George Manville Fenn

“ But there was nothing horrible there to Aleck who in every case turned inland to skirt the chasm, gazing down with interest the while at the nesting-places of the sea-birds which covered nearly every ledge, each one being alive with screaming, clamouring, hungry young, straining their necks to meet the swift-winged auks and puffins that darted to and fro with newly-captured fish in their bills. ”

“ The next moment the sleeper was wide awake, listening to what was undoubtedly a shout, and it was followed by another, both far away, but sounding clear on the night air, while from time to time came a dull murmur as of several voices together.
“They’re landing a cargo,” thought Aleck, and with his mind full of luggers lying off the coast, with boats going to and fro to fetch kegs, chests and bales, he hurried on his clothes, dropped from his bedroom window, hurried down the garden to the cliff path, and began to climb up the zigzag. ”

“ Tom stopped after getting over the stones like the rock-hopper penguin.
“I’ll slip off now, Master Aleck, case the captain may be out in the garden,” whispered the sailor.
“Yes, you’d better go now, Tom. Do I look so very bad?”
“Tidy, sir, tidy; but don’t you mind that. Go right at him, and let him know as soon as you can that you beat. You’ll be all right then. Maybe he’ll let out at you at first, but all the time he’ll be beginning to feel that you leathered a big hulking chap as is the worst warmint in Rockabie, and you’ll come out all right. Day, Master Aleck!” ”

“ He started the next moment, for a great gull had come gliding up from behind and passed so closely over his head that he was startled by the faint whizz of its outspread wings, while the bird itself was so startled that it uttered a hoarse cry of alarm and plunged down head foremost like a stone.
“Why, that must have been the kind that made that cry like a hail,” cried Aleck, as the bird disappeared into the depths of the gully, while he had hardly realised the thought before there rose from below a faint, hoarse cry. ”

“ At last Aleck spoke.
“I say,” he said, “aren’t we going to make fools of ourselves?”
“I don’t know,” was the reply, “but I’ll show you I’m not a coward.”
“I never thought you were a coward, but you’d say I was one if I told you that I didn’t want to fight.”
“No, I shouldn’t,” said the middy, “because I can’t help feeling that it is stupid, and I don’t want to fight either.”
“Then, why should we fight?”
“Oh,” said the middy, “there are times when a gentleman’s bound to stand upon his honour. We ought to fight now with pistols; but as we have none why, of course, it has to be fists. ”

“ Feeling that he would like to be at home if the boat entered their private chasm, as the lad dubbed it, he turned back along the cliff and reached the garden so as to descend to the mooring-place just in time to see the cutter’s boat framed in the opening, the dark rocks round and above, and the little craft floating upon a background of opalescent sea and sky.
“They can’t have come right in,” thought Aleck, and after a time he made for the cliff again to get near the edge and look down, in time to see that both boats were being rowed back to their respective vessels. ”

“ For there were times when Aleck would say, gloomily, to himself, “I’m sure uncle thoroughly hates me and wishes me away,” while there were times when he was as happy as the days were long, and ready to feel certain that the old man loved him as much as if he were his own child.
“He must,” thought the boy, “or he wouldn’t have nursed and coddled me up so when I had that fever and the doctor told Jane that he had done all he could, and that I should die—go out with the tide next day. That’s what I like in uncle,” he mused, “when he isn’t out of temper—he’s so clever. ”

“ In due time the land sheltered the young navigator, and he glided swiftly into the little harbour of the fishing town, whose roughly-formed pier curved round like a crescent moon to protect the little fleet of fishing-boats, whose crews leaned over the cliff rail masticating tobacco and gazing out to sea, as they rested from the past night’s labour, and talked in a low monotonous growl about the wind and the prospects of the night to come. ”

“ The voices of the boys rose in a curious way, making a highly pitched jeering snarl, while a number of unpleasant missiles that were held ready were fingered and held behind backs, but from a disinclination to become the victim of the sailor’s marking, no lad was venturesome enough to start the shower intended to greet the newcomer. It was held in abeyance for the moment, and then became impossible, for peg, peg, peg, peg, Tom Bodger descended the steps till he was level with the gunwale of Aleck’s boat, upon which one extremity was carefully planted, and careful aim taken at the first thwart. ”

“ The lad sprang, feet foremost, into the water, and rose directly from out of the depths, to strike out, and as Aleck tried hard to follow his movements, he heard him reach the weedy rock, drag himself out, and the rope was gently drawn more and more through his hands as the middy succeeded in getting erect upon the stone, close to its edge. ”

“ A dull thud followed, as of a heavy blow being delivered, followed by a fall and the rush of footsteps again, but this time over the loose shingle, and the next minute a dimly-seen figure approached, running straight for the water.
But instead of the man running into the harbour, he turned sharp to his left on catching sight of the boat and staggered up to it.
“Who’s that?” he said, hoarsely. “You, Tom Bodger—Master Aleck? Here, quick, sir; for the love of heaven save a poor fellow! It’s the press-gang. Got five on us. Help, sir! Shove off with me. I’m too dead beat to swim.” ”

