A LONG NIGHT.
"What is the matter, Essie?" cried Dot, piteously, as I held him in
that tight embrace without speaking. "We were naughty to come, yes, I
know, but you said I was to take care of Flurry, and she would come. I
did not like it, for the wind was so cold and rough, and I fell twice
on the shingles; but it is nice here, and we were having such a famous
game."
"Esther is going to be cross and horrid because we ran away, but father
will only laugh," exclaimed Flurry, with the remains of a frown on her
face. She knew she was in the wrong and meant to brave it out.
Oh, the poor babes, playing their innocent games with Death waiting for
them outside!
"Come, there is not an instant to lose," I exclaimed, catching up Dot
in my arms; he was very little and light, and I thought we could get on
faster so, and perhaps if the sea overtook us they would see us and put
out a boat from the Preventive station. "Come, come," I repeated,
snatching Flurry's hand, for she resisted a little: but when I reached
the mouth of the cave she uttered a loud cry, and tugged fiercely at my
hand to get free.
"Oh, the sea, the dreadful sea!" she exclaimed, hiding her face; "it is
coming up! Look at the waves--we shall be drownded!"
I could feel Dot shiver in my arms, but he did not speak, only his
little hands clung round my neck convulsively. Poor children! their
punishment had already begun.
"We shall be drowned if you don't make haste," I returned, trying to
speak carefully, but my teeth chattered in spite of myself. "Come,
Flurry, let us run a race with the waves; take hold of my cloak, for I
want my hands free for Dot." I had dropped his crutches in the cave;
they were no use to him--he could not have moved a step in the teeth of
this wind.
Poor Flurry began to cry bitterly, but she had confidence in my
judgment, and an instinct of obedience made her grasp my cloak, and so
we commenced our dangerous pilgrimage. I could only move slowly with
Dot; the wind was behind us, but it was terribly fierce. Flurry fell
twice, and picked herself up sobbing; the horrors of the scene utterly
broke down her courage, and she threw her arms round me frantically and
prayed me to go back.
"The waves are nearly touching us!" she shrieked; and then Dot,
infected by her terrors, began to cry loudly too. "We shall be
drownded, all of us, and it is getting dark, and I won't go, I won't
go!" screamed the poor child trying to push me back with her feeble
force.
Then despair took possession of me; we might have done it if Flurry had
not lost all courage; the water would not have been high enough to
drown us; we could have waded through it, and they would have seen us
from the cottage and come to our help. I would have saved them; I knew
I could; but in Flurry's frantic state it was impossible. Her eyes
dilated with terror, a convulsive trembling seized her. Must we go back
to the cave, and be drowned like rats in a hole? The idea was horrible,
and yet it went far back. Perhaps there was some corner or ledge of
rock where we might be safe; but to spend the night in such a place!
the idea made me almost as frantic as Flurry. Still, it was our only
chance, and we retraced our steps but still so slowly and painfully
that the spray of the advancing waves wetted our faces, and
beyond--ah!--I shut my eyes and struggled on, while Flurry hid her head
in the folds of my cloak.
We gained the smugglers' cave, and then I put down Dot, and bade him
pick up his crutchers and follow me close, while I explored the cave.
It was very dark, and Flurry began to cry afresh, and would not let go
of my hand; but Dot shouldered his crutches, and walked behind us as
well as he could.
At each instant my terror grew. It was a large winding cave, but the
heaps of seaweed everywhere, up to the very walls, proved that the
water filled the cavern. I became hysterical too. I would not stay to
be drowned there, I muttered between my chattering teeth; drowned in
the dark, and choked with all that rotten garbage! Better take the
children in either hand, and go out and meet our fate boldly. I felt my
brain turning with the horror, when all at once I caught sight of a
rough broken ledge of rock, rising gradually from the back of the cave.
Seaweed hung in parts high up, but it seemed to me in the dim twilight
there was a portion of the rock bare; if so, the sea did not cover
it--we might find a dry foothold.
