CHAPTER XIX
An Awkward Fix
Mr. Selincourt was not the man to let the grass grow under his feetwhen he had any sort of project in hand. He was so rich, too, thathis schemes never had to suffer delay from want of means to carrythem through. Directly he had made up his mind that he meant tohave a fish-curing establishment at Seal Cove, he had the plansdrawn for the buildings, work which fell to Jervis and Mary; then,when these were ready, Astor M'Kree was set to work, with as manyhelpers as could handle a hammer or a saw with any degree ofdexterity.
Never had there been such a summer of work at Seal Cove; everyonewho could do anything was pressed into service. Some of theIndians, tempted by wages, were set to work, and although they wereno good at carpentry, or things of that sort, they did very well atcod-splitting, or, as it was termed, "flaking", and spreading thefish to dry on the flakes, as the structures were called which hadbeen erected on a sunny headland, after the fashion of thefish-flakes at St. John's, Newfoundland, whence the idea was taken.
Already Mr. Selincourt was in treaty for the purchase of land onboth sides of the river. He wanted to possess the river frontageon each bank of the water, from the bay up to the first portage;but the drawback to this was that 'Duke Radford owned nearly threequarters of a mile of frontage close to the store, so it was notlikely that the owner of the fishing fleet would get all the groundinto his own hands.
Mary had a fancy for geology, and when her father had no need ofher help in forwarding his schemes she spent long days in trampingabout the woods and the shore, armed with a hammer and a specimenbag, and accompanied by one or two of the big dogs from the store.True to her resolve, she had lost no time in making friends withthe great, fierce creatures, which roamed as they pleased insummer, as a sort of holiday compensation for the hard work theyhad to do in winter, when stores had to be transported by sledges.She had done her work so thoroughly that the dogs became, notmerely her friends, but her abject slaves, and were ready at anytime to swim the river at her call.
The coast of the bay to the northward was flat and swampy, butsouthward from Seal Cove it stretched in bold headlands andprecipitous rocks for mile on mile, until the mouth of the nextriver spread acres of swamp 'twixt land and sea. Beyond theheadland on which Mr. Selincourt had erected his fish-flakes thereextended miles of broken ground, with split rocks and riven cliffswhich might have been the result of volcanic upheaval, but wereprobably only the product of the intense frost of centuries. Thiswas Mary's happy hunting ground, a place full of scientificsurprises, and full of dangers too. For the rocks were slippery,the heights tremendous, and a fall in many places must have meantcertain death.
Jervis Ferrars had been in his boat one morning along the coast toa certain bay or inlet much beloved of the black-headed gulls.These birds were valuable either for their plucked feathers, or fortheir skins with the feathers left on. They frequented the inletin their tens of thousands, and it had occurred to him that itmight be good business to secure a couple of thousand skins, andget them dry for packing by the time the next boat arrived,probably in the middle of August.
He had beached his boat, and spent an hour or more wandering roundthe crags, and planning the campaign against the luckless gulls,which dozed in sleepy content on the sunny slopes of the inlet.Then, taking to his boat again, he pulled himself back towards SealCove, maturing his plans on the way. He was passing a rockypromontory just before reaching the fish-flakes, when he heard ayelping noise, and, looking up, saw a big dog running to and fro onthe rocks in evident distress. But there were so many big dogsrunning loose in the woods and the wilds at this time of the year,and as they were mostly in distress over something or other, hetook very little notice of the creature, and, working steadily on,arrived in due course at the fish shed.
Jervis was tired, having pulled many miles through a choppy seawith the wind against him, and he was thinking that it would bereally pleasant to sit writing for an hour or two somewhere out ofthe roaring of the wind. Entering his office, he took off hisjacket and sat down on the rough stool before the equally roughdesk where his clerical work was principally done.
But he had not entered two items in his book of takings when Mr.Selincourt came in hastily, with a worried look on his face.
"Have you seen Mary in your travels?" he asked.
