Tom Burke Of "Ours" Volume I Part 30

"Come, press on as fast as you can," said one of the men; "we must catch the ebb, or we'll never do it."

"Where does she lie?" said Darby, in a low whisper.

"Under the cliffs, in Bolskaton Bay," said the last speaker, whom I now perceived by his dress and language to be a sailor.

My curiosity was now excited to the utmost to know whither we were bound; and with an effort I articulated the one word, "Where?"

Darby's eyes brightened as I spoke; he pressed my hand firmly within his, but made no reply. Attributing his silence to caution, I pressed him no further; and indeed, already my former indifference came back on me, and I felt listless as before.

"Turn off there to the right," cried the sailor to the driver. And suddenly we left the highroad, and entered a narrow byway, which seemed to lead along the side of the mountain close to the water's edge. Before we had proceeded far in this direction, a long, low whistle was heard from a distance.

"Stop there, stop!" said the sailor, as he knelt upon the car, and replied to the signal. "Ay, all right; there they are," said he, as, pointing to a little creek between the rocks below us, we saw a small rowboat with six men lying on their oars.

"Can't he walk?" said the sailor, in a half whisper, as he stood beside the car. "Well, let 's lose no more time; we 'll take him down between us."

"No, no," said Darby; "put him on my back; I 'll do it myself."

"The ground's slippier than you take it," said the other; "my way 's the safest."

With that he lifted me from the car, and placing me between Darby and himself, they grasped each other's hands beneath me, and soon began a descent which I saw would have been perfectly impracticable for one man to have accomplished with another on his back.

During the time, my desire to know where they were bringing me again grew stronger than ever; and as I turned to ask Darby, I perceived that the tears were coursing each other fast down his weatherbeaten cheeks, while his lips shook and trembled like one in an ague.

"Mind your footing there, my man, I say," cried the sailor, "or you'll have us over the cliff."

"Round the rock to the left there," cried a voice from below. "That's it, that's it; now you're all right. Steady there; give me your hand."

As he spoke, two men advanced from the boat, and a.s.sisted us down the sloping beach, where the wet seaweed made every step a matter of difficulty.

"Lay him in the stern there; gently, lads, gently," said the voice of one who appeared the chief amongst them. "That's it; throw those jackets under his head. I say, piper, ar'n't you coming with us?"

But Darby could not speak one word. A livid pallor was over his features, and the tears fell, drop by drop, upon his cheek.

"Master Tom," said he, at length, as his lips almost touched me, "my child, my heart's blood, you won't forget poor Darby. Ye 'll be a great man yet; ye 'll be all I wish ye. But will you remember a poor man like me?"

"Jump ash.o.r.e there, my good fellow," cried the c.o.xswain; "we'll have enough to do to round the point before the tide ebbs."

"One minit more, and G.o.d love ye for it," said Darby, in a voice of imploring accent. "Who knows will we ever meet again; 't is the last time, maybe, I 'll ever look on him."

I could but press his hand to my heart; for my agitation increased the debility I felt, and every effort to speak was in vain.

"One half minit more,--if it 's only that he 'll be able to say, 'G.o.d bless you, Darby!' and I 'll be happy."

"Push off, my lads!" shouted the sailor, sternly; and as he spoke the oars plashed heavily in the sea, and the boat rocked over with the impulse. Twice the strong stroke of the oars sent the craft through the clear water, when the piper clasped his arm wildly around me, and kissing me on the cheek, he sprang over the side. The waves were nearly to his shoulders; but in a few seconds he had buffeted through them, and stood upon the sh.o.r.e.

With a last effort I waved my hand in adieu; and as I sank back exhausted, I heard a wild cry burst from him, half in triumph, half in despair. One glance more I caught of his figure as we stood out to sea; he was kneeling on the beach, bareheaded, and as if in prayer. The tears gushed from my eyes as I beheld him, and the long pent up sorrow at last broke forth, and I sobbed like a child.

"Come, come, my lad! don't feel downhearted," said the sailor, laying his hand on my shoulder; "the world can scarce have been over rough to one so young as you are. Lift up your head, and see what a glorious morning we 've got! And there comes the breeze over the water. We hadn't such weather the last time we made this trip, I a.s.sure you."

I looked up suddenly; and truly never did such a scene of loveliness meet my eyes. The sun had risen in all his glorious brilliancy, and poured a flood of golden light across the bay, tipping with a violet hue the far-off peaks of the Wicklow mountains, and lighting up the wooded valleys at their feet. Close above us rose the rugged sides of Howth in dark shadow; the frowning rocks and gloomy caverns contrasting with the glittering tints of the opposite coast, where every cottage and cliff sparkled in the dancing sunlight.

As we rounded the point, a cheer broke from the men, and was answered at once. I turned my head, and saw beneath the tall cliffs the taper spars of a small vessel, from which the sails hung listlessly, half brailed to the mast.

"There she lies," said the skipper. "That 's the 'Saucy Sal,' my master; and if you're any judge of a craft, I think you 'll like her. Give way, lads,--give way; when that rock yonder 's covered, the tide is at the flood."

The boat sprang to the strong jerk of their brawny arms, and in a few minutes glided into the little creek where the "Saucy Sal" lay at anchor.

Lifting me up, they placed me on board the little vessel; while, without losing a moment, they proceeded to ship the anchor and shake out the canvas. In less than five minutes the white sails bent to the breeze, the water rustled at the prow, and we stood out to sea.

