CHAPTER VII. TO THE LAND'S END AND FURTHER. WAKING next morning with a feeling of lassitude and oppression, Nero, my little negro boy, who had brought in hot water and was putting out my things, turned round with the broadest smile that he could compass, and that was saying a good deal. "Fine breeze, sar, W.S.W. The ship am standing off and on, and the Capen ask if you like to take the young ladies ashore at Dawlish. And, sar, de Doctor am gone off." Yes, the Doctor had actually started at daybreak for Exeter, and where he was going after that nobody knew; but he was likely to be away some days. And we were all like so many school-children when the dominie has taken holiday. Captain Riaz at once became lively and talkative. After we had landed at Dawlish, and taken a hasty glance at its beautiful cove, with its hanging woods and precipitous cliffs, we had the merriest breakfast imaginable. We said the most respectful and affectionate things of the Doctor; but we had the feeling that he might be conscious of what we were saying of him. After breakfast we went ashore at Teignmouth, for there is a whole string of beautiful watering-places along the shores of this charming bay, and the coast, here trending strongly to the southward, as if intending to join on to the European continent, forms a series of bays and coves, like so many pearls on a string. And all through this summer-time the shore seems lined with happy, joyous people, and the talk and chatter mingles with the scream of sea-birds and the gentle murmur of the surge, while now the notes of bands of music, and now the roar of a train, as it whirls among cliffs and precipices, to settle shrieking among the roofs of some quiet town, come softly out to sea in one general note of festive celebration. But Torquay was the surprise to all who had not already seen the place, with its sunny, riant aspect, and the wealth of its gardens and pleasure-grounds scattered over hill and dale, with houses everywhere showing pleasantly among rich and luxuAnd sailing across Torbay we landed on Brixham Quay, and drank a cup of Bohea to the pious memory of William of Orange, who also landed there lang syne, which we were told was the riant groves. proper thing to do. And from Brixham we drove across country to King's Wear, which is the ferry for Dartmouth, and in that noble estuary we found the "Star of the Night" riding safely at anchor, her captain satisfied for once with his berth, and willing to stay there as long as we liked, or, at any rate, until further orders from Dr. Zamien. But sailing orders came all too soon. We had just sailed up the magnificent estuary of the River Dart to Totnes, and admired the pleasant old town on the hill, with its castle, keep, and fragments of ancient walls, and old houses with quaint gables and piazzas. But we had hardly explored all the ins and outs of picturesque Dartmouth, with its ancient churches and steep streets, which have been trodden by the Crusaders, and do not seem to have changed essentially since. But the Captain's orders were for Plymouth, there to await the Doctor. And coming to weather Start Point, we found rather a heavy sea rolling in from the Atlantic, and dashing in foam against the huge cliffs, although the breeze was but light and fitful. The light wind and heavy sea were rather disconcerting to the Captain, who feared that the yacht would roll the masts out of her, or come to some other mishap, and he was glad to hail a tug, which took us to an anchorage just within Plymouth breakwater. we had not long the opportunity of enjoying the life and movement of this noble basin, which Nature and art combined to render one of the noblest harbours in the world, when the Doctor was descried steaming out to us in one of the harbour launches. But The weather being favourable and the wind off shore, we were able to run pretty close to the rugged coast of Cornwall, and passed the Lizard by daylight, "speering" right into lovely Kynance Cove, with its sea-green waves and white floor of lovely sand, and its huge rocks with their strange metallic hues, and soon after opening out Mount's Bay, with Saint Michael's Mount rising grandly out of the sea, with Penzance shining beyond, glorified in the golden rays of the setting sun, which tinged all the coast with splendour. But when once Nature had put the shutters up, it came on to blow, and we got the full force of a heavy sea. Luckily for us, the wind backed into the east, and we ran before the gale through the howling wilderness of waters, the moon rising over the bleak, dreary headland of the Land's ing under us, and that our graves were End, and gleaming on the white crests yawning for us in the dark waters. At of the surges that broke on the rugged that supreme moment our lips met in one barrier of rocks crowned by the Longships long kiss; it was not so hard to perish Lighthouse. together. After rounding the headland the weather moderated a little, though still pretty bad; but the sight of the rugged, fearful shore along which we were running was not reassuring. Cape Cornwall is almost as grim as the Land's End; and all along that coast, according to the old saying, is a watery grave by day and night for the shipwrecked seaman. What with the scream of the wind, and the ceaseless roar of the surf against cliffs and rocks, no one could sleep on board the "Star of the Night." Constance and Madame Valerien came on deck, and in the shelter of the poop they watched the grand but awful spectacle of the wild surf, illuminated