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Devon Boys: A Tale of the North Shore, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 36. The Lugger's Return |
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_ CHAPTER THIRTY SIX. THE LUGGER'S RETURN The lieutenant staggered back from the effects of the blow. But recovering, he whipped out his sword and made at Bigley, who hesitated for a moment and then dashed up the cliff-side, dodging in and out among the rocks, and he was twenty yards away before the lieutenant had gone ten, and gaining at every leap. Seeing that he could not catch him, the lieutenant drew a pistol from his belt and would have fired, but my father caught his arm. "Stop, sir," he cried; "he is but a boy." By this time the coxswain and four men had leaped ashore and run to their leader's side. "Up and bring him back," shouted the lieutenant fiercely, and wresting his arm free he fired at Bigley, but where the bullet went nobody could say, it certainly did not go very near Bigley, who knew every rock and crevice on the side of the headland, and wound his way in and out, and higher and higher, leaving his pursuers far behind. "Forward! Quick!" roared the lieutenant; but it did not seem to me that the sailors got on very quickly, for they kept on losing ground, and it was so hopeless an affair at last that they were called off, and descended to follow their officer to the boat. He did not come near us where we stood in a group, and we saw him spring into the gig; but all at once he leapt out again and walked swiftly to us. "Here," he said authoritatively, as if he had forgotten something, and he pointed to the cottage. "Whose house is that?" "Mine," said my father promptly. The lieutenant looked disappointed, and turned sharply back again. "It is my house," said my father as soon as the officer was out of hearing, and as if speaking to himself. "If he had said, 'who lives there?' it would have been a different thing. He would have burnt and destroyed everything." We stood watching the gig as the lieutenant returned and it was pushed off. It was not long reaching the cutter, whose sails were hoisted rapidly, and, filling as they were sheeted home, the graceful vessel began to glide away from the shore, and soon afterwards was careening over and heading for the west in pursuit of the lugger or luggers, whichever it might be. "There, my lads," said my father, "you may go and look for your companion. He can come down safely now." "Will the cutter come back, father?" I said. "I daresay it will, to see if Uggleston's lugger returns; but I don't think the lugger will, and certainly Uggleston will not dare to return here to live for some time to come." "Then what's to become of Bigley?" cried Bob Chowne. "His father must settle that, my lad." "But till he does, father?" I said. "Will he stay here?" "Certainly, my boy. Why not? His father rents the cottage, and his son has a perfect right there." "You will not turn him out, then, because his father is a smuggler?" "I always try to be a just man, Sep," replied my father quietly. "Ahoy!" came from high up over our heads, and, looking up there, we could see Bigley standing on the highest part of the headland waving his cap. "Come down!" shouted Bob and I in a breath, and he heard us, gave his cap another wave, and disappeared. He was not long in scrambling down to us, my father stopping till he came up looking very much abashed. "Well, sir," said my father sternly. "What have you to say for yourself for striking one of his majesty's officers?" Bigley's manner changed directly, his face flushed and he set his teeth as he raised his head boldly. "He called my father a dog and a thief," cried Bigley fiercely, "and-- and--I don't want to offend you, Captain Duncan, but I couldn't stand by and hear him without doing something." "And you did do something, my lad," said my father, holding out his hand--"a very risky something. But there, I'm not going to say any more about it. Now, tell me; your father has given you some instructions, I suppose?" Bigley hesitated a moment. "Yes, sir; he said that he should not be able to come back here, but he would write to me." "Yes; go on." "And that I was to stay with Mother Bonnet as long as you would let me, and when you turned us out, we were to take lodgings in Ripplemouth." "When I turned you out!" said my father angrily. "Pish! Ah, well, stop till I turn you out then. There, I must go now, Sep; this will be a broken day for you. Bring your two friends over to the Bay, and we'll have tea and dinner all together." He turned off and left us, but I saw him give Bigley a very friendly nod and smile as he went away, and I felt sure that he rather admired what Bigley had done, though he kept up the idea of being very fierce and indignant with him for striking an officer of the royal navy. As soon as we were well alone Bob Chowne threw himself on the ground and began to laugh and wipe his eyes. "Oh, what a game!" he cried, as he rolled about. "Didn't old Big run?" "Enough to make anybody run when a bullet was after him," I said. "But how he did go up the rocks. Just like a big rabbit. I say, Big, you were frightened." "Yes, that I was," said Bigley frankly; "I don't know when I felt so scared. Made sure he would hit me, and then that the sailors would cut me down with their swords." This disappointed Bob, who had fully expected to hear a denial of the charge of fear, and he sat up and stared at the speaker, who turned to me then. "Why, Sep," he said, "they must have worked hard in the night to get all those things away. Do you know, I'm sure that must have been the _Hirondelle_. I wonder how they managed to get off." "I know," I said suddenly. "Yah! Not you," cried Bob. "Hark at old cock Solomon, who knows everything." "I don't care what you say," I replied. "I'm sure this is how they've got away." "Well, let's hear," said Bob, and Bigley's eyes flashed with eagerness. "Why, they haven't got away at all," I said. "They wouldn't dare to go down Channel after getting the cargo out of the cave, for fear of meeting the cutter just at daybreak." "And you think they've gone up towards Bristol?" cried Bigley excitedly. "Yes," I said; "and they are lying up somewhere over yonder on the Welsh coast till to-night, when they'll be off again." "That's it," said Bigley. "I'm sure that's it." "I don't believe it," said Bob sharply. "And if it is true, I'm ashamed of you both. Here's Sep Duncan taking part with the smugglers, and old Big hitting the officers in the eye, and bragging about his father. I shall look out for some fresh mates, that's what I shall do." "Come and have some tea and dinner first, Bob," I said mockingly. "Yes, I'll have some food first, for I'm getting hungry. My, what a game, though! How old Big did run when the lieutenant was going to give him a pill! Ha, ha, ha!" We strolled about the shore, and then went into the cottage for a bit, and that afforded Bob another opportunity for a few sneers about this being Bigley's home now, addressing him as the master of the house, bantering him about being stingy with his cider, and finally jumping up as he saw my father coming down from the mine, and then we all went over to the Bay to our evening meal. That night Bigley and I went part of the way home with Bob, and then I walked part of the way home with Bigley in the calm and solitude of the summer darkness. We walked along the cliff path, and were about half-way to the Gap when Big caught me by the arm and pointed down below, about a quarter of a mile from the cliff, where, stealing along in the gloom, I caught sight of the sails of a small vessel, and directly after of those of another gliding on close at hand. They were so indistinct at first that I could see but little. Then I could make out that they were both luggers by their rig, and that one of them had three masts and the other only two. _ |
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