“ He paused for a few moments to think about getting help from Eilygugg.
“There are no smugglers at home now,” he said to himself, and his thoughts turned homeward.
“Uncle couldn’t climb up here and handle ropes,” he muttered; “and as for Ness—bah! he’s a stupid muddling old woman.
“I must get right round somehow and see where the opening is,” said the lad, at last. “But when I have found it, what then? I must get back here again; and then? Yes, I must have help and a rope. Oh, what a lonely old place this is when you want anything done! Bah! What a grumbler you are,” he cried, the next moment. ”

“ The one that was free struck the sailor a sounding rap on the ear and made him release his hold of the prisoned piece of timber for the moment, and when he splashed after the boat, after recovering from his surprise, and made another grab, the second free peg caught him on the arm like a blow from a constable’s truncheon. The sailor uttered a yell for help, but it was cut short by a blow on each side of his neck as Tom’s legs snapped together, and then he fell forward with a splash and was helped out by a couple of his mates, who stood, waist-deep, gazing into the darkness after the boat. ”

“ But many years of teaching by the fishermen and Tom Bodger, the wooden-legged old man-o’-war’s man of Rockabie, had made Aleck, young though he was, an expert manager of a fore and aft sailing boat, and the boy sat fast, rudder in one hand, sheet in the other, ready at the right moment to ease off the rope and by a dexterous touch at the rudder to lessen the pressure upon the canvas so that the boat rose again and raced onward till the great promontory ahead was passed. ”

“ Climb up the dangerous cliff they did by helping one another, and with several halts to look down at the still falling tide; and in one of these intervals Aleck exclaimed:
“But I still can’t see how the smugglers could run a boat up and row into that cavern.”
“Course they couldn’t row, sir,” replied Tom, “on’y shove her in. But don’t you see what a beautiful deep cut there is? Bound to say that at the right time they’d run a big lugger close in. Look yonder! It’s just like the way into a dock, and sheltered lovely. Ah, they’re an artful lot, smugglers! You never know what they’re after.” ”

“ Captain Lawrence listened with knitted brows to his nephew’s narration of all that had taken place in the night, and shook his head.
“It’s miserable work, my boy,” he said; “so piteous for the poor women. Well, perhaps good will come out of evil, and it may be the breaking up of a notorious smuggling gang.”
It was just as Aleck was finishing his third cup of coffee, which he set down sharply in the saucer, startled by the sudden rush of the gardener to the open window, through which he thrust his head without ceremony. ”

“ Aleck drew a long deep breath and tried to tighten up his nerves, ready for what he felt was going to be a desperate encounter with the fierce-looking old man whom from long experience he knew to be harsh, stern, and troubled with a terrible temper, which made him morose and strange at times, his fits lasting for days, during which periods he would hardly speak a word to his nephew, leaving him to himself save when he came upon him suddenly to see that he was not wasting time, but going on with one or other of the studies which the old man supervised, or working in the garden. ”

“ To the lad’s wonderment, no sooner was the lanthorn hidden than instead of the place being intensely dark, it was lit up by a soft translucent twilight, which seemed to rise out of the water where it was disturbed. This light, where the water was wreathing and swaying softly, was of a delicious, transparent blue, and by degrees, as he gazed in awe and wonder, a low archway could be made out spanning a considerable space, but beautifully indistinct, festooned as it was by filaments and ribands of seaweed and wrack, all apparently of a jetty black, seen through water of a wondrous blue. ”

“ Well, I’m very, very sorry for poor Eben’s wife, and—there I go again with my poor Eben. Why should I talk like that about a man who has the character of being a wrecker as well as a smuggler? He was never friendly to me and I quite hate him. But whether the King wants men or whether he doesn’t, I just hate Eben so much that if he wanted to escape back to his wife and asked me to help him I’d do it; and just the same, if the smugglers had caught that young middy and were going to ill-use him—kill him perhaps—why, I’d help him too. ”

“ His bound—if it could be so-called—was very successful, for the next moment he was balanced upon his chest across the gunwale, gripping at the edge of the fore-locker, with his legs sticking out behind, and exulting over the sensation of the boat dancing under him, when he felt himself seized by one of the press-gang party, who had dashed in after the boat and made a grab at the first thing that offered in the dark. ”

“ Ahoy there! Ship ahoy! Is everyone dead, I say? Ship a–a–hoy–y–y–y!” he yelled, in a despairing voice.
“Ahoy there! What’s the matter? That you, Tom Bodger?”
“Bodger it is, Master Aleck. Here, quick, or I shall have both my hands off as well as my legs, and you’ll have to put me out of my misery then.”
“Why, Tom,” cried Aleck, wildly. “What ever—oh!”
The lad wasted no more breath, for he grasped the position as soon as he reached the head of the steps.
“Can you hold on a minute?”
“I can’t, sir, but my fists will,” groaned the man, and then in a hoarse whisper—“Rope!” ”