by the moonbeams, beating against the rocks, and of the heavy seas that followed us incessantly, but which the good ship, speeding onwards, seemed always to outstrip. The lights that gleamed upon us from headland after headland were the only cheerful features of the scene, although these indicated where frowning cliffs forbade all hope of safety, or bristling rocks that threatened de struction to all who approached them. "Mon Dieu!" cried Madame Valerien, drawing her cloak about her, as she shuddered at the sights and sounds about her. "And people traverse these dreadful scenes for pleasure! " "Have no fear, madame," cried the Doctor, who stood behind us, and who understood the gesture if he could not hear the speech. "You are as safe here as in your arm-chair at home." At this moment a sudden shock threw us all against the panels of the poop, the yacht seemed to leap into the air, and next moment she broached to, and a huge combing wave swept the deck from end to end, amid the crashing of timbers, a general sound of breaking and rending, and a sharp cry of horror forced from all the souls on board, which rose above the howling of the wind and the roaring of the sea. But the gallant ship rose bravely to the surface, shaking off the waters which dashed in torrents from her sides. The Captain's voice could be heard over all the din; he had sprung to the wheel and brought the ship to the wind. Masts and rigging were safe, although the sea had made a clean sweep of the decks, smashing the boats on the davits. The mainsail was threshing wildly about, threatening to knock the brains out of anybody who approached; but half-a-dozen seamen threw themselves upon it and secured it. What had happened-had the shipstruck on a sunken rock-were her timbers pierced and was she even now sinking beneath us? No, it was an explosion that had done the mischief. There was a huge gap in the vessel's side. She was strongly built, and with water-tight bulkheads, or she would have gone straight to the bottom; as it was, she might float for a few hours. The Captain was calm and full of resource. A sail was bent over the huge gap in the yacht's side, the pumps were rigged, and all hands set to work to clear the ship. There was no anchorage near at hand, no probability that a boat could live in such a sea, while the rocky coast was not likely to belie its promise of a watery grave to any thrown upon its mercies. Our best chance was to stick to the ship and keep her on her course. The crew was mustered; one man was missing, Shiney, the Chinese Lascar. Soon after, his dead body was found in the wreck of the after-cabin. He had evidently perished in his anxiety to secure the success of the explosion. The cabins devoted to the ladies were wrecked from top to bottom. Thanks to the measures taken by Captain Riaz, our chances were now fairly good. The wind had gone down with the tide, and the long combing swell from the Atlantic was now the chief enemy to fear. Riaz smiled when the Doctor called for the paraffin can, and began to dribble the oil gently on the waters from the broken stern. But the effect was marvellous; the oil spread a surface of unbroken water behind us. I HAD seized Constance with one arm, Another wave breaking over us would have while with the other I held on to a probably sent us to the bottom. But thanks staunchion like grim death; but I expected mainly to the Doctor's device, no other nothing else than that the yacht was sink-wave did make a break of it, and before CHAPTER VIII. IN SIGHT OF TINTAGEL. long the carpenter had so far strengthened the temporary stopping of the gap in the ship's side that immediate danger was at an end. Yet when day broke the appearance of things was forlorn and miserable enough. Where had been the gay saloon and wellappointed cabins, was now a wreck of shattered timbers, broken fittings, and fragments of lamps and mirrors. Yet the iron box in which the Doctor kept his valuables, that was safe, and when it was discovered among the wreck of things, Zamien's face lost its look of anxiety. respected aunts." And away went the train, while I returned sadly to the shore. The rest of the voyage passed without particular incident. The breeze fell light, the sea became calm. Off Padstow Head we were hailed by a tug from Bristol, and Riaz made an agreement with the captain to tow the yacht to that port, where she might be repaired and refitted. And as all danger was now over, and Padstow was conveniently near to Fairview, I determined to go ashore in the Priscilla' and lay her up in her usual berth there. The evening was calm and golden; the yacht, with her tapering masts and cobweb tracery of rigging, lay becalmed on the purple sea; the tug, in a cloud of sulphurous vapour, hovered close by, ready to begin her homeward voyage. In the distance rose the craggy height of Tintagel, its round towers tinged with the roseate hues of sunset, and beyond we could just distinguish the crenellated summit of Mervyn Tower; and the stern crest of Megissey Hill, and the ancient cromlech on its summit, rising against the dark sky-line, caught the last rays of the setting sun. The sea had now moderated, and we were able to launch the deck-boats, including the "Priscilla," whose graceful form was pleasant to see after her seclusion, and both Riaz and I urged upon the Doctor that he should be put ashore with the ladies, while the rest of us tried to save the ship and bring her into port. We were now off St. Ives Bay, and landing would be easy, and at St. Ives there