Part 20 (1/2)

Arthur made a sign to John Pratt to go and fetch Toby; but he seemed unwilling to leave Arthur alone.

”Go, go. What have I to fear?” said Arthur, firmly.

The old man looked up at him. ”Some who have been here have been afraid, though,” he muttered. ”Take a seat, young gentleman. I like your spirit.”

Arthur thanked him, and sat down on a three-legged stool, near a table, which, from its appearance, he knew had formed part of the furniture of the cabin of a s.h.i.+p, probably wrecked on the coast. Every portion of the hut, indeed, was evidently composed of wreck-wood--the roof, the sides, and floor.

John Pratt soon returned with Toby.

”Ho, ho, old s.h.i.+pmate,” said Toby, as he entered, ”so you won't believe what the young gentleman promises; but you'll believe me. Five golden guineas or a rope's-end, remember that.”

”The guineas,” answered old Jem, who at once recognised Toby as an acquaintance. ”But I was placed here to receive a message; when they come who will they give it to?”

”Never you mind that; we'll be be back in time, I dare say,” answered Toby.

”Then come along,” said the old man, whose weak mind was evidently powerfully influenced by the prospect of receiving the five golden guineas to the exclusion of every other consideration. ”It will be rough work for the young gentleman, but he looks as if he wouldn't fear it.”

Getting up, and walking with wonderfully firm steps, the old man led the way to a little inlet of the sea, into which a stream fell. It was large enough to allow four or five boats to float in it at once. One only was seen, and she was drawn up on the beach. A pair of oars and a rudder, and a mast and sails were in her. The old man called to Toby to help him launch her.

”What, be'es we going by the sea?” asked John Pratt, who had a thorough dread of the ocean.

”It's better than going by the land, seeing that we could not get there at all, if I guess the place we are bound for,” observed Toby. ”Now step in, young gentleman--step in, master.”

”Can you steer?” old Jem asked of Arthur.

”Yes, I am well accustomed to it,” he answered.

”Then take the helm, and do as I bid you,” said the old man, taking the after oar.

Toby took the other, and they pulled away from the land. The cove was sheltered by a high reef of rocks, so the water was perfectly smooth--so smooth, that a thin coating of ice had been formed at the margin, through which the boat easily forced her way. The stars shone brightly forth from the dark sky, and enabled Arthur to discern the whole outline of the wild, and fantastically-shaped cliffs, which formed the coast, as they towered high above his head on the right. The boat had gone out to clear a reef of rocks which ran out from the sh.o.r.e, and having got to the end of it, old Jem told Arthur to port his helm, and thus doubling it, he steered close in under the cliffs. In many places there was no beach, the water coming close up to their bases; and so close was the boat that frequently the oars touched their rugged fronts. Often, too, the sea-fowl, roosting low down on ledges of rocks, were disturbed from their perches, and flew up with loud screams, circling round and round their heads, till they had pa.s.sed their resting-places.

John Pratt looked about him with considerable awe, if not dread; all was strange and new to him.

Arthur had witnessed similar scenes. The boat made but slow progress, for she was kept all the way in and out, through all the little bays, and bends, and inlets of the sh.o.r.e. Many thoughts pa.s.sed through Arthur's mind during the long pull. He hoped to recover his friend, and to enjoy the delight of restoring him to his family. At the same time, he could not help recollecting what Dame Marlow had said to John Pratt, and also the remarks of old Jem, and often he feared that they might arrive too late at the cavern where they expected to find him; that he might already be carried off to the distant lands of which the old woman spoke. Such things had occurred before, and might occur again; yet he was puzzled to know what motives the smugglers could have in such a mode of proceeding. He thought and thought over the matter without coming to any satisfactory conclusion. No one spoke above a whisper.

”We might be seen or heard by some pa.s.sing coastguard man,” observed old Jem.

Now a lofty, dark, and beetling headland was seen before them.

”It's on t'other side of St. Niven's Head. We'll have to go round it,”

said old Jem.

Arthur did not object to the long pull, but he was eager to discover Digby, and to relieve him from all the anxiety he must be feeling.

On pulling out towards the end of the promontory, a swell was felt which, as it rolled in, broke on the cliffs, and compelled them to keep at a somewhat greater distance. On they went. As Arthur looked up it appeared as if the cliffs rose to a prodigious height above his head, almost reaching the sky. In several places, indeed, they appeared to be completely overhanging the water; and he could scarcely divest himself of the feeling that they were about to fall down and overwhelm the boat.

The boat now rose and fell more rapidly to the heaving wave, and nothing but John Pratt's earnest desire to find his young master, prevented him from bitterly repenting that he had trusted himself on the treacherous ocean.

”Starboard your helm!” suddenly exclaimed Jem, with an energy which he did not seem capable of exerting.

A loud splas.h.i.+ng, was.h.i.+ng sound, was heard, and Arthur saw the sea breaking wildly over a rock, on which, in another instant, the boat would have struck. The danger pa.s.sed, they pulled on till they rounded the headland. Wilder than ever was the scene. On one side the lofty cliffs, with their steep front, on which there appeared scarcely a ledge on which a sea-fowl might set its foot; while on the other was the broad boundless expanse of ocean. Arthur thought what would have been their fate if the boat had struck on the rock, and sunk.

”The cave where we may find him is not many hundred fathoms off,” said old Jem.