"Let go my hand a moment, Flurry," I implored; "I think I see a little
place where we may be safe. I will be back in a moment, dear." But
nothing could induce her to relax her agonized grasp of my cloak. I had
to argue the point. "The water comes all up here wherever the seaweed,
is," I explained. "You think we are safe, Flurry, but we can be drowned
where we stand; the sea fills the cave." But at this statement Flurry
only screamed the louder and clung closer. Poor child! she was beside
herself with fright.
So I said to Dot:
"My darling is a boy, and boys are not so frightened as girls; so you
will stay here quietly while Flurry and I climb up there, and Flossy
shall keep you company."
"Don't be long," he implored, but he did not say another word. Dear,
brave little heart, Dot behaved like a hero that day. He then stooped
down and held Flossy, who whined to follow us. I I think the poor
animal knew our danger, for he shivered and cowered down in evident
alarm, and I could hear Dot coaxing him.
It was very slippery and steep, and I crawled up with difficulty, with
Flurry clambering after me, and holding tightly to my dress. Dot
watched us wistfully as we went higher and higher, leaving him and
Flossy behind. The seaweed impeded us, but after a little while we came
to a bare piece of rock jutting out over the cave, with a scooped-out
corner where all of us could huddle, and it seemed to me as though the
shelf went on for a yard or two beyond it. We were above water-mark
there; we should be quite safe, and a delicious glimmer of hope came
over me.
I had great difficulty in inducing Flurry to stay behind while I
crawled down for Dot. She was afraid to be alone in that dark place,
with the hollow booming of wind and waves echoing round her; but I told
her sternly that Dot and Flossy would be drowned and then she let me go.
Dot was overjoyed to welcome me back, and then I lifted him up and bade
him crawl slowly on his hands and knees, while I followed with his
crutches, and Flossy crept after us, shivering and whining for us to
take him up. As we toiled up the broken ledge it seemed to grow darker,
and we could hardly see each other's faces if we tried, only the splash
of the first entering wave warned me that the sea would soon have been
upon us.
I was giddy and breathless by the time we reached the nook where Flurry
was, and then we crept into the corner, the children clasping each
other across me, and Flossy on my lap licking our faces alternately.
Saved from a horrible death! For a little while I could do nothing but
weep helplessly over the children and thank God for a merciful
deliverance.
As soon as the first hysterical outburst of emotion was over, I did my
best to make the children as comfortable as I could under such forlorn
circumstances. I knew Flurry's terror of darkness, and I could well
imagine how horribly the water would foam and splash beneath us, and I
must try and prevent them from seeing it.
I made Dot climb into my lap, for I thought the hard rock would make
his poor back ache, and I could keep him from being chilled; and then I
induced Flurry to creep under my heavy waterproof cloak--how thankful I
was I put it on!--and told her to hold Flossy in her arms, for the
little creature's soft fur would be warm and comfortable; and then I
fastened the cloak together, buttoning it until it formed a little tent
above them. Flurry curled her feet into my dress and put her head on my
shoulder, and she and Dot held each other fast across me, and Flossy
rolled himself up into a warm ball and went to sleep. Poor little
creatures! They began to forget their sorrows a little, until Flurry
suddenly recollected that it was tea-time, and her father had arrived;
and then she began crying again softly.
"I'm so hungry," she sobbed; "aren't you Dot?"
"Yes, but I don't mean to mind it," returned Dot, manfully. "Essie is
hungry too." And he put up his hand and stroked my neck softly. The
darling, he knew how I suffered, and would not add to my pain by
complaining.
I heard him say to Flurry in a whisper, "It is all our fault; we ought
to be punished for running away; but Essie has done nothing wrong. I
thought God meant to drown us, as He did the disobedient people." But
this awful reminder of her small sins was too much for Flurry.
"I did not mean to be wicked," she wailed. "I thought it would be such
fun to play at smugglers in the cave, and Aunt Ruth and Esther never
would let me."