was a railway station, so that they might be all in London before evening. This advice the Doctor owned to be good. But first there was the body of the wretched Shiney to dispose of. On this nothing had been found either in the way of documents or personal belongings; but his clothes were of superior texture and material to those of the ordinary Lascar; and about his neck was found a silken cord curiously twisted, and very To be home again! To come upon the strong though fine, and knotted with seven calm and seclusion of Fairview, in the knots. The Doctor regarded this with soft stillness of a summer morning! There curiosity mingled, it seemed to me, with is the old house, long and low, festooned some inquietude, and took it into his own with roses, with heliotrope in great purple possession. Then the remains of Shiney clusters, with geraniums overhanging the were slung into the deep, attached to a porch, while its limits are lost in a thicket heavy shot, and unattended by any bene-of myrtle and flowering shrubs. All round dictions. I knew the way well enough into the port of St. Ives, and taking the tiller of the "Priscilla," our landing was effected without any difficulty. A train was on the point of starting, and the Doctor's treasure chest was safely deposited in the luggage-van with Murad, the Doctor's servant, to watch over it. "Waste no tears at parting," said the Doctor to his ward; "we shall meet again sooner, perhaps, than you expect." But there were tears in Constance's dark eyes as I pressed her hands in mine, and Madame Valerien whispered: "Do not lose sight of us, Monsieur Bertram, for we trust chiefly in you." "Hôtel Métropole' for letters," cried the Doctor; "and my compliments to your PART II. MERVYN TOWER, rise grim, dark rocks, their jagged summits peering over into this little paradise; and over all the bleak, black summit of Megissey Hill, and the monolith at the top that tradition said had been hurled there by some giant at Mervyn Tower, and there arrested by more powerful enchantment. And in contrast with the rude gloom of these surroundings was the dainty neatness and propriety of everything about Fairview. Aunt Priscilla, at work on crewels under the deodara, in a morning gown that is frilled, and puckered, and puffed in the most bewitching way; Aunt Judith, delicately simple, is writing up her diary beneath the shade of the laburnum, a rich Indian rug under her feet, and a white fleecy shawl about her neck, although the lawn is soft and dry as any carpet, and the air of the softest and balmiest. "" Arthur," she said at last, laying her Matthews, their maid, is discreetly waiting hand on my arm, "I have a confession for the moment when the one shall have to make which I am afraid to make to my finished her paragraph, and the other cousins. I fancy, do you know, that they completed a critical stitch, to announce : have intended something different and, "Please, my ladies, luncheon is ready, Arthur, I have promised somebody else— and Master Arthur has arrived." I mean somebody they know nothing about." My good aunts welcomed me home with evident delight. But they would not hear a word as to my cruise, nor as to the attachment I had formed on board the "Star of the Night." They took up the gossip of the neighbourhood, they talked literature and art, but they ignored my recitals altogether; and when I attempted to relate any of my late experiences they fended me off in the adroitest manner. Justice Bompas, to give him his usual title, joined us before the meal was concluded; late as usual, he had been detained on the bench by an important case-an old beggar woman had stolen an apron off a hedge-and he, too, seemed to have received instructions not to listen to any of my adventures. "Dear Mr. Bompas," said Aunt Priscilla, as she rose from table, " has promised to give us this afternoon for the discussion of important business. You, my dear Arthur, will please drive to the station to meet your cousin, Julia Danvers, who is expected by the 5.25 train." "Well, there is no high treason in that," I remarked, for Julia's confession, although it certainly relieved me from a great embarrassment, had a somewhat chilling effect at the moment. "But you think they had other views for me?" asked Julia, naïvely. "I think they wanted you to marry me," I replied, gloomily. "That is just what I thought," said Julia, who had the grace to blush; "and it would have been so nice in some respects. But, Arthur, I want you to help me out of my scrape." "I will come and give you away, if that's what you mean. " "There is no question of giving away," said Julia, sadly. "I am the lass who loves a sailor, and he is, I fear, poor. You know I have next to nothing in the way of expectations; but Cousin Priscilla has always promised that if I married satisfactorily she would give me five thousand pounds as my very own." "She thought it would all be in the family," I interjected. Then I saw the little plot. Julia had been sent for as a sort of balm or medicament, to arrest the effect of what my aunts "That is what I feared," said Julia; deemed an unsuitable attachment. Julia, "and I am afraid she will refuse to conas a young girl, had been rather angular sider my poor Eugene satisfactory as long and bony-her fists were hard, as I knew as you are in the way. But could not to my sorrow, although we had been great you, Arthur, make it out that the obstacle friends and allies at times; but the Julia is on your side, that you think me diswho sprang lightly from the