Adair Aldon

“ He ran up through the bushes and met her as she came flying toward him through the mist.
“Come quick,” she cried; “come quick. It’s Captain Saulsby. I—I, oh, Billy, I’m so frightened!”
Together they sped back up the path to the mill, tripping over roots, stumbling on the moss-covered stones, gasping in their terrified haste. As they came near Billy heard a strange sound, the Captain’s voice surely, but high and queer and cracked, shouting out what must have been meant for a song of the sea. He went up the steps in one breathless leap and came inside the mill. ”

“ Higher and higher the red beacon arose, until it shone out over the water and showed the boat, slowly backing away into the dark to seek another landing place. Billy ran to another driftwood heap, glancing over his shoulder to see that Sally had successfully started hers and was hastening on to kindle others. The whole beach was lit by the red glare, the crests of the little waves caught and reflected the glow as they came running in, while, with the lighted circle spreading farther and farther out over the water, the boat drew back more and more to keep in the sheltering darkness. ”

“ The torpedo-boat checked her speed and moved forward more slowly and almost without a sound. There was nothing, Billy thought, but a waste of empty water and starless sky, but wait, what was that darker shape showing vaguely through the gloom? Presently he was aware that it was a ship, and another one beyond, and another and another, vessels on every hand lying in wait, hostile and threatening. The destroyer crept onward, feeling her way, altering her course every now and again to avoid some man-of-war swinging at anchor ahead of her. ”

“ The people went away homeward one by one, the fires burned down to heaps of blazing coals, the surf came roaring in, higher and higher as the wind and tide rose together, and the call of Appledore sounded deep and loud through all the growing tumult. Long ago Sally Shute had been dragged away to her bed, protesting loudly, but led by a determined mother, Johann Happs had wandered aimlessly off in the direction of his little house, so that only Billy and Captain Saulsby were left still sitting on the sand. The old man could not be persuaded to go home, nor would Billy leave him. ”

“ Perhaps all that the story tells of it that is true is that there the rocks give forth their strange deep song, “the calling of Appledore,” as warning of a storm, that there the poppies bloom as nowhere else in the world, that there the surf comes rolling in, day in and day out, the whole year through, and that there one’s memory turns back with longing, no matter how many years of absence have gone by. ”

“ The black shadows outside turned slowly to grey, the moonlight faded and disappeared, a fresh wind began to blow the fog away in shore. Somewhere out yonder in the woods a bird began to sing, offering them their first hope that the night with its desperate anxieties and terrors was at last giving place to day. Billy went to the window and threw it open so that Sally too, from her place beside Captain Saulsby, might hear the promise of the dawn. ”

“ The delicate, crinkled poppies were blooming abundantly throughout the garden. It was the season when they were in their full glory, when all else in Captain Saulsby’s little place, the vegetables, the currant bushes, and the fruit trees, must be quite cast into the shade. The old sailor ventured forth on a short tour of inspection, and actually managed to reach the bench down by the hedge where he and Billy had sat upon the day they became acquainted. ”

“ It made one feel queer and restless, Billy thought, as though one wanted something very badly and did not quite know what it was. It seemed strange how hard it was to make up his mind just what he was going to do.
The lake was very blue there on their right hand as they drove along the Sheridan Road sweeping constantly through neat suburbs, some large, some small, but all alike in one thing: that every one in the world was busy planting a garden. ”

“ Billy was only quick enough to jerk at the stranger’s arm just as the rifle went off again with a startling crash and a quick spurt of flame. He saw the sailor on the point stagger and drop the flag from his hand; at the same moment he felt a stunning blow upon the side of his head and his shoulder so that he seemed to see, for a second, room, lamp and Sally, all go around and around in confusing circles. He recovered himself quickly, but not in time to intercept the enemy’s next move. ”

“ No, poppies have to have cool earth to dig their toes into, and cool salt air to breathe; it’s sea breezes that put the colour into them, and a good wet fog is their meat and drink. Poor things, I hate to think of them off somewhere drooping and withering for a whiff of fresh salt wind.”
“Captain Saulsby,” said Billy gravely, “I do believe you care a lot for those flowers of yours. You are always saying you don’t, but I think I won’t believe you again. I can see by the very way you look at them that you love them.”
“No, can you?” exclaimed the old sailor in genuine surprise. ”