day about the middle of February they found themselves approaching abeautiful though small island, which, as it was well-wooded and hilly,gave promise not only of water, but of a supply of good things for thelarder as well. The weather was not quite so clear, however, as usual.As the wind seemed freshening and blowing towards the land, the_Gloaming Star_ altered her course, and towards evening found herself atthe lee side of this _terra incognita_, when she dropped anchors, beingsheltered on one side by the rocks, and on another by a long spit ofland, covered with shingle, that jutted out into the sea.
There was no smoke to be seen among the trees, no huts near the shore,never a sign of human life anywhere. The island was as much their ownas Robinson Crusoe's was.
Leonard and Douglas with a boat's crew of five men landed in theafternoon, and after making their boat fast to the trunks of somemangrove trees, that grew near the spit of land, they went away into theinterior on a prospecting expedition.
They found the island far more lovely than they could have imagined intheir wildest dreams. It was indeed a garden of nature--hills andglens, woods and waters, and even inland lakes, foaming cataracts,wondrous trees, and climbing flowers of every shape and colour. Birdsand strange beasts, but nothing apparently hurtful or venomous. And yetall was in the smallest compass.
No wonder that the sun was almost setting before--laden with deliciousfruit--they began to make their way back to the beach.
A FEARFUL GALE.
As long as they were in the shelter of the trees and hills, they had noidea how high it was blowing, but as soon as they gained the beachthings appeared in their true light. The sea, even with the windblowing off the land, was houses high, and like a snow-field with thefroth and spume that covered it. The _Gloaming Star_ could hardly beseen in the midst of the spray and even green seas that dashed over her.
As they gazed despairingly towards her, the gale suddenly increased totenfold its former violence. The waves now made a clean breach over thespot of land that sheltered the ship, if shelter it could be called.Gravel, sand, earth, and dead branches were torn off the ground andhurled into the air; it got darker and darker; the lightning playedquick, vivid, and bright everywhere about them; and high over theroaring of wind and water rose the deafening rattle of thunder. Whiletrees were being uprooted in the woods, or snapped like twigs, and thewhole island was shaken to its very foundation, Leonard and his partywere creeping on all fours to the shelter of a rock, and night fell justas they found themselves safe inside a cave on the sea-beach.
All that night the wind howled and roared, and the rain came down intorrents. Sleep was out of the question, for the thunder was constant,and by the glimmer of the lightning's flash they could see each other'sblue, pale faces as they crouched on the sandy floor of the cave.
Morning broke at last, and the wind went down, the sun rose and shoneluridly over the heaving waters, and they stood together on thesea-beach--alone!
The _Gloaming Star_ was nowhere to be seen, but whether she broke hermoorings, and drifted out to sea to founder, or whether Captain Blunthad thought it would be safer to run before the fearful gale, they couldnot guess.
The wind still blew stiff, but the force of the hurricane was spent.They went to the place where the boat had been left. It had beensmashed to pieces, hardly a timber was left, and the keel stuck up outof a sandbank, beside the tree to which the painter had been attached.
Leonard looked at Douglas, and Douglas at Leonard, and both smiled,though somewhat sadly. The same thoughts were evidently passing throughthe minds of each.
"Well," said Douglas, "if the ship is safe, and I believe she is, she issure to come back for us."
"And a few days or even weeks in so beautiful a place won't hurt," saidLeonard.
"This is like being marooned, isn't it, gentlemen?" one of the sailorsremarked.
"Well, it is being marooned by fortune, but we must make the best ofit."
In the bright lexicon of youth there is no such word as "fail." Thereshould not be, at all events; and so these deserted sailors at once setabout making the best of a bad job.
They had hope in their hearts--which were stout ones all of them--andafter a bit they quite enjoyed their Crusoe life.
They had axes, and spades, and knives, and guns, and plenty ofammunition; but even had they possessed none of these tools, they couldhave lived on the fruit that grew so abundantly everywhere, on bushes onthe hills, and on trees in every glade and glen.
