +shot in a few minutes." + +Loud and clear were both the signals, but four and a half miles of +distance and a fresh gale neutralised their influence. The look-out on +the pier did not observe them. In less than five minutes the gun and +rocket were fired again. Still no answering signal came from Ramsgate. + +"Load the weather gun this time," cried the mate, "they'll have a better +chance of seeing the flash of that." + +Jack obeyed, and Jim Welton, having nothing to do but look on, sought +shelter under the lee of the weather bulwarks, for the wind, according +to Dick Moy, "was blowin' needles and penknives." + +The third gun thundered forth and shook the floating light from stem to +stern, but the rocket struck the rigging and made a low wavering flight. +Another was therefore sent up, but it had scarcely cut its bright line +across the sky when the answering signal was observed--a rocket from +Ramsgate pier! + +"That's all right now; _our_ duty's done," said the mate, as he went +below, and, divesting himself of his outer garments, quietly turned in, +while the watch, having sponged out and re-covered the guns, resumed +their active perambulation of the deck. + +James Welton, however, could not calm down his feelings so easily. This +was the first night he had ever spent in a light-ship; the scene was +therefore quite new to him, and he could not help feeling somewhat +disappointed at the sudden termination of the noise and excitement. He +was told that the Ramsgate lifeboat could not be out in less than an +hour, and it seemed to his excited spirit a terrible thing that human +lives should be kept so long in jeopardy. Of course he began to think, +"Is it not possible to prevent this delay?" but his better sense +whispered to him that excited spirits are not the best judges in such +matters, although it cannot be denied that they have an irresistible +tendency to judge. There was nothing for it, however, but to exercise +philosophic patience, so he went below and turned in, as sailors have +it, "all standing," to be ready when the lifeboat should make its +appearance. + +The young sailor's sleep was prompt and profound. It seemed to him but +a few minutes after he had laid his head on the pillow when Jack Shale's +voice again resounded in the cabin-- + +"Lifeboat close alongside, sir. Didn't see her till this moment. She +carries no lights." + +The Weltons, father and son, sprang out of their bunks a second time, +and, minus coat, hat, and shoes, scrambled on deck just in time to see +the Broadstairs lifeboat rush past before the gale. She was close under +the stern, and rendered spectrally visible by the light of the lantern. + +"What are you firing for?" shouted the coxswain of the boat. + +"Ship on the sands, bearing south," roared Jack Shales at the full pitch +of his stentorian voice. + +There was no time for more, for the boat did not pause in her +meteor-like flight. The question was asked and answered as she passed +with a magnificent rush into darkness. The reply had been heard, and +the lifeboat shot, straight as an arrow, to the rescue. + +Reader, we often hear and read of such scenes, but we can tell you from +experience that vision is necessary to enable one to realise the full +import of all that goes on. There was a strange thrill at the heart of +young Welton when he saw the familiar blue-and-white boat leaping over +the foaming billows. Often had he seen it in model and in quiescence in +its boat-house, ponderous and almost ungainly; but now he saw it for the +first time in action, as if endued with life. So, we fancy, warriors +might speak of our heavy cavalry as _we_ see them in barracks and as +_they_ saw them at Alma. + +Again all was silent and unexciting on board the Gull; but, not many +minutes later, the watch once more shouted down the skylight-- + +"Tug's in sight, sir." + +It was afterwards ascertained that a mistake had been made in reference +to the vessel that had signalled. Some one on shore had reported that +the guns and rockets had been seen flashing from the _North_ sandhead +vessel, whereas the report should have been, "from the vessel at the +_South_ sandhead." The single word was all-important. It had the +effect of sending the steam-tug Aid (which always attends upon the +Ramsgate lifeboat) in the wrong direction, involving much loss of time. +But we mention this merely as a fact, not as a reproof. Accidents will +happen, even in the best regulated families. The Ramsgate lifeboat +service is most admirably regulated; and for once that an error of this +kind can be pointed out, we can point to dozens--ay, hundreds--of cases +in which the steamer and lifeboat have gone, straight as the crow flies, +to the rescue, and have done good service on occasions when all other +lifeboats would certainly have failed; so great is the value of steam in +such matters. + +On this occasion, however, the tug appeared somewhat late on the scene, +and hailed the Gull. When the true state of the case was ascertained, +her course was directed aright, and full steam let on. The Ramsgate +boat was in tow far astern. As she passed, the brief questions and +answers were repeated for the benefit of the coxswain, and Jim Welton +observed that every man in the boat appeared to be crouching down on the +thwarts except the coxswain, who stood at the steering tackles. No +wonder. It is not an easy matter to sit up in a gale of wind, with +freezing spray, and sometimes green seas, sweeping over one! The men +were doubtless wideawake and listening, but, as far as vision went, that +boat was manned by ten oilskin coats and sou'westers! + +A few seconds carried them out of sight, and so great was the power of +steam that, despite the loss of time, they reached the neighbourhood of +the wreck as soon as the Broadstairs boat, and found that the crew of +the stranded vessel had already been saved, and taken ashore by the Deal +lifeboat. + +It may be as well to observe here, that although in this case much +energy was expended unnecessarily, it does not follow that it is +frequently so expended. Often, far too often, all the force of lifeboat +service on that coast is insufficient to meet the demands on it. The +crews of the various boats in the vicinity of the Goodwin Sands are +frequently called out more than once in a night, and they are sometimes +out all night, visiting various wrecks in succession. In all this work +the value of the steam-tug is very conspicuous, for it can tow its boat +again and again to windward of a wreck, and renew the effort to save +life in cases where, devoid of such aid, lifeboats would be compelled to +give in after the failure of their first attempt, in consequence of +their being driven helplessly to leeward. + +But we have forestalled our narrative. The drama, as far as the +Gull-Light was concerned, ended that night with the disappearance of the +tug and lifeboat. It was not until several days afterwards that her +crew learned the particulars of the wreck in connection with which they +had acted so brief but so important a part. + +Meanwhile, Dick Moy, who always walked the deck with a rolling swagger, +with his huge hands thrust deep into his breeches' pockets when there +was nothing for them to do, said to Jim Welton, "he'd advise 'im to go +below an' clap the dead-lights on 'is peepers." + +Jim, approving the advice, was about to descend to the cabin, when he +was arrested by a sharp cry that appeared to rise out of the waves. + +"Wot iver is that?" exclaimed Dick, as they all rushed to the port bow +of the vessel and looked over the side. + +"Something in the water," cried Jack Shales, hastily catching up a coil +of rope and throwing it overboard with that promptitude which is +peculiar to seamen. + +"Why, _he_ can't kitch hold on it; it's only a dog," observed Dick Moy. + +All uncertainty on this point was cleared away, by a loud wail to which +the poor animal gave vent, as it scraped along the ship's hull, vainly +endeavouring to prevent itself from being carried past by the tide. + +By this time they were joined by the mate and the rest of the crew, who +had heard the unwonted sounds and hurried on deck. Each man was eagerly +suggesting a method of rescue, or attempting to carry one into effect, +by means of a noose or otherwise, when Mr Welton, senior, observed that +Mr Welton, junior, was hastily tying a rope round his waist. + +"Hallo! Jim," he cried, "surely you don't mean to risk your life for a +dog?" + +"There's no risk about it, father. Why should I leave a poor dog to +drown when it will only cost a ducking at the worst? You know I can +swim like a cork, and I ain't easily cooled down." + +"You shan't do it if I can prevent," cried the mate, rushing at his +reckless son. + +But Jim was too nimble for him. He ran to the stern of the vessel, +leaped on the bulwarks, flung the end of the coil of rope among the men, +and shouting, "Hold on taut, boys!" sprang into the sea. + +The men did "hold on" most powerfully; they did more, they hauled upon +the rope, hand over hand, to a "Yo-heave-ho!" from Jerry MacGowl, which +put to shame the roaring gale, and finally hauled Jim Welton on board +with a magnificent Newfoundland dog in his arms, an event which was +greeted with three enthusiastic cheers! + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +A NEW CHARACTER INTRODUCED. + +The gale was a short-lived one. On the following morning the wind had +decreased to a moderate breeze, and before night the sea had gone down +sufficiently to allow the boat of Mr Jones's sloop to come alongside of +the floating light. + +Before Jim Welton bade his friends good-bye, he managed to have an +earnest and private talk with each of them. Although he had never been +connected with the Gull, he had frequently met with the men of that +vessel, and, being one of those large-hearted sympathetic men who +somehow worm themselves into the affection and confidence of most of +their friends and comrades, he had something particular to say to each, +either in reference to wives and families on shore, or to other members +of that distracting section of the human family which, according to Mr +Welton senior, lay at the foundation of all mischief. + +But young Welton did not confine himself to temporal matters. It has +already been hinted that he had for some time been in the habit of +attending prayer-meetings, but the truth was that he had recently been +led by a sailor's missionary to read the Bible, and the precious Word of +God had been so blessed to his soul, that he had seen his own lost +condition by nature, and had also seen, and joyfully accepted, Jesus +Christ as his all-sufficient Saviour. He had come to "know the truth," +and "the truth had set him free;" free, not only from spiritual death +and the power of sin, but free from that unmanly shame which, alas! too +often prevents Christians from taking a bold stand on the Lord's side. + +The young sailor had, no doubt, had severe inward conflicts, which were +known only to God and himself, but he had been delivered and +strengthened, for he was not ashamed of Christ in the presence of his +old comrades, and he sought by all the means in his power to draw them +to the same blessed Saviour. + +"Well, good-bye, Jim," said Mr Welton, senior, as his son moved towards +the gangway, when the boat came alongside, "all I've got to say to 'ee, +lad, is, that you're on dangerous ground, and you have no right to shove +yourself in the way of temptation." + +"But I don't _shove_ myself, father; I think I am led in that way. I +may be wrong, perhaps, but such is my belief." + +"You'll not forget that message to my mother," whispered a +sickly-looking seaman, whose strong-boned frame appeared to be somewhat +attenuated by disease. + +"I'll not forget, Rainer. It's likely that we shall be in Yarmouth in a +couple of days, and you may depend upon my looking up the old woman as +soon after I get ashore as possible." + +"Hallo! hi!" shouted a voice from below, "wot's all the hurry?" cried +Dick Moy, stumbling hastily up on deck while in the act of closing a +letter which bore evidence of having been completed under difficulties, +for its form was irregular, and its back was blotted. "Here you are, +putt that in the post at Yarmouth, will 'ee, like a good fellow?" + +"Why, you've forgotten the address," exclaimed Jim Welton in affected +surprise. + +"No, I 'aven't. There it is hall right on the back." + +"What, that blot?" + +"Ay, that's wot stands for Mrs Moy," said Dick, with a good-natured +smile. + +"Sure now," observed Jerry MacGowl, looking earnestly at the letter, "it +do seem to me, for all the world, as if a cat had drawed his tail across +it after stumblin' over a ink-bottle." + +"Don't Mrs Moy live in Ramsgate?" inquired Jim Welton. + +"Of course she do," replied Dick. + +"But I'm not going there; I'm goin' to Yarmouth," said Jim. + +"Wot then?" retorted Dick, "d'ee suppose the clerk o' the post-office at +Yarmouth ain't as well able to read as the one at Ramsgate, even though +the writin' _do_ be done with a cat's tail? Go along with 'ee." + +Thus dismissed, Jim descended the side and was quickly on board the +sloop Nora to which he belonged. + +On the deck of the little craft he was received gruffly by a man of +powerful frame and stern aspect, but whose massive head, covered with +shaggy grey curling hair, seemed to indicate superior powers of +intellect. This was Morley Jones, the master and owner of the sloop. + +"A pretty mess you've made of it; I might have been in Yarmouth by this +time," he said, testily. + +"More likely at the bottom of the sea," answered Jim, quietly, as he +went aft and looked at the compass--more from habit than from any desire +to receive information from that instrument. + +"Well, if I had been at the bottom o' the sea, what then? Who's to say +that I mayn't risk my life if I see fit? It's not worth much," he said, +gloomily. + +"You seem to forget that in risking your own life you risk the lives of +those who sail along with you," replied Jim, with a bold yet +good-humoured look at the skipper. + +"And what if I do risk their lives?--they ain't worth much, either, +_I'm_ sure?" + +"Not to you, Morley, but worth a good deal to themselves, not to mention +their wives and families and friends. You know well enough that if I +had wished ever so much to return aboard last night your boat could not +have got alongside the Gull for the sea. Moreover, you also know that +if you had attempted to put to sea in such weather, this leaky tub, with +rotten sails and running gear, would have been a wreck on the Goodwin +sands before now, and you and I, with the two men and the boy, would +have been food for the gulls and fishes." + +"Not at all," retorted Jones, "there's not much fear of our lives here. +The lifeboat crews are too active for that; and as to the sloop, why, +she's insured you know for her full value--for more than her value, +indeed." + +Jones said this with a chuckle and a sly expression in his face, as he +glanced meaningly at his companion. + +"I know nothing about your insurance or your cargo, and, what's more, I +don't want to know," said Jim, almost angrily. "You've been at +Square-Tom again," he added, suddenly laying his hand upon the shoulder +of his companion and looking earnestly into his eyes. + +It was now Jones's turn to be angry, yet it was evident that he made an +effort to restrain his feelings, as he replied, "Well, what if I have? +It's one thing for you to advise me to become a teetotaller, and it's +quite another thing for me to agree to do it. I tell you again, as I've +often told you before, Jim Welton, that _I don't mean to do it_, and I'm +not going to submit to be warned and reasoned with by you, as if you was +my grandfather. I _know_ that drink is the curse of my life, and I know +that it will kill me, and that I am a fool for giving way to it, but it +is the only thing that makes me able to endure this life; and as for the +next, I don't care for it, and _I don't believe in it_." + +"But your not believing in it does not make it less certain," replied +Jim, quietly, but without any approach to solemnity in his tone or look, +for he knew that his companion was not in a mood just then to stand such +treatment. "You remember the story of the ostrich that was run down? +Finding that it could not escape, it stuck its head in the sand and +thought that nobody saw it. You may shut your eyes, Morley, but facts +remain facts for all that." + +"Shutting my eyes is just what I am _not_ doing," returned Jones, +flinging round and striding to the other side of the deck; then, turning +quickly, he strode back, and added, with an oath, "have I not told you +that I see myself, my position, and my prospects, as clearly as you do, +and that I intend to face them all, and take the consequences?" + +Jim Welton flushed slightly, and his eyes dilated, as he replied-- + +"Have you not the sense to see, Morley Jones, that my remonstrances with +you are at least disinterested? What would you think if I were to say +to you, `Go, drink your fill till death finds you at last wallowing on +the ground like a beast, or worse than a beast; I leave you to your +fate?'" + +"I would think that Jim Welton had changed his nature," replied Jones, +whose anger disappeared as quickly as it came. "I have no objection to +your storming at me, Jim. You may swear at me as much as you please, +but, for any sake, spare me your reasonings and entreaties, because they +only rouse the evil spirit within me, without doing an atom of good; and +don't talk of leaving me. Besides, let me tell you, you are not so +disinterested in this matter as you think. There is some one in +Yarmouth who has something to do with your interest in me." + +The young man flushed again at the close of this speech, but not from a +feeling of anger. He dropt his eyes before the earnest though unsteady +gaze of his half-tipsy companion, who burst into a loud laugh as Jim +attempted some stammering reply. + +"Come," he added, again assuming the stern aspect which was natural to +him, but giving Jim a friendly slap on the shoulder, "don't let us fall +out, Jim you and I don't want to part just now. Moreover, if we have a +mind to get the benefit of the tide to-night, the sooner we up anchor +the better, so we won't waste any more time talking." + +Without waiting for a reply, Mr Jones went forward and called the crew. +The anchor was weighed, the sails were set, and the sloop Nora--bending +over before the breeze, as if doing homage in passing her friend the +Gull-Light--put to sea, and directed her course for the ancient town and +port of Yarmouth. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +MORE NEW CHARACTERS INTRODUCED. + +If it be true that time and tide wait for no man, it is equally true, we +rejoice to know, that authors and readers have a corresponding immunity +from shackles, and are in nowise bound to wait for time or tide. + +We therefore propose to leave the Gull-stream light, and the Goodwin +sands, and the sloop Nora, far behind us, and, skipping a little in +advance of Time itself proceed at once to Yarmouth. + +Here, in a snug parlour, in an easy chair, before a cheerful fire, with +a newspaper in his hand, sat a bluff little elderly gentleman, with a +bald head and a fat little countenance, in which benignity appeared to +hold perpetual though amicable rivalry with fun. + +That the fat little elderly gentleman was eccentric could scarcely be +doubted, because he not only looked _over_ his spectacles instead of +through them, but also, apparently, read his newspaper upside down. A +closer inspection, however, would have shown that he was not reading the +paper at all, but looking over the top of it at an object which +accounted for much of the benignity, and some of the fun of his +expression. + +At the opposite side of the table sat a very beautiful girl, stooping +over a book, and so earnestly intent thereon as to be evidently quite +oblivious of all else around her. She was at that interesting age when +romance and reality are supposed to be pretty equally balanced in a +well-regulated female mind--about seventeen. Although not classically +beautiful--her nose being slightly turned upward--she was, nevertheless, +uncommonly pretty, and, as one of her hopeless admirers expressed it, +"desperately love-able." Jet black ringlets--then in vogue--clustered +round an exceedingly fair face, on which there dwelt the hue of robust +health. Poor Bob Queeker, the hopeless admirer above referred to, would +have preferred that she had been somewhat paler and thinner, if that had +been possible; but this is not to be wondered at, because Queeker was +about sixteen years of age at that time, and wrote sonnets to the moon +and other celestial bodies, and also indulged in "lines" to various +terrestrial bodies, such as the lily or the snowdrop, or something +equally drooping or pale. Queeker never by any chance addressed the +sun, or the red-rose, or anything else suggestive of health and vigour. +Yet his melancholy soul could not resist Katie,--which was this angel's +name,--because, although she was energetic, and vigorous, and +matter-of-fact, not to say slightly mischievous, she was intensely +sympathetic and tender in her feelings, and romantic too. But her +romance puzzled him. There was something too intense about it for his +taste. If he had only once come upon her unawares, and caught her +sitting with her hands clasped, gazing in speechless adoration at the +moon, or even at a street-lamp, in the event of its being thick weather +at the time, his love for her would have been without alloy. + +As it was, Queeker thought her "desperately love-able," and in his +perplexity continued to write sonnets without number to the moon, in +which efforts, however, he was singularly unsuccessful, owing to the +fact that, after he had gazed at it for a considerable length of time, +the orb of night invariably adopted black ringlets and a bright sunny +complexion. + +George Durant--which was the name of the bald fat little elderly +gentleman--was Katie's father. Looking at them, no one would have +thought so, for Katie was tall and graceful in form; and her +countenance, except when lighted up with varying emotion, was grave and +serene. + +As Mr Durant looked at it just then, the gravity had deepened into +severity; the pretty eyebrows frowned darkly at the book over which they +bent, and the rosy lips represented a compound of pursing and pouting as +they moved and muttered something inaudibly. + +"What is it that puzzles you, Katie?" asked her father, laying down the +paper. + +"'Sh!" whispered Katie, without lifting her head; "seventeen, +twenty-two, twenty-nine, thirty-six,--one pound sixteen;--no, I _can't_ +get it to balance. Did you ever know such a provoking thing?" + +She flung down her pencil, and looked full in her father's face, where +fun had, for the time, so thoroughly conquered and overthrown benignity, +that the frown vanished from her brow, and the rosy lips expanded to +join her sire in a hearty fit of laughter. + +"If you could only see your own face, Katie, when you are puzzling over +these accounts, you would devote yourself ever after to drawing _it_, +instead of those chalk-heads of which you are so fond." + +"No, I wouldn't, papa," said Katie, whose gravity quickly returned. +"It's all very well for you to joke about it, and laugh at me, but I can +tell you that this account _won't_ balance; there is a two-and-sixpence +wrong somewhere, and you know it has to be all copied out and sent off +by the evening post to-morrow. I really can't understand why we are +called upon to make so many copies of all the accounts and papers for +that ridiculous Board of Trade; I'm sure they have plenty of idle clerks +of their own, without requiring us to slave as we do--for such a +wretched salary, too!" + +Katie shook her curls indignantly, as she thought of the unjust demands +and inadequate remuneration of Government, and resumed her work, the +frowning brows and pursed coral lips giving evidence of her immediate +and total absorption in the accounts. + +Old Mr Durant, still holding the newspaper upside down, and looking +over the top of it and of his spectacles at the fair accountant, thought +in his heart that if the assembled Board, of which his daughter spoke in +such contemptuous terms, could only behold her labouring at their books, +in order to relieve her father of part of the toil, they would +incontinently give orders that he should be thenceforth allowed a salary +for a competent clerk, and that all the accounts sent up from Yarmouth +should be bound in cloth of gold! + +"Here it is, papa, I've got it!" exclaimed Katie, looking up with +enthusiasm similar to that which might be expected in a youthful +sportsman on the occasion of hooking his first salmon. "It was the +two-and-sixpence which you told me to give to--" + +At that moment the outer door bell rang. + +"There's cousin Fanny, oh, I'm _so_ glad!" exclaimed Katie, shutting up +her books and clearing away a multitude of papers with which the table +was lumbered; "she has promised to stay a week, and has come in time to +go with me to the singing class this afternoon. She's a darling girl, +as fond of painting and drawing almost as I am, and hates cats. Oh, I +do so love a girl that doesn't like cats. Eh, pussy, shall I tread on +your tail?" + +This question was put to a recumbent cat which lay coiled up in earthly +bliss in front of the fire, and which Katie had to pass in carrying her +armful of books and papers to the sideboard drawer in which they were +wont to repose. She put out her foot as if to carry her threat into +execution. + +"Dare!" exclaimed Mr Durant, with whom the cat was a favourite. + +"Well, then, promise that if Mr Queeker comes to-night you won't let +him stay to spoil our fun," said Katie, still holding her foot over the +cat's unconscious tail. + +As she spoke, one of the rather heavy account-books (which ought to have +been bound in cloth of gold) slipped off the pile, and, as ill luck +would have it, fell on the identical tail in question, the cat belonging +to which sprang up with a fierce caterwaul in rampant indignation. + +"Oh, papa, you _know_ I didn't mean it." + +Mr Durant's eyes twinkled with amusement as he beheld the sudden change +of poor Katie's expression to intense earnestness, but before he could +reply the door was thrown open; "cousin Fanny" rushed in, the cat rushed +out, the two young ladies rushed into each other's arms, and went in a +species of ecstatic waltz up-stairs to enjoy the delights of a private +interview, leaving Mr Durant to sink into the arms of his easy chair +and resume his paper--this time with the right side up! + +Let it be understood that the old gentleman was employed in Yarmouth +under one of the departments of the Board of Trade. We refrain from +entering into particulars as to which department, lest the vindictive +spirit which was accredited to that branch of the Government by Miss +Katie--who being a lady, must of course have been right--should induce +it to lay hold of our estimable friend and make an example of him for +permitting his independent daughter to expose its true character. In +addition to his office in this connection Mr Durant also held the +position of a retired merchant and ship-owner, and was a man of +considerable wealth, although he lived in a quiet unostentatious way. +In fact, his post under Government was retained chiefly for the purpose +of extending his influence in his native town--for he counted himself a +"bloater"--and enabling him to carry out more vigorously his schemes of +Christian philanthropy. + +Cousin Fanny Hennings was a "darling girl" in Katie's estimation, +probably because she was her opposite in many respects, though not in +all. In good-humour and affection they were similar, but Fanny had none +of Katie's fire, or enthusiasm, or intellect, or mischief; she had, +however, a great appreciation of fun, and was an inordinate giggler. +Fat, fair, and fifteen, with flaxen curls, pink cheeks, and blue eyes, +she was the _beau-ideal_ of a wax-doll, and possessed about as much +self-assertion as may be supposed to belong to that class of the +doll-community which is constructed so as to squeak when squeezed. As +Katie Durant squeezed her friend pretty often, both mentally and +physically, cousin Fanny squeaked a good deal more than usual during her +occasional visits to Yarmouth, and even after her return home to +Margate, where she and her widowed mother dwelt--as Queeker poetically +said--"in a cottage by the sea." It was usually acknowledged by all her +friends that Fanny had increased her powers amazingly while absent, in +so much that she learned at last to squeak on her own account without +being squeezed at all. + +After the cousins had talked in private until they had made themselves +almost too late for the singing-class, they issued from the house and +betook themselves to the temple of music, where some amazing pieces were +performed by some thirty young vocalists of both sexes to their own +entire satisfaction, and to the entire dissatisfaction, apparently, of +their teacher, whose chief delight seemed to be to check the flow of +gushing melody at a critical point, and exclaim, "Try it again!" Being +ignorant of classical music we do not venture to give an opinion on +these points, but it is important to state, as bearing on the subject in +a sanitary point of view, that all the pupils usually left the class in +high spirits, with the exception of Queeker, who had a voice like a +cracked tea-kettle, knew no more about music than Katie's cat--which he +adored because it was Katie's--and who went to the class, which was +indebted for its discord chiefly to him, wholly and solely because Katie +Durant went to it, and thus afforded him an opportunity of occasionally +shaking hands with her. + +On the present evening, however, being of a shy disposition, he could +not bring himself to face cousin Fanny. He therefore left the hall +miserable, and went home with desperate intentions as to the moon. +Unfortunately that luminary was not visible, the sun having just set, +but from his bedroom window, which commanded a view of the roadstead, he +beheld the lantern of the Saint Nicolas Gatt floating-light, and +addressed the following lines to it with all the fervour incident to a +hopeless affection:-- + + "Why blaze, ye bright benignant beaming star, + Guiding the homebound seaman from afar, + Lighting the outbound wand'rer on his way, + With all the lightsome perspicuity of day? + Why not go out at once! and let be hurl'd + Dark, dread, unmitigated darkness o'er the world? + Why should the heavenly constellations shine? + Why should the weather evermore be fine? + Why should this rolling ball go whirling round? + Why should the noise of mirth and music sound? + Why should the sparrow chirp, the blackbird sing, + The mountains echo, and the valleys ring, + With all that's cheerful, humorous, and glad, + Now that my heart is smitten and my brain gone mad?" + +Queeker fetched a long deep-drawn sigh at this point, the agony of +intense composition being for a moment relaxed. Then, catching his +breath and glaring, he went on in a somewhat gentler strain-- + + "Forgive me, Floating-light, and you, ye sun, + Moon, stars, and elements of Nature, every one; + I did but vent my misery and spleen + In utt'ring words of fury that I hardly mean. + At least I do in part--but hold! why not? + Oh! cease ye fiendish thoughts that rage and plot + To bring about my ruin. Hence! avaunt! + Or else in pity tell me what you want. + I cannot live, and yet I would not die! + My hopes are blighted! Where, oh whither shall I fly? + 'Tis past! I'll cease to daily with vain sophistry, + And try the virtue of a calm philosophy." + +The effect of composition upon Queeker was such that when he had +completed his task he felt greatly tranquillised, and, having shut up +his portfolio, formed the sudden resolution of dropping in upon the +Durants to tea. + +Meantime, and before the love-sick youth had begun the lines above +quoted, Katie and her cousin walked home by a road which conducted them +close past the edge of those extensive sandy plains called the Denes of +Yarmouth. Here, at the corner of a quiet street, they were arrested by +the sobbing of a little boy who sat on a railing by the roadside, +swaying himself to and fro in an agony of grief. + +Katie's sympathetic heart was instantly touched. She at once went up to +the boy, and made earnest inquiries into the cause of his distress. + +"Please, ma'am," said the boy, "I've lost a shillin', and I can't find +it nowheres. Oh, wot ever shall I do? My mother gave it me to give +with two other bobs to my poor sick brother whom I've comed all this way +to see, and there I've gone an' lost it, an' I'll 'ave to lay out all +night in the cold, for I dursn't go to see 'im without the money--boo, +hoo!" + +"Oh, how _very_ unfortunate!" exclaimed Katie with real feeling for the +boy, whose soul was thus steeped to all appearance in woe unutterable, +was very small, and very dirty and ragged, and had an extremely handsome +intelligent face, with a profusion of wild brown curls. "But I can make +that up to you, poor boy," she added, drawing out her purse, "here is a +shilling for you. Where do you live?" + +"At Ramsgate, ma'am." + +"At Ramsgate?" exclaimed Katie in surprise, "why, how did you manage to +get here?" + +"I come in a lugger, ma'am, as b'longs to a friend o' ourn. We've just +arrived, an' we goes away agin to-morrow." + +"Indeed! That will give you little time to see your sick brother. What +is the matter with him?" + +"Oh, he's took very bad, ma'am. I'm sorry to say he's bad altogether, +ma'am. Bin an' run'd away from 'ome. A'most broke his mother's 'eart, +he has, an' fall'd sick here, he did." + +The small boy paused abruptly at this point, and looked earnestly in +Katie's kind and pitiful face. + +"Where does your brother live?" asked Katie. + +The small boy looked rather perplexed, and said that he couldn't rightly +remember the name of the street, but that the owner of the lugger +"know'd it." Whereat Katie seemed disappointed, and said she would have +been so glad to have visited him, and given him such little comforts as +his disease might warrant. + +"Oh, ma'am," exclaimed the small boy, looking wistfully at her with his +large blue eyes, "_wot_ a pity I've forgot it! The doctor ordered 'im +wine too--it was as much as 'is life was worth not to 'ave wine,--but of +course they couldn't afford to git 'im wine--even cheap wine would do +well enough, at two bob or one bob the bottle. If you was to give me +two bob--shillins I mean, ma'am--I'd git it for 'im to-night." + +Katie and her cousin conversed aside in low tones for a minute or two as +to the propriety of complying with this proposal, and came to the +conclusion that the boy was such a nice outspoken honest-like fellow, +that it would do no harm to risk that sum in the circumstances. Two +shillings were therefore put into the boy's dirty little hand, and he +was earnestly cautioned to take care of it, which he earnestly, and no +doubt honestly, promised to do. + +"What is your name, boy?" asked Katie, as she was about to leave him. + +"Billy--Billy Towler, ma'am," answered the urchin, pulling his forelock +by way of respectful acknowledgment, "but my friends they calls me +Walleye, chiefly in consikence o' my bein' wery much the rewerse of +blind, ma'am, and niver capable of bein' cotched in a state o' slumber +at no time." + +This reply had the effect of slightly damaging the small boy's character +for simplicity in Katie's mind, although it caused both herself and her +companion to laugh. + +"Well, Billy," she said, opening her card-case, "here is my card--give +it to your sick brother, and when he sends it to me with his address +written on the back of it I'll call on him." + +"Thankee, ma'am," said the small boy. + +After he had said this, he stood silently watching the retiring figure +of his benefactress, until she was out of sight, and then dashing round +the corner of a bye-street which was somewhat retired, he there went off +into uncontrollable fits of laughter--slapped his small thighs, held his +lean little sides with both hands, threw his ragged cap into the air, +and in various other ways gave evidence of ecstatic delight. He was +still engaged in these violent demonstrations of feeling when Morley +Jones--having just landed at Yarmouth, and left the sloop _Nora_ in +charge of young Welton--came smartly round the corner, and, applying his +heavy boot to the small boy's person, kicked him into the middle of the +road. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +THE TEMPTER AND THE TEMPTED. + +"What are ye howlin' there for, an' blockin' up the Queen's highway like +that, you precious young villain?" demanded Morley Jones. + +"An' wot are you breakin' the Queen's laws for like that?" retorted +Billy Towler, dancing into the middle of the road and revolving his +small fists in pugilistic fashion. "You big hairy walrus, I don't know +whether to 'ave you up before the beaks for assault and battery or turn +to an' give 'ee a good lickin'." + +Mr Jones showed all his teeth with an approving grin, and the small boy +grinned in return, but still kept on revolving his fists, and warning +the walrus to "look hout and defend hisself if he didn't want his +daylights knocked out or his bows stove in!" + +"You're a smart youth, you are," said Jones. + +"Ha! you're afraid, are you? an' wants to make friends, but I won't 'ave +it at no price. Come on, will you?" + +Jones, still grinning from ear to ear, made a rush at the urchin, who, +however, evaded him with such ease that the man perceived he had not the +smallest chance of catching him. + +"I say, my lad," he asked, stopping and becoming suddenly grave, "where +d'you come from?" + +"I comes from where I b'longs to, and where I'm agoin' back to w'en it +suits me." + +"Very good," retorted Jones, "and I suppose you don't object to earn a +little money in an easy way?" + +"Yes, I do object," replied Billy; "it ain't worth my while to earn a +_little_ money in any way, no matter how easy; I never deals in small +sums. A fi' pun' note is the lowest figur' as I can stoop to." + +"You'll not object, however, to a gift, I daresay," remarked Jones, as +he tossed a half-crown towards the boy. + +Billy caught it as deftly as a dog catches a bit of biscuit, looked at +it in great surprise, tossed it in the air, bit its rim critically, and +finally slid it into his trousers pocket. + +"Well, you know," he said slowly, "to obleege a _friend_, I'm willin' to +accept." + +"Now then, youngster, if I'm willing to trust that half-crown in your +clutches, you may believe I have got something to say to 'ee worth your +while listenin' to; for you may see I'm not the man to give it to 'ee +out o' Christian charity." + +"That's true," remarked Billy, who by this time had become serious, and +stood with his hands in his pockets, still, however, at a respectful +distance. + +"Well, the fact is," said Mr Jones, "that I've bin lookin' out of late +for a smart lad with a light heart and a light pocket, and that ain't +troubled with much of a conscience." + +"That's me to a tee," said Billy promptly; "my 'art's as light as a +feather, and my pocket is as light as a maginstrate's wisdom. As for +conscience, the last beak as I wos introdooced to said I must have bin +born without a conscience altogether; an' 'pon my honour I think he wos +right, for I never felt it yet, though I've often tried--'xcept once, +w'en I'd cleaned out the pocket of a old ooman as was starin' in at a +shop winder in Cheapside, and she fainted dead away w'en she found it +out, and her little grand-darter looked so pale and pitiful that I says +to myself, `Hallo! Walleye, you've bin to the wrong shop this time; go +an' put it back, ye young dog;' so I obeyed orders, an' slipped back the +purse while pretendin' to help the old ooman. It wos risky work, +though, for a bobby twigged me, and it was only my good wind and tough +pair o' shanks that saved me. Now," continued the urchin, knitting his +brows as he contemplated the knotty point, "I've had my doubts whether +that wos conscience, or a sort o' nat'ral weakness pecooliar to my +constitootion. I've half a mind to call on the Bishop of London on the +point one o' these days." + +"So, you're a city bird," observed Jones, admiringly. + +"Ah, and I can see that you're a provincial one," replied Billy, +jingling the half-crown against the silver in his pocket. + +"What brings you so far out of your beat, Walleye?" inquired Jones. + +"Oh, I'm on circuit just now, makin' a tower of the provinces. I tried +a case just before you came up, an' made three shillins out of it, +besides no end o' promises--which, unfort'nately, I can't awail myself +of--from a sweet young lady, with such a pleasant face, that I wished I +could adopt her for a darter. But that's an expensive luxury, you see; +can't afford it yet." + +"Well, youngster," said Jones, assuming a more grave yet off-hand air, +"if you choose to trust me, I'll put you in the way of makin' some money +without much trouble. It only requires a little false swearing, which I +daresay you are used to." + +"No, I ain't," retorted the urchin indignantly; "I never tells a lie +'xcept w'en I can't help it. _Then_, of course, a feller _must_ do it!" + +"Just so, Walleye, them's my sentiments. Have you got a father?" + +"No, nor yet a mother," replied Billy. "As far as I'm aweer of, I wos +diskivered on the steps of a city work'us, an' my first impressions in +this life wos the knuckles of the old woman as banged me up. The +governor used to talk a lot o' balderdash about our bein' brought up; +but I knows better. I wos banged up; banged up in the mornins, banged +to meals, and banged to bed; banged through thick and thin, for +everything an' for nothin', until I banged myself out o' the door one +fine mornin', which I banged arter me, an' 'ave bin bangin' about, a +gen'lem'n at large, ever since." + +"Ha! got no friends and nothin' to do?" said Morley Jones. + +"Jis so." + +"Well, if you have a mind to take service with me, come along an' have a +pot o' beer." + +The man turned on his heel and walked off to a neighbouring +public-house, leaving the small boy to follow or not as he pleased, and +apparently quite indifferent as to what his decision might be. + +Billy Towler--_alias_ Walleye--looked after him with an air of +uncertainty. He did not like the look of the man, and was about to +decide against him, when the jingle of the half-crown in his pocket +turned the scale in his favour. Running after him, he quietly said, +"I'm your man," and then began to whistle, at the same time making an +abortive effort to keep step with his long-limbed employer, who said +nothing in reply, but, entering a public-house, ordered two pots of +beer. These, when produced, he and his little companion sat down to +discuss in the most retired box in the place, and conversed in low +tones. + +"What was it brought you to Yarmouth, Walleye?" asked Mr Jones. + +"Call me Billy," said the boy, "I like it better." + +"Well, Billy--and, by the way, you may call me Morley--my name's Jones, +but, like yourself, I have a preference. Now, then, what brought you +here?" + +"H'm, that involves a story--a hanecdote, if I may so speak," replied +this precocious youngster with much gravity. "You see, some time arter +I runn'd away from the work'us, I fell'd in with an old gen'lem'n with a +bald head an' a fat corpus. Do 'ee happen to know, Mr Morley, 'ow it +is that bald heads an' fat corpuses a'most always go together?" + +Morley replied that he felt himself unable to answer that difficult +question; but supposed that as good-humour was said to make people fat, +perhaps it made them bald also. + +"I dun know," continued Billy; "anyhow, this old gen'lem'n he took'd a +fancy to me, an' took'd me home to his 'otel; for he didn't live in +London--wos there only on a wisit at the time he felled in love with me +at first sight. Well, he give me a splendacious suit of noo clo'es, an +'ad me put to a school, where I soon larned to read and write; an' I do +b'lieve wos on the highroad to be Lord Mayor of London, when the old +schoolmaster died, before I'd bin two year there, an' the noo un wos so +fond o' the bangin' system that I couldn't stand it, an' so bid 'em all +a tender farewell, an' took to the streets agin. The old gen'lem'n he +comed three times from Yarmouth, where he belonged, for to see me arter +I wos put to the school, an' I had a sort o' likin' for him, but not +knowin' his name, and only been aweer that he lived at Yarmouth, I +thought I'd have no chance o' findin' him. Over my subsikint career +I'll draw a wail; it's enough to say I didn't like either it or my pals, +so I made up my mind at last to go to Yarmouth an' try to find the old +gen'lem'n as had adopted me--that's what he said he'd done to me. W'en +I'd prigged enough o' wipes to pay my fare down, I comed away,--an' here +I am." + +"Have you seen the old gentleman?" asked Morley, after a pause. + +"No, only just arrived this arternoon." + +"And you don't know his name, nor where he lives?" + +"No." + +"And how did you expect to escape bein' nabbed and put in limbo as a +vagrant?" inquired Morley. + +"By gittin' employment, of coorse, from some _respectable_ gen'lem'n +like yourself, an' then runnin' away from 'im w'en I'd diskivered the +old chap wi' the bald head." + +Morley Jones smiled grimly. + +"Well, my advice to you is," he said, "to fight shy of the old chap, +even if you do discover him. Depend upon it the life you would lead +under his eye would be one of constant restraint and worry. He'd put +you to school again, no doubt, where you'd get banged as before--a +system I don't approve of at all--and be made a milksop and a flunkey, +or something o' that sort--whereas the life you'll lead with me will be +a free and easy rollikin' manly sort o' life. Half on shore and half at +sea. Do what you like, go where you will,--when business has bin +attended to--victuals and clothing free gratis, and pocket-money enough +to enable you to enjoy yourself in a moderate sort of way. You see I'm +not goin' to humbug you. It won't be all plain sailin', but what is a +man worth if he ain't fit to stand a little rough-and-tumble? Besides, +rough work makes a fellow take his ease with all the more zest. A life +on the ocean wave one week, with hard work, and a run on shore the next +week, with just enough to do to prevent one wearyin'. That's the sort +o' thing for you and me, Billy, eh boy?" exclaimed the tempter, growing +garrulous in his cups, and giving his small victim a pat on the +shoulder, which, although meant to be a facetious touch, well-nigh +unseated him. + +Billy Towler recovered himself, however, and received it as it was +meant, in perfect good humour. The beer had mounted to his own little +brain, and his large eyes glowed with more than natural light as he sat +gazing into his companion's rugged face, listening with delight to the +description of a mode of life which he thought admirably suited to his +tastes and capabilities. He was, however, a shrewd little creature. +Sad and very rough experience of life had taught him to be uncommonly +circumspect for his years. + +"What's your business, Morley?" he demanded eagerly. + +"I've a lot of businesses," said Mr Jones with a drunken leer, "but my +principal one is fishcuring. I'm a sort of shipowner too. Leastwise +I've got two craft--one bein' a sloop, the other a boat. Moreover, I +charter no end of vessels, an' do a good deal in the insurance way. But +you'll understand more about these things all in good time, Billy. I +live, while I'm at home, in Gravesend, but I've got a daughter and a +mother livin' at Yarmouth, so I may say I've got a home at both places. +It's a convenient sort o' thing, you see,--a town residence and a +country villa, as it were. Come, I'll take you to the villa now, and +introduce 'ee to the women." + +So saying, this rascal paid for the poison he had been administering in +large doses to himself and his apprentice, and, taking Billy's dirty +little hand in his large horny fist, led him towards the centre of the +town. + +Poor Billy little knew the nature of the awful gulf of sin and misery +into which he was now plunging with a headlong hilarious vivacity +peculiarly his own. He was, indeed, well enough aware of the fact that +he was a thief, and an outcast from society, and that he was a habitual +breaker of the laws of God and man, but he was naturally ignorant of the +extent of his guilt, as well as of the certain and terrible end to which +it pointed, and, above all, he had not the most remote conception of the +almost hopeless slavery to which he was doomed when once fairly secured +in the baleful net which Morley Jones had begun to twine around him. + +But a higher Power was leading the poor child in a way that he knew +not--a way that was little suspected by his tempter--a way that has been +the means of snatching many and many a little one from destruction in +time past, and that will certainly save many more in time to come--as +long as Christian men and women band together to unite their prayers and +powers for the rescue of perishing souls. + +Traversing several streets with unsteady gait--for he was now much the +worse of drink--Mr Jones led his willing captive down one of those +innumerable narrow streets, or passages, termed "rows," which bear some +resemblance to the "closes" of the Scottish capital. In width they are +much the same, but in cleanliness there is a vast difference, for +whereas the _closes_ of the northern capital are notorious for dirt, the +_rows_ of Yarmouth are celebrated for their neat tidy aspect. What the +cause of the neatness of the latter may be we cannot tell, but we can +bear the testimony of an eye-witness to the fact that--considering the +class of inhabitants who dwell in them, their laborious lives and +limited means--the _rows_ are wondrously clean. Nearly all of them are +paved with pebbles or bricks. The square courts opening out of them on +right and left, although ridiculously small, are so thoroughly scoured +and swept that one might roll on their floors with white garments and +remain unsoiled. In each court may be observed a water-bucket and +scrubbing-brush wet, usually, from recent use, also a green painted +box-garden of dimensions corresponding to the court, full of well-tended +flowers. Almost every door has a wooden or stone step, and each step is +worn and white with repeated scrubbings--insomuch that one is +irresistibly led to suspect that the "Bloaters" must have a strong +infusion of the Dutch element in their nature. + +Emerging at the lower end of the row, Mr Jones and his small companion +hastened along the centre of a narrow street which led them into one of +much wider dimensions, named Friar's Lane. Proceeding along this for +some time, they diverged to the right into another of the rows not far +from the old city-wall, at a place where one of the massive towers still +rears its rugged head as a picturesque ruin. The moon sailed out from +under a mass of clouds at this point, giving to objects the distinctness +of daylight. Hitherto Billy Towler had retained some idea of the +direction in which he was being led, but this last turn threw his +topographical ideas into utter confusion. + +"A queer place this," he remarked, as they emerged from the narrowest +passage they had yet traversed into a neat, snug, and most unexpected +little square, with a garden in the middle of it, and a flagstaff in one +corner. + +"Adam-and-Eve gardens, they call it," said Mr Jones; "we're pretty nigh +home now." + +"I wonder they didn't call it Eden at once," observed Billy; "it would +have been shorter and comes to the same thing." + +"Here we are at last," said Mr Jones, stumbling against a small door in +one of the network of rows that surrounded this Yarmouth paradise. +"Hope the women are in," he added, attempting to lift the latch, but, +finding that the door was locked, he hammered at it with foot and fist +violently. + +"Hallo!" shouted the deep voice of a man within. + +"Hallo, indeed! Who may _you_ be?" growled Mr Jones with an angry +oath. "Open the door, will you?" + +The door was opened at once by James Welton, who stood aside to let the +other pass. + +"Oh! it's you, is it?" said Mr Jones. "Didn't recognise your voice +through the door. I thought you couldn't have got the sloop made snug +so soon. Well, lass, how are 'ee; and how's the old ooman?" + +As the man made these inquiries in a half-hearty voice, he advanced into +a poorly-furnished apartment, so small and low that it seemed a couple +of sizes too small for him, and bestowed a kiss first upon the cheek of +his old mother, who sat cowering over the fire, but brightened up on +hearing his voice, and then upon the forehead of his daughter Nora, the +cheerfulness of whose greeting, however, was somewhat checked when she +observed the intoxicated state of her father. + +Nora had a face which, though not absolutely pretty, was intensely +winsome in consequence of an air of quiet womanly tenderness which +surrounded it as with a halo. She was barely eighteen, but her soft +eyes possessed a look of sorrow and suffering which, if not natural to +them, had, at all events, become habitual. + +"Who is this little boy, father?" she said, turning towards Billy +Towler, who still stood in the doorway a silent but acute observer of +all that went on. + +"Oh, that? why--a--that's my noo 'prentice just come down from +Gravesend. He's been helpin' for some time in the `hang'" (by which Mr +Jones meant the place where his fish were cured), "and I'm goin' to take +him to sea with me next trip. Come in, Billy, and make yourself at +home." + +The boy obeyed with alacrity, and made no objection to a cup of tea and +slice of bread and butter which Nora placed before him--supper being +just then in progress. + +"You'd better get aboard as soon as may be," said Jones to Jim Welton +somewhat sternly. "I didn't expect you to leave the sloop tonight." + +"And I didn't intend to leave her," replied Jim, taking no notice of the +tone in which this was said; "but I thought I'd come up to ask if you +wished me to begin dischargin' early to-morrow morning." + +"No, we're not going to discharge," returned Jones. + +"Not going to discharge!" echoed Jim in surprise. "No. I find that +it's not worth while discharging any part of the cargo here. On the +contrary, I mean to fill up with bloaters and run over with them to the +coast of France; so you can go and stow the top tier of casks more +firmly, and get ready for the noo ones. Good-night." + +The tone in which this was said left no excuse for Jim to linger, so he +bade the household good-night and departed. + +He had not gone far, however, when he was arrested by the sound of a +light footstep. It was that of Nora, who had followed him. + +"Nora!" exclaimed the young sailor in surprise, returning quickly and +taking one of the girl's hands in both of his. + +"Oh, Jim!" said Nora, with a look and tone of earnest entreaty, "don't, +don't forsake him just now--if the love which you have so often +professed for me be true, don't forsake him, I beseech you." + +Jim protested in the most emphatic terms that he had no intention of +forsaking anybody, and made a great many more protestations, in the +midst of which there were numerous ardent and more or less appropriate +references to hearts that never deserted their colours, sheet-anchors +that held on through thick and thin, and needles that pointed, without +the smallest shadow of variation, to the pole. + +"But what makes you think I'm going to leave him?" he asked, at the end +of one of those flights. + +"Because he is so rough to 'ee, Jim," replied the girl, leaning her head +on her lover's shoulder; "he spoke so gruff even now, and I thought you +went away huffed. Oh, Jim, you are the only one that has any influence +over him--" + +"Not the only one," returned Jim, quietly smoothing the fair girl's hair +with his hard strong hand. + +"Well, the only _man_, at any rate," continued Nora, "especially when he +is overcome with that dreadful drink. Dear Jim, you won't forsake him, +will you, even though he should insult, even though he should _strike_ +you?" + +"No, never! Because he is your father, Nora, I'll stick by him in spite +of all he can say or do to me, and try, God helping me, to save him. +But I cannot stick by him if--" + +"If what?" asked the girl anxiously, observing that he hesitated. + +"If he does anything against the laws," said Jim in a low voice. "It +isn't that I'm afraid of my good name--I'd even let that go, for _your_ +sake, if by so doing I could get him out of mischief; and as long as I +know nothing against him _for certain_, I'll stand by him. But if he +does fall, and I come to know it, I _must_ leave him, Nora, because I +won't be art and part in it. I could no longer go on my knees to pray +for him if I did that, Nora. Moreover, if anything o' that sort should +happen, I must leave the country, because he'd be sure to be caught and +tried, and I will never stand witness against _your_ father if I can +avoid it by fair means." + +Poor Nora hung her head as she asked in a low voice if Jim really +thought her father was engaged in illegal practices. + +"I can't say that I do," replied the youth earnestly. "Come, cheer up, +dearest Nora. After all, it is chiefly through reports that my +suspicions have been aroused, and we all know how easy it is for an +enemy to raise an evil report. But, Nora, I wish you had not bound me +to secrecy as to my reason for sticking by your father. Why should I +not say boldly that it's all for love of you?" + +"Why should you wish to give any reason at all, Jim, and above all, +_that_ reason?" asked Nora, looking up with a blush. + +"Because," said the youth, with a perplexed look, "my secrecy about the +matter has puzzled my father to such an extent that his confidence in me +is entirely shaken. I have been all my life accustomed to open all my +heart to him, and now, without rhyme or reason, as he thinks, I have +suddenly gone right round on the other tack, and at the same time, as he +says, I have taken up with doubtful company. Now, if--" + +The sound of approaching footsteps here brought the interview to an +abrupt close. Nora ran back to her poor home, and Jim Welton, directing +his steps towards the harbour, returned on board the little sloop which +had been named after the girl of his heart. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +TREATS OF QUEEKER AND OTHERS--ALSO OF YOUTHFUL JEALOUSY, LOVE, POETRY, +AND CONFUSION OF IDEAS. + +Returning, now, to the moon-struck and Katie-smitten Queeker, we find +that poetic individual walking disconsolately in front of Mr George +Durant's mansion. + +In a previous chapter it has been said that, after composing his +celebrated lines to the lantern of the floating light, he resolved to +drop in upon the Durants about tea-time--and well did Queeker know their +tea-time, although, every time he went there uninvited, the miserable +hypocrite expressed surprise at finding them engaged with that meal, and +said he had supposed they must have finished tea by that time! + +But, on arriving at the corner of the street, his fluttering heart +failed him. The thought of the cousin was a stumbling-block which he +could not surmount. He had never met her before; he feared that she +might be witty, or sarcastic, or sharp in some way or other, and would +certainly make game of him in the presence of Katie. He had observed +this cousin narrowly at the singing-class, and had been much impressed +with her appearance; but whether this impression was favourable or +unfavourable was to him, in the then confused state of his feelings, a +matter of great uncertainty. Now that he was about to face her, he felt +convinced that she must be a cynic, who would poison the mind of Katie +against him, and no power within his unfortunate body was capable of +inducing him to advance and raise the knocker. + +Thus he hung in torments of suspense until nine o'clock, when--in a fit +of desperation, he rushed madly at the door and committed himself by +hitting it with his fist. + +His equanimity was not restored by its being opened by Mr Durant +himself. + +"Queeker!" exclaimed the old gentleman in surprise; "come in, my dear +sir; did you stumble against the door? I hope you haven't hurt +yourself?" + +"Not at all--a--no, not at all; the fact is, I ran up the steps rather +hastily, and--how do you do, Miss Durant? I hope you are _quite_ well?" + +Poor Queeker said this and shook hands with as much earnestness as if he +had not seen Katie for five years. + +"Quite well, thank you. My cousin, Fanny Hennings--Mr Queeker." + +Fanny bowed and Mr Queeker bowed, and, with a flushed countenance, +asked her about the state of her health with unnatural anxiety. + +"Thank you, Mr Squeeker, I am very well," replied Fanny. + +The unhappy youth would have corrected her in regard to his name, but +hesitated and missed the opportunity, and when, shortly afterwards, +while engaged in conversation with Mr Durant, he observed Fanny +giggling violently in a corner by herself, he felt assured that Katie +had kindly made the correction for him. + +The announcement of supper relieved him slightly, and he was beginning +to calm down over a piece of bread and cheese when the door-bell rang. +Immediately after a heavy foot was heard in the passage, the parlour +door was flung open, the maid announced Mr Hall, and a tall elegant +young man entered the room. His figure was slender, but his chest was +deep and his shoulders were broad and square. An incipient moustache of +fair hair floated like a summer cloud on his upper lip, which expanded +with a hearty smile as he advanced towards Mr Durant and held out his +hand. + +"You have forgotten me, I fear," he said. + +"Forgotten you!" exclaimed the old gentleman, starting up and seizing +the young man's hand, which he shook violently--"forgotten Stanley +Hall--little Stanney, as I used to call you? Man, how you _are_ grown, +to be sure. What a wonderful change!" + +"For the worse, I fear!" exclaimed the youth, laughing. + +"Come, no fishing for compliments, sir. Let me introduce you to my +daughter Katie, my niece Fanny Hennings, and my young friend Queeker. +Now, then, sit down, and make yourself at home; you're just in time; +we've only just begun; ring the bell for another plate, Katie. How glad +I am to see you, Stanney, my boy--I can't call you by any other than the +old name, you see. How did you leave your father, and what brings you +here? Come, out with it all at once. I declare you have quite excited +me." + +Well was it for poor Queeker that every one was too much occupied with +the newcomer to pay any attention to him, for he could not prevent his +visage from betraying something of the feelings which harrowed up his +soul. The moment he set eyes on Stanley Hall, mortal jealousy--keen, +rampant, virulent jealousy of the worst type--penetrated every fibre of +his being, and turned his heart to stone! We cannot afford space to +detail the various shades of agony, the degrees of despair, through +which this unfortunate young man passed during that evening. A thick +volume would not suffice to contain it all. Language is powerless to +express it. Only those who have similarly suffered can conceive it. + +Of course, we need scarcely add that there was no occasion for jealousy. +Nothing was further from the mind of Stanley than the idea of falling +in love with Katie. Nevertheless, politeness required that he should +address himself to her occasionally. At such times, Queeker's soul was +stabbed in an unutterable manner. He managed to command himself, +notwithstanding. To his credit, be it said, that he refrained from +using the carving-knife. He even joined with some show of interest (of +course hypocritical) in the conversation. + +Stanley Hall was not only good-looking, but good-humoured, and full of +quiet fun and anecdote, so that he quickly ingratiated himself with all +the members of the family. + +"D'you know it makes me feel young again to hear these old stories about +your father's college-life," said Mr Durant. "Have some more cheese, +Stanney--you look like a man who ought to have a good appetite--fill +your glass and pass the bottle--thanks. Now, how comes it that you have +turned up in this out-of-the-way part of the world? By-the-bye, I hope +you intend to stay some time, and that you will take up your quarters +with me? You can't imagine how much pleasure it would give me to have +the son of my old companion as a guest for some time. I'm sure that +Katie joins me heartily in this hope." + +Queeker's spirit sank with horror, and when Katie smilingly seconded her +father's proposal, his heart stood still with dismay. Fanny Hennings, +who had begun to suspect that there was something wrong with Queeker, +put her handkerchief to her mouth, and coughed with what appeared to be +unreasonable energy. + +"I regret," said Stanley (and Queeker's breath came more freely), "that +my stay must necessarily be short. I need not say that it would afford +me the highest pleasure to accept your kind invitation" (he turned with +a slight bow to Katie, and Queeker almost fainted), "but the truth is, +that I have come down on a particular piece of business, in regard to +which I wish to have your advice, and must return to London to-morrow or +next day at furthest." + +Queeker's heart resumed its office. + +"I am sorry to hear that--very sorry. However, you shall stay to-night +at all events; and you shall have the best advice I can give you on any +subject you choose to mention. By the way talking of advice, you're an +M.D. now, I fancy?" + +"Not yet," replied Stanley. "I am not quite fledged, although nearly +so, and I wish to go on a voyage before completing my course." + +"Quite right, quite right--see a little of life first, eh? But how +comes it, Stanney, that you took kindly to the work at last, for, when I +knew you first you could not bear the idea of becoming a doctor?" + +"One's ideas change, I suppose," replied the youth, with a +smile,--"probably my making the discovery that I had some talent in that +direction had something to do with it." + +"H'm; how did you make that discovery, my boy?" asked the old gentleman. + +"That question can't easily be answered except by my inflicting on you a +chapter of my early life," replied Stanley, laughing. + +"Then inflict it on us without delay, my boy. I shall delight to +listen, and so, I am sure, will Katie and Fanny. As to my young friend +Queeker, he is of a somewhat literary turn, and may perhaps throw the +incidents into verse, if they are of a sufficiently romantic character!" + +Katie and Fanny declared they would be charmed to hear about it, and +Queeker said, in a savagely jesting tone, that he was so used to things +being inflicted on him, that he didn't mind--rather liked it than +otherwise! + +"But you must not imagine," said Stanley, "that I have a thrilling +narrative to give you, I can merely relate the two incidents which fixed +my destiny in regard to a profession. You remember, I daresay, that my +heart was once set upon going to sea. Well, like most boys, I refused +to listen to advice on that point, and told my father that I should +never make a surgeon--that I had no taste or talent for the medical +profession. The more my father tried to reason me out of my desire, the +more obstinate I became. The only excuse that I can plead is that I was +very young, very ignorant, and very stupid. One day, however, I was +left in the surgery with a number of dirty phials to wash--my father +having gone to visit a patient at a short distance, when our servant +came running in, saying that there was a cab at the door with a poor boy +who had got his cheek badly cut. As I knew that my father would be at +home in less than quarter of an hour, I ordered him to be brought in. +The poor child--a little delicate boy--was very pale, and bleeding +profusely from a deep gash in the cheek, made accidentally by a knife +with which he had been playing. The mouth was cut open almost to the +ear. We laid him on a sofa, and I did what I could to stop the flow of +blood. I was not sixteen at the time, and, being very small for my age, +had never before felt myself in a position to offer advice, and indeed I +had not much to offer. But one of the bystanders said to me while we +were looking at the child,-- + +"`What do you think should be done, sir?' + +"The mere fact of being asked my opinion gratified my vanity, and the +respectful `sir' with which the question concluded caused my heart to +beat high with unwonted emotion. It was the first time I had ever been +addressed gravely as a man; it was a new sensation, and I think may be +regarded as an era in my existence. + +"With much gravity I replied that of course the wound ought to be sewed +up. + +"`Then sooner it's done the better, I think,' said the bystander, `for +the poor child will bleed to death if it is allowed to go on like that.' + +"A sudden resolution entered into my mind. I stroked my chin and +frowned, as if in deep thought, then, turning to the man who had spoken, +said,--`It ought certainly to be done with as little delay as possible; +I expect my father to return every minute; but as it is an urgent case, +I will myself undertake it, if the parents of the child have no +objection.' + +"`Seems to me, lad,' remarked a country fellow, who had helped to carry +the child in, `that it beant a time to talk o' parients objectin' w'en +the cheeld's blood'n to deth. Ye'd better fa' to work at once--if 'ee +knows how.' + +"I cast upon this man a look of scorn, but made no reply. Going to the +drawer in which the surgical instruments were kept, I took out those +that suited my purpose, and went to work with a degree of coolness which +astonished myself. I had often seen my father sew up wounds, and had +assisted at many an operation of the kind, so that, although altogether +unpractised, I was not ignorant of the proper mode of procedure. The +people looked on with breathless interest. When I had completed the +operation, I saw my father looking over the shoulders of the people with +an expression of unutterable surprise not unmingled with amusement. I +blushed deeply, and began some sort of explanation, which, however, he +cut short by observing in an off-hand manner, that the thing had been +done very well, and the child had better be carried into my bedroom and +left there to rest for some time. He thus got the people out of the +surgery, and then, when we were alone, told me that I was a born +surgeon, that he could not have done it much better himself, and, in +short, praised me to such an extent that I felt quite proud of my +performance." + +Queeker, who had listened up to this point with breathless attention, +suddenly said-- + +"D'you mean to say that you _really_ did that?" + +"I do," replied Stanley with an amused smile. + +"Sewed up a mouth cut all the way to the ear?" + +"Yes." + +"With a--a--" + +"With a needle and thread," said Stanley. + +Queeker's powers of utterance were paralysed. He looked at the young +doctor with a species of awe-stricken admiration. Jealousy, for the +time, was in abeyance. + +"This, then, was the beginning of your love for the profession?" said +Mr Durant. + +"Undoubtedly it was, but a subsequent event confirmed me in my devotion +to it, and induced me to give up all thoughts of the sea. The praise +that I had received from my father--who was not usually lavish of +complimentary remarks--made me ambitious to excel in other departments +of surgery, so I fixed upon the extraction of teeth as my next step in +the profession. My father had a pretty large practice in that way. We +lived, as you remember, in the midst of a populous rural district, and +had frequent visits from farm servants and labourers with heads tied up +and lugubrious faces. + +"I began to fit myself for duty by hammering big nails into a block of +wood, and drawing them out again. This was a device of my own, for I +wished to give my father another surprise, and did not wish to betray +what I was about, by asking his advice as to how I should proceed. I +then extracted the teeth from the jaw-bones of all the sheep's-heads +that I could lay hands on; after a good deal of practice in this way, I +tried to tempt our cook with an offer of five shillings to let me +extract a back tooth which had caused her a great deal of suffering at +intervals for many months; but she was a timid woman, and would not have +allowed me for five guineas, I believe, even to look into her mouth. I +also tried to tempt our small stable-boy with a similar sum. He was a +plucky little fellow, and, although there was not an unsound tooth in +his head, agreed to let me draw one of the _smallest_ of his back teeth +for seven and sixpence if it should come out the first pull, and +sixpence for every extra rug! I thought the little fellow extravagant +in his demands, but, rather than lose the chance, submitted. He sat +down quite boldly on our operating chair, but grew pale when I advanced +with the instrument; when I tried to open his mouth, he began to +whimper, and finally, struggling out of my grasp, fled. I afterwards +gave him sixpence, however, for affording me, as I told him, so much +pleasurable anticipation. + +"After this I cast about for another subject, but failed to procure a +live one. It occurred to me, however, that I might try my hand on two +skeletons that hung in our garret, so I got their heads off without +delay, and gradually extracted every tooth in their jaws. As there were +about sixty teeth, I think, in each pair, I felt myself much improved +before the jaws were toothless. At last, I resolved to take advantage +of the first opportunity that should offer, during my father's absence, +to practise on the living subject. It was not long before I had a +chance. + +"One morning my father went out, leaving me in the surgery, as was his +wont. I was deeply immersed in a book on anatomy, when I heard a +tremendous double rap--as if made with the head of a stick--at the outer +door, and immediately after the question put in the gruff bass voice of +an Irishman, `Is the dactur within?' + +"A tremendous growl of disappointment followed the reply. Then, after a +pause, `Is the assistant within?' This was followed by a heavy tread in +the passage and, next moment; an enormous man, in very ragged fustian, +with a bronzed hairy face, and a reaping-hook under his arm, stood in +the surgery, his head almost touching the ceiling. + +"`Sure it's niver the dactur's assistant ye are?' he exclaimed, with a +look of surprise. + +"I rose, drew myself up, and, endeavouring to look very solemn, said +that I was, and demanded to know if I could do anything for him. + +"`Ah, then, it's a small assistant ye are, anyhow,' he remarked; but +stopped suddenly and his huge countenance was convulsed with pain, as he +clapped his hand to his face, and uttered a groan, which was at least +three parts composed of a growl. + +"`Hooroo! whirr-r-hach! musha, but it's like the cratur o' Vesoovious +all alive-o--in me head. Av it don't split up me jaw--there--ha--och!' + +"The giant stamped his foot with such violence that all the glasses, +cups, and vials in the room rang again, and, clapping both hands over +his mouth, he bent himself double in a paroxysm of agony. + +"I felt a strange mixture of wild delight and alarm shoot through me. +The chance had come in my way, but in anticipating it I had somehow +always contemplated operating on some poor boy or old woman. My +thoughts had never depicted such a herculean and rude specimen of +humanity. At first, he would not believe me capable of extracting a +tooth; but I spoke with such cool self-possession and assurance--though +far from feeling either--that he consented to submit to the operation. +For the sake of additional security, I seated him on the floor, and took +his head between my knees; and I confess that when seated thus, in such +close proximity to his rugged as well as massive head, gazing into the +cavern filled with elephantine tusks, my heart almost failed me. Far +back, in the darkest corner of the cave, I saw the decayed tooth--a +massive lump of glistening ivory, with a black pit in the middle of it. +Screwing up my courage to the utmost, I applied the key. The giant +winced at the touch, but clasped his hard hands together--evidently +prepared for the worst. I began to twist with right good-will. The man +roared furiously, and gave a convulsive heave that almost upset myself +and the big chair, and disengaged the key! + +"`Oh, come,' said I, remonstratively, `you ought to stand it better than +that! why, the worst of it was almost over.' + +"`Was it, though?' he inquired earnestly, with an upward glance, that +gave to his countenance in that position a hideous aspect. `Sure it had +need be, for the worst baits all that iver I drained of. Go at it +again, me boy.' + +"Resolving to make sure work of it next time, I fixed the key again, +and, after getting it pretty tight--at which point he evidently fancied +the worst had been again reached--I put forth all my strength in one +tremendous twist. + +"I failed for a moment to draw the tusk, but I drew forth a prolonged +roar, that can by no means be conceived or described. The Irishman +struggled. I held on tight to his head with my knees. The chair +tottered on its legs. Letting go the hair of his head, I clapped my +left hand to my right, and with both arms redoubled the strain. The +roar rose into a terrible yowl. There was a crash like the rending of a +forest tree. I dropped the instrument, sprang up, turned the chair on +the top of the man, and cramming it down on him rushed to the door, +which I threw open, and then faced about. + +"There was a huge iron pestle lying on a table near my hand. Seizing +it, I swayed it gently to and fro, ready to knock him down with it if he +should rush at me, or to turn and fly, as should seem most advisable. I +was terribly excited, and a good deal alarmed as to the possible +consequences, but managed with much difficulty to look collected. + +"The big chair was hurled into a corner as he rose sputtering from the +floor, and holding his jaws with both hands. + +"`Och! ye spalpeen, is that the way ye trait people?' + +"`Yes,' I replied in a voice of forced calmness, `we usually put a +restraint on strong men like you, when they're likely to be violent.' + +"I saw the corners of his eyes wrinkle a little, and felt more +confidence. + +"`Arrah, but it's the jawbone ye've took out, ye goormacalluchscrowl!' + +"`No, it isn't, it's only the tooth,' I replied, going forward and +picking it up from the floor. + +"The amazement of the man is not to be described. I gave him a tumbler +of water, and, pointing to a basin, told him to wash out his mouth, +which he did, looking at me all the time, however, and following me with +his astonished eyes, as I moved about the room. He seemed to have been +bereft of the power of speech; for all that he could say after that was, +`Och! av yer small yer cliver!' + +"On leaving he asked what was to pay. I said that I'd ask nothing, as +he had stood it so well; and he left me with the same look of +astonishment in his eyes and words of commendation on his lips." + +"Well, that _was_ a tremendous experience to begin with," said Mr +Durant, laughing; "and so it made you a doctor?" + +"It helped. When my father came home I presented him with the tooth, +and from that day to this I have been hard at work; but I feel a little +seedy just now from over-study, so I have resolved to try to get a berth +as surgeon on board a ship bound for India, Australia, China, or South +America, and, as you are a shipowner and old friend, I thought it just +possible you might be not only willing but able to help me to what I +want." + +"And you thought right, Stanney, my boy," said the old gentleman +heartily; "I have a ship going to sail for India in a few weeks, and we +have not yet appointed a surgeon. You shall have that berth if it suits +you." + +At this point they were interrupted by the entrance of a servant maid +with the announcement that there was a man in the lobby who wished to +see Mr Durant. + +"I'll be back shortly," said the old gentleman to Stanley as he rose; +"go to the drawing-room, girls, and give Mr Hall some music. You'll +find that my Katie sings and plays very sweetly, although she won't let +me say so. Fanny joins her with a fine contralto, I believe, and +Queeker, too, he sings--a--a what is it, Queeker?--a bass or a +baritone--eh?" + +Without waiting for a reply, Mr Durant left the room, and found Morley +Jones standing in the lobby, hat in hand. + +The old gentleman's expression changed instantly, and he said with much +severity-- + +"Well, Mr Jones, what do _you_ want?" + +Morley begged the favour of a private interview for a few minutes. +After a moment's hesitation, Mr Durant led him into his study. + +"Another loan, I suppose?" said the old gentleman, as he lit the gas. + +"I had expected to have called to pay the last loan, sir," replied Mr +Jones somewhat boldly, "but one can't force the market. I have my sloop +down here loaded with herrings, and if I chose to sell at a loss, could +pay my debt to you twice over; but surely it can scarcely be expected of +me to do that. I hear there is a rise in France just now, and mean to +run over there with them. I shall be sure to dispose of 'em to +advantage. On my return, I'll pay your loan with interest." + +Morley Jones paused, and Mr Durant looked at him attentively for a few +seconds. + +"Is this all you came to tell me?" + +"Why, no sir, not exactly," replied Jones, a little disconcerted by the +stern manner of the old gentleman. "The sloop is not quite filled up, +she could stow a few more casks, but I have been cleaned out, and unless +I can get the loan of forty or fifty pounds--" + +"Ha! I thought so. Are you aware, Mr Jones, that your character for +honesty has of late been called in question?" + +"I am aware that I have got enemies," replied the fish-merchant coldly. +"If their false reports are to be believed to my disadvantage, of course +I cannot expect--" + +"It is not my belief in their reports," replied Mr Durant, "that +creates suspicion in me, but I couple these reports with the fact that +you have again and again deceived me in regard to the repayment of the +loans which you have already received at various times from me." + +"I can't help ill-luck, sir," said Morley with a downcast look. "If +men's friends always deserted them at the same time with fortune there +would be an end of all trade." + +"Mr Jones," said the other decidedly, "I tell you plainly that you are +presumptuous when you count me one of your _friends_. Your deceased +brother, having been an old and faithful servant of mine, was considered +by me a friend, and it is out of regard to his memory alone that I have +assisted _you_. Even now, I will lend you the sum you ask, but be +assured it is the last you shall ever get from me. I distrust you, sir, +and I tell you so--flatly." + +While he was speaking the old gentleman had opened a desk. He now sat +down and wrote out a cheque, which he handed to his visitor, who +received it with a grim smile and a curt acknowledgment, and instantly +took his leave. + +Mr Durant smoothed the frown from his brow, and returned to the +drawing-room, where Katie's sweet voice instantly charmed away the +memory of the evil spirit that had just left him. + +The table was covered with beautiful pencil sketches and chalk-heads and +water-colour drawings in various stages of progression--all of which +were the production of the same fair, busy, and talented little hand +that copied the accounts for the Board of Trade, for love instead of +money, without a blot, and without defrauding of dot or stroke a single +_i_ or _t_! + +Queeker was gazing at one of the sketches with an aspect so haggard and +savage that Mr Durant could not refrain from remarking it. + +"Why, Queeker, you seem to be displeased with that drawing, eh? What's +wrong with it?" + +"Oh, ah!" exclaimed the youth, starting, and becoming very red in the +face--"no, not with the drawing, it is beautiful--_most_ beautiful, but +I--in--fact I was thinking, sir, that thought sometimes leads us into +regions of gloom in which--where--one can't see one's way, and _ignes +fatui_ mislead or--or--" + +"Very true, Queeker," interrupted the old gentleman, good-humouredly; +"thought is a wonderful quality of the mind--transports us in a moment +from the Indies to the poles; fastens with equal facility on the +substantial and the impalpable; gropes among the vague generalities of +the abstract, and wriggles with ease through the thick obscurities of +the concrete--eh, Queeker? Come, give us a song, like a good fellow." + +"I never sing--I _cannot_ sing, sir," said the youth, hurriedly. + +"No! why, I thought Katie said you were attending the singing-class." + +The fat cousin was observed here to put her handkerchief to her mouth +and bend convulsively over a drawing. + +Queeker explained that he had just begun to attend, but had not yet +attained sufficient confidence to sing in public. Then, starting up he +suddenly pulled out his watch, exclaimed that he was quite ashamed of +having remained so late, shook hands nervously all round, and, rushing +from the house, left Stanley Hall in possession of the field! + +Now, the poor youth's state of mind is not easily accounted for. +Stanley, being a close observer, had at an early part of the evening +detected the cause of Queeker's jealousy, and, being a kindly fellow, +sought, by devoting himself to Fanny Hennings, to relieve his young +friend; but, strange to say, Queeker was _not_ relieved! This fact was +a matter of profound astonishment even to Queeker himself, who went home +that night in a state of mind which cannot be adequately described, sat +down before his desk, and, with his head buried in his hands, thought +intensely. + +"Can it be," he murmured in a sepulchral voice, looking up with an +expression of horror, "that I love them _both_? Impossible. Horrible! +Perish the thought--yes." Seizing a pen:-- + + "Perish the thought + Which never ought + To be, + Let not the thing." + +"Thing--wing--bing--ping--jing--ring--ling--ting--cling--dear me! what a +lot of words with little or no meaning there are in the English +language!--what _will_ rhyme with--ah! I have it--sting--" + + "Let not the thing + Reveal its sting + To me!" + +Having penned these lines, Queeker heaved a deep sigh--cast one long +lingering gaze on the moon, and went to bed. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +THE SLOOP NORA--MR. JONES BECOMES COMMUNICATIVE, AND BILLY TOWLER, FOR +THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE, THOUGHTFUL. + +A dead calm, with a soft, golden, half-transparent mist, had settled +down on Old Father Thames, when, early one morning, the sloop Nora +floated rather than sailed towards the mouth of that celebrated river, +bent, in the absence of wind, on creeping out to sea with the tide. + +Jim Welton stood at the helm, which, in the circumstances, required only +attention from one of his legs, so that his hands rested idly in his +coat pockets. Morley Jones stood beside him. + +"So you managed the insurance, did you?" said Jim in a careless way, as +though he put the question more for the sake of saying something than +for any interest he had in the matter. + +Mr Jones, whose eyes and manner betrayed the fact that even at that +early hour he had made application to the demon-spirit which led him +captive at its will, looked suspiciously at his questioner, and +replied-- + +"Well, yes, I've managed it." + +"For how much?" inquired Jim. + +"For 300 pounds." + +Jim looked surprised. "D'ye think the herring are worth that?" he +asked. + +"No, they ain't, but there's some general cargo besides as'll make it up +to that, includin' the value o' the sloop, which I've put down at 100 +pounds. Moreover, Jim, I have named you as the skipper. They required +his name, d'ye see, and as I'm not exactly a seafarin' man myself, an' +wanted to appear only as the owner, I named you." + +"But that was wrong," said Jim, "for I'm _not_ the master." + +"Yes, you are," replied Morley, with a laugh. "I make you master now. +So, pray, Captain Welton, attend to your duty, and be civil to your +employer. There's a breeze coming that will send you foul o' the Maplin +light if you don't look out." + +"What's the name o' the passenger that came aboard at Gravesend, and +what makes him take a fancy to such a craft as this?" inquired Jim. + +"I can answer these questions for myself," said the passenger referred +to, who happened at that moment to come on deck. "My name is Stanley +Hall, and I have taken a fancy to the Nora chiefly because she somewhat +resembles in size and rig a yacht which belonged to my father, and in +which I have had many a pleasant cruise. I am fond of the sea, and +prefer going to Ramsgate in this way rather than by rail. I suppose you +will approve my preference of the sea?" he added, with a smile. + +"I do, indeed," responded Jim. "The sea is my native element. I could +swim in it as soon a'most as I could walk, and I believe that--one way +or other, in or on it--I have had more to do with it than with the +land." + +"You are a good swimmer, then, I doubt not?" said Stanley. + +"Pretty fair," replied Jim, modestly. + +"Pretty fair!" echoed Morley Jones, "why, he's the best swimmer, I'll be +bound, in Norfolk--ay, if he were brought to the test I do b'lieve he'd +turn out to be the best in the kingdom." + +On the strength of this subject the two young men struck up an +acquaintance, which, before they had been long together, ripened into +what might almost be styled a friendship. They had many sympathies in +common. Both were athletic; both were mentally as well as physically +active, and, although Stanley Hall had the inestimable advantage of a +liberal education, Jim Welton possessed a naturally powerful intellect, +with a capacity for turning every scrap of knowledge to good use. + +Their conversation was at that time, however, cut short by the springing +up of a breeze, which rendered it necessary that the closest attention +should be paid to the management of the vessel among the numerous shoals +which rendered the navigation there somewhat difficult. + +It may be that many thousands of those who annually leave London on +voyages, short and long--of profit and pleasure--have very little idea +of the intricacy of the channels through which they pass, and the number +of obstructions which, in the shape of sandbanks, intersect the mouth of +the Thames at its junction with the ocean. Without pilots, and an +elaborate well-considered system of lights, buoys, and beacons, a vessel +would be about as likely to reach London from the ocean, or _vice +versa_, in safety, as a man who should attempt to run through an old +timber-yard blindfold would be to escape with unbroken neck and shins. +Of shoals there are the East and West Barrows, the Nob, the Knock, the +John, the Sunk, the Girdler, and the Long sands, all lying like so many +ground-sharks, quiet, unobtrusive, but very deadly, waiting for ships to +devour, and getting them too, very frequently, despite the precautions +taken to rob them of their costly food. + +These sand-sharks (if we may be allowed the expression) separate the +main channels, which are named respectively the Swin or King's channel, +on the north, and the Prince's, the Queen's, and the South channels, on +the south. The channel through which the Nora passed was the Swin, +which, though not used by first-class ships, is perhaps the most +frequented by the greater portion of the coasting and colliery vessels, +and all the east country craft. The traffic is so great as to be almost +continuous; innumerable vessels being seen in fine weather passing to +and fro as far as the eye can reach. To mark this channel alone there +was, at the time we write of, the Mouse light-vessel, at the western +extremity of the Mouse sand; the Maplin lighthouse, on the sand of the +same name; the Swin middle light-vessel, at the western extremity of the +Middle and Heaps sand; the Whittaker beacon, and the Sunk light-vessel +on the Sunk sand--besides other beacons and numerous buoys. When we add +that floating lights and beacons cost thousands and hundreds of pounds +to build, and that even buoys are valued in many cases at more than a +hundred pounds each, besides the cost of maintenance, it may be +conceived that the great work of lighting and buoying the channels of +the kingdom--apart from the _light-house_ system altogether--is one of +considerable expense, constant anxiety, and vast national importance. +It may also be conceived that the Elder Brethren of the Corporation of +Trinity House--by whom, from the time of Henry VIII down to the present +day, that arduous duty has been admirably performed--hold a position of +the highest responsibility. + +It is not our intention, however, to trouble the reader with further +remarks on this subject at this point in our tale. In a future chapter +we shall add a few facts regarding the Trinity Corporation, which will +doubtless prove interesting; meanwhile we have said sufficient to show +that there was good reason for Jim Welton to hold his tongue and mind +his helm. + +When the dangerous navigation was past, Mr Jones took Billy Towler +apart, and, sitting down near the weather gangway, entered into a +private and confidential talk with that sprightly youngster. + +"Billy, my boy," he said, with a leer that was meant to be at once +amiable and patronising, "you and I suit each other very well, don't +we?" + +Billy, who had been uncommonly well treated by his new master, thrust +his hands into the waistband of his trousers, and, putting his head +meditatively on one side, said in a low voice-- + +"H'm--well, yes, you suit me pretty well." + +The respectable fish-curer chuckled, and patted his protege on the back. +After which he proceeded to discuss, or rather to detail, some matters +which, had he been less affected by the contents of Square-Tom, he might +have hesitated to touch upon. + +"Yes" he said, "you'll do very well, Billy. You're a good boy and a +sharp one, which, you see, is exactly what I need. There are a lot o' +small matters that I want you to do for me, and that couldn't be very +well done by anybody else; 'cause, d'ye see, there ain't many lads o' +your age who unite so many good qualities." + +"Very true," remarked Billy, gravely nodding his head--which, by the +way, was now decorated with a small straw hat and blue ribbon, as was +his little body with a blue Guernsey shirt, and his small legs with +white duck trousers of approved sailor cut. + +"Now, among other things," resumed Morley, "I want you to learn some +lessons." + +Billy shook his head with much decision. + +"That won't go down, Mister Jones. I don't mean for to larn no more +lessons. I've 'ad more than enough o' that. Fact is I consider myself +edicated raither 'igher than usual. Can't I read and write, and do a +bit o' cypherin'? Moreover, I knows that the world goes round the sun, +w'ich is contrairy to the notions o' the haincients, wot wos rediklous +enough to suppose that the sun went round the world. And don't I know +that the earth is like a orange, flattened at the poles? though I don't +b'lieve there _is_ no poles, an' don't care a button if there was. +That's enough o' jogrify for my money; w'en I wants more I'll ax for +it." + +"But it ain't that sort o' lesson I mean, Billy," said Mr Jones, who +was somewhat amused at the indignant tone in which all this was said. +"The lesson I want you to learn is this: I want you to git off by heart +what you and I are doin', an' going to do, so that if you should ever +come to be questioned about it at different times by different people, +you might always give 'em the same intelligent answer,--d'ye +understand?" + +"Whew!" whistled the boy, opening his eyes and showing his teeth; "beaks +an' maginstrates, eh?" + +"Just so. And remember, my boy, that you and I have been doin' one or +two things together of late that makes it best for both of us to be very +affectionate to, and careful about, each other. D'ye understand that?" + +Billy Towler pursed his little red lips as he nodded his small head and +winked one of his large blue eyes. A slight deepening of the red on his +cheeks told eloquently enough that he _did_ understand that. + +The tempter had gone a long way in his course by that time. So many of +the folds of the thin net had been thrown over the little thoughtless +victim, that, light-hearted and defiant though he was by nature, he had +begun to experience a sense of restraint which was quite new to him. + +"Now, Billy," continued Jones, "let me tell you that our prospects are +pretty bright just now. I have effected an insurance on my sloop and +cargo for 300 pounds, which means that I've been to a certain great city +that you and I know of, and paid into a company--we shall call it the +Submarine Insurance Company--a small sum for a bit of paper, which they +call a policy, by which they bind themselves to pay me 300 pounds if I +should lose my ship and cargo. You see, my lad, the risks of the sea +are very great, and there's no knowing what may happen between this and +the coast of France, to which we are bound after touching at Ramsgate. +D'ye understand?" + +Billy shook his head, and with an air of perplexity said that he "wasn't +quite up to that dodge--didn't exactly see through it." + +"Supposin'," said he, "you does lose the sloop an' cargo, why, wot +then?--the sloop an' cargo cost somethin', I dessay?" + +"Ah, Billy, you're a smart boy--a knowing young rascal," replied Mr +Jones, nodding approval; "of course they cost something, but therein +lies the advantage. The whole affair, sloop an' cargo, ain't worth more +than a few pounds; so, if I throw it all away, it will be only losing a +few pounds for the sake of gaining three hundred. What think you of +that, lad?" + +"I think the Submarine Insurance Company must be oncommon green to be +took in so easy," replied the youngster with a knowing smile. + +"They ain't exactly green either, boy, but they know that if they made +much fuss and bother about insuring they would soon lose their +customers, so they often run the risk of a knowin' fellow like me, and +take the loss rather than scare people away. You know, if a grocer was +in the habit of carefully weighing and testing with acid every sovereign +he got before he would sell a trifle over the counter,--if he called +every note in question, and sent up to the bank to see whether it wasn't +a forgery, why, his honest customers wouldn't be able to stand it. +They'd give him up. So he just gives the sovereign a ring and the note +a glance an' takes his chance. So it is in some respects with insurance +companies. They look at the man and the papers, see that all's right, +as well as they can, and hope for the best. That's how it is." + +"Ha! they must be jolly companies to have to do with. I'd like to +transact some business with them submarines," said the boy, gravely. + +"And so you shall, my lad, so you shall," cried Mr Jones with a laugh; +"all in good time. Well, as I was saying, the cargo ain't worth much; +it don't extend down to the keel, Billy, by no means; and as for the +sloop--she's not worth a rope's-end. She's as rotten as an old coffin. +It's all I've been able to do to make her old timbers hold together for +this voyage." + +Billy Towler opened his eyes very wide at this, and felt slightly +uncomfortable. + +"If she goes down in mid-channel," said he, "it strikes me that the +submarines will get the best of it, 'cause it don't seem to me that +you're able to swim eight or ten miles at a stretch." + +"We have a boat, Billy, we have a boat, my smart boy." + +Mr Jones accompanied this remark with a wink and a slight poke with his +thumb in the smart boy's side, which, however, did not seem to have the +effect of reassuring Billy, for he continued to raise various +objections, such as the improbability of the sloop giving them time to +get into a boat when she took it into her head to go down, and the +likelihood of their reaching the land in the event of such a disaster +occurring during a gale or even a stiff breeze. To all of which Mr +Jones replied that he might make his mind easy, because he (Jones) knew +well what he was about, and would manage the thing cleverly. + +"Now, Billy, here's the lesson that you've got to learn. Besides +remembering everything that I have told you, and only answering +questions in the way that I have partly explained, and will explain more +fully at another time, you will take particular note that we left the +Thames to-day all right with a full cargo--Jim Welton bein' master, and +one passenger bein' aboard, whom we agreed to put ashore at Ramsgate. +That you heard me say the vessel and cargo were insured for 300 pounds, +but were worth more, and that I said I hoped to make a quick voyage over +and back. Besides all this, Billy, boy, you'll keep a sharp look-out, +and won't be surprised if I should teach you to steer, and get the +others on board to go below. If you should observe me do anything while +you are steering, or should hear any noises, you'll be so busy with the +tiller and the compass that you'll forget all about _that_, and never be +able to answer any questions about such things at all. Have I made all +that quite plain to you?" + +"Yes, captain; hall right." + +Billy had taken to styling his new employer captain, and Mr Jones did +not object. + +"Well, go for'ard and take a nap. I shall want you to-night perhaps; it +may be not till to-morrow night." + +The small boy went forward, as he was bid, and, leaning over the bulwark +of the Nora, watched for a long time the rippling foam that curled from +her bows and slid quietly along her black hull, but Billy's thoughts +were not, like his eyes, fixed upon the foam. For the first time in his +life, perhaps, the foundling outcast began to feel that he was running +in a dangerous road, and entertained some misgivings that he was an +uncommonly wild, if not wicked, fellow. It is not to be supposed that +his perceptions on this subject were very clear, or his meditations +unusually profound, but it is certain that, during the short period of +his residence in the school of which mention has been made, his +conscience had been awakened and partially enlightened, so that his +precociously quick intelligence enabled him to arrive at a more just +apprehension of his condition than might have been expected,-- +considering his years and early training. + +We do not say that Billy's heart smote him. That little organ was +susceptible only of impressions of jollity and mischief. In other +respects--never having been appealed to by love--it was as hard as a +small millstone. But the poor boy's anxieties were aroused, and the new +sensation appeared to add a dozen years to his life. Up to this time he +had been accustomed to estimate his wickednesses by the number of days, +weeks, or months of incarceration that they involved--"a wipe," he would +say, "was so many weeks," a "silver sneezing-box," or a "gold ticker," +in certain circumstances, so many more; while a "crack," i.e. a burglary +(to which, by the way, he had only aspired as yet) might cost something +like a trip over the sea at the Queen's expense; but it had never +entered into the head of the small transgressor of the law to meditate +such an awful deed as the sinking of a ship, involving as it did the +possibility of murder and suicide, or hanging if he should escape the +latter contingency. + +Moreover, he now began to realise more clearly the fact that he had cast +in his lot with a desperate man, who would stick at nothing, and from +whose clutches he felt assured that it would be no easy matter to +escape. He resolved, however, to make the attempt the first favourable +opportunity that should offer; and while the resolve was forming in his +small brain his little brows frowned sternly at the foam on the Nora's +cutwater. When the resolve was fairly formed, fixed, and disposed of, +Billy's brow cleared, and his heart rose superior to its cares. He +turned gaily round. Observing that the seaman, who with himself and Jim +Welton composed the crew of the sloop, was sitting on the heel of the +bowsprit half asleep, he knocked his cap off, dived down the fore-hatch +with a merry laugh, flung himself into his berth, and instantly fell +asleep, to dream of the dearest joys that had as yet crossed his earthly +path--namely, his wayward wanderings, on long summer days, among the +sunny fields and hedgerows of Hampstead, Kensington, Finchley, and other +suburbs of London. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +MR. JONES TAKES STRONG MEASURES TO SECURE HIS ENDS, AND INTRODUCES BILLY +AND HIS FRIENDS TO SOME NEW SCENES AND MOMENTS. + +Again we are in the neighbourhood of the Goodwin sands. It is evening. +The sun has just gone down. The air and sea are perfectly still. The +stars are coming out one by one, and the floating lights have already +hoisted their never-failing signals. + +The Nora lies becalmed not far from the Goodwin buoy, with her sails +hanging idly on the yards. Bill Towler stands at the helm with all the +aspect and importance of a steersman, but without any other duty to +perform than the tiller could have performed for itself. Morley Jones +stands beside him with his hands in his coat pockets, and Stanley Hall +sits on the cabin skylight gazing with interest at the innumerable +lights of the shipping in the roadstead, and the more distant houses on +shore. Jim Welton, having been told that he will have to keep watch all +night, is down below taking a nap, and Grundy, having been ordered below +to attend to some trifling duty in the fore part of the vessel, is also +indulging in slumber. + +Long and earnestly and anxiously had Morley Jones watched for an +opportunity to carry his plans into execution, but as yet without +success. Either circumstances were against him, or his heart had failed +him at the push. He walked up and down the deck with uncertain steps, +sat down and rose up frequently, and growled a good deal--all of which +symptoms were put down by Stanley to the fact that there was no wind. + +At last Morley stopped in front of his passenger and said to him-- + +"I really think you'd better go below and have a nap, Mr Hall. It's +quite clear that we are not goin' to have a breeze till night, and it +may be early morning when we call you to go ashore; so, if you want to +be fit for much work to-morrow, you'd better sleep while you may." + +"Thank you, I don't require much sleep," replied Stanley; "in fact, I +can easily do without rest at any time for a single night, and be quite +able for work next day. Besides, I have no particular work to do +to-morrow, and I delight to sit at this time of the night and watch the +shipping. I'm not in your way, am I?" + +"Oh, not at all, not at all," replied the fish-merchant, as he resumed +his irregular walk. + +This question was prompted by the urgency with which the advice to go +below had been given. + +Seeing that nothing was to be made of his passenger in this way, Morley +Jones cast about in his mind to hit upon another expedient to get rid of +him, and reproached himself for having been tempted by a good fare to +let him have a passage. + +Suddenly his eye was attracted by a dark object floating in the sea a +considerable distance to the southward of them. + +"That's lucky," muttered Jones, after examining it carefully with the +glass, while a gleam of satisfaction shot across his dark countenance; +"could not have come in better time. Nothing could be better." + +Shutting up the glass with decision, he turned round, and the look of +satisfaction gave place to one of impatience as his eye fell on Stanley +Hall, who still sat with folded arms on the skylight, looking as +composed and serene as if he had taken up his quarters there for the +night. After one or two hasty turns on the deck, an idea appeared to +hit Mr Jones, for he smiled in a grim fashion, and muttered, "I'll try +that, if the breeze would only come." + +The breeze appeared to have been waiting for an invitation, for one or +two "cat's-paws" ruffled the surface of the sea as he spoke. + +"Mind your helm, boy," said Mr Jones suddenly; "let her away a point; +so, steady. Keep her as she goes; and, harkee" (he stooped down and +whispered), "_when I open the skylight_ do you call down, `breeze +freshenin', sir, and has shifted a point to the west'ard.'" + +"By the way, Mr Hall," said Jones, turning abruptly to his passenger, +"you take so much interest in navigation that I should like to show you +a new chart I've got of the channels on this part of the coast. Will +you step below?" + +"With pleasure," replied Stanley, rising and following Jones, who +immediately spread out on the cabin table one of his most intricate +charts,--which, as he had expected, the young student began to examine +with much interest,--at the same time plying the other with numerous +questions. + +"Stay," said Jones, "I'll open the skylight--don't you find the cabin +close?" + +No sooner was the skylight opened than the small voice of Billy Towler +was heard shouting-- + +"Breeze freshenin', sir, and has shifted a pint to the west'ard." + +"All right," replied Jones;--"excuse me, sir, I'll take a look at the +sheets and braces and see that all's fast--be back in a few minutes." + +He went on deck, leaving Stanley busy with the chart. + +"You're a smart boy, Billy. Now do as I tell 'ee, and keep your weather +eye open. D'ye see that bit o' floating wreck a-head? Well, keep +straight for that and _run right against it_. I'll trust to 'ee, boy, +that ye don't miss it." + +Billy said that he would be careful, but resolved in his heart that he +_would_ miss it! + +Jones then went aft to a locker near the stern, whence he returned with +a mallet and chisel, and went below. Immediately thereafter Billy heard +the regular though slight blows of the mallet, and pursed his red lips +and screwed up his small visage into a complicated sign of intelligence. + +There was very little wind, and the sloop made slow progress towards the +piece of wreck although it was very near, and Billy steered as far from +it as he could without absolutely altering the course. + +Presently Jones returned on deck and replaced the mallet and chisel in +the locker. He was very warm and wiped the perspiration frequently from +his forehead. Observing that the sloop was not so near the wreck as he +had expected, he suddenly seized the small steersman by the neck and +shook him as a terrier dog shakes a rat. + +"Billy," said he, quickly, in a low but stern voice, "it's of no use. I +see what you are up to. Your steerin' clear o' that won't prevent this +sloop from bein' at the bottom in quarter of an hour, if not sooner! If +you hit it you may save yourself and me a world of trouble. It's so +much for your own interest, boy, to hit that bit of wreck, _that I'll +trust you again_." + +So saying, Jones went down into the cabin, apologised for having kept +Stanley waiting so long, said that he could not leave the boy at the +helm alone for more than a few minutes at a time, and that he would have +to return on deck immediately after he had made an entry on the log +slate. + +Had any one watched Morley Jones while he was making that entry on the +log slate, he would have perceived that the strong man's hand trembled +excessively, that perspiration stood in beads upon his brow, and that +the entry itself consisted of a number of unmeaning and wavering +strokes. + +Meanwhile Billy Towler, left in sole possession of the sloop, felt +himself in a most unenviable state of mind. He knew that the crisis had +arrived, and the decisive tone of his tyrant's last remark convinced him +that it would be expedient for himself to obey orders. On the other +hand, he remembered that he had deliberately resolved to throw off his +allegiance, and as he drew near the piece of wreck, he reflected that he +was at that moment assisting in an act which might cost the lives of all +on board. + +Driven to and fro between doubts and fears, the poor boy kept changing +the course of the sloop in a way that would have soon rendered the +hitting of the wreck an impossibility, when a sudden and rather sharp +puff of wind caused the Nora to bend over, and the foam to curl on her +bow as she slipped swiftly through the water. Billy decided at that +moment to _miss_ the wreck when he was close upon it, and for that +purpose deliberately and smartly put the helm hard a-starboard. + +Poor fellow, his seamanship was not equal to his courage! So badly did +he steer, that the very act which was meant to carry him past the wreck, +thrust him right upon it! + +The shock, although a comparatively slight one, was sufficiently severe +to arouse the sleepers, to whom the unwonted sensation and sound carried +the idea of sudden disaster. Jim and Grundy rushed on deck, where they +found Morley Jones already on the bulwarks with a boat-hook, shouting +for aid, while Stanley Hall assisted him with an oar to push the sloop +off what appeared to be the topmast and cross-trees of a vessel, with +which she was entangled. + +Jim and Grundy each seized an oar, and, exerting their strength, they +were soon clear of the wreck. + +"Well," observed Jim, wiping his brow with the sleeve of his coat, "it's +lucky it was but a light topmast and a light breeze, it can't have done +us any damage worth speaking of." + +"I don't know that," said Jones. "There are often iron bolts and sharp +points about such wreckage that don't require much force to drive 'em +through a ship's bottom. Take a look into the hold, Jim, and see that +all's right." + +Jim descended into the hold, but immediately returned, exclaiming +wildly-- + +"Why, the sloop's sinkin'! Lend a hand here if you don't want to go +down with her," he cried, leaping towards the boat. + +Stanley Hall and Grundy at once lent a hand to get out the boat, while +the fish-merchant, uttering a wild oath, jumped into the hold as if to +convince himself of the truth of Jim's statement. He returned quickly, +exclaiming-- + +"She must have started a plank. It's rushing in like a sluice. Look +alive, lads; out with her!" + +The boat was shoved outside the bulwarks, and let go by the run; the +oars were flung hastily in, and all jumped into her as quickly as +possible, for the deck of the Nora was already nearly on a level with +the water. They were not a minute too soon. They had not pulled fifty +yards from their late home when she gave a sudden lurch to port and went +down stern foremost. + +To say that the party looked aghast at this sudden catastrophe, would be +to give but a feeble idea of the state of their minds. For some minutes +they could do nothing but stare in silence at the few feet of the Nora's +topmast which alone remained above water as a sort of tombstone to mark +her ocean grave. + +When they did at length break silence, it was in short interjectional +remarks, as they resumed the oars. + +Mr Jones, without making a remark of any kind, shipped the rudder; the +other four pulled. + +"Shall we make for land?" asked Jim Welton, after a time. + +"Not wi' the tide running like this," answered Jones; "we'll make the +Gull, and get 'em to take us aboard till morning. At slack tide we can +go ashore." + +In perfect silence they rowed towards the floating light, which was not +more than a mile distant from the scene of the disaster. As the ebb +tide was running strong, Jim hailed before they were close +alongside--"Gull, ahoy! heave us a rope, will you?" + +There was instant bustle on board the floating light, and as the boat +came sweeping past a growl of surprise was heard to issue from the +mate's throat as he shouted, "Look out!" + +A rope came whirling down on their heads, which was caught and held on +to by Jim. + +"All right, father," he said, looking up. + +"All wrong, I think," replied the sire, looking down. "Why. Jim, you +always turn up like a bad shilling, and