"Yes, and I begged you not to run away, and you would," retorted Dot in
an admonishing tone. "I did not want come, too, because it was so cold,
and the wind blew so; but I promised Essie to take care of you, so I
went. I think you were quite as bad as the people whom God drowned,
because they would not be good and mind Noah."
"But I don't want to be drowned," responded Flurry, tearfully. "Oh,
dear, Dot, don't say such dreadful things! I am good now, and I will
never, never disobey auntie again. Shall we say our prayers, Dot, and
ask God not to be so very angry, and then perhaps He will send some one
to take us out of this dark, dreadful place?"
Dot approved of this idea, and they began repeating their childish
petitions together, but my mind strayed away when I tried to join them.
Oh, how dark and desolate it was! I shivered and clasped the children
closer to me as the hollow moaning of the waves reverberated through
the cavern. Every minute the water was rising; by-and-by the spray must
wet us even in our sheltered corner. Would the children believe me when
I told them we were safe? Would not Flurry's terrors return at the
first touch of the cold spray? The darkness and the noise and the
horror were almost enough to turn her childish brain; they were too
much for my endurance.
"Oh, heavens!" I cried to myself, "must we really spend a long, hideous
night in this place? We are safe! safe!" I repeated; but still it was
too horrible to think of wearing out the long, slow hours in such
misery.
It was six now; the tide would not turn until three in the morning; it
had been rising for three hours now; it would not be possible to leave
the cave and make our way by the cliff for an hour after that. Ten
hours--ten long, crawling hours to pass in this cramped position! I
thought of dear mother's horror if she knew of our peril, and then I
thought of Allan, and a lump came in my throat.
Mr. Lucas would be scouring the coast in search of us. What a night for
the agonized father to pass! And poor, fragile Miss Ruth, how would she
endure such hours of anxiety? I could have wrung my hands and moaned
aloud at the thought of their anguish, but for the children--the poor
children who were whispering their baby prayers together; that kept me
still. Perhaps they might be even now at the mouth of the cave, seeking
and calling to us. A dozen times I imagined I could hear the splash of
oars and the hoarse cries of the sailors; but how could our feeble
voices reach them in the face of the shrieking wind? No one would think
of the smugler's cave, for it was but one of many hollowed out of the
cliff. They would search for us, but very soon they would abandon it in
despair; they knew I had gone to seek the children; most likely I had
been too late, and the rising tide had engulfed us, and swept us far
out to sea. Miss Ruth would think of her dreams and tremble, and the
wretched father would sit by her, stunned and helpless, waiting for the
morning to break and bring him proof of his despair.
The tears ran down my cheeks as these sad thoughts passed through my
mind, and a strong inward cry for deliverance, for endurance, for some
present comfort in this awful misery, shook my frame with convulsive
shudders. Dot felt them, and clasped me tighter, and Flurry trembled in
sympathy; my paroxysm disturbed them, but my prayer was heard, and the
brief agony passed.
I thought of Jeremiah in his dungeon, of Daniel in the lions' den, of
the three children in the fiery furnace, and the Form that was like the
Son of God walking with them in the midst of the flames; and I knew and
felt that we were as safe on that rocky shelf, with the dark, raging
waters below us, as though we were by our own bright hearth fire at
home; then my trembling ceased, and I recovered voice to talk to the
children.
I wanted them to go to sleep; but Flurry said, in a lamentable voice,
that she was too hungry, and the sea made such a noise; so I told them
about Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego; and after I had finished that,
all the Bible stories I could remember of wonderful deliverance; and
by-and-by we came to the storm on the Galilean lake.
Flurry leaned heavily against me. "Oh, it is getting colder," she
gasped; "Flossy keeps my hands warm, and the cloak is thick, and yet I
can't help shivering." And I could feel Dot shiver, too. "The water
seems very near us, I wish I did not feel afraid of it Esther," she
whispered, after another minute; but I pretended not to hear her.