As gales of wind or hurricanes might come again and level the strongesthut they could build, they determined to become for a timecave-dwellers. They searched for, and found farther inland, and up on aterrace in the side of a woody hill, just the place that would suit--alarge, dry, lofty cave in sight of the sea. They at once set aboutfitting it up for a dwelling. The floor was covered deep in silverysand. Nothing could be better, whether to squat in by day, or sleep onby night. The entrance to the cave was built up with felled trees,leaving only a small entrance for light, and a doorway. Thus thedwelling-house was speedily completed.
"Why not," said Leonard, "fortify this terrace?"
"Good," replied Douglas; "we have nothing else to do, and I can't forgetthat footstep in the sand of Crusoe's Isle."
"And as we never know what may happen," continued Douglas, "I proposethat we store our guns and ammunition, and trap game for our food."
This proposal was carried unanimously.
Some of the men were clever trappers, and others were good fishermen, sothere was no want of food, and water was abundant.
On the sea-beach a fire was kindled, and day and night this was kept up,sentries being always posted here, armed.
The rampart was soon completed round the terrace, and a strong one itwas.
A whole week had gone, and as yet nothing had been seen of the _GloamingStar_, and the hopes of our heroes began to get very low indeed.
A whole week, then another and another. Their hearts sank with eachrecurring day. They got tired even of the beauty of the island, andtired and sick of gazing always out to the sea, which looked to them nowso void and merciless. They envied even the sea-birds, that seemed sohappy and joyous, and whom nothing could imprison.
"It would be a good idea," said Douglas one day, "to build a boat andsail away somewhere."
"Yes, but whither?"
"Yes, whither?" repeated Douglas sadly.
One day, while roaming together on the other side of the island,suddenly there sprang up in front of Leonard and Douglas, as if from thevery earth, a naked savage. He stood but for a moment, then waving aclub aloft with a wild shout of fear and wonder, he fled far away intothe woods.
They returned to the cave, and reported what they had seen, and allagreed that though danger might accrue from the visit of natives to theisland, still it might end in their being set free.
It was determined, however, to be now doubly vigilant. The sentry wasno longer placed on the beach but inside the rampart, and never lessthan four men went to the woods together.
Days and days went past, a sad time of doubt and uncertainty, and stillno signs of savages. They came at last, however.
And one morning, looking down over the ramparts, they could see a groupof tall, armed, and painted natives, standing on the sand spit examiningthe broken keel of the boat.
Then they disappeared in the bush.
Arms were got out now; the one little gate that led through the rampartwas doubly barricaded; the little garrison waited and watched.
The forenoon wore on, birds sang in the trees, the low wind sighedthrough the woods, and the lovely flowers opened their petals to bask inthe sweet sunshine. There were joy and gladness everywhere except inthe hearts of those anxious mariners.
The day wore on, and the sun began to decline in the west. Our heroeshad just finished dinner when the sentry lifted his finger, and beckonedto them. Through an opening in the rampart they could perceive fully ascore of club- and spear-armed savages creeping stealthily up the h
ill.
As soon, however, as they were boldly hailed from the fort--for fort itmight now be considered--they cast all attempts at concealment aside,and with a yell that was re-echoed back from every rock around theydashed onwards to the attack.
"Steady, men. Take good aim, and don't throw away a shot."
A volley completely staggered the enemy. They fell back quicker thanthey had come, going helter-skelter down the hill, and leaving severaldead and wounded behind them.
Not for long though. Savages may be beaten, but if there is theslightest chance to overcome by numbers they invariably return.
The day passed, however, and eke the long, dreary night, during which noone closed an eye till the sun once more rose over the sea in themorning. Most of the men slept all the forenoon. Luckily they did, forin the afternoon the savages returned in redoubled numbers, and thistime many of them actually swarmed over the ramparts, but only to befelled inside.