in bad company too. Where ever +have you come from this time?" + +"From the sea, father. Don't keep jawin' there, but help us aboard, and +you'll hear all about it." + +By this time Jones had gained the deck, followed by Stanley Hall and +Billy. These quickly gave a brief outline of the disaster, and were +hospitably received on board, while Jim and Grundy made fast the tackles +to their boat, and had it hoisted inboard. + +"You won't require to pull ashore to-morrow," said the elder Mr Welton, +as he shook his son's hand. "The tender will come off to us in the +morning, and no doubt the captain will take you all ashore." + +"So much the better," observed Stanley, "because it seems to me that our +boat is worthy of the rotten sloop to which she belonged, and might fail +to reach the shore after all!" + +"Her owner is rather fond of ships and boats that have got the rot," +said Mr Welton, senior, looking with a somewhat stern expression at +Morley Jones, who was in the act of stooping to wring the water out of +the legs of his trousers. + +"If he is," said Jones, with an equally stern glance at the mate, "he is +the only loser--at all events the chief one--by his fondness." + +"You're right," retorted Mr Welton sharply; "the loss of a kit may be +replaced, but there are _some things_ which cannot be replaced when +lost. However, you know your own affairs best. Come below, friends, +and have something to eat and drink." + +After the wrecked party had been hospitably entertained in the cabin +with biscuit and tea, they returned to the deck, and, breaking up into +small parties, walked about or leaned over the bulwarks in earnest +conversation. Jack Shales and Jerry MacGowl took possession of Jim +Welton, and, hurrying him forward to the windlass, made him there +undergo a severe examination and cross-questioning as to how the sloop +Nora had met with her disaster. These were soon joined by Billy Towler, +to whom the gay manner of Shales and the rich brogue of MacGowl were +irresistibly attractive. + +Jim, however, proved to be much more reticent than his friends deemed +either necessary or agreeable. After a prolonged process of pumping, to +which he submitted with much good humour and an apparent readiness to be +pumped quite dry, Jerry MacGowl exclaimed-- + +"Och, it ain't of no use trying to git no daiper. Sure we've sounded +'im to the bottom, an' found nothin' at all but mud." + +"Ay, he's about as incomprehensible as that famous poet you're for ever +givin' us screeds of. What's 'is name--somebody's _son_?" + +"Tenny's son, av coorse," replied Jerry; "but he ain't incomprehensible, +Jack; he's only too daip for a man of or'nary intellick. His thoughts +is so awful profound sometimes that the longest deep-sea lead line as +ever was spun can't reach the bottom of 'em. It's only such oncommon +philosophers as Dick Moy there, or a boardin'-school miss (for extremes +meet, you know, Jack), that can rightly make him out." + +"Wot's that you're sayin' about Dick Moy?" inquired that worthy, who had +just joined the group at the windlass. + +"He said you was a philosopher," answered Shales. "You're another," +growled Dick, bluntly, to MacGowl. + +"Faix, that's true," replied Jerry; "there's two philosophers aboord of +this here light, an' the luminous power of our united intellicks is so +strong that I've had it in my mind more than wance to suggest that if +they wos to hoist you and me to the masthead together, the Gull would +git on first-rate without any lantern at all." + +"Not a bad notion that," said Jack Shales. "I'll mention it to the +superintendent to-morrow, when the tender comes alongside. P'raps he'll +report you to the Trinity House as being willin' to serve in that way +without pay, for the sake of economy." + +"No, not for economy, mate," objected Dick Moy. "We can't afford to do +dooty as lights without increased pay. Just think of the intellektooal +force required for to keep the lights agoin' night after night." + +"Ay, and the amount of the doctor's bill," broke in MacGowl, "for curin' +the extra cowlds caught at the mast-head in thick weather." + +"But we wouldn't go up in thick weather, stoopid," said Moy,--"wot ud be +the use? Ain't the gong enough at sich times?" + +"Och, to be sure. Didn't I misremember that? What a thing it is to be +ready-witted, now! And since we are makin' sich radical changes in the +floating-light system, what would ye say, boys, to advise the Boord to +use the head of Jack Shales instead of a gong? It would sound +splendiferous, for there ain't no more in it than an empty cask. The +last gong they sint us down was cracked, you know, so I fancy that's +considered the right sort; and if so, Jack's head is cracked enough in +all conscience." + +"I suppose, Jerry," said Shales, "if my head was appointed gong, you'd +like that your fist should git the situation of drumstick." + +"Stop your chaffin', boys, and let's catch some birds for to-morrow's +dinner," said one of the men who had been listening to the conversation. +"There's an uncommon lot of 'em about to-night, an' it seems to me if +the fog increases we shall have more of 'em." + +"Ho-o-o! + + "`Sich a gittin' up stairs, and + A playin' on the fiddle,'" + +Sang Jack Shales, as he sprang up the wire-rope ladder that led to the +lantern, round which innumerable small birds were flitting, as if +desirous of launching themselves bodily into the bright light. + +"What is that fellow about?" inquired Stanley Hall of the mate, as the +two stood conversing near the binnacle. + +"He's catching small birds, sir. We often get a number in that way +here. But they ain't so numerous about the Gull as I've seen them in +some of the other lightships. You may find it difficult to believe, but +I do assure you, sir, that I have caught as many as five hundred birds +with my own hand in the course of two hours." + +"Indeed! what sort of birds?" + +"Larks and starlings chiefly, but there were other kinds amongst 'em. +Why, sir, they flew about my head and round the lantern like clouds of +snowflakes. I was sittin' on the lantern just as Shales is sittin' now, +and the birds came so thick that I had to pull my sou'-wester down over +my eyes, and hold up my hands sometimes before my face to protect +myself, for they hit me all over. I snapped at 'em, and caught 'em as +fast as I could use my hands--gave their heads a screw, and crammed 'em +into my pockets. In a short time the pockets were all as full as they +could hold--coat, vest, and trousers. I had to do it so fast that many +of 'em wasn't properly killed, and some came alive agin, hopped out of +my pockets, and flew away." + +At that moment there arose a laugh from the men as they watched their +comrade, who happened to be performing a feat somewhat similar to that +just described by the mate. + +Jack Shales had seated himself on the roof of the lantern. This roof +being opaque, he and the mast, which rose above him, and its distinctive +ball on the top, were enveloped in darkness. Jack appeared like a man +of ebony pictured against the dark sky. His form and motions could +therefore be distinctly seen, although his features were invisible. He +appeared to be engaged in resisting an attack from a host of little +birds which seemed to have made up their minds to unite their powers for +his destruction; the fact being that the poor things, fascinated by the +brilliant light, flew over, under, and round it, with eyes so dazzled +that they did not observe the man until almost too late to sheer off and +avoid him. Indeed, many of them failed in this attempt, and flew right +against his head, or into his bosom. These he caught, killed, and +pocketed, as fast as possible, until his pockets were full, when he +descended to empty them. + +"Hallo! Jack, mind your eye," cried Dick Moy, as his friend set foot on +the deck, "there's one of 'em agoin' off with that crooked sixpence +you're so fond of." + +Jack caught a starling which was in the act of wriggling out of his coat +pocket, and gave it a final twist. + +"Hold your hats, boys," he cried, hauling forth the game. "Talk of a +Scotch moor--there's nothin' equal to the top of the Gull lantern for +real sport!" + +"I say, Jack," cried Mr Welton, who, with Stanley and the others, had +crowded round the successful sportsman, "there are some strange birds on +the ball. Gulls or crows, or owls. If you look sharp and get inside, +you may perhaps catch them by the legs." + +Billy Towler heard this remark, and, looking up, saw the two birds +referred to, one seated on the ball at the mast-head, the other at that +moment sailing round it. Now it must be told, and the reader will +easily believe it, that during all this scene Billy had looked on not +only with intense interest, but with a wildness of excitement peculiar +to himself, while his eyes flashed, and his small hands tingled with a +desire to have, not merely a finger, but, all his ten fingers, in the +pie. Being only a visitor, however, and ignorant of everybody and +everything connected with a floating light, he had modestly held his +tongue and kept in the background. But he could no longer withstand the +temptation to act. Without uttering a word, he leaped upon the +rope-ladder of the lantern, and was half way up it before any one +observed him, determined to forestall Jack Shales. Then there was a +shouting of "Hallo! what is that scamp up to?" "Come down, you monkey!" +"He'll break his neck!" "Serve him right!" "Hi! come down, will 'ee?" +and similar urgent as well as complimentary expressions, to all of which +Billy turned a deaf ear. Another minute and he stood on the roof of the +lantern, looking up at the ball and grasping the mast, which rose--a +bare pole--twelve or fifteen feet above him. + +"Och! av the spalpeen tries that," exclaimed Jerry MacGowl, "it'll be +the ind of 'im intirely." + +Billy Towler did try it. Many a London lamp-post had he shinned up in +his day. The difference did not seem to him very great. The ball, he +observed, was made of light bands or lathes arranged somewhat in the +form of lattice-work. It was full six feet in diameter, and had an +opening in the under part by which a man could enter it. Through the +lozenge-shaped openings he could see two enormous ravens perched on the +top. Pausing merely for a second or two to note these facts and recover +breath, he shinned up the bare pole like a monkey, and got inside the +ball. + +The spectators on deck stood in breathless suspense and anxiety, unable +apparently to move; but when they saw Billy clamber up the side of the +ball like a mouse in a wire cage, put forth his hand, seize one of the +ravens by a leg and drag it through the bars to him, a ringing cheer +broke forth, which was mingled with shouts of uncontrollable laughter. + +The operation of drawing the ill-omened bird through the somewhat narrow +opening against the feathers, had the double effect of ruffling it out +to a round and ragged shape, very much beyond its ordinary size, and of +rousing its spirit to ten times its wonted ferocity, insomuch that, when +once fairly inside, it attacked its captor with claw, beak, and wing +furiously. It had to do battle, however, with an infant Hercules. +Billy held on tight to its leg, and managed to restrain its head and +wings with one arm, while with the other he embraced the mast and slid +down to the lantern; but not before the raven freed its head and one of +its wings, and renewed its violent resistance. + +On the lantern he paused for a moment to make the captive more secure, +and then let his legs drop over the edge of the lantern, intending to +get on the rounds of the ladder, but his foot missed the first one. In +his effort to regain it he slipped. At that instant the bird freed his +head, and with a triumphant "caw!" gave Billy an awful peck on the nose. +The result was that the poor boy fell back. He could not restrain a +shriek as he did so, but he still kept hold of the raven, and made a +wild grasp with his disengaged hand. Fortunately he caught the ladder, +and remained swinging and making vain efforts to hook his leg round one +of the ropes. + +"Let go the bird!" shouted the mate, rushing underneath the struggling +youth, resolved at all hazards to be ready to break his fall if he +should let go. + +"Howld on!" yelled Jerry MacGowl, springing up the ladder--as Jack +Shales afterwards said--like a Chimpanzee maniac, and clutching Billy by +the neck. + +"Ye may let go now, ye spalpeen," said Jerry, as he held the upper half +of Billy's shirt, vest, and jacket in his powerful and capacious grasp, +"I'll howld ye safe enough." + +At that moment the raven managed to free its dishevelled wings, the +fierce flapping of which it added to its clamorous cries and struggles +of indignation. Feeling himself safe, Billy let go his hold, and used +the freed hand to seize the raven's other leg. Then the Irishman +descended, and thus, amid the riotous wriggles and screams of the +dishevelled bird, and the cheers, laughter, and congratulations of his +friends, our little hero reached the deck in safety. + +But this was not the end of their bird-catching on that memorable +occasion. It was, indeed, the grand incident of the night--the +culminating point, as it were, of the battle--but there was a good deal +of light skirmishing afterwards. Billy's spirit, having been fairly +roused, was not easily allayed. After having had a piece of plaister +stuck on the point of his nose, which soon swelled up to twice its +ordinary dimensions, and became bulbous in appearance, he would fain +have returned to the lantern to prosecute the war with renewed energy. +This, however, Mr Welton senior would by no means permit, so the +youngster was obliged to content himself with skirmishing on deck, in +which he was also successful. + +One starling he found asleep in the fold of a tarpaulin. Another he +discovered in a snug corner under the lee of one of the men's coats, and +both were captured easily. Then Dick Moy showed him a plan whereby he +caught half a dozen birds in as many minutes. He placed a small +hand-lantern on the deck, and spread a white handkerchief in front of +it. The birds immediately swarmed round this so vigorously, that they +even overturned the lantern once or twice. Finally, settling down on +the handkerchief, they went to sleep. It was evident that the poor +things had not been flying about for mere pleasure. They had been +undoubtedly fascinated by the ship's glaring light, and had kept flying +round it until nearly exhausted, insomuch that they fell asleep almost +immediately after settling down on the handkerchief, and were easily +laid hold of. + +During the intervals of this warfare Mr George Welton related to Billy +Towler and Stanley Hall numerous anecdotes of his experience in +bird-catching on board the floating lights. Mr Welton had been long in +the service, and had passed through all the grades; having commenced as +a seaman, and risen to be a lamplighter and a mate--the position he then +occupied. His office might, perhaps, be more correctly described as +second master, because the two were _never_ on board at the same time, +each relieving the other month about, and thus each being in a precisely +similar position as to command, though not so in regard to pay. + +"There was one occasion," said the mate, "when I had a tough set-to with +a bird, something like what you have had to-night, youngster. I was +stationed at the time in the Newarp light-vessel, off the Norfolk coast. +It happened not long after the light had gone up. I observed a very +large bird settle on the roof of the lantern, so I went cautiously up, +hopin' it would turn out a good one to eat, because you must know we +don't go catchin' these birds for mere pastime. We're very glad to get +'em to eat; and I can assure you the larks make excellent pies. Well, I +raised my head slowly above the lantern and pounced on it. Instantly +its claws went deep into my hands. I seized its neck, and tried to +choke it; but the harder I squeezed, the harder it nipped, until I was +forced to sing out for help. Leavin' go the neck, in order to have one +hand free, I descended the ladder with the bird hanging to the other +hand by its claws. I found I had no occasion to hold tight to _it_, for +it held tight to _me_! Before I got down, however, it had recovered a +bit, let go, and flew away, but took refuge soon after in the +lantern-house on deck. Here I caught it a second time, and once more +received the same punishment from its claws. I killed it at last, and +then found, to my disgust, that it was a monster sparrow-hawk, and not +fit for food!" + +"Somethink floatin' alongside, sir," said Dick Moy, running aft at that +moment and catching up a boat-hook, with which he made a dart at the +object in question, and struck, but failed to secure it. + +"What is it, Moy?" asked Mr Welton. + +"On'y a bit o' wreck, I think. It looked like a corp at first." + +Soon after this most of the people on board the Gull went below and +turned in, leaving the deck in charge of the regular watch, which, on +that occasion, consisted of Dick and his friend Jack Shales. Jerry +MacGowl kept them company for a time, being, as he observed, +"sintimentally inclined" that night. + +Stanley Hall, attracted by the fineness of the night, also remained on +deck a short time after the others were gone. + +"Do you often see dead bodies floating past?" he asked of Dick Moy. + +"Not wery often, sir, but occasionally we does. You see, we're so nigh +the Goodwin sands, where wrecks take place in the winter months pritty +constant, that poor fellers are sometimes washed past us; but they ain't +always dead. One night we heard loud cries not far off from us, but it +was blowin' a gale, and the night was so dark we could see nothin'. We +could no more have launched our boat than we could 'ave gone over the +falls o' Niagary without capsizin'. When next the relief comed off, we +heard that it was three poor fellers gone past on a piece of wreck." + +"Were they lost?" inquired Stanley. + +"No, sir, they warn't all of 'em lost. A brig saw 'em at daylight, but +just as they wos being picked up, one wos so exhausted he slipped off +the wreck an wos drownded. 'Nother time," continued Moy, as he paced +slowly to and fro, "we seed a corp float past, and tried to 'ook it with +the boat-'ook, but missed it. It wos on its face, and we could see it +'ad on a belt and sheath-knife. There wos a bald spot on the 'ead, and +the gulls wos peckin' at it, so we know'd it wos dead--wery likely a +long time." + +"There's a tight little craft," remarked Shales, pointing to a vessel +which floated at no great distance off. + +"W'ich d'ye mean?" asked Dick; for there were so many vessels, some at +anchor and some floating past with the tide, like phantom ships, that it +was not easy to make out which vessel was referred to; "the one wi' the +shoulder-o'-mutton mains'l?" + +"No; that schooner with the raking masts an' topsail?" + +"Ah, that's a purty little thing from owld Ireland," returned Jerry +MacGowl. "I'd know her anywhere by the cut of her jib. Av she would +only spaik, she'd let ye hear the brogue." + +"Since ye know her so well, Paddy, p'raps you can tell us what's her +cargo?" said Jack Shales. + +"Of coorse I can--it's fruit an' timber," replied Jerry. + +"Fruit and timber!" exclaimed Stanley with a laugh; "I was not aware +that such articles were exported from Ireland." + +"Ah, sure they are, yer honour," replied Jerry. "No doubt the English, +with that low spirit of jealousy that's pecooliar to 'em, would say it +was brooms an' taties, but _we_ calls it fruit and timber!" + +"After that, Jerry, I think it is time for me to turn in, so I wish you +both a good-night, lads." + +"Good-night, sir, good-night," replied the men, as Stanley descended to +his berth, leaving the watch to spin yarns and perambulate the deck +until the bright beams of the floating light should be rendered +unnecessary by the brighter beams of the rising sun. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +TREATS OF TENDER SUBJECTS OF A PECULIAR KIND, AND SHOWS HOW BILLY TOWLER +GOT INTO SCRAPES AND OUT OF THEM. + +The fact that we know not what a day may bring forth, receives frequent, +and sometimes very striking, illustration in the experience of most +people. That the day may begin with calm and sunshine, yet end in +clouds and tempest--or _vice versa_--is a truism which need not be +enforced. Nevertheless, it is a truism which men are none the worse of +being reminded of now and then. Poor Billy Towler was very powerfully +reminded of it on the day following his night-adventure with the ravens; +and his master was taught that the best-laid plans of men, as well as +mice, are apt to get disordered, as the sequel will show. + +Next morning the look-out on board the Gull lightship reported the +Trinity steam-tender in sight, off the mouth of Ramsgate harbour, and +the ensign was at once hoisted as an intimation that she had been +observed. + +This arrangement, by the way, of hoisting a signal on board the floating +lights when any of the Trinity yachts chance to heave in sight, is a +clever device, whereby the vigilance of light-ship crews is secured, +because the time of the appearing of these yachts is irregular, and, +therefore, a matter of uncertainty. Every one knows the natural and +almost irresistible tendency of the human mind to relax in vigilance +when the demand on attention is continual--that the act, by becoming a +mere matter of daily routine, loses much of its intensity. The crews of +floating lights are, more than most men, required to be perpetually on +the alert, because, besides the danger that would threaten innumerable +ships should their vessels drift from their stations, or any part of +their management be neglected, there is great danger to themselves of +being run into during dark stormy nights or foggy days. Constant +vigilance is partly secured, no doubt, by a sense of duty in the men; it +is increased by the feeling of personal risk that would result from +carelessness; and it is almost perfected by the order for the hoisting +of a flag as above referred to. + +The superintendent of the district of which Ramsgate is head-quarters, +goes out regularly once every month in the tender to effect what is +styled "the relief,"--that is, to change the men, each of whom passes +two months aboard and one month on shore, while the masters and mates +alternately have a month on shore and a month on board. At the same +time he puts on board of the four vessels of which he has charge-- +namely, the _Goodwin_, the _Gull_, the _South-sandhead_, and the _Varne_ +light-ships,--water, coal, provisions, and oil for the month, and such +stores as may be required; returning with the men relieved and the empty +casks and cans, etcetera, to Ramsgate harbour. Besides this, the tender +is constantly obliged to go out at irregular intervals--it may be even +several times in a week--for the purpose of replacing buoys that have +been shifted by storms--marking, with small green buoys, the spot where +a vessel may have gone down, and become a dangerous obstruction in the +"fair way"--taking up old chains and sinkers, and placing new ones-- +painting the buoys--and visiting the North and South Foreland +lighthouses, which are also under the district superintendent's care. + +On all of these occasions the men on duty in the floating lights are +bound to hoist their flag whenever the tender chances to pass them +within sight, on pain of a severe reprimand if the duty be neglected, +and something worse if such neglect be of frequent occurrence. In +addition to this, some of the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House make +periodical visits of inspection to all the floating lights round the +coasts of England; and this they do purposely at irregular times, in +order, if possible, to catch the guardians of the coast napping; and woe +betide "the watch" on duty if these inspecting Brethren should manage to +get pretty close to any light-ship without having received the salute of +recognition! Hence the men of the floating lights are kept ever on the +alert, and the safety of the navigation, as far as human wisdom can do +it, is secured. Hence also, at whatever time any of our floating lights +should chance to be visited by strangers, they, like our lighthouses, +will invariably be found in perfect working order, and as clean as new +pins, except, of course, during periods of general cleaning up or +painting. + +Begging pardon for this digression, we return to Billy Towler, whose +delight with the novelty of his recent experiences was only equalled by +his joyous anticipations of the stirring sea-life that yet lay before +him. + +The satisfaction of Mr Jones, however, at the success of his late +venture, was somewhat damped by the information that he would have to +spend the whole day on board the tender. The district superintendent, +whose arduous and multifarious duties required him to be so often afloat +that he seemed to be more at home in the tender than in his own house +ashore, was a man whose agreeable manners, and kind, hearty, yet firm +disposition, had made him a favourite with every one in the service. +Immediately on his boarding the Gull, he informed the uninvited and +unfortunate guests of that floating light that he would be very glad to +take them ashore, but that he could not do so until evening, as, besides +effecting "the relief," he meant to take advantage of the calm weather +to give a fresh coat of paint to one or two buoys, and renew their +chains and sinkers, and expressed a hope that the delay would not put +them to much inconvenience. + +Stanley Hall, between whom and the superintendent there sprang up an +intimate and sympathetic friendship almost at first sight, assured him +that so far from putting him to inconvenience it would afford him the +greatest pleasure to spend the day on board. Billy Towler heard this +arrangement come to with an amount of satisfaction which was by no means +shared by his employer, who was anxious to report the loss of the Nora +without delay, and to claim the insurance money as soon as possible. He +judged it expedient, however, to keep his thoughts and anxieties to +himself, and only vented his feelings in a few deep growls, which, +breaking on the ears of Billy Towler, filled the heart of that youthful +sinner with additional joy. + +"Wot a savage he is!" said Dick Moy, looking at Jones, and addressing +himself to Billy. + +"Ah, ain't he just!" replied the urchin. + +"Has he not bin good to 'ee?" asked the big seaman, looking down with a +kindly expression at the small boy. + +"Middlin'," was Billy's cautious reply. "I say, Neptune," he added, +looking up into Dick's face, "wot's yer name?" + +"It ain't Neptune, anyhow," replied Dick. "That's wot we've called the +big black Noofoundland dog you sees over there a-jumping about Jim +Welton as if he had falled in love with him." + +"Why is it so fond of him?" asked Billy. + +Dick replied to this question by relating the incident of the dog's +rescue by Jim. + +"Werry interestin'. Well, but wot _is_ your name?" said Billy, +returning to the point. + +"Dick." + +"Of course I know that; I've heerd 'em all call ye that often enough, +but I 'spose you've got another?" + +"Moy," said the big seaman. + +"Moy, eh?" cried Billy, with a grin, "that _is_ a funny name, but there +ain't enough of it for my taste." + +The conversation was interrupted at this point by the superintendent, +who, having been for many years in command of an East Indiaman, was +styled "Captain." He ordered the mate and men whose turn it was to be +"relieved" to get into the tender along with the strangers. Soon +afterwards the vessel steamed away over the glassy water, and Billy, who +had taken a fancy to the big lamplighter, went up to him and said-- + +"Well, Dick Moy, where are we agoin' to just now?" + +Dick pointed to a black speck on the water, a considerable distance +ahead of them. + +"We're agoin' to that there buoy, to lift it and put down a noo un." + +"Oh, that's a boy, is it? and are them there boys too?" asked Billy, +looking round at the curious oval and conical cask-like things, of +gigantic proportions, which lumbered the deck and filled the hold of the +tender. + +"Ay, they're all buoys." + +"None of 'em girls?" inquired the urchin gravely. + +"No, none of 'em," replied Dick with equal gravity, for to him the joke +was a very stale one. + +"No? that's stoopid now; I'd 'ave 'ad some of 'em girls for variety's +sake--wot's the use of 'em?" asked the imp, who pretended ignorance, in +order to draw out his burly companion. + +"To mark the channels," replied Dick. "We puts a red buoy on one side +and a checkered buoy on t'other, and if the vessels keeps atween 'em +they goes all right--if not, they goes ashore." + +"H'm, that's just where it is now," said Billy. "If _I_ had had the +markin' o' them there channels I'd 'ave put boys on one side an' girls +on t'other all the way up to London--made a sort o' country dance of it, +an' all the ships would 'ave gone up the middle an' down agin, d'ye +see?" + +"Port, port a little," said the captain at that moment. + +"Port it is, sir," answered Mr Welton, senior, who stood at the wheel. + +The tender was now bearing down on one of the numerous buoys which mark +off the channels around the Goodwin sands, and it required careful +steering in order to avoid missing it on the one hand, or running into +it on the other. A number of men stood on the bow of the vessel, with +ropes and boat-hooks, in readiness to catch and make fast to it. These +men, with the exception of two or three who formed the permanent crew of +the tender, were either going off to "relieve" their comrades and take +their turn on board the floating lights, or were on their way to land, +having been "relieved"--such as George Welton the mate, Dick Moy, and +Jerry MacGowl. Among them were several masters and mates belonging to +the light-vessels of that district--sedate, grave, cheerful, and +trustworthy men, all of them--who had spent the greater part of their +lives in the service, and were by that time middle-aged or elderly, but +still, with few exceptions, as strong and hardy as young men. + +Jerry, being an unusually active and powerful fellow, took a prominent +part in all the duties that devolved on the men at that time. + +That these duties were not light might have been evident to the most +superficial observer, for the buoys and their respective chains and +sinkers were of the most ponderous and unwieldy description. + +Referring to this, Stanley Hall said, as he stood watching the progress +of the work, "Why, captain, up to this day I have been in the habit of +regarding buoys as trifling affairs, not much bigger or more valuable +than huge barrels or washing-tubs, but now that I see them close at +hand, and hear all you tell me about them, my respect increases +wonderfully." + +"It will be increased still more, perhaps," replied the captain, "when I +tell you the cost of some of them. Now, then, MacGowl, look out--are +you ready?" + +"All ready, sir." + +"Port a little--steady." + +"Steady!" replied Mr Welton. + +"Arrah! howld on--och! stiddy--heave--hooray!" cried the anxious +Irishman as he made a plunge at the buoy which was floating alongside +like a huge iron balloon, bumping its big forehead gently, yet heavily, +against the side of the tender, and, in that simple way conveying to the +mind of Stanley an idea of the great difficulty that must attend the +shifting of buoys in rough weather. + +The buoy having been secured, an iron hook and chain of great strength +were then attached to the ring in its head. The chain communicated with +a powerful crane rigged up on the foremast, and was wrought by a steam +windlass on deck. + +"You see we require stronger tackle," said the captain to Stanley, while +the buoy was being slowly raised. "That buoy weighs fully +three-quarters of a ton, and cost not less, along with its chain and +sinker, than 150 pounds, yet it is not one of our largest. We have what +we call monster buoys, weighing considerably more than a ton, which cost +about 300 pounds apiece, including a 60-fathom chain and a +30-hundred-weight sinker. Those medium-sized ones, made of wood and +hooped like casks, cost from 80 pounds to 100 pounds apiece without +appendages. Even that small green fellow lying there, with which I +intend to mark the Nora, if necessary, is worth 25 pounds, and as there +are many hundreds of such buoys all round the kingdom, you can easily +believe that the guarding of our shores is somewhat costly." + +"Indeed it must be," answered Stanley; "and if such +insignificant-looking things cost so much, what must be the expense of +maintaining floating lights and lighthouses?" + +"I can give you some idea of that too," said the captain-- + +"Look out!" exclaimed the men at that moment. + +"Och! be aisy," cried Jerry, ducking as he spoke, and thus escaping a +blow from the buoy, which would have cracked his head against the +vessel's side like a walnut. + +"Heave away, lad!" + +The man at the windlass obeyed. The irresistible steam-winch caused the +huge chain to grind and jerk in its iron pulley, and the enormous +globular iron buoy came quietly over the side, black here and brown +there, and red-rusted elsewhere; its green beard of sea-weed dripping +with brine, and its sides grizzled with a six-months' growth of +barnacles and other shell-fish. + +It must not be supposed that, although the engine did all the heavy +lifting, the men had merely to stand by and look on. In the mere +processes of capturing the buoy and making fast the chains and hooks, +and fending off, etcetera, there was an amount of physical effort-- +straining and energising--on the part of the men, that could scarcely be +believed unless seen. Do not fancy, good reader, that we are attempting +to make much of a trifle in this description. Our object is rather to +show that what might very naturally be supposed to be trifling and easy +work, is, in truth, very much the reverse. + +The buoy having been lifted, another of the same size and shape, but +freshly painted, was attached to the chain, tumbled over the side, and +left in its place. In this case the chain and sinker did not require +renewing, but at the next [one] visited it was found that buoy, chain, +and sinker had to be lifted and renewed. + +And here again, to a landsman like Stanley, there was much to interest +and surprise. If a man, ignorant of such matters, were asked what he +would do in the event of his having to go and shift one of those buoys, +he might probably reply, "Well, I suppose I would first get hold of the +buoy and hoist it on board, and then throw over another in its place;" +but it is not probable that he would reflect that this process involved +the violent upturning of a mass of wood or metal so heavy that all the +strength of the dozen men who had to struggle with it was scarce +sufficient to move gently even in the water; that, being upturned, an +inch chain had to be unshackled--a process rendered troublesome, owing +to the ponderosity of the links which had to be dealt with, and the +constrained position of the man who wrought,--and that the chain and +sinker had to be hauled out of the sand or mud into which they had sunk +so much, that the donkey-engine had to strain until the massive chains +seemed about to give way, and the men stood in peril of having their +heads suddenly cut open. + +Not to be too prolix on this subject, it may be said, shortly, that when +the chain and sinker of the next buoy were being hauled in, a three-inch +rope snapped and grazed the finger of a man, fortunately taking no more +than a little of the skin off, though it probably had force enough to +have taken his hand off if it had struck him differently. Again they +tried, but the sinker had got so far down into the mud that it would not +let go. The engine went at last very slowly, for it was applying almost +the greatest strain that the chains could bear, and the bow of the +tender was hauled considerably down into the sea. The men drew back a +little, but, after a few moments of suspense, the motion of the vessel +gradually loosened the sinker and eased the strain. + +"There she goes, handsomely," cried the men, as the engine again resumed +work at reasonable speed. + +"We sometimes lose chains and sinkers altogether in that way," remarked +Dick Moy to Billy, who stood looking on with heightened colour and +glowing eyes, and wishing with all the fervour of his small heart that +the whole affair would give way, in order that he might enjoy the +_tremendous_ crash which he thought would be sure to follow. + +"Would it be a great loss?" he asked. + +"It would, a wery great un," said Dick; "that there chain an' sinker is +worth nigh fifty or sixty pound." + +While this work was being done, the captain was busy with his telescope, +taking the exact bearings of the buoy, to ascertain whether or not it +had shifted its position during the six months' conflict with tide and +tempest that it had undergone since last being overhauled. Certain +buildings on shore coming into line with other prominent buildings, such +as steeples, chimneys, and windmills, were his infallible guides, and +these declared that the buoy had not shifted more than a few feet. He +therefore gave the order to have the fresh buoy, with its chain and +sinker, ready to let go. + +The buoy in question,--a medium one about eight feet high, five feet in +diameter, and conical in shape--stood at the edge of the vessel, like an +extinguisher for the biggest candle that ever was conceived in the +wildest brain at Rome. Its sinker, a square mass of cast-iron nearly a +ton in weight, lay beside it, and its two-inch chain, every link whereof +was eight or ten inches long, and made of the toughest malleable iron, +was coiled carefully on the main-hatch, so that nothing should impede +its running out. + +"All ready?" cried the captain, taking a final glance through the +telescope. + +"All ready, sir," replied the men, several of whom stood beside the +buoy, prepared to lay violent hands on it, while two stood with iron +levers under the sinker, ready to heave. + +"Stand here, Billy, an' you'll see it better," said Dick Moy, with a sly +look, for Dick had by this time learned to appreciate the mischievous +spirit of the urchin. + +"Let go!" cried the captain. + +"Let go!" echoed the men. + +The levers were raised; the thrust was given. Away went the sinker; +overboard went the buoy; out went the chain with a clanging roar and a +furious rush, and up sprang a column of white spray, part of which fell +in-board, and drenched Billy Towler to the skin! + +As well might Dick Moy have attempted to punish a pig by throwing it +into the mud as to distress Billy by sousing him with water! It was to +him all but a native element. In fact, he said that he believed himself +to be a hamphiberous hanimal by nature, and was of the opinion that he +should have been born a merman. + +"Hooray! shower-baths free, gratis, for nothink!" he yelled, as soon as +he had re-caught his breath. "Any more o' that sort comin'?" he cried, +as he pulled off his shirt and wrung it. + +"Plenty more wery like it," said Dick, chuckling, "and to be had wery +much on the same terms." + +"Ah, if you'd only jine me--it would make it so much more pleasant," +retorted the boy; "but it would take a deal more water to kiver yer huge +carcase." + +"That boy will either make a first-rate man, or an out-and-out villain," +observed the captain to Stanley, as they stood listening to his chaffing +remarks. + +"He'll require a deal of taming," said Jim Welton, who was standing by; +"but he's a smart, well-disposed little fellow as far as I know him." + +Morley Jones, who was seated on the starboard bulwarks not far off; +confided his opinion to no one, but he was observed to indulge in a +sardonic grin, and to heave his shoulders as if he were agitated with +suppressed laughter when this last remark was made. + +The steamer meanwhile had been making towards another of the floating +lights, alongside of which some time was spent in transferring the full +water-casks, receiving the "empties," etcetera, and in changing the men. +The same process was gone through with the other vessels, and then, in +the afternoon, they returned towards Ramsgate harbour. On the way they +stopped at one of the large buoys which required to be painted. The +weather being suitable for that purpose, a boat was lowered, black and +white paint-pots and brushes were put into her, and Jack Shales, Dick +Moy, and Jerry MacGowl were told off to perform the duty. Stanley Hall +also went for pastime, and Billy Towler slid into the boat like an eel, +without leave, just as it pushed off. + +"Get out, ye small varmint!" shouted Jerry; but the boy did not obey; +the boat was already a few feet off from the vessel, and as the captain +either did not see or did not care, Billy was allowed to go. + +"You'll only be in the way, an' git tired of yer life before we're half +done," said Dick Moy. + +"Never mind, he shall keep me company," said Stanley, laughing. "We +will sit in judgment on the work as it proceeds--won't we, Billy?" + +"Well, sir," replied the boy, with intense gravity, "that depends on +whether yer fine-hart edication has bin sufficiently attended to; but +I've no objection to give you the benefit o' my adwice if you gits into +difficulties." + +A loud laugh greeted this remark, and Billy, smiling with condescension, +said he was gratified by their approval. + +A few minutes sufficed to bring them alongside the buoy, which was one +of the largest size, shaped like a cone, and painted in alternate +stripes of white and black. It rose high above the heads of the men +when they stood up beside it in the boat. It was made of timber, had a +wooden ring round it near the water, and bore evidence of having +received many a rude buffet from ships passing in the dark. + +"A nice little buoy this," said Billy, looking at it with the eye and +air of a connoisseur; "wot's its name?" + +"The North Goodwin; can't 'ee read? don't 'ee see its name up there on +its side, in letters as long as yerself?" said Jack Shales, as he +stirred up the paint in one of the pots. + +"Ah, to be sure; well, it might have bin named the Uncommon Good-win," +said Billy, "for it seems to have seen rough service, and to have stood +it well. Come, boys, look alive, mix yer colours an' go to work; +England expecks every man, you know, for to do his dooty." + +"Wot a bag of impudence it is!" said Dick Moy, catching the ring-bolt on +the top of the buoy with the boat-hook, and holding the boat as close to +it as possible, while his mates dipped their brushes in the black and +white paint respectively, and began to work with the energy of men who +know that their opportunity may be cut short at any moment by a sudden +squall or increasing swell. + +Indeed, calm though the water was, there was enough of undulation to +render the process of painting one of some difficulty, for, besides the +impossibility of keeping the boat steady, Dick Moy found that all his +strength could not avail to prevent the artists being drawn suddenly +away beyond reach of their object, and as suddenly thrown against it, so +that their hands and faces came frequently into contact with the wet +paint, and gave them a piebald appearance. + +For some time Billy contented himself with looking on and chaffing the +men, diversifying the amusement by an occasional skirmish with Stanley, +who had armed himself with a brush, and was busy helping. + +"It's raither heavy work, sir, to do all the judgment business by +myself;" he said. "There's that feller Shales, as don't know how a +straight line should be draw'd. Couldn't ye lend me your brush, Jack? +or p'raps Dick Moy will lend me his beard, as he don't seem to be usin' +it just now." + +"Here, Dick," cried Stanley, giving up his brush, "you've had enough of +the holding-on business; come, I'll relieve you." + +"Ay, that's your sort," said Billy; "muscle to the boat-'ook, an' brains +to the brush." + +"Hold on tight, sir," cried Shales, as the boat gave a heavy lurch away +from the buoy, while the three painters stood leaning as far over the +gunwale as was consistent with safety, and stretching their arms and +brushes towards the object of their solicitude. + +Stanley exerted himself powerfully; a reactionary swell helped him too +much, and next moment the three men went, heads, hands, and brushes, +plunging against the buoy! + +"Och! morther!" cried Jerry, one of whose black hands had been forced +against a white stripe, and left its imprint there. "Look at that, +now!" + +"All right," cried Shales, dashing a streak of white over the spot. + +"There's no preventing it," said Stanley, apologetically, yet laughing +in spite of himself. + +"I say, Jack, this is 'igh art, this is," observed Moy, as he drew back +to take another dip, "but I'm free to confess that I'd raither go +courtin' the girls than painting the buoys." + +"Oh! Dick, you borrowed that from me," cried Billy; "for shame, sir!" + +"Well, well," observed Jerry, "it's many a time I've held on to a +painter, but I niver thought to become wan. What would ye call this +now--a landscape or a portrait?" + +"I would call it a marine piece," said Stanley. + +"How much, sir?" asked Dick Moy, who had got upon the wooden ring of the +buoy, and was standing thereon attempting, but not very successfully, to +paint in that position. + +"A mareeny-piece, you noodle," cried Billy; "don't ye onderstand the +genel'm'n wot's a sittin' on judgment on 'ee? A mareeny-piece is a +piece o' mareeny or striped kaliko, w'ich is all the same, and wery poor +stuff it is too. Come, I'll stand it no longer. I hold ye in sich +contempt that I _must_ look down on 'ee." + +So saying, the active little fellow seized the boat-hook, and swung +himself lightly on the buoy, the top of which he gained after a severe +scramble, amid the indignant shouts of the men. + +"Well, since you have gone up there, we'll keep you there till we are +done." + +"All right, my hearties," retorted Billy, in great delight and +excitement, as the men went on with their work. + +Just then another heave of the swell drew the boat away, obliging the +painters to lean far over the side as before, pointing towards their +"pictur," as Jerry called it, but unable to touch it, though expecting +every moment to swing within reach again. Suddenly Billy Towler--while +engaged, no doubt, in some refined piece of mischief--slipped and fell +backwards with a loud cry. His head struck the side of the boat in +passing, as he plunged into the sea. + +"Ah, the poor craitur!" cried Jerry MacGowl, immediately plunging after +him. + +Now, it happened that Jerry could not swim a stroke, but his liking for +the boy, and the suddenness of the accident, combined with his reckless +disposition, rendered him either forgetful of or oblivious to that fact. +Instead of doing any good, therefore, to Billy, he rendered it +necessary for the men to give their undivided attention to hauling his +unwieldy carcase into the boat. + +The tide was running strong at the time. Billy rose to the surface, but +showed no sign of life. He was sinking again, when Stanley Hall plunged +into the water like an arrow, and caught him by the hair. + +Stanley was a powerful swimmer, but he could make no headway against the +tide that was running to the southward at the time, and before the men +had succeeded in dragging their enthusiastic but reckless comrade into +the boat, Billy and his friend had been swept to a considerable +distance. As soon as the oars were shipped, however, they were quickly +overtaken and rescued. + +Stanley was none the worse for his ducking, but poor Billy was +unconscious, and had a large cut in his head, which looked serious. +When he was taken on board the tender, and restored to consciousness, he +was incapable of talking coherently. In this state he was taken back to +Ramsgate and conveyed to the hospital. + +There, in a small bed, the small boy lay for many weeks, with ample +leisure to reflect upon the impropriety of coupling fun--which is +right--with mischief--which is emphatically wrong, and generally leads +to disaster. But Billy could not reflect, because he had received a +slight injury to the brain, it was supposed, which confused him much, +and induced him, as his attentive nurse said, to talk "nothing but +nonsense." + +The poor boy's recently-made friends paid him all the attention they +could, but most of them had duties to attend to which called them away, +so that, ere long, with the exception of an occasional visit from Mr +Welton of the Gull light, he was left entirely to the care of the nurses +and house-surgeons, who were extremely kind to him. + +Mr Morley Jones, who might have been expected to take an interest in +his _protege_, left him to his fate, after having ascertained that he +was in a somewhat critical condition, and, in any case, not likely to be +abroad again for many weeks. + +There was one person, however, who found out and took an apparently deep +interest in the boy. This was a stout, hale gentleman, of middle age, +with a bald head, a stern countenance, and keen grey eyes. He came to +the hospital, apparently as a philanthropic visitor, inquired for the +boy, introduced himself as Mr Larks, and, sitting down at his bedside, +sought to ingratiate himself with the patient. At first he found the +boy in a condition which induced him to indulge chiefly in talking +nonsense, but Mr Larks appeared to be peculiarly interested in this +nonsense, especially when it had reference, as it frequently had, to a +man named Jones! After a time, when Billy became sane again, Mr Larks +pressed him to converse more freely about this Mr Jones, but with +returning health came Billy's sharp wit and caution. He began to be +more circumspect in his replies to Mr Larks, and to put questions, in +his turn, which soon induced that gentleman to discontinue his visits, +so that Billy Towler again found himself in what might with propriety +have been styled his normal condition--absolutely destitute of friends. + +But Billy was not so destitute as he supposed himself to be--as we shall +see. + +Meanwhile Morley Jones went about his special business. He reported the +loss of the sloop Nora; had it advertised in the _Gazette_; took the +necessary steps to prove the fact; called at the office of the Submarine +Insurance Company, and at the end of three weeks walked away, chuckling, +with 300 pounds in his pocket! + +In the satisfaction which the success of this piece of business induced, +he opened his heart and mind pretty freely to his daughter Nora, and +revealed not only the fact of Billy Towler's illness, but the place +where he then lay. Until the money had been secured he had kept this a +secret from her, and had sent Jim Welton on special business to +Gravesend in order that he might be out of the way for a time, but, the +motive being past, he made no more secret of the matter. + +Nora, who had become deeply interested in the boy, resolved to have him +brought up from Ramsgate to Yarmouth by means of love, not being +possessed of money. The moment, therefore, that Jim Welton returned, +she issued her commands that he should go straight off to Ramsgate, find +the boy, and, by hook or crook, bring him to the "Garden of Eden," on +pain of her utmost displeasure. + +"But the thing an't possible," said Jim, "I haven't got money enough to +do it." + +"Then you must find money somehow, or make it," said Nora, firmly. +"That dear boy _must_ be saved. When he was stopping here I wormed all +his secrets out of his little heart, bless it--" + +"I don't wonder!" interrupted Jim, with a look of admiration. + +"And what do you think?" continued the girl, not noticing the +interruption, "he confessed to me that he had been a regular London +thief! Now I am quite sure that God will enable me to win him back, if +I get him here--for I know that he is fond of me--and I am equally sure +that he will be lost if he is again cast loose on the world." + +"God bless you, Nora; I'll do my best to fetch him to 'ee, even if I +should have to walk to Ramsgate and carry him here on my shoulders; but +don't you think it would be as well also to keep him--forgive me, dear +Nora, I _must_ say it--to keep him out of your father's way? He might +teach him to drink, you know, if he taught him no worse, and that's bad +enough." + +Nora's face grew pale as she said-- + +"Oh, Jim, are you _sure_ there is nothing worse that he is likely to +teach him? My father has a great deal of money just now, I--I hope +that--" + +"Why, Nora, you need not think he stole it," said Jim hurriedly, and +with a somewhat confused look; "he got it in the regular way from the +Insurance Company, and I couldn't say that there's anything absolutely +wrong in the business; but--" + +The young sailor stopped short and sighed deeply. Nora's countenance +became still more pale, and she cast down her eyes, but spoke not a word +for some moments. + +"You _must_ bring the boy to me, Jim," she resumed, with a sudden start. +"He may be in danger here, but there is almost certain ruin before him +if he is left to fall back into his old way of life." + +We need not trouble the reader with a detailed account of the means by +which Jim Welton accomplished his object. Love prevailed--as it always +did, always does, and always will--and ere many days had passed Billy +Towler was once more a member of the drunkard's family, with the sweet +presence of Nora ever near him, like an angel's wing overshadowing and +protecting him from evil. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +THE ANCIENT CORPORATION OF TRINITY HOUSE OF DEPTFORD STROND. + +As landmarks--because of their affording variety, among other reasons-- +are pleasant objects of contemplation to the weary traveller on a long +and dusty road, so landmarks in a tale are useful as resting-places. We +purpose, therefore, to relieve the reader, for a very brief period, from +the strain of mingled fact and fiction in which we have hitherto +indulged--turn into a siding, as it were--and, before getting on the +main line again, devote a short chapter to pure and unmitigated fact. + +So much has been said in previous chapters, and so much has yet to be +said, about the lights, and buoys, and beacons which guard the shores of +Old England, that it would be unpardonable as well as ungracious were we +to omit making special reference to the ancient CORPORATION OF TRINITY +HOUSE OF DEPTFORD STROND, under the able management of which the whole +of the important work has been devised and carried into operation, and +is now most efficiently maintained. + +It cannot be too urgently pressed upon un-nautical--especially young-- +readers, that the work which this Corporation does, and the duties which +it performs, constitute what we may term _vital service_. + +It would be too much, perhaps, to say that the life of the nation +depends on the faithful and wise conduct of that service, but assuredly +our national prosperity is intimately bound up with it. The annual list +of ships wrecked and lives lost on the shores of the kingdom is +appalling enough already, as every observant reader of the newspapers +must know, but if the work of the Trinity House--the labours of the +Elder Brethren--were suspended for a single year--if the lights, fixed +and floating, were extinguished, and the buoys and beacons removed, the +writer could not express, nor could the reader conceive, the awful crash +of ruin, and the terrific cry of anguish that would sweep over the land +from end to end, like the besom of destruction. + +We leave to hard-headed politicians to say what, or whether, +improvements of any kind might be made in connection with the Trinity +Corporation. We do not pretend to be competent to judge whether or not +that work might be _better_ done. All that we pretend to is a certain +amount of competency to judge, and right to assert, that it is _well_ +done, and one of the easiest ways to assure one's-self of that fact is, +to go visit the lighthouses and light-vessels on the coast, and note +their perfect management; the splendid adaptation of scientific +discoveries to the ends they are designed to serve; the thoroughness, +the cleanliness, the beauty of everything connected with the _materiel_ +employed; the massive solidity and apparent indestructibility of the +various structures erected and afloat; the method everywhere observable; +the perfect organisation and the steady respectability of the +light-keepers--observe and note all these things, we say, and it will be +impossible to return from the investigation without a feeling that the +management of this department of our coast service is in pre-eminently +able hands. + +Nor is this to be wondered at, when we reflect that the Corporation of +Trinity House is composed chiefly (the acting part of it entirely) of +nautical men--men who have spent their youth and manhood on the sea, and +have had constantly to watch and guard against those very rocks and +shoals, and traverse those channels which it is now their duty to light +and buoy. [See note 1.] + +It has been sagely remarked by some philosopher, we believe--at least it +might have been if it has not--that everything must have a beginning. +We agree with the proposition, and therefore conclude that the +Corporation of Trinity House must have had a beginning, but that +beginning would appear to be involved in those celebrated "mists of +antiquity" which unhappily obscure so much that men would give their +ears to know now-a-days. + +Fire--which has probably been the cause of more destruction and +confusion than all of the other elements put together--was the cause of +the difficulty that now exists in tracing this ancient Corporation to +its origin, as will be seen from the following quotation from a little +"Memoir, drawn up the present Deputy-Master, and printed for private +distribution," which was kindly lent to us by the present secretary of +the House, and from which most of our information has been derived. + +"The printed information hitherto extant [in regard to the Corporation +of Trinity House] is limited to the charter of confirmation granted by +James the Second (with the minor concession, by Charles the Second, of +Thames Ballastage) and a compilation from the records of the Corporation +down to 1746, by its then secretary, Mr Whormby, supplemented by a +memoir drawn up, in 1822, by Captain Joseph Cotton, then Deputy-master. +But the _data_ of these latter are necessarily imperfect, as the +destruction by fire, in 1714, of the house in Water Lane had already +involved a disastrous loss of documentary evidence, leaving much to be +inferentially traced from collateral records of Admiralty and Navy +Boards. These, however, sufficiently attest administrative powers and +protective influence scarcely inferior to the scope of those +departments." + +More than a hundred years before the date of its original charter (1514) +the Corporation existed in the form of a voluntary association of the +"shipmen and mariners of England," to which reference is made in the +charter as being an influential body of long standing even at that time, +which protected maritime interests, and relieved the aged and indigent +among the seafaring community, for which latter purpose they had erected +an almshouse at Deptford, in Kent, where also were their headquarters. +This society had inspired confidence and acquired authority to establish +regulations for the navigation of ships and the government of seamen, +which, by general consent, had been adopted throughout the service. It +was, therefore, of tested and approved capacity, which at length +resulted in the granting to it of a charter by Henry VIII in 1514. + +From this date the history proper of the Corporation of Trinity House of +Deptford Strond begins. In the charter referred to it is first so +named, and is described as "The Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious +and undividable Trinity of Saint Clement." The subsequent charter of +James I, and all later charters, are granted to "The Master, Wardens, +and Assistants of the Guild, Fraternity, or Brotherhood of the most +glorious and undivided Trinity, and of Saint Clement, in the parish of +Deptford, in the county of Kent." The grant of Arms to the Corporation +is dated 1573, and includes the motto, _Trinitas in Unitate_. + +No reason can now be assigned for the application of its distinctive +title. The mere fact that the constitution of the guild included +provision for the maintenance of a chaplain, and for the conduct of +divine service in the parish church, is not, we think, sufficient to +account for it. + +In the house or hall at Deptford, adjoining the almshouses, the business +of the Corporation was first conducted. Afterwards, for the sake of +convenient intercourse with shipowners and others, in a house in +Ratcliffe; next at Stepney, and then in Water Lane, Tower Street. The +tenement there falling into decay--after having been twice burnt and +restored--was forsaken, and an estate was purchased on Tower Hill, on +which the present Trinity House was built, from designs by Wyatt, in +1798. + +A good idea of the _relative_ antiquity of the Corporation may be +gathered from the fact that about the year 1520--six years after the +date of the first charter--the formation of the Admiralty and Navy +Boards was begun, and "on the consequent establishment of dockyards and +arsenals, the Deptford building-yard was confided to the direction of +the Trinity House, together with the superintendence of all navy stores +and provisions. So closely, indeed, were the services related, that the +first Master of the Corporation, under the charter, was Sir Thomas +Spert, commander of the `Henry Grace-a-Dieu,' (our first man-of-war), +and sometime Controller of the Navy. The Corporation thus became, as it +were, the civil branch of the English Maritime Service, with a naval +element which it preserves to this day." + +Government records show that the Trinity Brethren exercised considerable +powers, at an early period, in manning and outfitting the navy; that +they reported on ships to be purchased, regulated the dimensions of +those to be built, and determined the proper complement of sailors for +each, as well as the armament and stores. Besides performing its +peaceful duties, the Corporation was bound to render service at sea if +required, but, in consideration of such liability, the Brethren and +their subordinates were exempted from land service of every kind. They +have been frequently called upon to render service afloat, "and notably +upon two occasions--during the mutiny at the Nore in 1797, when the +Elder Brethren, almost in view of the mutinous fleet, removed or +destroyed every beacon and buoy that could guide its passage out to sea; +and again in 1803, when a French invasion was imminent, they undertook +and carried out the defences of the entrance to the Thames by manning +and personally officering a cordon of fully-armed ships, moored across +the river below Gravesend, with an adequate force of trustworthy seamen, +for destruction, if necessary, of all channel marks that might guide an +approaching enemy." + +We cannot afford space to enter fully into the history of the Trinity +Corporation. Suffice it to say that it has naturally been the object of +a good deal of jealousy, and has undergone many searching +investigations, from all of which it has emerged triumphantly. Its +usefulness having steadily advanced with all its opportunities for +extension, it received in 1836 "the culminating recognition of an Act of +Parliament, empowering its executive to purchase of the Crown, and to +redeem from private proprietors, their interests in all the coast-lights +of England, thus bringing all within its own control. By Crown patents, +granted from time to time, the Corporation was enabled to raise, through +levy of tolls, the funds necessary for erection and maintenance of these +national blessings; ... and all surplus of revenue over expenditure was +applied to the relief of indigent and aged mariners, their wives, +widows, and orphans." About 1853, the allowance to out-pensioners alone +amounted to upwards of 30,000 pounds per annum, and nearly half as much +more of income, derived from property held in trust for charitable +purposes, was applied to the maintenance of the almshouses at Deptford +and Mile-end, and to other charitable uses for the benefit of the +maritime community. + +The court or governing body of the Corporation is now composed of +thirty-one members, namely, the Master, four Wardens, eight Assistants, +and eighteen Elder Brethren. The latter are elected out of those of the +class of younger Brethren who volunteer, and are approved as candidates +for the office. Eleven members of this court of thirty-one are men of +distinction--members of the Royal Family, Ministers of State, naval +officers of high rank, and the like. The remainder--called Acting +Brethren--are chiefly officers of the mercantile marine, with a very +few--usually three--officers of Her Majesty's navy. The younger +Brethren--whose number is unlimited--are admissible at the pleasure of +the court. They have no share in the management, but are entitled to +vote in the election of Master and Wardens. + +The duties of the Corporation, as described in their charters generally, +were to "treat and conclude upon all and singular articles anywise +concerning the science or art of mariners." A pretty wide and somewhat +indefinite range! At the present time these duties are, as follows:-- + +To maintain in perfect working order all the lighthouses, floating +lights, and fog-signal stations on the coasts of England; and to lay +down, maintain, renew, and modify all the buoys, beacons, and +sea-signals; to regulate the supply of stores, the appointment of +keepers, and constantly to inspect the stations--a service which entails +unremitting attention upon the members, some of whom are always on duty, +either afloat in the steam-vessels or on land journeys. + +To examine and license pilots for a large portion of our coasts; and to +investigate generally into all matters relative to pilotage. + +To act as nautical advisers with the Judge of the High Court of +Admiralty, a duty which frequently engages some of the Brethren for +considerable periods of time on intricate causes of the greatest +importance. + +To survey and inspect the channels of the Thames and the shoals of the +North Sea, and other points of the coast at which shifting, scouring, +growth or waste of sand may affect the navigation, and require to be +watched and notified. + +To supply shipping in the Thames with ballast. + +The Elder Brethren have also to perform the duty of attending the +Sovereign on sea-voyages. + +In addition to all this, it has to superintend the distribution of its +extensive charities, founded on various munificent gifts and legacies, +nearly all given or left for the benefit of "poor Jack" and his +relatives; and to manage the almshouses; also the affairs of the House +on Tower Hill, and the engineering department, with its superintendence +of new works, plans, drawings, lanterns, optical apparatus, etcetera-- +the whole involving, as will be obvious to men who are acquainted with +"business," a mass of detail which must be almost as varied as it is +enormous. + +The good influence of the operations of the Trinity louse might be shown +by many interesting instances. Here is one specimen; it has reference +to ballast-heaving:-- + +"Formerly the ballast, when laid in barge or lighter alongside the ship +to be supplied, was heaved on board by men who were hired and paid by +various waterside contractors, and subjected to great hardships, not +only from the greed of their employers, but from a demoralising system +of payment through publicans and local harpies. These evils were +altogether removed by the establishment of a Heavers' Office under +control of the Trinity House, where men could attend for employment, and +where their wages could be paid with regularity, and free from +extortionate deduction." + +Many more examples might be given, but were we to indulge in this strain +our chapter would far exceed its proper limits. + +The light-vessels belonging to the Corporation are 43 in number: 38 in +position and 5 in reserve to meet casualties. [See note 2.] Of +lighthouses there are 76; sixty-one of which, built of brick, stone, or +timber, are on shore; eleven, of granite, are on outlying rocks; and +four, on iron piles, are on sandbanks. There are 452 buoys of all +shapes and sizes on the coast, and half as many more in reserve, besides +about 60 beacons of various kinds, and 21 storehouses in connection with +them. Also 6 steam-vessels and 7 sailing tenders maintained for +effecting the periodical relief of crews and keepers, shifting and +laying buoys, etcetera. + +The working staff which keeps the whole complex machinery in order, +consists of 7 district superintendents, 11 local agents, 8 buoy-keepers, +21 storekeepers, watchmen, etcetera; 177 lighthouse-keepers, 427 crews +of floating lights, 143 crews of steam and sailing vessels, and 6 +fog-signal attendants--a total of 800 men. + +Among the great and royal personages who have filled the office of +Master of the Corporation of Trinity House, we find, besides a goodly +list of dukes and earls--the names of (in 1837) the Duke of Wellington, +(1852) H.R.H. Prince Albert, (1862) Viscount Palmerston, and (1866) +H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. The last still holds office, and H.R.H. +the Prince of Wales heads the list of a long roll of titled and +celebrated honorary Brethren of the Corporation. + +We make no apology for the interpolation of this chapter, because if the +reader has skipped it no apology is due, and if he has not skipped it, +we are confident that no apology will be required. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. The service which the Corporation of Trinity House renders to +the coasts of England, is rendered to those of Scotland by the +Commissioners of Northern Lights, and to those of Ireland by the +Commissioners of Irish Lights--both, to some extent, under the +supervision of the Trinity House. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The floating lights of England are illuminated by means of lamps with +metallic reflectors, on what is styled the catoptric system. The +dioptric system, in which the rays of light are transmitted through +glass, has been introduced into the floating lights of India by the +Messrs. Stevenson, C.E., of Edinburgh. The first floating light on this +system in India was shown on the Hoogly in 1865. Since then, several +more dioptric lights have been sent to the same region, and also to +Japan in 1869, and all reports agree in describing these lights as being +eminently successful. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +STRANGE SIGHTS AND SCENES ON LAND AND SEA. + +The river Hoogly. Off Calcutta. Tropical vegetation on the shore. +Glittering sunshine on the water. Blue sky and fleecy clouds overhead. +Equally blue sky and fleecy clouds down below. A world of sky and +water, with ships and boats, resting on their own inverted images, in +the midst. Sweltering heat everywhere. Black men revelling in the +sunshine. White men melting in the shade. The general impression such, +that one might almost entertain the belief that the world has become +white-hot, and the end of time is about to be ushered in with a general +conflagration. + +Such is the scene, reader, to which we purpose to convey you. + +The day was yet young when a large vessel shook out her topsails, and +made other nautical demonstrations of an intention to quit the solid +land ere long, and escape if possible from the threatened conflagration. + +"I wonder when those brutes will be sent off," said the first mate of +the ship to the surgeon, who stood on the poop beside him. + +"What brutes do you refer to?" asked the surgeon, who was no other than +our young friend Stanley Hall. + +"Why, the wild beasts, to be sure. Have you not heard that we are to +have as passengers on the voyage home two leopards, an elephant, and a +rhinoceros?" + +"Pleasant company! I wonder what Neptune will say to that?" said +Stanley, with a laugh, as he walked forward to ask the opinion of the +owner of the said Neptune. "I say, Welton, we are to have an elephant, +a rhinoceros, and two leopards, on this voyage." + +"Indeed?" + +"Yes, what will Neptune say to it?" + +"Oh, he won't mind, sir," replied Jim, patting the head of the large +Newfoundland dog with grey paws which stood beside him. + +Jim and Stanley had taken a fancy to each other when on board the Nora. +The former had carried out a plan of going to sea, in order to be out of +the way if he should happen to be wanted as a witness at the trial of +Morley Jones, which event he felt certain must take place soon. He had +made application to Stanley, who spoke to Mr Durant about him,--the +result being that Jim obtained a berth on board the ship Wellington, +which stood A1 at Lloyds. Hence we find him in the Hoogly. + +"Neptune is a wise dog, sir," continued Jim; "he don't feel much put out +by curious company, and is first-rate at taking care of himself. +Besides, there is no jealousy in his nature. I suppose he feels that +nobody can cut him out when he has once fairly established a friendship. +I don't grudge the dive off the bulwarks of the old Gull, when I saved +Neptune, I assure you." + +"He was worth saving," remarked Stanley, stooping to pat the meek head +of the dog. + +"Yes, I heard last night of the expected passengers," pursued Jim, "and +am now rigging up tackle to hoist 'em on board. I meant to have told +you of 'em last night, but we got into that stiff argument about +teetotalism, which put it completely out of my head." + +"Ah, Welton, you'll never convince me that teetotalism is right," said +Stanley, with a good-humoured laugh. "Not that I care much about wine +or spirits myself, but as long as a man uses them in moderation they can +do him no harm." + +"So I thought once, sir," returned Jim, "but I have seen cause to change +my mind. A healthy man can't use them in moderation, because _use_ is +_abuse_. Stimulants are only fit for weaklings and sick folk. As well +might a stout man use crutches to help him to walk, as beer or brandy to +help him to work; yet there are some strong young men so helpless that +they can't get on at all without their beer or grog!" + +"Come, I'll join issue with you on that point," said Stanley, eagerly, +for he was very fond of an argument with Jim, who never lost his temper, +and who always paid his opponent the compliment of listening attentively +to what he had to say. + +"Not just now," replied Jim, pointing towards the shore; "for yonder +comes a boat with some of the passengers we were talking of." + +"Is that tackle rigged, Welton?" shouted the mate. + +"It is, sir," replied Jim. + +"Then stand by, some of you, to hoist these leopards aboard." + +When the little boat or dinghy came alongside, it was observed that the +animals were confined in a large wooden cage, through the bars of which +they glared savagely at the half-dozen black fellows who conveyed them +away from their native land. They seemed to be uncommonly irate. +Perhaps the injustice done them in thus removing them against their will +had something to do with it. Possibly the motion of the boat had +deranged their systems. Whatever the cause, they glared and growled +tremendously. + +"Are you sure that cage is strong enough?" asked the mate, casting a +dubious look over the side. + +"Oh yes, massa--plenty strong. Hould a Bengal tiger," said one of the +black fellows, looking up with a grin which displayed a splendid double +row of glittering teeth. + +"Very well, get the slings on, Welton, and look sharp, bo's'n, for more +company of the same kind is expected," said the mate. + +The bo's'n--a broad, short, burly man, as a boatswain always is and +always ought to be, with, of course, a terrific bass voice, a body +outrageously long, and legs ridiculously short--replied, "Ay, ay, sir," +and gave some directions to his mates, who stood by the hoisting +tackles. + +At the first hoist the appearance of the cage justified the mate's +suspicions, for the slings bent it in so much that some of the bars +dropped out. + +"Avast heaving," roared the boatswain. "Lower!" Down went the cage +into the dinghy. The bars were promptly replaced, and the slings +fastened in better position. + +"Try it again, bo's'n," said the mate. + +The order to hoist was repeated, and up went the cage a second time, but +it bent as before, so that several bars again slipped out, leaving the +leopards sufficient space to jump through if they chose. + +"Lower!" yelled the mate. + +The men obeyed promptly--rather too promptly! The cage went down by the +run into the boat, and with a crash fell asunder. + +"Cut the rope!" cried the mate. + +Jim Welton jumped into the chains, cut the painter, and the boat was +swept away by the tide, which was running strong past the ship. At the +same moment the black fellows went over the sides into the water like +six black eels radiating from a centre, and away went the dinghy with +the leopards in possession, mounted on the debris of their prison, +lashing their sides with their tails, and looking round in proud +defiance of all mankind! + +The crew of the boat, each of whom could swim like a frog, were soon +picked up. Meanwhile, all on board the Wellington who had telescopes +applied them to their eyes, and watched the progress of the dinghy. + +It chanced that the current set with considerable force towards the +opposite side of the river, where lay an island on which was a public +garden. There ladies and gentlemen in gay costume, as well as many +natives and children, were promenading the shady walks, chatting +pleasantly, listening to the sweet strains of music, enjoying the +fragrance of scented flowers, with the jungle and its inhabitants very +far indeed from their thoughts--except, perchance, in the case of a +group surrounding a young officer, who was, no doubt, recounting the +manner in which he had potted a tiger on the occasion of his last day +out with the Rajah of Bangalore, or some such dignitary! + +Straight to the shores of this Eden-like spot the dinghy drifted, and +quietly did the leopards abide the result--so also did the deeply +interested crew of the Wellington, who, of course, were quite unable to +give any note of warning. + +The little boat was seen to touch the shore, and the leopards were +observed to land leisurely without opposition from the enemy. +Immediately after, something resembling a sensation was apparent in the +garden. The distance was too great to permit of sound travelling to the +observers, but it lent enchantment to the view to the extent of +rendering the human beings there like moving flowers of varied hue. +Presently there was a motion, as if a tornado had suddenly burst upon +the flower-beds and scattered them right and left in dire confusion--not +a few appearing to have been blown up into the trees! + +That same day the crack shots and sportsmen of Calcutta went down to the +usually peaceful islet and engaged in all the wild work of a regular +hunt, and at eve the two leopards were seen, by interested observers in +the Wellington, being conveyed away in triumph on a litter. + +But, long before this happy consummation of the day's sport in the +garden, the remainder of the expected company had arrived alongside the +Wellington, and the undaunted bo's'n--who declared himself ready on the +shortest notice to hoist any living creature on board, from a sperm +whale to a megatherium--tackled the elephant. The ponderous brute +allowed itself to be manipulated with the utmost good-humour, and when +carefully lowered on the deck it alighted with as much softness as if it +had been shod with India-rubber, and walked quietly forward, casting a +leer out of its small eyes at the mate, as if it were aware of its +powers, but magnanimously forbore to use them to the disadvantage of its +human masters. In passing it knocked off the bo's'n's hat, but whether +this was done by accident or design has never been ascertained. At all +events the creature made no apology. + +If this passenger was easy-going and polite, the rhinoceros, which came +next, was very much the reverse. That savage individual displayed a +degree of perverse obstinacy and bad feeling which would have been +deemed altogether inexcusable even in a small street-boy. + +In the whites of its very small grey eyes wickedness sat enthroned. The +end of its horns--for it had two on its nose--appeared to be sharpened +with malignity, its thick lips quivered with anger, and its ridiculously +small tail wriggled with passionate emotion, as if that appendage felt +its insignificance, yet sought to obtrude itself on public notice. + +To restrain this passenger was a matter of the utmost difficulty. To +get him into the slings might have perplexed Hercules himself, but +nothing could appal the bo's'n. The slings were affixed, the order to +hoist was given by the mate, who had descended from the poop, and stood +near the gangway. Up went the monster with a grunt, and a peculiar +rigidity of body, which evidently betokened horror at his situation. + +Being fully five tons in weight, this passenger had to be received on +board with caution. + +"Lower away," was given. + +"Hold on," was added. + +Both orders were obeyed, and the huge animal hung within three inches of +the deck. + +"Stand clear there, lads." + +There was no occasion for that order. It had been anticipated. + +"Lower," was again given. + +The moment the feet of the creature touched the deck he dashed forward +with ungovernable fury, broke the slings, overturned the bo's'n, who +fortunately rolled into the port scuppers, and took possession of the +ship, driving the men into the chains and up the rigging. + +"Jump up!" shouted Jim Welton to the bo's'n. + +"Here he comes aft!" yelled several of the men. + +There was no need to warn the boatswain. He heard the thunder of the +monster's feet, and sprang into the main rigging with an amount of +agility that could hardly have been excelled by a monkey. + +"Why, what are you all afraid of?" asked the captain of the ship, who +had come on board with a number of passengers just before the occurrence +of this incident. + +"Come down here, sir, and you'll see," replied the mate, who was in the +main-chains. + +The captain declined with a smile, and advised the use of a lasso. + +Immediately every man of the ship's crew became for the nonce a Mexican +wild-horse tamer! Running nooses were made, and Jack, albeit unused to +taking wild cattle on the prairies of America, was, nevertheless, such +an adept at casting a coil of rope that he succeeded beyond the most +sanguine expectation. The bo's'n was the first to throw a loop over the +creature's front horn--cast a hitch over its foremast as he styled it-- +amid a deafening cheer. He was immediately pulled out of the rigging, +and a second time lay wallowing in the port scuppers; but he cared +nothing for that, being upheld by the glory of having succeeded in +fixing the first noose. Soon after that Stanley Hall threw a noose over +the creature's head, and Jim Welton fixed one on its second horn--or, as +the bo's'n said, round his mizzen. In the course of half-an-hour the +rhinoceros was so completely entangled in the twisted ropes that he +seemed as though he were involved in a net. He was finally captured, +and led to a ponderous stall that had been prepared for him between the +fore and main masts. + +Soon afterwards the last of the human passengers came on board. There +were many of them. Officers and their wives and children--some in +health, some in sickness. Old warriors returning home to repose on +their laurels. Young warriors returning home to recruit their health, +or to die. Women who went out as wives returning as widows, and women +who went out as widows returning as wives. Some returning with fortunes +made, a few returning with fortunes broken; but all, old and young, +healthy and sick, rich and poor, hopeful and hopeless, glad at the +prospect of leaving the burning skies of India behind, and getting out +among the fresh breezes of the open sea. Then the sails were set, and +with a light evening breeze the Wellington began her voyage--homeward +bound... + +Once again the scene changes. Blue skies are gone. Grey clouds +preponderate. In the Atlantic, tossed by the angry billows, a large +ship scuds before the wind as though she were fleeing from the pursuit +of a relentless enemy. She has evidently seen rough and long service. +Her decks have been swept by many a heavy sea; her spars have been +broken and spliced. The foremast is sprung, the main-topgallant mast is +gone, and the mizzen has been snapped off close by the deck. Her +bulwarks are patched here and there, and her general appearance bears +evidence of the tremendous power of Ocean. + +It would be difficult in that weatherworn hull to recognise the trim +full-rigged ship that left the Hoogly many months before. + +It was not a recent gale that had caused all this damage. In the South +Atlantic, several weeks before, she had encountered one of those +terrific but short-lived squalls which so frequently send many of man's +stoutest floating palaces to the bottom. Hence her half-wrecked +condition. + +The passengers on board the Wellington did not, however, seem to be much +depressed by their altered circumstances. The fact was, they had become +so used to rough weather, and had weathered so many gales, and reached +their damaged condition by such slow degrees, that they did not realise +it as we do, turning thus abruptly from one page to another. Besides +this, although still some weeks' sail from the white cliffs of old +England, they already began to consider the voyage as good as over, and +not a few of the impatient among them had begun to pack up so as to be +ready for going ashore. And how carefully were those preparations for +landing made! With what interest the sandal-wood fans, and inlaid ivory +boxes and elaborately carved chess-men and curious Indian toys, and +costly Indian shawls were re-examined and repacked in more secure and +carefully-to-be-remembered corners, in order that they might be got at +quickly when eager little hands "at home--" Well, well, it is of no use +to dwell on what was meant to be, for not one of those love-tokens ever +reached its destination. All were swallowed up by the insatiable sea. + +But let us not forestall. The elephant and rhinoceros were the only +members of the community that had perished on the voyage. At first the +elephant had been dreaded by many, but by degrees it won the confidence +and affection of all. Houses innumerable had been built for it on deck, +but the sagacious animal had a rooted antipathy to restraint. No sort +of den, however strongly formed, could hold him long. The first +structures were so ridiculously disproportioned to his strength as to be +demolished at once. On being put into the first "house that Jack +built," he looked at it demurely for at least five minutes, as if he +were meditating on the probable intentions of the silly people who put +him there, but neither by look nor otherwise did he reveal the +conclusions to which he came. His intentions, however, were not long of +being made known. He placed his great side against the den; there was a +slow but steady rending of timbers, as if the good ship herself were +breaking up, a burst of laughter from the men followed, and "Sambo" was +free. When the succeeding houses were built so strong that his side +availed not, he brought his wonderful patience and his remarkable trunk +to bear on them, and picked them to pieces bit by bit. Then ropes were +tried, but he snapped weak ropes and untied strong ones. + +At last he was permitted to roam the decks at perfect liberty, and it +was a point of the greatest interest to observe the neat way in which he +picked his steps over the lumbered decks, without treading upon +anything--ay, even during nights when these decks in the tropical +regions were covered with sleeping men! + +Everybody was fond of Sambo. Neptune doted on him, and the children-- +who fed him to such an extent with biscuits that the bo's'n said he +would be sartin' sure to die of appleplexy--absolutely adored him. Even +the gruff, grumpy, unsociable rhinoceros amiably allowed him to stroke +its head with his trunk. + +Sambo troubled no one except the cook, but that luxurious individual was +so constantly surrounded by a halo, so to speak, of delicious and +suggestive odours that the elephant could not resist the temptation to +pay him frequent visits, especially when dinner was being prepared. One +of his favourite proceedings at such times was to put his trunk into the +galley, take the lid off the coppers, make a small coil of the end of +his proboscis, and therewith at one sweep spoon out a supply of potatoes +sufficient for half-a-dozen men! Of course the cook sought to +counteract such tendencies, but he had to be very circumspect, for Sambo +resented insults fiercely. + +One day the cook caught his enemy in the very act of clearing out the +potato copper. Enraged beyond endurance, he stuck his "tormentors" into +the animal's trunk. With a shriek of rage Sambo dashed the potatoes in +the man's face, and made a rush at him. The cook fled to his sanctum +and shut the door. There the elephant watched him for an hour or more. +The united efforts, mental and physical, of the ship's crew failed to +remove the indignant creature, so they advised the cook to remain where +he was for some time. He hit on the plan, however, of re-winning the +elephant's friendship. He opened his door a little and gave him a piece +of biscuit. Sambo took it. What his feelings were no one could tell, +but he remained at his post. Another piece of biscuit was handed out. +Then the end of the injured proboscis was smoothed and patted by the +cook. Another large piece of biscuit was administered, and by degrees +the cure was affected. Thus successfully was applied that grand +principle which has accomplished so much in this wicked world, even +among higher animals than elephants--the overcoming of evil with good! + +Eventually Sambo sickened. Either the cold of the north told too +severely on a frame which had been delicately nurtured in sunny climes, +or Sambo had surreptitiously helped himself during the hours of night to +something deleterious out of the paint or pitch pots. At all events he +died, to the sincere regret of all on board--cook not excepted--and was +launched overboard to glut the sharks with an unwonted meal, and +astonish them with a new sensation. + +Very dissimilar was the end of the rhinoceros. That bumptious animal +retained its unamiable spirit to the last. Fortunately it did not +possess the powers or sagacity of the elephant. It could not untie +knots or pick its cage to pieces, so that it was effectually restrained +during the greater part of the voyage; but there came a tempest at last, +which assisted him in becoming free--free, not only from durance vile, +but from the restraints of this life altogether. On the occasion +referred to, the rudder was damaged, and for a time rendered useless, so +that the good ship Wellington rolled to an extent that almost tore the +masts out of her. Everything not firmly secured about the decks was +washed overboard. Among other things, the rhinoceros was knocked so +heavily against the bars of his crib that they began to give way. + +At last the vessel gave a plunge and roll which seemed to many of those +on board as though it must certainly be her last. The rhinoceros was +sent crashing through the dislocated bars; the ropes that held his legs +were snapped like the cords wherewith Samson was bound in days of old, +and away he went with the lurch of a tipsy man against the long-boat, +which he stove in. + +"Hold on!" roared the bo's'n. + +Whether this was advice to the luckless animal, or a general adjuration +to everybody and everything to be prepared for the worst, we know not; +but instead of holding on, every one let go what he or she chanced to be +holding on to at the moment, and made for a place of safety with +reckless haste. The rhinoceros alone obeyed the order. It held on for +a second or two in a most remarkable manner to the mainmast, but another +lurch of the vessel cast it loose again; a huge billow rolled under the +stern; down went the bow, and the brute slid on its haunches, with its +fore legs rigid in front, at an incredible pace towards the galley. +Just as a smash became imminent, the bow rose, the stern dropt, and away +he went back again with equal speed, but in a more sidling attitude, +towards the quarter-deck. + +Before that point was reached, a roll diverted him out of course and he +was brought up by the main hatch, from which he rebounded like a +billiard ball towards the starboard gangway. At this point he lost his +balance, and went rolling to leeward like an empty cask. There was +something particularly awful and impressive in the sight of this +unwieldy monster being thus knocked about like a pea in a rattle, and +sometimes getting into attitudes that would have been worthy of a dancer +on the tightrope, but the consummation of the event was not far off. An +unusually violent roll of the ship sent him scrambling to starboard; a +still more vicious roll checked and reversed the rush and dashed him +against the cabin skylight. He carried away part of this, continued his +career, went tail-foremost through the port bulwarks like a cannon-shot +into the sea. He rose once, but, as if to make sure of her victory, the +ship relentlessly fell on him with a weight that must have split his +skull, and sent him finally to the bottom. + +Strange to say, the dog Neptune was the only one on board that appeared +to mourn the loss of this passenger. He howled a good deal that night +in an unusually sad tone, and appeared to court sympathy and caresses +more than was his wont from Jim Welton and the young people who were +specially attached to him, but he soon became reconciled, alas! to the +loss of his crusty friend. + +The storms ceased as they neared the shores of England. The carpenter +and crew were so energetic in repairing damages that the battered vessel +began to wear once more something of her former trim aspect, and the +groups of passengers assembled each evening on the poop, began to talk +with ever-deepening interest of home, while the children played beside +them, or asked innumerable questions about brothers, sisters, and +cousins, whose names were as familiar as household words, though their +voices and forms were still unknown. + +The weather was fine, the sky was clear; warm summer breezes filled the +sails, and all nature seemed to have sunk into a condition so peaceful +as to suggest the idea that storms were past and gone for ever, when the +homeward-bound ship neared the land. One evening the captain remarked +to the passengers, that if the wind would hold as it was a little +longer, they should soon pass through the Downs, and say good-bye to the +sea breezes and the roll of the ocean wave. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +BOB QUEEKER COMES OUT VERY STRONG INDEED. + +It is both curious and interesting to observe the multitude of unlikely +ways in which the ends of justice are ofttimes temporarily defeated. +Who would have imagined that an old pump would be the cause of extending +Morley Jones's term of villainy, of disarranging the deep-laid plans of +Mr Larks, of effecting the deliverance of Billy Towler, and of at once +agonising the body and ecstatifying the soul of Robert Queeker? Yet so +it was. If the old pump had not existed--if its fabricator had never +been born--there is every probability that Mr Jones's career would have +been cut short at an earlier period. That he would, in his then state +of mind, have implicated Billy, who would have been transported along +with him and almost certainly ruined; that Mr Queeker would--but hold. +Let us present the matter in order. + +Messrs. Merryheart and Dashope were men of the law, and Mr Robert +Queeker was a man of their office--in other words, a clerk--not a +"confidential" one, but a clerk, nevertheless, in whose simple-minded +integrity they had much confidence. Bob, as his fellow-clerks styled +him, was sent on a secret mission to Ramsgate. The reader will observe +how fortunate it was that his mission was _secret_, because it frees us +from the necessity of setting down here an elaborate and tedious +explanation as to how, when, and where the various threads of his +mission became interwoven with the fabric of our tale. Suffice it to +say that the only part of his mission with which we are acquainted is +that which had reference to two men--one of whom was named Mr Larks, +the other Morley Jones. + +Now, it so happened that Queeker's acquaintance, Mr Durant, had an +intimate friend who dwelt near a beautiful village in Kent. When +Queeker mentioned the circumstance of the secret mission which called +him to Ramsgate, he discovered that the old gentleman was on the point +of starting for this village, in company with his daughter and her +cousin Fanny. + +"You'll travel with us, I hope, Queeker; our roads lie in the same +direction, at least a part of the way, you know," said the hearty little +old gentleman, with good-nature beaming in every wrinkle, from the crown +of his bald head to the last fold of his treble chin; "it will be such a +comfort to have you to help me take care of the girls. And if you can +spare time to turn aside for a day or two, I promise you a hearty +welcome from my friend--whose residence, named Jenkinsjoy, is an antique +paradise, and his hospitality unbounded. He has splendid horses, too, +and will give you a gallop over as fine a country as exists between this +and the British Channel. You ride, of course?" + +Queeker admitted that he could ride a little. + +"At least," he added, after a pause, "I used frequently to get rides on +a cart-horse when I was a very little boy." + +So it was arranged that Queeker should travel with them. Moreover, he +succeeded in obtaining from his employers permission to delay for three +days the prosecution of the mission--which, although secret, was not +immediately pressing--in order that he might visit Jenkinsjoy. It was +fortunate that, when he went to ask this brief holiday, he found Mr +Merryheart in the office. Had it been his mischance to fall upon +Dashope, he would have received a blunt refusal and prompt dismissal--so +thoroughly were the joys of that gentleman identified with the woes of +other people. + +But, great though Queeker's delight undoubtedly was on this occasion, it +was tempered by a soul-harassing care, which drew forth whole quires of +poetical effusions to the moon and other celestial bodies. This secret +sorrow was caused by the dreadful and astonishing fact, that, do what he +would to the contrary, the weather-cock of his affections was veering +slowly but steadily away from Katie, and pointing more and more +decidedly towards Fanny Hennings! It is but simple justice to the poor +youth to state that he loathed and abhorred himself in consequence. + +"There am I," he soliloquised, on the evening before the journey began, +"a monster, a brute, a lower animal almost, who have sought with all my +strength to gain--perchance _have_ gained--the innocent, trusting heart +of Katie Durant, and yet, without really meaning it, but, somehow, +without being able to help it, I am--_not_ falling in love; oh! no, +perish the thought! but, but--falling into something strangely, +mysteriously, incomprehensibly, similar to--Oh! base ingrate that I am, +is there no way; no back-door by which--?" + +Starting up, and seizing a pen, at this point of irrepressible +inspiration, he wrote, reading aloud as he set down the burning +thoughts-- + + Oh for a postern in the rear, + Where wretched man might disappear; + And never more should seek her! + + Fly, fly to earth's extremest bounds,-- + +Bounds, mounds, lounds, founds, kounds, downds, rounds, pounds, +zounds!--hounds--ha! hounds--I have it-- + + "Fly, fly to earth's extremest bounds, + With huntsmen, horses, horns, and hounds + And die!--dejected Queeker. + +"I wonder," thought Queeker, as he sat biting the end of his quill--his +usual method of courting inspiration, "I wonder if there is anything +prophetic in these lines! Durant said that his friend has splendid +horses. They may, perhaps, be hunters! Ha! my early ambition, +perchance, youth's fond dream, may yet be realised! But let me not +hope. Hope always tells a false as well as flattering tale _to me_. +She has ever been, in my experience" (he was bitter at this point) "an +incorrigible li--ahem! story-teller." + +Striking his clenched fist heavily on the table, Queeker rose, put on +his hat, and went round to Mr Durant's merely to inquire whether he +could be of any service--not that he could venture to offer assistance +in the way of packing, but there _might_ be something such as roping +trunks, or writing and affixing addresses, in regard to which he might +perhaps render himself useful. + +"Why, Miss Durant," he said, on entering, "you are _always_ busy." + +"Am I?" said Katie, with a smile, as she rose and shook hands. + +"Yes, I--I--assure you, Miss Durant," said Queeker, bowing to Fanny, on +whose fat pretty face there was a scarlet flush, the result either of +the suddenness of Queeker's entry, or of the suppression of her +inveterate desire to laugh, "I assure you that it quite rouses my +admiration to observe the ease with which you can turn your hand to +anything. You can write out accounts better than any fellow in our +office. Then you play and sing with so much ease, and I often find you +making clothes for poor people, with pounds of tea and sugar in your +pockets, besides many other things, and now, here you are painting +like--like--one of the old masters!" + +This was quite an unusual burst on the part of Queeker, who felt as +though he were making some amends for his unfaithfulness in thus +recalling and emphatically asserting the unquestionably good qualities +of his lady-love. He felt as if he were honestly attempting to win +himself back to his allegiance. + +"You are very complimentary," said Katie, with a glance at her cousin, +which threw that young lady into silent convulsions. + +"Not at all," cried Queeker, forcing his enthusiasm up to white heat, +and seizing a drawing, which he held up before him, in the vain attempt +to shut Fanny out of his sight. + +"Now, I call this most beautiful," he said, in tones of genuine +admiration. "I _never_ saw anything so sweet before." + +"Indeed!" said Katie, who observed that the youth was gazing over the +top of the drawing at her cousin. "I am _so_ glad you like it, for, to +say truth, I have felt disappointed with it myself, and papa says it is +only so-so. Do point out to me its faults, Mr Queeker, and the parts +you like best." + +She rose and looked over Queeker's shoulder with much interest, and took +hold of the drawing to keep it firmly in its position. + +There was an excessively merry twinkle in Katie's eyes as she watched +the expression of Queeker's face when he exclaimed-- + +"Faults, Miss Durant, there are no--eh! why, what--" + +"Oh you wicked, deceptive man, you've got it upside down!" said Katie, +shaking her finger at the unhappy youth, who stammered, tried to +explain--to apologise--failed, broke down, and talked unutterable +nonsense, to the infinite delight of his fair tormentor. + +As for Fanny, that Hebe bent her head suddenly over her work-basket, and +thrust her face into it as if searching with microscopic intensity for +something that positively refused to be found. All that we can safely +affirm in regard to her is, that if her face bore any resemblance to the +scarlet of her neck, the fact that her workbox did not take fire is +little short of a miracle! + +Fortunately for all parties Queeker inadvertently trod on the cat's +tail, which resulted in a spurt so violent as to justify a total change +of subject. Before the storm thus raised had calmed down, Mr Durant +entered the room. + +At Jenkinsjoy Queeker certainly did meet with a reception even more +hearty than he had been led to expect. Mr Durant's friend, Stoutheart, +his amiable wife and daughters and strapping sons, received the youthful +limb of the law with that frank hospitality which we are taught to +attribute "to Merrie England in the olden time." The mansion was +old-fashioned and low-roofed, trellis-worked and creeper-loved; addicted +to oak panelling, balustrades, and tapestried walls, and highly suitable +to ghosts of a humorous and agreeable tendency. Indeed it was said that +one of the rooms actually _was_ haunted at that very time; but Queeker +did not see any ghosts, although he afterwards freely confessed to +having seen all the rooms in the house more or less haunted by fairy +spirits of the fair sex, and masculine ghosts in buckskins and +top-boots! The whole air and aspect of the neighbourhood was such that +Queeker half expected to find a May-pole in the neighbouring village, +sweet shepherdesses in straw hats, pink ribbons, and short kirtles in +the fields, and gentle shepherds with long crooks, playing antique +flageolets on green banks, with innocent-looking dogs beside them, and +humble-minded sheep reposing in Arcadian felicity at their feet. + +"Where does the meet take place to-day, Tom?" asked Mr Stoutheart +senior of Mr Stoutheart junior, while seated at breakfast the first +morning after their arrival at Jenkinsjoy. + +"At Curmersfield," replied young Stoutheart. + +"Ah, not a bad piece of country to cross. You remember when you and I +went over it together, Amy?" + +"We have gone over it so often together, papa," replied Amy, "that I +really don't know to which occasion you refer." + +"Why, that time when we met the hounds unexpectedly; when you were +mounted on your favourite Wildfire, and appeared to have imbibed some of +his spirit, for you went off at a tangent, crying out, `Come along, +papa!' and cleared the hedge at the roadside, crossed Slapperton's farm, +galloped up the lane leading to Curmersfield, took the ditch, with the +low fence beyond at Cumitstrong's turnip-field, in a flying leap-- +obliging me to go quarter of a mile round by the gate--and overtook the +hounds just as they broke away on a false scent in the direction of the +Neckornothing ditch." + +"Oh yes, I remember," replied Amy with a gentle smile; "it was a +charming gallop. I wished to continue it, but you thought the ground +would be too much for me, though I have gone over it twice since then in +perfect safety. You are far too timid, papa." + +Queeker gazed and listened in open-mouthed amazement, for the young girl +who acknowledged in an offhand way that she had performed such +tremendous feats of horsemanship was modest, pretty, unaffected, and +feminine. + +"I wonder," thought Queeker, "if Fan--ah, I mean Katie--could do that +sort of thing?" + +He looked loyally at Katie, but thought, disloyally, of her cousin, +accused himself of base unfaithfulness, and, seizing a hot roll, began +to eat violently. + +"Would you like to see the meet, Mr Queeker?" said Mr Stoutheart +senior; "I can give you a good mount. My own horse, Slapover, is +neither so elegant nor so high-spirited as Wildfire, but he can go over +anything, and is quite safe." + +A sensitive spring had been touched in the bosom of Queeker, which +opened a floodgate that set loose an astonishing and unprecedented flow +of enthusiastic eloquence. + +"I shall like it of all things," he cried, with sparkling eyes and +heightened colour. "It has been my ambition ever since I was a little +boy to mount a thoroughbred and follow the hounds. I assure you the +idea of `crossing country,' as it is called, I believe, and taking +hedges, ditches, five-barred gates and everything as we go, has a charm +for me which is absolutely inexpressible--" + +Queeker stopped abruptly, because he observed a slight flush on Fanny's +cheeks and a pursed expression on Fanny's lips, and felt uncertain as to +whether or not she was laughing at him internally. + +"Well said, Queeker," cried Mr Stoutheart enthusiastically; "it's a +pity you are a town-bred man. Such spirit as yours can find vent only +in the free air of the country!" + +"Amy, dear," said Katie, with an extremely innocent look at her friend, +"do huntsmen in this part of England usually take `everything as they +go?' I think Mr Queeker used that expression." + +"N-not exactly," replied Amy, with a smile and glance of uncertainty, as +if she did not quite see the drift of the question. + +"Ah! I thought not," returned Katie with much gravity. "I had always +been under the impression that huntsmen were in the habit of going +_round_ stackyards, and houses, and such things--not _over_ them." + +Queeker was stabbed--stabbed to the heart! It availed not that the +company laughed lightly at the joke, and that Mr Stoutheart said that +he (Queeker) should realise his young dream, and reiterated the +assurance that his horse would carry him over _anything_ if he only held +tightly on and let him go. He had been stabbed by Katie--the gentle +Katie--the girl whom he had adored so long--ha! there was comfort in the +word _had_; it belonged to the past; it referred to things gone by; it +rhymed with sad, bad, mad; it suggested a period of remote antiquity, +and pointed to a hazy future. As the latter thought rushed through his +heated brain, he turned his eyes on Fanny, with that bold look of +dreadful determination that marks the traitor when, having fully made up +his mind, he turns his back on his queen and flag for ever! But poor +Queeker found little comfort in the new prospect, for Fanny had been +gently touched on the elbow by Katie when she committed her savage +attack; and when Queeker looked at the fair, fat cousin, she was +involved in the agonies of a suppressed but tremendous giggle. + +After breakfast two horses were brought to the door. Wildfire, a sleek, +powerful roan of large size, was a fit steed for the stalwart Tom, who, +in neatly-fitting costume and Hessian boots, got into the saddle like a +man accustomed to it. The other horse, Slapover, was a large, +strong-boned, somewhat heavy steed, suitable for a man who weighed +sixteen stone, and stood six feet in his socks. + +"Now then, jump up, Queeker," said Mr Stoutheart, holding the stirrup. + +If Queeker had been advised to vault upon the ridge-pole of the house, +he could not have looked more perplexed than he did as he stood looking +up at the towering mass of horse-flesh, to the summit of which he was +expected to climb. However, being extremely light, and Mr Stoutheart +senior very strong, he was got into the saddle somehow. + +"Where _are_ the stirrups?" said Queeker, with a perplexed air, trying +to look over the side of his steed. + +"Why, they've forgot to shorten 'em," said Mr Stoutheart with a laugh, +observing that the irons were dangling six inches below the rider's +toes. + +This was soon rectified. Queeker's glazed leather leggings--which were +too large for him, and had a tendency to turn round--were put straight; +the reins were gathered up, and the huntsman rode away. + +"All you've to do is to hold on," shouted Mr Stoutheart, as they rode +through the gate. "He is usually a little skittish at the start, but +quiet as a lamb afterwards." + +Queeker made no reply. His mind was brooding on his wrongs and sorrows; +for Katie had quietly whispered him to take care and not fall off, and +Fanny had giggled again. + +"I _must_ cure him of his foolish fancy," thought Katie as she +re-entered the house, "for Fanny's sake, if for nothing else; though I +cannot conceive what she can see to like in him. There is no accounting +for taste!" + +"I can at all events _die_;"--thought Queeker, as he rode along, shaking +the reins and pressing his little legs against the horse as if with the +savage intention of squeezing the animal's ribs together. + +"There _was_ prophetic inspiration in the lines!