"Where to?" said I, in a faint whisper, to the sailor who held the tiller beside me.

"Down Channel, sir."

"And then?" asked I once more,--"and then?"

"That must depend on the revenue cruisers, I believe," said he, more gruffly, and evidently indisposed to further questioning.

Alas! I had too little interest in life to care for where, and laying my head upon my arm, fell into a heavy stupor for several hours.

The hot sun, the breeze, the unaccustomed motion, and worse than all, the copious libations of brandy and water I was forced from time to time to take, gradually brought on fever; and before evening, a burning thirst and throbbing headache seized me, and my senses, that hitherto had been but lethargic, became painfully acute, and my reason began to wander. In this state I remained for days, totally unconscious of the flight of time; frightful images of the past pursuing each other through my heated brain, and torturing me with horrors unspeakable.

It was in one of my violent paroxysms I tore the bandage from my side, and reopening my half-healed wound, became in a moment deluged with blood. I have no memory of aught that followed; the debility of almost death itself succeeded, and I lay without sense or motion. To this circ.u.mstance I owed my life, for when I next rallied the fever had left me, my senses were unclouded, my cheek no longer burned, nor did my temples throb; and as the sea breeze played across my face, I drank it in with ecstasy, and felt once more the glorious sensations of returning health.

It was evening; the faint wind that follows sunset scarce filled the sails as we glided along through the waveless sea. I had been listening to the low, monotonous song of one of the sailors as he sat mending a sail beside me, when suddenly I heard a voice hail us from the water.

The skipper jumped on the halfdeck, and immediately replied. The words I could not hear, but by the stir and movement about me I saw something unusual had occurred, and by an effort I raised my head above the bulwark and looked about me. A long, low craft lay close alongside us, filled with men, whose blue caps and striped shirts struck me as strange and uncommon, not less than their black belts and cutla.s.ses, with which every man was armed. After an interchange of friendly greetings with our crew,--for such they seemed, although I could not catch the words,--she moved rapidly past us.

"There's their flotilla, sir," said the helmsman, as he watched my eye while it wandered over the water.

I crept up higher, and followed the direction of his finger. Never shall I forget that moment. Before me, scarce as it seemed a mile distant, lay a thousand boats at anchor, beneath the shadow of tall sandhills, decorated with gay and gaudy pennons, crowded with figures whose bright colors and glittering arms shone gorgeously in the setting sunlight. The bright waves reflected the myriad tints, while they seemed to plash in unison with the rich swell of martial music that stole along the water with every freshening breeze. The sh.o.r.e was covered with tents, some of them surmounted with large banners that floated out gayly to the breeze; and far as the eye could reach were hosts of armed men dotted over the wide plain beside the sea. Vast columns of infantry were there,-- cavalry and artillery, too,--their bright arms glittering, and their gay plumes waving, but all still and motionless, as if spellbound. As I looked, I could see hors.e.m.e.n gallop from the dense squares, and riding hurriedly to and fro. Suddenly a blue rocket shot into the calm sky, and broke in a million glittering fragments over the camp; the deep roar of a cannon boomed out; and then the music of a thousand bands swelled high and full, and in an instant the whole plain was in motion, and the turf trembled beneath the tramp of marching men. Regiment followed regiment, squadron poured after squadron, as they descended the paths towards the beach; while a long, dark line wound through the glittering ma.s.s, and marked the train of the artillery, as with caissons and ammunition wagons they moved silently over the gra.s.sy surface.

All that I had ever conceived of warlike preparation was as nothing to the gorgeous spectacle before me. The stillness of the evening air, made tremulous with the clang of trumpets and the hoa.r.s.e roar of drums; the mirror-like sea, colored with the reflection of bright banners and waving pennants; and then the simultaneous step of the mighty army,--so filled up every sense that I feared lest all might prove the mere pageant of a dream, and vanish as it came.

"What a glorious sight!" cried I, at length, half wild with enthusiasm.

"Where are we?"

"Where are we?" repeated the skipper, smiling. "Look out, and you 'll soon guess that. Are those very like the uniforms of King George? When did you see steel breastplates and helmets before? This is France, my lad!"

"France! France!" said I, stupefied with the mere thought.

"Yes, to be sure. That 's the Army of England, as they call it, you see yonder; they are practising the embarkation. See the red rockets! There they go,--three, four, five, six,--that's the signal. In less than half an hour thirty thousand men will be ready to embark. Mark how they press on faster and faster! and watch the cavalry, as they dismount and lead their horses down the steep! See how the boats pull in sh.o.r.e! But, hallo there! we shall get foul of the gunboats,--already we 've run in too close. Down helm, my lad; keep the headland yonder on your lee."

As he spoke, the light craft bent over to the breeze, and skipped freely over the blue water. Each moment wafted us farther away from the bright scene, and soon a projecting point shut out the whole, save the swell of the bra.s.s bands as it floated on the breeze, and I might have believed it a mere delusion.

"They practise that manoeuvre often enough to know it well," said the skipper, "sometimes at daybreak, now at noonday, and again, as we see, at sunset; and no one knows at what moment the attack that seems a feint may not turn out to be real. But here we are now alongside; our voyage is ended."

The anchor plashed from our bow, while a signal was made from the sh.o.r.e and answered by us; and in an instant we were surrounded with boats.

"Ha, Antoine!" cried a sous-officier in a naval uniform, who sat on the gunwale of a long eight-oar gig, and touched his hat in recognition of our skipper; "what news _outre mer_? what are we doing in Ireland?"