It was a terrible _melee_, but ended once more in victory for our side.
A whole week now wore away without further molestation, but the worstwas to come, for the garrison was reduced to five defenders, two havingbeen wounded in the last fight, one of whom had succumbed to his wounds.
It was early in the morning, and the stars were still shining bright andclearly over the sea, when one of the sentries reported the woods onfire to windward. The flames spread with alarming rapidity, and bydaybreak were close at hand; the fort was enveloped in smoke, whilesparks as thick as falling snowflakes in a winter's storm were showeredaround them.
In the midst of smoke and fire the savages intended making their finalattempt to carry the fort, and our heroes determined to sell their livesdearly, and fight to the end.
Already they could hear the yells of the approaching spearmen, thoughthey were invisible.
But why come they not on? Why does the yelling continue and go fartherand farther back and away? Hark! it is the ring of firearms.
Oh, joy! the _Gloaming Star_ must have returned. But was this reallyso? No, for the white men now engaged in a hand-to-hand combat withthose daring savages are men of a different class from the honest crewof the _Gloaming Star_.
The sound of the battle grows fainter and fainter, till it ceasesentirely.
Leonard and Douglas wait and watch, trying to peer through the smoke,and unravel, if possible, some of the mystery that has been taking placebelow.
Dimly through the haze at last they can notice figures dressed in whiteclambering up the hill.
"Come out at once, you white fellows," cries a bold English voice."Come forth, if you don't want to be roasted alive. The fire is closeon you."
The rampart gates were opened, and the besieged bade speedy farewell forever to their cave and fort. Sturdy, bare, brown-armed sailors, armedwith cutlasses and pistols, were their rescuers, but presently theyfound themselves on the beach, and standing in front of the ringleaderor captain of the band. A tall handsome man he was, dressed in white,with a turban of silk around his head, and a sword by his side. He wassmoking a cheroot.
"Happy to see you, anyhow," he said. "Squat yourselves down on the sandthere; I guess you're tired."
"And I, Captain Bland, am glad to see _you_ once again."
"What! you know me then?"
"Yes, though you can hardly be expected to remember the lad youkidnapped."
Bland jumped up and seized Leonard by the hand, while tears filled hiseyes.
"Oh!" he said, "this is a greater joy then ever I could have dreamt of,greater than ever I deserved. I care little now how soon my wanderingsare ended, or how soon I leave the world itself."
"Do not speak in this sad tone, Captain Bland; believe me, it is apleasure to me to meet you. I never believed you the hardened criminalthat some would have you."
"Criminal!" cried Bland, flushing excitedly, "who dare call me criminal?And yet," he added, in a tone of great sadness, and even pathos,"perhaps I have been a criminal, a smuggler, yea, even to some extent apirate. I have never yet, however, done one cruel action; but had I mylife to begin over again, how different it would all be!"
"And that barque lying out there is yours?"
"Yes; and my trade you would ask? I deal in slaves and gold. I havefound gold. But what good is it all? I live a life of constantexcitement; were this to fail me I should die. But you saved myworthless life, lad."
"And now you have saved ours."
"Yes, and I'll do more. I'll restore you to your ship and your captain.He it was who sent me here in search of you, but he mentioned no name,and little did he know the pleasure he was giving me."
"And the _Gloaming Star_?"
"Is in the hands of my merry men. Do not be alarmed. It was abloodless victory. And now she shall be restored to you safe and sound.
"Come, my boats are here to take you off, and your ship lies safe atanchor not sixty miles away. Come."
Book 3--CHAPTER FIVE.
THE OLD FOLKS AT HOME.
"Gloomy winter's noo awa, Soft the westlin' breezes blow, Amang the birks o' Stanley Shaw The mavis sings hoo cheery O?"
Burns.
"I asked a glad mother, just come from the post, With a letter she kissed, from a far-away coast, What heart-thrilling news had rejoiced her the most, And--gladness for mourning! Her boy was returning To love her--at home."