--yes," he continued, +repeating them-- + + "Fly, fly, to earth's extremest bounds, + With huntsmen, horses, horn, and hounds, + And die--dejected Queeker! + +"I'll change that--it shall be rejected Queeker _now_." + +For some time Tom Stoutheart and Queeker rode over "hill and dale"--that +is to say, they traversed four miles of beautiful undulating and +diversified country at a leisurely pace, having started in good time. + +"Your father," observed Queeker, as they rode side by side down a green +lane, "said, I think, when we started, that this horse was apt to be +skittish at the start. Is he difficult to hold in?" + +"Oh no," replied Tom, with a reassuring smile. "He is as quiet and +manageable as any man could wish. He does indeed bounce about a little +when we burst away at first, and is apt then to get the bit in his +teeth; but you've only to keep a tight rein and he'll go all right. His +only fault is a habit of tossing his head, which is a little awkward +until you get used to it." + +"Yes, I have discovered that fault already," replied Queeker, as the +horse gave a practical illustration of it by tossing his enormous head +back until it reached to within an inch of the point of his rider's +nose. "Twice he has just touched my forehead. Had I been bending a +little forward I suppose he would have given me an unpleasant blow." + +"Rather," said Stoutheart junior. "I knew one poor fellow who was +struck in that way by his horse and knocked off insensible. I think he +was killed, but don't feel quite sure as to that." + +"He has no other faults, I hope?" asked Queeker. + +"None. As for refusing his leaps--he refuses nothing. He carries my +father over anything he chooses to run him at, so it's not likely that +he'll stick with a light-weight." + +This was so self-evident that Queeker felt a reply to be unnecessary; he +rode on, therefore, in silence for a few minutes, comforting himself +with the thought that, at all events, he could die! + +"I don't intend," said Queeker, after a few minutes' consideration, "to +attempt to leap everything. I think that would be foolhardy. I must +tell you, Mr Stoutheart, before we get to the place of meeting, that I +can only ride a very little, and have never attempted to leap a fence of +any kind. Indeed I never bestrode a real hunter before. I shall +therefore content myself with following the hounds as far as it is safe +to do so, and will then give it up." + +Young Stoutheart was a little surprised at the modest and prudent tone +of this speech, but he good-naturedly replied-- + +"Very well, I'll guide you through the gates and gaps. You just follow +me, and you shall be all right, and when you've had enough of it, let me +know." + +Queeker and his friend were first in the field, but they had not been +there many minutes when one and another and another red-coat came +cantering over the country, and ere long a large cavalcade assembled in +front of a mansion, the lawn of which formed the rendezvous. There were +men of all sorts and sizes, on steeds of all kinds and shapes--little +men on big horses, and big men on little horses; men who looked like +"bloated aristocrats" before the bloating process had begun, and men in +whom the bloating process was pretty far advanced, but who had no touch +of aristocracy to soften it. Men who looked healthy and happy, others +who looked reckless and depraved. Some wore red-coats, cords, and +tops--others, to the surprise and no small comfort of Queeker, who +fancied that _all_ huntsmen wore red coats, were habited in modest +tweeds of brown and grey. Many of the horses were sleek, glossy, and +fine-limbed, like racers; others were strong-boned and rough. Some few +were of gigantic size and rugged aspect, to suit the massive men who +bestrode them. One of these in particular, a hearty, jovial farmer--and +a relative of Tom's--appeared to the admiring Queeker to be big and +powerful enough to have charged a whole troop of light dragoons +single-handed with some hope of a successful issue. Ladies were there +to witness the start, and two of the fair sex appeared ready to join the +hunt and follow the hounds, while here and there little boys might be +seen bent on trying their metal on the backs of Shetland ponies. + +It was a stirring scene of meeting, and chatting, and laughing, and +rearing, and curvetting, and fresh air, and sunshine. + +Presently the master of the hounds came up with the pack at his heels. +A footman of the mansion supplied all who desired it with a tumbler of +beer. + +"Have some beer?" said young Stoutheart, pointing to the footman +referred to. + +"No, thank you," said Queeker. "Will you?" + +"No. I have quite enough of spirit within me. Don't require artificial +stimulant," said the youth with a laugh. "Come now--we're off." + +Queeker's heart gave a bound as he observed the master of the hounds +ride off at a brisk pace followed by the whole field. + +"I won't die yet. It's too soon," he thought, as he shook the reins and +chirped to his steed. + +Slapover did not require chirping. He shook his head, executed a mild +pirouette on his left hind leg, and made a plunge which threatened first +to leave his rider behind, and then to shoot him over his head. Queeker +had been taken unawares, but he pressed his knees together, knitted his +brows, and resolved not to be so taken again. + +Whew! what a rush there was as the two or three hundred excited steeds +and enthusiastic riders crossed the lawn, galloped through an open gate, +and made towards a piece of rough ground covered with low bushes and +bracken, through which the hounds were seen actively running as if in +search of something. The bodies of the hounds were almost hidden, and +Queeker, whose chief attention was devoted to his horse, had only time +to receive the vague impression, as he galloped up, that the place was +alive with white and pointed tails. + +That first rush scattered Queeker's depression to the winds. What cared +he for love, either successful or unrequited, now? Katie was forgotten. +Fanny was to him little better than a mere abstraction. He was on a +hunter! He was following the hounds! He had heard, or imagined he had +heard, something like a horn. He was surprised a little that no one +cried out "Tally-ho!" and in the wild excitement of his feelings thought +of venturing on it himself, but the necessity of holding in Slapover +with all the power of his arms, fortunately induced him to restrain his +ardour. + +Soon after he heard a shout of some sort, which he tried to believe was +"Tally-ho!" and the scattered huntsmen, who had been galloping about in +all directions, converged into a stream. Following, he knew not and +cared not what or whom, he swept round the margin of a little pond, and +dashed over a neighbouring field. + +From that point Queeker's recollection of events became a train of +general confusion, with lucid points at intervals, where incidents of +unusual interest or force arrested his attention. + +The first of these lucid points was when, at the end of a heavy burst +over a ploughed field, he came to what may be styled his first leap. +His hat by that time had threatened so frequently to come off, that he +had thrust it desperately down on his head, until the rim behind rested +on the back of his neck. Trotting through a gap in a hedge into a road, +young Stoutheart sought about for a place by which they might clamber up +into the next field without going round by the gate towards which most +of the field had headed. + +"D'you think you could manage that?" said Tom, pointing with the handle +of his whip to a gap in the hedge, where there was a mound and a hollow +with a _chevaux-de-frise_ of cut stumps around, and a mass of thorn +branches sufficiently thin to be broken through. + +Queeker never looked at it, but gazing steadily in the face of his +friend, said-- + +"I'll follow!" + +Stoutheart at once pushed his horse at it. It could not be called a +leap. It was a mere scramble, done at the slowest possible pace. +Wildfire gave one or two little bounds, and appeared to walk up +perpendicularly on his hind legs, while Tom looked as if he were +plastered against him with some adhesive substance; then he appeared to +drop perpendicularly down on the other side, his tail alone being +visible. + +"All right, come along," shouted Tom. + +Queeker rode up to the gap, shut his eyes, gave a chirp, and committed +himself to fate and Slapover. He felt a succession of shocks, and then +a pause. Venturing to open his eyes, he saw young Stoutheart, still on +the other side of the fence, laughing at him. + +"You shouldn't hold so tight by the reins," he cried; "you've pulled him +back into the road. Try it again." + +Queeker once more shut his eyes, slacked the reins, and, seizing the +pommel of the saddle, gave another chirp. Again there was a shock, +which appeared to drive his body up against his head; another which +seemed to have all but snapped him off at the waist; then a sensation +about his hat, as if a few wild-cats were attempting to tear it off, +followed by a drop and a plunge, which threw him forward on his +charger's neck. + +"Dear me!" he exclaimed, panting, as he opened his eyes, "I had no idea +the shock would have been so--so--shocking!" + +Tom laughed; cried "Well done!" and galloped on. Queeker followed, his +cheeks on fire, and perspiration streaming from his brow. + +"Now, then, here is an easy fence," cried Stoutheart, looking back and +pointing to a part of the field where most of the huntsmen were popping +over a low hedge, "will you try it?" + +Queeker's spirit was fairly up. + +"I'll try it!" he said, sternly. + +"Come on then." + +Stoutheart led the way gallantly, at full speed, and went over like an +india-rubber ball. Queeker brought the handle of his riding-whip whack +down on the flank of his astonished horse, and flew at the fence. +Slapover took it with a magnificent bound. Queeker was all but left +behind! He tottered, as it were, in the saddle; rose entirely out of +it; came down with a crash that almost sent him over the horse's head, +and gave him the probable sensations of a telescope on being forcibly +shut up; but he held on bravely, and galloped up alongside of his +companion, with a tendency to cheer despite his increased surprise at +the extreme violence of the shocks to which his unaccustomed frame was +being exposed. + +After this our enthusiastic Nimrod went at everything, and feared +nothing! Well was it for him that he had arranged to follow Tom +Stoutheart, else assuredly he would have run Slapover at fences which +would have taxed the temerity even of that quadruped, and insured his +destruction. Tom, seeing his condition, considerately kept him out of +danger, and yet, being thoroughly acquainted with the country, managed +to keep him well up with the hounds. + +Towards the afternoon Queeker's fire began to abate. His aspect had +become dishevelled. His hat had got so severely thrust down on his +head, that the brim in front reposed on the bridge of his nose, as did +the brim behind on the nape of his neck. His trousers were collected in +folds chiefly about his knees, and the glazed leggings had turned +completely round, presenting the calves to the front. But these were +matters of small moment compared with the desperate desire he had to +bring his legs together, if even for a moment of time! Sensations in +various parts of his frame, which in the earlier part of the day had +merely served to remind him that he was mortal, had now culminated into +unquestionable aches and pains, and his desire to get off the back of +Slapover became so intense, that he would certainly have given way to it +had he not felt that in the event of his doing so there would be no +possibility of his getting on again! + +"Where are they all away to?" he asked in surprise, as the whole field +went suddenly off helter-skelter in a new direction. + +"I think they've seen the fox," replied Stoutheart. + +"Seen the fox! why, I forgot all about the fox! But--but haven't we +seen it before? haven't we been after it _all day_?" + +"No, we've only got scent of if once or twice." + +"Well, well," exclaimed Queeker, turning up his eyes, "I declare we have +had as good fun as if we had been after the fox in full sight all the +time!" + +"Here is a somewhat peculiar leap," said Stoutheart, reining up as they +approached a fence, on the other side of which was a high-road, "I'll go +first, to show you the way." + +The peculiarity of the leap lay in the fact that it was a drop of about +four feet into the road, which was lower, to that extent, than the +field, and that the side of the road into which the riders had to drop +was covered with scrubby bushes. To men accustomed to it this was a +trifle. Most of the field had already taken it, though a few cautious +riders had gone round by a gate. + +When Queeker came to try it he felt uneasy--sitting as he did so high, +and looking down such a precipice as it seemed to him. However, he shut +his eyes, and courageously gave the accustomed chirp, and Slapover +plunged down. Queeker held tight to the saddle, and although much +shaken, would have come out of the ordeal all right, had not Slapover +taken it into his head to make a second spring over a low bush which +stood in front of him. On the other side of this bush there was an old +pump. Queeker lost his balance, threw out his arms, fell off, was +hurled violently against the old pump, and his right leg was broken! + +A cart was quickly procured, and on trusses of straw the poor huntsman +was driven sadly and slowly, back to Jenkinsjoy, where he was tenderly +put to bed and carefully nursed for several weeks by his hospitable and +sympathising friends. + +Queeker bore his misfortune like a Stoic, chiefly because it developed +the great fact that Fanny Hennings wept a whole night and a day after +its occurrence, insomuch that her fair face became so swollen as to have +lost much of its identity and all its beauty--a fact which filled +Queeker with hopes so high that his recovery was greatly hastened by the +contented, almost joyous, manner in which he submitted to his fate. + +Of course Queeker's secret mission was, for the _time_ being, at an +end;--and thus it came to pass that an old pump, as we said at the +beginning of this chapter, was the cause of the failure of several +deep-laid plans, and of much bodily anguish and mental felicity to the +youthful Nimrod. + +Queeker's last observation before falling into a feverish slumber on the +first night after his accident, was to the effect that fox-hunting was +splendid sport--magnificent sport,--but that it appeared to him there +was no occasion whatever for a fox. And ever after that he was wont to +boast that his first and last day of fox-hunting, which was an unusually +exciting one, had been got though charmingly without any fox at all. It +is even said that Queeker, descending from poetry,--his proper sphere,-- +to prose, wrote an elaborate and interesting paper on that subject, +which was refused by all the sporting papers and journals to which he +sent it;--but, this not being certified, we do not record it as a fact. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +THE LAMPLIGHTER AT HOME, AND THREATENING APPEARANCES. + +We turn now to a very different scene--the pier and harbour of Ramsgate. +The storm-fiend is abroad. Thick clouds of a dark leaden hue drive +athwart a sky of dingy grey, ever varying their edges, and rolling out +limbs and branches in random fashion, as if they were fleeing before the +wind in abject terror. The wind, however, is chiefly in the sky as yet. +Down below there are only fitful puffs now and then, telling of +something else in store. The sea is black, with sufficient swell on it +to cause a few crested waves here and there to gleam intensely white by +contrast. It is early in the day, nevertheless there is a peculiar +darkness in the atmosphere which suggests the approach of night. +Numerous vessels in the offing are making with all speed for Ramsgate +harbour, which is truly and deservedly named a "harbour of refuge," for +already some two dozen ships of considerable size, and a large fleet of +small craft, have sought and found shelter on a coast which in certain +conditions of the wind is fraught with danger. About the stores near +the piers, Trinity men are busy with buoys, anchors, and cables; +elsewhere labourers are toiling, idlers are loafing, and lifeboat--men +are lounging about, leaning on the parapets, looking wistfully out to +sea, with and without telescopes, from the sheer force of habit, and +commenting on the weather. The broad, bronzed, storm-battered coxswain +of the celebrated Ramsgate lifeboat, who seems to possess the power of +feeding and growing strong on hardship and exposure, is walking about at +the end of the east pier, contemplating the horizon in the direction of +the Goodwin Sands with the serious air of a man who expects ere long to +be called into action. + +The harbour-master--who is, and certainly had need be, a man of brain as +well as muscle and energy, to keep the conflicting elements around him +in order--moves about actively, making preparation for the expected +gale. + +Early on the morning of the day referred to, Nora Jones threaded her way +among the stalls of the marketplace under the town-hall, as if she were +in search of some one. Not succeeding in her search, she walked briskly +along one of the main thoroughfares of the town, and diverged into a +narrow street, which appeared to have retired modestly into a corner in +order to escape observation. At the farther end of this little street, +she knocked at the door of a house, the cleanly appearance of which +attested the fact that its owner was well-doing and orderly. + +Nora knocked gently; she did everything gently! + +"Is Mrs Moy at home?" she asked, as a very bright little girl's head +appeared. + +No sooner was Nora's voice heard than the door was flung wide open, and +the little girl exclaimed, "Yes, she's at 'ome, and daddy too." She +followed up this assurance with a laugh of glee, and, seizing the +visitor's hand, dragged her into the house by main force. + +"Hallo, Nora, 'ow are 'ee, gal?" cried a deep bass voice from the +neighbourhood of the floor, where its owner appeared to be smothered +with children, for he was not to be seen. + +Nora looked down and beheld the legs and boots of a big man, but his +body and head were invisible, being completely covered and held down by +four daughters and five sons, one of the former being a baby, and one of +the latter an infant. + +Dick Moy, who was enjoying his month on shore, rose as a man might rise +from a long dive, flung out his great right arm, scattered the children +like flecks of foam, and sat up with a beaming countenance, holding the +infant tenderly in his left arm. The baby had been cast under the +table, where it lay, helpless apparently, and howling. It had passed +the most tender period of life, and had entered on that stage when +knocks, cuts, yells, and bruises are the order of the day. + +"Glad to see you, Nora," said the man of the floating light, extending +his huge hand, which the girl grasped and shook warmly. "You'll excuse +me not bein' more purlite. I'm oppressed with child'n, as you see. It +seems to me as if I'd gone an' got spliced to that there 'ooman in the +story-book wot lived in the shoe, an' had so many child'n she didn't +know wot to do. If so, she knows wot to do now. She's only got to hand +'em over to poor Dick Moy, an' leave him to suffer the consickences.-- +Ah, 'ere she comes." + +Dick rose as he spoke, and handed a chair to Nora at the moment that his +better, but lesser, half entered. + +It must not be supposed that Dick said all this without interruption. +On the contrary, he bawled it out in the voice of a bo's'n's mate, while +the four daughters and five sons, including the baby and the infant, +crawled up his legs and clung to his pockets, and enacted Babel on a +small scale. + +Mrs Moy was a very pretty, tidy, cheerful little woman, of the fat, +fair, and forty description, save that she was nearer thirty-five than +forty. It was clear at a glance that she and Dick had been made for +each other, and that, had either married anybody else, each would have +done irreparable damage to the other. + +"Sit down, Nora. I'm so glad to see you. Come to breakfast, I hope? +we're just going to have it." + +Mrs Moy said this as if she really meant it, and would be terribly +disappointed if she met with a refusal. Nora tried to speak, but Babel +was too much for her. + +"Silence!" burst from Dick, as if a small cannon had gone off in the +room. + +Babel was hushed. + +"Mum's the word for _three minutes_," said Dick, pointing to a huge +Yankee clock which stood on the chimney-piece, with a model frigate in a +glass case, and a painted sea and sky on one side of it, and a model +light-vessel in a glass case, and a painted sea and sky on the other. + +There was profound wisdom in this arrangement. If Dick had ordered +silence for an indefinite space of time, there would have been +discontent, approximating to despair, in Babel's bosom, and, therefore, +strong temptation to rebellion. But three minutes embraced a fixed and +known period of time. The result was a desperate effort at restraint, +mingled with gleeful anticipation. The elder children who could read +the clock stared eagerly at the Yankee time-piece; the younger ones who +couldn't read the clock, but who knew that the others could, stared +intently at their seniors, and awaited the signal. With the exception +of hard breathing, the silence was complete; the baby being spell-bound +by example, and the feeble remarks of the infant--which had been +transferred to the arms of the eldest girl--making no impression worth +speaking of. + +"You are very kind," said Nora, "I'll stay for breakfast with pleasure. +Grandmother won't be up for an hour yet, and father's not at home just +now." + +"Werry good," said Dick, taking a short black pipe out of his +coat-pocket, "that's all right. And 'ow do 'ee like Ramsgate, Nora, now +you've had a fair trial of it?" + +"I think I like it better than Yarmouth; but perhaps that is because we +live in a more airy and cheerful street. I would not have troubled you +so early, Mr Moy"--("'Tain't no trouble at all, Nora; werry much the +reverse")--"but that I am anxious to hear how you got on with poor +Billy--" + +At this point Babel burst forth with redoubled fury. Dick was attacked +and carried by storm; the short black pipe was seized, and an old hat +was clapped on his head and thrust down over his eyes! He gave in at +once, and submitted with resignation. He struck his colours, so to +speak, without firing a shot, and for full five minutes breasted the +billows of a sea of children manfully, while smart Mrs Moy spread the +breakfast-table as quietly as if nothing were going on, and Nora sat and +smiled at them. + +Suddenly Dick rose for the second time from his dive, flung off the +foam, tossed aside the baby, rescued the infant from impending +destruction, and thundered "Silence! mum's the word for three minutes +more." + +"That's six, daddy!" cried the eldest boy, whose spirit of opposition +was growing so strong that he could not help indulging it, even against +his own interests. + +"No," said Dick sternly. + +"It was three minutes last time," urged the boy; "an' you said three +minutes _more_ this time; three minutes more than three minutes is six +minutes, ain't it?" + +"Three minutes," repeated Dick, holding up a warning finger. + +Babel ceased; the nine pair of eyes (excepting those of the infant) +became fixed, and Nora proceeded-- + +"I wanted to hear how you got on with Billy. Did they take him in at +once? and what sort of place is the Grotto? You see I am naturally +anxious to know, because it was a terrible thing to send a poor boy away +from his only friend among strangers at such an age, and just after +recovering from a bad illness; but you know I could not do otherwise. +It would have been his ruin to have--" + +She paused. + +"To have stopped where he was, I s'pose you would say?" observed Dick. +"Well, I ain't sure o' that, Nora. It's quite true that the bad company +he'd 'ave seen would 'ave bin against 'im; but to 'ave you for his +guardian hangel might 'ave counteracted that. It would 'ave bin like +the soda to the hacid, a fizz at first and all square arterwards. +Hows'ever, that don't signify now, cos he's all right. I tuk him to the +Grotto, the werry first thing arter I'd bin to the Trinity 'Ouse, and +seed him cast anchor there all right, and--" + +Again Babel burst forth, and riot reigned supreme for five minutes more. +At the end of that time silence was proclaimed as before. + +"Now then," said Dick, "breakfast bein' ready, place the chairs." + +The three elder children obeyed this order. Each member of this +peculiar household had been "told off," as Dick expressed it, to a +special duty, which was performed with all the precision of discipline +characteristic of a man-of-war. + +"That's all right; now go in and win," said Dick. There was no occasion +to appeal to the Yankee clock now. Tongues and throats as well as teeth +and jaws were too fully occupied. Babel succumbed for full quarter of +an hour, during which period Dick Moy related to Nora the circumstances +connected with a recent visit to London, whither he had been summoned as +a witness in a criminal trial, and to which, at Nora's earnest entreaty, +and with the boy's unwilling consent, he had conveyed Billy Towler. We +say unwilling, because Billy, during his long period of convalescence, +had been so won by the kindness of Nora, that the last thing in the +world he would have consented to bear was separation from her; but, on +thinking over it, he was met by this insurmountable difficulty--that the +last thing in the world he would consent to do was to disobey her! +Between these two influences he went unwillingly to London--for the sake +of his education, as Nora said to him--for the sake of being freed from +the evil influence of her father's example, as poor Nora was compelled +to admit to herself. + +"The Grotto," said Dick, speaking as well as he could through an immense +mouthful of bacon and bread, "is an institootion which I 'ave reason for +to believe desarves well of its country. It is an institootion sitooate +in Paddington Street, Marylebone, where homeless child'n, as would +otherwise come to the gallows, is took in an' saved--saved not only from +sin an' misery themselves, but saved from inflictin' the same on +society. I do assure _you_," said Dick, striking the table with his +fist in his enthusiasm, so that the crockery jumped, and some of the +children almost choked by reason of their food going down what they +styled their "wrong throats"--"I do assure _you_, that it would 'ave +done yer 'art good to 'ave seed 'm, as I did the day I went there, so +clean and comf'r'able and 'appy--no mistake about that. Their 'appiness +was genoo_ine_. Wot made it come 'ome to me was, that I seed there a +little boy as I 'appened to know was one o' the dirtiest, wickedest, +sharpest little willains in London--a mere spider to look at, but with +mischief enough to fill a six-fut man to bu'stin'--an' there 'ee was, +clean an' jolly, larnin' his lessons like a good un--an' no sham +neither, cos 'e'd got a good spice o' the mischief left, as was pretty +clear from the way 'ee gave a sly pinch or pull o' the hair now an' +again to the boys next him, an' drawed monkey-faces on his slate. But +that spider, I wos told, could do figurin' like one o'clock, an' could +spell like Johnson's Dictionairy. + +"Well," continued Dick, after a few moments' devotion to a bowl of +coffee, "I 'anded Billy Towler over to the superintendent, tellin' 'im +'ee wos a 'omeless boy as 'adn't got no parients nor relations, an wos +werry much in need o' bein' looked arter. So 'ee took 'im in, an' I +bade him good-bye." + +Dick Moy then went on to tell how that the superintendent of the Grotto +showed him all over the place, and told him numerous anecdotes regarding +the boys who had been trained there; that one had gone into the army and +become a sergeant, and had written many long interesting letters to the +institution, which he still loved as being his early and only "home;" +that another had become an artilleryman; another a man-of-war's man; and +another a city missionary, who commended the blessed gospel of Jesus +Christ to those very outcasts from among whom he had himself been +plucked. The superintendent also explained to his rugged but much +interested and intelligent visitor that they had a flourishing Ragged +School in connection with the institution; also a Sunday-school and a +"Band of Hope"--which latter had been thought particularly necessary, +because they found that many of the neglected young creatures that came +to them had already been tempted and taught by their parents and by +publicans to drink, so that the foundation of that dreadful craving +disease had been laid, and those desires had begun to grow which, if not +checked, would certainly end in swift and awful destruction. One +blessed result of this was that the children had not only themselves +joined, but had in some instances induced their drunken parents to +attend the weekly addresses. + +All this, and a great deal more, was related by Dick Moy with the wonted +enthusiasm and energy of his big nature, and with much gesticulation of +his tremendous fist--to the evident anxiety of Nora, who, like an +economical housewife as she was, had a feeling of tenderness for the +crockery, even although it was not her own. Dick wound up by saying +that if _he_ was a rich man, "'ee'd give some of 'is superfloous cash to +that there Grotto, he would." + +"Perhaps you wouldn't," said Nora. "I've heard one rich man say that +the applications made to him for money were so numerous that he was +quite annoyed, and felt as if he was goin' to become bankrupt!" + +"Nora," said Dick, smiting the table emphatically, "I'm not a rich man +myself, an' wot's more, I never 'xpect to be, so I can't be said to 'ave +no personal notions at all, d'ye see, about wot they feels; but I've +also heerd a rich man give 'is opinion on that pint, and I've no manner +of doubt that _my_ rich man is as good as your'n--better for the matter +of that; anyway he knowed wot was wot. Well, says 'ee to me, w'en I +went an' begged parding for axin' 'im for a subscription to this 'ere +werry Grotto--which, by the way, is supported by woluntary +contribootions--'ee says, `Dick Moy,' says 'ee, `you've no occasion for +to ax my parding,' says 'ee. `'Ere's 'ow it is. I've got _so_ much +cash to spare out of my hincome. Werry good; I goes an' writes down a +list of all the charities. First of all comes the church--which ain't a +charity, by the way, but a debt owin' to the Lord--an' the missionary +societies, an the Lifeboat Institootion, an' the Shipwrecked Mariners' +Society, and such like, which are the great _National_ institootions of +the country that _every_ Christian ought to give a helpin' 'and to. +Then there's the poor among one's own relations and friends; then the +hospitals an' various charities o' the city or town in which one dwells, +and the poor of the same. Well, arter that's all down,' says 'ee, `I +consider w'ich o' them ere desarves an' _needs_ most support from me; +an' so I claps down somethin' to each, an' adds it all up, an' wot is +left over I holds ready for chance applicants. If their causes are good +I give to 'em heartily; if not, I bow 'em politely out o' the 'ouse. +That's w'ere it is,' says 'ee. `An' do you know, Dick Moy,' says 'ee, +`the first time I tried that plan, and put down wot I thought a fair +liberal sum to each, I wos amazed--I wos stunned for to find that the +total wos so small and left so werry much of my spare cash yet to be +disposed of, so I went over it all again, and had to double and treble +the amount to be given to each. Ah, Dick,' says _my_ rich man, `if +people who don't keep cashbooks would only mark down wot they _think_ +they can afford to give away in a year, an' wot they _do_ give away, +they would be surprised. It's not always unwillingness to give that's +the evil. Often it's ignorance o' what is actooally given--no account +bein' kep'.' + +"`Wot d'ye think, Dick,' _my_ rich man goes on to say, `there are some +churches in this country which are dependent on the people for support, +an' the contents o' the plates at the doors o' these churches on Sundays +is used partly for cleanin' and lightin' of 'em; partly for payin' their +precentors, and partly for repairs to the buildins, and partly for +helpin' out the small incomes of their ministers; an' wot d'ye think +most o' the people--not many but _most_ of 'em--gives a week, Dick, for +such important purposes?' + +"`I don' know, sir,' says I. + +"`One penny, Dick,' says 'ee, `which comes exactly to four shillins and +fourpence a year,' says 'ee. `An' they ain't paupers; Dick! If they +wos paupers, it wouldn't be a big sum for 'em to give out o' any +pocket-money they might chance to git from their pauper friends, but +they're well-dressed people, Dick, and they seems to be well off! Four +an' fourpence a year! think o' that--not to mention the deduction w'en +they goes for a month or two to the country each summer. Four an' +fourpence a year, Dick! Some of 'em even goes so low as a halfpenny, +which makes two an' twopence a year--7 pounds, 11 shillings, 8 pence in +a seventy-year _lifetime_, Dick, supposin' their liberality began to +flow the day they wos born!' + +"At this _my_ rich man fell to laughing till I thought 'ee'd a busted +hisself; but he pulled up sudden, an' axed me all about the Grotto, and +said it was a first-rate institootion, an' gave me a ten-pun' note on +the spot. Now, Nora, _my_ rich man is a friend o' yours--Mr Durant, of +Yarmouth, who came to Ramsgate a short time ago for to spend the autumn, +an' I got introdooced to him through knowin' Jim Welton, who got aboord +of one of his ships through knowin' young Mr Stanley Hall, d'ye see? +That's where it is." + +After this somewhat lengthened speech, Dick Moy swallowed a slop-bowlful +of coffee at a draught--he always used a slop-bowl--and applied himself +with renewed zest to a Norfolk dumpling, in the making of which delicacy +his wife had no equal. + +"I believe that Mr Durant is a kind good man," said Nora, feeding the +infant with a crust dipped in milk, "and I am quite sure that he has got +the sweetest daughter that ever a man was blessed with--Miss Katie; you +know her, I suppose?" + +"'Aven't seed 'er yet," was Dick's curt reply. + +"She's a dear creature," continued Nora--still doing her best to choke +the infant--"she found out where I lived while she was in search of a +sick boy in Yarmouth, who, she said, was the brother of a poor ragged +boy named Billy Towler, she had once met with. Of course I had to tell +her that Billy had been deceiving her and had no brother. Oh! you +should have seen her kind face, Dick, when I told her this. I do think +that up to that time she had lived under the belief that a young boy +with a good-looking face and an honest look could not be a deceiver." + +"Poor thing," said Dick, with a sad shake of the head, as if pitying her +ignorance. + +"Yes," continued Nora--still attempting to choke the infant--"she could +not say a word at that time, but went away with her eyes full of tears. +I saw her often afterwards, and tried to convince her there might be +some good in Billy after all, but she was not easily encouraged, for her +belief in appearances had got a shake that she seemed to find it +difficult to get over. That was when Billy was lying ill in hospital. +I have not seen much of her since then, she and her father having been +away in London." + +"H'm, I'm raither inclined to jine her in thinkin' that no good'll come +o' that young scamp. He's too sharp by half," said Dick with a frown. +"Depend upon it, Nora, w'en a boy 'as gone a great length in wickedness +there's no chance o' reclaimin' him." + +"Dick," exclaimed Nora, with sudden energy, "depend upon it that +_that's_ not true, for it does not correspond with the Bible, which says +that our Lord came not to call the righteous but _sinners_ to +repentance." + +"There's truth in _that_, anyhow," replied Dick, gazing thoughtfully +into Nora's countenance, as if the truth had come home to him for the +first time. What his further observations on the point might have been +we know not, as at that moment the door opened and one of his mates +entered, saying that he had come to go down with him to the buoy-store, +as the superintendent had given orders that he and Moy should overhaul +the old North Goodwin buoy, and give her a fresh coat of paint. Dick +therefore rose, wiped his mouth, kissed the entire family, beginning +with the infant and ending with "the missis," after which he shook hands +with Nora and went out. + +The storm which had for some time past been brewing, had fairly brewed +itself up at last, and the wild sea was covered with foam. Although +only an early autumn storm, it was, like many a thing out of season, not +the less violent on that account. It was one of the few autumn storms +that might have been transferred to winter with perfect propriety. It +performed its work of devastation as effectively as though it had come +forth at its proper season. On land chimney stacks and trees were +levelled. At sea vessels great and small were dismasted and destroyed, +and the east coast of the kingdom was strewn with wreckage and dead +bodies. Full many a noble ship went down that night! Wealth that might +have supported all the charities in London for a twelvemonth was sent to +the bottom of the sea that night and lost for ever. Lives that had +scarce begun and lives that were all but done, were cut abruptly short, +leaving broken hearts and darkened lives in many a home, not only on the +sea-coast but inland, where the sound of the great sea's roar is never +heard. Deeds of daring were done that night,--by men of the lifeboat +service and the coast-guard,--which seemed almost beyond the might of +human skill and courage--resulting in lives saved from that same great +sea--lives young and lives old--the salvation of which caused many a +heart in the land, from that night forward, to bless God and sing for +joy. + +But of all the wide-spread and far-reaching turmoil; the wreck and +rescue, the rending and relieving of hearts, the desperate daring, and +dread disasters of that night we shall say nothing at all, save in +regard to that which occurred on and in the neighbourhood of the Goodwin +Sands. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +A NIGHT OF WRECK AND DISASTER--THE GULL "COMES TO GRIEF." + +When the storm began to brew that night, George Welton, the mate of the +floating light, walked the deck of his boiled-lobster-like vessel, and +examined the sky and sea with that critical expression peculiar to +seafaring men, which conveys to landsmen the reassuring impression that +they know exactly what is coming, precisely what ought to be done, and +certainly what will be the result of whatever happens! + +After some minutes spent in profound meditation, during which Mr Welton +frowned inquiringly at the dark driving clouds above him, he said, +"It'll be pretty stiff." + +This remark was made to himself, or to the clouds, but, happening to be +overheard by Jerry MacGowl, who was at his elbow, it was answered by +that excellent man. + +"True for ye; it'll blow great guns before midnight. The sands is +showin' their teeth already." + +The latter part of this remark had reference to brilliant white lines +and dots on the seaward horizon, which indicated breakers on the Goodwin +sands. + +"Luk at that now," said Jerry, pointing to one of those huge clumsy +vessels that are so frequently met with at sea, even in the present day, +as to lead one to imagine that some of the shipbuilders in the time of +Noah must have come alive again and gone to work at their old trade on +the old plans and drawings. "Luk at that, now. Did iver ye see sitch a +tub--straight up and down the side, and as big at the bow as the stern." + +"She's not clipper built," answered the mate; "they make that sort o' +ship by the mile and sell her by the fathom,--cuttin' off from the piece +just what is required. It don't take long to plaster up the ends and +stick a mast or two into 'em." + +"It's in luck she is to git into the Downs before the gale breaks, and +it's to be hoped she has good ground-tackle," said Jerry. + +The mate hoped so too in a careless way, and, remarking that he would go +and see that all was made snug, went forward. + +At that moment there came up the fore-hatch a yell, as if from the +throat of a North American savage. It terminated in the couplet, +tunefully sung-- + + "Oh my! oh my! + O mammy, don't you let the baby cry!" + +Jack Shales, following his voice, immediately after came on deck. + +"Have 'ee got that work-box done?" asked Jerry as his mate joined him. + +"Not quite done yet, boy, but I'll get it finished after the lights are +up. Duty first, pleasure afterwards, you know." + +"Come now, Jack, confess that you're makin' it for a pretty girl." + +"Well, so I am, but it ain't for my own pretty girl. It's for that +sweet little Nora Jones, who came lately to live in Ramsgate. You see I +know she's goin' to be spliced to Jim Welton, and as Jim is a good sort +of fellow, I want to make this little gift to his future bride." + +The gift referred to was a well-made work-box, such as the men of the +floating light were at that time, and doubtless still are, in the habit +of constructing in leisure hours. It was beautifully inlaid with wood +of various kinds and colours, and possessed a mark peculiarly +characteristic of floating-light boxes and desks, namely, two flags +inlaid on the lid--one of these being the Union Jack. Most of the men +on board displayed much skill and taste in the making of those boxes and +desks, although they were all self-taught, and wrought with very simple +tools in a not very commodious workshop. + +"A great change from yesterday in the look o' things, Jerry," observed +Shales, surveying the Downs, where, despite the stiff and ever +increasing breeze amounting almost to a gale, numerous little +pilot-boats were seen dancing on the waves, showing a mere shred of +canvas, and looking out for a job. "Yesterday was all sunshine and +calm, with pleasure-boats round us, and visitors heaving noospapers +aboard. To-day it's all gloom, with gales brewin' and pilots bobbin' +about like Mother Cary's chickens." + +"That's true, Jack," replied Jerry, whose poetic soul was fired by the +thought:-- + + "`Timpest an' turmoil to-day, + With lots a' salt-wather an' sorrow. + Blue little waves on the say, + An' sunny contintment to-morrow.' + +"That's how it is, Jack, me boy, all the world over--even in owld +Ireland hersilf; an' sure if there's pace to be found on earth it's +there it's to be diskivered." + +"Right, Jerry, peace is _to be_ discovered there, but I'm afraid it's in +a very distant future as yet," said Jack with a laugh. + +"All in good time," retorted Jerry. + +"Up lights!" called the mate down the hatchway. + +"Ay, ay, sir," came in chorus from below. + +Desks and boxes were thrust aside, the winch was manned, and the weighty +lantern mounted slowly to its nocturnal watch-tower. + +Its red eye flashed upon a dark scene. The gloom of approaching night +was deepened by the inky clouds that obscured the sky. Thick fog banks +came sweeping past at intervals; a cold north-easterly gale conveyed a +wintry feeling to the air. Small thick rain fell in abundance, and +everything attested the appropriateness of Jerry MacGowl's observation, +that it was "dirty weather intirely." + +The floating light was made snug--in other words, prepared for action-- +by having a good many more fathoms of her chain veered out, in order +that she might strain less and swing more freely. Loose articles were +secured or stowed away. Hatches were battened down, and many other +little nautical arrangements made which it would require a seaman to +understand as well as to describe in detail. + +As the evening advanced the gale increased in violence tenfold, and +darkness settled down like an impenetrable pall over land and sea. The +roar of breakers on the Goodwin Sands became so loud that it was +sometimes heard on board the Gull-light above the howling of the +tempest. The sea rose so much and ran so violently among the +conflicting currents caused by wind, tide, and sand-banks, that the Gull +plunged, swooped, and tore at her cable so that the holding of it might +have appeared to a landsman little short of miraculous. Hissing and +seething at the opposition she offered, the larger waves burst over her +bows, and swept the deck from stem to stern; but her ample scuppers +discharged it quickly, and up she rose again, dripping from the flood, +to face and fight and foil each succeeding billow. + +High on the mast, swaying wildly to and fro, yet always hanging +perpendicular by reason of a simple mechanism, the lantern threw out its +bright beams, involving the vessel and the foam-clad boiling sea in a +circle of light which ended in darkness profound, forming, as it were, a +bright but ghostly chamber shut in with walls of ebony, and revealing, +in all its appalling reality, the fury of the sea. What horrors lay +concealed in the darkness beyond no one could certainly know; but the +watch on board the Gull could form from past experience a pretty good +conception of them, as they cowered under the lee of the bulwarks and +looked anxiously out to windward. + +Anxiously! Ay, there was cause for anxiety that night. The risk of +parting from their cable was something, though not very great; but the +risk of being run down by passing or driving ships during intervals of +fog was much greater, and the necessity of looking out for signals of +distress was urgent. + +It was a night of warfare, and the battle had begun early. Mr Welton's +record of the earlier part of that day in the log ran thus:-- + +"At 4 a.m. calm, with misty rain; at 8, wind south-east, light breeze. +At noon, west-south-west, fresh breeze and rain. At 4 p.m., wind +south-west, fresh gale and heavy rain. A large fleet anchored in the +Downs. A schooner was seen to anchor in a bad place about this time. +At 7, wind still increasing. The watch observed several vessels part +from their 7 anchors and proceed to Margate Roads. At 7:30 the wind +flew into the nor'-nor'-west, and blew a hurricane." + +These were the first mutterings of the fight that had begun. + +It was now about a quarter to eight p.m. Jerry and his friend Shales +were cowering behind the bulwark on the starboard bow, gazing to +windward, but scarce able to keep their eyes open owing to wind and +spray. Suddenly a large object was seen looming into the circle of +light. + +"Stand by!" roared Jerry and Jack, with startling vigour, as the one +leaped towards the tiller, the other to the companion-hatch; "a vessel +bearing down on our hawse!" + +The mate and men rushed on deck in time to see a large ship pass close +to the bow of the Gull. Jack had cast loose the tiller, because, +although in ordinary circumstances the helm of a light-vessel is of no +use, this was one of the few occasions in which it could be of service. +The rush of the tide past a ship at anchor confers upon it at all times, +except during "slack water" (i.e., when the tide is on the turn), the +power of steering, so that she can be made to sheer swiftly to port or +starboard, as may be required. But for this power, floating lights +would undoubtedly be run into more frequently than they are. + +The danger being over, the helm was again made fast amidships, but as +several vessels were soon after seen sweeping past--two or three of them +burning tar-barrels and "flare-lights" for assistance, it became evident +that there would be little or no rest for any one on board that night. +The mate put on his oiled coat, trousers, boots, and sou'wester, and +remained on deck. + +Between eight and nine o'clock a schooner was seen approaching. She +came out of surrounding darkness like a dim phantom, and was apparently +making the attempt to go to windward of the floating light. She failed, +and in a moment was bearing down with terrible speed right upon them. + +"Starboard your helm!" shouted the mate, at the same moment springing to +the tiller of his own vessel. + +The steersman of the driving vessel fortunately heard and obeyed the +order, and she passed--but shaved the bow of the Gull so closely that +one of the men declared he could easily have jumped aboard of her. + +Again, at nine o'clock, there was a stir on board the floating light, +for another vessel was seen driving towards her. This one was a brig. +The foremast was gone, and the remains of a tar-barrel were still +burning on her deck, but as none of the crew could be seen, it was +conjectured that some other ship must have run foul of her, and they had +escaped on board of it. All hands were again called, the tiller was +cast loose, a wide sheer given to the Gull, and the brig went past them +at about the distance of a ship-length. She went slowly by, owing, it +was afterwards ascertained, to the fact that she had ninety fathoms of +cable trailing from her bows. She was laden with coal, and when the +Deal boatmen picked her up next day, they found the leg of a man on her +deck, terribly mutilated, as if it had got jambed somehow, and been +wrenched off! But no one ever appeared to tell the fate of that +vessel's crew. + +Shortly before ten, two tar-barrels were observed burning in a +north-easterly direction. These proved to be the signals of distress +from a ship and a barque, which were dragging their anchors. They +gradually drove down on the north part of the sands; the barque struck +on a part named the Goodwin Knoll, the ship went on the North sandhead. + +Now the time for action had come. The Goodwin light-vessel, being +nearest to the wrecks, fired a signal-gun and sent up a rocket. + +"There goes the _Goodwin_!" cried the mate; "load the starboard gun, +Jack." + +He ran down himself for a rocket as he spoke, and Jerry ran to the cabin +for the red-hot poker, which had been heating for some time past in +readiness for such an event. + +"A gun and a flare to the south-east'ard, sir, close to us," shouted +Shales, who had just finished loading, as the mate returned with the +rocket and fixed it in position. + +"Where away, Jack?" asked the mate hastily, for it now became his duty +to send the rocket in the direction of the new signals, so as to point +out the position of the wreck to the lifeboat-men on shore. + +"Due south-east, sir; there they go again," said Jack, "not so close as +I thought. South sandhead vessel signalling now, sir." + +There was no further need for questions. The flash of the gun was +distinctly seen, though the sound was not heard, owing to the howling of +the hurricane, and the bright flare of a second tar-barrel told its own +tale, while a gun and rocket from the floating light at the South +sandhead showed that the vessel in distress had been observed by her. + +"Fire!" cried the mate. + +Jerry applied the poker to the gun, and the scene which we have +described in a former chapter was re-enacted;--the blinding flash, the +roar, and the curved line of light across the black sky; but there was +no occasion that night to repeat the signals. Everywhere along the +coast the salvors of life and property were on the alert--many of them +already in action, out battling in midnight darkness with the raging +sea. The signal was at once replied to from Ramsgate. + +Truly it was a dreadful night; one of those tremendous hurricanes which +visit our shores three or four times it may be in a century, seeming to +shake the world to its foundations, and to proclaim with unwonted +significance the dread power of Him who created and curbs the forces of +nature. + +But the human beings who were involved in the perils of that night had +scant leisure, and little inclination, perchance, to contemplate its +sublimity. The crew of the Gull light were surrounded by signals of +disaster and distress. In whichever direction they turned their eyes +burning tar-barrels and other flaring lights were seen, telling their +dismal tale of human beings in urgent need of assistance or in dire +extremity. + +Little more than an hour before midnight another craft was observed +driving down on the hawse of the Gull. There was greater danger now, +because it happened to be near the turn of the tide, or "slack water," +so that the rudder could not be used to advantage. All hands were once +more turned out, and as the vessel drew near Mr Welton hailed her, but +got no reply. + +"Let go the rudder-pendants!" cried the mate as he shipped the tiller. + +The order was promptly obeyed, and the helm shoved hard a-port, but +there was no responsive sheer. The sea was at the time currentless. +Another moment and the vessel, which was a large deserted brig, struck +the floating light on the port-bow, and her fore shrouds caught the +fluke of the spare anchor which projected from the side. + +"An axe, Jerry; look alive!" + +Jerry required no spur; he bounded forward, caught up an axe, and leaped +with it into the chains of the vessel, which had already smashed part of +the Gull's bulwarks and wrenched the iron band off the cat-head. + +"Cut away everything," cried the mate, who observed that the decks of +the brig were full of water, and feared that she might be in a sinking +condition. + +The other men of the Gull were busy with boat-hooks, oars, and fenders, +straining every nerve to get clear of this unwelcome visitor, while +Jerry dealt the shrouds a few telling blows which quickly cut them +through, but, in sweeping past, the main-topsail yard-arm of the brig +went crashing into the lantern. Instantly the lamps were extinguished, +and the bright beams of the floating light were gone! The brig then +dropt astern and was soon lost to view. + +This was a disaster of the most serious nature--involving as it did the +absence of a light, on the faithful glow of which the fate of hundreds +of vessels might depend. Fortunately, however, the extreme fury of the +gale had begun to abate; it was therefore probable that all the vessels +which had not already been wrecked had found ports of shelter, or would +now be able to hold on to their anchors and weather the storm. + +But floating-lights are not left without resource in a catastrophe such +as this. In the book of Regulations for the Service it is ordered that, +in circumstances of this kind, two red lights are to be shown, one at +the end of the davit forward, the other on a stanchion beside the ensign +staff aft, and likewise a red flare light is to be shown every quarter +of an hour. Accordingly, while some of the men lit and fixed up the red +lanterns, Jerry MacGowl was told off to the duty of showing the red +flares, or, as he himself expressed it, "settin' off a succession o' +fireworks, which wos mightily purty, no doubt, an' would have bin highly +entertainin' if it had been foin weather, and a time of rejoycin'!" + +Meanwhile the lantern was lowered, and it was found that the only damage +done had been the shattering of one of its large panes of glass. The +lamps, although blown out, had not been injured. The men therefore set +vigorously to work to put in a spare pane, and get the light once more +into working order. + +Leaving them, then, at this important piece of work, let us turn aside +awhile and follow the fortunes of the good ship Wellington on that +terrible night of storm and disaster. + +When the storm was brewing she was not far from the Downs, but the +baffling winds retarded her progress, and it was pitch dark when she +reached the neighbourhood of the Goodwin sands. Nevertheless those on +board of her did not feel much uneasiness, because a good pilot had been +secured in the channel. + +The Wellington came bowling along under close-reefed topsails. Stanley +Hall and Jim Welton stood leaning over the taffrail, looking down into +the black foam-streaked water. Both were silent, save that now and then +Jim put down his hand to pat a black muzzle that was raised lovingly to +meet it, and whispered, "We shall be home to-morrow, Neptune,--cheer up, +old boy!" + +But Jim's words did not express all his thoughts. If he had revealed +them fully he would have described a bright fireside in a small and +humble but very comfortable room, with a smiling face that rendered +sunshine unnecessary, and a pair of eyes that made gaslight a paltry +flame as well as an absolute extravagance. That the name of this cheap, +yet dear, luminary began with an _N_ and ended with an _a_, is a piece +of information with which we think it unnecessary to trouble the reader. + +Stanley Hall's thoughts were somewhat on the same line of rail, if we +may be allowed the expression; the chief difference being that _his_ +luminary beamed in a drawing-room, and sang and played and painted +beautifully--which accomplishments, however, Stanley thought, would have +been sorry trifles in themselves had they not been coupled with a taste +for housekeeping and domestic economy, and relieving as well as visiting +the poor, and Sabbath-school teaching; in short, every sort of "good +work," besides an unaccountable as well as admirable _penchant_ for +pitching into the Board of Trade, and for keeping sundry account-books +in such a neat and methodical way that there remains a lasting blot on +that Board in the fact of their not having been bound in cloth of gold! + +Ever since his first visit to Yarmouth, Stanley had felt an increasing +admiration for Katie Durant's sprightly character and sterling +qualities, and also increasing pity for poor Bob Queeker, who, he +thought, without being guilty of very egregious vanity, had no chance +whatever of winning such a prize. The reader now knows that the pity +thus bestowed upon that pitiful fox-hunting turncoat was utterly thrown +away. + +"I don't like these fogs in such dangerous neighbourhood," observed Jim +Welton, as a fresh squall burst upon the ship and laid it over so much +that many of the passengers thought she was going to capsize. "We +should be getting near the floating lights of the Goodwin sands by this +time." + +"Don't these lights sometimes break adrift?" asked Stanley, "and thus +become the cause of ships going headlong to destruction?" + +"Not often," replied Jim. "Considering the constancy of their exposure +to all sorts of weather, and the number of light-vessels afloat, it is +amazin' how few accidents take place. There has been nothing of the +kind as long as I can remember anything about the service, but my father +has told me of a case where one of the light-vessels that marked a +channel at the mouth of the Thames once broke adrift in a heavy gale. +She managed to bring up again with her spare anchor, but did not dare to +show her light, being out of her proper place, and therefore, a false +guide. The consequence was that eight vessels, which were making for +the channel, and counted on seeing her, went on the sands and were lost +with nearly all hands." + +"If that be so it were better to have lighthouses, I think, than +lightships," said Stanley. + +"No doubt it would, where it is possible to build 'em," replied Jim, +"but in some places it is supposed to be impossible to place a +lighthouse, so we must be content with a vessel. But even lighthouses +are are not perfectly secure. I know of one, built on piles on a +sand-bank, that was run into by a schooner and carried bodily away. +Accidents will happen, you know, in the best regulated families; but it +seems to me that we don't hear of a floating-light breakin' adrift once +in half a century--while, on the other hand, the good that is done by +them is beyond all calculation." + +The young men relapsed into silence, for at that moment another fierce +gust of wind threw the ship over almost on her beam-ends. Several of +the male passengers came rushing on deck in alarm, but the captain +quieted them, and induced them to return to the cabin to reassure the +ladies, who, with the children, were up and dressed, being too anxious +to think of seeking repose. + +It takes courts of inquiry,--formed of competent men, who examine +competent witnesses and have the counsel of competent seamen,--many days +of anxious investigation to arrive at the precise knowledge of the when, +how, and wherefore of a wreck. We do not, therefore, pretend to be able +to say whether it was the fault of the captain, the pilot, the man at +the lead, the steersman, the look-out, or the weather, that the good +ship Wellington met her doom. All that we know for certain is, that she +sighted the southern light-vessel some time before midnight during the +great gale, that she steered what was supposed to be her true course, +and that, shortly after, she struck on the tail of the sands. + +Instantly the foremast went by the board, and the furious sea swept over +the hull in blinding cataracts, creating terrible dismay and confusion +amongst nearly all on board. + +The captain and first mate, however, retained their coolness and +self-possession. Stanley and Jim also, with several of the officers on +board, were cool and self-possessed, and able to render good service. +While Stanley loaded a small carronade, young Welton got up blue lights +and an empty tar-barrel. These were quickly fired. The South sandhead +vessels immediately replied, the Gull, as we have seen, was not slow to +answer, and thus the alarm was transmitted to the shore while the +breakers that rushed over the Goodwins like great walls of snow, lifted +the huge vessel like a cork and sent it crashing down, again and again, +upon the fatal sands. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +GETTING READY FOR ACTION. + +Let us turn back a little at this point, and see how the watchers on +Ramsgate pier behaved themselves on that night of storm and turmoil. At +the end of the east pier of Ramsgate harbour there stands a very small +house, a sort of big sentry-box in fact, of solid stone, which is part +and parcel of the pier itself--built not only _on_ it but _into_ it, and +partially sheltered from the full fury of wind and sea by the low +parapet-wall of the pier. This is the east pier watch-house; the marine +residence, if we may so express it, of the coxswain of the lifeboat and +his men. It is their place of shelter and their watch-tower; their +nightly resort, where they smoke the pipe of peace and good fellowship, +and spin yarns, or take such repose as the nature of their calling will +admit of. This little stone house had need be strong, like its inmates, +for, like them, it is frequently called upon to brave the utmost fury of +the elements--receiving the blast fresh and unbroken from the North Sea, +as well as the towering billows from the same. + +This nocturnal watch-tower for muscular men and stout hearts, small +though it be, is divided into two parts, the outer portion being the +sleeping-place of the lifeboat men. It is a curious little box, full of +oilskin coats and sou'wester caps and sea-boots, and bears the general +aspect of a house which had been originally intended for pigmies, but +had got inhabited by giants, somehow, by mistake. Its very diminutive +stove stands near to its extremely small door, which is in close +proximity to its unusually little window. A little library with a +scanty supply of books hangs near the stove-pipe, as if the owners +thereof thought the contents had become somewhat stale, and required +warming up to make them more palatable. A locker runs along two sides +of the apartment, on the coverings of which stand several lanterns, an +oil-can, and a stone jar, besides sundry articles with an extremely +seafaring aspect, among which are several pairs of the gigantic boots +before referred to--the property of the coxswain and his mates. The +cork lifebelt, or jacket of the coxswain, hangs near the door. The +belts for use by the other men are kept in an outhouse down among the +recesses of the pier near the spot to which the lifeboat is usually +brought to embark her crew. Only five of the lifeboat men, called +harbour boatmen, keep watch in and around the little stone house at +nights. The rest are taken from among the hardy coast boatmen of the +place, and the rule is--"first come first served"--when the boat is +called out. There is never any lack of able and willing hands to man +the Ramsgate lifeboat. + +Near the low ceiling of the watch-house several hammocks are slung, +obliging men to stoop a little as they move about. It is altogether a +snug and cozy place, but cannot boast much of the state of its +atmosphere when the fire is going, the door shut, and the men smoking! + +On the night of the storm that has already been described in our last +chapter, the coxswain entered the watch-house, clad in his black oilskin +garments, and glittering with salt-water from top to toe. + +"There will be more work for us before long, Pike," he said, flinging +off his coat and sou'-wester, and taking up a pipe, which he began to +fill; "it looks blacker than ever in the nor'-east." + +Pike, the bowman of the boat, who was a quiet man, vigorous in action, +but of few words, admitted that there was much probability of their +services being again in demand, and then, rising, put on his cap and +coat, and went out to take a look at the night. + +Two other men sat smoking by the little stove, and talking in lazy tones +over the events of the day, which, to judge from their words, had been +already stirring enough. + +Late the night before--one of them said, for the information of the +other, who appeared to have just arrived, and was getting the news--the +steam-tug and lifeboat had gone out on observing signals from the Gull, +and had been told there was a wreck on the sands; that they had gone +round the back of the sands, carefully examining them, as far as the +east buoy, encountering a heavy ground swell, with much broken sea, but +saw nothing; that they had then gone closer in, to about seven fathoms +of water, when the lifeboat was suddenly towed over a log--as he styled +it, a baulk--of timber, but fortunately got no damage, and that they +were obliged to return to harbour, having failed to discover the wreck, +which probably had gone to pieces before they got out to the sands; so +they had all their trouble for nothing. The man--appealing by look to +the coxswain, who smoked in silence, and gazed sternly and fixedly at +the fire, as if his mind were wandering far away--went on to say, +further, that early that morning they had been again called out, and +were fortunate enough to save the crew of a small schooner, and that +they had been looking out for and expecting another call the whole day. +For the truth of all which the man appealed again by look to the +coxswain, who merely replied with a slight nod, while he continued to +smoke in silence, leaning his elbows on his knees, with his strong hands +clasped before him, sailor fashion, and gazing gravely at the fire. It +seemed as if he were resting his huge frame after the recent fatigues to +which it had been exposed, and in anticipation of those which might be +yet in store. + +Just then the little door opened quickly, and Pike's dripping head +appeared. + +"I think the Gull is signalling," he said, and vanished. + +The coxswain's sou'wester and coat were on as if by magic, and he stood +beside his mate at the end of the pier, partly sheltered by the parapet +wall. + +They both clung to the wall, and gazed intently out to sea, where there +was just light enough to show the black waves heaving wildly up against +the dark sky, and the foam gleaming in lurid patches everywhere. The +seas breaking in heavy masses on the pier-head drenched the two men as +they bent their heads to resist the roaring blast. If it had been high +water, they could not have stood there for a moment. They had not been +there long before their constant friend, the master of the steam-tug, +joined them. Straining their eyes intently in the direction of the +floating-light, which appeared like a little star tossed on the far-off +horizon, they observed a slight flash, and then a thin curved line of +red fire was seen to leap into the chaos of dark clouds. + +"There she goes!" cried the coxswain. + +"An' no mistake," said Pike, as they all ran to get ready for action. + +Few and to the point were the words spoken. Each man knew exactly what +was to be done. There was no occasion to rouse the lifeboat men on such +a night. The harbour-master had seen the signal, and, clad in oilskins +like the men, was out among them superintending. The steam-tug, which +lies at that pier with her fires lighted and banked up, and her water +hot, all the year round, sounded her shrill whistle and cast loose. Her +master and mate were old hands at the perilous work, and lost no time, +for wreck, like fire, is fatally rapid. There was no confusion, but +there was great haste. The lifeboat was quickly manned. Those who were +most active got on the cork lifebelts and leaped in; those who were less +active, or at a greater distance when the signal sounded, had to remain +behind. Eleven stalwart men, with frames inured to fatigue and cold, +clad in oiled suits, and with lifebelts on, sat on the thwarts of the +lifeboat, and the coxswain stood on a raised platform in her stern, with +the tiller-ropes in his hands. The masts were up, and the sails ready +to hoist. Pike made fast the huge hawser that was passed to them over +the stern of the steam-tug, and away they went, rushing out right in the +teeth of the gale. + +No cheer was given,--they had no breath to spare for sentimental service +just then. There was no one, save the harbour-master and his assistant +with a few men on duty, to see them start, for few could have ventured +to brave the fury of the elements that night on the spray-lashed pier. +In darkness they left; into darkness most appalling they plunged, with +nothing save a stern sense of duty and the strong hope of saving human +life to cheer them on their way. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +THE BATTLE. + +At first the men of the lifeboat had nothing to do but hold on to the +thwarts, with the exception, of course, of the coxswain, whose energies +were taxed from the commencement in the matter of steering the boat, +which was dragged through the waves at such a rate by the powerful tug +that merely to hold on was a work of some difficulty. Their course +might much more truly be said to have been under than over the waves, so +constantly did these break into and fill the boat. But no sooner was +she full than the discharging tubes freed her, and she rose again and +again, buoyant as a cork. + +Those who have not seen this desperate work can form but a faint +conception of its true character. Written or spoken words may conjure +up a pretty vivid picture of the scene, the blackness of the night, and +the heaving and lashing of the waves, but words cannot adequately +describe the shriek of the blast, the hiss and roar of breakers, and +they cannot convey the feeling of the weight of tons of falling water, +which cause the stoutest crafts of human build to reel and quiver to +their centres. + +The steam-tug had not to contend with the ordinary straightforward rush +of a North Sea storm. She was surrounded and beset by great boiling +whirlpools and spouting cross-seas. They struck her on the bow, on the +side, on the quarter, on the stern. They opened as if to engulf her. +They rushed at as if to overwhelm her. They met under her, thrusting +her up, and they leaped into her, crushing her down. But she was a +sturdy vessel; a steady hand was at the wheel, and her weather-beaten +master stood calm and collected on the bridge. + +It is probable that few persons who read the accounts of lifeboat +service on the Goodwin sands are aware of the importance of the duties +performed and the desperate risks run by the steam-tug. Without her +powerful engines to tow it to windward of the wrecks the lifeboat would +be much, very much, less useful than it is. In performing this service +the tug has again and again to run into shallow water, and steer, in the +blackest nights, amid narrow intricate channels, where a slight error of +judgment on the part of her master--a few fathoms more to the right or +left--would send her on the sands, and cause herself to become a wreck +and an object of solicitude to the lifeboat crew. "Honour to whom +honour is due" is a principle easy to state, but not always easy to +carry into practice. Every time the steam-tug goes out she runs her +full share of the imminent risk;--sometimes, and in some respects, as +great as that of the lifeboat herself, for, whereas, a touch upon the +sand, to which it is her duty to approach _as near as possible_, would +be the death-warrant of the tug, it is, on the other hand, the glorious +prerogative of the lifeboat to be almost incapable of destruction, and +her peculiar privilege frequently to go "slap on and right over" the +sands with slight damage, though with great danger. That the +death-warrant just referred to has not been signed, over and over again, +is owing almost entirely to the courage and skill of her master and +mate, who possess a thorough and accurate knowledge of the intricate +channels, soundings, and tides of those dangerous shoals, and have spent +many years in risking their lives among them. Full credit is usually +given to the lifeboat, though _not too much_ by any means, but there is +not, we think, a sufficient appreciation of the services of the +steam-tug. She may be seen in the harbour any day, modestly doing the +dirty work of hauling out the dredge-boats, while the gay lifeboat +floats idly on the water to be pointed out and admired by summer +visitors--thus unfairly, though unavoidably, are public favours often +distributed! + +Observe, reader, we are far from holding up these two as rivals. They +are a loving brother and sister. Comparatively little could be done in +the grand work of saving human life without the mighty strength of the +"big brother;" and, on the other hand, nothing at all could be done +without the buoyant activity and courage of the "little sister." +Observe, also, that although the lifeboat floats in idleness, like a +saucy little duck, in time of peace, her men, like their mates in the +"big brother," are hard at work like other honest folk about the +harbour. It is only when the sands "show their teeth," and the floating +lights send up their signals, and the storm-blast calls to action, that +the tug and boat unite, and the men, flinging down the implements of +labour, rise to the dignity of heroic work with all the pith and power +and promptitude of heroes. + +As they ploughed through the foam together, the tug was frequently +obliged to ease-steam and give herself time to recover from the shock of +those heavy cross seas. Suddenly a bright flaring light was observed in +the vicinity of a shoal called the _Break_, which lies between the +Goodwins and the shore. It went out in a few seconds, but not before +the master of the tug had taken its bearings and altered his course. At +the same time signal-guns and rockets were observed, both from the North +sandhead light-vessel and the Gull, and several flaring lights were also +seen burning on or near the Goodwin sands. + +On nearing the _Middle Break_, which was easily distinguishable from the +surrounding turmoil by the intensity of its roar as the seas rolled over +it, the coxswain of the lifeboat ordered the sail to be hoisted and the +tow-rope slipped. Pike, who was a thoroughly intelligent and +sympathetic bowman, had all in readiness; he obeyed the order instantly, +and the boat, as if endued with sudden life, sprang away on its own +account into the broken water. + +Broken water! who but a lifeboat-man can conceive what that means?-- +except, indeed, those few who have been saved from wreck. A chaos of +white water, rendered ghostly and grey by darkness. No green or liquid +water visible anywhere; all froth and fury, with force tremendous +everywhere. Rushing rivers met by opposing cataracts; bursting against +each other; leaping high in air from the shock; falling back and +whirling away in wild eddies,--seeking rest, but finding none! Vain +indeed must be our attempt to describe the awful aspect, the mad music, +the fearful violence of "broken water" on the Break! + +In such a sea the boat was tossed as if she were a chip; but the gale +gave her speed, and speed gave her quick steering power. She leaped +over the foam, or dashed through it, or staggered under it, but always +rose again, the men, meanwhile, holding on for life. Pike was ready in +the bow, with an arm tightly embracing the bollard, or strong post, +round which the cable runs. The coxswain's figure, towering high in the +stern, with the steering tackles in his hands, leaned forward against a +strong strap or band fixed across the boat to keep him in position. + +They made straight for the spot where the flare light had been seen. At +first darkness and thick spray combined prevented them from seeing +anything, but in a few minutes a dark object was seen looming faintly +against the sky, and the coxswain observed with anxious concern that it +lay not to leeward, but to windward of him. + +"Out oars! down with the sail!" he shouted. + +His voice was very powerful, but it was swept away, and was only heard +by those nearest to him. The order was instantly obeyed, however; but +the gale was so heavy and the boat so large that headway could not be +made. They could see that the wreck was a small vessel on her +beam-ends. Being to leeward, they could hear despairing cries +distinctly, and four or five human beings were seen clinging to the +side. The lifeboat-men strained till their sinews well-nigh cracked; it +seemed doubtful whether they had advanced or not, when suddenly an +unusually large wave fell in thunder on the Break; it rushed over the +shallows with a foaming head, caught the boat on its crest and carried +it far away to leeward. + +Sail was again made. A box near the coxswain a feet was opened, and a +blue-light taken out. There was no difficulty in firing this. A sharp +stroke on its butt lighted the percussion powder within, and in a moment +the scene was illumined by a ghastly glare, which brought out the blue +and white boat distinctly, and gave corpse-like colour to the faces of +the men. At the same time it summoned the attendant steamer. + +In a few minutes the tug ran down to her; the tow-rope was taken on +board, and away went the brother and sister once more to windward of the +wreck; but now no wreck was to be seen! They searched round the shoal +in all directions without success, and finally were compelled to come to +the conclusion that the same sea which had carried the boat to leeward +had swept the wreck away. + +With sad hearts they now turned towards the Goodwins, but the melancholy +incident they had just witnessed was soon banished from their minds by +the urgent signals for aid still seen flaring in all directions. For +the nearest of these they made at full speed. On their way, a dark +object was seen to sweep past them across their stern as if on the wings +of the wind. It was the Broadstairs lifeboat, which had already done +good service that night, and was bent on doing more. Similarly occupied +were the lifeboats of Deal, Walmer, and other places along the coast. A +Deal lugger was also seen. The hardy beachmen of Kent fear no storm. +They run out in all weathers to succour ships in distress, and much good +service do they accomplish, but their powers are limited. Like the +steam-tugs, they can hover around the sands in heavy gales, and venture +gingerly near to them; but thus far, and no farther, may they go. They +cannot, like the noble lifeboats, dash right into the caldron of surf, +and dare the sands and seas to do their worst! + +The lifeboat men felt cheered, no doubt, to know that so many able hands +were fighting around them in the same battle, but they had little time +to think on such things; the work in hand claimed their exclusive +attention--as it must now claim ours. + +One vessel was seen burning three very large flare lights. Towards this +the steamer hastened, and when as near as prudence would permit her to +approach the Goodwin sands--something less than quarter of a mile--the +hawser was again slipped, sail was made on the lifeboat, and she once +more entered the broken water alone. + +Here, of course, being more exposed, it was still more tremendous than +on the Break. It was a little after midnight when they reached the +sands, and made the discovery that they were on the wrong hide of them. +The tide was making, however, and in a short time there was sufficient +water to enable the boat to run right over; she struck many times, but, +being tough, received no serious damage. Soon they drew near the wreck, +and could see that she had sunk completely, and that the crew were +clinging to the jibboom. + +When about fifty yards to windward, the anchor was let go, the lifeboat +veered down towards the wreck, and with much difficulty they succeeded +in taking off the whole crew of seven men. Signalising the tug with +another blue-light, they ran to leeward into deep water, and were again +taken in tow; the saved men being with some difficulty put on board the +tug. They were Dutchmen; and the poor master of the lost vessel could +find no words sufficiently forcible to express his gratitude to the +coxswain of the lifeboat. When he afterwards met him on shore, he wrung +his hand warmly, and, with tears in his eyes, promised never to forget +him. "Me never tinks of you," said he (meaning the reverse), "so long's +I live; me tell the King of Holland!" + +It is but just to add that the poor fellow faithfully redeemed his +ill-expressed promise, and that the coxswain of the lifeboat now +possesses a medal presented to him by the King of Holland in +acknowledgment of his services on that occasion. + +But the great work of that night still remained to be done. Not far +from the light-vessel a flare-light was seen burning brightly. It +seemed to be well tended, and was often renewed. Towards this the tug +now steered with the little sister in tow. They soon came near enough +to observe that she was a large ship, going to pieces on the sands. + +Slipping the cable once more, the lifeboat gallantly dashed into the +thickest of the fight, and soon got within hail of the wreck. + +Then it was that, for the first time, a ray of hope entered the hearts +of the passengers of the luckless Wellington, and then it was that Jim +Welton and Stanley Hall, with several young officers, who had kept the +tar-barrels burning so briskly for so many hours, despite the drenching +seas, sent up a loud thrilling cheer, and announced to the +terror-stricken women and children that _the lifeboat was in sight_! + +What a cry for those who had been for three hours dashing on the sands, +expecting every moment that the ship would break up! The horrors of +their situation were enhanced by the novelty of their sensations! All +of us can realise to some extent, from hearsay and from paintings, what +is meant by billows bursting high over ships' mast-heads and washing +everything off the decks, but who that has not experienced it can +imagine what it is to see gigantic yards being whipped to and fro as a +light cane might be switched by a strong man, to see top-masts snapping +like pipe-stems, to hear stout ropes cracking like pliant whipcord, and +great sails flapping with thunder-claps or bursting into shreds? Above +all, who can realise the sensation caused by one's abode being lifted +violently with every surge and dropped again with the crashing weight of +two thousand tons, or being rolled from side to side so that the floor +on which one stands alternates between the horizontal and perpendicular, +while one's frame each time receives a shock that is only too much in +dread harmony with the desperate condition of the mind? + +"The lifeboat in sight!" Who at such a time would not pray God's best +blessing on the lifeboat, on the stalwart men who man it, and on the +noble Society which supports it? + +Certain it is that many a prayer of this kind was ejaculated on board +the Wellington that night, while the passengers re-echoed the good news, +and hurriedly went on deck. But what an awful scene of dreary +desolation presented itself when they got there! The flares gave forth +just enough light to make darkness visible--ropes, masts, yards, sails, +everything in indescribable confusion, and the sea breaking over all +with a violence that rendered it extremely difficult to maintain a +footing even in the most sheltered position. + +Fortunately by this time the vessel had been beaten sufficiently high on +the shoal to prevent the terrible rolling to which she had been at first +subjected; and as the officers and seamen vied with each other in +attentions to the women and children, these latter were soon placed in +comparative security, and awaited with breathless anxiety the arrival of +the boat. + +In order to keep the flare-lights burning all kinds of materials had +been sacrificed. Deluged as they were continually by heavy seas, +nothing but the most inflammable substances would burn. Hence, when +their tar-barrels were exhausted, Stanley Hall and his assistants got +hold of sheets, table-cloths, bedding, and garments, and saturated these +with paraffine oil, of which, fortunately, there happened to be a large +quantity on board. They now applied themselves with redoubled diligence +to the construction and keeping alight of these flares, knowing well +that the work which remained to be done before all should be rescued, +was of a nature requiring time as well as care and courage. + +On rushed the lifeboat through the broken water. When almost within +hail, the coxswain heard the roar of an unusually heavy sea rushing +behind him. + +"Let go the fore-sheet," he shouted, "and hold on for your lives." + +The wave--a billow broken to atoms, yet still retaining all its weight +and motive force--overwhelmed the boat and passed on. Before she had +quite recovered, another sea of equal size engulfed her, and as she had +been turned broadside on by the first, the second caught her in its +embrace and carried her like the wind bodily to leeward. Her immense +breadth of beam prevented an upset, and she was finally launched into +shallower water, where the sand had only a few feet of sea above it. +She had been swept away full quarter of a mile in little more than a +minute! Here the surf was like a boiling caldron, but there was not +depth enough to admit of heavy seas. + +The same sea that swept away the boat carried the fore and main masts of +the Wellington by the board, and extinguished all her lights. + +The boat drove quite two miles to leeward before the tug got hold of her +again. To have returned to the wreck against wind and tide alone, we +need scarcely repeat, would have been impossible, but with the aid of +the tug she was soon towed to her old position and again cast loose. + +Once more she rushed into the fight and succeeded in dropping anchor a +considerable distance to windward of the wreck, from which point she +veered down under her lee, but so great was the mass of broken masts, +spars, and wreckage--nothing being now left but parts of the mizzen and +bowsprit--that the coxswain was obliged to pay out 117 fathoms of cable +to keep clear of it all. + +The difficulty and danger of getting the boat alongside now became +apparent to the people on the wreck, many of whom had never dreamed of +such impediments before, and their hopes sank unreasonably low, just as, +before, they had been raised unduly high. + +With great difficulty the boat got near to the port quarter of the ship, +and Pike stood up ready in the bow with a line, to which was attached a +loaded cane, something like a large life-preserver. + +"Heave!" shouted the coxswain. + +The bowman made a deliberate and splendid cast; the weighted cane fell +on the deck of the ship, and was caught by Jim Welton, who attached a +hawser to it. This was drawn into the boat, and in a few seconds she +was alongside. But she was now in great danger! The wild waters that +heaved, surged, and leaped under the vessel's lee threatened to dash the +boat in pieces against her every moment, and it was only by the +unremitting and strenuous exertions of the men with boat-hooks, oars, +and fenders that this was prevented. Now the boat surged up into the +chains as if about to leap on board the ship; anon it sank into a gulf +of spray, or sheered wildly to leeward, but by means of the hawser and +cable, and a "spring" attached to the latter, she was so handled that +one and another of the crew of the wreck were taken into her. + +The first saved was a little child. It was too small and delicate to be +swung over the side by a rope, so the captain asked Jim Welton, as being +the most agile man in the ship and possessed of superabundant animal +courage, to take it in his arms and leap on board. Jim agreed at once, +handed over the care of his flare-lights to one of the men, and prepared +for action. The poor child, which was about a year old, clung to its +mother's neck with terror, and the distracted woman--a soldier's widow-- +could scarce be prevailed on to let the little one out of her arms. + +"Oh, let me go with him," she pleaded most earnestly, "he is all that is +left to me." + +"You shall follow immediately; delay may be death," said the captain, +kindly, as he drew the child gently but firmly from her grasp. + +It was securely bound to Jim's broad bosom by means of a shawl. +Watching his opportunity when the boat came surging up on the crest of a +billow almost to his feet, and was about to drop far down into the +trough of the sea, the young sailor sprang from the side and was caught +in the outstretched arms of the lifeboat men. + +It had occurred to Stanley Hall, just before this happened, that there +was every probability of some of the passengers falling overboard during +the process of being transferred to the boat. Stanley was of a somewhat +eccentric turn of mind, and seldom allowed his thoughts to dissipate +without taking action of some kind. He therefore got into the mizzen +chains and quietly fastened a rope round his waist, the other end of +which he tied to a stanchion. + +"You'll get crushed by the boat there," cried the captain, who observed +him. + +"Perhaps not," was the reply. + +He stood there and watched Jim Welton as he leaped. The mother of the +child, unable to restrain herself, climbed on the bulwarks of the +vessel. Just as she did so the boat surged up again,--so close that it +required but a short step to get into her. Some of the passengers +availed themselves of the chance--the poor widow among them. She sprang +with a cry of joy, for she saw her child's face at the moment as they +unbound him from Jim's breast, but she sprang short. Little wonder that +a woman should neglect to make due allowance for the quick swooping of +the boat! Next moment she was in the boiling foam. A moment later and +she was in Stanley Hall's grasp, and both were swept violently to +leeward, but the rope brought them up. Despite darkness and turmoil the +quick-eyed coxswain and his mate had noted the incident. Pike payed out +the hawser, the coxswain eased off the spring; away went the boat, and +next moment Pike had Stanley by the hair. Short was the time required +for their strong arms to pull him and his burden in-board; and, oh! it +was a touching sight to witness the expressions of the anxious faces +that were turned eagerly towards the boat, and glared pale and ghastly +in the flaring light, as her sturdy crew hauled slowly up, hand over +hand, and got once more under the vessel's lee. + +No sooner were they within reach than another impatient passenger leaped +overboard. This was Jim's faithful dog Neptune! Watching his time with +the intelligence of a human being, he sprang, with much greater +precision and vigour than any human being could have done, and, +alighting on Pike's shoulders, almost drove that stout boatman into the +bottom of the boat. + +Soon the boat was as full as it could hold. All the women and children +had been got into her, and many of the male passengers, so that there +was no room to move; still there remained from twenty to thirty people +to be rescued. Seeing this, Jim seized Neptune by the neck and flung +him back into the wreck. Catching a rope that hung over the side, he +also swung himself on board, saying,--"You and I must sink or swim +together, Nep! Shove off, lads, and come back as soon as you can." + +The hawser was slipped as he spoke; the lifeboat was hauled slowly but +steadily to windward up to her anchor. Tons of water poured over her +every moment, but ran through her discharging tubes, and, deeply loaded +though she was, she rose buoyant from each immersion like an invincible +sea-monster. + +When the anchor was reached, a small portion of the foresail was set, +and then, cutting the cable with one blow of a hatchet, away they went +like the scudding foam right over the boiling shallows on the spit of +sand. + +"Hand out a blue-light there," cried the coxswain. A sharp blow caused +the blue-fire to flare up and shed a light that fell strong as that of +the full moon on the mingled grave, pale, stern, and terrified faces in +the lifeboat. + +"Safe!" muttered one of the crew. + +"Safe?" was echoed in surprise, no doubt, from several fluttering +hearts. + +As well might that have been said to the hapless canoe-man rushing over +the Falls of Niagara as to the inexperienced ones there, while they +gazed, horror-struck, on the tumult of mad waters in that sudden blaze +of unearthly light. Their faith in a trustworthy and intelligent +boatman was not equal to their faith in their own eyes, backed by +ignorance! But who will blame them for lack of faith in the +circumstances? Nevertheless, they _were_ safe. The watchful master of +the tug,--laying-to off the deadly banks, now noting the compass, now +casting the lead, anon peering into the wild storm,--saw the light, ran +down to it, took the rescued ones on board, and, having received from +the coxswain the information that there were "more coming," sent them +down into his little cabin, there to be refreshed and comforted, while +the lifeboat sheered off again, and once more sprang into the "broken +water." So might some mighty warrior spur from the battle-field charged +with despatches of the highest import bearing on the fight, and, having +delivered his message, turn on his heel and rush back into the whirling +tide of war to complete the victory which had been so well begun! + +Once more they made for the wreck, which was by that time fast breaking +up. Running right before the wind in such an awful gale, it was +necessary to make the men crowd aft in order to keep the boat's head +well out of the water. On this occasion one or two of the seamen of the +Wellington, who had been allowed inadvertently to remain in the boat, +became alarmed, for the seas were rolling high over the gunwale on each +side, and rushing into her with such force as to make it a difficult +matter to avoid being washed out. It was a new sensation to these men +to rush thus madly between two walls of foam eight or ten feet high! +They glanced backward, where another wall of foaming water seemed to be +curling over the stern, as if about to drop inboard. The coxswain +observed their looks, and knew their feelings. He knew there was no +lack of courage in them, and that a little experience would change their +minds on this point. + +"Never look behind, lads," he cried; "look ahead; always look right +ahead." + +"Ay, Geordy," remarked one of the men,--a Scotchman,--to his mate, "it's +rum sailin' this is. I thocht we was a' gaun to the bottom; but nae +doot the cox'n kens best. It's a wonderfu' boat!" + +Having so said, the sedate Scot dismissed his anxieties, and thereafter +appeared to regard the surrounding chaos of water with no other feelings +than philosophic interest and curiosity. + +On nearing the wreck the second time, it was found that the tide had +fallen so low that they could scarcely get alongside. Three times they +struck on the shoal; on the third occasion the mizzen-mast and sail were +blown out of the boat. They managed to drop anchor, however, and to +veer down under the port bow of the Wellington, whence the anxious +survivors threw ropes to them, and, one after another, leaped or swung +themselves into the boat. But they were so long about it that before +all had been got out the coxswain was obliged to drop to leeward to +prevent being left aground. In spite of this, the boat got fast, and +now they could neither advance to the wreck for the nine men who still +remained in her, nor push off to rejoin the tug. + +The space between the boat and vessel was crossed by such a continuous +rush of broken water that for a time it was impossible to attempt +anything, but as the tide fell the coxswain consulted with his bowman, +and both agreed to venture to wade to the wreck, those on board having +become so exhausted as to be unable or unwilling to make further effort +to save themselves. + +Acting on this resolve they with one of their men sprang into the raging +surf and staggered to the wreck, where they induced two of the crew to +leap overboard and brought them safely to the boat. Others of the +lifeboat crew then joined them and four more were rescued. [See note +1.] + +The tide had been at its lowest when this desperate work was begun,-- +before it was finished it had turned. This, coupled with the fact that +they had all been nearly swept away during the last effort; and that +there was a fresh burst of violence in the gale, induced them to wait +until the tide should rise. When it did so sufficiently, they hauled +and shoved the boat alongside, and the captain, who was one of the three +remaining men, made a desperate spring, but missed the boat and was +whirled away. Pike made a grasp at him but missed. The coxswain seized +a life-buoy and hurled it towards him. It fell within his reach, and it +was supposed that he had caught it, but they could not be certain. The +boat was now afloat and bumping violently. If they had cut the cable in +order to rescue the captain, which they could by no means make sure of +doing, the improbability of being able to return in time to save the two +remaining men would have been very great. It seemed to be life or death +in either case, so they stuck by the wreck. + +It was grey dawn now, and the wreckage was knocking against and around +them to such an extent that the coxswain began to fear for the safety of +his boat. Yet he was loath to leave the men to perish. + +"Jump now, lads!" he cried, sheering up alongside, "it's your last +chance. It's death to all of us if we stop longer here!" + +The men sprang together. One gained the side of the boat and was saved, +the other was swept away. He made frantic efforts to gain the boat, but +before his companion had been got inboard he was out of sight, and +although the cable was promptly cut and the sail set he could not be +found. The boat was then run down along the sands in search of the +captain. The coxswain knew well from experience that he must certainly +have been swept by the current in the same direction as the wreckage. +He therefore followed this, and in a short time had the inexpressible +satisfaction and good fortune to find the captain. He had caught the +life-buoy, and having managed to get it under his arms had floated about +for the greater part of an hour. Though nearly dead he was still +sensible, and, after being well chafed and refreshed with a little rum +from the coxswain's case-bottle--provided for occasions of this sort--he +recovered. + +The great work of the lifeboat had now been accomplished, but they could +not feel that it had been thoroughly completed without one more effort +being made to save the lost man. They therefore ran still farther down +the sand in the direction where he had been last seen. They followed +the drift of wreckage as before. Presently the bowman uttered a +thrilling shout, for, through the turmoil of dashing spray, he saw the +man clinging to a spar! + +So unexpected was this happy event that the whole crew involuntarily +gave vent to a ringing cheer, although, in the circumstances, and +considering the nature of their exhausting work and the time they had +been exposed to it, one might have supposed them incapable of such a +burst of enthusiasm. + +In a few moments he was rescued, and now, with light hearts, they ran +for the tug, which was clearly visible in the rapidly increasing +daylight. They did not put off time in transferring the saved men to +the steamer. The big hawser,--their familiar bond of attachment,--was +made fast to them, and away went that noble big brother and splendid +little sister straight for Ramsgate harbour. [See note 2.] + +But the work of that wild night was not yet finished. On their way home +they fell in with a schooner, the foretopmast and bowsprit of which were +gone. As she was drifting towards the sands they hailed her. No reply +being made, the lifeboat was towed alongside, and, on being boarded, it +was found that she was a derelict. Probably she had got upon the sands +during the night, been forsaken by her crew in their own boat--in which +event there was small chance of any being saved--and had drifted off +again at the change of the tide. + +Be that as it might, six lifeboat men were put on board. Finding no +water in her, they slipt her two cables, which were hanging from the +bow, a rope was made fast to the steamer, and she was taken in tow. + +It was drawing towards noon when they neared the harbour. Very +different indeed was the aspect of things there then from what it had +been when they went out on their errand of mercy thirteen hours before. +Although the gale was still blowing fresh it had moderated greatly. The +black clouds no longer held possession of the sky, but were pierced, +scattered, and gilded, as they were rolled away, by the victorious sun. +The sea still raged and showed its white "teeth" fiercely, as if its +spirit had been too much roused to be easily appeased; but blue sky +appeared in patches everywhere; the rain had ceased, and the people of +the town and visitors swarmed out to enjoy the returning sunshine, +inhale the fresh sea-breeze, and await, anxiously, the return of the +lifeboat--for, of course, every one in the town was aware by that time +that she had been out all night. + +When, at length, the smoke of the "big brother" was observed drawing +near, the people flocked in hundreds to the piers and cliffs.--Wherever +a point of vantage was to be had, dozens of spectators crowned it. +Wherever a point of danger was to be gained, daring spirits--chiefly in +the shape of small boys--took it by storm, in absolute contempt of the +police. "Jacob's Ladder"--the cliff staircase--was crowded from top to +bottom. The west pier was rendered invisible to its outer extremity by +human beings. The east pier, as far as it was dry, was covered by the +fashion and beauty--as well as by the fishy and tarry--of the town. +Beyond the point of dryness it was more or less besieged by those who +were reckless, riotous, and ridiculously fond of salt-water spray. The +yards and shrouds of the crowded and much damaged shipping in the +harbour were manned, and the windows of the town that commanded the sea +were filled with human faces. An absolute battery of telescopes, like +small artillery, was levelled at the approaching tug. Everywhere were +to be seen and heard evidences of excitement, anxiety, and expectation. + +It was not long before it was announced that flags were seen flying at +the mast-heads of the tug and lifeboat--a sure evidence that a rescue +had been successfully accomplished. This caused many a burst of +cheering from the crowds, as the fact and its import became gradually +known. But these were as nothing compared with the cheers that arose +when the steamer, with the lifeboat and the schooner in tow, drew near, +and it could be seen that there were many people on board--among them +women and children. When they finally surged past the pier-head on the +crest of a tremendous billow, and swept into the harbour under a vast +shower of spray that burst over the pier and rose above the mast-heads +of the shipping within--as if to pour a libation on the gallant crews-- +then a succession of cheers, that cannot be described, welcomed the +victors and re-echoed from the chalk-cliffs, to be caught up and sent +out again and again in thrilling cadence on the mad sea, which had thus +been plundered of its booty and disappointed of its prey! + +Scarfs and hats and kerchiefs and hands were waved in wild enthusiasm, +strangely mingled with tender pity, when the exhausted women and +children and the worn-out and battered lifeboat-men were landed. Many +cheered, no doubt, to think of the strong hearts and invincible courage +that dwelt in the breasts of Britain's sons; while others,--tracing +things at once to their true source,--cheered in broken tones, or were +incompetent to cheer at all, when they thought with thankfulness of +Britain's faith in the Word of God, which, directly or indirectly, had +given that courage its inspiration, and filled those hearts with fire. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. The coxswain--Mr Isaac Jarman--who has rendered heroic service +in the Ramsgate Lifeboat during the last ten years, has been personally +instrumental in saving between four and five hundred lives. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 2. If the reader should desire to know something more of the +history of the celebrated Ramsgate lifeboat, which, owing to its +position, opportunities, and advantages, has had the most stirring +career of all the lifeboat fleet, we advise the perusal of a work (at +present in the press, if it be not already published) named _Storm +Warriors, or the Ramsgate Lifeboat and the Goodwin Sands_, by the +Reverend John Gilmore, whose able and thrilling articles on the +lifeboat-service in _Macmillan's Magazine_ are well known. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +SHOWS THAT THERE ARE NO EFFECTS WITHOUT ADEQUATE CAUSES. + +There were not a few surprising and unexpected meetings that day on +Ramsgate pier. Foremost among the hundreds who pressed forward to shake +the lifeboat-men by the hand, and to sympathise with and congratulate +the wrecked and rescued people, was Mr George Durant. It mattered +nothing to that stout enthusiast that his hat had been swept away into +hopeless destruction during his frantic efforts to get to the front, +leaving his polished head exposed to the still considerable fury of the +blast and the intermittent violence of the sun; and it mattered, if +possible, still less that the wreck turned out to be one of his own +vessels; but it was a matter of the greatest interest and amazement to +him to find that the first man he should meet in the crowd and seize in +a hearty embrace, was his young friend, Stanley Hall. + +"What, Stanney!" he exclaimed in unmitigated surprise; "is it--can it +be? Prodigious sight!" + +The old gentleman could say no more, but continued for a few seconds to +wring the hands of his young friend, gaze in his face, and vent himself +in gusts of surprise and bursts of tearful laughter, to the great +interest and amusement of the bystanders. + +Mr Durant's inconsistent conduct may be partly accounted for and +excused by the fact that Stanley had stepped on the pier with no other +garments on than a pair of trousers and a shirt, the former having a +large rent on the right knee, and the latter being torn open at the +breast, in consequence of the violent removal of all the buttons when +its owner was dragged into the lifeboat. As, in addition to this, the +young man's dishevelled hair did duty for a cap, and his face and hands +were smeared with oil and tar from the flare-lights which he had +assisted to keep up so energetically, it is not surprising that the +first sight of him had a powerful effect on Mr Durant. + +"Why, Stanney," he said at length, "you look as if you were some strange +sea-monster just broke loose from Neptune's menagerie!" + +Perhaps this idea had been suggested by the rope round Stanley's waist, +the cut end of which still dangled at his side, for Mr Durant took hold +of it inquiringly. + +"Ay, sir," put in the coxswain, who chanced to be near him, "that bit of +rope is a scarf of honour. He saved the life of a soldier's widow with +it." + +There was a tendency to cheer on the part of the bystanders who heard +this. + +"God bless you, Stanney, my boy! Come and get dressed," said the old +gentleman, suddenly seizing his friend's arm and pushing his way through +the crowd, "come along; oh, don't talk to me of the ship. I know that +it's lost; no matter--you are saved. And do _you_ come along with us +Wel--Wel--what's the name of --? Ah! Welton--come; my daughter is here +somewhere. I left her near the parapet. Never mind, she knows her way +home." + +Katie certainly was there, and when, over the heads of the people--for +she had mounted with characteristic energy on the parapet, assisted by +Queeker and accompanied by Fanny Hennings--she beheld Stanley Hall in +such a plight, she felt a disposition to laugh and cry and faint all at +once. She resisted the tendency, however, although the expression of +her face and her rapid change of colour induced Queeker with anxious +haste to throw out his arms to catch her. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Queeker, "_I knew it_!" + +What Queeker knew he never explained. It may have had reference to +certain suspicions entertained in regard to the impression made by the +young student on Katie the night of their first meeting; we cannot tell, +but we know that he followed up the exclamation with the muttered +remark, "It was fortunate that I pulled up in time." + +Herein Queeker exhibited the innate tendency of the human heart to +deceive itself. That furious little poetical fox-hunter had, by his own +confession, felt the pangs of a guilty conscience in turning, just +because he could not help it, from Katie to Fanny, yet here he was now +basely and coolly taking credit to himself for having "pulled up in +time!" + +"Oh, look at the _dear_ little children!" exclaimed Fanny, pointing +towards a part of the crowd where several seamen were carrying the +rescued and still terrified little ones in their strong arms, while +others assisted the women along, and wrapped dry shawls round them. + +"How dreadful to think," said Katie, making a hard struggle to suppress +her agitation, "that all these would have been lost but for the +lifeboat; and how wonderful to think that some of our own friends should +be among them!" + +"Ay, there be many more besides these saved last night, miss," remarked +a sturdy old boatman who chanced to be standing beside her. "All along +the east coast the lifeboats has bin out, miss, you may be sure; and +they don't often shove off without bringin' somethin' back to show for +their pains, though they don't all 'ave steamers for to tug 'em out. +There's the Broadstairs boat, now; I've jist heerd she was out all night +an' saved fifteen lives; an' the Walmer and Deal boats has fetched in a +lot, I believe, though we han't got particklers yet." + +Besides those whom we have mentioned as gazing with the crowd at the +arrival of the lifeboat, Morley Jones, and Nora, and Billy Towler were +there. Jones and Billy had returned from London together the night +before the storm, and, like nearly every one else in the town, had +turned out to witness the arrival of the lifeboat. + +Dick Moy also was there, and that huge lump of good-nature spent the +time in making sagacious remarks and wise comments on wind and weather, +wrecks and rescues, in a manner that commanded the intense admiration of +a knot of visitors who happened to be near him, and who regarded him as +a choice specimen--a sort of type--of the British son of Neptune. + +"This is wot _I_ says," observed Dick, while the people were landing "so +long as there's 'ope, 'old on. Never say die, and never give in; them's +my sentiments. 'Cause why? no one never knows wot may turn up. If your +ship goes down; w'y, wot then? Strike out, to be sure. P'r'aps you may +be picked up afore long. If sharks is near, p'r'aps you may be picked +down. You can never tell. If you gets on a shoal, wot then? w'y, stick +to the ship till a lifeboat comes off to 'ee. Don't never go for to +take to your own boats. If you do--capsize, an' Davy Jones's locker is +the word. If the lifeboat can't git alongside; w'y, wait till it can. +If it can't; w'y, it can only be said that it couldn't. No use cryin' +over spilt milk, you know. Not that I cares for milk. It don't keep at +sea, d'ye see; an's only fit for babbys. If the lifeboat capsizes; w'y, +then, owin' to her parfection o' build, she rights again, an' you, +'avin' on cork jackets, p'r'aps, gits into 'er by the lifelines, all +handy. If you 'aven't got no cork jackets on, w'y, them that has'll +pick 'ee up. If not, it's like enough you'll go down. But no matter, +you've did yer best, an' man, woman, or child can do no more. You can +only die once, d'ye see?" + +Whether the admiring audience did or did not see the full force of these +remarks, they undoubtedly saw enough in the gigantic tar to esteem him a +marvel of philosophic wisdom. Judging by their looks that he was highly +appreciated, it is just possible that Dick Moy might have been tempted +to extend his discourse, had not a move in the crowd showed a general +tendency towards dispersion, the rescued people having been removed, +some to the Sailor's Home, others to the residences of hospitable people +in the town. + +Now, it must not be imagined that all these characters in our tale have +been thus brought together, merely at our pleasure, without rhyme or +reason, and in utter disregard of the law of probabilities. By no +means. + +Mr Robert Queeker had started for Ramsgate, as the reader knows, on a +secret mission, which, as is also well known, was somewhat violently +interrupted by the sporting tendencies of that poetical law-clerk; but +no sooner did Queeker recover from his wounds than--with the +irresistible ardour of a Wellington, or a Blucher, or a bull-dog, or a +boarding-school belle--he returned to the charge, made out his intended +visit, set his traps, baited his lines, fastened his snares, and +whatever else appertained to his secret mission, so entirely to the +satisfaction of Messrs. Merryheart and Dashope, that these estimable men +resolved, some time afterwards, to send him back again to the scene of +his labours, to push still further the dark workings of his mission. +Elate with success the earnest Queeker prepared to go. Oh, what joy if +_she_ would only go with him! + +"And why not?" cried Queeker, starting up when this thought struck him, +as if it had struck him too hard and he were about to retaliate,--"Why +not? _That_ is the question." + +He emphasised _that_ as if all other questions, Hamlet's included, sank +into insignificance by contrast. + +"Only last night," continued Queeker to himself, still standing bolt +upright in a frenzy of inspiration, and running his fingers fiercely +through his hair, so as to make it stand bolt upright too--"only last +night I heard old Durant say he could not make up his mind where to go +to spend the autumn this year. Why not Ramsgate? why not Ramsgate? + + "Its chalky cliffs, and yellow sand, + And rides, and walks, and weather, + Its windows, which a view command + Of everything together. + + "Its pleasant walks, and pretty shops, + To fascinate the belles, + Its foaming waves, like washing-slops, + To captivate the swells. + + "Its boats and boatmen, brave and true, + Who lounge upon the jetty, + And smile upon the girls too-- + At least when they are pretty. + + "Oh! Ramsgate, where in all the earth, + Beside the lovely sea, + Can any town of note or worth + Be found to equal thee? + +"Nowhere!" said Queeker, bringing his fist down on the table with a +force that made the ink leap, when he had finished these verses--verses, +however, which cost him two hours and a profuse perspiration to produce. + +It was exactly a quarter to eight p.m. by the Yarmouth custom-house +clock, due allowance being made for variation, when this "Nowhere!" was +uttered, and it was precisely a quarter past nine p.m. that day week +when the Durants drove up to the door of the Fortress Hotel in Ramsgate, +and ordered beds and tea,--so powerful was the influence of a great mind +when brought to bear on Fanny Hennings, who exercised irresistible +influence over the good-natured Katie, whose power over her indulgent +father was absolute! + +Not less natural was the presence, in Ramsgate, of Billy Towler. We +have already mentioned that, for peculiarly crooked ends of his own, +Morley Jones had changed his abode to Ramsgate--his country abode, that +is. His headquarters and town department continued as before to +flourish in Gravesend, in the form of a public-house, which had once +caught fire at a time, strange to say, when the spirit and beer casks +were all nearly empty, a curious fact which the proprietor alone was +aware of, but thought it advisable not to mention when he went to +receive the 200 pounds of insurance which had been effected on the +premises a few weeks before! It will thus be seen that Mr Jones's +assurance, in the matter of dealing with insurance, was considerable. + +Having taken up his temporary abode, then, in Ramsgate, and placed his +mother and daughter therein as permanent residents, Mr Jones commenced +such a close investigation as to the sudden disappearance of his ally +Billy, that he wormed out of the unwilling but helpless Nora not only +what had become of him, but the name and place of his habitation. +Having accomplished this, he dressed himself in a blue nautical suit +with brass buttons, took the morning train to London, and in due course +presented himself at the door of the Grotto, where he requested +permission to see the boy Towler. + +The request being granted, he was shown into a room, and Billy was soon +after let in upon him. + +"Hallo! young Walleye, why, what ever has come over you?" he exclaimed +in great surprise, on observing that Billy's face was clean, in which +condition he had never before seen it, and his hair brushed, an +extraordinary novelty; and, most astonishing of all, that he wore +unragged garments. + +Billy, who, although outwardly much altered, had apparently lost none of +his hearty ways and sharp intelligence, stopped short in the middle of +the room, thrust both hands deep into his trousers pockets, opened his +eyes very wide, and gave vent to a low prolonged whistle. + +"What game may _you_ be up to?" he said, at the end of the musical +prelude. + +"You are greatly improved, Billy," said Jones, holding out his hand. + +"I'm not aweer," replied the boy, drawing back, "as I've got to thank +_you_ for it." + +"Come, Billy, this ain't friendly, is it, after all I've done for you?" +said Jones, remonstratively; "I only want you to come out an' 'ave a +talk with me about things, an' I'll give 'ee a swig o' beer or whatever +you take a fancy to. You ain't goin' to show the white feather and +become a milksop, are you?" + +"Now, look here, Mister Jones," said the boy, with an air of decision +that there was no mistaking, as he retreated nearer to the door; "I +don't want for to have nothin' more to do with _you_. I've see'd much +more than enough of 'ee. You knows me pretty well, an' you knows that +wotiver else I may be, I ain't a hippercrite. I knows enough o' your +doin's to make you look pretty blue if I like, but for reasons of my +own, wot you've got nothink to do with, I don't mean to peach. All I ax +is, that you goes your way an' let me alone. That's where it is. The +people here seem to 'ave got a notion that I've got a soul as well as a +body, and that it ain't 'xactly sitch a worthless thing as to be never +thought of, and throw'd away like an old shoe. They may be wrong, and +they may be right, but I'm inclined to agree with 'em. Let me tell 'ee +that _you_ 'ave did more than anybody else to show me the evil of wicked +ways, so you needn't stand there grinnin' like a rackishoot wi' the +toothache. I've jined the Band of Hope, too, so I don't want none o' +your beer nor nothin' else, an' if you offers to lay hands on me, I'll +yell out like a she-spurtindeel, an' bring in the guv'nor, wot's fit to +wollop six o' you any day with his left hand." + +This last part of Billy's speech was made with additional fire, in +consequence of Morley Jones taking a step towards him in anger. + +"Well, boy," he said, sternly, "hypocrite or not, you've learned yer +lesson pretty pat, so you may do as you please. It's little that a chip +like you could do to get me convicted on anything you've seen or heard +as yet, an' if ye did succeed, it would only serve to give yourself a +lift on the way to the gallows. But it wasn't to trouble myself about +you and your wishes that I came here for (the wily rascal assumed an air +and tone of indifference at this point); if you had only waited to hear +what I'd got to say, before you began to spit fire, you might have saved +your breath. The fact is that my Nora is very ill--so ill that I fear +she stands a poor chance o' gittin' better. I'm goin' to send her away +on a long sea voyage. P'r'aps that may do her good; if not, it's all up +with her. She begged and prayed me so earnestly to come here and take +you down to see her before she goes, that I could not refuse her-- +particularly as I happened to have business in London anyhow. If I'd +known how you would take it, I would have saved myself the trouble of +comin'. However, I'll bid you good-day now." + +"Jones," said the boy earnestly, "that's a lie." + +"Very good," retorted the man, putting on his hat carelessly, "I'll take +back that message with your compliments--eh?" + +"No; but," said Billy, almost whimpering with anxiety, "is Nora _really_ +ill?" + +"I don't wish you to come if you don't want to," replied Jones; "you can +stop here till doomsday for me. But do you suppose I'd come here for +the mere amusement of hearing you give me the lie?" + +"I'll go!" said Billy, with as much emphasis as he had previously +expressed on declining to go. + +The matter was soon explained to the manager of the Grotto. Mr Jones +was so plausible, and gave such unexceptionable references, that it is +no disparagement to the penetration of the superintendent of that day to +say that he was deceived. The result was, as we have shown, that Billy +ere long found his way to Ramsgate. + +When Mr Jones introduced him ceremoniously to Nora, he indulged in a +prolonged and hearty fit of laughter. Nora gazed at Billy with a look +of intense amazement, and Billy stared at Nora with a very mingled +expression of countenance, for he at once saw through the deception that +had been practised on him, and fully appreciated the difficulty of his +position--his powers of explanation being hampered by a warning, given +him long ago by his friend Jim Welton, that he must be careful how he +let Nora into the full knowledge of her father's wickedness. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +CONFIDENCES AND CROSS PURPOSES. + +Katie Durant, sitting with a happy smile on her fair face, and good-will +in her sweet heart to all mankind--womankind included, which says a good +deal for her--was busy with a beautiful sketch of a picturesque +watermill, meditating on the stirring scene she had so recently +witnessed, when a visitor was announced. + +"Who can it be?" inquired Katie; "papa is out, you know, and no one can +want me." + +The lodging-house keeper, Mrs Cackles, smiled at the idea of no one +wanting Katie, knowing, as she did, that there were at least twenty +people who would have given all they were worth in the world to possess +her, either in the form of wife, sister, daughter, friend governess, or +companion. + +"Well, miss, she do wants you, and says as no one else will do." + +"Oh, a lady, please show her in, Mrs Cackles." + +"Well, she ain't a lady, either, though I've seen many a lady as would +give their weight in gold to be like her." + +So saying the landlady departed, and in a few seconds introduced Nora. + +"Miss Jones!" cried Katie, rising with a pleased smile and holding out +her hand; "this is a very unexpected pleasure." + +"Thank you, Miss Durant. I felt sure you would remember me," said Nora, +taking a seat, "and I also feel sure that you will assist me with your +advice in a matter of some difficulty, especially as it relates to the +boy about whose sick brother you came to me at Yarmouth some time ago-- +you remember?" + +"Oh! Billy Towler," exclaimed Katie, with animation; "yes, I remember; +you are right in expecting me to be interested in him. Let me hear all +about it." + +Hereupon Nora gave Katie an insight into much of Billy Towler's history, +especially dwelling on that part of it which related to his being sent +to the Grotto, in the hope of saving him from the evil influences that +were brought to bear upon him in his intercourse with her father. + +"Not," she said, somewhat anxiously, "that I mean you to suppose my dear +father teaches him anything that is wicked; but his business leads him +much among bad men--and--they drink and smoke, you know, which is very +bad for a young boy to see; and many of them are awful swearers. Now, +poor Billy has been induced to leave the Grotto and to come down here, +for what purpose I don't know; but I am _so_ disappointed, because I had +hoped he would not have got tired of it so soon; and what distresses me +most is, that he does not speak all his mind to me; I can see that, for +he is very fond of me, and did not use to conceal things from me--at +least I fancied not. The strange thing about it too is, that he says he +is willing to return to the Grotto immediately, if I wish it." + +"I am very _very_ sorry to hear all this," said Katie, with a troubled +air; "but what do you propose to do, and how can I assist you?--only +tell me, and I shall be so happy to do it, if it be in my power." + +"I really don't know how to put it to you, dear Miss Durant, and I could +not have ventured if you had not been so very kind when I met you in +Yarmouth; but--but your father owns several vessels, I believe, and-- +and--you will excuse me referring to it, I know--he was so good as to +get a situation on board of the Wellington--which has so unfortunately +been wrecked--for a young--a--a young--man; one of those who was +saved--" + +"Yes, yes," said Katie, quickly, thinking of Stanley Hall, and blushing +scarlet; "I know the young gentleman to whom you refer; well, go on." + +"Well," continued Nora, thinking of Jim Welton, and blushing scarlet +too, "that young man said to me that he felt sure if I were to make +application to Mr Durant through you, he would give Billy a situation +in one of his ships, and so get him out of harm's way." + +"He was right," said Katie, with a somewhat puzzled expression; "and you +may rely on my doing what I can for the poor boy with papa, who is +always happy to help in such cases; but I was not aware that Mr Hall +knew either you or Billy." + +"Mr Hall!" exclaimed Nora, in surprise. + +"Did you not refer to him just now?" + +"No, miss; I meant James Welton." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Katie, prolonging that monosyllable in a sliding scale, +ranging from low to high and back to low again, which was peculiarly +suggestive; "I beg your pardon, I quite misunderstood you; well, you may +tell Mr Welton that I will befriend Billy to the utmost of my power." + +The door opened as she spoke, and cousin Fanny entered. + +"Katie, I've come to tell you that Mr Queek--" She stopped short on +observing Nora, who rose hastily, thanked Katie earnestly for the kind +interest she had expressed in her little friend, and took her leave. + +"This is a very interesting little incident, Fan," said Katie with +delight when they were alone; "quite a romancelet of real life. Let me +see; here is a poor boy--the boy who deceived us, you remember--whom bad +companions are trying to decoy into the wicked meshes of their dreadful +net, and a sweet young girl, a sort of guardian angel as it were, comes +to me and asks my aid to save the boy, and have him sent to sea. Isn't +it delightful? Quite the ground-work of a tale--and might be so nicely +illustrated," added Katie, glancing at her drawings. "But forgive me, +Fan; I interrupted you. What were you going to tell me?" + +"Only that Mr Queeker cannot come to tea tonight, as he has business to +attend to connected with his secret mission," replied Fanny. + +"How interesting it would be," said Katie, musing, "if we could only +manage to mix up this mission of Mr Queeker's in the plot of our +romance; wouldn't it? Come, I will put away my drawing for to-day, and +finish the copy of papa's quarterly cash-account for those dreadful +Board of Trade people; then we shall go to the pier and have a walk, and +on our way we will call on that poor old bedridden woman whom papa has +ferreted out, and give her some tea and sugar. Isn't it strange that +papa should have discovered one so soon? I suppose you are aware of his +_penchant_ for old women, Fan?" + +"No, I was not aware of it," said Fan, smiling. + +Whatever Fan said, she accompanied with a smile. Indeed a smile was the +necessary result of the opening of her little mouth for whatever +purpose--not an affected smile, but a merry one--which always had the +effect, her face being plump, of half shutting her eyes. + +"Yes," continued Katie, with animation, "papa is _so_ fond of old women, +particularly if they are _very_ old, and _very_ little, and thin; they +_must_ be thin, though. I don't think he cares much for them if they +are fat. He says that fat people are so jolly that they don't need to +be cared for, but he dotes upon the little thin ones." + +Fanny smiled, and observed that that was curious. "So it is," observed +Katie; "now _my_ taste lies in the direction of old men. I like to +visit poor old men much better than poor old women, and the older and +more helpless they are the more I like them." + +Fanny smiled again, and observed that that was curious too. + +"So it is," said Katie, "very odd that papa should like the old women +and I should like the old men; but so it is. Now, Fan, we'll get ready +and--oh how provoking! That must be another visitor! People find papa +out so soon wherever we go, and then they give him no rest." + +"A boy wishes to see you, miss," said Mrs Cackles. + +"Me?" exclaimed Katie in surprise. + +"Yes, miss, and he says he wants to see you alone on important +business." + +Katie looked at Fanny and smiled. Fanny returned the smile, and +immediately left the room. + +"Show him in, Mrs Cackles." + +The landlady withdrew, and ushered in no less a personage than Billy +Towler himself, who stopped at the door, and stood with his hat in his +hand, and an unusually confused expression in his looks. "Please, +miss," said Billy, "you knows me, I think?" + +Katie admitted that she knew him, and, knowing in her heart that she +meant to befriend him, it suddenly occurred to her that it would be well +to begin with a little salutary severity by way of punishment for his +former misdeeds. + +"Last time I saw you, miss, I _did_ you," said Billy with a slight grin. + +"You did," replied Katie with a slight frown, "and I hope you have come +to apologise for your naughty conduct." + +"Well, I can't 'xactly say as I have come to do that, but I dessay I may +as well begin that way. I'm very sorry, miss, for havin' _did_ you, an' +I've called now to see if I can't _do_ you again." + +Katie could not restrain a laugh at the impudence of this remark, but +she immediately regretted it, because Billy took encouragement and +laughed too; she therefore frowned with intense severity, and, still +remembering that she meant ultimately to befriend the boy, resolved to +make him in the meantime feel the consequences of his former misdeeds. + +"Come, boy," she said sharply, "don't add impertinence to your +wickedness, but let me know at once what you want with me." + +Billy was evidently taken aback by this rebuff. He looked surprised, +and did not seem to know how to proceed. At length he put strong +constraint upon himself, and said, in rather a gruff tone-- + +"Well, miss, I--a--the fact is--you know a gal named Nora Jones, don't +you? Anyhow, she knows you, an' has said to me so often that you was a +parfect angel, that--that--" + +"That you came to see," interrupted Katie, glancing at her shoulders, +"whether I really had wings, or not, eh?" + +Katie said this with a still darker frown; for she thought that the +urchin was jesting. Nothing was further from his intention. Knowing +this, and, not finding the angelic looks and tones which he had been led +to expect, Billy felt still more puzzled and inclined to be cross. + +"Seems to me that there's a screw loose somewheres," said Billy, +scratching the point of his nose in his vexation. "Hows'ever, I came +here to ax your advice, and although you cer'nly don't 'ave wings nor +the style o' looks wot's usual in 'eavenly wisiters, I'll make a clean +breast of it--so here goes." + +Hereupon the poor boy related how he had been decoyed from the Grotto-- +of which establishment he gave a graphic and glowing account--and said +that he was resolved to have nothing more to do with Morley Jones, but +meant to return to the Grotto without delay--that evening if possible. +He had a difficulty, however, which was, that he could not speak freely +to Nora about her father, for fear of hurting her feelings or +enlightening her too much as to his true character, in regard to which +she did not yet know the worst. One evil result of this was that she +had begun to suspect there was something wrong as to his own affection +for herself--which was altogether a mistake. Billy made the last remark +with a flush of earnest indignation and a blow of his small hand on his +diminutive knee! He then said that another evil result was that he +could not see his way to explain to Nora why he wished to be off in such +a hurry, and, worst of all, he had not a sixpence in the world wherewith +to pay his fare to London, and had no means of getting one. + +"And so," said Katie, still keeping up her fictitious indignation, "you +come to beg money from me?" + +"Not to beg, Miss--to borrer." + +"Ah! and thus to _do_ me a second time," said Katie. + +It must not be supposed that Katie's sympathetic heart had suddenly +become adamantine. On the contrary, she had listened with deep interest +to all that her youthful visitor had to say, and rejoiced in the thought +that she had given to her such a splendid opportunity of doing good and +frustrating evil; but the little spice of mischief in her character +induced her still to keep up the fiction of being suspicious, in order +to give Billy a salutary lesson. In addition to this, she had not quite +got over the supposed insult of being mistaken for an angel! She +therefore declined, in the meantime, to advance the required sum-- +ten-and-sixpence--although the boy earnestly promised to repay her with +his first earnings. + +"No," she said, with a gravity which she found it difficult to maintain, +"I cannot give you such a sum until I have seen and consulted with my +father on the subject; but I may tell you that I respect your sentiments +regarding Nora and your intention to forsake your evil ways. If you +will call here again in the evening I will see what can be done for +you." + +Saying this, and meditating in her heart that she would not only give +Billy the ten-and-sixpence to enable him to return to the Grotto, but +would induce her father to give him permanent employment in one of his +ships, she showed Billy to the door, and bade him be a good boy and take +care of himself. + +Thereafter she recalled Fanny, and, for her benefit, re-enacted the +whole scene between herself and Billy Towler, in a manner so graphic and +enthusiastic, as to throw that amiable creature into convulsions of +laughter, which bade fair to terminate her career in a premature fit of +juvenile apoplexy. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +MYSTERIOUS DOINGS. + +Disappointed, displeased, and sorely puzzled, Billy Towler took his way +towards the harbour, with his hands thrust desperately into his pockets, +and an unwonted expression of discontent on his countenance. So deeply +did he take the matter to heart, that he suffered one small boy to +inquire pathetically, "if 'e'd bin long in that state o' grumps?" and +another to suggest that, "if 'e couldn't be 'appier than that, 'e'd +better go an' drown hisself," without vouchsafing a retort, or even a +glance of recognition. + +Passing the harbour, he went down to the beach, and there unexpectedly +met with Mr Morley Jones. + +"Hallo! my young bantam," exclaimed Morley, with a look of surprise. + +"Well, old Cochin-china, wot's up?" replied Billy, in a gruff tone. +"Drunk as usual, I see." + +Being somewhat desperate, the boy did not see, or did not mind the +savage glance with which Mr Jones favoured him. The glance was, +however, exchanged quickly for an idiotic smile, as he retorted-- + +"Well, I ain't so drunk but I can see to steer my course, lad. Come, +I've got a noo boat, what d'ye say to go an' have a sail? The fact is, +Billy, I was just on my way up to the house to ax you to go with me, so +it's good luck that I didn't miss you. Will 'ee go, lad?" + +At any other time the boy would have refused; but his recent +disappointment in regard to the angelic nature of Katie still rankled so +powerfully in his breast, that he swung round and said--"Get along, +then--I'm your man--it's all up now--never say die--in for a penny in +for a pound," and a variety of similar expressions, all of which tended +to convince Mr Jones that Billy Towler happened to be in a humour that +was extremely suitable to his purposes. He therefore led him towards +his boat, which, he said, was lying on the beach at Broadstairs all +ready to shove off. + +The distance to Broadstairs was about two miles, and the walk thither +was enlivened by a drunken commentary on the fallacy of human hopes in +general on the part of Mr Jones, and a brisk fire of caustic repartee +on the part of Master Towler. + +A close observer might have noticed that, while these two were passing +along the beach, at the base of the high cliffs of chalk running between +Ramsgate and Broadstairs, two heads were thrust cautiously out of one of +the small caverns or recesses which have been made in these cliffs by +the action of the waves. The one head bore a striking resemblance to +that of Robert Queeker, Esquire, and the other to that of Mr Larks. + +How these two came to be together, and to be there, it is not our +business to say. Authors are fortunately not bound to account for +everything they relate. All that we know is, that Mr Queeker was there +in the furtherance, probably, of his secret mission, and that Mr Larks' +missions appeared to be always more or less secret. At all events, +there they were together; fellow-students, apparently, of the geology or +conchology of that region, if one might judge from the earnest manner in +which they stooped and gazed at the sands, and picked up bits of flint +or small shells, over which they held frequent, and, no doubt, learned +discussions of an intensely engrossing nature. + +It might have been also noticed by a close observer, that these +stoopings to pick up specimens, and these stoppages to discuss, +invariably occurred when Mr Jones and Master Billy chanced to pause or +to look behind them. At last the boat was reached. It lay on the beach +not far from the small harbour of Broadstairs, already surrounded by the +rising tide. About the same time the geological and conchological +studies of Messrs. Queeker and Larks coming to an end, these scientific +men betook themselves suddenly to the shelter of a small cave, whence +they sat watching, with intense interest, the movements of the man and +boy, thus proving themselves gifted with a truly Baconian spirit of +general inquiry into simple facts, with a view to future inductions. + +"Jump in, Billy," said Jones, "and don't wet your feet; I can easily +shove her off alone." + +Billy obeyed. + +"Hallo! wot have 'ee got here?" he cried, touching a large tarpaulin bag +with his foot. + +"Only some grub," answered Jones, putting his shoulder to the bow of the +boat. + +"And a compass too!" cried Billy, looking round in surprise. + +"Ay, it may come on thick, you know," said Jones, as the boat's keel +grated over the sand. + +"I say, stop!" cried Billy; "you're up to some mischief; come, let me +ashore." + +Mr Jones made no reply, but continued to push off the boat. Seeing +this, the boy leaped overboard, but Jones caught him. For one instant +there was a struggle; then poor Billy was lifted in the strong man's +arms, and hurled back into the boat. Next moment it was afloat, and +Jones leaped inboard. Billy was not to be overcome so easily, however. +He sprang up, and again made a leap over the gunwale, but Jones caught +him by the collar, and, after a severe struggle, dragged him into the +boat, and gave him a blow on the head with his clenched fist, which +stunned him. Then, seizing the oars, he pulled off. After getting well +away from the beach he hoisted a small lug-sail, and stood out to sea. + +All this was witnessed by the scientific men in the cave through a +couple of small pocket-telescopes, which brought the expression of +Jones's and Billy's countenances clearly into view. At first Mr +Queeker, with poetic fervour, started up, intent on rushing to the +rescue of the oppressed; but Mr Larks, with prosaic hardness of heart, +held him forcibly back, and told him to make his mind easy, adding that +Mr Jones had no intention of doing the boy any further harm. Whereupon +Queeker submitted with a sigh. The two friends then issued from the +cave, shook hands, and bade each other goodbye with a laugh--the man +with the keen grey eyes following the path that led to Broadstairs, +while the lawyer's clerk returned to Ramsgate by the beach. + +Meanwhile the sun went down, and the lanterns of the _Goodwin_, the +_Gull_, and the _South sandhead_ floating lights went up. The shades of +evening fell, and the stars came out--one by one at first; then by twos +and threes; at last by bursts of constellations, until the whole heavens +glowed with a galaxy of distant worlds. During all this time Mr Jones +sat at the helm of his little boat, and held steadily out to sea. The +wind being light, he made small progress, but that circumstance did not +seem to trouble him much. + +"You'd better have a bit supper, lad," said Jones in a careless way. +"Of course you're welcome to starve yourself if 'ee choose, but by so +doin' you'll only make yourself uncomfortable for nothing. You're in +for it now, an' can't help yourself." + +Billy was seated on one of the thwarts, looking very savage, with his +right eye nearly closed by the blow which had caused him to succumb. + +"P'r'aps I mayn't be able to help myself," he replied, "but I can peach +upon _you_, anyhow." + +"So you can, my lad, if you want to spend eight or ten years in limbo," +retorted Jones, spitting out his quid of tobacco, and supplying its +place with a new one. "You and I are in the same boat, Billy, whether +ashore or afloat; we sink or swim together." + +No more was said for some time. Jones knew that the boy was in his +power, and resolved to bide his time. Billy felt that he had at least +the chance of being revenged if he chose to sacrifice himself, so he +"nursed his wrath to keep it warm." + +About an hour afterwards a squall struck the boat, and nearly capsized +it; but Jones, who was quite sobered by that time, threw her head +quickly into the wind, and Billy, forgetting everything else, leaped up +with his wonted activity, loosened the sail, and reefed it. The squall +soon passed away, and left them almost becalmed, as before. + +"That was well done, Billy," said Jones, in a cheerful tone; "you'd make +a smart sailor, my lad." + +Billy made no reply; and, despite his efforts to the contrary, felt +highly flattered. He also felt the pangs of hunger, and, after +resisting them for some time, resolved to eat, as it were, under +protest. With a reckless, wilful air, therefore, he opened the +tarpaulin bag, and helped himself to a large "hunk" of bread and a piece +of cheese. Whereupon Mr Jones smiled grimly, and remarked that there +was nothing like grub for giving a man heart--except grog, he added, +producing a case-bottle from his pocket and applying it to his mouth. + +"Have a pull, lad? No! well, please yourself. I ain't goin' to join +the temperance move myself yet," said Jones, replacing the bottle in his +pocket. + +The short squall having carried the boat nearer to the Gull lightship +than was desirable, Mr Jones tried to keep as far off from her as +possible, while the tide should sweep them past; but the wind having +almost died away, he did not succeed in this; however, he knew that +darkness would prevent recognition, so he thought it best not to take to +the oars, but to hold on, intending to slip quietly by, not supposing +that Billy would think it of any use to hail the vessel; but Billy +happened to think otherwise. + +"Gull ahoy! hoy!" he shouted at the top of his shrill voice. + +"Boat ahoy!" responded Jack Shales, who happened to be on duty; but no +response was given to Jack, for the good reason that Jones had instantly +clapped his hand on Billy's mouth, and half-choked him. + +"That's odd," remarked Jack, after repeating his cry twice. "I could +swear it was the voice of that sharp little rascal Billy Towler." + +"If it wasn't it was his ghost," replied Jerry MacGowl, who chanced to +be on deck at the time. + +"Sure enough it's very ghost-like," said Shales, as the boat glided +silently and slowly out of the circle of the lantern's light, and faded +from their vision. + +Mr Jones did not follow up his act with further violence. He merely +assured Billy that he was a foolish fellow, and that it was of no use to +struggle against his fate. + +As time wore on, poor Billy felt dreadfully sleepy, and would have given +a good deal for some of the grog in his companion's case-bottle, but, +resolving to stand upon his dignity, would not condescend to ask for it. +At length he lay down and slept, and Jones covered him with a +pilot-coat. + +No soft spot in the scoundrel's heart induced him to perform this act of +apparent kindness. He knew the poor boy's temperament, and resolved to +attack him on his weakest point. + +When Billy awoke the day was just breaking. He stretched himself, +yawned, sat up, and looked about him with the confused air of one not +quite awake. + +"Hallo!" he cried gaily, "where on earth am I?" + +"You ain't on earth, lad; you're afloat," replied Jones, who still sat +at the helm. + +At once the boy remembered everything, and shrank within himself. As he +did so, he observed the pilot-coat which covered him, and knew that it +must have been placed where it was by Jones. His resolution to hold out +was shaken; still he did not give in. + +Mr Jones now began to comment in a quiet good-natured way upon the +weather and the prospects of the voyage (which excited Billy's curiosity +very much), and suggested that breakfast would not be a bad thing, and +that a drop o' rum might be agreeable, but took care never to make his +remarks so pointed as to call for an answer. Just as the sun was rising +he got up slowly, cast loose the stays and halyards of mast and sail, +lifted the mast out of its place, and deliberately hove the whole affair +overboard, remarking in a quiet tone that, having served his purpose, he +didn't want mast or sail any longer. In the same deliberate way he +unshipped the rudder and cast it away. He followed this up by throwing +overboard one of the oars, and then taking the only remaining oar, he +sculled and steered the boat therewith gently. + +Billy, who thought his companion must be either drunk or mad, could +contain himself no longer. + +"I say, old fellow," he remarked, "you're comin' it pretty strong! Wot +on earth _are_ you up to, and where in all the world are 'ee goin' to?" + +"Oh come, you know," answered Jones in a remonstrative tone, "I _may_ be +an easy-goin' chap, but I can't be expected to tell all my secrets +except to friends." + +"Well, well," said Billy, with a sigh, "it's no use tryin' to hold out. +I'll be as friendly as I can; only. I tells you candid, I'll mizzle +whenever I gits ashore. I'm not agoin' to tell no end o' lies to please +you any longer, so I give 'ee fair warning," said Billy stoutly. + +"All right, my lad," said the wily Jones, who felt that having subdued +the boy thus far, he would have little difficulty in subduing him still +further, in course of time, and by dint of judicious treatment; "I don't +want 'ee to tell lies on my account, an' I'll let you go free as soon as +ever we get ashore. So now, let's shake hands over it, and have a glass +o' grog and a bit o' breakfast." + +Billy shook hands, and took a sip out of the case-bottle, by way of +clenching the reconciliation. The two then had breakfast together, and, +while this meal was in progress, Jones informed his little friend of the +nature of the "game" he was engaged in playing out. + +"You must know, my lad," said Mr Jones, "that you and I have been +wrecked. We are the only survivors of the brig Skylark, which was run +down in a fog by a large three-masted screw steamer on the night of the +thirteenth--that's three nights ago, Billy. The Skylark sank +immediately, and every soul on board was lost except you and me, because +the steamer, as is too often the case in such accidents, passed on and +left us to our fate. You and I was saved by consequence of bein' smart +and gettin' into this here small boat--which is one o' the Skylark's +boats--only just in time to save ourselves; but she had only one oar in +her, and no mast, or sail, or rudder, as you see, Billy; nevertheless we +managed to keep her goin' with the one oar up to this time, and no +doubt," said Mr Jones with a grin, "we'll manage to keep her goin' till +we're picked up and carried safe into port." + +Billy's eyes had opened very wide and very round as Mr Jones's +description proceeded; gradually, as his surprise increased, his mouth +also opened and elongated, but he said never a word, though he breathed +hard. + +"Now, Billy, my boy," pursued Mr Jones, "I tell 'ee all this, of +course, in strict confidence. The Skylark, you must know, was loaded +with a valuable cargo of fine herrings, worth about 200 pounds. There +was 780 barrels of 'em, and 800 boxes. The brig was worth 100 pounds, +so the whole affair was valued at 300 pounds sterling." + +"You don't mean to tell me," said Billy, catching his breath, "that +there warn't never no such a wessel as the Skylark?" + +"Never that I know of," replied Jones with a smile, "except in my brain, +and on the books o' several insurance companies." + +Billy's eyes and mouth grew visibly rounder, but he said nothing more, +and Mr Jones, renewing his quid, went on-- + +"Well, my lad, before this here Skylark left the port of London for +Cherbourg, I insured her in no fewer than five insurance Companies. +You'll understand that that ain't regular, my boy, but at each office I +said that the vessel was not insured in any other, and they believed me. +You must know that a good deal of business is done by these Companies +in good faith, which gives a chance to smart fellows like me and you to +turn an honest penny, d'ye see? They are pretty soft, luckily." + +Mr Jones happened to be mistaken in this opinion, as the sequel will +show, but Billy believed him at the time, and wondered that they were +"so green." + +"Yes," continued Jones, counting on his fingers, "I'm in for 300 pounds +with the _Advance_ Company, and 300 pounds with the _Tied Harbours_ +Company, and 225 pounds with the _Home and Abroad_ Company, and 200 +pounds with the _Submarine_ Company, and 300 pounds with the +_Friend-in-need_ Company--the whole makin' a snug little sum of 1325 +pounds. `In for a penny, in for a pound,' is my motto, you see; so, +lad, you and I shall make our fortunes, if all goes well, and you only +continue game and clever." + +This last remark was a feeler, and Mr Jones paused to observe its +effect, but he could scarce refrain from laughter for Billy's eyes and +mouth now resembled three extremely round O's with his nose like a fat +mark of admiration in the midst. + +A gusty sigh was all the response he gave, however, so Mr Jones +continued-- + +"We've been out about thirty hours, starvin' in this here little boat, +you and I, so now it's about time we wos picked up; and as I see a +vessel on our larboard-beam that looks like a foreigner, we'll throw the +grub overboard, have another pull at the grog, bottle, and hoist a +signal of distress." + +In pursuance of these intentions Jones applied the case-bottle to his +lips, and took a long pull, after which he offered it to Billy, who +however declined. He then threw the bread-bag into the sea, and tying +his handkerchief to the oar after the manner of a flag, set it up on end +and awaited the result. + +The vessel alluded to was presently observed to alter its course and +bear down on the boat, and now Billy felt that the deciding time had +come. He sat gazing at the approaching vessel in silence. Was he to +give in to his fate and agree to tell lies through thick and thin in +order to further the designs of Mr Jones, or was he to reveal all the +moment he should get on board the vessel, and take the consequences? He +thought of Katie, and resolved to give up the struggle against evil. +Then Nora rose up in his mind's eye, and he determined to do the right. +Then he thought of transportation for a prolonged term of years, with +which Jones threatened him, and he felt inclined to turn again into the +wrong road to escape from that; presently he remembered the Grotto, and +the lessons of truth to God and man that he had learned there, and he +made up his mind to fight in the cause of truth to the last gasp. + +Mr Jones watched his face keenly, and came to the conclusion that he +had quelled the boy, and should now find him a willing and useful tool, +but in order to make still more sure, he employed the few minutes that +remained to him in commenting on the great discomfort of a convict's +life, and the great satisfaction that accrued from making one's fortune +at a single stroke. + +This talk was not without its effect. Billy wavered. Before he could +make up his mind they were alongside the strange vessel, and next moment +on her deck. Mr Jones quickly explained the circumstances of the loss +of the Skylark to the sympathetic captain. Billy listened in silence, +and, by silence, had assented to the falsehood. It was too late now to +mend matters, so he gave way to despair, which in him frequently, if not +usually, assumed the form of reckless joviality. + +While this spirit was strong upon him he swore to anything. He not only +admitted the truth of all that his tempter advanced, but entertained the +seamen with a lively and graphic account of the running down of the +Skylark, and entered into minute particulars--chiefly of a comical +nature--with such recklessness that the cause of Mr Jones bade fair to +resemble many a roast which is totally ruined by being overdone. Jones +gave him a salutary check, however, on being landed next day at a +certain town on the Kentish coast, so that when Billy was taken before +the authorities, his statements were brought somewhat more into accord +with those of his tempter. + +The wily Mr Jones went at once with Billy to the chief officer of the +coast-guard on that station, and reported the loss of his vessel with +much minuteness of detail--to the effect that she had sailed from London +at noon of a certain date, at the quarter ebb tide, the sky being cloudy +and wind sou'-west; that the casualty occurred at five p.m. on the day +following near the North Foreland Light, at half flood tide, the sky +being cloudy and wind west-sou'-west; that the vessel had sunk, and all +the crew had perished excepting himself and the boy. This report, with +full particulars, was sent to the Board of Trade. Mr Jones then went +to the agent for the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society and related his +pitiful tale to him. That gentleman happening to be an astute man, +observed some discrepancies in the accounts given respectively by Billy +and his master. He therefore put a variety of puzzling questions, and +took down a good many notes. Mr Jones, however, had laid his plans so +well, and gave such a satisfactory and plausible account of himself, +that the agent felt constrained to extend to him the aid of the noble +Society which he represented, and by which so much good is done to +sailors directly, and indirectly to the community at large. He paid +their passage to London, but resolved to make some further inquiries +with a view either to confirming or allaying his suspicions. + +These little matters settled, and the loss having been duly advertised +in the newspapers, Mr Jones set out for London with the intention of +presenting his claims to the Insurance Companies. + +In the train Billy had time to reflect on the wickedness of which he had +been guilty, and his heart was torn with conflicting emotions, among +which repentance was perhaps the most powerful. But what, he thought, +was the use of repentance now? The thing was done and could not be +undone. + +Could it not? Was it too late to mend? At the Grotto he had been +taught that it was "never too late to mend"--but that it was sinful as +well as dangerous to delay on the strength of that fact; that "_now_ was +the accepted time, _now_ the day of salvation." When Billy thought of +these things, and then looked at the stern inexorable face of the man by +whom he had been enslaved, he began to give way to despair. When he +thought of his good angel Nora, he felt inclined to leap out of the +carriage window and escape or die! He restrained himself, however, and +did nothing until the train arrived in London. Then he suddenly burst +away from his captor, dived between the legs of a magnificent railway +guard, whose dignity and person were overthrown by the shock, eluded the +ticket-collector and several policemen, and used his active little legs +so well that in a few minutes his pursuers lost him in a labyrinth of +low streets not far distant from the station. + +From this point he proceeded at a rapid though less furious pace direct +to the Grotto, where he presented himself to the superintendent with the +remark that he had "come back to make a clean breast of it." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +ON THE SCENT. + +Let us change the scene and put back the clock. Ah, how many hearts +would rejoice if it were as easy to return on the track of Time in real +life as it is to do so in a tale! + +It was the evening of the day in which Jones and Billy went to sea in +the little boat. Ramsgate, Mr Durant's supper-table, with Stanley Hall +and Robert Queeker as guests. + +They were all very happy and merry, for Stanley was recounting with +graphic power some of the incidents of his recent voyage. Mr Durant +was rich enough to take the loss of his vessel with great equanimity-- +all the more so that it had been fully insured. Mr Queeker was in a +state of bliss in consequence of having been received graciously by +Fanny, whose soul was aflame with sentiment so powerful that she could +not express it except through the medium of a giggle. Only once had +Fanny been enabled to do full justice to herself, and that was when, +alone with Katie in the mysterious gloom of a midnight confabulation, +she suddenly observed that size and looks in men were absolutely +nothing--less than nothing--and that in her estimation heart and +intellect were everything! + +In the midst of his mirth Mr Durant suddenly turned to Queeker and +said-- + +"By the way, what made you so late of coming to-night, Queeker? I +thought you had promised to come to tea." + +"Well, yes, but--a--that is," stammered Queeker in confusion, "in fact I +was obliged to keep an appointment in connection with the--the +particular business--" + +"The secret mission, in short," observed Katie, with a peculiar smile. + +"Well, secret mission if you choose," laughed Queeker; "at all events it +was that which prevented my getting here sooner. In truth, I did not +expect to have managed to come so soon, but we came to the boat--" + +Queeker stopped short and blushed violently, feeling that he had +slightly, though unintentionally, committed himself. + +Fanny looked at him, blushed in sympathy, and giggled. + +"Oh, there's a _boat_ in the secret mission, is there?" cried Stanley; +"come, let us make a game of it. Was it an iron boat?" + +"No," replied Queeker, laughing, for he felt that at all events he was +safe in answering that question. + +"Was it a wooden one?" asked Katie. + +"Well--ye--" + +"Was it a big one?" demanded Mr Durant, entering into the spirit of the +game. + +"No, it was a little one," said Queeker, still feeling safe, although +anxious to evade reply. + +"Was there a man in it?" said Katie. + +Queeker hesitated. + +"And a boy?" cried Stanley. + +The question was put unwittingly, but being so put Queeker stammered, +and again blushed. + +Katie on the contrary turned pale, for her previously expressed hope +that there might be some connection between Queeker's mission and Billy +Towler's troubles flashed into her mind. + +"But _was_ there a boy in it?" she said, with a sudden earnestness that +induced every one to look at her in surprise. + +"Really, I pray--I must beg," said Queeker, "that you won't make this a +matter of even jocular inquiry. Of course I know that no one here would +make improper use of any information that I might give, but I have been +pledged to secrecy by my employers." + +"But," continued Katie in the same anxious way as before, "it will not +surely be a breach of confidence merely to tell me if the boy was a +small, active, good-looking little fellow, with bright eyes and curly +hair." + +"I am bound to admit," said Queeker, "that your description is correct." + +To the amazement, not to say consternation, of every one, Katie covered +her face with her hands and burst into tears, exclaiming in an agony of +distress that she knew it; she had feared it after sending him away; +that she had ruined him, and that it was too late now to do anything. + +"No, not too late, perhaps," she repeated, suddenly raising her large +beautiful eyes, which swam in tears; "oh papa, come with me up-stairs, I +must speak with you alone at once." + +She seized her astonished father by the hand and led him unresisting +from the room. + +Having hurriedly related all she knew about Billy Towler, Morley Jones, +and Nora, she looked up in his face and demanded to know what _was_ to +be done. + +"Done, my dear child," he replied, looking perplexed, "we must go at +once and see how much can be undone. You tell me you have Nora's +address. Well, we'll go there at once." + +"But--but," said Katie, "Nora does not know the full extent of her +father's wickedness, and we want to keep it from her if possible." + +"A very proper desire to spare her pain, Katie, but in the circumstances +we cannot help ourselves; we must do what we can to frustrate this man's +designs and save the boy." + +So saying Mr Durant descended to the dining-room. He explained that +some suspicious facts had come to his daughter's knowledge which +necessitated instant action; said that he was sorry Mr Queeker felt it +incumbent on him to maintain secrecy in regard to his mission, but that +he could not think of pressing him to act in opposition to his +convictions, and, dismissing his guests with many apologies, went out +with Katie in search of the abode of Nora Jones. + +Stanley Hall, whose curiosity was aroused by all that had passed, went +down to take a walk on the pier by way of wearing it off in a +philosophical manner. He succeeded easily in getting rid of this +feeling, but he could not so easily get rid of the image of Katie +Durant. He had suspected himself in love with her before he sailed for +India; his suspicions were increased on his return to England, and when +he saw the burst of deep feeling to which she had so recently given way, +and heard the genuine expressions of remorse, and beheld her sweet face +bedewed with tears of regret and pity, suspicion was swallowed up in +certainty. + +He resolved then and there to win her, if he could, and marry her! Here +a touch of perplexity assailed him, but he fought it off nobly. + +He was young, no doubt, and had no money, but what then?--he was strong, +had good abilities, a father in a lucrative practice, with the prospect +of assisting and ultimately succeeding him. That was enough, surely. + +The lodging which he had taken for a few days was retaken that night for +an indefinite period, and he resolved to lay siege to her heart in due +form. + +But that uncertainty which is proverbial in human affairs stepped within +the circle of his life and overturned his plans. On returning to his +rooms he found a telegram on the table. His father, it informed him, +was dangerously ill. By the next train he started for home, and arrived +to find that his father was dead. + +A true narrative of any portion of this world's doings must of necessity +be as varied as the world itself, and equally abrupt in its transitions. +From the lively supper-table Stanley Hall passed to the deathbed of his +father. In like manner we must ask the reader to turn with us from the +contemplation of Stanley's deep sorrow to the observation of Queeker's +poetic despair. + +Maddened between the desire to tell all he knew regarding the secret +mission to Mr Durant, and the command laid on him by his employers to +be silent, the miserable youth rushed frantically to his lodgings, +without any definite intentions, but more than half inclined to sink on +his knees before his desk, and look up to the moon, or stars, or; +failing these, to the floating light for inspiration, and pen the +direful dirge of something dreadful and desperate! He had even got the +length of the first line, and had burst like a thunderbolt into his room +muttering-- + + "Great blazing wonder of illimitable spheres," + +when he became suddenly aware of the fact that his chair was occupied by +the conchological friend with whom he had spent the earlier part of that +day, who was no other than the man with the keen grey eyes. + +"What! still in the poetic vein?" he said, with a grave smile. + +"Why--I--thought you were off to London!" exclaimed Queeker, with a very +red face. + +"I have seen cause to change my plan," said Mr Larks quietly. + +"I'm _very_ glad of it," replied Queeker, running his fingers through +his hair and sitting down opposite his friend with a deep sigh, "because +I'm in the most horrible state of perplexity. It is quite evident to me +that the boy is known to Miss Durant, for she went off into _such_ a +state when I mentioned him and described him exactly." + +"Indeed," said Mr Larks; "h'm! I know the boy too." + +"Do you? Why didn't you tell me that?" + +"There was no occasion to," said the imperturbable Mr Larks, whose +visage never by any chance conveyed any expression whatever, except when +he pleased, and then it conveyed only and exactly the expression that he +intended. "But come," he continued, "let's hear all about it, and don't +quote any poetry till you have done with the facts." + +Thus exhorted Queeker described the scene at the supper-table with +faithful minuteness, and, on concluding, demanded what was to be done. + +"H'm!" grunted Mr Larks. "They've gone to visit Nora Jones, so you and +I shall go and keep them company. Come along." + +He put on his hat and went out, followed by his little friend. + +In a lowly ill-furnished room in one of the poorest streets of the town, +where rats and dogs and cats seemed to divide the district with +poverty-stricken human beings, they found Nora sitting by the bedside of +her grandmother, who appeared to be dying. A large Family Bible, from +which she had been reading, was open on her knee. + +Mr Larks had opened the door and entered without knocking. He and +Queeker stood in the passage and saw the bed, the invalid, and the +watcher through an inner door which stood ajar. They could hear the +murmurings of the old woman's voice. She appeared to wander in her +mind, for sometimes her words were coherent, at other times she merely +babbled. + +"O Morley, Morley, give it up," she said, during one of her lucid +intervals; "it has been the curse of our family. Your grandfather died +of it; your father--ah! he _was_ a man, tall and straight, and _so_ +kind, till he took to it; oh me! how it changed him! But the Lord saved +his soul, though he let the body fall to the dust. Blessed be His holy +name for that. Give it up, Morley, my darling boy; give it up, give it +up--oh, for God's sake give it up!" + +She raised her voice at each entreaty until it almost reached a shriek, +and then her whole frame seemed to sink down into the bed from +exhaustion. + +"Why don't 'ee speak to me, Morley?" she resumed after a short time, +endeavouring to turn her head round. + +"Dearest granny," said Nora, gently stroking one of her withered hands, +which lay on the counterpane, "father is away just now. No doubt he +will be back ere long." + +"Ay, ay, he's always away; always away," she murmured in a querulous +tone; "always coming back too, but he never comes. Oh, if he would give +it up--give it up--" + +She repeated this several times, and gradually dwindled off into +unintelligible mutterings. + +By this time Mr Larks had become aware of whispering voices in a part +of the room which he could not see. Pushing the door a little farther +open he entered softly, and in a darkened corner of the apartment beheld +Mr Durant and Katie in close conversation with James Welton. They all +rose, and Nora, seeing that the old woman had fallen into a slumber, +also rose and advanced towards the strangers. Mr Durant at once +explained to her who Queeker was, and Queeker introduced Mr Larks as a +friend who had come to see them on important business. + +"I think we know pretty well what the business is about," said Jim +Welton, advancing and addressing himself to Mr Larks, "but you see," he +added, glancing towards the bed, "that this is neither the time nor +place to prosecute your inquiries, sir." + +Mr Larks, who was by no means an unfeeling man, though very stern, said +that he had no intention of intruding; he had not been aware that any +one was ill in the house, and he would take it as a favour if Mr Welton +would go outside and allow him the pleasure of a few words with him. Of +course Jim agreed, but before going took Nora aside. + +"I'll not be back to-night, dearest," he said in a low whisper. +"To-morrow, early, I'll return." + +"You will leave no stone unturned?" said Nora. + +"Not one. I'll do my best to save him." + +"And you have told me the worst--told me _all_?" asked Nora, with a look +of intense grief mingled with anxiety on her pale face. + +"I have," said Jim, in a tone and with a look so earnest and truthful +that Nora required no further assurance. She gave him a kindly but +inexpressibly sad smile, and returned to her stool beside the bed. Her +lover and Mr Larks went out, followed by Queeker. + +"We won't intrude on you longer to-night," said Katie, going up to Nora +and laying her hand quietly on her shoulder. + +"Your visit is no intrusion," said Nora, looking up with a quiet smile. +"It was love that brought you here, I know. May our dear Lord bless you +and your father for wishing to comfort the heart of one who needs it so +much--oh, so much." She put her hands before her face and was silent. +Katie tried in vain to speak. The tears coursed freely down her cheeks, +but never a word could she utter. She put her arm round the neck of the +poor girl and kissed her. This was a language which Nora understood;-- +many words could not have expressed so much; no words could have +expressed more. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +MR. JONES IS OUTWITTED, AND NORA IS LEFT DESOLATE. + +When Morley Jones found himself suddenly deserted by his ally Billy +Towler, he retired to the privacy of a box in a low public-house in +Thames Street, and there, under the stimulus of a stiff glass of grog, +consulted with himself as to the best mode of procedure under the trying +circumstances in which he found himself placed. He thought it probable, +after half an hour of severe meditation, that Billy would return to the +Grotto, but that, for his own sake, he would give a false account of his +absence, and say nothing about the loss of the Skylark. Feeling +somewhat relieved in mind by his conclusions on this head, he drank off +his grog, called for another glass, and then set himself to the +consideration of how far the disappearance of the boy would interfere +with his obtaining payment of the various sums due by the Insurance +Offices. This point was either more knotty and difficult to unravel +than the previous one, or the grog began to render his intellect less +capable of grappling with it. At all events it cost him an hour to +determine his course of action, and required another glass of grog to +enable him to put the whole matter fairly before his mental vision in +one comprehensive view. This, however, accomplished, he called for a +fourth glass of grog "for luck," and reeled out of the house to carry +out his deep-laid plans. + +His first act was to proceed to Greenwich, where a branch of his +fish-curing business existed, or was supposed to exist. Here he met a +friend who offered to treat him. Unfortunately for the success of his +schemes he accepted this offer, and, in the course of a debauch, +revealed so much of his private affairs that the friend, after seeing +him safely to his lodging, and bidding him an affectionate farewell, +went up to London by the first boat on the following morning, and +presented himself to the managers of various Insurance Companies, to +whom he made revelations which were variously received by these +gentlemen; some of them opening their eyes in amazement, while others +opened their mouths in amusement, and gave him to understand that he was +very much in the position of a man who should carry coals to Newcastle-- +they being then in possession of all the information given, and a great +deal more besides. + +The manager of the Submarine Insurance Company was the most facetious +among these gentlemen on hearing the revelations of Mr Jones's +"friend." + +"Can you tell me," said that gentleman, when he had pumped the "friend" +dry, "which of us is likely to receive the distinguished honour of the +first visit from Mr Jones?" + +"He said summat about your own office, sir," replied the informer; +"leastwise I think he did, but I ain't quite sartin." + +"H'm! not unlikely," observed the manager; "we have had the pleasure of +paying him something before to-day. Come here, I will introduce you to +an acquaintance of Mr Jones, who takes a deep interest in him. He has +just arrived from Ramsgate." + +Opening a door, the manager ushered the informer into a small room where +a stout man with peculiarly keen grey eyes was warming himself at the +fire. + +"Allow me to introduce you, Mr Larks, to a friend of Mr Jones, who may +be of some use. I will leave you together for a little," said the +manager, with a laugh, as he retired and shut the door. + +It is not necessary that we should enter into details as to how Mr +Jones went about the business of drawing his nets ashore--so to speak,-- +and how those who took a special interest in Mr Jones carefully +assisted him, and, up to a certain point, furthered all his proceedings. +It is sufficient to say that, about a fortnight after his arrival in +London--all the preliminary steps having been taken--he presented +himself one fine forenoon at the office of the Submarine Insurance +Company. + +He was received very graciously, and, much to his satisfaction, was told +that the claim could now be settled without further delay. Former +experience had taught him that such a piece of business was not +unusually difficult of settlement, but he was quite charmed by the +unwonted facilities which seemed to be thrown in his way in regard to +the present affair. He congratulated himself internally, and the +manager congratulated him externally, so to speak, by referring to his +good fortune in having insured the vessel and cargo to the full amount. + +Even the clerks of the establishment appeared to manifest unwonted +interest in the case, which gratified while it somewhat surprised Mr +Jones. Indeed, the interest deepened to such an extent, and was so +obtrusive, that it became almost alarming, so that feelings of +considerable relief were experienced by the adventurous man when he at +length received a cheque for 300 pounds and left the office with it in +his pocket. + +In the outer lobby he felt a touch on his arm, and, looking round, met +the gaze of a gentleman with peculiarly keen grey eyes. This gentleman +made some quiet remarks with reference to Mr Jones being "wanted," and +when Mr Jones, not relishing the tone or looks of this gentleman, made +a rush at the outer glass door of the office, an official stepped +promptly in front of it, put one hand on the handle, and held up the +other with the air of one who should say, "Excuse me, there is no +thoroughfare this way." Turning abruptly to the left, Mr Jones found +himself confronted by another grave gentleman of powerful frame and +resolute aspect, who, by a species of magic or sleight of hand known +only to the initiated, slipped a pair of steel bracelets on Mr Jones's +wrists, and finally, almost before he knew where he was, Mr Jones found +himself seated in a cab with the strong gentleman by his side, and the +keen grey-eyed gentleman in front of him. + +Soon afterwards he found himself standing alone in the midst of an +apartment, the chief characteristics of which were, that the furniture +was scanty, the size inconveniently little, and the window unusually +high up, besides being heavily barred, and ridiculously small. + +Here let us leave him to his meditations. + +One fine forenoon--many weeks after the capture of Morley Jones--Dick +Moy, Jack Shales, and Jerry MacGowl were engaged in painting and +repairing buoys in the Trinity store on the pier at Ramsgate. The two +former were enjoying their month of service on shore, the latter was on +sick-leave, but convalescent. Jack was painting squares of alternate +black and white on a buoy of a conical shape. Dick was vigorously +scraping sea-weed and barnacles off a buoy of a round form. The store, +or big shed, was full of buoys of all shapes; some new and fresh, others +old and rugged; all of them would have appeared surprisingly gigantic to +any one accustomed to see buoys only in their native element. The +invalid sat on the shank of a mushroom anchor, and smoked his pipe while +he affected to superintend the work. + +"Sure I pity the poor craturs as is always sick. The mouth o' man can +niver tell the blessedness of bein' well, as the pote says," observed +Jerry, with a sigh, as he shook the ashes out of his pipe and proceeded +to refill it. "Come now, Jack Shales," he added, after a short pause, +"ye don't call that square, do 'ee?" + +"I'll paint yer nose black if you don't shut up," said Jack, drawing the +edge of a black square with intense caution, in order to avoid invading +the domain of a white one. + +"Ah! you reminds me of the owld proverb that says somethin' about asses +gittin impudent an' becomin' free with their heels when lions grow +sick." + +"Well, Jerry," retorted Jack, with a smile, as he leaned back and +regarded his work with his head very much on one side, and his eyes +partially closed, after the manner of knights of the brush, "I'm not +offended, because I'm just as much of an ass as you are of a lion." + +"I say, mates," remarked Dick Moy, pausing in his work, and wiping his +brow, "are 'ee aweer that the cap'n has ordered us to be ready to start +wi' the first o' the tide at half after five to-morrow?" + +"I knows it," replied Jack Shales, laying down the black brush and +taking up the white one. + +"I knows it too," said Jerry MacGowl, "but it don't make no manner of +odds to me, 'cause I means to stop ashore and enjoy meself. I mean to +amoose meself with the trial o' that black thief Morley Jones." + +Dick Moy resumed his work with a grunt, and said that Jerry was a lucky +fellow to be so long on sick-leave, and Jack said he wished he had been +called up as a witness in Jones's case, for he would have cut a better +figure than Jim Welton did. + +"Ay, boy," said Dick Moy, "but there wos a reason for that. You know +the poor feller is in love wi' Jones's daughter, an' he didn't like for +to help to convict his own father-in-law _to be_, d'ye see? That's +where it is. The boy Billy Towler was a'most as bad. He's got a +weakness for the gal too, an' no wonder, for she's bin as good as a +mother to 'im. They say that Billy nigh broke the hearts o' the +lawyers, he wos so stoopid at sometimes, an' so oncommon cute at others. +But it warn't o' no use. Jim's father was strong in his evidence agin +him, an' that Mr Larks, as comed aboard of the Gull, you remember, he +had been watching an' ferreting about the matter to that extent that he +turned Jones's former life inside out. It seems he's bin up to dodges +o' that kind for a long time past." + +"No! has he?" said Jack Shales. + +"Arrah, didn't ye read of it?" exclaimed Jerry MacGowl. + +"No," replied Jack drily; "not bein' on the sick-list I han't got time +to read the papers, d'ye see?" + +"Well," resumed Dick Moy, "it seems he has more than once set fire to +his premises in Gravesend, and got the insurance money. Hows'ever, he +has got fourteen years' transportation now, an' that'll take the shine +pretty well out of him before he comes back." + +"How did the poor gal take it?" asked Jack. + +Dick replied that she was very bad at first, but that she got somewhat +comforted by the way her father behaved to her and listened to her +readin' o' the Bible after he was condemned. It might be that the death +of his old mother had softened him a bit, for she died with his name on +her lips, her last words being, "Oh Morley, give it up, my darling boy, +give it up; it's your only chance to give it up, for you inherit it, my +poor boy; the passion and the poison are in your blood; oh, give it up, +Morley, give it up!" + +"They do say," continued Dick, "that Jones broke down altogether w'en he +heard that, an' fell on his gal's neck an' cried like a babby. But for +my part I don't much believe in them deathbed repentances--for it's much +the same thing wi' Jones now, he bein' as good as dead. It's not wot a +man _says_, but how a man _lives_, as'll weigh for or against him in the +end." + +"An' what more did he say?" asked Jerry MacGowl, stopping down the +tobacco in his pipe with one of his fire-proof fingers; "you see, havin' +bin on the sick-list so long, I haven't got up all the details o' this +business." + +"He didn't say much more," replied Dick, scraping away at the sea-weed +and barnacles with renewed vigour, "only he made his darter promise that +she'd marry Jim Welton as soon after he was gone as possible. She did +nothing but cry, poor thing, and wouldn't hear of it at first, but he +was so strong about it, saying that the thought of her being so well +married was the only thing as would comfort him w'en he was gone, that +she gave in at last." + +"Sure then she'll have to make up her mind," said Jerry, "to live on +air, which is too light food intirely for any wan excep' hummin'-birds +and potes." + +"She'll do better than that, mate," returned Dick, "for Jim 'as got +appointed to be assistant-keeper to a light'ouse, through that fust-rate +gen'leman Mr Durant, who is 'and an' glove, I'm told, wi' the Elder +Brethren up at the Trinity 'Ouse. It's said that they are to be spliced +in a week or two, but, owin' to the circumstances, the weddin' is to be +kep' quite priwate." + +"Good luck to em!" cried Jerry. "Talkin' of the Durants, I s'pose ye've +heard that there's goin' to be a weddin' in that family soon?" + +"Oh, yes, I've heard on it," cried Dick; "Miss Durant--Katie, they calls +her--she's agoin' to be spliced to the young doctor that was wrecked in +the Wellington. A smart man that. They say 'ee has stepped into 'is +father's shoes, an' is so much liked that 'ee's had to git an assistant +to help him to get through the work o' curin' people--or killin' of 'em. +I never feel rightly sure in my own mind which it is that the doctors +does for us." + +"Och, don't ye know?" said Jerry, removing his pipe for a moment, "they +keeps curin' of us as long as we've got any tin, an' when that's done +they kills us off quietly. If it warn't for the doctors we'd all live +to the age of Methoosamel, excep', of coorse, w'en we was cut off by +accident or drink." + +"Well, I don't know as to that," said Jack Shales, in a hearty manner; +"but I'm right glad to hear that Miss Durant is gettin' a good husband, +for she's the sweetest gal in England, I think, always exceptin' one +whom I don't mean for to name just now. Hasn't she been a perfect angel +to the poor--especially to poor old men--since she come to Ramsgate? and +didn't she, before goin' back to Yarmouth, where she b'longs to, make a +beautiful paintin' o' the lifeboat, and present it in a gold frame, with +tears in her sweet eyes, to the coxswain o' the boat, an' took his big +fist in her two soft little hands, an' shook an' squeezed it, an' begged +him to keep the pictur' as a very slight mark of the gratitude an' +esteem of Dr Hall an' herself--that was after they was engaged, you +know? Ah! there ain't many gals like _her_," said Jack, with a sigh, +"always exceptin' _one_." + +"Humph!" said Dick Moy, "I wouldn't give my old 'ooman for six dozen of +'er." + +"Just so," observed Jerry, with a grin, "an' I've no manner of doubt +that Dr Hall wouldn't give _her_ for sixty dozen o' your old 'ooman. +It's human natur', lad,--that's where it is, mates. But what has come +o' Billy Towler? Has he gone back to the what's-'is-name--the Cavern, +eh?" + +"The Grotto, you mean," said Jack Shales. + +"Well, the Grotto--'tan't much differ." + +"He's gone back for a time," said Dick; "but Mr Durant has prowided for +_him_ too. He has given him a berth aboord one of his East-Indiamen; so +if Billy behaves hisself his fortin's as good as made. Leastwise he has +got his futt on the first round, an' the ladder's all clear before him." + +"By the way, what's that I've heard," said Jack Shales, "about Mr +Durant findin' out that he'd know'd Billy Towler some years ago?" + +"I don't rightly know," replied Dick. "I've 'eerd it said that the old +gentleman recognised him as a beggar boy 'e'd tuck a fancy to an' putt +to school long ago; but Billy didn't like the school, it seems, an' +runn'd away--w'ich I don't regard as wery surprisin'--an' Mr Durant +could never find out where 'e'd run to. That's how I 'eerd the story, +but wot's true of it I dun know." + +"There goes the dinner-bell!" exclaimed Jack Shales, rising with +alacrity on hearing a neighbouring clock strike noon. + +Jerry rose with a sigh, and remarked, as he shook the ashes out of his +pipe, and put it into his waistcoat pocket, that his appetite had quite +left him; that he didn't believe he was fit for more than two chickens +at one meal, whereas he had seen the day when he would have thought +nothing of a whole leg of mutton to his own cheek. + +"Ah," remarked Dick Moy, "Irish mutton, I s'pose. Well, I don't know +'ow you feels, but I feels so hungry that I could snap at a ring-bolt; +and I know of a lot o' child'n, big an' small, as won't look sweet on +their daddy if he keeps 'em waitin' for dinner, so come along, mates." + +Saying this, Dick and his friends left the buoy-store, and walked +smartly off to their several places of abode in the town. + +In a darkened apartment of that same town sat Nora Jones, the very +personification of despair, on a low stool, with her head resting on the +side of a poor bed. She was alone, and perfectly silent; for some +sorrows, like some thoughts, are too deep for utterance. Everything +around her suggested absolute desolation. The bed was that in which not +long ago she had been wont to smooth the pillow and soothe the heart of +her old grandmother. It was empty now. The fire in the rusty grate had +been allowed to die out, and its cold grey ashes strewed the hearth. +Among them lay the fragments of a black bottle. It would be difficult +to say what it was in the peculiar aspect of these fragments that +rendered them so suggestive, but there was that about them which +conveyed irresistibly the idea that the bottle had been dashed down +there with the vehemence of uncontrollable passion. The little table +which used to stand at the patient's bedside was covered with a few +crumbs and fragments of a meal that must, to judge from their state and +appearance, have been eaten a considerable time ago; and the confusion +of the furniture, as well as the dust that covered everything, was +strangely out of keeping with the character of the poor girl, who +reclined by the side of the bed, so pale and still that, but for the +slight twitching movement of her clasped hands, one might have supposed +she had already passed from the scene of her woe. Even the +old-fashioned timepiece that hung upon a nail in the wall seemed to be +smitten with the pervading spell, for its pendulum was motionless, and +its feeble pulse had ceased to tick. + +A soft tap at the door broke the deathlike silence. Nora looked up but +did not answer, as it slowly opened, and a man entered. On seeing who +it was, she uttered a low wail, and buried her face in the bed-clothes. +Without speaking, or moving from her position, she held out her hand to +Jim Welton, who advanced with a quick but quiet step, and, going down on +his knees beside her, took the little hand in both of his. The attitude +and the silence were suggestive. Without having intended it the young +sailor began to pray, and in a few short broken sentences poured out his +soul before God. + +A flood of tears came to Nora's relief. After a few minutes she looked +up. + +"Oh! thank you, thank you, Jim. I believe that in the selfishness of my +grief I had forgotten God; but oh! I feel as if my heart was crushed +beyond the power of recovery. _She_ is gone" (glancing at the empty +bed), "and _he_ is gone--gone--_for ever_." + +Jim wished to comfort her, and tried to speak, but his voice was choked. +He could only draw her to him, and laying her head on his breast, +smooth her fair soft hair with his hard but gentle hand. + +"Not gone for ever, dearest," he said at length with a great effort. +"It is indeed along long time, but--" + +He could not go further, for it seemed to him like mockery to suggest by +way of comfort that fourteen years would come to an end. + +For some minutes the silence was broken only by an occasional sob from +poor Nora. + +"Oh! he was so different _once_," she said, raising herself and looking +at her lover with tearful, earnest eyes; "you have seen him at his +worst, Jim. There was a time,--before he took to--" + +She stopped abruptly, as if unable to find words, and pointed, with a +fierce expression, that seemed strange and awful on her gentle face, to +the fragments of the broken bottle on the hearth. Jim nodded. She saw +that he understood, and went on in her own calm voice:-- + +"There was a time when he was kind and gentle and loving; when he had no +drunken companions, and no mysterious goings to sea; when he was the joy +as well as the support of his mother, and _so_ fond of me--but he was +always that; even after he had--" + +Again Nora paused, and, drooping her head, uttered the low wail of +desolation that went like cold steel to the young sailor's heart. + +"Nora," he said earnestly, "he will get no drink where he is going. At +all events he will be cured of _that_ before he returns home." + +"Oh, I bless the Lord for that," said Nora, with fervour. "I have +thought of that before now, and I have thought, too, that there are men +of God where he is going, who think of, and pray for, and strive to +recover, the souls of those who--that is; but oh, Jim, Jim, it is a +long, long, weary time. I feel that I shall never see my father more in +this world--never, never more!" + +"We cannot tell, Nora," said Jim, with a desperate effort to appear +hopeful. "I know well enough that it may seem foolish to try to comfort +you with the hope of seein' him again in this life; and yet even this +may come to pass. He may escape, or he may be forgiven, and let off +before the end of his time. But come, cheer up, my darling. You +remember what his last request was?" + +"How can you talk of such a thing at such a time?" exclaimed Nora, +drawing away from him and rising. + +"Be not angry, Nora," said Jim, also rising. "I did but remind you of +it for the purpose of sayin' that as you agreed to what he wished, you +have given me a sort of right or privilege, dear Nora, at least to help +and look after you in your distress. Your own unselfish heart has never +thought of telling me that you have neither money nor home; this poor +place being yours only till term-day, which is to-morrow; but I know all +this without requiring to be told, and I have come to say that there is +an old woman--a sort of relation of mine--who lives in this town, and +will give you board and lodging gladly till I can get arrangements made +at the lighthouse for our--that is to say--till you choose, in your own +good time, to let me be your rightful protector and supporter, as well +as your comforter." + +"Thank you, Jim. It is like yourself to be so thoughtful. Forgive me; +I judged you hastily. It is true I am poor--I have nothing in the +world, but, thanks be to God, I have health. I can work; and there are +some kind friends," she added, with a sad smile, "who will throw work in +my way, I know." + +"Well, we will talk about these things afterwards, Nora, but you won't +refuse to take advantage of my old friend's offer--at least for a night +or two?" + +"No, I won't refuse that, Jim; see, I am prepared to go," she said, +pointing to a wooden sea-chest which stood in the middle of the room; +"my box is packed. Everything I own is in it. The furniture, clock, +and bedding belong to the landlord." + +"Come then, my own poor lamb," said the young sailor tenderly, "let us +go." + +Nora rose and glanced slowly round the room. Few rooms in Ramsgate +could have looked more poverty-stricken and cheerless, nevertheless, +being associated in her mind with those whom she had lost, she was loath +to leave it. Falling suddenly on her knees beside the bed, she kissed +the old counterpane that had covered the dead form she had loved so +well, and then went hastily out and leaned her head against the wall of +the narrow court before the door. + +Jim lifted the chest, placed it on his broad shoulders and followed her. +Locking the door behind him and putting the key in his pocket, he gave +his disengaged arm to Nora, and led her slowly a way. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +TELLS OF AN UNLOOKED-FOR RETURN, AND DESCRIBES A GREAT FEAST. + +If, as we have elsewhere observed in this narrative, time and tide wait +for no man, it is not less true that time and tide work wonderful +changes in man and his affairs and fortunes. Some of those changes we +will now glance at, premising that seven years have passed away since +the occurrence of the events recorded in our last chapter. + +On the evening of a somewhat gloomy day in the month of sunny showers, +four men of rough aspect, and clad in coarse but not disreputable +garments, stopped in front of a public-house in one of the lowest +localities of London, and looked about them. There was something quite +peculiar in their aspect. They seemed to be filled with mingled +curiosity and surprise, and looked somewhat scared, as a bird does when +suddenly set free from its cage. + +Two of the men were of an extremely low type of humanity--low-browed and +scowling--and their language betokened that their minds were in keeping +with their faces. The other two were better-looking and better-spoken, +one of them having evidently been a handsome man in his day. His hair +was blanched as white as snow although it still retained the curls of +youth. His figure was much bent, and he appeared like one who had been +smitten with premature old age. + +"Well, uncommon queer changes bin goin' on here," said one of the men, +gazing round him. + +One of the others admitted that there certainly had been wonderful +changes, and expressed a fear that if the change in himself was as +great, his old pals wouldn't know him. + +"Hows'ever," observed he who had spoken first, "they won't see such a +difference as they would have seen if we'd got the whole fourteen. Good +luck to the ticket-of-leave system, say I." + +The others laughed at this, and one of them suggested that they should +enter the public-house and have a glass of grog in memory of old times. +Three of the men at once agreed to this proposal, and said that as it +would not be long before they were in the stone jug again it behoved +them to make the most of their freedom while it lasted. The man with +white hair, however, objected, and it was not until his companions had +chaffed and rallied him a good deal that he consented to enter the +house, observing, as he followed them slowly, that he had not tasted a +drop for seven years. + +"Well, well," replied one of the others, "it don't matter; you'll relish +it all the more now, old feller. It'll go down like oil, an' call up +the memory of old times--" + +"The memory of old times!" cried the white-haired man, stopping short, +with a sudden blaze of ferocity which amazed his companions. + +He stood glaring at them for a few moments, with his hands tightly +clenched; then, without uttering another word, he turned round and +rushed from the house. + +"Mad!" exclaimed one of the other three, looking at his companions when +they had recovered from their surprise, "mad as a March hare. +Hows'ever, that don't consarn us. Come along, my hearties.--Hallo! +landlord, fetch drink here--your best, and plenty of it. Now, boys, +fill up and I'll give 'ee a toast." + +Saying this the man filled his glass, the others followed his example-- +the toast was given and drunk--more toasts were given and drunk--the +three men returned to their drink and their old ways, and haunts and +comrades, as the sow returns to her wallowing in the mire. + +Meanwhile the white-haired man wandered away as if he had no settled +purpose. Day after day he moved on through towns and villages and +fields, offering to work, but seldom being employed, begging his bread +from door to door, but carefully avoiding the taverns; sleeping where he +could, or where he was permitted--sometimes in the barn of a kindly +farmer, sometimes under a hay-stack, not unfrequently under a hedge-- +until at last he found himself in the town of Ramsgate. + +Here he made inquiries of various people, and immediately set forth +again on his travels through the land until he reached a remote part of +the coast of England, where he found his further progress checked by the +sea, but, by dint of begging a free passage from fishermen here and +there, he managed at last to reach one of our outlying reefs, where, on +a small islet, a magnificent lighthouse reared its white and stately +column, and looked abroad upon the ocean, with its glowing eye. There +was a small village on the islet, in which dwelt a few families of +fishermen. They were a hard-working community, and appeared to be +contented and happy. + +The lighthouse occupied an elevated plateau above the cliffs at the +sea-ward extremity of the isle, about quarter of a mile distant from the +fishing village. Thither the old man wended his way. The tower, rising +high above shrubs and intervening rocks, rendered a guide unnecessary. +It was a calm evening. The path, which was narrow and rugged, wound its +serpentine course amid grey rocks, luxuriant brambles, grasses, and +flowering shrubs. There were no trees. The want of shelter on that +exposed spot rendered their growth impossible. The few that had been +planted had been cut down by the nor'-west wind as with a scythe. + +As he drew near to the lighthouse, the old man observed a woman sitting +on a stool in front of the door, busily engaged with her needle, while +three children--two girls and a boy--were romping on the grass plat +beside her. The boy was just old enough to walk with the steadiness of +an exceedingly drunk man, and betrayed a wonderful tendency to sit down +suddenly and gaze--astonished! The girls, apparently though not really +twins, were just wild enough to enjoy their brother's tumbles, and +helped him to accomplish more of them than would have resulted from his +own incapacity to walk. + +A magnificent black Newfoundland dog, with grey paws and a benignant +countenance, couched beside the woman and watched the children at play. +He frequently betrayed a desire to join them in their gambols, but +either laziness or a sense of his own dignity induced him to sit still. + +"Nora," called the mother, who was a young and exceedingly beautiful +mother, "Nora, come here; go tell your father that I see a stranger +coming up the path. Quick, darling." + +Little Nora bounded away like a small fairy, with her fair curls +streaming in the wind which her own speed created. + +"Katie," said the mother, turning to her second daughter, "don't rumple +him up quite so violently. You must remember that he is a tiny fellow +yet, and can't stand such rough treatment." + +"But he likes it, ma," objected Katie, with a look of glee, although she +obeyed the order at once. "Don't you, Morley?" + +Little Morley stopped in the middle of an ecstatic laugh, scrambled upon +his fat legs and staggered towards his mother, with his fists doubled, +as if to take summary vengeance on her for having stopped the fun. + +"Oh, baby boy; my little Morley, what a wild fellow you are!" cried the +mother, catching up her child and tossing him in the air. + +The old man had approached near enough to overhear the words and +recognise the face. Tears sprang to his eyes and ran down his cheeks, +as he fell forward on the path with his face in the dust. + +At the same moment the lighthouse-keeper issued from the door of the +building. Running towards the old man, he and his wife quickly raised +him and loosened his neckcloth. His face had been slightly cut by the +fall. Blood and dust besmeared it and soiled his white locks. + +"Poor old man!" said the keeper, as his mate, the assistant +light-keeper, joined him. "Lend a hand, Billy, to carry him in. He +ain't very heavy." + +The assistant--a strapping young fellow, with a powerful, well-made +frame, sparkling eyes and a handsome face, on which at that moment there +was a look of intense pity--assisted his comrade to raise the old man. +They carried him with tender care into the lighthouse and laid him on a +couch which at that time, owing to lack of room in the building, +happened to be little Nora's bed. + +For a few moments he lay apparently in a state of insensibility, while +the mother of the family brought a basin of water and began carefully to +remove the blood and dust which rendered his face unrecognisable. The +first touch of the cold sponge caused him to open his eyes and gaze +earnestly in the woman's face--so earnestly that she was constrained to +pause and return the gaze inquiringly. + +"You seem to know me," she said. + +The old man made no reply, but, slowly clasping his hands and closing +his eyes, exclaimed "Thank God!" fervently. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Let us glance, now, at a few more of the changes which had been wrought +in the condition and circumstances of several of the actors in this tale +by the wonder-working hand of time. + +On another evening of another month in this same year, Mr Robert +Queeker--having just completed an ode to a star which had been recently +discovered by the Astronomer-Royal--walked from the door of the Fortress +Hotel, Ramsgate, and, wending his way leisurely along Harbour Street, +directed his steps towards Saint James's Hall. + +Seven years had wrought a great change for the better in Mr Robert +Queeker. His once smooth face was decorated with a superb pair of +light-brown whiskers of the stamp now styled Dundreary. His clothes +fitted him well, and displayed to advantage a figure which, although +short, was well made and athletic. It was evident that time had not +caused his shadow to grow less. There was a jaunty, confident air about +him, too, which might have been thought quite in keeping with a red coat +and top-boots by his friends in Jenkinsjoy, and would have induced +hospitable Mr Stoutheart to let him once more try his fortune on the +back of Slapover without much anxiety as to the result; ay, even +although the sweet but reckless Amy were to be his leader in the field! +Nevertheless there was nothing of the coxcomb about Queeker--no +self-assertion; nothing but amiableness, self-satisfaction, and +enthusiasm. + +Queeker smiled and hummed a tune to himself as he walked along drawing +on his gloves, which were lavender kid and exceedingly tight. + +"It will be a great night," he murmured; "a grand, a glorious night." + +As there was nothing peculiarly grand in the aspect of the weather, it +is to be presumed that he referred to something else, but he said +nothing more at the time, although he smiled a good deal and hummed a +good many snatches of popular airs as he walked along, still struggling +with the refractory fingers of the lavender kid gloves. + +Arrived at Saint James's Hall, he took up a position outside the door, +and remained there as if waiting for some one. + +It was evident that Mr Queeker's brief remark had reference to the +proceedings that were going on at the hall, because everything in and +around it, on that occasion, gave unquestionable evidence that there was +to be a "great night" there. The lobby blazed with light, and resounded +with voices and bustle, as people streamed in continuously. The +interior of the hall itself glowed like a red-hot chamber of gold, and +was tastefully decorated with flowers and flags and evergreens; while +the floor of the room was covered with long tables, which groaned under +the glittering accessories of an approaching feast. Fair ladies were +among the assembling company, and busy gentlemen, who acted the part of +stewards, hurried to and fro, giving directions and keeping order. A +large portion of the company consisted of men whose hard hands, powerful +frames, and bronzed faces, proclaimed them the sons of toil, and whose +manly tones and holiday garments smacked of gales and salt water. + +"What be goin' on here, measter?" inquired a country fellow, nudging Mr +Queeker with his elbow. + +Queeker looked at his questioner in surprise, and told him that it was a +supper which was about to be given to the lifeboat-men by the people of +the town. + +"An' who be the lifeboat-men, measter?" + +"`Shades of the mighty dead;' not to mention the glorious living!" +exclaimed Queeker, aghast; "have you never heard of the noble fellows +who man the lifeboats all round the coasts of this great country, and +save hundreds of lives every year? Have you not read of their daring +exploits in the newspapers? Have you never heard of the famous Ramsgate +lifeboat?" + +"Well, now 'ee mention it, I doos remember summat about loifboats," +replied the country fellow, after pondering a moment or two; "but, bless +'ee, I never read nothin' about 'em, not bein' able to read; an' as I've +lived all my loif fur inland, an' on'y comed here to-day, it ain't to be +thow't as I knows much about yer Ramsgate loifboats. Be there mony +loifboat men in Ramsgate, measter?" + +"My good fellow," said Queeker, taking the man by the sleeve, and gazing +at him with a look of earnest pity, "there are dozens of 'em. Splendid +fellows, who have saved hundreds of men, women, and children from the +raging deep; and they are all to be assembled in this hall to-night, to +the number of nearly a hundred--for there are to be present not only the +men who now constitute the crew of the Ramsgate boat, but all the men +who have formed part of her crew in time past. Every man among them is +a hero," continued Queeker, warming as he went on, and shaking the +country fellow's arm in his earnestness, "and every man to-night will--" + +He stopped short abruptly, for at that moment a carriage drove up to the +door, and a gentleman jumping out assisted a lady to alight. + +Without a word of explanation to the astonished country fellow, Queeker +thrust him aside, dashed forward, presented himself before the lady, +and, holding out his hand, exclaimed-- + +"How _do_ you do, Miss Hennings? I'm _so_ glad to have been fortunate +enough to meet you." + +"Mr Quee--Queeker," exclaimed Fanny, blushing scarlet; "I--I was not +aware--so very unexpected--I thought--dear me!--but, pardon me--allow me +to introduce my uncle, Mr Hemmings. Mr Queeker, uncle, whom you have +often heard mamma speak about." + +Mr Hennings, a six-feet-two man, stooped to shake Queeker by the hand. +An impatient cabman shouted, "Move on." Fanny seized her uncle's arm, +and was led away. Queeker followed close, and all three were wedged +together in the crowd, and swept towards the banquet-hall. + +"Are you one of the stewards?" asked Fanny, during a momentary pause. + +How exquisite she looks! thought Queeker, as she glanced over her +shoulder at him. He felt inclined to call her an angel, or something of +that sort, but restrained himself, and replied that he was not a +steward, but a guest--an honoured guest--and that he would have no +objection to be a dishonoured guest, if only, by being expelled from the +festive board, he could manage to find an excuse to sit beside her in +the ladies' gallery. + +"But that may not be," he said, with a sigh. "I shall not be able to +see you from my allotted position. Alas! we separate here--though-- +though--lost to sight, to memory dear!" + +The latter part of this remark was said hurriedly and in desperation, in +consequence of a sudden rush of the crowd, rendering abrupt separation +unavoidable. But, although parted from his lady-love, and unable to +gaze upon her, Queeker kept her steadily in his mind's eye all that +evening, made all his speeches to her, sang all his songs to her, and +finally--but hold! we must not anticipate. + +As we have said--or, rather, as we have recorded that Queeker said--all +the lifeboat men of the town of Ramsgate sat down to that supper, to the +number of nearly one hundred men. All sturdy men of tried courage. +Some were old, with none of the fire that had nerved them to rescue +lives in days gone by, save that which still gleamed in their eyes; some +were young, with the glow of irrepressible enthusiasm on their smooth +faces, and the intense wish to have a chance to dare and do swelling +their bold hearts; others were middle-aged, iron-moulded; as able and as +bold to the full as the younger men, with the coolness and +self-restraint of the old ones; but all, old, middle-aged, and young, +looking proud and pleased, and so gentle in their demeanour (owing, no +doubt, to the presence of the fair sex), that it seemed as if a small +breeze of wind would have made them all turn tail and run away,-- +especially if the breeze were raised by the women! + +That the reception of these lion-like men (converted into lambs that +night) was hearty, was evinced by the thunders of applause which greeted +every reference to their brave deeds. That their reception was +intensely earnest, was made plain by the scroll, emblazoned on a huge +banner that spanned the upper end of the room, bearing the words. "God +bless the Lifeboat Crews." + +We need not refer to the viands set forth on that great occasion. Of +course they were of the best. We may just mention that they included +"baccy and grog!" We merely record the fact. Whether buns and tea +would have been equally effective is a question not now under +consideration. We refrain from expressing an opinion on that point +here. + +Of course the first toast was the Queen, and as Jack always does +everything heartily, it need scarcely be said that this toast was +utterly divested of its usual formality of character. The chairman's +appropriate reference to her Majesty's well-known sympathy with the +distressed, especially with those who had suffered from shipwreck, +intensified the enthusiasm of the loyal lifeboat-men. + +A band of amateur Christy Minstrels (the "genuine original" amateur +band, of course) enlivened the evening with appropriate songs, to the +immense delight of all present, especially of Mr Robert Queeker, whose +passionate love for music, ever since his attendance at the +singing-class, long long ago, had strengthened with time to such an +extent that language fails to convey any idea of it. It mattered not to +Queeker whether the music were good or bad. Sufficient for him that it +carried him back, with a _gush_, to that dear temple of music in +Yarmouth where the learners were perpetually checked at critical points, +and told by their callous teacher (tormentor, we had almost written) to +"try it again!" and where he first beheld the perplexing and beautiful +Fanny. + +When the toast of the evening was given--"Success to the Ramsgate +Lifeboat,"--it was, as a matter of course, received with deafening +cheers and enthusiastic waving of handkerchiefs from the gallery in +which the fair sex were accommodated, among which handkerchiefs Queeker, +by turning his head very much round, tried to see, and believed that he +saw, the precious bit of cambric wherewith Fanny Hennings was accustomed +to salute her transcendental nose. The chairman spoke with enthusiasm +of the noble deeds accomplished by the Ramsgate lifeboat in time past, +and referred with pride, and with a touch of feeling, to the brave old +coxswain, then present (loud cheers), who had been compelled, by +increasing years, to resign a service which, they all knew better than +he did, taxed the energies, courage, and endurance of the stoutest and +youngest man among them to the uttermost. He expressed a firm belief in +the courage and prowess of the coxswain who had succeeded him (renewed +cheers), and felt assured that the success of the boat in time to come +would at the least fully equal its successes in time past. He then +referred to some of the more prominent achievements of the boat, +especially to a night which all of them must remember, seven years ago, +when the Ramsgate boat, with the aid of the steam-tug, was the means of +saving so many lives--not to mention property--and among others the life +of their brave townsman, James Welton (cheers), and a young doctor, the +friend, and now the son-in-law, of one whose genial spirit and extensive +charities were well known and highly appreciated--he referred to Mr +George Durant (renewed cheers), whose niece at that moment graced the +gallery with her presence. + +At this there was a burst of loud and prolonged applause which +terminated in a roar of laughter, owing to the fact that Mr Queeker, +cheering and waving his hands in a state of wild enthusiasm, knocked the +neck off a bottle of wine and flooded the table in his immediate +vicinity! Covered with confusion, Queeker sat down amid continued +laughter and rapturous applause. + +The chairman then went on to say that the event to which he had +referred--the rescue of the crew and passengers of the Wellington on the +night of the great storm--had been eclipsed by some of the more recent +doings of the same boat; and, after touching upon some of these, said +that, although they had met there to do honour to the crews of their own +lifeboat, they must not forget other and neighbouring lifeboats, which +did their work nobly--the brave crews of which were represented by the +coxswains of the Margate and Broadstairs lifeboats, who sat at that +board that night as honoured guests (loud cheers, during which several +of the men nearest to them shook hands with the coxswains referred to). +He could not--the chairman went on to say--sit down without making +special reference to the steam-tug, without which, and the courage as +well as knowledge of her master, mate, and crew (renewed cheers), the +lifeboat could not overtake a tenth part of the noble work which she +annually accomplished. He concluded by praying that a kind Providence +would continue to watch over and bless the Ramsgate lifeboat and her +crew. + +We need scarcely add that this toast was drunk with enthusiastic +applause, and that it was followed up by the amateur minstrels with +admirable effect. + +Many songs were sung, and many toasts were proposed that night, and warm +was the expression of feeling towards the men who were ever so ready to +imperil their lives in the hope of saving those of their +fellow-creatures, and who had already, oftentimes, given such ample +proof that they were thoroughly able to do, as well as to dare, almost +anything. Several singers with good, and one or two with splendid, +voices, gave a variety of songs which greatly enhanced the brilliancy of +the evening, and were highly appreciated in the gallery; and a few bad +singers with miserable voices (who volunteered their songs) did really +good service by impressing upon the audience very forcibly the immense +differences between good and bad music, and thus kindly acted as shadows +to the vocal lights of the evening--as useful touches of discord in the +general harmony which by contrast rendered the latter all the sweeter. + +But of all the solos sung that night none afforded such delight as a +national melody sung by our friend Jerry MacGowl, in a voice that rang +out like the voices of three first-class bo's'ns rolled into one. That +worthy son of the Emerald Isle, and Dick Moy, and Jack Shales, happened +to be enjoying their month on shore when the supper to the lifeboat-men +was planned, and they were all there in virtue of their having been +instrumental in saving life on more than one occasion during their +residence in Ramsgate. Jerry's song was, as we have said, highly +appreciated, but the applause with which it was greeted was as nothing +compared with the shouts and cheers that shook the roof of Saint James's +Hall, when, on being asked to repeat it, Jerry modestly said that he +"would prefer to give them a duet--perhaps it was a trayo--av his mates +Jack Shales and Dick Moy would only strike in wid bass and tenor." + +The men of the floating light then sang "The Minute-Gun at Sea" +magnificently, each taking the part that suited him best or struck his +fancy at the moment, and Jerry varying from tenor to bass and bass to +treble according to taste. + +"Now, Mister Chairman," said the bold Jerry MacGowl, when the cheers had +subsided, "it's my turn to call for a song, so I ax Mr Queeker to +favour the company wid--" Thunders of applause drowned the remainder of +the sentence. + +Poor Queeker was thrown into great confusion, and sought to explain that +he could not sing, even in private--much less in public. + +"Oh yes, you can, sir. Try it, sir, no fear of 'ee. Sure it's yourself +as can do it, an' no mistake," were the remarks with which his +explanation was interrupted. + +"I assure you honestly," cried Queeker, "that I cannot sing, _but_" +(here breathless silence ensued) "if the chairman will kindly permit me, +I will give you a toast." + +Loud cheers from all sides, and a good-humoured nod from the chairman +greeted this announcement. + +"Mr Chairman and Friends," said Queeker, "the ladies have--" A perfect +storm of laughter and cheers interrupted him for at least two minutes. + +"Yes," resumed Queeker, suddenly blazing up with enthusiasm, "I repeat-- +the ladies--" + +"That's the girls, blissin's on the swate darlints," murmured Jerry in a +tone which set the whole table again in a roar. + +"I echo the sentiment; blessings on them," said Queeker, with a +good-humoured glance at Jerry. "Yes, as I was going to say, I propose +the Ladies, who are, always were, and ever will be, the solace of man's +life, the sweet drops in his otherwise bitter cup, the lights in his +otherwise dark dwelling, the jewels in his--in his--crown, and the +bright stars that glitter in the otherwise dark firmament of his destiny +(vociferous cheering). Yes," continued Queeker, waxing more and more +energetic, and striking the table with his fist, whereby he overturned +his neighbour's glass of grog, "yes, I re-assert it--the ladies are all +that, and _much more_! (Hear, hear.) I propose their health--and, +after all, I may be said to have some sort of claim to do so, having +already unintentionally poured a whole bottle of wine on the tablecloth +as a libation to them! (Laughter and applause.) What, I ask," +continued Queeker, raising his voice and hand at the same moment, and +setting his hair straight upon end, "what, I ask, would man be _without_ +the ladies?" ("What indeed?" said a voice near the foot of the table, +which called forth another burst of laughter.) "Just try to think, my +friends, what would be the hideous gloom of this terrestrial ball if +there were no girls! Oh woman! softener of man's rugged nature! What-- +in the words of the poet." He carefully refrained from saying what +poet! + + "What were earth and all its joys; + what were wealth with all its toys; + what the life of men and boys + But for lovely woman? + + "What if mothers were no more; + If wives and sisters fled our shore, + And left no sweethearts to the fore-- + No sign of darling woman? + + "What dreary darkness would ensue-- + what moral wastes devoid of dew-- + If no strong hearts of men like you + Beat for charming woman? + + "Who would rise at duty's call; + Who would fight to win or fall; + Who would care to live at all, + Were it not for woman?" + +Prolonged and rapturous cheers greeted this effusion, in the midst of +which the enthusiastic Jerry MacGowl sprang to his feet, waved his glass +above his head--spilling half of its contents on the pate of a bald +skipper who sat next to him--and cheered lustily. + +"Men of the Ramsgate lifeboat," shouted Queeker, "I call on you to +pledge the ladies--with all the honours!" + +It is unnecessary to say that the call was responded to with a degree of +enthusiasm that threatened, as Dick Moy said to Jack Shales, "to smash +all the glasses an' blow the roof off." In the midst of the noise and +confusion Queeker left the hall, ascended to the gallery, and sat +himself down beside Fanny Hennings, with an air of intense decision. + +"Oh, Mr Queeker!" exclaimed Fanny. + +"Listen, Fanny," said the tall uncle at that moment, "they are giving +one of the most important toasts of the evening--The Royal National +Lifeboat Institution." + +Fanny tried to listen, and had caught a few words, when she felt her +hand suddenly seized and held fast. Turning her head quickly, she +beheld the face of Queeker turned to bright scarlet. + +What more she heard or saw after that it would be extremely difficult to +tell. Perhaps the best way of conveying an idea of it is to lay before +the reader the short epistle which Fanny penned that same night to her +old friend Katie Hall. It ran thus:-- + +"RAMSGATE. + +"OH, KATIE! DARLING KATIE!--He has done it _at last_! Dear fellow! +And so like himself too--so romantically, so poetically! They were +toasting the Lifeboat Institution at the time. He seized my hand. +`Fanny,' he said, in the deep manly tones in which he had just made the +most brilliant speech of the evening, `Fanny, my love--my life--my +_lifeboat_--will you have me? will you _save_ me?' There was a dreadful +noise at the time--a very storm of cheering. The whole room seemed in a +whirl. My head was in a whirl too; and oh! _how_ my heart beat! I +don't know what I said. I fear I burst into a fit of laughter, and then +cried, and dear uncle carried me out--but it's all over now. That +_darling_ Lifeboat Institution, I shall never forget it; for they were +sounding its praises at the very moment when my Queeker and I got into +the same boat--for life!--Your happy FANNY." + +To this the next post brought the following reply:-- + +"YARMOUTH." + +"MY DEAREST FANNY,--Is it necessary for me to say that your last short +letter has filled my heart with joy? It has cleared up a mystery too! +On Tuesday last, in the forenoon, Mr Queeker came by appointment to +take lunch with us, and Stanley happened to mention that a supper was to +be given to the Ramsgate lifeboat-men, and that he had heard _you_ were +to be there. During lunch, Mr Queeker was very absent and restless, +and appeared to be unhappy. At last he started up, made some hurried +apology about the train for the south, and having urgent business to +transact, looked at his watch, and rushed out of the house! We could +not understand it at the time, but I knew that he had only a few minutes +left to catch the train for the south, and I _now_ know that he caught +it--and why! Ah, Fanny, did I not always assure you that he would do it +in desperation at last! My earnest prayer is, that your wedded life may +be as happy as mine has hitherto been. + +"When your honeymoon is over, you must promise to pay us a visit. You +know that our villa is sufficiently far out of town to warrant your +regarding us in the light of country friends; and Stanley bids me say +that he will take no denial. Papa--who is at present romping round the +room with my eldest boy on his shoulders, so that I scarce know what I +write--bids me tell you, with his kind love and hearty congratulations, +that he thinks you are `not throwing yourself away, for that Queeker is +a first-rate little fellow, and a rising man!' Observe, please, that I +quote papa's own words. + +"I _must_ stop abruptly, because a tiny cry from the nursery informs me +that King Baby is awake, and demands instant attention!--With kindest +love and congratulations, your ever affectionate, KATIE HALL." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +CONCLUSION. + +Once again, and for the last time, we visit the floating light. + +It was a calm sunny evening, about the end of autumn, when the Trinity +tender, having effected "the relief" of the old Gull, left her in order +to perform the same service for her sister light-vessels. + +"Good-bye, Welton, good-bye, lads," cried the superintendent, waving his +hand as the tender's boat pushed off and left them, for another period +of duty, in their floating home. + +"Good-bye, sir," replied the mate and men, touching their caps. + +"Now, sir," said Dick Moy to the mate, shortly after, when they were +all, except the watch, assembled below round the galley stove, "are you +goin' to let us 'ave a bit o' that there letter, accordin' to promise?" + +"What letter?" inquired Jack Shales, who having only accomplished half +of his period of service on board--one month--had not come off with his +comrades, and knew little or nothing of what had occurred on shore. + +"A letter from the lighthouse from Jim," said the mate, lighting his +pipe, "received it this forenoon just as we were gettin' ready to come +off." + +"All well and hearty, I hope?" asked Jerry MacGowl, seating himself on a +bench, and rolling some tobacco between his palms, preparatory to +filling his pipe. + +"All well," replied the mate, pulling out the letter in question, and +regarding the address with much interest; "an' strange news in it." + +"Well, then, let's 'ear wot it's all about," said Dick Moy; "there's +time to read it afore sunset, an it ain't fair to keep fellers in all +the hagonies of hexpectation." + +"That's true enough," said Jerry with a grin. "Arrah! it's bustin I am +already wid kooriosity. Heave ahead, sir, an' be marciful." + +Thus entreated, Mr Welton glanced at his watch, sat down, and, opening +his letter, read as follows:-- + +"DEAR FATHER,--Here we are, thank God, comfortably settled in the new +lighthouse, and Nora and I both agree that although it is more +outlandish, it is much more cheerful in every way than our last abode, +although it _is_ very wild-like, and far from the mainland. Billy +Towler, my assistant,--who has become such a strapping fellow that you'd +scarce know him,--is also much pleased with it. The children, too, give +a decided opinion in favour of the place, and even the baby, little +Morley, seems to know that he has made a change for the better! + +"Baby's name brings me to the news that I've got to tell you. Morley +Jones has come back! You'll be surprised to hear that, I daresay, but +it's a fact. He got a ticket-of-leave, and never rested till he found +out where Nora was. He came to us one evening some time ago, and fell +down in a sort of fit close to the lighthouse-door, while Nora was +sitting in front of it, and the children were romping with Neptune +beside her. Poor fellow! he was so changed, so old, and so white-haired +and worn, that we did not know him at first; but after we had washed the +blood off his face--for he had cut himself when he fell--I recognised +the old features. + +"But he is changed in other respects too, in a way that has filled my +dear wife's heart with joy. Of course you are aware that he got no +drink during the seven years of his imprisonment. Now that he is free +he refuses to let a drop of anything stronger than water pass his lips. +He thinks it is his only chance, and I believe he is right. He says +that nothing but the thought of Nora, and the hope of one day being +permitted to return to ask her forgiveness on his knees, enabled him to +endure his long captivity with resignation. I do assure you, father, +that it almost brings tears to my eyes to see the way in which that man +humbles himself before his daughter. Nora's joy is far too deep for +words, but it is written plainly in her face. She spent all her spare +time with him at first, reading the Bible to him, and trying to convince +him that it was not the thought of _her_, but God's mercy and love that +had put it into his heart to repent, and desire to reform. He does not +seem quite inclined to take that view of it, but he will come to it, +sooner or later, for we have the sure promise that the Lord will finish +the good work He has begun. We have hired a room for him in a little +village within half a mile of us. It is small, but comfortable enough, +and he seems to be quite content with it--as well he may be, with Nora +and the children going constantly about him! + +"I tell you what, father, the longer I live with Nora, the more I feel +that I have got the truest-hearted and most loveable wife in all the +wide world! The people of the village would go any length to serve her; +and as to their children, I believe they worship the ground she walks +on, as Jerry MacGowl used to say." + +"Och, the idolatrous haythens!" growled Jerry. + +"And the way she manages our dear youngsters," continued the mate, +reading on, without noticing Jerry's interruption, "would do your heart +good to see. It reminds me of Dick Moy's wife, who is about the best +mother I ever met with--next to Nora, of course!" + +"Humph!" said Dick, with a grim smile; "wery complimentary. I wonder +wot my old ooman will say to that?" + +"She'll say, no doubt, that she'll expect you to take example by Jim +Welton when speaking of your wife," observed Jack Shales. "I wonder, +Dick, what ever could have induced Mrs Moy to marry such a fellow as +you?" + +"I s'pose," retorted Dick, lighting his pipe, "that it was to escape the +chance o' bein' tempted, in a moment of weakness, to marry the likes o' +_you_." + +"Hear, hear," cried MacGowl, "that's not unlikely, Dick. An', sure, she +might have gone farther an' fared worse. You're a good lump of a man, +anyhow; though you haven't much to boast of in the way of looks. +Howsever, it seems to me that looks don't go far wid sensible girls. +Faix, the uglier a man is, it's the better chance he has o' gittin' a +purty wife. I have a brother, myself, who's a dale uglier than the +figurhead of an owld Dutch galliot, an' he's married the purtiest little +girl in Ireland, he has." + +"If ye want to hear the end of Jim's letter, boys, you'd better shut up +your potato-traps," interposed Mr Welton. + +"That's true--fire away," said Shales. + +The mate continued to read. + +"You'll be glad to hear that the old dog Neptune is well and hearty. He +is a great favourite here, especially with the children. Billy Towler +has taught him a number of tricks--among other things he can dive like a +seal, and has no objection whatever to let little Morley choke him or +half punch out his eyes. Tell mother not to be uneasy on that point, +for though Neptune has the heart of a lion he has the temper of a lamb. + +"There is an excellent preacher, belonging to the Wesleyan body, who +comes here occasionally on Sundays, and has worship in the village. He +is not much of a preacher, but he's an earnest, God-fearing man, and has +made the name of Jesus dear to some of the people here, who, not long +ago, were quite careless about their souls. Careless about their souls! +Oh, father, how often I think of that, now. How strange it seems that +we should ever be thus careless! What should we say of the jeweller who +would devote all his time and care to the case that held his largest +diamond, and neglect the gem itself? Nora has got up a Sunday school at +the village, and Billy helps her with it. The Grotto did wonders for +him--so he says himself. + +"I must close this letter sooner than I intended, for I hear Nora's +voice, like sweet music in the distance, singing out that dinner is +ready; and if I keep the youngsters waiting long, they'll sing out in a +sharper strain of melody! + +"So now, father, good-bye for the present. We all unite in sending our +warmest love to dear mother and yourself. Kindest remembrances also to +my friends in the floating light. As much of my heart as Nora and the +children can spare is on board of the old Gull. May God bless you +all.--Your affectionate son, JAMES WELTON." + +"The sun will be down in a few minutes, sir," said the watch, looking +down the hatchway, while the men were engaged in commenting on Jim's +letter. + +"I know that," replied the mate, glancing at his timepiece, as he went +on deck. + +The upper edge of the sun was just visible above the horizon, gleaming +through the haze like a speck of ruddy fire. The shipping in the Downs +rested on a sea so calm that each rope and mast and yard was faithfully +reflected. Ramsgate--with the exception of its highest spires--was +overshadowed by the wing of approaching night. The Goodwin Sands were +partially uncovered; looking calm and harmless enough, with only a snowy +ripple on their northern extremity, where they were gently kissed by the +swell of the North Sea, and with nothing, save a riven stump or a +half-buried stem-post, to tell of the storms and wrecks with which their +name is so sadly associated. + +All around breathed of peace and tranquillity when the mate, having cast +a searching glance round the horizon, leaned over the hatchway and +shouted--"Lights up!" + +The customary "Ay, ay, sir," was followed by the prompt appearance of +the crew. The winch was manned, the signal given, and, just as the sun +went down, the floating light went up, to scatter its guiding and +warning beams far and wide across the darkening waste of water. + +May our little volume prove a truthful reflector to catch up a few of +those beams, and, diverting them from their legitimate direction, turn +them in upon the shore to enlighten the mind and tickle the fancy of +those who dwell upon the land--and thus, perchance, add another thread +to the bond of sympathy already existing between them and those whose +lot it is to battle with the winds, and live upon the sea. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands, by +R.M. 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