"Yes, it is cold, but not so cold as those disciples must have felt," I
returned; "they were in a little open boat, Flurry, and the water
dashed right over them, and the vessel rocked dreadfully"--here I
paused--"and it was dark, for Jesus was not yet come to them."
"I wish He would come now," whispered Dot.
"That is what the disciples wished, and all the time they little knew
that He was on His way to them, and watching them toiling against the
wind, and that very soon the wind would cease, and they would be safe
on the shore. We do not like being in this dark cave, do we, Flurry
darling? And the sea keeps us awake; but He knows that, and He is
watching us; and by-and-by, when the morning comes, we shall have light
and go home."
Flurry said "Yes," sleepily, for in spite of the cold and hunger she
was getting drowsy; it must have been long past her bedtime. We had sat
on our dreary perch three hours, and there were six more to wait. I
noticed that the sound of my voice tranquillized the children; so I
repeated hymns slowly and monotonously until they nodded against me and
fell into weary slumbers. "Thank God!" I murmured when I perceived
this, and I leaned back against the rock, and tried to close my eyes;
but they would keep opening and staring into the darkness. It was not
black darkness--I do not think I could have borne that; a sort of murky
half-light seemed reflected from the water, or from somewhere, and
glimmered strangely from a background of inky blackness.
It was bitterly cold now; my feet felt numbed, and the spray wetted and
chilled my face. I dared not move my arm from Dot, he leaned so heavily
against it, and Flurry's head was against him. She had curled herself
up like Flossy, and I had one hand free, only I could not disentangle
it from the cloak. I dared not change my cramped position, for fear of
waking them. I was too thankful for their brief oblivion. If I could
only doze for a few moments; if I could only shut out the black waters
for a minute! The tumults of my thoughts were indescribable. My whole
life seemed to pass before me; every childish folly, every girlish
error and sin, seemed to rise up before me; conversations I had
forgotten, little incidents of family life, dull or otherwise; speeches
I had made and repented, till my head seemed whirling. It must be
midnight now, I thought. If I could only dare; but a new terror kept me
wide awake. In spite of my protecting arms, would not Dot suffer from
the damp chilliness? He shivered in his sleep, and Flurry moaned and
half woke, and then slept again. I was growing so numbed and cramped
that I doubted my endurance for much longer. Dot seemed growing
heavier, and there was the weight of Flurry and Flossy. If I could only
stretch myself! And then I nearly cried out, for a sudden flash seemed
to light the cavern. One instant, and it was gone; but that second
showed a grewsome scene--damp, black walls, with a frothing turbulous
water beneath them, and hanging arches exuding moisture. Darkness
again. From whence had that light flashed? As I asked myself the
question it came again, startling me with its sudden brilliancy; and
this time it was certainly from some aperture overhead, and a little
beyond where we sat.
Gone again, and this time utterly; but not before I caught a glimpse of
the broad rocky shelf beyond us. The light had flashed down not a dozen
yards from where we stood; it must have been a lantern; if so, they
were still seeking us, this time on the cliffs. It was only midnight,
and there were still four weary hours to wait, and every moment I was
growing more chilled and numbed. I began to dread the consequences to
myself as well as to the children. If I could only crawl along the
shelf and explore, perhaps there might be some opening to the cliff. I
had not thought of this before, until the light brought the idea to my
mind.
I perceived, too, that the glimmering half-light came from above, and
not from the mouth of the cave. For a moment the fear of losing my
balance and falling back into the water daunted me, and kept me from
moving; but the next minute I felt I must attempt it. I unfastened my
cloak and woke Dot softly, and then whispered to him that I was cramped
and in pain, and must move up and down the platform; and he understood
me, and crawled sleepily off my lap; then I lifted Flurry with
difficulty, for she moaned and whimpered at my touch.
My numbness was so great I could hardly move my limbs; but I crawled
across Flurry somehow, and saw Dot creep into my place, and covered
them with my cloak; and then I commenced to move slowly and carefully
on my hands and knees up the rocky path.