"No; I didn't even know that Miss Selincourt was at Seal Cove thismorning," Jervis answered, looking up from his writing.
"She came down a good two hours before I did; said she wanted to goover the rocks to test some ironstone formation which shediscovered the other day. She promised to be back here to meet mewhen I arrived, but that is three hours ago, and she has not comeyet."
Jervis sat looking at him in an abstracted fashion, as if trying tosettle some clue which threatened to escape him; then, with astart, he asked: "Had she a dog with her?"
"Most likely; she never moves very far without one or two of thosegreat brutes from the store to keep her company, and a good thingtoo. I always feel more comfortable about her then, than if shewere alone."
Jervis jumped up and began to pull on his jacket with nervoushaste. He was remembering the dog he had seen on the rocks an houror two ago, and the creature's evident distress, which probablymeant that Miss Selincourt was in trouble also.
"What is the matter?" demanded Mr. Selincourt.
"Nothing, I hope. But as I came home a while ago from the inlet Inoticed a dog on the rocks, a big creature that seemed in trouble.I didn't think much of it then, but of course it must have been theanimal that was with Miss Selincourt, so I am going to see if sheis all right," Jervis answered.
"I will come with you," said Mr. Selincourt.
"Please, no; I can go faster alone. And if she is not really indifficulties we might both miss her, and have a long, anxious huntfor no purpose at all. If you will walk over beyond thefish-flakes, and come to the rocks from that direction, you willeither meet her or meet me," Jervis said, then hurried off to hisboat, which was drawn up on the shore at a little distance from thefish shed.
It must have been two miles away, perhaps three, that he had seenthe dog, and now he blamed himself because he had not taken morenotice of its trouble. The worst of it was, he was not quite sureas to where he had seen the creature. The sky was overcast, andthe weather looked so threatening that, unless he could find MissSelincourt soon, and hurry her home, she would scarcely escape avery bad wetting.
Resting on his oars, he sent out a mighty shout, then waited withevery sense on the alert. One minute passed--two--and when fiveminutes had gone he shouted again, following this up with a whistleso piercing that it fetched a distant echo from the rocks.
But was it an echo?
The sound had scarcely died away when it was repeated again. Amoment later Jervis heard it yet again, and knew for a certaintythat it was no echo, but someone whistling back to him.
The breeze had freshened to a gale that roared in his ears likethunder, as he drew his boat high up beyond reach of the tide thatwas running in strongly; and when the boat was safe he set out toclimb the rocks. Up, and up, a dizzy height he went, findingfoothold with difficulty, for what looked like solid rock had atrick of crumbling when stepped upon, just as if it were rottenmortar.
But he reached the top at last, and paused to look about him,holding fast with both hands, for the force of the wind at thisheight was so great that he feared lest he should be blown away.
On one side was the bay, with great waves, foam-crested, rollingin, to break with a thunderous roar on the beach. Spread out onthe other hand was the wild, rocky waste, full of dangers now, forin the deep valleys between great rock boulders the incoming tidewas rising and making deep pools where a little before had been dryground.
It was these pools that Jervis feared. If Mary had slipped into oneof these deep places she might easily be caught by the risingflood, and drowned before help could reach her.
The mere thought turned him sick, and he whistled shrilly as
before.
The answering whistle came so promptly, and sounded so close, thathe started in surprise, then shouted: "Where are you?"
"Here," replied a voice that sounded so close, so audibly that helooked round in mystification. Then he saw a deep gulch yawningbelow him, and caught the flutter of a handkerchief on the farside. But how could he reach there? Down he plunged with recklesshaste, having little or no regard for his own safety--and, indeed,he who hesitated here was lost, for at every step the rock crumbledand slid under his weight.
"It will be queer work getting back!" he said to himself, thenpressed onward to reach the side of the gulch, where now he couldsee Mary Selincourt crouched on a narrow ledge or shelf against aperpendicular cliff, while the water was rising higher and higher,creeping nearer and nearer to where she sat.