railway agreeable and ill-tempered, as I dare say carriage at Holsworthy station was a I am?" charming and beautiful woman. She was Devonshire, real Devonshire-tall, majestic, yet not heavy; ox-eyed, only Julia's eyes were of a deep violet-blue, which is not common among oxen; and she had golden hair, and a complexion of milk and roses. There was something of a bustle at the station with loads of London people, who were coming to spend the season on the coast; but every body turned to look at Julia, and I felt rather proud to be her charioteer. Ah, if one had not experienced the genuine passion of love, how easy to fancy oneself in love with Julia! Julia rattled away during the early part of our drive; but as we approached Fairview she became somewhat silent and embarrassed. "You are all that is charming and desirable, Julia, and I should not be believed if I asserted any other opinion. But I might plead a prior attachment." "And who would believe that?" asked Julia. "Have we not known each other all our lives nearly? But if you are supposed to have refused me, no matter why, I am sure my cousin will console me handsomely for my disappointment." I promised Julia that I would do all I could for her, although I did not see my way to pacify my aunts on my own account. There was a small dinner-party at Fairview that evening. Mr. Bompas had remained, of course, and Major Andrews and his wife were there, with Captain Polwele, R.N., elderly but sprightly, and supposed to entertain a hopeless attachment for one of the sisters Pensilion, After dinner, as the evening was fine and the moon would rise presently, a walk was proposed over the hill to Mervyn Tower. Aunt Judith was engaged in a game of piquet with Captain Polwele, her sister and Mrs. Andrews were deep in a discussion as to stitches and fancy work in general. Julia and the justice, who was full of old-fashioned gallantry, paired off for the walk, and the Major and I soberly brought up the rear. Perhaps we shall see the ghost tonight," said the Major. "Old Jacob says he generally walks about the time of the full moon. " Old Jacob lived in the old lodge, from which there stretched an avenue of gnarled and twisted oaks, stag-headed, wind wrecked trees, for nothing could resist the wild winds that often raged over the rugged promontory. To-night, though it was fine and fair, the roar of the surges formed a strange music in the air, the full diapason of which burst upon us as we reached the higher level. As Jacob was pretty sure to be asleep by this time, we took the liberty of entering the grounds by a gap in the wall, and by the weird and eldritch-looking avenue we reached the scarred and weathered front of the old mansion. The moss-covered balustrades of a terrace showed of a chill grey colour in the moonlight, and here and there a broken urn, and in the midst of an ancient grass-plat the basin of a fountain backed by an old yew-tree and a hedge of the same, once curiously clipped and shaped, but now all formless and overgrown. "And now for the tower," cried Julia. "Arthur, a race to the tower." We knew the pathway well, which led through the old flower-garden, and through a posterngate, whose wicket had long decayed; and then by a little glen that had perhaps once been a moat, for it encircled the old tower, and some fir-trees had found shelter and nourishment there, and surrounded the place with a dark band of foliage. We soon reached the rocky mound from which the tower rose, with its pointed doorway built up with solid masonry. And below us, encompassed by the sea roaring hollowly in its deep caves and rifled chasms, rose the awful rock "of dark Tintagel by the Cornish sea," crowned by the ruined towers of Arthur's Castle; the grey walls touched by the moonlight and illumined by a faint meteoric glow from the glittering wreaths of foam that were tossed upwards by the wild surges. But see, there is a light upon Tintagel rock, the blue and blinding gleam of a lightning flash, and thunder roars and rattles in deep volleys over our head. The tower against which we lean rocks and trembles to its base, and hollow reverberations sound from the ground beneath us as if from hollow caves or subterranean dungeons. "This is a little too horrid, Arthur," cried Julia, "let us run for it." And run we did till we heard the voices of the other two, who had taken refuge in the porch of the house, for rain had begun to fall in huge drops, and presently there came a tropical deluge which kept us all in the shelter of the gloomy porch till it was over. Then the moon shone out again, and as we were hastening away we saw old Jacob with a lantern coming towards the house. "Now you gentlefolk mustn't come here any more," he called, when he saw us, "'cause the place is taken. The fam❜ly ain't coming back just yet, and so we got orders to let it." "That is old Jacob's craze," said Bompas; "always the place is to be let because the family are not coming back just yet." "And don't you git over the wall no more," continued Jacob. "Justices trespassing and gitting over walls ain't righteous dealing, neither. Just you come along by the gate." Jacob let us out at the gate. But just at the turning of the road, we heard the cracking of whips, and the clatter of hoofs, and the rattle of wheels in the narrow, stony lane, and a chaise and four horses with postilions dashed by, all splashed and covered with mud. A lightning flash revealed the interior of the carriage for a moment, and there sat Dr. Zamien, or else it was Mephisto himself. |