Tupper.
Scene: The wildery round Grayling House in early spring. Everything ingardens and on lawns looks fresh and joyful. Spring flowers peepingthrough the brown earth, merle and mavis making music in the spruce andfir thickets, and louder than all the clear-throated chaffinch. Effiewalking alone with book in hand, a great deerhound, the son of faithfulOssian, following step by step behind.
Effie is not reading, though she holds that book in her hand, and albeither eyes seem glued to the page. For Effie is thinking, only thinkingthe same thoughts she thinks so very often, only making the samecalculations she makes every day of her somewhat lonely life, and whichoften cause her pillow at night to be bedewed with tears.
Thinking, wondering, calculating.
Thinking of the past, thinking what a long, long time has elapsed sinceLeonard and Douglas--her brother's friend--went last away to sea;wondering where they might be at that very moment, and calculating theweeks and days that had yet to elapse before the time they had promisedto return should arrive. She finished by breathing a little prayer forthem. What a joyful thing it is for us poor mortals, that He, Whosticketh closer than a brother, is ever and always by our side, and everand always ready to lend a willing ear to our silent supplications!
Effie ended with a sigh that was half a sob, a sigh that made great Orlathe deerhound thrust his muzzle right under her elbow, and so throw herarm around his neck.
What would Effie have thought or done, I wonder, had she known that atthis very moment Leonard's ship lay safe at Leith, and that not only he,but Douglas and Captain Blunt, were making all the haste that could bemade in a chaise and pair towards Glen Lyle?
On the arrival of the _Gloaming Star_, our heroes first and foremost didsomething which may not accord with my readers' idea of romance. A mostuseful and most needful something it was. They paid a visit to a WestEnd tailor. Before doing so, however, they went to Captain Lyle'slawyer.
The old man--he was very old--did not at first know Leonard, but as soonas he did, he shook hands with him over and over again. He was almostchildlike in his joy to see him again.
"What will your father say?" he cried, "and all of them, all of them?"
Of course Leonard had a dozen questions to ask, and what a big sigh ofrelief he got rid of, when told that not only were all of them well,including Peter and Peter's pike, which by some means or another--considered supernatural by Peter--was once more all alive and plunging,but that the estate of Glen Lyle was free again, and that CaptainFitzroy had rented one of the farms, thus figuratively, if notliterally, turning his sword into a ploughshare.
Leonar
d had stood all the time he was getting this news, but now thatthe hysterical ball of doubt and anxiety had left his throat, he flunghis hat to the other end of the room, and took a chair. Douglas andBlunt did the same, and the whole four glided right away into a rightjolly, right merry whole hour's conversation, what the Scotch folkswould call "a foursome crack." The old lawyer's clerk--and _he_ wasold, too--came on tiptoe to the door and listened, for he had not heardsuch laughing and joking and merriment for many and many a long year.
The wanderers rose at last to say good-bye for the present.
"_Now_ don't write and tell them we've come," said Leonard. "We want togo and surprise them."
"But, my dear young squire--"
"Bother the squire!" cried Leonard, laughing.
"Well, my dear Leonard, then--"
"Yes, that's better."
"Aren't you going right away down at once? Do you mean to say you'lllet the grass grow beneath your shoes for an hour?"
And now Douglas put in his oar.
"Why, Mr Fraser," he said, "look at us. Run your eagle eye over usfrom stem to stern. Rough and unkempt. Covered with salt. Barnaclesgrowing on us. Could you, Mr Fraser, suggest our putting in anappearance before ladies in such a plight? No, sir, the tailor mustfirst and foremost come upon the scene."
Mr Fraser laughed heartily.
"Well, well," he said, "young men will be young men, but I'll warrantyou, gentlemen, the ladies would be right glad to see you, barnacles andall."
And the old gentleman laughed and rubbed his hands, as if he had saidsomething very clever indeed.
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Once upon a time, as the fairy stories