How could he rescue her from there? One hope he had, that hershelf might be above high-water mark, in which case patientendurance would be all that was needed until the tide ran outagain. A glance at the wall of cliff behind Mary proved this hopeto be futile, for the mark of the water showed above her head, andif she were not rescued speedily, he could only stand by and seeher drown.
"Are you hurt?" he called out when he had scrambled low enough totalk to her.
"I have twisted my foot rather badly," she said in an exhaustedtone, "and I seem to have been shouting and whistling for help forso long. I had great difficulty to make the dog leave me and gofor help, but I think it understood at last, because it went off atsuch a pace."
"Well, we must get you out of this as soon as possible, for thetide is coming up fast. Do you mind a wetting!" he asked, creepingdown to the edge of the dividing water, and wondering whether hecould wade or if he must swim.
"Mind or not mind, I shall get one, I expect," she answered, with anervous laugh. "Be careful, Mr. Ferrars, there is a very deepplace just below this shelf, and the water showed there beforeanywhere else; it seemed to ooze up from the bottom."
"I must swim for it, then, I suppose," he said, pulling off hisjacket and his boots; then, slipping into the water, he struck outand crossed the strip of rising tide, which lay like a river alongthe bottom of the gulch.
But when he reached the shelf it was above him, and the cliff wastoo steep for climbing.
"You must roll off that shelf and drop into the water," he said ina sharp, decided tone.
"Oh, I dare not! I cannot swim, and I might be drowned!" criedMary, her face turning ashen white.
"You won't drown--I will catch you. But make haste, this water isso cold that I am afraid of cramp," Jervis said, feeling his teethchatter. Although it was July, there was so much ice in the bay inthe shape of floating bergs that the water was of course fearfullychill.
"I can't do it; I simply can't!" she cried, with a shudder. "Mr.Ferrars, I would rather lie here and drown than have to roll offinto that dreadful water. All my life I have been a coward, and itis of no use expecting me to be brave now."
"You must do as you choose, of course, as you are too high up forme to be able to reach you," he said, keeping his voice as steadyas he could, although his teeth were chattering still; "but all thetime you stay there you keep me here, so in compassing your owndeath you compass mine also."
"Go away, Mr. Ferrars, go away, and save yourself," she groaned."I cannot, I dare not, plunge into that dreadful water!"
"You must; there is no other way to safety. Come, be a brave girl,and take the plunge," he urged, a note of entreaty coming into histone, for life was sweet to him, sweeter than it had ever beenbefore, and it was dreadful to think that he must throw it awaybecause this wilful girl refused to allow herself to be saved. Butshe only covered her face with her hands, moaning and cryingbecause of the panic that had her in its grip.
Then Jervis felt himself lifted higher; the water was rising fast,and now, by straining upward and reaching as far as he could, hemanaged just to touch the shelf whereon Mary was crouched.
"Here I am. Now, take my hand and come," he said urgently.
She only covered her face with her hands and moaned, but would notstir nor look up.
In that narrow gulch they were sheltered from the wind, but therain was beginning to pour down in torrents, and Jervis thoughtgrimly that she would soon be as wet as if she had taken the plunge.
He was kicking vigorously in the water, and was thankful to findthat, now he had got over the first chill, his teeth were notchattering so miserably.
Another ten minutes, he reckoned, would put him high enough in thewater to scramble on to the ledge, and then it would have to be atussle of physical strength, if necessary, for he meant to saveMary somehow, whether she would let him or not.
The minutes dragged slowly on, the rain beat down with tempestuousviolence, and in that dreary gulch it was dark, almost like night.But the water was rising still, and putting out all his strengthJervis dragged himself up on to the shelf of rock. Mary saw himcoming. Then she scrambled to her feet with a cry of fear, and,before he could stretch out an arm to save her, reeled and toppledover into the water.