“ The sides here were not perpendicular, but with just sufficient slope to allow an experienced, cool-headed cliff-climber to descend from ledge to ledge and rock to rock till a nook could be reached, where, securely perched, one who loved cliff-scanning and the beauties of the ever-changing sea and shore, could sit and enjoy the wild wonders of the place. ”

“ For fresh shouts, orders, and another whistle rang out, followed by what was evidently a fierce struggle, accompanied by blows, the sounds as they came out of the darkness being singularly weird and strange.
“Let’s get away, Tom,” said Aleck, huskily; “it’s horrible to listen to it.”
“Yes, sir. Heave away, both together. Now, then, she moves. No, she’s as fast as ever.”
“Oh!” groaned Aleck, striking both hands down with a loud smack upon the boat’s gunwale and then stopping short as if paralysed, for there were quick steps, then a rush, evidently up the nearest narrow way among the sheds. ”

“ Six of the boat’s crew sprang out on to the steps, but there was no prospect of their catching the principal offender, who uttered a derisive yell and started off to run at a rate which would have soon placed him beyond the reach of the sailors; and he knew it, too, as he turned and made a gesture of contempt, which produced a roar of delight from the other boys who stood looking on.
“After him!” yelled the middy to his men, as he stood stamping one foot in his excitement; and then turning to Aleck: “If the cat don’t scratch his back for this my name’s not Wrighton.” ”

“ As to his looks, he was a fine-looking man to just below his hips, and there he had been razed, as he called it to Aleck Donne, while the most peculiar thing about him as he toddled along was what at first sight looked like a prop, which extended from just beneath his head nearly to the ground, as if to enable him to stand, tripod-fashion, steadily on a windy day. But it was nothing of the sort, being only his pigtail carefully bound with ribbon, and the thickest and longest pigtail in the “Ryal Navee.” ”

“ Then the old man spoke, in a curiously suppressed tone of voice.
“Very well,” he said, huskily; “it is what was bound to come sooner or later. I see I have made another of the mistakes which have blasted my existence. I must have time to think out what I shall do. One thing is very evident—you have rebelled against my rule, Aleck, and are struggling to get away to think and act, sir, for yourself. I have done my best for you, but in my isolation I have doubtless been blind and narrow. It is the natural result of our solitary life here—the young spirit seeking to soar.” ”

“ He closed his glass and struck off by the shortest way across the head of the smugglers’ cove, making once more for the high ground beyond, for it commanded the coast in two directions. But long before he reached his favourite spot he again caught sight of the fluttering blue petticoat of a woman, and saw her hurrying inland.
“Poor woman!” thought Aleck. “She needn’t be afraid of me.”
He kept an eye upon her till she disappeared, and then went on to the niche in the rock face, settled himself down with his glass, and watched the cutter’s boat, which was steadily pulling in. ”

“ There were plenty of capital places here where a strong-headed person could go and perch and excite no more notice than a sea-bird. They were what ordinary inshore folk would have called “terribly dangerous,” but such an idea never occurred to Aleck, who selected one of the most risky, in a spot where the vast wall where he stood was gashed by a great crack, which allowed of a descent of some thirty feet to a broad ledge littered by the preenings of the sea-birds, which seemed, though none were present, to have made it their home. ”

“ Away to Aleck’s left was the dazzling stretch of ocean, to his right the cliffs with the stack rocks and a glimpse of the whitewashed group of cottages locally known as Eilygugg, from their overlooking the great isolated, skittle-like, inaccessible stack rocks chosen by those rather rare birds the little auks for their nesting-place year after year. ”

“ By this time the word was passed along the top of the cliff that there was a fight on, and the fishermen began slowly to take themselves off the rail and descend the slope to see the fun, as they called it. They did not hurry themselves in the least, so that there was plenty of time for the encounter to progress, with Aleck still calm and cool, warding off the blows struck at him most skilfully, and mastering his desire to retaliate when he could have delivered others with masterly effect. ”

“ It was a deeply-laid scheme to trap us—shut us up here and leave us to die while he escaped.”
“Nonsense,” cried Aleck. “Why, it would be a horrible murder!”
“Yes; horrible—diabolical—shocking.”
“I don’t believe Eben Megg would be such a wretch,” said Aleck, stoutly.
“What, not a smuggler? They’re the greatest villains under the sun.”
“Are they?” said Aleck, drily.
“Yes, I know that,” cried the middy angrily; “but I’ll let the brute see. I’ll have him hung at the yard-arm for this. He shall find out he made a mistake.” ”

“ Big Jem drew in his oar, with which he had been making the boat progress by means of a fishtail movement, laid it along the thwarts, and then, as the other boy lifted the stone over the bows into the water, which it kissed without disturbance, it was let go and sank with a wavy movement, sending up a long train of glittering bubbles, running the rope out fast till bottom was reached and the boat swung from its stone anchor. ”