Menhardoc Part 54

Taff would not wake up, and a second summons had no effect. In fact the nickname Taff had a bad effect upon Arthur Temple, causing a sort of deafness that was only removed by calling him Arthur.

"It rains and it blows, and the sea is one ma.s.s of foam. Oh, what waves!"

So impressive were these latter that for some time d.i.c.k forgot to dress, but kept watching the huge, dark green banks of water come rolling in and then break upon the sh.o.r.e.

"Here, what a stupid I am!" he said to himself at last; and hastily scrambling on his clothes, he went down-stairs and out on to the cliff, to be almost startled by the heavy thunder of the great billows that came tumbling in, every now and then one of them coming with a tremendous smack upon the pier, when the whole harbour was deluged, the foam and spray flying over the luggers, which were huddled together, as if in alarm, beneath the shelter of the sea wall.

d.i.c.k forgot that it was raining heavily, and ran down to the great bed of boulders at the end of the village, where, as the huge waves came in, they drove up the ma.s.sive stones, which varied in size from that of a man's head to that of a Cheshire cheese, sending them some distance up towards the cliff, and then, as the wave retired, _boomble_--_roomble_--_doomble, doomble_--_doom_, they rolled back again one over the other, as if mockingly defying the retiring wave to come and do that again.

Here was the secret of how pebbles and shingle and boulders were made, grinding one another smooth as were driven one over the other for hundreds and hundreds of years till they were as smooth as the rock upon which they beat.

This was exciting enough for a time, but, regardless of rain and wind, d.i.c.k ran along the cliff to a place he knew, a very shelf in the rock which went down perpendicularly to a deep little cove, in which he felt sure that the sea would be beating hard.

"It's just a hundred feet," he said, "because Josh told me, and I shall be able to see how high a wave can come."

He said this, but only to himself, for as he hurried along the cliff there were moments when he could hardly get his breath for the force of the wind which beat full in his face.

Once or twice he hesitated, wondering whether it was safe to proceed in such a storm.

He laughed at his fears, though, as he stood in shelter for a few moments, and then went on again, to, reach the spot he sought, and find to his great delight that the rock bulged out, so that without danger he could look right down upon the sea; while another discovery he made was, that though he seemed to be standing right facing the wind he was in comparative calm.

It paid for the journey, for as he advanced to the edge he could see low down that the waves were churning up foam which the wind caught as it was finished and sent right up in a cloud of flakes and b.a.l.l.s light as air in a regular whirl, to come straight up past him, higher and higher above his head, till the very summit of the cliff was reached, when away it went in a drift landward.

Why was it quite calm where he stood, and yet the full force of the Atlantic gale coming full in his face?

It was a puzzle to d.i.c.k Temple. The wind was blowing so hard that it was cutting the foamy tops from the waves, and sweeping all along like a storm of tremendous rain. It seemed to him that he should be blown flat against the rock, and held there spread-eagle fashion; but instead of this it was perfectly calm, and the thought came upon him how grand it would be to stand just where the wind was blowing its hardest, and to see what it felt like to be in the full force of an Atlantic gale.

"I'll climb right up to the very top of the cliff," he said. "I wonder whether the wind ever does blow strong enough to knock anyone down."

But there was too much to fascinate him below for him to drag himself away at once. From where he stood he could see all along below the cliffs where he had been rowed by Josh and Will, and that where, then and afterwards, when his father accompanied them searching for some good mineral vein, the sea had heaved gently, and the waves had curled over and broken sparkling on the rocks, all was now one chaos of wildly foaming and tossing waters. The huge green waves ran rolling in to break with a noise like thunder, and when some huge hill of water came in, rose, curled over, and broke, it was with a tremendous boom, and the spray rushed thirty, forty, and fifty feet up the rock before it poured back.

"I wonder what would happen to a boat if it was down there?" said d.i.c.k aloud.

"Just the same as would happen to a walnut-sh.e.l.l if you were to throw it down where five hundred hammers were beating about on a pile of stones such as you use to mend the roads."

"Why, I didn't hear you come, Will," cried d.i.c.k eagerly.

"I was going to your place to tell you that we could not go out to-day, of course, and I saw you come out, so I followed."

"And so a boat would not get on very well down there, wouldn't it?"

"Get on!" said Will smiling; "why, it would be smashed up."

"And suppose a ship were to be close in there, Will?"

"She would be beaten up into matchwood, all torn and ragged to pieces."

"But is the sea so strong?"

"Look at it," cried Will, pointing to the leaves, "It is awful sometimes."

"Worse than this?"

"Yes: much," replied Will. "But look here, suppose a great ship came driving round the head here and struck?"

"What do you mean by struck?"

"Driven on the rocks. Do you know what would happen then?"

"Well, she would be wrecked, I suppose," said d.i.c.k.

"Yes, the waves would come leaping and thundering over her the same as they do over that piece of rock, and sweeping her decks. Then every great wave that came in would lift her up, and then leave her to come down crash upon the rocks, shaking out her masts and loosening her timbers and planks, and keeping this on till she tumbled all to pieces and the sea was strewed with the bits which kept tossing in and out among the rocks."

"Have you ever seen the sea do this?" said d.i.c.k eagerly.

"Yes," replied Will solemnly, "often. It's very awful sometimes to live at the sea-side on a rocky coast."

The two lads stood for a few minutes silently gazing down into the wild waste of tossing foam, and then d.i.c.k said slowly:

"I think I should like to see a wreck. I shouldn't like for there to be a wreck; but if there was a wreck I should like to see it."

"I don't think you would again," said Will sadly. "I used to think so when I was quite a little fellow; but when I did see one it all seemed so pitiful to know that there were people on board the ship asking you to come and save them."

"Then why didn't you go and save them?" cried d.i.c.k excitedly. "You are all good sailors about here, and have boats. You ought to do something to save the poor things."

"We do," said Will sadly. "I mean our men do when they can."

"Haven't you got a life-boat?"

"There is one at Corntown and another at Penillian Sands; but sometimes before a life-boat can be fetched a ship has gone to pieces."

"And all the people drowned?"

"Yes. Come below here," said Will, leading the way down the cliff.

"Is--is it safe?" said d.i.c.k.

"I will not take you where there's any danger," said Will.

d.i.c.k hesitated for a few moments, and then followed his companion down a path cut in a rift of the rock where a tiny stream trickled down from far inland.

The mouth of the rift was protected by a pile of rocks, against which the wind beat and the waves thundered, but the path was so sheltered that the lads were able to get nearly down to the sh.o.r.e.

"There are lots of paths like this down the cliff all about the coast,"

said Will quietly. "They are useful for men to get down to their boats in bad weather."

He pointed to one that was drawn right up on rollers twenty feet above the waves and snugly sheltered from the storm.